What Is Earth Made Of?...

I'm not a scientist, and I certainly don't espouse "scientism," or the belief that science is the only valid source of knowledge, but I do believe that science can find facts, just like the Bible has scientific facts in it without having any scientific absurdities or known mistakes--where the Bible does make scientific statements, it's accurate; though it's not a science manual (though there are several instances where the Bible's knowledge is more advanced than that of current science).  We must make use of all sources of knowledge:  rationality, empiricism, experience, logic, history, philosophy, and revelation from God.  Ultimately, all information is contingent upon its presupposition, and all knowledge depends ultimately upon God, the source.  As Augustine said, "All truth is God's truth."  All truth meets at the top, he would say!  That's why the Bible has the roots of every major academic discipline and has something to say to initiate the study of each one from philosophy, science, logic, ethics, history, economics, theology, psychology, sociology, and even politics.  All these academic endeavors have their fulfillment in the person of Christ.

Science can demonstrate that energy and matter exist, but when they allege that this is all there is, they are presumptuous (you cannot prove a universal negative), such as Carl Sagan saying, "The cosmos is all that is or was or ever will be."  That is a philosophical or theological statement not in the prerogative or domain of science to make.  For instance, when science says that miracles are a violation of natural law, they are saying natural law is God or has His power and that there is no Almighty who is the Lawgiver and is not bound by natural law but can overrule it at will.  And so the question of miracles is really a philosophical and theological one, not a scientific one.

In addition to energy/matter/quanta in the time-space continuum (time being the corollary of space and matter), we see information, design, order, and plans in our cosmos from the smallest sub-atomic particle to the largest galaxy.  Christians adhere to spirit.  New Agers believe in energy in everything, in fact, everything having a spirit and the existence of a Great Spark of life.  How can one not see the Anthropic Principle on earth, with its many contingent laws and nature's conveniences and not see God's handiwork?  "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork!" (Psa. 19:1, ESV).  Napoleon was asked why he believed:  all you have to do is look to the heavens--"Who made that?"   "The theory of an eternal universe is untenable!" Scientists assume the big bang and "a brief history of time" itself--which the Bible verifies (2 Tim. 1:9; Tit. 1:2).  Steven Hawking wrote A Brief History of Time postulating this hypothesis.

Logic will tell you that if there's creation, there must be a Creator.  If there was a beginning or Big Bang, then there had to be a Beginner or One who got the big bang going.  The Big Bang was so fine-tuned that even slight maladjustments would've made the anthropic principle impossible.  One can also reason that there is a plan because of a Planner, a design because of a Designer, order because of an Orderer, and a purpose because of a "Purposer." Just like you assume an artist looking at art and an architect looking at a building ("For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything," cf. Heb. 3:4, NIV).  Now, think of all the information out there!  Carl Sagan said that he'd believe in intelligence if we would get a message of information from outer space.  Well, there's plenty of intelligence on earth to look at to assume a Great Intelligence: every living thing as DNA or the fingerprint of God and is encoded with information, showing "intelligent design" or ID (the human genome has as much info as an entire set of encyclopedias).

Now, the ultimate dilemma or issue:  we have information, which necessitates thought, which necessitates a thinker!  A mind assumes a Higher Mind (the Logos of Scripture) and scientists don't dare go there because they want to deny His existence.  The logical order of events is this:   Thinker, thought, and then, finally, object or thing comprising forethought, design, or plan.   One of Einstein's earlier statements was that God was a "pure mathematical mind." To some astronomers, the universe appears as one gigantic mathematical equation!   Whether one believes in a personal God or not, there had to be a First Cause, Prime Mover, or Causa Prima, of Aristotle, and logic tells us that eternal regression and crossing infinity are impossible: everything cannot be contingent, but there must be something that needs no one or nothing and is not contingent for the chain of events to begin!  We say this because, according to logic, nothing can create or cause itself, and nothing just happens or appears without a cause.  One rule says that everything that begins to exist has a cause--God had no beginning and no cause and the universe began to exist and had a cause!

In sum, we must start with God and explain the universe, not the other way around!  "In the beginning God..." and "In the beginning was the Word (Logos), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."  We must start somewhere with the missing ingredient of information and its Creator, or Thinker--the Ultimate Mind!  Point to ponder:  "The only system of thought that Christ will fit into is the one where He is the starting point."  (Athanasius).   Soli Deo Gloria!

Strange Fire...

God speaks of His Way, he is deadly serious: My way or the highway!

God is really big on instructions, so it follows that He likes it when we follow them.  The book of Leviticus is a "how-to" book, you could say, (or God's instruction manual--Torah, for instance, means revealed instruction) just filled with them.  It is reasonable to assume that a godly person follows instructions and doesn't try to do things his way.  Like some are wont to say:  If all else fails read the instructions!  This is bad mentality and disastrous spiritually as Nadab and Abihu found out when God consumed them with fire for offering a sacrifice their own way and making a fire their way which God called "strange fire" and God judged immediately He was so angry.   They became examples of those who "do it their way."  Frank Sinatra became famous for singing "I Did It My Way" and I'm sure that now after he has died that his song led many astray and that he was dead wrong!  It is a serious thing to disobey God's instructions and we are responsible for what we have the opportunity to know as David found out when the transported the Ark of the Covenant and when it tipped the person bearing was struck dead because He didn't follow protocol.  What do you think Bible?  "Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth." Disclaimer:  The Bible is more than an instruction manual, praise the Lord!

God is a God of order, design, and precision and instruction, not chaos or confusion.  We become more godly (God wants you to get organized and be orderly!) by following this pattern and God making us in this image of Christlikeness.  We cannot have everybody doing their own thing as it says in the last verse of Judges:  "In those days there was no king, everyone did as he saw fit [what was right in his own eyes]" (Judges 21:25).  Jesus said there was a "way" and He was it.  Knowing Jesus is knowing the way and the first believers were called followers of the Way. 

In the Army you learn that there is your way and the "Army way"  and you learn this lesson pretty fast--you become a quick-study!  "There is a way which seems right to a man, but the ends thereof are the way of death" (Prov. 16:25).  "For forty years I was angry with that generation; I said, "They are a people whose hearts go astray and have not known my ways."  Do you know the Way? In another passage it says:  "But my people do not know the rules of the LORD" (Jer. 8:7).  Jesus is the logos or logic behind the cosmos and God has a plan for everything under heaven according to Proverbs 16:4:  "The LORD works out everything for his own ends--even the wicked for a day of disaster."

People that don't know God are always offering "strange fire" before the Lord and trying to please Him their own way by good works, ritual or religion, morality, philosophy, ethics, etc.  and not by faith alone.  Nothing that the unbeliever does can please God, for it is all dirty and filthy rags in His sight according to Isaiah 64:6.  Do it God's way or don't do it at all because there is no reward for man's way or works.  God only rewards what He does through us as His vessels of honor.    Finally, the reason God gives instructions is to test our obedience and see if we are serious about being His followers:  Israel repeatedly refused and failed to follow instructions--isn't this something we learn in kindergarten?

Jesus condemned the Pharisees, though they followed the instructions, for the same reason God judged Amaziah, (he followed the law, but not with his whole heart).  The Pharisees were culpable for externalizing the law and going the motions, as it were, and not doing it from their heart.   Today, in our churches we see many who have "memorized the Dance of the Pious" also and have no inward reality--this is exactly what Malachi rebuked Israel for in being frauds at worship.  We are to love God with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength.  No one achieves this perfectly in time but in eternity we will be glorified to have the capacity.

What is sin, but doing something our way instead of God's way ("We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way..." (Isaiah 53:6).  It is vain and useless to fight God and do it your own way because God is never frustrated and knows what He is doing and can turn curses into blessings and make everything turn out for the good (cf. Rom. 8:28).   Job 42:2 says:  "I know that you can do all things, and no plan of yours can be thwarted."  As William Cowper said, "God works in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform."  Soli Deo Gloria!