Tag: Faith

Bias is Revealed in What we Consider and Fail to Consider

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Siloam Tunnel inscription records
Siloam Tunnel inscription records when workers from the 8th Cent. B.C. met when digging from opposite directions. The inscription is now located in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum

When skeptics claim that Bible believers are biased, they are right. The truth is we all are biased, skeptics included. Some may be more aware of their own bias than others, but we all have our biases.

I am fascinated with stories of people who had one “bias” at one time and changed to the opposite “bias”. It happens both ways: atheist to believer/believer to atheist. Someday I will explore the similarities and the differences in those stories. There are some common threads, but that is a topic for another day. Continue reading “Bias is Revealed in What we Consider and Fail to Consider” →

Intellectuals May Enter

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There is a common perception among “intellectuals” that religion is for simpletons and faith requires abandoning the intellect. Nothing could be further from the truth in my opinion. I graduated 2nd in my class in law school. I am smarter than the average bear. I do not mean to boast. There are far smarter people than I in the world. One of those people was a good friend in college. She graduated #1 in our class with a perfect 4.0 GPA. She was a triple major, including Physics, Math and Russian studies. She has a PhD in Astrophysics. She was also a leader in a campus ministry in college.

You do not have to leave your brain at the door of faith, and you should not feel like a second class intellectual citizen to be a Christian. Intellect is not the sole province of the irreligious. Do not buy into that lie.

And for those thinking that Atheists are smarter than people who believe in God, think again:

 

Perspective

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Take a few moments and read this … and remember it.

Every shriveled old man or woman was once young and vibrant like you.

You and I will end up like this … if we are fortunate to live that long.

Life is short. It will come to an end.

Make the most of your days while you are young. Live a life well lived.

Trust the rest to God.

We go from dust to dust. It is what we do in the middle that matters.

Crabby Old Man

 

Calvin & Will

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Lynn Johnson Calm Beach

Calvinism and Arminianism represent two diverging views of God’s relationship with man. The two views are summarized at the graceonline.com website and charted at the jesusfollowme.com website. In a nut shell, Calvinism represents the view that people are predestined to believe or not believe; and Arminianism represents the view that people have free will to believe or not to believe. I am oversimplifying the positions, of course.

As an aside, I am no theologian. I was one thesis short of a religion major in college (finished with an English Literature major). I became a believer in college in the midst of prevailing liberal thinking and unbelief. I say this only to acknowledge that I am not an expert, but I have a personal faith in Jesus Christ. I have no doubt that I was drawn by God and that salvation comes by grace through faith, not by anything I have done or will ever do.

The countervailing views get to the heart of the Christian faith. Does God choose man? Or does man choose God? Continue reading “Calvin & Will” →

The DNA of Words

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I am fascinated by the thought that God spoke the world into existence. In the Gospel of John, who was easily the most revelatory of the New Testament writers, I have always been intrigued by the statement: In the beginning was the Word, and the word was with God, and the Word was God. That explains why I was drawn to the following headline: Russian Scientists Reprogram Human DNA Using Words and Frequencies.

Apparently, Russian scientists have found that our DNA stores data like a computer and uses grammar and syntax rules like language. More incredible, they discovered that human DNA can be “changed and rearranged with spoken words and phrases!” These scientists have changed frog embryos to salamander embryos without physical contact by use of vibration and language.

Aside from the ethical quandaries the discovery might pose, the fact that human and other DNA, the building blocks of life, have language-like characteristics and respond to language is just another example of the wonder of God’s creation. It is another indication of the truth of the Bible, which claims to be the inspired Word of God. (2 Tim. 3:16) The statement God spoke the world into existence, words written well over 2500 years ago, at a minimum, and the statement that the Word was in the beginning of the creative process, written about 2000 years ago, make more sense in light of the apparent discovery that the building blocks of life, DNA, have language-like characteristics and respond to language.