(Suppose, for the sake of argument.) God created the heavens and the earth … the sun, the moon, the stars, the skies, the land, the seas … the plants, the animals … and mankind. All in the space of six days! (By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.)
How did he do it?
To some it may seem presumptuous even to ask how God went about the business of creation. But mankind is a curious creature. His inquiring mind wants to know. Humans (some of them) thirst for knowledge for knowledge’s sake. That’s why we have philosophy and science and why, today (thank God), we live in a technologically advanced age. The gains in scientific knowledge made since the Enlightenment are nothing short of stupendous.
And now we know.
We now know, for example, that the several references in the Old Testament to God “stretching out the heavens” refer to the metric expansion of space which is a key feature of Big Bang cosmology. We now know that the Universe had its origin in a moment of creation some 13.75 billion years ago.
Let it be said, however, that cosmology is a better example of human ignorance than human knowledge. We’re still in the dark about so many of the fundamentals. Dark matter and dark energy are aptly named. But in other branches of science we know a great deal more. We know so much, in fact, that we can, and do, “play God”. To illustrate this point, here is a recent news headline.
We’ve mapped the human genome. We’ve mapped the genome of Mycoplasma genitalium and run software simulations of the entire organism. We’ve even constructed artificial life (assuming, of course, that a virus can truly be called a living thing), building it from scratch in a laboratory, one RNA molecule at a time. And this is only the prelude to what is to come.
We know how animals (albeit, very small ones) are made. We know how they work. We can simulate them. We can even build them ourselves.
Where am I heading with this? Actually, this post is for my co-blogger, Tim. God made animals, but he also made the human mind. I anticipate that one day we will find out how the human mind is made. We’ll run a simulation of a human mind on the powerful computers of the not-too-distant future.
READ THE SUBTITLE!
Darwin’s Origin of the Species by means of Natural Selection or The Preservation of the favoured races in the struggle for Life.
And People try and say Hitler was a Christian!
He Got his Ideas about ‘the Master Race’, Eugenics, and ‘Sub Humans’ directly from Darwins ‘Scientific’ textbook. The Final solution was the Philosophy of Darwinian Evolution *in Practice*… for the preservation of the ‘favoured’ race… in the struggle for Life!
Bertrand Russell wrote on the Subject of Darwin and Eugenics before Hitler rose to Power.
“Biological arguments for racism may have been common before 1859, but they increased by orders of magnitude following the acceptance of evolutionary theory.”
—Stephen Jay Gould, a leading evolutionist (Ontogeny and Phylogeny, 1977)
Now Racism has indeed been a perpetual plaugue upon mankind, yet Biblical Christianity has never supported the idea Of ‘superior’ and ‘inferior’ races. It clearly taught that All Mankind are one Family decended from Adam and Eve.
St Paul declared God… ” hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth…” (Acts 17:26.)
And also that ” As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:… For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God (Romans chapter 3)… thus both physically and Spiritually there is no distinction between the races.
What more The Christian Gospel declares Gods love and concern for All individual human beings and that He Sent St Paul to preach the gospel of grace and to declare… “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10vs 13)
Salvation being the gift of God (Eph2vs7,8) All believers were to be united in love for one another and in fellowship. They were instructed to forsake any notions of Racism they may have held as heathens because … “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)
*These teachings are the very opposite of Nazi doctrine*
One of the Great Blessings of Humanitarianism, Liberty, and enlightenment that arose out of the Reformation and the Publication of the King James Bible was a great religious awakening in the doctrines of St Paul… and it was in this great movement of the spirit of charity and humanity which brought about the Anti slavery movements in Brittan and America. The Christian Protestant realising that Negroe Slavery was against the Spirit of Christ, and that Negroes had Full Rights and dignity as Human beings in God’s eyes, and that they were in fact ‘Family’.
The Negroes in Western civilization ought to be grateful for that period of Christian awakening… it came in the nick of time because had Darwin’s ideas of race had been developed one hundred years earlier they would never have been liberated!
The truth is that Darwinism was responsible for ending this period of enlightenment and humanity!
It is also easy to perceive the roll it has played ever since… in Racial conflict and inhumanity.
The records of 20th century Atheist Socialism are the Bloodiest in the whole of human history!
Not only was the Holocaust against the Jew the implementation of Social Darwinism, likewise was Himmler’s ambitions to create ‘a master race’…. Read…. Historic Photos Show The Third Reich’s Evil Attempt To Create A “Master Race”
How is it that today millions of people foolishly believe that Darwinism saved mankind from evil religious values? How can the be so ignorant as to not understand that Darwinism was responsible for all of the Nazi doctrines and ambitions for world domination?
How is it that the dark secrets of Darwinian Philosophy in action have been hidden from the masses?
How many people who worship Darwin today even know what the Racist subtitle to his book is?
How is it that in the light of what Darwinism has achieved that Pretentious Bastards like Richard Dawkins Dare to hold up Darwin like a Saint, and condemn Christianity and their God for their barbarity?
And why … for goodness sakes would so many Christian concur with the vile rantings of such False teachers… and forsake the teachings of the Bible… which are both scientifically accurate and morally pure , and embrace this de humanizing philosophy which renders mankind down to an Ape… nay down to a colony of germs?
Evolution is one Great Big Fat Dirty Lie!
Satan Laughing spreads his wings
Tim Wikiriwhi.
Darwin, like many evolutionists, believed that some hominids developed larger brains faster, leaving others behind. The most advanced species (in the evolutionist’s evolved brain at least) was a 19th-century European gentleman who was supposedly far more evolved than an Australian Aborigine. This revolutionary, evolutionary idea added fuel to racist thinking and vice versa.
Quotes from Darwins Body Snatchers
“Pickled Aboriginal brains were also in demand, to try to prove that they were inferior to those of whites. It was Darwin, after all, who wrote that the civilized races would inevitably wipe out such lesser-evolved ‘savage’ ones.”
“Good prices were being offered for such specimens. There is no doubt from written evidence that many of the ‘fresh’ specimens were obtained by simply going out and killing the Aboriginal people. The way in which the requests for specimens were announced was often a poorly disguised invitation to do just that. A death-bed memoir from Korah Wills, who became mayor of Bowen, Queensland in 1866,4 graphically describes how he killed and dismembered a local tribesman in 1865 to provide a scientific specimen.”
Update. 23-7-12. A friend posted me an interesting link on facebook.
It says Darwin’s first hand experience of South American slavery appalled him, yet as the following Quotes show Darwin’s cold ‘scientific’ rationale… and that he formulated his Evolutionary theory purposefully to accommodate and even vindicate Slavery… as Natural to the survival of ‘the strong’… and trump any contrary Conscience…
Darwin made comments upon Observation of the behavior of Ants…
“I loiter for hours in the Park & amuse myself by watching the Ants: I have great hopes I have found the rare Slave-making species & have sent a specimen to Brit. Mus. to know whether it is so.”9,10
“I had such a piece of luck at Moor Park: I found the rare Slave-making Ant, & saw the little black niggers in their master’s nests.”11
“I have had some fun here in watching a slave-making ant; for I could not help rather doubting the wonderful stories, but I have now seen a marauding party, & I have seen a migration from one nest to another of the slave-makers, carrying their slaves (who are house & not field niggers) in their mouths”12
In his Origin of Species, Darwin devotes several pages to what he called the “slave-making instinct”.13 He refers to the ant species Formica (Polyerges) rufescens (of Switzerland that he had read about)14 and Formica sanguinea (the one he observed in southern England), both of which make slaves of the ant species F. fusca. Darwin begins by “doubting the truth of so extraordinary and odious an instinct as that of making slaves” (p. 220). Then after giving his own observations he says: “Such are the facts … in regard to the wonderful instinct of making slaves” (p. 223).
Darwin then suggests that
“the habit of collecting pupae15 for food might by natural selection be strengthened and rendered permanent for the very different purpose of raising slaves. When the instinct was once acquired … I can see no difficulty in natural selection increasing and modifying the instinct—always supposing each modification to be of use to the species—until an ant was formed as abjectly dependent on its slaves as is the Formica rufescens.” (p. 224). “ … it is far more satisfactory to look at such instincts as … ants making slaves … not as specially endowed or created instincts, but as small consequences of one general law, leading to the advancement of all organic beings, namely, multiply, vary, let the strongest live and the weakest die” (pp. 243–244).
a href=”http://blog.eternalvigilance.me/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/evil.jpg”>
Is this a legitimate evaluation of The God of Israel and Chriatianity?
After having a short discussion with my fellow Blogger Richard Goode (in the ‘Comments’ of Part 2) I realized that I will not be able to wind up this topic in three parts.
I need to take the time now to clarify several important points about what I hope to achieve, and then move forward.
The primary purpose of these blog posts under the heading ‘How can a Good God exist when there is so much evil in the world’… is to present to you how I deal with this issue as a *Dispensationalist King James Bible believer*
In the process of doing so I hope to show you that it is possible to *trust the scriptures*, and this is a completely different approach to the problem than how many Christians choose to deal with it. Ie Their solution is simply to tear out portions of the scriptures that in their opinion are incompatible with the idea of a Good and loving God.
In my view this is not only an unnecessary retreat which represents a victory for atheism and unbelief, but is also that most gross Human folly….Idol making… Man fashioning God to suit his own ideas!
This is to turn the Universe upside down and makes a mockery of Religion.
By this means they validate the atheist assertion that Religion is merely subjective whimsical Human fabrication.
Though the Bible expressly condemns the addition and subtraction of text (eg Rev22vs18,19)
as a heinous crime… nonetheless this is exactly what many people do! They think that by deleting and retranslating portions of the scripture whereby God visits mankind with harsh judgments that they are ‘helping God’… by sanitizing the bible from what they assume *Must be* corrupt additions and poor translations… on the authority of their own conscience.
They think that by this way they ‘save God’ from appearing a monster… and make ‘the Christian religion’ more agreeable to the sensitivities of mankind. Richard Goode Believes Hell in the Bible is a mistranslation for the grave. Matthew Flannagan Believes Old testament references to God ordering the genocide of the Canaanites to be merely Hyperbole.
Yet does This ‘Bible Doubters solution’ really work?
The answer is No!
Christians Burned.
I say you can piddle about rewriting the Bible as much as you like yet this does absolutely Zero in mitigating the very real evils and injustices suffered by mankind! And it is the existence of evil in the world which is the real challenge to the proposition that God is Good.
Ie Even if I were to grant Richard his assertion that hell is a mistranslation, that cannot alter the fact That God (if he exists) allows Hundreds of people, including children to be burned alive in fires every year.
One of the reasons I believe the Bible is God’s word is because it correlates with grim reality!
ie it’s not written like a fairy story in which ‘everyone lives happily ever after’
Ie it is not written like Richard would like it to be!
This adds weight to it’s objective crediblity!
The Bible is as ‘Raw’ as reality. And the God of the Bible is not simply an invented character…’a jolly nice old bloke’…yet he’s no Monster either. Yet still He is someone you had better take seriously!
“I believe in Spinoza’s God, Who reveals Himself in the lawful harmony of the world, not in a God Who concerns Himself with the fate and the doings of mankind.” A Einstein.
A common accusation against a Good and loving God is that it appears that he does not care about the evils going on ‘down here’ie the faithless believe he does not intervene when he ‘ought’, but allows people like Hitler to commit genocide…and get away with it.
Yet God as described in The Bible cares a great deal about sin and evil in the world… and justice! The faithless fail to appreciate that God *Did* bring an end to Hitler’s tyranny (death ends the evil works of us all), and the Bible teaches that even after physical death (which our spirit survives) we must face The judgment of God Almighty.
Ironically… because God cares a great deal about the morality of our deeds, and passes severe judgements upon them… this is then taken to mean God is a tyrant!… thus He’s Despised by Man ether way… Both for not caring and for caring too much!)
When considering the horrific realities which plauge mankind (which cannot simply be ‘deleted’ from our conscience as Richard so easily deletes hell from the scriptures) My Bible believers position on these things is thus:
*‘Things happen on Earth (like the Australian bush fires) which are not Gods will’*… yet he allows ‘reality’ to take its course.
And I argue this same principle holds good in respect to Damnation… “God is not willing that any should perish… though he allows reality to take it’s ‘natural’ course.
This does not mean he sits on his hands and watches.
The entire Bible is a testimony to God’s intervention to save mankind from Damnation… without removing mankind’s freewill moral agency.
It is important to understand that the God of the Bible is not insulated from the Human condition. Though it is true that in the process of creating a moral reality, he allows Murderers to work their evil upon mankind, Yet still he allowed morality to ‘take it’s course’… even when it was his *own son* whom was being murdered!
Thus He has not put mankind through anything he was not prepared to endure himself.
(The truth is God has had to endure All sin and evil… It is all against him!)
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perrish, but have everlasting life” (John 3vs 16)
2000 years ago God stepped into history, and meekly made a voluntary offer to End Human tyranny and oppression, and set up a completely just government under ‘The Prince of Peace’ … yet he was rejected!
*Contemplate this for a moment*
God did not impose himself upon Mankind but gave him a choice.
All the misery of the past 2000 years could have been avoided, yet Mankind loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were Evil.
What more when God stepped in he took upon himself the punishment for all mans Sins, so that he might be able to forgive every single person whom wanted to be saved from damnation… without denying Justice, or negating our Freewill moral agency.
Though it is God’s will that everyone receives salvation, yet still he does not impose his will upon us or reality.
All this shows that God is not desirous to torture anyone in hell.
It also shows that God is not indifferent to the misery and evils we suffer.
It also shows God’s utter integrity and objectivity, and respect for us his creation… as freewill moral agents. Ie He respects us to the degree that he will allow us to damn ourselves rather that force us to love and respect him.
These biblical truths destroys Richards assumptions that If hell is real God *must be* a Heartless Monster.
And the Work of Christ changes everything.
The sin that Damns the soul is not pick pocketing, not looking at Porn, But the Rejection of Christs work on the Cross…and rebellion against God.
Those lost souls whom end up in outer darkness will be free to curse God for eternity. They will never have to look at his face. Yet they will be in such a circumstance where their evil and malicious hearts can cause no further harm or chaos. They will be miserable because they will know that they forsook the Loving God who made them, and that they put themselves there!
Having lived ungreatful lives never giving thanks to God for the many blessings they enjoyed, they shall spend eternity with nothing.
And this will all be just.
It is at this point where I posit the Question: Was it possible for God to create Freewill moral agents capable of having a loving relationship with him… without making sin and evil, possible?
I think the answer to this question must be No!
Thus I ask you. Would you prefer to be an automation rather than a freewill moral agent? Understand that as a Robot you could never have a loving relationship… or even claim responsibility/ credit for your own thoughts and actions.
Furthermore God being sovereign it is *his right* to decide whether or not to create Free will Beings capable of Love and morality.
Insodoing he had to weigh up the cost/ benefits involved.
On the plus side he would have loving children to enjoy and share reality.
On the negative side Evil could become a reality, and some of his children could be damned.
That God chose to go ahead with creating such beings is self evident.
We exist.
I will leave one final passing word in respect to The Great judgement of God for Sin.
It is this. I think Richard is greatly mistaken to think that God must bare all the responciblity for the Damnation of anyone and everyone.
Responciblity primarily lies with the Individuals themselves and their choices, and furthermore God has placed a measure of responciblity in respect to the Salvation of the Lost upon us Christians!
We are under the moral Obligation to preach the Gospel of the grace of God to the lost. We are to be witnesses for the truth… ‘living epistles’ shining the light of Christ in this world of darkness. Thus I say it is ‘rich indeed’ to blame God for the Damnation of the Lost when we ourselves know the truth, yet fail to warn our friends, neigbours, and family.
St Paul says in Corinthians 1vs 21 “it pleased God by the Foolishness of preaching to save them which believe…”
And again in Romans (10vs 13-14)
“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?”
Thus I say to those people like Richard that if they are really serious about it being unconscionable to think that people might end up being Damned for Eternity (And I agree the proposition is frightful!), they ought to be like St Paul… ie be so burdened as to preach the gospel without ceasing… day and night! The gospel ought to be number 1 on their scale of importance!
Only when this is so can they look in the mirror and absolve themselves, believing they have fulfilled their Moral duty… which knowledge of such gravity demands.
Tim Wikiriwhi
In part 4 I will raise the question of what ground (if any) is there to stand upon whereby Men may condemn the judgements of Christian God?
I will discuss another verse from Leviticus which Richard does not like and propose an argument which may shock him. Ie That God’s theocracy is *not Libertarian!* …none the less Libertarianism is right for us today.
I will present some scriptural arguments which teach us to have faith in Gods word… even when/ esp when there are tuff things to swallow.
And I will start to develop the Bible story about The origin of evil.
If God exists, why doesn't He stop rapists from raping?Why doesn't He stop suicide bombers from bombing?Shay He has all the power?Abi is He indifferent?Then, why worship Him?Are these your questions?Dr Zacharias, by the Holy Spirit, doth answer thee.Watch.PS:Seated beside Daddy Ravi is Professor John Lennox, a British Mathematician, Philosopher of Science, Christian Apologist and Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford.God's gat people, mehn.God's gat people.?
Posted by Uju Okorie on Tuesday, February 16, 2016
NZ Fighters puts up some very interesting posts on their facebook feed.
Today they posted this picture and Quote:
“When man learns to respect even the smallest being of creation, whether animal or vegetable, nobody has to teach him to love his fellow man. Compassion for animals is intimately connected with goodness of character, and it may be confidently asserted that he who is cruel to animals cannot be a good man. “Albert Schweitzer”
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This is undeniably True.
Even when we must eat Animals …Even when we must exterminate them (destructive and dangerous Pests) we must never be cruel, but seek to dispatch them in as ‘humane’ a fashion as possible.
That these Pugilists put up such a post on their page is an excellent example of True Martial character.
It demonstrates the truth that Martial arts, and even Military Professionalism is not of necessity accompanied by a Brutish or Sadistic personality, but can and ought to be regulated by high morals…as opposed to the Love of violence for violence sake. The strong and powerful man ought also to be Meek, and a friend of the Lowly.
This is what distinguishes the likes of David Tua from thugs like Mike Tyson.
In war it distinguishes the honorable and truly heroic soldiers like Rommel, from the depraved and barbaric monsters like Chemical Ali. (Hey; I hope Tyson figures this out…maybe he has? The great truth is People can change for the better if they so wish!)
Getting back to the subject of having compassion for the lower creatures…
As a Christian I believe the value system of the Bible, whereby God gives Man Dominion over the Earth, and all the things therein. Ie They exist for our use, sustenance and enjoyment.
Thus the Bible places Mankind above the animals…but below the Almighty.
This being so does not mean we can abuse these blessings or make use of them to satisfy perverse lusts… like sadism.
The Bible teaches us to be dillegent gardners and to practice righteous Husbandry… these being examples of good character… Christ even being described as ‘The Good sheppard whom giveth his life for his sheep’.
This is the Christian ethic and heirachy of values.
It is important to understand that while we must never be cruel to animals, or reckless with the environment, we must take care never fall into the snare of de-valuing Humanity by valuing other creatures above Mankind.
Eg we ought to be prepared to sacrifice our most treasured animal companion should that be necessary to save a human life.
I post that warning because there is a very real Danger today due to the prevalence of ‘Earth worshipping’ ‘Anti-humanity’ philosophies… propagated by Atheists whom despise the ethics of Christianity and work like Transylvanian Gypsies for Dracula lobbying Governments around the globe to pass laws and prohibitions which sacrifice the wellbeing of Mankind to ‘the Goddess Earth Mother’… and this involves a perverse hierarchy of values the exact opposite to Christianity.
Radical Environmentalists consider Mankind a disease.
I have witnessed this hatred for mankind from Environmentalists whom think it is a virtue to go to war against humanity for the sake of some ‘endangered species’.
Take care never to be sucked into supporting such wicked Anti-freedom anti-humanity politics.
You don’t have to be a member of the Green party to care about the environment or to work for the preservation of species.
As a Libertarian I care a great deal about these things, yet I promote the pursuit of these noble goals via non-coercive means which do not involve oppressive Laws which violate the rights and liberties of Humanity.
Libertarianism is about instilling High values and personal ethics in the hope of raising the level of civilization via voluntarily action.
The Christian ought to realise this Libertarian modus opperandi is the perfect fit for the dissemination and practice of our faith which functions via voluntarily embraced and self-imposed duties and moral obligations.
The Christians whom support the Left/Right Green lobbyist organizations whom function via Political force are supporting an antichrist/ definitively Unchristian ideology… a ‘pseudo morality’ that is in direct competition with Christianity… A Cult Of Wolves in sheep’s clothing.
They are the Chumps of Christ hating atheists.
They walk in Darkness with the Lost.
They need to experience a Libertarian ‘intervention.’
Tim Wikiriwhi.
“The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God…”
(Psalm 14vs1)
“For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:”
(Rom 1vs20)
Every time I’ve written ten mainstream papers, I allow myself to indulge in writing one wacky one, like my Scientific American article about parallel universes. This is because I have a burning curiosity about the ultimate nature of reality; indeed, this is why I went into physics in the first place. So far, I’ve learned one thing in this quest that I’m really sure of: whatever the ultimate nature of reality may turn out to be, it’s completely different from how it seems. So I feel a bit like the protagonist in the Truman Show, the Matrix or the 13th Floor trying to figure out what’s really going on.
