The piece took up two pages in the Wall Street Journal. Three inch high bold letters announced the debate: "Man vs. God."
In Man's corner we had famed evolutionist and atheist Richard Dawkins, best selling author of numerous books including "The God Delusion." His piece described how evolution was "the most beautiful production that the laws of physics have ever generated." He believes life emerged from an inanimate universe made of "rocks and sand, gas clouds and stars..." and developed into "kangaroo(s), bat(s),dolphin(s),and Redwood(s)" while never violating the laws of physics. His theories - which don't ring true when you look at them closely - eliminate God as a player.
Representing God in the opposing corner was Karen Armstrong, a religion writer whose latest book is "The Case for God." Her response was firm, concise and to the point. She set the tone with her first line, "Richard Dawkins has been right all along, of course..." and proceeded to agree with him right down the line.
She claims that "Darwin showed there could be no proof for God's existence" and that religion is "...a kind of art form that, like music or painting, introduces us to a mode of knowledge that is different from the purely rational. At its best, it holds us in an attitude of wonder...not unlike the awe that Mr. Dawkins experiences - and has helped me to appreciate - when he contemplates the marvels of natural selection."
With friends like this, who needs enemies?
Say the Theory of Evolution is correct. Does it really preclude God's existence? Look at what Dawkins and Armstrong admit to believing. First, they think laws of physics made the universe. If you're going down that road, you might ask how something intangible (rules) created something tangible (everything physical). Offhand, I can't think of any examples where this happens. And even if this were possible, who formulated the rules?
They also believe life arose from an inanimate universe. It's beyond mathematical probability for all of the elements for life to have randomly assembled. And even if they did wind up in the same place at the same time, the problem of investing this collection of matter with life would be left unsolved. Even Dawkins notes this in stating "if we didn't know about life we wouldn't believe it was possible." In other words, he'd believe that the generation of life is impossible. He only came up with his rationalizations because life does, in fact, exist and as an atheist he's compelled to offer some kind of non-God answer.
He also notes that "Darwinian evolution is the nonrandom survival of randomly varying coded information." The synonym for "nonrandom" is "planned." He doesn't say who did the planning: maybe the same magical laws of physics that created the universe out of nothing.
I'm no intellectual and our "debaters" could no doubt talk circles around me. But I do have common sense. This argument is about who's got the best answer to how the universe and life got started. Their scenarios - presented as serious alternatives to God - simply don't make enough sense to be taken seriously.
Believers see the organization of nature as the product of the creator who planned it. Albert Einstein, who didn't believe in a personal God, did believe in God the Creator. I guess he just wasn't sophisticated enough to subvert this conclusion by inventing rationalizations to deny His role.
Whether it's the creation of the universe or the generation of life, we're not discussing natural events. They're supernatural, and this makes them the work of God. Skeptics smugly regard the faithful as being small-minded, but the believer's worldview is expansive enough to conceive of God. Which side has the truly open mind?
God complements science by explaining things man cannot know otherwise. He gives us a holistic, sensible view of our existence that skeptics can never provide.
To receive notice when a new weekly post is up, please enter email address at www.triadpress.us/contactus
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
The Other Miracle on the Hudson
USAir Flight 1549 took off from LaGuardia Airport in mid-January, had both engines disabled by a flock of geese, and was expertly guided to a safe landing in the frigid Hudson River. Everyone - 155 people on board and all those on boats in the river - survived and Captain "Sully" Sullenberger instantly became an American hero. An unforgettable photo of the floating aircraft showed the passengers standing on the wing awaiting rescue. It was an amazing event that was dubbed "The Miracle on the Hudson."
Seven months later, Captain Jeremy Clark had a mid-air accident that didn't end as well. Clark was piloting a commercial helicopter carrying five Italian tourists when a private plane collided with it, dismembering both and crashing them into the Hudson. Eight people were killed as bystanders on shore witnessed it. No survivors, no heroes, no miracles.
Or were there?
Jonathan Morris is the parochial vicar at St. Patrick's Old Cathedral in Manhattan and was asked to minister to victim's families by the inter-faith Disaster Chaplaincy Services. Fr. Morris wrote of his experience in the Wall Street Journal.
He spent time with Jeremy Clark's fiancee, his immediate family and other relatives, and was struck by the way they handled the sudden loss of one they loved dearly. Their response was suffused with love for their lost husband-to-be, son and brother; thankfulness for the recovery teams that braved strong currents to complete their mission; and sympathy for the loved ones of the pilot and victims in the airplane, regardless of fault.
The family explained that "Jeremy would have wanted it like this." You see, he had drifted from faith but recently returned to God, writing a letter to Him that his fiancee shared. In part it read, "None of this could have happened without your intervention. The improbable has become a reality. Thank you for all that I have in my life. I am blessed."
Fr. Morris has seen agitated responses to untimely death. As he put it, it's "as if in every crevice of the heart where we don't cultivate love....anger, fear, recrimination and self-pity seep in and take hold." He feels the difference is humility: the knowledge that we're not the center of the universe but that we exist among other realities, starting with a God who "knows us, loves us and wants the best for us."
Self-centered people are overwhelmed by personal tragedy because it's all about them. And when they suffer loss, it has more gravity for two main reasons. First, they believe the deceased is gone forever. Second, their personal universe is limited because it doesn't include God. A tragedy is more devastating because it plays a bigger part in a smaller world.
When things like this happen it's hard to know the reason. But Christians believe that God allows these things to happen (not makes them happen) in an imperfect world and that His "response to our pain....will bring forth a greater good out of every instance of evil and suffering."
God has a long-term plan and how we fit into it is often unclear. But sometimes it's possible to glimpse into it, even in an apparently senseless event like this. The peace, forgiveness and absence of recrimination exhibited by Jeremy's family may be the one striking lesson from it. The strength that enabled the Morrises to act so gracefully was God's response to their pain.
To receive notice when a new weekly post is up, please enter email address at www.triadpress.us/contactus
Seven months later, Captain Jeremy Clark had a mid-air accident that didn't end as well. Clark was piloting a commercial helicopter carrying five Italian tourists when a private plane collided with it, dismembering both and crashing them into the Hudson. Eight people were killed as bystanders on shore witnessed it. No survivors, no heroes, no miracles.
Or were there?
Jonathan Morris is the parochial vicar at St. Patrick's Old Cathedral in Manhattan and was asked to minister to victim's families by the inter-faith Disaster Chaplaincy Services. Fr. Morris wrote of his experience in the Wall Street Journal.
He spent time with Jeremy Clark's fiancee, his immediate family and other relatives, and was struck by the way they handled the sudden loss of one they loved dearly. Their response was suffused with love for their lost husband-to-be, son and brother; thankfulness for the recovery teams that braved strong currents to complete their mission; and sympathy for the loved ones of the pilot and victims in the airplane, regardless of fault.
The family explained that "Jeremy would have wanted it like this." You see, he had drifted from faith but recently returned to God, writing a letter to Him that his fiancee shared. In part it read, "None of this could have happened without your intervention. The improbable has become a reality. Thank you for all that I have in my life. I am blessed."
Fr. Morris has seen agitated responses to untimely death. As he put it, it's "as if in every crevice of the heart where we don't cultivate love....anger, fear, recrimination and self-pity seep in and take hold." He feels the difference is humility: the knowledge that we're not the center of the universe but that we exist among other realities, starting with a God who "knows us, loves us and wants the best for us."
Self-centered people are overwhelmed by personal tragedy because it's all about them. And when they suffer loss, it has more gravity for two main reasons. First, they believe the deceased is gone forever. Second, their personal universe is limited because it doesn't include God. A tragedy is more devastating because it plays a bigger part in a smaller world.
When things like this happen it's hard to know the reason. But Christians believe that God allows these things to happen (not makes them happen) in an imperfect world and that His "response to our pain....will bring forth a greater good out of every instance of evil and suffering."
God has a long-term plan and how we fit into it is often unclear. But sometimes it's possible to glimpse into it, even in an apparently senseless event like this. The peace, forgiveness and absence of recrimination exhibited by Jeremy's family may be the one striking lesson from it. The strength that enabled the Morrises to act so gracefully was God's response to their pain.
To receive notice when a new weekly post is up, please enter email address at www.triadpress.us/contactus
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Exit the Lion
I'm from Western Massachusetts and have a long memory of Ted Kennedy. Several months after JFK's assassination, he was a passenger on a twin-engine plane that crashed at a local airport. Two people were killed and Kennedy was dragged out by another victim. When medical help arrived he barely had a pulse and was fortunate to have been left with "only" chronic back problems. I was 12 years-old but still remember pictures of the wreck and being amazed anyone survived it.
Teddy went on to live a checkered life promoting a liberal agenda in the U.S. Senate. He achieved success by mastering the issues, negotiating with his Republican rivals and convincing his allies that half a loaf was better than none. His affable, incremental approach over a 47 year career resulted in major changes in America and earned him the moniker "Lion of the Senate." Agree with him or not, his ability to move an agenda was impressive.
He also had a dark side and recounting it would just belabor the point. No matter how much you supported his politics, it was impossible to justify some of his behavior.
What's a Christian to make of the all this?
Conservative columnist Cal Thomas, a Christian friend of Ted's, was asked,"bottom line, (was) Senator Kennedy a good man?" His answer: "Only God is good, the rest of us are sinners." Thomas went on to write, "it is not hypocritical to care for someone who behaves badly. In fact, it is the height of love to do so because you want him to have a changed life and attitude that will help him behave better for his own sake and that of his family."
None of us is perfect, and it's not our place to judge others. Ted Kennedy has met his maker, and this is where judgment takes place. No one - except he and God - knows what was in his heart and it's up to God to weigh his life.
The rest of us haven't got the information, ability or right to pass judgment. And we've got plenty on our plates just trying to manage our own lives without trying to divine Ted Kennedy's recompense.
To receive notice when a new weekly post is up, please enter email address at www.triadpress.us/contactus
Teddy went on to live a checkered life promoting a liberal agenda in the U.S. Senate. He achieved success by mastering the issues, negotiating with his Republican rivals and convincing his allies that half a loaf was better than none. His affable, incremental approach over a 47 year career resulted in major changes in America and earned him the moniker "Lion of the Senate." Agree with him or not, his ability to move an agenda was impressive.
He also had a dark side and recounting it would just belabor the point. No matter how much you supported his politics, it was impossible to justify some of his behavior.
What's a Christian to make of the all this?
Conservative columnist Cal Thomas, a Christian friend of Ted's, was asked,"bottom line, (was) Senator Kennedy a good man?" His answer: "Only God is good, the rest of us are sinners." Thomas went on to write, "it is not hypocritical to care for someone who behaves badly. In fact, it is the height of love to do so because you want him to have a changed life and attitude that will help him behave better for his own sake and that of his family."
None of us is perfect, and it's not our place to judge others. Ted Kennedy has met his maker, and this is where judgment takes place. No one - except he and God - knows what was in his heart and it's up to God to weigh his life.
The rest of us haven't got the information, ability or right to pass judgment. And we've got plenty on our plates just trying to manage our own lives without trying to divine Ted Kennedy's recompense.
To receive notice when a new weekly post is up, please enter email address at www.triadpress.us/contactus
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Stairway to Heaven
The staircase was wide and made of stone. If you craned your neck, you could look up at the sixty-foot high ceiling of the Great Hall and grasp its enormity. If you looked around, you found yourself in a sea of hundeds upon hundreds of others who wanted the same thing you did. You all wanted to get in.
Everyone was lined up for the first test to determine whether the "Golden Door" would open for them. When it was your turn, an examiner slipped a tool - sometimes a buttonhook, sometimes a hairpin, other times just a finger - under your eyelids and turned them inside out. If the inner eyelid was inflamed, indicating a contagious infection of trachoma - a cause of blindness and death - you were sent away and forbidden to climb the stairway.
Those who passed were screened as they climbed the steps and categorized by the watchers. If you had trouble breathing your jacket was marked with a "P" for "physical and lungs" in blue chalk. If you stumbled or had a limp your letter was "L" for "lameness." Wandering in a confused state would earn you an "X," indicating a feeble mind. A circled "X" was for definite signs of mental defect. Those with letters were pulled out of line.
The stairs opened into the Great Hall where you were queued in a maze of railings for hours. At the end of the line each individual approached his questioner, who was seated at a high desk. This was the applicant's personal judge, and you had to convince him you were socially, economically and morally fit for entry. A wrong answer would bring out the blue chalk and the letters "SI" for "special inquiry" were marked on your lapel. Then you were pulled out of line, at the last minute, to await interrogation by the Board of Special Inquiry.
Correct answers earned the entry of your name into a ledger, and you were allowed in. Allowed into a country you believed had streets paved with gold. Reality struck quickly: as one Italian immigrant put it, "Not only were the streets not paved with gold, they weren't paved at all. And we were expected to do the paving." Even so, compared to the poverty, lack of freedom and dearth of opportunity in the old country, making it through Ellis Island was a chance to experience heaven on earth.
There is a real heaven, but the entry requirements aren't as intimidating and the reward is infinitely greater than any "heaven on earth." Admission is based on your belief in the deity of Christ, that he died to atone for your personal sins, and your repentance for your sins. The reward is an eternal life devoid of tears.
The simple requirements for ascending the real stairway to heaven are regarded as foolish by those who deliberately ignore the message. It's hard to believe, but true, that they prefer to roam hopelessly with blue chalk letters on their coats rather than accept the gift of a peaceful eternity with God.
To receive notice when a new weekly post is up, please enter the email address at www.triadpress/contactus
Everyone was lined up for the first test to determine whether the "Golden Door" would open for them. When it was your turn, an examiner slipped a tool - sometimes a buttonhook, sometimes a hairpin, other times just a finger - under your eyelids and turned them inside out. If the inner eyelid was inflamed, indicating a contagious infection of trachoma - a cause of blindness and death - you were sent away and forbidden to climb the stairway.
Those who passed were screened as they climbed the steps and categorized by the watchers. If you had trouble breathing your jacket was marked with a "P" for "physical and lungs" in blue chalk. If you stumbled or had a limp your letter was "L" for "lameness." Wandering in a confused state would earn you an "X," indicating a feeble mind. A circled "X" was for definite signs of mental defect. Those with letters were pulled out of line.
The stairs opened into the Great Hall where you were queued in a maze of railings for hours. At the end of the line each individual approached his questioner, who was seated at a high desk. This was the applicant's personal judge, and you had to convince him you were socially, economically and morally fit for entry. A wrong answer would bring out the blue chalk and the letters "SI" for "special inquiry" were marked on your lapel. Then you were pulled out of line, at the last minute, to await interrogation by the Board of Special Inquiry.
Correct answers earned the entry of your name into a ledger, and you were allowed in. Allowed into a country you believed had streets paved with gold. Reality struck quickly: as one Italian immigrant put it, "Not only were the streets not paved with gold, they weren't paved at all. And we were expected to do the paving." Even so, compared to the poverty, lack of freedom and dearth of opportunity in the old country, making it through Ellis Island was a chance to experience heaven on earth.
There is a real heaven, but the entry requirements aren't as intimidating and the reward is infinitely greater than any "heaven on earth." Admission is based on your belief in the deity of Christ, that he died to atone for your personal sins, and your repentance for your sins. The reward is an eternal life devoid of tears.
The simple requirements for ascending the real stairway to heaven are regarded as foolish by those who deliberately ignore the message. It's hard to believe, but true, that they prefer to roam hopelessly with blue chalk letters on their coats rather than accept the gift of a peaceful eternity with God.
To receive notice when a new weekly post is up, please enter the email address at www.triadpress/contactus
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
