Quote of the Week: Michael Reeves

Richard [of St. Victor: d. 1173] argued that if God were just one person, he could not be intrinsically loving, since for all eternity (before creation) he would have had nobody to love. If there were two persons, he went on, God might be loving, but in an excluding, ungenerous way. After all, when two persons love each other, they can be so infatuated with each other that they simply ignore everyone else—and a God like that would be very far from good news. But when the love between two persons is happy, healthy and secure, they rejoice to share it. Just so it is with God, said Richard. Being perfectly loving, from all eternity the Father and the Son have delighted to share their love and joy with and through the Spirit.

– Michael Reeves, Delighting in the Trinity (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic), 31.

The Genesis Creation Days and Christianity’s Two Books

Dr. T. David Gordon is one of my favorite biblical scholars and theologians. He serves as professor of religion and Greek at Grove City College in Pennsylvania. I was honored to have him as a special guest on two provocative Straight Thinking episodes. In the interview, Dr. Gordon critiques the calendar-day (or solar-day) interpretation of Genesis’ creation days and explains historic Christianity’s affirmation of the two books of Christian revelation (nature and Scripture).

• “Genesis Creation Days: An Interview with Dr. T. David Gordon, Part 1”
• “Genesis Creation Days: An Interview with Dr. T. David Gordon, Part 2”

Dr. Gordon’s paper on the Genesis creation days (and many other topics) can be found here: http://www.tdgordon.net/theology/.

Quote of the Week: C. S. Lewis

Christianity is almost the only one of the great religions which thoroughly approves of the body—which believes that matter is good, that God Himself once took on a human body, that some kind of body is going to be given to us even in Heaven and is going to be an essential part of our happiness, our beauty, and our energy.

– C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996), 91.

 

RTB Super-Scholar Heroes in the Battle of Fallacies

News Flash—Glendora, CA, USA

A climactic battle broke out today between two RTB super-scholar heroes—Fuz-Lightyear-Rana and Logic-Samples-Man! The dispute was over which super-scholar possesses the greater inherent powers of manipulative persuasion.

Fuz-Lightyear-Rana launched a preemptive strike that seemed intoxicatingly convincing. Hot air and informal logical fallacies immediately filled the room and fuzzy thinking reigned supreme.

Yet Logic-Samples-Man fought back valiantly, unleashing his arsenal of equivocation, obfuscation, and ad hominem. Red herrings filled the sea and straw men walked the earth.

The amazing result of this explosive encounter was that neither RTB super-scholar convinced the other of his inherent manipulative persuasion. It appears that a cold-war standoff between Fuz-Lightyear-Rana and Logic-Samples-Man remains.

Observers of the historic super-scholar hero clash felt passionately ambivalent and agnostic about just who was victorious in this monumental conflict. Evidence was suppressed, causes were oversimplified, and generalizations left hasty. But this confusion and ambiguity could have been avoided if the super-scholar heroes had abided by the intellectual virtue and core principles of sound reasoning. Critical thinking filters the constant dangers of propaganda, wishful thinking, and fallacies.

Perhaps the RTB super-scholar heroes should bulk up their persuasive abilities with a little Logic 101.

Quote of the Week: Robert Letham

It is a mark of Christian maturity to be able to learn from those with whom we disagree on this or that.

– Robert Letham, Through Western Eyes (Mentor: UK, 2007), 271.

Psalm 104: A Poetic View of Creation

Here I present an article by my RTB colleagues, Krista Bontrager and Fazale Rana–excerpted from their latest booklet, Psalm 104: In Wisdom You Made Them All, available from reasons.org in May.

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While you may not have noticed the connection with Genesis 1, Psalm 104 offers a poetic meditation on key themes presented in the first chapter of the Bible. Psalm 104 also presents a unique parallel passage to Genesis 1. In some cases it offers a broader description of the events that transpired on certain creation days.

It’s important to note, however, that a connection between Psalm 104 and Genesis 1 does not imply that all the events described in Psalm 104 took place in the distant past. The psalmist engages in a back-and-forth rhythm—toggling between the creation days of Genesis 1 and his current observations of the creation. For example, Psalm 104:7–9 discusses events that correspond to creation day 3 in the Genesis 1 chronology, followed immediately (in verses 10–13) by events that correspond to days 5 and 6, when animals and humans were created. This pattern results in a few moments of mingling between the creation story and the psalmist’s contemporary observations.

This back-and-forth nature of the poem makes interpreting the passages complicated at times, but it also adds value. Psalm 104 communicates certain information that is not well developed in Genesis 1––namely, God’s purposeful, progressive plan of creation. Each of God’s creative acts establishes the necessary conditions on Earth to allow for a subsequent act of creation. That is, what God did on creation day 2 sets the stage for what God did later, on creation days 3, 4, 5, and 6.

The relationship between Genesis 1 and Psalm 104 might be compared to the dual accounts of the Hebrews leaving Egypt as recorded in Exodus 14 and 15. Exodus 14 records the crossing of the Red Sea as a historical narrative. Exodus 15 provides a poetic account of the same event. Both are accurate, inspired by God, and true. Both genres—historical narrative and poetry—bring us God’s Word, but in a different literary format.

Next time you’re enjoying the great outdoors, hiking, fishing, or relaxing on the beach, take a few moments to reflect on the wonders around you. Creation isn’t merely something to be admired for its beauty. It stands as a reminder to mediate on God’s creation and the power of God’s kingship over everything (Psalm 103:19, 22), including our sin and struggles.

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By Krista Kay Bontrager with Fazale Rana

Krista Kay Bontrager is the Dean of Online Learning at Reasons to Believe. She is a teacher at heart and enjoys teaching the Bible to all ages. She has an MA in theology and another in Bible exposition from Talbot School of Theology.

Fazale Rana is the Vice President of Research and Apologetics at Reasons to Believe. He is the author of several groundbreaking books, including Creating Life in the Lab and The Cell’s Design. He holds a PhD in chemistry with an emphasis in biochemistry from Ohio University.

Quote of the Week: David K. Naugle

Using current psychological jargon to describe his [Augustine of Hippo] background, a prima facie reading of his Confessions reveals that he grew up in a dysfunctional family, suffered through a childhood of unhappiness, was prone to theft and dishonesty, abhorred study and formal education, was virtually addicted to sex and food, enjoyed the life of the theatre and cabaret, studied off-beat philosophies and religions, and for a time was a single parent. His life was unquestionably disordered, and like many of our contemporaries, he found himself on a restless course in search of healing and happiness.

— David K. Naugle, “St. Augustine’s Concept of Disordered Love and It’s Contemporary Application,” March 12, 1993, http://www3.dbu.edu/naugle/pdf/disordered_love.pdf.

Global Warming Guidelines in the Book of Job

Today I invite you to read this post by my colleague, astronomer and author Hugh Ross.

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Based on chapter 4 from my book Hidden Treasures in the Book of Job.

Yesterday, in commemoration of Earth Day, Climate Central released an “interactive graphic that shows a state-by-state analysis of temperature trends.” According to their graphic, the rates in the US have continued to increase since the first Earth Day took place in 1970. This news will no doubt spark questions about global warming—questions I am often asked to address while at speaking engagements.

In this emotionally charged atmosphere, my approach is to take the discussion in an unexpected direction. I point out that the Bible’s oldest book offers the best prescription for maintaining global climatic stability. I further surprise people by stating that the recommendations offered in Job require no sacrifice of either ethics or economics. I like to remind everyone that Job is a book for all time, including our time. This ancient revelation speaks to the science-faith issues of today and tomorrow as well.

• Job 38: Focus on precipitation. In these passages we read that God exquisitely designed precipitation levels to provide an optimal environment for Earth’s life. The implication seems clear: we should address climate crises first by correcting whatever damage we have caused to Earth’s precipitation patterns. For example, shrinking the Sahara and Gobi deserts (by planting vegetation, for example) would be an economic boost for Africa, Europe, and Asia and would soak up a fair amount of greenhouse gases.
• Job 39: Look to the animals. This passage includes a list of bird and mammal species that may seem random at first glance and yet, on closer examination, clearly proves otherwise. Each of the creatures listed once played a unique and significant role in the launch of civilization. The ostrich, for one, can help us again. Ostrich farming as a replacement for beef would eliminate much of the gases produced by cows.

The book of Job highlights the theme that God has marvelously designed the universe, Earth, and all its life in such a way as to harmonize ethics and economics. When we humans face a crisis or dilemma that appears to force a choice between ethics and economics, we can be sure God has provided a way to respond that compromises neither. Through the book of Job, God calls humanity to resist the temptation of quick fixes, particularly those that demand either a breach of ethics or loss of economic stability. This exhortation applies at all levels—global, national, regional, municipal, and familial.

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By Hugh Ross

Reasons to Believe emerged from Hugh’s passion to research, develop, and proclaim the most powerful new reasons to believe in Christ as Creator, Lord, and Savior and to use those new reasons to reach people for Christ. Read more…

Resource: For more on the book of Job’s relevance to scientific questions of past and present, check out Hidden Treasures in the Book of Job, available in the RTB web store.

Quote of the Week: C. S. Lewis

Nothing about us except our neediness is, in this life, permanent.

— C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves (San Diego: Harcourt, Inc., 1960), 33.

April Podcast Highlight

In addition to Reflections, I also discuss critical thinking, reason, logic, and current issues in light of the historic Christian worldview on my podcast, Straight Thinking, along with my Reasons to Believe (RTB) colleague Dave Rogstad and podcast host Joe Aguirre. In case you missed them, here are some episode highlights from the past several weeks.

“Jesus and Judaism: An Interview with Dr. Michael Brown” – Hebrew scholar and prolific author Michael Brown joins us in studio to talk about the nature of modern Judaism and its relationship with Christianity.

“Faith and Medicine: An Interview with Physician Perry Santos” –Perry Santos, a friend of RTB, answers questions about the ways in which his Christian worldview influences his medical practice. We also discuss the relationship between our physical bodies––with a great description from his physician’s perspective on the design of our bodies––and spiritual lives, the difficulty of pain and suffering, and Dr. Santos’ own journey of faith and involvement with RTB.

“Fear of Religion” – Do some naturalists fear that religion may be true? This is the question we explore on this podcast episode. We talk about the rational and nonrational (though not necessarily irrational) factors that shape the reasons we hold to our worldviews, be they theistic or nontheistic. In particular, we focus on the writing of Thomas Nagel, a distinguished American atheist philosopher and professor of law at New York University.

“Why All Religions Can’t Lead to God” – Religious pluralism, the idea that all faiths are equally true, is a popular outlook these days––as demonstrated by the film (and book) Life of Pi. But when examined in light of the major differences between the world religions and sound logic, pluralism falls far short of being a viable perspective. We discuss the pitfalls of this much-admired opinion.

You can also catch me on I Didn’t Know That!, an RTB podcast where the scholars give unscripted answers to listener questions and provide practical apologetics and evangelism tips.