The amazing fact of Evolution is the miracle that non-thinking nature has generated intelligent beings.
Einstein once said that, "The most incomprehensible fact of nature is the fact that nature is comprehensible,"
It would require a miracle to have such a development, not only of the evolution of intelligence, but intelligibility, by random processes from non-thinking atoms.
Another amazing fact comes from Dr. Lewis Thomas, Chancellor of Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, "We have no idea how our brain produces awareness."
Monday, February 20, 2012
Friday, February 17, 2012
Moral people recognize it
By forgetting what our Founding Fathers devised and why, we have been allowing ourselves to be seduced by a desire to seize the rights and property of others.
Our Constitution has in it, safeguards against such desire and can keep a moral country united and prosperous.
Envy and coveting are the weapon of choice for collectivists. By encouraging envy, an authoritarian elite can be elevated to power with thunderous applause.
That is unless, as a nation we come to our senses and recognize this oft repeated pattern of failure of man.
Communism, Nazism, Islam, French Revolution, Rome, Greece, Adam and Eve, go back as far as you wish.
Envy and covetousness are Europe's problem today. And they are what is being exported to us.
Moral people recognize it.
Our Constitution has in it, safeguards against such desire and can keep a moral country united and prosperous.
Envy and coveting are the weapon of choice for collectivists. By encouraging envy, an authoritarian elite can be elevated to power with thunderous applause.
That is unless, as a nation we come to our senses and recognize this oft repeated pattern of failure of man.
Communism, Nazism, Islam, French Revolution, Rome, Greece, Adam and Eve, go back as far as you wish.
Envy and covetousness are Europe's problem today. And they are what is being exported to us.
Moral people recognize it.
Friday, December 23, 2011
Lord, how the heathen rage.
Non-Christians are profoundly offended by the doctrine of the Trinity.
This doctrine has long been the object of ridicule and scepticism by non-Christians and pseudo-Christians like Unitarians and Jehovah's Witnesses. It even confounds some true Christians who retreat into accepting the Trinity with only blind faith. Which is really laughable. Blind faith is not a rational defense.
First, the Trinity doesn't mean three gods. That concept is as irrational as any other polytheism, or pantheism either, for that matter.
Rightly understood, biblical Christianity explains the answer- even for modern man to be able to understand. Differing from the new theology of subjective and uncertain interpretations of the truth, it stands up to being rationally tested in lfe as we must live it.
The writers of Scripture said all things were designed to reveal the personality of God. Not in some pantheistic sense, but in the sense of an infinite and personal God who, on the order of the Trinity, created all else.
And! And that this biblical Godhead of Father, Son, and Spirit must be discernable in everything that is. That this Godhead must be plainly understood as much as each person is supremely aware of his own existence.
This simple understanding of Christianity's systematic answer takes us back first to the very beginning and then as it flows on to an end. As the writers have told us, the fundamental nature of the cosmos is smashingly compatable with the Triune God of the Bible. Each part of everything relates to each other part and to the whole, and finally to what existed first. And rather than contradicting this biblical doctrine, the cosmos has been a resounding witness.
Man has always recognized the intrinsic triune nature of the Space-Matter-Time universe. This universal experience always relates to just these three entities.
Modern science is still clearly that of a space-time-matter continuum with each of these three entities essential for the intrinsic character of the universe. One universe manifest in three essential elements.
Each equally and inseperably one. Lose any of the three essential elements or persons and it ceases to exist.
The physical universe is, by its very nature, the discernable evidence of its triune Creator. The continuum of space, matter, and time- where each is distinct and yet inseparable- reveal the triune character of God.
That's not all.
The three universals of the universe can also be described as trinities within themselves.
Space: can only be understood in the reality of its 3 dimensions- height, width, and depth.
Matter: is only understood by its three elements: mass, motion, and energy.
Time: by its past, present, and future.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Why? part III- A unity and diversity of existence
Previously on the Zacchaeus Letter:
The world is the way it is. Any answer to the problem of 'being' can never be an "irrational" answer, and must be discarded. It may be held in theory, but not in practice.
Theoretically, the first possible rational answer is that everything has come out of absolutely nothing.
The second possible answer for everything that exists is what an impersonal beginning may throw up, by chance, at just any time.
The third answer is that there is a personal beginning which can answer for everything.
We can nuance all three answers to find volumes of details to discuss; but in reality, these are really the only possible rational answers available.
With the personal answer, this personal beginning, is it God or gods?
--
Centuries before Christ, Plato wrote with the understanding that the existence of man is as difficult a problem as the problem that anything exists at all. He spoke of the need to have a personal beginning in order to answer for what is. He also knew, in order for anything to have any meaning or purpose, there needed to be absolutes.
The problem Plato had with the Greek gods was that they were not big enough to provide absolutes. They weren't a big enough reference point to be capable of answering for anything absolute or ideal.
In Greek literature the Fates sometimes seemed to be controlling the gods. But then, sometimes the gods seemed to be controlling the Fates. That was confusing. Because it meant that these gods were ultimately limited, and everything failed at this point. Limited gods are just too small and too insufficient to answer for any final truths- absolutes.
But Plato knew. He knew that the answer necessary to provide for absolutes, and for personal significance had to be big enough. It had to be the final answer.
Centuries after Christ, all the way into the 20th century, a noted philosopher, by the name of Jean-Paul Sartre, spoke similarly of man’s need for meaning and purpose. The need of an answer big enough. The need that could only be answered for with absolutes.
He put it this way:
If a finite point does not have an infinite reference point, the finite point is meaningless and absurd.
Second, Man being different.
Man has personality. Personality distinguishes him from non-man.
His being personal will be intrinsic to what he is and has always been.
Man needs to have an answer for what he observes of himself and knows to be: his personal unity and diversity.
Being personal means we are more than just a physical body. It means that we are mental and spiritual and physical beings. This is what man observes, and this is what his personality entails, a unity and diversity of existence. Man needs an answer for that problem of being more than just a physical body.
In Christianity there is an answer: the Trinity.
For aside from the Trinity, there is no other answer sufficient enough to answer for the problem of a personal unity and diversity of Being.
This isn’t abstract, nor is it some illusion. It is the only answer 'big' enough to answer man's need to solve the problem of Being and the personality of man..
The world is the way it is. Any answer to the problem of 'being' can never be an "irrational" answer, and must be discarded. It may be held in theory, but not in practice.
The final answer then must lie in the possible rational answers to the problem of 'something is there rather than nothing is there'. And there are only three of them.
Theoretically, the first possible rational answer is that everything has come out of absolutely nothing.
The second possible answer for everything that exists is what an impersonal beginning may throw up, by chance, at just any time.
The third answer is that there is a personal beginning which can answer for everything.
We can nuance all three answers to find volumes of details to discuss; but in reality, these are really the only possible rational answers available.
With the first possible answer, that 'everything is from nothing’, well... simply put, it's an argument that has never been sustained.
The second possible rational answer is that everything came by way of an impersonal, natural process only. Now, this "natural process" beginning reduces everything, including man, to some impersonal mass, that is affected only by time and accident, occurring in no particular order. As a result, nothing, no individual thing nor the totality of all things, would have any real significance. Man would have no more purpose or meaning than anything else would have.
The second possible rational answer is that everything came by way of an impersonal, natural process only. Now, this "natural process" beginning reduces everything, including man, to some impersonal mass, that is affected only by time and accident, occurring in no particular order. As a result, nothing, no individual thing nor the totality of all things, would have any real significance. Man would have no more purpose or meaning than anything else would have.
The last possible rational answer is that everything is from a personal beginning. This answers not only the problem of existence- for bare being and the complexities of meaning- but for man’s being different, with a personality that distinguishes him from non-man. With this answer, man and his aspirations can clearly be understood to be in concert with all that was originally there, with what has always been. Man, both collectively and individually, would have purpose and meaning.
With the personal answer, this personal beginning, is it God or gods?
--
The problem Plato had with the Greek gods was that they were not big enough to provide absolutes. They weren't a big enough reference point to be capable of answering for anything absolute or ideal.
In Greek literature the Fates sometimes seemed to be controlling the gods. But then, sometimes the gods seemed to be controlling the Fates. That was confusing. Because it meant that these gods were ultimately limited, and everything failed at this point. Limited gods are just too small and too insufficient to answer for any final truths- absolutes.
But Plato knew. He knew that the answer necessary to provide for absolutes, and for personal significance had to be big enough. It had to be the final answer.
Centuries after Christ, all the way into the 20th century, a noted philosopher, by the name of Jean-Paul Sartre, spoke similarly of man’s need for meaning and purpose. The need of an answer big enough. The need that could only be answered for with absolutes.
He put it this way:
If a finite point does not have an infinite reference point, the finite point is meaningless and absurd.
So, the answer for Being, with all its complexities, must by necessity be big enough. It must be limitless.
Second, Man being different.
Man has personality. Personality distinguishes him from non-man.
His being personal will be intrinsic to what he is and has always been.
Man needs to have an answer for what he observes of himself and knows to be: his personal unity and diversity.
Being personal means we are more than just a physical body. It means that we are mental and spiritual and physical beings. This is what man observes, and this is what his personality entails, a unity and diversity of existence. Man needs an answer for that problem of being more than just a physical body.
In Christianity there is an answer: the Trinity.
For aside from the Trinity, there is no other answer sufficient enough to answer for the problem of a personal unity and diversity of Being.
This isn’t abstract, nor is it some illusion. It is the only answer 'big' enough to answer man's need to solve the problem of Being and the personality of man..
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Why? part II- anything in particular
Previously on the Zacchaeus Letter:
Like Jean Paul Sartre said, the question is that something is there rather not being there.
We all have a world–view so, in that sense, we are all philosophers.
The answers for our existence must be logical and rational, as opposed to their being irrational.
At this point in rational argument, Christianity is not just an answer, but it is the only answer for what is.
---
Saying this, generally assures criticism:
But the basic concept is simple: God objectively exists in contrast to His not existing. Which, in reality, changes everything in the areas of:
existence,
morals, and
knowledge, in all of life.
We need to see that which is not abstract and that which is undeniably there.
As I spoke in the previous post, the great problem of beginning with the impersonal is that there’s no meaning or significance for any individual thing, any particular, nor any separate part of the whole. A rock and a man are both particulars.
Whether it is mass or space or energy, there would be no basic philosophic difference with which we begin. They are all just as equally impersonal. So then everything must be explained in terms of an impersonal, plus time, plus chance. There are no other factors to consider. And, ultimately, that means there's no design, meaning, or purpose in any natural phenomena.
We even must reduce personality to the impersonal. As a result, we’re being faced with some form of reductionism. Which is where everything is finally understood by reducing everything to its original factor, everything begins and ends as an energy particle, on a single note.
The problem of modern man is rather simple: he doesn’t know why he has any meaning. Man’s damnation today is that he can find no meaning for man. He’s a zero. He’s lost.
If we begin with the impersonal, how do we, or any other particular, have any meaning or significance? No one has given us a clue.
Often, it is at this point that some sort of pantheism is introduced into this impersonal beginning. But it’s only a semantic trick in order to solve the problem.
The very connotation of the root ‘theism’ introduces the personal into the equation, when what is meant is the impersonal.
In pantheism, there is no personal. Nature is god, and god is not personal. So, pantheism connotes the personal, but it isn’t. Thusly, pantheism becomes an illusion. The ancient religions of Hinduism and Buddhism are pantheistic. Their modern solutions are usually semantic illusions, and this is one of them.
Unfortunately, the form of pantheitic illusion that modern science has embraced reduces everything to an impersonal energy. Everything starts and ends with energy particles, there’s no variance.
One thing this pantheism does give us an answer for is our need for unity, for form. Yet, it's answer is devoid of meaning for diversity, unable to give any meaning for any individual thing. It has no answer for freedom or morality, much less: man's personality or his aspirations. There is none; because, everything in pantheism is finally equal.
Modern liberal and progressive theology, naturalistic science, along with the new mystical thought, is almost always pantheistic. Beginning with the impersonal, as the pantheist must do, there are no true answers in regard to existence with its complexity, or for the personality of man.
If everything, including man, were the result of nature only, the latest step in the process of natural selection, then there is nothing in his behavior that is not the continued results of natural selection, nature evolved. There would be no difference between right and wrong.
So, what does it mean to begin with that which is personal; the opposite of impersonal?
If we begin with the personal origin of all else, then man and his aspirations are not meaningless. Man’s aspirations in the reality of personality are in concert with what was originally there, and what has always intrinsically been. This is our answer, the solution not only to the problem of the existence of bare being and its complexity of meaning for the particulars- but also for man’s being different, with a personality, which distinguishes him from non-man.
But, when we begin to consider a personal beginning, we have another choice to make: God or gods?
Like Jean Paul Sartre said, the question is that something is there rather not being there.
We all have a world–view so, in that sense, we are all philosophers.
The answers for our existence must be logical and rational, as opposed to their being irrational.
At this point in rational argument, Christianity is not just an answer, but it is the only answer for what is.
---
But the basic concept is simple: God objectively exists in contrast to His not existing. Which, in reality, changes everything in the areas of:
existence,
morals, and
knowledge, in all of life.
We need to see that which is not abstract and that which is undeniably there.
As I spoke in the previous post, the great problem of beginning with the impersonal is that there’s no meaning or significance for any individual thing, any particular, nor any separate part of the whole. A rock and a man are both particulars.
Whether it is mass or space or energy, there would be no basic philosophic difference with which we begin. They are all just as equally impersonal. So then everything must be explained in terms of an impersonal, plus time, plus chance. There are no other factors to consider. And, ultimately, that means there's no design, meaning, or purpose in any natural phenomena.
We even must reduce personality to the impersonal. As a result, we’re being faced with some form of reductionism. Which is where everything is finally understood by reducing everything to its original factor, everything begins and ends as an energy particle, on a single note.
The problem of modern man is rather simple: he doesn’t know why he has any meaning. Man’s damnation today is that he can find no meaning for man. He’s a zero. He’s lost.
If we begin with the impersonal, how do we, or any other particular, have any meaning or significance? No one has given us a clue.
Often, it is at this point that some sort of pantheism is introduced into this impersonal beginning. But it’s only a semantic trick in order to solve the problem.
The very connotation of the root ‘theism’ introduces the personal into the equation, when what is meant is the impersonal.
In pantheism, there is no personal. Nature is god, and god is not personal. So, pantheism connotes the personal, but it isn’t. Thusly, pantheism becomes an illusion. The ancient religions of Hinduism and Buddhism are pantheistic. Their modern solutions are usually semantic illusions, and this is one of them.
Unfortunately, the form of pantheitic illusion that modern science has embraced reduces everything to an impersonal energy. Everything starts and ends with energy particles, there’s no variance.
One thing this pantheism does give us an answer for is our need for unity, for form. Yet, it's answer is devoid of meaning for diversity, unable to give any meaning for any individual thing. It has no answer for freedom or morality, much less: man's personality or his aspirations. There is none; because, everything in pantheism is finally equal.
Modern liberal and progressive theology, naturalistic science, along with the new mystical thought, is almost always pantheistic. Beginning with the impersonal, as the pantheist must do, there are no true answers in regard to existence with its complexity, or for the personality of man.
If everything, including man, were the result of nature only, the latest step in the process of natural selection, then there is nothing in his behavior that is not the continued results of natural selection, nature evolved. There would be no difference between right and wrong.
So, what does it mean to begin with that which is personal; the opposite of impersonal?
If we begin with the personal origin of all else, then man and his aspirations are not meaningless. Man’s aspirations in the reality of personality are in concert with what was originally there, and what has always intrinsically been. This is our answer, the solution not only to the problem of the existence of bare being and its complexity of meaning for the particulars- but also for man’s being different, with a personality, which distinguishes him from non-man.
But, when we begin to consider a personal beginning, we have another choice to make: God or gods?
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Why? part I- anything, anything at all
Why does anything exist?
The answer to this question is so foundational to the thoughts of man, that it colors everything else he thinks afterwards.
The question of "Being" takes us into very different views of the world, and shapes all of man's philosophic thought- that is: man's world-view of what is- metaphysics.
We cannot sidestep the fact that things do exist, and that they do exist in their present form and complexity. This problem we face... is the existence of what is- of Being.
All philosophies and religions deal with the same basic questions, even though they might give different answers and most likely those answers will be couched in different terms.
When I mention philosophy, it tends to make some people zone out. So, before anyone starts nodding off, allow me to briefly explain that philosophy has two meanings.
The first one is a disciplined, academic, and highly technical study. There're not many people on that planet.
The second is: a person’s world-view. That is universal in scope; everybody has a world-view. Eveyone has their own perspective on the world and tries to conform accordingly. No one can live without a world-view. So, no one is without- a philosophy. So, in that sense, all of us are philosophers.
Because both philosophy and religion deal with the same questions through their system of beliefs that are held to with ardor and faith, in that sense, we can also say- all of us are religious.
So, what philosophy can answer for what exists?
-
There’re only two kinds of answers to the metaphysical problem of Being. There’s no lack of variety within those two, but there are really only two kinds.
One answer says that there is no logical, rational answer for anything. That everything is meaningless. That nothing answers for anything, there’s no cause and effect relationship.
While the second answer says that there is a rational answer to consider. It is one we can communicate with each other about and to ourselves.
I shall only deal with the second answer for reasons I hope are so obvious it shouldn't really be necessary to explain. Should there be any questions about this. I'd be glad to address it further, if need be. Until then...
---
Under the concept of rational thought, there are only three possible rational answers to consider.
The first possible rational answer says: everything has come out of absolutely nothing. Theoretically, this is the first possible answer, even though no argument has ever been able to sustain it.
There are no other factors to consider. And within this impersonal beginning answer, there is no form of any teleological concept. ( Ref.: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/teleology )The great problem of beginning everything with the impersonal, is to find any meaning or purpose for any thing in particular, any individual factor. That is, any separate and individual part of the whole. A rock is a particular thing, and so is a man.
While an impersonal beginning can provide some answer for form, it can’t answer for things like freedom and morality.
Naturalistic science begins everything with the impersonal, with energy particles (or whether mass or motion, would make no difference)... plus time... plus chance. All are equally impersonal. As a result, they have no true answers for existence with its complexity, nor for the personality and aspirations of man.
The third possible answer is: a personal beginning. If we begin with the personal, then the personal does have meaning. And the personality and aspirations of man, and freedom, and morality, are not meaningless. The personal beginning puts man in line with the universe. With what was originally there, and what has always intrinsically been. This relationship is what is commonly known in the sciences as the laws of Cause and Effect.At this point, it is the Christian who has the needed answer.
-
Monday, December 27, 2010
Excerpt from the novel: BEN-HUR, by Lew Wallace
Christ is born
In ancient Judea, at a certain hour each evening, every Israelite stood and looked toward Jerusalem Temple
About midnight someone on the roof cried out, “What light is that in the sky? Awake, brethren, awake and see!”
The people, half asleep, sat up and looked; then they became wide-awake, though wonderstruck. And the stir spread to the court below. Soon the entire tenantry of the house and court enclosure were out gazing at the sky.
A ray of light, beginning at a height immeasurably beyond the nearest stars was dropping obliquely to the earth with its sides blending softly into the night darkness, its core a roseate splendor. It seemed to rest on the nearest mountain southeast of the town, making a pale corona on top of the summit. In its light, those upon the roof saw each other’s faces filled with wonder.
Steadily, the ray lingered, and wonder changed to awe and fear. The timid trembled, and the boldest spoke in whispers.
After that there was silence on the house-top, broken only once again as the mystery continued.
“Brethren!” exclaimed a Jew of venerable mien, “what we see is the ladder our father Jacob saw in his dream. Blessed be the Lord of our fathers!”
Two miles southeast of Bethlehem
At the side farthest from the town, close under a bluff, there was an extensive sheep shelter, ages old. The sheep-pen attached to it was of more importance to the shepherds who drove their charges thither, than the house itself.
On the morning of the night of the angels appearance, a number of shepherds seeking fresh walks for their flocks, led them up to this plain. When the sun at length went down, they led the way to the sheep shelter, and by nightfall had everything safe in the field. Then they kindled a fire down by the gate, partook of their supper, and sat down to rest and talk, leaving one of their number on watch.
The night, like most nights of the winter season in the hill country was clear, crisp, and sparkling with stars. There was no wind. The atmosphere seemed never so pure, and the stillness was more than silence; it was a holy hush, a warning that heaven was stooping low to whisper some good thing to the listening earth.
By the gate, hugging his mantle close, the watchman walked. The midnight was slow in coming to him, but at last it came. His watch was over; now for the dreamless sleep with which labor blesses its weary children. He moved toward the fire, but paused. A light was breaking around him, soft and white like the moons. As he waited breathlessly, things before invisible came to view. He could see the whole field and all it sheltered. A chill of fear smote him. He looked up. The stars were gone; the light was dropping as far from a window in the sky. I became a splendor; then in terror, he cried, “Awake, awake!”
Up sprang the dogs and howling, ran away. The men clambered to their feet, weapons in hand.
“What is it?” they asked in one voice.
“See!” cried the watchman, “The sky is on fire!”
Suddenly, the light became intolerably bright, and they covered their eyes and dropped upon their knees. Then, as their souls shrank from fear, they fell upon their faces, blind and fainting, and would have died had not a voice said to them:
“Fear not!”
And they listened.
“For behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people…”
The voice, in sweetness and soothing, was more than human, was low and clear and penetrated all their being, filling them with assurance. They rose upon their knees and, looking worshipfully, beheld in the center of a great glory the appearance of a man in a robe intensely white. Its hands were stretched toward them in blessing; its face was serene and divinely beautiful.
They had often heard and, in their simple way, talked of angels, and they doubted not now, but said in their hearts, “The glory of God is about us, and this he of old came to the prophet by the river Ulai.”
“…for unto you is born this day, in the city of David
Again there was a rest while the words sank into their minds.
“And this shall be a sign unto you,” the enunciator continued, “… Ye shall find the babe, wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.”
The herald spoke not again. His good tidings were told, yet he stayed for a while. Suddenly, the light of which he seemed the center, turned roseate and began to tremble, and up as far as men could see there was flashing of white wings, and coming and going of radiant forms, and voices as if from a great chorus:
“Glory to God in the highest; and on earth, peace, good will toward men.”
And the herald was gone.
When the shepherds came fully to their senses, they stared at each other stupidly, until one of them said,” It was Gabriel, the Lord’s messenger unto men.”
None answered.
“Christ the Lord is born, said he not so?”
Then another recovered his voice and replied, “That is what he said.”
“And did he not also say, in the city of David , which is our Bethlehem
“And lying in a manger?”
The first speaker gazed into the fire thoughtfully like one possessed of a sudden resolve.
He said, “There is but one place in Bethlehem
“But the flocks…?”
“The Lord will take care of them. Let us make haste.”
Then they all arose and left the sheep shelter.
Around the mountain and through the town they passed and came to the gate of the khan where there was a man on watch.
“What would you have?” he asked.
“We have seen and heard great things tonight,” they replied.
“Well, we too have seen great things, but heard nothing. What did you hear?”
“Let us go down to the cave in the enclosure, that we may be sure, then we will tell you everything. Come with us and see for yourself.”
“It’s a fool’s errand.”
“No! The Christ is born.”
“The Christ! How do you know?”
“Let us go and see first.”
The man laughed scornfully, “The Christ indeed! And how are you to know him?”
“He was born this night and is now lying in a manger, so we were told, and there is but one place in Bethlehem
“The cave?”
“Yes, come with us.”
They went through the courtyard without notice, although there were some up even then talking about the wonderful light. The door of the cavern was open. A lantern was burning within, and they entered quietly.
“I give you peace.” the watchman said to Joseph. “Here are people looking for a child born this night, whom they are to know by finding him in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.”
For a moment, the face of the stolid Nazarene was moved. Turning away, he said, “The child is here.”
They were led to one of the mangers, and there the child was. The lantern was brought, and the shepherds stood by mute. The little one made no sign; it was as others, new born.
“Where is the mother?” asked the watchman.
One of the women took the baby and went to Mary lying near, and put it in her arms. Then the bystanders collected about the two.
“It is the Christ!” said the shepherd at last.
“The Christ!” they all repeated, falling on their knees in worship.
One of them repeated several times over:
“It is the Lord, and His glory is above the earth and heaven!”
And the simple men never doubting, kissed the hem of the mothers robe and with joyful faces departed.
In the khan, to all the people aroused and pressing about them, they told their story. And through the town, and all the way back to the marah, they chanted the refrain of the angels:
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will to men!”
The story went abroad, confirmed by the light so generally seen, and the next day and for days thereafter, the cave was visited by curious crowds, of whom some believed, though the greater part laughed and mocked.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Zacchaeus?
In the spring of 1992, it began.
A newsletter, a Christian newsletter, was published by my father, Jim Knox, through his Pilot Press. He began addressing this question in his first Zacchaeus Letter. Faithfully presented below:
WITNESS
Like cool water to a weary soul so is good news from a distant land."- Proverbs 25:25
It is indeed sweet to the soul to receive God's good news, the Gospel, and it is to that end for which we pray.
Zacchaeus, the reviled tax collector, eagerly accepted the honor of having Jesus as his guest. It was the best news he had ever had. It was also the best news the people of the world would ever have, because if God would accept a sleaze like Zacchaeus, He would accept anybody. That is the point of the Christian faith.
Many church goers fall into the belief that one has to be a good person, doing good deeds, living by the Ten Commandments, etc. in order that God may find him deserving. In the process, it is hoped that God will understand and overlook his shortcomings. To many, it may come as somewhat of a shock to learn that the Bible does not teach that!
The first issue is that eternal life with God can be known with complete assurance. The second is that one can only be deserving of Heaven if they keep the Law perfectly.
The third is that nobody is perfect!
Did that get your attention? We hope so for the message of God's Word is a rational one and too strong to be ignored. It was written so that you might know how to have a personal relationship with God, and know for sure that you'll go to heaven when you die.
Let us share this Good News with you in five compact steps with the warning that this is only the basic outline. Learning the details is vital, for they verify these basics.
1. God's standard requirement of us is total perfection. The Ten Commandments are to be observed without deviation (Exodus 20). The Sermon on the Mount is a stern admonition of Godly obedience which commands perfection (Matthew 5:48). All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). None is perfect! Therefore, none is able to meet the requirements. Thank God, there is another way.
You have to personally know the Owner, and fortunately, the Owner is God, who has already reached down to us two thousand years ago in love and compassion for our predicament. To illustrate:
Imagine you knew a bulldozer was approaching an ant hill. Imagine further that you loved those ants and wanted to save them. One way would be to shout, "Look out!", but they couldn't understand English. You think, "If I could only change into an ant I could warn them."
This silly little story paints a word picture. You can't help these ants because you can't turn into an ant. God, in his infinite power did become a man. The Bible says, "The Word became flesh and lived among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only Son, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14) God came into this universe in time and space because mankind's relationship with Him is broken by sin.
2. Sin is a comedy word to some people but it's not funny, because sin brings death and destruction. Sin is anything that falls short of perfection thereby causing separation from God.
Sin also separates us from others, and enmity rules in the world. The problem is compounded when we begin to understand the character of God.
3. The Bible says that God is a perfect, loving Father who loves us with an eternal love and draws us with loving kindness (Jeremiah 31:3). But the same loving God is also described by the Bible as a perfect judge, who cannot look upon evil nor tolerate wrong (Habakkuk 1:13).
God loves us, but is also perfectly just. Another example might be in order here:
ACalifornia
It so happened that his son was brought before him one day on a DUI charge. The courtroom onlookers were enthralled with the possibility that the judge would let his son off, because they knew he had no money. But a judgment of $5000 or one year in jail left no doubt as to the judge's character. However, the judge did a strange thing. He put his arm around his son and paid the fine himself, satisfying the limits of the law and showing love to his son.
We may huff and puff a bit with that, but we'd better not be too judgmental, because it's just a glimpse of what God did for us through Jesus Christ.
4. Jesus Christ came in time and space to be our Savior and our Lord.
As our Savior, He lived the perfect life we could not live, and then He traded His perfection to all mankind in exchange for all the human sins that had ever been committed or ever would be. Then He was tortured and crucified in punishment for all of them.
Christ paid the penalty and so our sins have removed making us perfect in His sight. It is the salvation of our souls that we have all heard so much about. No longer are we separated from God! He has lived among us and has taken our punishment for us. When we gratefully accept that, it means that we are changed. We now have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and yearn for Him to be our Lord as well as our Savior.
5. The key action is our grateful acceptance. This triggers an emotion that screams at us to serve Him in whatever way He wants. It is the beginning of our obedience to the words of Christ:
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it. Love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22:37-39)
A newsletter, a Christian newsletter, was published by my father, Jim Knox, through his Pilot Press. He began addressing this question in his first Zacchaeus Letter. Faithfully presented below:
WITNESS
Like cool water to a weary soul so is good news from a distant land."- Proverbs 25:25
It is indeed sweet to the soul to receive God's good news, the Gospel, and it is to that end for which we pray.
Zacchaeus, the reviled tax collector, eagerly accepted the honor of having Jesus as his guest. It was the best news he had ever had. It was also the best news the people of the world would ever have, because if God would accept a sleaze like Zacchaeus, He would accept anybody. That is the point of the Christian faith.
Many church goers fall into the belief that one has to be a good person, doing good deeds, living by the Ten Commandments, etc. in order that God may find him deserving. In the process, it is hoped that God will understand and overlook his shortcomings. To many, it may come as somewhat of a shock to learn that the Bible does not teach that!
The first issue is that eternal life with God can be known with complete assurance. The second is that one can only be deserving of Heaven if they keep the Law perfectly.
The third is that nobody is perfect!
Did that get your attention? We hope so for the message of God's Word is a rational one and too strong to be ignored. It was written so that you might know how to have a personal relationship with God, and know for sure that you'll go to heaven when you die.
Let us share this Good News with you in five compact steps with the warning that this is only the basic outline. Learning the details is vital, for they verify these basics.
1. God's standard requirement of us is total perfection. The Ten Commandments are to be observed without deviation (Exodus 20). The Sermon on the Mount is a stern admonition of Godly obedience which commands perfection (Matthew 5:48). All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). None is perfect! Therefore, none is able to meet the requirements. Thank God, there is another way.
You have to personally know the Owner, and fortunately, the Owner is God, who has already reached down to us two thousand years ago in love and compassion for our predicament. To illustrate:
Imagine you knew a bulldozer was approaching an ant hill. Imagine further that you loved those ants and wanted to save them. One way would be to shout, "Look out!", but they couldn't understand English. You think, "If I could only change into an ant I could warn them."
This silly little story paints a word picture. You can't help these ants because you can't turn into an ant. God, in his infinite power did become a man. The Bible says, "The Word became flesh and lived among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only Son, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14) God came into this universe in time and space because mankind's relationship with Him is broken by sin.
2. Sin is a comedy word to some people but it's not funny, because sin brings death and destruction. Sin is anything that falls short of perfection thereby causing separation from God.
Sin also separates us from others, and enmity rules in the world. The problem is compounded when we begin to understand the character of God.
3. The Bible says that God is a perfect, loving Father who loves us with an eternal love and draws us with loving kindness (Jeremiah 31:3). But the same loving God is also described by the Bible as a perfect judge, who cannot look upon evil nor tolerate wrong (Habakkuk 1:13).
God loves us, but is also perfectly just. Another example might be in order here:
A
It so happened that his son was brought before him one day on a DUI charge. The courtroom onlookers were enthralled with the possibility that the judge would let his son off, because they knew he had no money. But a judgment of $5000 or one year in jail left no doubt as to the judge's character. However, the judge did a strange thing. He put his arm around his son and paid the fine himself, satisfying the limits of the law and showing love to his son.
We may huff and puff a bit with that, but we'd better not be too judgmental, because it's just a glimpse of what God did for us through Jesus Christ.
4. Jesus Christ came in time and space to be our Savior and our Lord.
As our Savior, He lived the perfect life we could not live, and then He traded His perfection to all mankind in exchange for all the human sins that had ever been committed or ever would be. Then He was tortured and crucified in punishment for all of them.
Christ paid the penalty and so our sins have removed making us perfect in His sight. It is the salvation of our souls that we have all heard so much about. No longer are we separated from God! He has lived among us and has taken our punishment for us. When we gratefully accept that, it means that we are changed. We now have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and yearn for Him to be our Lord as well as our Savior.
5. The key action is our grateful acceptance. This triggers an emotion that screams at us to serve Him in whatever way He wants. It is the beginning of our obedience to the words of Christ:
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it. Love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22:37-39)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)