Why these difficulties in the first place, Lord?

 

March 17th, 2010          By Paul Bruggink

 

I am in the midst of an email discussion with a small group of Christians in another state who are beginning to consider how to integrate old earth and biological evolution into their Christian faith as they study the first chapters of Genesis together. They are asking me questions like “what have I come to believe about Adam?”, which I can deal with.

 

But they asked one interesting question that I have not been able to deal with: “Why these difficulties in the first place, Lord? Why did God choose to give his Word in such a way that would result in many, many of his sincere, godly, and well-intentioned followers foolish and embarrassingly mistaken? Could God not have chosen to communicate the creation event (and possibly other early Genesis material) in a different (though grand) way that did not ‘fool’ droves of his earnest children? . . . Not only does it seem like God hid (an aspect of) biblically-related truth from his own, but also ensured that his witnesses looked pretty dumb in the process. I’m just grieved by all this and don’t know how to deal with it.”

 

Any suggestions on how to respond or pointers to authors who have responded would be greatly appreciated.

 

Paul Bruggin

 

From ASA Voices.

 

 

 

It is indeed a fair question.  Do you not feel their pain?  Their confusion?  I do, and I feel for them.  The readers and contributors to the web site referenced above then proceed to offer many suggestions and long, complicated discourses for the author.  Of course, there is a much simpler and easier answer:  it was not inspired and written by God through men.  Yes, it could have been written so it was correct and contained predictions of what would come if the writers really had the knowledge of God behind them.

 

Think of all the ways that God could have written Genesis for the ages. For example:  "Verily, verily I tell you these things, that the earth that thouest inhabit is exceedenly old and travels around the sun over a distance that is greater than you can imagine.  Likewise, those small lights in the night sky you wonder about are like your sun, only far away and their distances are greater than you can comprehend.  The universe that I created for you is older and grander than you can know at this time. I know you do not understand, but write this down so the generations to come will discover these truths and know that I am God, for I have told you what is true.  In addition, the life you see around you is all connected, like brothers and sisters, and parents and children, yea all of the animals, plants and life so small that you cannot see them with your eyes.  Generations from now your ancestors will discover great truths about the origins of things so grand that you cannot comprehend them at this time. Write all this down so that those to follow will know that I did not hide the truth from you or lead you astray with false tales, but rather you were not prepared and I could not share with you even a smallest part of what is."

 

                                                                                                                ~ Biomed

 

 

Is Religion in trouble?

 

The Sad State of Religion in  the U.S.

 

Churches in Finland: exodus of membership (1,000 per week)

 

 

 

 

Church Riches and Keeping the Directions of Jesus?

 

"And Jesus said to his disciples, Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle then for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God."   ~ Matt. 19: 23 - 24

 

"And Jesus, looked at him, loved him, and said to him, You lack one thing; go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." 

~ Mark 10: 21

 

Note:  The Catholic Church is reportedly worth billions. It has large investments all over the world, with billions of shares owned in powerfull international coporations.  It owns gold worth several billions of dollars stored in the US Federal Reserve and banks in England and Switzerland.  No one knows the net worth of its real estate, property or all the art it owns.  The Vatican's Finance Minister Cardinal Szoka has said the Vatican's assets are $5 Billion, but that does not include the Vatican City which has a separate financial statement. To those who point out that the Catholic Church operates hospitals and charities around the world, please note that it is tax exempt for its operations and derives incredible financial benefit from this alone.

                                                                                                                                           ~ Biomed

Some References:  

 

The Richest Man on Earth?

 

Is the Vatican Rich Enough to Wheel Power over the G20 Nations?

 

 

 

 

The God Helmet

 

Neuroscientists are now turning their scientific curosity and skills towards studying religion.  A new field of study - neuroreligion - promises to finally explain the truth behind powerful events people experience such as near death experiences, out of body sensations, visions, and various religious happenings that many in the past attributed to supernatural and divine events.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See  Dr. Persinger's God Helmet   and  Michael Shermer's   Out of Body Experiment

 

Also, see Radiolab: Out of Body, Roger  (14 min.)

 

However, Persinger's results and hypotheses are contraversial: Wikipedia

 

Spiritual Doorway in the Brain

 

Club Drug Is  Out of Body Experience  (ScienceNews 3/26/2011 - Ketamine)

 

Visions of Angels and Lucid Dreams

 

Application of Magnet can change your faith in God (2015) Link, Link