James Orr postulates a heart question.

The interest of religion in the doctrine of creation is that this doctrine is our guarantee for the dependence of all things on God–the ground of our assurance that everything in nature and Providence is at His disposal.  “My help cometh from the Lord which made heaven and earth.”  Suppose there was anything in the universe that was not created by God–that existed independently of Him–how could we be sure that the element might not thwart, defeat, destroy the fulfillment of God’s purposes?”

For the trusting Christian, it just can’t happen.

How Great is Our God!

Valentines Cake

My little girl, Mariah Noelle (age 9), worked on frosting this cake.

Tonight, we had a great feast in the Wood family:  Idaho steak, Idaho spuds and gravy, salad, and dessert.

(p.s. – Have you ever tried a Farr Idaho Huckleberry Cordial?  It is decadent.)

By his Maiesties speciall commandement

Who wants to go with me to London, Cambridge, and Oxford in 2011?

HT: JG

Did I get your attention with this title?

(I have been thinking about science and creation this week.  So has LDS Dave B. over in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  I invite you all to our “Celebration of the Creator” this Sunday.  It is going to be great.)

Paul Garner of BCM writes,

One of the most important influences on the development of the “species” concept came from Greek philosophy.  In the fourth century before Christ, Aristotle had taught that every entity was characterized by an eternal and unchanging set of features or form–its immutable “essence.”  Such “essentialist” thinking was eventually applied in biology, leading to belief in the immutability of species.

Of course, Aristotle did not believe in biblical creation, but many Christians who later adopted his ideas did.  Thus, by the seventeenth century, the concept of the immutability of species had become linked to belief in their separate creation.  The Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus, famous for laying the foundations of our moder biological classification system, expressed his essentialist thinking like this:  “We count as many species as there were created forms in the beginning.”

In this way, a Greek philosophical concept became Christianized.  Although it was given a biblical facade, this belief was really rooted in Aristotelianism (AnswersMagazine, Jan.-Mar. 2009, p. 38).

Dr. Todd Wood asserts, “Many people think the Bible teaches that God created modern species in the beginning and then Darwin proved the Bible wrong.  The truth is more interesting.  When fossils of extinct species were discovered in the fossil record, scientists started to ask, what mechanism changed species?  Darwin didn’t raise the questions, and his followers didn’t settle them” (p. 67).

Todd Wood raises some heart questions for biologists.

How do created kinds generate species?  Is it just random variations and natural selection like Darwin said, or is there something else involved?

How fast can species change?  Creationists believe that earth is only 6,000 years old, but the Bible records modern species in the time of Abraham (Genesis 12:16).  Could there be some kind of “trigger” that makes species change quickly?

How much can species change?  Is there some intrinsic limit to change, and if so what is it?

Why do species appear to be so well designed?  If species can change and even adapt to new environments, how do they end up so beautifully designed?  Does God somehow oversee the changes, or is the change itself part of God’s design?

Good questions.

Dr. Todd Charles Wood, president of the Creation Biology Study Group (BSG) declares,

We’re not just trying to answer some weird questions or refute the scoffers.  Our goal is God Himself.  We’re trying to understand His creation, His design, which ultimately is a reflection of His very nature.  What better goal could there be?” (p. 77).

I agree 100%.  There is no better goal.

(Of course, then my LDS friends want to take the discussion up to the highest notch.  How much does Greek philosophy corrupt our beliefs about the Creator?)

Ken Ham (probably someone whom Richard Mouw would seek to distance himself from as among ‘the worst kinds of fundamentalism’) writes (AnswersMagazine, Jan.-Mar. 2009),

“In June of 2008, Paul Myers, Associate Professor of Biology at the University of Minnesota–Morris, decided to oppose me on his blog by beginning a name-calling exercise.

Millions of people, including some of the most knowledgeable biologists in the world, think just about every day that you are . . . [and then he launched into a long list of names, from airhead to birdbrain, blockhead, bonehead, and bozo to sap, scam artist, sham, simpleton, a snake oil salesman, wacko] and much, much worse.

You’re a clueless schmuck who knows nothing about science and has arrogantly built a big fat fake museum to promote medieval [expletive]–you should not be surprised to learn that you are held in very low esteem by the community of scholars and scientists, and by the even larger community of lay people who have made the effort to learn more about science than you have (admittedly, though, you have set the bar very, very low on that, and there are 5 year old children who have a better grasp of the principles of science as well as more mastery of details of evolution than you do).

Wow, I thought leading American scientists were more methodical and logical and less susceptible to emotional bias and emotional rhetoric.

Did you know that to admit you believe in a sovereign Creator, you can now be labeled as a “child abuser”.

Richard Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California writes (Newsweek, February 9, 2009),

Yes, I voted for Prop 8.  Yes, I oppose gay marriage.  But that doesn’t make me a religious fundamentalist. . . .

Angry shouts. Shaking fists.  It makes me sad.  This is something that happens on occasion in an intimate relationship.  People who care deeply about each other start arguing about some touchy issue.  As temperatures rise, so does the rhetoric.  Mean-spirited things get said.  The situation seems hopeless.  That is why I want to issue this plea to my fellow citizens on both sides of this divide over sexuality:  Can we talk?

I ask this as someone who has been one of the angry ones — angry about things that have been said about people like me.  I’ve been on talk shows where people phone in to call me a fascist or equate me with those who burned accused witches at the stake.  One remark that hit especially close to home was made by the editor of this magazine.  He wrote that anyone–anyone!–who tries to make a scriptural case against same-sex marriage is guilty of “the worst kind of fundamentalism.”

That hurt.  I have spent several decades of my life trying to spell out an evangelical alternative to “the worst kind of fundamentalism.”  My friends and I have argued that the Bible supports racial justice, gender equality, peacemaking and care for the environment–views that often draw the ire of the worst kind of fundamentalists.  But none of that seems to matter to folks who don’t like our views about same-sex relations.  Because we also believe that the Bible frowns on sexual intimacy outside of marriage between a man and a woman, we are being relegated to the margins of the civil dialogue.

I refuse to go to the margins. . . .

I wonder what Richard would think of Jeremiah’s ministry?

We are in Jeremiah 11 tonight.  The persecution starts.  Everything begins to go downhill.

The Prodigal God by Tim Keller

I am pleased to announce to you that it is now in the Idaho Falls Public Library.  Look for the gold jacket in the new books section.

After reading Runtu’s “Double Whammy” this weekend, I know this book would be a good read for others.

Lynda told me she made a mistake in the singing today.  Who cares?  This sister-in-Christ had me thinking deeply of the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

I was once married to the law.  My eternal marriage to Jesus Christ is my sole treasure in heaven.  My wife’s sole treasure, too.

I have been reading He is Coming by Wendie L. Edwards (Cedar Hills: Seventh Seal Publishers, 2009).  Implant computer chips.  Flesh-eating bacteria.  The mysterious Antichrist.  Earthquakes.  The U.S. Constitution hangs by a thread.  The collapse of America.  An electromagnetic pulse initiating a deadly plague.  A new America rising on the original Constitution.  Tent cities.  Rogue pirates.  It is all there in this LDS endtimes series, eschatology through the LDS lens.

But I cannot believe this is what the apostle John says about the Lord Jesus Christ:

Jesus was a student of the Holy Ghost; He learned line upon line just as you and I do.  But because of His worthiness and the previous talents and sensitivities that came with Him from the pre-existence, He became far more knowledgeable than any normal youth (58).

Chenille asks John the Beloved,

When did you know Jesus was half Deity?

John answers,

James and I always knew.  It was just a fact (59).

Would you like to know my response on this sunny Saturday in February of 2009?

(Sigh)

(Sigh)

(Sigh)

I think I am going to simply put this book back on the shelf.

(P.S. – And I didn’t know this particular LDS answer to why John the Beloved couldn’t have kids until now.  See page 60.)