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Fundamentalist Christians Are Wrong
Fundamentalists' motto is "Sola Scriptura,"
"Only the Bible,"
"The Bible alone."
But the Bible itself says No!
To that way of thinking,
Though in a very understated way.
God reveals Himself thru the Bible,
True enough, I don't deny that much.
But the Bible teaches that
There is ANOTHER way in which
God reveals Himself, His ways,
"The things of God."
Namely, thru Nature,
No, thru the STUDY of Nature.
For Paul the Apostle says,
"What may be known of God is manifest..
For God has shown it to [mankind].
For since the creation of the world
His invisible attributes are clearly seen,
Being understood by the things that are made -
[Attributes such as] His eternal power
And Godhead.."(Romans 1.19-20).
Merely looking at the Bible
Doesn't reveal anything about God,
You have to be able to read it.
So too, merely looking at Nature
Can't tell us much about God.
You have to study it systematically.
Which is where science comes from.
Science is the systematic study of Nature,
One aspect of it, or another:
Botany, Astronomy, Zoology, etc.
If the Bible is known as
"The Special Revelation" of God,and
If the study of Nature is called
"The General Revelation" of God
- by God Himself to Mankind -
Then science equals that
General Revelation of God!
So science should be revered as such!
I'm not originating this concept
(That science = General Revelation of God).
Johan Kepler, the astronomer of the 1500s,
Wrote that "Like priests interpreting a holy text,
We [astronomers] study the Book of Nature,"
Words to that effect.
"The Book of Nature,"
Where did he get that concept?!
From St. Paul's words in Romans 1.19-20!
What profoundly influential words!
Those words allowed scientists like Kepler
to see themselves as a priesthood, theologians,
Raising the status of scientists
To that of theologians!
Which was very high, until recently.
This helps to explain why 90%
Of the scientists in the world(up til recently)
Were Christians, not Hindus,Moslems,Chinese.
My criticism of Fundamentalist Christians is this:
They go by the Bible alone("Sola Scriptura"),
Instead of the Bible and Science combined,
Special Revelation and General Revelation TOGETHER!
Just as "Scripture interprets scripture,"
So too, Revelation interprets revelation!
By sidestepping General Revelation(science),
Fundamentalists go astray!
The Jews look down on the Samaritans
because the Samaritans have the Torah,
The first 5 books of the Old Testament,
While rejecting the rest of it,
"The Prophets" and "the Writings."
Likewise, the Christians look down on the Jews.
For while they hold to the Old Testament
They reject the New Testament.
But Fundamentalists make a similar mistake.
They accept the Bible, "Special Revelation,"
While rejecting the findings of science,
"The General Revelation" of God!
Even though the Bible itself endorses it!
(They don't buy that "General Revelation"
Is the equal of "Special Revelation.")
How has science proven its worth
In interpreting the Bible
(Validating the words,
"Revelation interprets Revelation")?
In the 1600s, theologians took the Bible literally
When it says, "The Earth is immovable," and
"The rising of the sun is
from one end of heaven,and
Its circuit is to the other end"(Psalms 19.6).
Thus they were MISLED into thinking
the Earth is in the center of the Solar system!
Jordan Brown(Giordano Bruno) was executed
- burned at the stake by THE CHURCH -
in the early 1600s for the heresy
Of claiming that the sun was the central player!
Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed
when it was Galileo's turn to be burned!
Fortunately, the theologians valued science
enough to reassess the whole thing!
Yes, SCIENCE proved its worth in that instance!
It gave glory to God by presenting Him
As intelligent enough to place the sun,
With its greater gravitational pull,
In the center - where it belongs -
Instead of orbiting the Earth.
Which would have made Him look like a cosmic Idiot!
Today, Psalms 19 again is center stage.
It says, "The heavens declare the glory of God..
Their words go forth to all the Earth"(Ps 19.1-4).
What does this mean?
What is it that the skies are revealing about God?
The only thing that comes from the skies
Is the light of the stars!
So we can paraphrase it like this:
The star light reveals truth about God,
Truth that is to His GLORY!
Glorious truth that is to the glory of God!
For when scientists run light
from the galaxies thru spectroscopes,
(which are like prisms) etc,
They discover "the red shift,"
(More red in the spectrum than there should be).
This means that all the galaxies are receding,
Zooming away from us!
As if a cosmic explosion had taken place in the distant past.
From this Father George LeMaitre deduced
The "Cosmic Egg theory," in the 1930s,
Which has been renamed, "The Big Bang theory."
Think of it! The same Roman Catholic Church
Which executed Giordano Bruno is responsible for,
To some extent, the founding of the Big Bang theory.
Talk about "Redeeming the times,"(Ephesians 5.16)!
Why should we side with the Big Bang theory,
As opposed to the "six days creation" in Genesis 1?
Because the Big Bang gives MORE GLORY TO GOD
Than does the Genesis 1 account
(or Adam and Eve in Genesis 2).
We are to "Do all to the glory of God"(1 Corinthians 10.31).
This includes how we interpret the Bible.
We should do it in such a way
That God receives the glory,
NOT the Bible!
The Bible is not on a par with God!
God is above the Bible.
To say otherwise is blasphemy!Heresy!
How, just how, does the Big Bang
Give maximum glory to God?
The general rule is:
"The greater the feat,
The greater the glory."
Juggling 10 balls at once is nothing.
Juggling 100 or 1000 is truly a glorious feat.
Worthy of praise.
The feat which God performed at the Big Bang
Is truly a maximum challenge,
A true test of His Godhood!
All the matter in the present universe
(Not as matter but raw energy, ie heat)
came forth from the smallest - infinitesmal - opening.
Not only that.
It happened in the shortest possible amount of time,
Shorter than a nanosecond!
The maximum amount
From the smallest hole
in the shortest time.
How glorious!
How insanely glorious is that!
"Only the Bible,"
"The Bible alone."
But the Bible itself says No!
To that way of thinking,
Though in a very understated way.
God reveals Himself thru the Bible,
True enough, I don't deny that much.
But the Bible teaches that
There is ANOTHER way in which
God reveals Himself, His ways,
"The things of God."
Namely, thru Nature,
No, thru the STUDY of Nature.
For Paul the Apostle says,
"What may be known of God is manifest..
For God has shown it to [mankind].
For since the creation of the world
His invisible attributes are clearly seen,
Being understood by the things that are made -
[Attributes such as] His eternal power
And Godhead.."(Romans 1.19-20).
Merely looking at the Bible
Doesn't reveal anything about God,
You have to be able to read it.
So too, merely looking at Nature
Can't tell us much about God.
You have to study it systematically.
Which is where science comes from.
Science is the systematic study of Nature,
One aspect of it, or another:
Botany, Astronomy, Zoology, etc.
If the Bible is known as
"The Special Revelation" of God,and
If the study of Nature is called
"The General Revelation" of God
- by God Himself to Mankind -
Then science equals that
General Revelation of God!
So science should be revered as such!
I'm not originating this concept
(That science = General Revelation of God).
Johan Kepler, the astronomer of the 1500s,
Wrote that "Like priests interpreting a holy text,
We [astronomers] study the Book of Nature,"
Words to that effect.
"The Book of Nature,"
Where did he get that concept?!
From St. Paul's words in Romans 1.19-20!
What profoundly influential words!
Those words allowed scientists like Kepler
to see themselves as a priesthood, theologians,
Raising the status of scientists
To that of theologians!
Which was very high, until recently.
This helps to explain why 90%
Of the scientists in the world(up til recently)
Were Christians, not Hindus,Moslems,Chinese.
My criticism of Fundamentalist Christians is this:
They go by the Bible alone("Sola Scriptura"),
Instead of the Bible and Science combined,
Special Revelation and General Revelation TOGETHER!
Just as "Scripture interprets scripture,"
So too, Revelation interprets revelation!
By sidestepping General Revelation(science),
Fundamentalists go astray!
The Jews look down on the Samaritans
because the Samaritans have the Torah,
The first 5 books of the Old Testament,
While rejecting the rest of it,
"The Prophets" and "the Writings."
Likewise, the Christians look down on the Jews.
For while they hold to the Old Testament
They reject the New Testament.
But Fundamentalists make a similar mistake.
They accept the Bible, "Special Revelation,"
While rejecting the findings of science,
"The General Revelation" of God!
Even though the Bible itself endorses it!
(They don't buy that "General Revelation"
Is the equal of "Special Revelation.")
How has science proven its worth
In interpreting the Bible
(Validating the words,
"Revelation interprets Revelation")?
In the 1600s, theologians took the Bible literally
When it says, "The Earth is immovable," and
"The rising of the sun is
from one end of heaven,and
Its circuit is to the other end"(Psalms 19.6).
Thus they were MISLED into thinking
the Earth is in the center of the Solar system!
Jordan Brown(Giordano Bruno) was executed
- burned at the stake by THE CHURCH -
in the early 1600s for the heresy
Of claiming that the sun was the central player!
Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed
when it was Galileo's turn to be burned!
Fortunately, the theologians valued science
enough to reassess the whole thing!
Yes, SCIENCE proved its worth in that instance!
It gave glory to God by presenting Him
As intelligent enough to place the sun,
With its greater gravitational pull,
In the center - where it belongs -
Instead of orbiting the Earth.
Which would have made Him look like a cosmic Idiot!
Today, Psalms 19 again is center stage.
It says, "The heavens declare the glory of God..
Their words go forth to all the Earth"(Ps 19.1-4).
What does this mean?
What is it that the skies are revealing about God?
The only thing that comes from the skies
Is the light of the stars!
So we can paraphrase it like this:
The star light reveals truth about God,
Truth that is to His GLORY!
Glorious truth that is to the glory of God!
For when scientists run light
from the galaxies thru spectroscopes,
(which are like prisms) etc,
They discover "the red shift,"
(More red in the spectrum than there should be).
This means that all the galaxies are receding,
Zooming away from us!
As if a cosmic explosion had taken place in the distant past.
From this Father George LeMaitre deduced
The "Cosmic Egg theory," in the 1930s,
Which has been renamed, "The Big Bang theory."
Think of it! The same Roman Catholic Church
Which executed Giordano Bruno is responsible for,
To some extent, the founding of the Big Bang theory.
Talk about "Redeeming the times,"(Ephesians 5.16)!
Why should we side with the Big Bang theory,
As opposed to the "six days creation" in Genesis 1?
Because the Big Bang gives MORE GLORY TO GOD
Than does the Genesis 1 account
(or Adam and Eve in Genesis 2).
We are to "Do all to the glory of God"(1 Corinthians 10.31).
This includes how we interpret the Bible.
We should do it in such a way
That God receives the glory,
NOT the Bible!
The Bible is not on a par with God!
God is above the Bible.
To say otherwise is blasphemy!Heresy!
How, just how, does the Big Bang
Give maximum glory to God?
The general rule is:
"The greater the feat,
The greater the glory."
Juggling 10 balls at once is nothing.
Juggling 100 or 1000 is truly a glorious feat.
Worthy of praise.
The feat which God performed at the Big Bang
Is truly a maximum challenge,
A true test of His Godhood!
All the matter in the present universe
(Not as matter but raw energy, ie heat)
came forth from the smallest - infinitesmal - opening.
Not only that.
It happened in the shortest possible amount of time,
Shorter than a nanosecond!
The maximum amount
From the smallest hole
in the shortest time.
How glorious!
How insanely glorious is that!
Published 8th Nov 2014
| Edited 24th Nov 2014
All writing remains the property of the author. Don't use it for any purpose without their permission.
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9th Nov 2014 3:24am
"The maximum amount from the smallest hole in the shortest time. How Glorious"
my favourite line for sure. highly intriguing write. i too feel that science and spirituality are not only complementary but flip sides of the same coin. thanks for sharing!
my favourite line for sure. highly intriguing write. i too feel that science and spirituality are not only complementary but flip sides of the same coin. thanks for sharing!
10th Nov 2014 10:36pm
Yes, I think of the Bible and Science as sort of Ying/Yang. In China I think that Ying/Yang is sort of a Male/Female thing. Have you heard that too? On that basis, you could say the Bible is the male? and Science the female? God says, "It's not good for man to be alone"(Genesis 2.18). Likewise it's not good for the Bible to "be alone." Science is like the mate, you could say.Complementarity!
Check out my poem about interpreting Genesis 1's "Creation Week" by the BBT, the Big Bang theory, OK? I'll have to go and look up the title. So I'll put it into another comment.After this one.
PS: that's some wild purple hair in that photo!
Check out my poem about interpreting Genesis 1's "Creation Week" by the BBT, the Big Bang theory, OK? I'll have to go and look up the title. So I'll put it into another comment.After this one.
PS: that's some wild purple hair in that photo!
10th Nov 2014 10:53pm
I'm back. Gone for only a minute. Please check out my, "Do All to the Glory of God" written on May 24 2014. It gives you what each of the "six days' of Creation Week symbolizes. For example, God's command, "Let there be light!" (Genesis 1.3) on Day One is the starting point of the Creation process, the Big Bang itself! Genesis 1.3 says that "God said, 'Let there be light!' And there was light."
Let me paraphrase it, "God said,Let there be light! And there was THE BIG BANG!" For what was given off at the Big Bang? Heat, trillions of degrees of it! And what is infra-red radiation, if not "light"? (Even though its invisible to human eyes). It is a valid part of the light spectrum! Am I right or wrong?
Let me paraphrase it, "God said,Let there be light! And there was THE BIG BANG!" For what was given off at the Big Bang? Heat, trillions of degrees of it! And what is infra-red radiation, if not "light"? (Even though its invisible to human eyes). It is a valid part of the light spectrum! Am I right or wrong?
