Searching out the glory of God in creation
Some quotes from the essay by T.M. More (The Glory of Kings) and a few comments.
1. 'Christian theology has maintained from the beginning that God is revealing himself and his will in the things he has made.'
- The most obvious message I get from revelation is that the Creator is so much more intelligent than us that there is no comparison. We cannot imagine how God did the things he did; how he created the universe... how he created living creatures. In our day when we have been allowed to look within the cell we cannot believe the ever new levels of complexity we see. We are staggered by the imagination, the wisdom and the intelligence of the Creator. What we see is beyond our wildest imagination. We see evidence of a Mind that is a universe beyond us in ability and depth.
In the complexity of creation we see evidence that god can do the (seeming) impossible. This gives us reason to believe there are few if any limits on what God can do. In his great power and intelligence we see reasons to believe that God can make good on the staggering promises that fill the testimony of His word.
- In creation we see the staggering power of God. In the vast expanse of the universe (far too large for us to comprehend) we see evidence of his surpassing power. A god who has this power can do the these he has said he will do. If He can created trillions of galaxies, each filled with countless billions of stars he can bring man back from the grave and give him eternal life. If he has this power he has the power to govern the whole universe according to his counsel.
2. "The heavens declare the glory of god."
- This means god deserves praise and honor for the magnificent splendor of the star filled universe. At the heart of materialism is the refusal to give honor and praise to god for His creation. The psychology of m. can be expressed by a clenched fist. Natural man is greedy to recieve his own honor and praise, and cannot give to another what he desires for himself. He feels that to give honor and praise to God is to withhold honor and praise from man.
3. “It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out” (Proverbs 25:2)
- I've always been a bit puzzled by what 'the glory of kings' refers to. I assume it means this is a 'royal' privilege... or that it's the best thing a king can do. I'm not sure.
- at any event it means we shold search things out; and so we have here a basis for true science.
- when it says God conceals things I assume this means that things are far more 'glorious' than people imagine... that it's only when we look closely that we begin to see how wondrous the creation really is.
- we get hints here of the true relationship between God and man; between the Creator and his creation (and vice regent) man. God creates the universe (this is his privilege, for which we give him great glory) and man investigates what God has created... this is His great privilege.
- Let's look at what's happening in biology today; people are looking (at the nano) level at the complexities of the cell. This wouldn't be much fun (or small g. glorious) if the cell was something like a blob of jello. (Which is what people once thought.) What an incredible privilege we've been given to uncover what to earlier generations was hidden. But whatever honor and praise we give to the people who have made discoveries in these areas, shouldn't come close to the honor and praise we give to God. What we say in a soft voice about man's discoveries should be shouted and sung with a loud voice about their Creator. (Unfortunately this is often not the case in our modern era; where men are so full of pride and vainglory that they don't want to give honor to god. But let's be serious here; it's not even on the same scale to discover something as it is to create it. These activities are not on the same level. When man refuses to give honor to God for the creation, he shows how small a being he is... and how little he deserves honor and praise.)
4. In the article Moore talks about how he views 'creation theology' and gives six steps for its practice. (The essay is taken from the online christian journal 'Implications'.)
Notes;
1. Glory
- 1300, "magnificence," from O.Fr. glorie, from L. gloria "great praise or honor," of uncertain origin. Gk. doxa "expectation" (Homer), later "opinion, fame," and ultimately "glory," was used in Biblical writing to translate a Heb. word which had a sense of "brightness, splendor, magnificence, majesty," and this was subsequently translated as L. gloria, which has colored that word's meaning in most European tongues. (Online etymological dictionary)
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Evolution and playing god
I remember hearing a scholar claim that Darwinism led to the 'cult of the artificial...' He referred to Gordon Childe's book 'Man makes himself'
- I think I finally understand this. ie. as long as god made the world... and controlled it, man couldn't do anything about it..... he just had to accept his situation. But; if man was Not created... if it was just some physical process.... then man could take ahold of that process... and use it as a tool to make his every dream come true. (Or such at least is the hope.)
- that a theory about biology should lead to the 'cult of the artificial' is a major irony.
- when evolutionists rhapsodize about 'evolution' what they are really excited about is this conrol over reality. What they fear about creationism is that they might lose this control over biological reality. They fear creationists will say; ''no; creation is from god... so you can't touch it... you can't tamper with it... you can't change it... it's holy...."
- I think I finally see the source of the wild emotion; the wild hatred... the passion.... the will to tyranny and suppression. The modern humanist (inside and outside the church) wants control over reality.... they want the power to play god. Their fear of creationists is the fear c's will take this power away from them... or hamper its exercise.
- so what do the evolutionists want? This is the question I'm only beginning to explore. They want increased life spans; they want increased health. Some want increased intelligence; increased power. Some want to create man/robot beings.
- Few among the humanist elite want these things for all people; but want them for the elite... they invisage the creation of super people.... a super elite... that will rule the masses.... They envision an elite that is truly superior; not just superior in name... an elite that will live longer, be more intelligent, more powerful, more talented, healthier, immune from disease, etc.
- this is what the creation evolution debate is really all about; or this is at the core of it for its elite proponents. The defenders of evolution imagine there are huge amounts of money and power at stake in this struggle.
- People invovled with drug companies are major supporters of the attempt to destroy creationism; as our the political elite. The hopes and dreams involved with genetic engineering are at the heart of this battle. No amount of intellectual refutation will make evolutionism go away. The theory is utterly without warrant; the dumbest idea man has ever had; but this doesn't matter to the evolutionist elite. This isn't about truth... it's about power.
- In conclusion I'll say that I think the evolutionist elite are worrried about nothing. I don't think there are more than a handful of christians who have any desire to stop genetic engineering. (I think they're wrong, but I understand I'm in a tiny minority.)
I remember hearing a scholar claim that Darwinism led to the 'cult of the artificial...' He referred to Gordon Childe's book 'Man makes himself'
- I think I finally understand this. ie. as long as god made the world... and controlled it, man couldn't do anything about it..... he just had to accept his situation. But; if man was Not created... if it was just some physical process.... then man could take ahold of that process... and use it as a tool to make his every dream come true. (Or such at least is the hope.)
- that a theory about biology should lead to the 'cult of the artificial' is a major irony.
- when evolutionists rhapsodize about 'evolution' what they are really excited about is this conrol over reality. What they fear about creationism is that they might lose this control over biological reality. They fear creationists will say; ''no; creation is from god... so you can't touch it... you can't tamper with it... you can't change it... it's holy...."
- I think I finally see the source of the wild emotion; the wild hatred... the passion.... the will to tyranny and suppression. The modern humanist (inside and outside the church) wants control over reality.... they want the power to play god. Their fear of creationists is the fear c's will take this power away from them... or hamper its exercise.
- so what do the evolutionists want? This is the question I'm only beginning to explore. They want increased life spans; they want increased health. Some want increased intelligence; increased power. Some want to create man/robot beings.
- Few among the humanist elite want these things for all people; but want them for the elite... they invisage the creation of super people.... a super elite... that will rule the masses.... They envision an elite that is truly superior; not just superior in name... an elite that will live longer, be more intelligent, more powerful, more talented, healthier, immune from disease, etc.
- this is what the creation evolution debate is really all about; or this is at the core of it for its elite proponents. The defenders of evolution imagine there are huge amounts of money and power at stake in this struggle.
- People invovled with drug companies are major supporters of the attempt to destroy creationism; as our the political elite. The hopes and dreams involved with genetic engineering are at the heart of this battle. No amount of intellectual refutation will make evolutionism go away. The theory is utterly without warrant; the dumbest idea man has ever had; but this doesn't matter to the evolutionist elite. This isn't about truth... it's about power.
- In conclusion I'll say that I think the evolutionist elite are worrried about nothing. I don't think there are more than a handful of christians who have any desire to stop genetic engineering. (I think they're wrong, but I understand I'm in a tiny minority.)
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