The Dawn Treader

Catherine Clair nails a huge problem within our culture ... narcissism ... check out The i Age at The Point.

More ransacking ... this time my target is quantum mechanics and chaos theory.

Why these topics?

They raise questions about randomness.  Things like Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, Bohr's Copenhagen Interpretation, and Chaos Theory (think Butterfly Effect) seem to suggest that the world is a random place.

A world of randomness creates a tension point for those holding to a traditional view of God's providence, order, design and governance of creation.

I was interested in what Dr. Collins had to say.

I close ransacked Science & Faith on the topic of theistic evolution.  In chapter 16, Where Do Animals Come From? Biological Evolution and Darwinism, Dr. Collins writes,

And what of mankind?  Does the Bible allow that we are descended from animal ancestors?  A great deal depends on what you mean by "descended" - if you mean "with only ordinary natural factors in operation," then certainly the answer is no.  The image of God in man is the result of special divine action, and not a development of the powers of any other animal -- at least, that's what Genesis 1:27 implies.

Science and Faith, p. 268

But what about God using the process of evolution and nudging it along at certain points?  Will the Hebrew text allow for this?

I continue to browse read sections of Jack Collins fine book : Friends or Foes?

The next topic I chose to cherry pick out of the book was the topic of God's involvement in this world and its effect on science.  In theological terms, this falls in the area of study called providence.  How involved is God in the natural world?  If he is heavily involved, does it make the study of science pointless?

'But in theology, the word "literal" has a special meaning: namely it refers to interpreting a Bible text in the sense that the author intended, as opposed to, say the allegorical sense.  That is the only meaning of the word "literal" that should carry any weight with us.  This means that I should bend my efforts to finding out what a good reader from the original culture would have seen in the story.'

Jack Collins,

So, what about those days in Genesis?

Title: : Friends or Foes?

Author: C. John "Jack" Collins

Publisher: Crossway, 2003

Author's Perspective: Jack Collins is an OT Professor at Covenant Theological Seminary.  B.S. and M.S. from MIT in Engineering.  Ph.D. from Liverpool in linguistics.  Collins is an expert in Hebrew.  He is trained in the sciences because of his time at MIT.  Collins is a conservative evangelical Christian.  He writes from the perspective of "mere" Christianity and quotes from a broad range of philosophers (  Catholic: Pascal, Chesterton, Aquinas; Anglican : Packer, C.S. Lewis; Protestant Reformed: Murray, Machen, Schaeffer, Calvin).  He is not a YEC.  He is not a day age creationist either.  He has his own unique view of Genesis days called the "analogical" day view.  Given his expertise in Hebrew, I am interested to learn the nuances of his view.

What would it be like if the church practiced honesty, openness, repentance, brokenness, forgiveness, grace and restoration?  What if people boasted in their weakness?  I don't mean the fake self-humility stuff, like telling others, "I am the biggest of sinners" (taking pride in how truly humble you are).  I mean genuine humility, brokenness and forgiveness.  Living openly. Confessing shame.  Leaning 100 percent on God's mercy and grace.  What if the church invested zero energy in promoting our own righteousness and putting our best foot forward and turning our best side to the camera? 

Here is a thought experiment. Imagine what people would say if they were in a phone booth on the phone with a sniper who had his rifle targeted on their head ... and he told them to confess all of their sins and lies or he would pull the trigger. 

Now, take away the fear aspect of that word picture but preserve the honesty. Imagine living in a community where people took their masks off. We are invited to live in such a community.

Glen Lucke has a thought provoking post on phone booth confessions.

Powerline has an informative interview with counter insurgency expert Lt. Col. John Nagl.  Nagl is a great communicator.  Is the surge working?  How does one measure progress in a war against Al Qaeda insurgents?  What does victory look like in this kind of war?  Is the enemy of my enemy my friend?  Are there any successful models of defeating insurgencies (hint: think Malaysia)  How long does it take to win?

Nagl talks clearly and makes a ton of sense.  He will help clarify your thinking on this important topic.  I learned a lot more by listening to those who have actually fought in Iraq and know what they are talking about versus the politically driven drivel you hear on the news. 

Have a listen.