Welcome to SPRT!
Hello, and welcome to SPRT - Science in Pursuit of Religious Truth. That's the name of this blog, and here's our slogan:
"The only thing keeping you from seeing SPIRIT here is two i's."
Rather catchy, huh? It just came to me a couple of weeks ago, and I decided it was worthy of a blogspot.
Let me tell you a little bit about what this weblog is for. The name may sound counterintuitive, but it is born of my own personal experiences.
As an educated woman, an attorney, a professor, and a free-lance writer, I have often found myself struggling to explain and justify Christian (and Catholic) positions on various issues on the basis of science, rather than tenets of any particular religious faith.
I've always been amazed - and disappointed - at the "conflict" between science and religion. Why should these two be at odds with each other?
My thought is, if, as we believe, God is the Creator of all things, then God is also the author of the systems by which all things work. From gravity to psychology to nuclear physics, God would be behind it all. To seek the truth, then, through science, is a profoundly religious quest. And to test the validity of religious beliefs through the scientific method is neither blasphemously skeptical nor an expression of impermissible doubt. Instead, it is utilizing the faculties that God gave us.
Any religion that claims to have the truth should embrace science, not fear it. For to find truth is to find God. If the beliefs of a particular religion cannot withstand scientific scrutiny, then those beliefs will of necessity be discarded, or else the religion itself will eventually wither and die.
(Galileo's proof that the earth revolves around the sun - and not the other way around - comes to mind immediately. The Catholic Church excommunicated him for this. But it was proven to be true. And lo and behold, the Catholic Church survived this "revelation".)
Religions that depend upon their members remaining uneducated or ignorant cannot survive. Humans cannot remain deliberately ignorant indefinitely. It is against our nature. Our Created nature.
I can already hear the heated objections of the scientific skeptics and the believers. And I intend to argue my points against these objections, one by one.
Additionally, I intend to use this weblog as a place to find scientific evidence in support of positions taken by those of religious faith on social, moral, legal and political issues wherever possible.
I have a number of thoughts that I intend to post later tonight - or perhaps tomorrow. But this is enough for now. In closing my very first weblog posting, I welcome all persons of good cheer, benevolent intent, and sincere intellectual curiosity, whether you consider yourselves to be persons of faith or not.
More later!
/Prairy P.
"The only thing keeping you from seeing SPIRIT here is two i's."
Rather catchy, huh? It just came to me a couple of weeks ago, and I decided it was worthy of a blogspot.
Let me tell you a little bit about what this weblog is for. The name may sound counterintuitive, but it is born of my own personal experiences.
As an educated woman, an attorney, a professor, and a free-lance writer, I have often found myself struggling to explain and justify Christian (and Catholic) positions on various issues on the basis of science, rather than tenets of any particular religious faith.
I've always been amazed - and disappointed - at the "conflict" between science and religion. Why should these two be at odds with each other?
My thought is, if, as we believe, God is the Creator of all things, then God is also the author of the systems by which all things work. From gravity to psychology to nuclear physics, God would be behind it all. To seek the truth, then, through science, is a profoundly religious quest. And to test the validity of religious beliefs through the scientific method is neither blasphemously skeptical nor an expression of impermissible doubt. Instead, it is utilizing the faculties that God gave us.
Any religion that claims to have the truth should embrace science, not fear it. For to find truth is to find God. If the beliefs of a particular religion cannot withstand scientific scrutiny, then those beliefs will of necessity be discarded, or else the religion itself will eventually wither and die.
(Galileo's proof that the earth revolves around the sun - and not the other way around - comes to mind immediately. The Catholic Church excommunicated him for this. But it was proven to be true. And lo and behold, the Catholic Church survived this "revelation".)
Religions that depend upon their members remaining uneducated or ignorant cannot survive. Humans cannot remain deliberately ignorant indefinitely. It is against our nature. Our Created nature.
I can already hear the heated objections of the scientific skeptics and the believers. And I intend to argue my points against these objections, one by one.
Additionally, I intend to use this weblog as a place to find scientific evidence in support of positions taken by those of religious faith on social, moral, legal and political issues wherever possible.
I have a number of thoughts that I intend to post later tonight - or perhaps tomorrow. But this is enough for now. In closing my very first weblog posting, I welcome all persons of good cheer, benevolent intent, and sincere intellectual curiosity, whether you consider yourselves to be persons of faith or not.
More later!
/Prairy P.
posted by Portia Sterling | 11:13 AM
3 Comments:
Hello Sister Prarie P.
I would like to make some benevolent comments on
the blog you so graciously started (and I appreciate
the forum). My comments are out of benevolence
(as much as is possible in this fallen yet redeemed
body) to honor God first, and not necessarily what
mankind (I include women also in that phrase) wants
to hear. I do sometimes also use the methods you are
using here to prove that God, faith, truth and science
are reconcileable. They are, and do totally agree with
each other. In fact, you can't have true faith and truth and science without the True God, as they are all
dependent upon him for their existence. I'd like to say
that I will try as much as is possible to honor God with what I am about to write, since that was the original way that the 10 commandments were structured (love God truly first-the first 4 commandments, and then and only then can you truly love everyone else-you, your neighbors-the last 6 commandments). Again, the ability to do this perfectly was lost in the fall of mankind as told in Gennesis chapter 3, but I will try to tell it in this fallen yet redeemed body as
well as I have the ability to honor God. It is clear that if you don't truly keep the first commandment, then you have no chance of keeping all the rest of them, as they are dependent on keeping the first commandment. I too try sometimes to explain and "prove" the existence of God using
the methods you are using here, when I see that people have such hard hearts and are so blinded that they refuse to acknowledge the truth. A lot of other great minds (albeit fallen at that) have used the same method (such as Thomas Acquainis-and I know I spelled his name wrong). And yes, God did "stoop" down to us when He sent Jesus, and he also "stoops" down to us so that we can glean knowledge from Scripture in a way that
we can understand.
Science means "knowledge." We have knowledge only because we are made in God's image. We only have partial knowledge, though, although we try to flatter ourselves most of the time that we have "all knowledge" and we can rightly judge things without God (again, this is a result of the fall of mankind). God
has "all knowledge"-He can't learn!-or is "all knowing" or to put it better He has "omniscience"-notice the word "science" in there?
God clearly says that everyone knows He exists, and that everyone is totally without excuse (Romans 1:19-23). In fact (or truth), God makes it so abundantly clear that reality is "God speaking" that He
does, so to say, scream in our faces every moment of our existence, and that we have become "fools" not to acknowledge it (Rom. 8:22) at the sustained perfect rate that His law demands of us. This is also beared witness by a lot of other Scripture. For example,
God said in Gennesis 1, how many times?, "He spoke and said let there be, and there was" (He used repetition so much to get across a point, and after the fall, preserved it in writting to get it into our dull and hard hearts). He also contiunues to sustain
reality and His creation (although He does not "owe" it anything,- all is owed to Him- and His glory is not diminished without it- I mean how can we make Perfect Glory more Glorious? We can't, although He has chosen some to admire and revel in His glory! Go figure?
We were creatures fit for Hell, and His amazing love and Grace revealed His own Glory to us!). Anyways, His sustaining of His creation is told about in Colossians 1:15-20 and also in Hebrews 1:1-4 (verse 3 tells us "He reflects the glory of God and bears the
very stamp of His nature, UPHOLDING THE UNIVERSE BY THE
WORD OF HIS POWER"). I am not "heated" in this argument as you suppose some are (and you rightly say they will be), not as "heated" as Jesus was when He spoke to some of the people (such as the Scribes and Pharisees), maybe I could use some more zeal for His word? Anyways, I know God was not using similies or
metaphors in the verses above (although they are very very often used in Scripture). I do know that He did use "anthropromorphisms"- the ascribing to God human qualities in a lot of Scripture. Such as
"He spoke..." which gives the impression that God has a material mouth (God is Spirit). Although He does have a material glorified mouth now in his son Jesus, since He was born into a 100% human body (minus the sin, as all have been since Adam-not that the body
is sinful in itself, but our soul and spirits have become sinful, and yes, I will go so far as to say I am evil as bore witness by Jesus in Luke 11:11,12, and I might add, the saints of old had also revealed
to them (Job 40:4, and also Isaiah and Paul) that they were vile. Go figure, that God should be so gracious to us and give us Christ's righteounsness which is credited to our account so that we are now compared (and that is a simile, no wait, that is a "how
much more argument") to Solomon and all his earthly glory he had!
Well, I can understand why sometimes we use these arguments (trying to prove God exists from Natural Revelation, when it is done properly by proving that Special Revelation (God Speaking) proves
what Natural Revelation really is. Man has lost the ability to judge what everything is around them and in them without referring to God first, and they are without excuse. I can see using these because
of what Jesus said "Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under foot and turn to attack you." I have had the experience of throwing my pearls (they
are really God's pearls) before swine, and they can get really irrate! Does not God have a reason to be irrate at unbelievers? I mean seriously, how could God charge a person as guilty, except if they were indeed? Thanks be to God through Christ Jesus that our guilt has been transfered and paid for.
I wonder if Stephen was not heeding Christ's words with what he spoke in Acts chapter 7, especially when he went off like he did in verse 51-53, which resulted in verse 54 and 58? (cause and effect)
Well, at least Peter and John got away with it once, although they were close to it in Acts 4:21. I am not saying that Natural Revelation is not "God's pearl," but God can't be confined to His creation, and man does not want to be told that they do not belong to themselves, and that they are creatures, created for God's good and Holy purposes (Romans 9:6-33). I, by the way, would not start out by witnessing to an unbeliever with that verse! I know that we can
sometimes be like weak doctors, though, who only treat the symptoms instead of the cause, which often can be a fatal mistake (if it were in our hands). Hey, praise the Lord, we have nothing to boast about except in the cross of Christ!
Love in Christ,
Todd
P.S. I forgot my username and password, so I have posted anonymosly here. It would not let me retrieve my password or username. If someone wants to
write me and tell me I am wrong in anything I said, let me know by posting
a comment to this. I don't really want to give my email address, as the sinners that we can be, someone who is not saved and tries to argue with the truth
(which is futile, and you always lose in the end) will try to "bomb" or "flame" my email address (which only means they will probably get "flamed" for eternity, or maybe God will give them mercy (favor, despite our demerits).
Hello All You Bloggers!
Todd here again. Just noticed a couple of things
I neglected to mention. When I said:
"I mean seriously, how could God charge a person as guilty, except if they were indeed? Thanks be to God through Christ Jesus that our guilt has been transfered and paid for."
That is not quite how it should have come out. Jesus
was perfectly innocent. Not only was He 100% man, but
He also was 100% God (try to explain and rationalize
that to an unenlightened mind, unless you rationalize
it by saying that that is the only way it could be, if
you understand the true state of man, God had to come
down and do it all Himself-well, He gets all the glory!). Anyways, Jesus was guiltless, and God
transfered our guilt to Him. So, to clarify that
statement above and in my previous post: "I mean seriously, how could God charge a person as guilty, except if they were indeed?" Well, He did do that.
Jesus was indeed (in deed and thought) guiltless, yet charged Him as "guilty" and punished Him on our behalf because we are all indeed (in deed and thought) guilty. That does not make sense to the "natural man" who goes by his own logic and reasoning abilities alone, as is so clearly stated by God through the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 and chapter 2:14. That does not mean that we don't witness to people because most won't understand, but to not be suprised when they don't (God is true to his word when He tells us that people won't believe it!).
Also, that reference to Solomon and us believers is
found in Matthew 7:27 ("how much more" argument), in
case anyone was wondering.
Let us pray that we can follow the flow and logic of
this argument:
Exodus 20:3-19
20:3
"You shall have no other gods before Me.
20:4
You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.
20:5
You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,
20:6
but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
20:7
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.
20:8
"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
20:9
Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
20:10
but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; {in it} you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you.
20:11
For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.
20:12
Honor your father and your mother, that your days R681 may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you.
20:13
You shall not murder.
20:14
You shall not commit adultery.
20:15
You shall not steal.
20:16
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
20:17
You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor."
20:18
All the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw {it,} they trembled and stood at a distance.
God says that we also break God's law in thought
(Jesus went into the "heart" and intent of the law, which is to reside in everyone's heart):
Matthew 5:21-28
5:21
"You have heard that the ancients were told, `YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER' and `Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.'
5:22
"But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, `You good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, `You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.
5:23
"Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you,
5:24
leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.
5:25
"Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.
5:26
"Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last cent.
5:27
"You have heard that it was said, `YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY';
5:28
but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart."
And Isaiah (who was a godly man, and also a prophet)
saw and says:
Isaiah 6:1-10
6:1
In the year of King Uzziah's death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.
6:2
Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.
6:3
And one called out to another and said, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory."
6:4
And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.
6:5
Then I said, "Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts."
In verses 6-7 Isaiah has a forshadowing of Christ, and
His work on the cross for His own:
6:6
Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs.
6:7
He touched my mouth {with it} and said, "Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven."
And in verses 8-10, we get a glimpse from Isaiah what
our response is to be in a sense (though not in the same degree for all believers):
6:8
Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I. Send me!"
6:9
He said, "Go, and tell this people: 'Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand.'
6:10
"Render the hearts of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes dim, Otherwise they might see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed."
By Providences Hand, Jesus came across a man who was
decieving himself thinking that he kept the law
perfectly (but He still loved him even though he was
decieving himself):
Mark 10:17-22
10:17
As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"
10:18
And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. (Jesus seems to be saying,
"are you acknowledging that I am God?"-not because Jesus
did not know the answer to that, but to enlighten this
poor sap a bit-My comments).
10:19
"You know the commandments, `DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, Do not defraud, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.' (Notice Jesus completely skips over the first 4 commandments, especially the first, because He knew
this poor sap did not know what he was talking about
when he said "I've kept all the commandments"-My
comment).
10:20
And he said to Him, "Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up."
10:21
Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, "One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."
10:22
But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.
God also spoke through the Apostle Paul (some of these
passages are from the Old Testament also, to show how
God was quite consistent in His word being threaded
through the whole of Scripture:
3:9
What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; (Notice that Paul speeks of the Greeks
specifically-and this could represent all "non Jews"
also). But he specifically mentions the Greeks here,
I think, because the Greeks were known for their forums
of arguments, logic, etc. They were quite briliant in
the system they first began, and we still have the
residue of their accomplishments very strongly in our college logic courses and also in the way the U.S. Government is structured and run. You have to admit, we owe a lot to the Greeks, only because God gave them the knowledge to do this, although they abused His knowledge given them by twisting it and using it the wrong way (they did not start with the True God first, but had a ton of pagan god's-who are no god's at all, well, maybe Satan at the most-My comments).
3:10
as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;
3:11
THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;
3:12
ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE."
3:13
"THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING," "THE R126 POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS";
3:14
"WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS";
3:15
"THEIR R128 FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD,
3:16
DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS,
3:17
AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN."
3:18
"THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES."
3:19
Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God;
3:20
because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. (and we have Christians-or maybe
they are not Christians at all- who again abuse the
law by saying we must do these laws again to keep
ourselves saved, when Paul here clearly states that
the first purpose of the law is to only show how much
we fall short-I am not saying that we totally throw
out the law now, No!, because we are saved we see the
beauty and the harmony in God's law, it is a reflection
of His nature, and it only protects us to keep them,
but we still even when we are saved, know that we fall
far far short in ever keeping them at a sustained
perfect rate-As Paul so clearly states in Romans
7:7-25-My comments).
What do we do now? Jesus tells us what the first "New
Commandment" (which is really just an old commandment,
as Jesus was forshadowed in all the sacrifices the Jews had to give to God for the remission of their sins in
the old testament-see especially the book of Leviticus).
John 6:28,29
6:28
Therefore they (the Jews) said to Him (Jesus), "What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?"
(or, keep God's commandments-my paraphrase).
6:29
Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him (Me, Jesus-my insert) whom He (God-my instert) has sent."
Well, I'm sorry if this sounded a lot like a commentary,
but it has helped me to establish even more the Truth
to myself. Hey, is God Soveriegn and does He know what
He is doing? Well, I'll leave you with a passage from
the book of first Samuel Chapter 2. It is a true
prayer of praise and adoration from a woman named
Hannah!
Blessings in Christ,
Todd
1 Samuel 2:1-10
2:1
Then Hannah prayed and said, "My heart exults in the LORD; My horn is exalted in the LORD, My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies, Because I rejoice in Your salvation.
2:2
" R43 There is no one holy like the LORD, Indeed, there is no one besides You, Nor is there any rock like our God.
2:3
"Boast no more so very proudly, Do not let arrogance come out of your mouth; For the LORD is a God of knowledge, And with Him actions are weighed.
2:4
"The bows of the mighty are shattered, But the feeble gird on strength.
2:5
"Those who were full hire themselves out for bread, But those who were hungry cease {to hunger.} Even the barren gives birth to seven, But she who has many children languishes.
2:6
"The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to Sheol and raises up.
2:7
"The LORD makes poor and rich; He brings low, He also exalts.
2:8
"He raises the poor from the dust, He lifts the needy from the ash heap To make them sit with nobles, And inherit a seat of honor; For the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S, And He set the world on them.
2:9
"He keeps the feet of His godly ones, But the wicked ones are silenced in darkness; For not by might shall a man prevail.
2:10
"Those who contend with the LORD will be shattered; Against them He will thunder in the heavens, The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; And He will give strength to His king, And will exalt the horn of His anointed." (Was this another forshadowing of Jesus
in this last verse? That is something I will ask
the Lord when I get to heaven!-my question).
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