Back To School

Last night I went to the first session of a seven-week class that my church is offering on a "Survey of the New Testament". I couldn't bear to have an October where I wasn't studying anything... :) Anyway, I've never been taught about any part of the Bible like this, and I thought I might give it a try. We did an introduction last night, a quick overview covering the history, writing style, and the authors of the New Testament. We also talked about theories in general, like Sola Scriptura and how that differs from the Catholic Church and how most of the New Testament was written to answer all sorts of questions about other religious thought that crept into the early church at the time, as it still does today.

In the following weeks, we are going to go through about 4 books each session, looking at the author, time it was written, how and why it was written, the basic message of it, and so on. I'm really looking forward to it. It's only on Tuesdays until the middle of November, so it isn't even a huge commitment. The pastor who is teaching it isn't from our church, but he is very knowledgeable, and very easy to listen to. Our own pastor is sitting in on the class as well; I think they are good friends. The class only has about twenty people in it, and of course, I am the only young person. I am beginning to think that I don't share much of anything in common with people my own age.

[forgot to mention... on the way to the class at church, a bald eagle flew right over my car (coming right at me) as I was stuck in I-405 North traffic! Gosh, that was neat!]

On Monday night after dinner, I sat down and watched the first episode of "The National Parks" online. I really enjoyed it, but along with all the history and the beautiful landscapes and old photographs (it only covered the story up to 1890), there was a lot of meaty philosophy in there about how we should think about nature and our beautiful wild places. I learned a lot about John Muir, which my Christian homeschool history textbooks seemed to skip over. I think that's a real shame, although he presented his ideas in a rather controversial manner, so I understand why they did. I liked some of the things he said, although he was a little over the top at times. He was an extremist, and I like balance. We'll see if I can cram five more episodes in before Friday night... I suppose there's always Netflix if I can't.

Oh, and big, big news! Well, I'm excited at least... Mom and I are going to visit my brother in Arizona the weekend of Halloween. He's stationed at the Marine Air Base in Yuma. We're going to fly down to San Diego on Friday morning, drive just over 2 hours to Yuma, spend the rest of Friday and all of Saturday and Sunday with him, go back to San Diego Sunday night and stay there for an early Monday morning flight back to Seattle. With that deal I got from American Express and Delta earlier this year, I got a free companion ticket. Delta doesn't fly to Yuma, so that's why we have to do SD again. I'm becoming a regular visitor!

Jp

A Random Rant

I received an email today from a stranger, because of my blog!
For whatever purpose, this person went into an unprovoked outline and defense of Theistic Evolution. This person was probably trying to impress me... I think.

Now, Theistic Evolution (the idea that God used macro-evolution to create the world) is one of those "certain topics" that I'm loud spoken about. So in case this person sees this, and also to make more clearly known what I believe... I will try and say it clearly. Where to start.... hmm.

Let's just say that the theories of Creation and Evolution are in no way compatible. The Bible clearly says that God created the world in six, regular, 24-hour days; and it was perfect. Man, then given his own choice, decided to disobey God and caused the world to be cursed with death and disease. This is because the punishment for sin is death.

If God used macro-evolution to create the world, he would have had to use billions of years of death and disease, as is found in the fossil record. God would be pretty horrible to call death and cancer "good" or "perfect". Not only that, but there would be no reason for Jesus to die on the cross for our sins if death (the punishment for sin) was already a part of the natural "good" world that God made - before anyone sinned. No! Death is something that God had to save us from, because we are stuck in it. We have each chosen to go our own way, rejecting what God says. But God, in his mercy, provides a way out from our just punishment for our rebellion if we just believe him.

I have wandered from my original plan. I just get so excited about this! LOL!

As far as I can tell, it seems ridiculous to believe that God used evolution. There is an astronomical amount of evidence against this idea.

It seems to me that this theory was brought about by people who want to believe the Bible, but also don't want to consider the consequences of doing so, which would lead them to challenge the current paradigm in the scientific community.

I guess you gotta either believe what God said he did, or not.

That said, I believe that a thinking, scientifically-minded person can look at the evidence before them and believe either theory. I think that the Bible's account makes more sense and requires less faith.

Please believe what you want; but it would be wise to pick either one or the other.