Understanding a Conservative Christian - Origins

This is the third article in the series "Understanding a Conservative Christian":
(3) Origins
(2) Introduction - Part II
(1) Introduction

Origins

Where do we come from? Why are we here? These questions are among the deepest and most fundamental of the construction of our worldview. The question of origin is the foundation for the two main worldviews I discussed in the introduction. Let's contrast:

In the Biblical Worldview the earth, humans, animals and everything else are the creation of a all-powerful God (as described in the first few chapters of Genesis). Humans -specifically- are created in His image, given His breath of life, placed as ruler over the animals and created with explicit purpose: relationship with their Creator. This Biblical view of origin shapes the thinking of those like myself who hold to this worldview: life - particularly human life - has meaning (and is held sacred) since it was given with purpose by the Creator. Morality (right and wrong) is fixed and external to our perceptions and opinions of it.

The majority origin belief held by the Secular Humanist Worldview is that of abiogenesis coupled with Darwinian evolution. Abiogenesis is the spontaneous and random generation of life from inorganic material, Based loosely upon the theories of Charles Darwin (from which it takes its name) darwinian evolution outlines the subsequent transition of that single-celled life to the complex organisms we see today over the course of millions of years. Because life is the result of random chance it has no defined purpose other than the purpose individuals ascribe to their own lives. Morality is also relative - either to the individual or the culture.

Darwinian evolution (via abiogenesis) is the predominant origin theory of the day. Yet this evidence supporting it is not as solid as many would lead you to believe (for those willing to take a close look). Darwinian evolution is based upon a host of assumptions. A full expose on the case for/against Darwinian evolution is beyond the scope of this article, but here is a short list of a few of the more fantastic assumptions behind the 'evidence' for Darwinian evolution:

* Inorganic material gaining purposeful form and function - conveying information
* A uniform rate of radio-isotope decay across eons of time
* Accumulation of mutation to generate new unique abilities
* a uniform geological record unaffected by significant catastrophe

I am happy to discuss/debate the case for Darwinian evolution - and the scientific evidence pointing toward the Biblical creation account - just leave a comment or send me an e-mail. However, the point of the above list is to demonstrate the incredible amount of faith required to believe in Darwinian evolution. To buy into it, you have to believe all those assumptions to be true (or at least variations thereof). You're taking a lot of things for granted.

Now, don't get me wrong, Biblical creation requires assumptions as well: God as described in the Bible is real and acted as the Bible says He acted. Both origin hypotheses require a good measure of faith/belief - each is a critical part of it's associated belief system (worldview).

Our origin is important because it shapes our morality: The basis by which we determine which actions are appropriate and which are not - what is right, and what is wrong. Origin also defines our purpose - our reason for existence. These two (purpose and morality) go hand in hand and are closely related: Morality is the system by which our purpose is carried out.

As a believer in Biblical creation, I have a clearly defined purpose: to remain within my Creator's love and glory. My morality is likewise drawn from His instructions for my healthy existence. Just like an auto company makes an owner's manual for their car to explain its designed care and use so the Bible serves as God's owner's manual for me to explain my designed purpose and morality.

Things are far different for the secular humanist origin of darwinism. Since life results form random chance then purpose isn't clearly defined. Purpose is relative to the whim of the individual. Morality is also not fixed - it is also at the determination of the individual (though both tend to be heavily influenced by the surrounding culture). The darwinian origin hypothesis results in relativism (a lack of absolute truth - what's true for you may not be true for me).

Now, does this mean most darwinists are amoral? Not at all. Darwinists are free to construct their own morality - either as individuals or culturally as a group - and thankfully most choose a neutral or marginally altrustic morality (remember the Justice & Compassion Principle?). But there is a problem: Darwinists are also free to construct a selfish, or even harmful morality - and both are perfectly acceptable within secular humanism - the worldview provides no basis to reject these.

As an example, consider the Nazis of World War II era. Collectively as a culture they embraced a morality which permitted the murder of millions of innocent individuals. Few would agree with their callous disregard for human life, yet they were acting well within the (non-)limits allowed by darwinist/secular humanist morality.

Now, certainly many atrocities have been committed in the name of the Christian religion as well: certain acts during the crusades, the inquisition, etc. However, there is a fundamental difference. Those who committed atrocities in the name of the Christian religion did so in direct opposition to the moral standard they claimed to represent. Not so with darwinist-based atrocities (the eugenics movement, nazism) which were simply acting on a viable morality assembled from their worldview.

This series is titled "Understanding a Conservative Christian", so following that vein let me conclude with my personal convictions. I choose to embrace the Biblical worldview, and as part of that, I believe in a literal six-day creation event where the universe was spoken into existence by God six to ten thousand years ago. I don't believe this for scientific reasons (though significant known scientific evidence corroborates with this origin hypothesis), but because it is the most theologically sound explanation of the Biblical text. I am secure in my choice of origin - as it bestows upon me a fixed morality and purpose. I can act confidently within that morality and purpose knowing I am acting not only in my own best interest, but also in the best interest of others.

This is the third article in the series "Understanding a Conservative Christian":
(3) Origins
(2) Introduction - Part II
(1) Introduction

Origins

Where do we come from? Why are we here? These questions are among the deepest and most fundamental of the construction of our worldview. The question of origin is the foundation for the two main worldviews I discussed in the introduction. Let's contrast:

In the Biblical Worldview the earth, humans, animals and everything else are the creation of a all-powerful God (as described in the first few chapters of Genesis). Humans -specifically- are created in His image, given His breath of life, placed as ruler over the animals and created with explicit purpose: relationship with their Creator. This Biblical view of origin shapes the thinking of those like myself who hold to this worldview: life - particularly human life - has meaning (and is held sacred) since it was given with purpose by the Creator. Morality (right and wrong) is fixed and external to our perceptions and opinions of it.

The majority origin belief held by the Secular Humanist Worldview is that of abiogenesis coupled with Darwinian evolution. Abiogenesis is the spontaneous and random generation of life from inorganic material, Based loosely upon the theories of Charles Darwin (from which it takes its name) darwinian evolution outlines the subsequent transition of that single-celled life to the complex organisms we see today over the course of millions of years. Because life is the result of random chance it has no defined purpose other than the purpose individuals ascribe to their own lives. Morality is also relative - either to the individual or the culture.

Darwinian evolution (via abiogenesis) is the predominant origin theory of the day. Yet this evidence supporting it is not as solid as many would lead you to believe (for those willing to take a close look). Darwinian evolution is based upon a host of assumptions. A full expose on the case for/against Darwinian evolution is beyond the scope of this article, but here is a short list of a few of the more fantastic assumptions behind the 'evidence' for Darwinian evolution:

* Inorganic material gaining purposeful form and function - conveying information
* A uniform rate of radio-isotope decay across eons of time
* Accumulation of mutation to generate new unique abilities
* a uniform geological record unaffected by significant catastrophe

I am happy to discuss/debate the case for Darwinian evolution - and the scientific evidence pointing toward the Biblical creation account - just leave a comment or send me an e-mail. However, the point of the above list is to demonstrate the incredible amount of faith required to believe in Darwinian evolution. To buy into it, you have to believe all those assumptions to be true (or at least variations thereof). You're taking a lot of things for granted.

Now, don't get me wrong, Biblical creation requires assumptions as well: God as described in the Bible is real and acted as the Bible says He acted. Both origin hypotheses require a good measure of faith/belief - each is a critical part of it's associated belief system (worldview).

Our origin is important because it shapes our morality: The basis by which we determine which actions are appropriate and which are not - what is right, and what is wrong. Origin also defines our purpose - our reason for existence. These two (purpose and morality) go hand in hand and are closely related: Morality is the system by which our purpose is carried out.

As a believer in Biblical creation, I have a clearly defined purpose: to remain within my Creator's love and glory. My morality is likewise drawn from His instructions for my healthy existence. Just like an auto company makes an owner's manual for their car to explain its designed care and use so the Bible serves as God's owner's manual for me to explain my designed purpose and morality.

Things are far different for the secular humanist origin of darwinism. Since life results form random chance then purpose isn't clearly defined. Purpose is relative to the whim of the individual. Morality is also not fixed - it is also at the determination of the individual (though both tend to be heavily influenced by the surrounding culture). The darwinian origin hypothesis results in relativism (a lack of absolute truth - what's true for you may not be true for me).

Now, does this mean most darwinists are amoral? Not at all. Darwinists are free to construct their own morality - either as individuals or culturally as a group - and thankfully most choose a neutral or marginally altrustic morality (remember the Justice & Compassion Principle?). But there is a problem: Darwinists are also free to construct a selfish, or even harmful morality - and both are perfectly acceptable within secular humanism - the worldview provides no basis to reject these.

As an example, consider the Nazis of World War II era. Collectively as a culture they embraced a morality which permitted the murder of millions of innocent individuals. Few would agree with their callous disregard for human life, yet they were acting well within the (non-)limits allowed by darwinist/secular humanist morality.

Now, certainly many atrocities have been committed in the name of the Christian religion as well: certain acts during the crusades, the inquisition, etc. However, there is a fundamental difference. Those who committed atrocities in the name of the Christian religion did so in direct opposition to the moral standard they claimed to represent. Not so with darwinist-based atrocities (the eugenics movement, nazism) which were simply acting on a viable morality assembled from their worldview.

This series is titled "Understanding a Conservative Christian", so following that vein let me conclude with my personal convictions. I choose to embrace the Biblical worldview, and as part of that, I believe in a literal six-day creation event where the universe was spoken into existence by God six to ten thousand years ago. I don't believe this for scientific reasons (though significant known scientific evidence corroborates with this origin hypothesis), but because it is the most theologically sound explanation of the Biblical text. I am secure in my choice of origin - as it bestows upon me a fixed morality and purpose. I can act confidently within that morality and purpose knowing I am acting not only in my own best interest, but also in the best interest of others.

Understanding a Conservative Christian - Origins

The Meaning of John 3:16

I use the Aardvark IM service to both ask and answer questions. Russell from Salt Lake City just asked the question below, and I felt it deserved a more detailed answer than a quick 2-line IM response:

What does the bible quote John 3:16 mean?
in the bible, in the book of John Chapter 3 verse 16, there is a saying and I am trying to figure out what it means and why people wear it on their face.

Russell - here's my best answer:

To really understand John 3:16 you need an understanding of overall themes of the Bible, because John 3:16 is a summary of the secondary key theme. The reason people wear it, put it on signs, or quote it is because it so well captures and condenses the nature of that theme: redemption. The redemption theme starts near the beginning of the Bible (Genesis 3) and doesn't end until you get to near the back cover (in Revelation).

The Bible starts with God creating a perfect world in Genesis 1. He creates humans and places them in this perfect world as it's caretakers. But almost immediately (by the time you reach the third chapter of Genesis) something goes seriously wrong. Through the actions of Adam and Eve (the first humans) evil enters the world. This evil is a taint on the entire world - including humanity - transforming it from the paradise it was designed to be into a increasingly horrific place of darkness.

That's not the worst of it though. You see, God created humans with a purpose: to remain in close relationship with Him - to experience His all-powerful love and glory - and the evil taint (sin) which now consumes us and the world around us separates us from that purpose. We can't (spiritually) get to where we need to be because we are no longer perfect.

Now, here's where we get back to John 3:16. God's creation was ruined. And being all powerful He could have chosen to destroy it entirely and start fresh. However, God is also 100% good and 100% loving (the Bible says God IS love - like that's what He is), and he isn't content to wipe us out or let us just rot away in some forgotten hell-hole. So he devises a plan to fix things.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. - John 3:16 (NIV)

God's love is summarized in the first part of the verse. He loves the world (that includes us!) enough that He's not gonna leave us to some evil destruction. The next part of the verse tells us how He decides to fix things.

Starting in Genesis 3, and throughout the rest of the Old Testament (the first 39 books of the Bible) you will find hundreds of prophecies foretelling how God is going to rescue the world from evil. Here's an example:

But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all. - Isaiah 53:5-6

God's plan for redemption (rescuing the world from evil) was to enter the world Himself as a human in the form of Jesus Christ. The gospels (the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in the Bible) tell this story. A part of God - his Son - is born into the evil world and lives a perfect life. He came with a singular mission: to eradicate evil and redeem (or save) humanity from destruction so that humans can once again be free to fulfill their created purpose.

Rescuing (redeeming) the entire world isn't an easy task however. The only way Jesus can obliterate the evil that enslaves us is to take it upon himself. He takes all sin - yours, mine, and everyone elses - upon himself, and he faces the destruction that comes with it: he dies. This is what is summarized in the second part of John 3:16: "He gave his one and only Son". Because of His love in the first part of the verse God actually sacrifices a piece of Himself to bring about and end to the evil that threatens our destruction.

The last part of the verse is the best though - because things don't end with Jesus death. Because Jesus is God, He is more powerful than death and destruction - they can't keep him down. Jesus rises from the dead, forever breaking the bonds that sin and evil have on the world through death and destruction.

Now, you may wonder if the above is true why is there still evil in the world? The answer is that Jesus work is not yet done. He conquered evil and cracked its deathgrip on the world - but there's still a lot of cleanup to do. Jesus life, death, and resurrection starts a counter-revolution - a rebellion against the evil; He call's it the "Kingdom of God" because that's what it is: the return of everything good and loving to the world (remember God IS good and God IS love). It spreads like a virus, eradicating all evil it contacts. The carriers of this Kingdom are humans - those who have been infected with the life-giving love of God and then pass it on to others.

With Jesus rising from the dead, the death and destruction as a result of sinful evil is beaten - and anywhere His Kingdom spreads to is saved from death. The evil is eradicated and only goodness, love, and life remain. This is what the last part of the verse means. Those who believe in Jesus - who have joined his Kingdom - are rescued from destruction. Instead they get to live forever serving out their original created purpose by being in close relationship with God. Jesus sacrifice has made them perfect.

The Bible ends with a prophecy of the future: God's Kingdom spreads throughout the entire world and when it does God physically returns to the earth. All evil is utterly and permanently destroyed never to trouble us again. John 3:16 is a message of ultimate hope. The days are numbered for evil. God's Kingdom is coming - and we can be a part of it. By believing in Christ's sacrifice and victory over our sin we are set free from evil and become a part of His advancing Kingdom. Not only are we saved from destruction, but we get to be His heralds, His agents of infection, spreading the good news of the life-giving Kingdom to others who are still awaiting rescue. That's why you see John 3:16 references everywhere. It symbolizes belief in God's Kingdom and a desire to spread that freedom from death to others.

I use the Aardvark IM service to both ask and answer questions. Russell from Salt Lake City just asked the question below, and I felt it deserved a more detailed answer than a quick 2-line IM response:

What does the bible quote John 3:16 mean?
in the bible, in the book of John Chapter 3 verse 16, there is a saying and I am trying to figure out what it means and why people wear it on their face.

Russell - here's my best answer:

To really understand John 3:16 you need an understanding of overall themes of the Bible, because John 3:16 is a summary of the secondary key theme. The reason people wear it, put it on signs, or quote it is because it so well captures and condenses the nature of that theme: redemption. The redemption theme starts near the beginning of the Bible (Genesis 3) and doesn't end until you get to near the back cover (in Revelation).

The Bible starts with God creating a perfect world in Genesis 1. He creates humans and places them in this perfect world as it's caretakers. But almost immediately (by the time you reach the third chapter of Genesis) something goes seriously wrong. Through the actions of Adam and Eve (the first humans) evil enters the world. This evil is a taint on the entire world - including humanity - transforming it from the paradise it was designed to be into a increasingly horrific place of darkness.

That's not the worst of it though. You see, God created humans with a purpose: to remain in close relationship with Him - to experience His all-powerful love and glory - and the evil taint (sin) which now consumes us and the world around us separates us from that purpose. We can't (spiritually) get to where we need to be because we are no longer perfect.

Now, here's where we get back to John 3:16. God's creation was ruined. And being all powerful He could have chosen to destroy it entirely and start fresh. However, God is also 100% good and 100% loving (the Bible says God IS love - like that's what He is), and he isn't content to wipe us out or let us just rot away in some forgotten hell-hole. So he devises a plan to fix things.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. - John 3:16 (NIV)

God's love is summarized in the first part of the verse. He loves the world (that includes us!) enough that He's not gonna leave us to some evil destruction. The next part of the verse tells us how He decides to fix things.

Starting in Genesis 3, and throughout the rest of the Old Testament (the first 39 books of the Bible) you will find hundreds of prophecies foretelling how God is going to rescue the world from evil. Here's an example:

But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all. - Isaiah 53:5-6

God's plan for redemption (rescuing the world from evil) was to enter the world Himself as a human in the form of Jesus Christ. The gospels (the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in the Bible) tell this story. A part of God - his Son - is born into the evil world and lives a perfect life. He came with a singular mission: to eradicate evil and redeem (or save) humanity from destruction so that humans can once again be free to fulfill their created purpose.

Rescuing (redeeming) the entire world isn't an easy task however. The only way Jesus can obliterate the evil that enslaves us is to take it upon himself. He takes all sin - yours, mine, and everyone elses - upon himself, and he faces the destruction that comes with it: he dies. This is what is summarized in the second part of John 3:16: "He gave his one and only Son". Because of His love in the first part of the verse God actually sacrifices a piece of Himself to bring about and end to the evil that threatens our destruction.

The last part of the verse is the best though - because things don't end with Jesus death. Because Jesus is God, He is more powerful than death and destruction - they can't keep him down. Jesus rises from the dead, forever breaking the bonds that sin and evil have on the world through death and destruction.

Now, you may wonder if the above is true why is there still evil in the world? The answer is that Jesus work is not yet done. He conquered evil and cracked its deathgrip on the world - but there's still a lot of cleanup to do. Jesus life, death, and resurrection starts a counter-revolution - a rebellion against the evil; He call's it the "Kingdom of God" because that's what it is: the return of everything good and loving to the world (remember God IS good and God IS love). It spreads like a virus, eradicating all evil it contacts. The carriers of this Kingdom are humans - those who have been infected with the life-giving love of God and then pass it on to others.

With Jesus rising from the dead, the death and destruction as a result of sinful evil is beaten - and anywhere His Kingdom spreads to is saved from death. The evil is eradicated and only goodness, love, and life remain. This is what the last part of the verse means. Those who believe in Jesus - who have joined his Kingdom - are rescued from destruction. Instead they get to live forever serving out their original created purpose by being in close relationship with God. Jesus sacrifice has made them perfect.

The Bible ends with a prophecy of the future: God's Kingdom spreads throughout the entire world and when it does God physically returns to the earth. All evil is utterly and permanently destroyed never to trouble us again. John 3:16 is a message of ultimate hope. The days are numbered for evil. God's Kingdom is coming - and we can be a part of it. By believing in Christ's sacrifice and victory over our sin we are set free from evil and become a part of His advancing Kingdom. Not only are we saved from destruction, but we get to be His heralds, His agents of infection, spreading the good news of the life-giving Kingdom to others who are still awaiting rescue. That's why you see John 3:16 references everywhere. It symbolizes belief in God's Kingdom and a desire to spread that freedom from death to others.

The Meaning of John 3:16

Eco-Hysteria and Overpopulation

The Jeub Family just posted a great article about James Lee - the eco-terrorist that took hostages at the Discovery channel headquarters last week. Mr. Lee apparently focused his assault on the Discovery network because of the pro-large family shows they air on their TLC channel. It is sad that brainwashing in the religion of extreme environmentalism led to the loss of his life (and nearly the lives of the hostages).

Read the article, and if you don't follow me on Facebook (Roger Hicks) or Twitter (BobTHJ) join up to check out the two fun and informational videos I posted about the myths behind overpopulation.

The Jeub Family just posted a great article about James Lee - the eco-terrorist that took hostages at the Discovery channel headquarters last week. Mr. Lee apparently focused his assault on the Discovery network because of the pro-large family shows they air on their TLC channel. It is sad that brainwashing in the religion of extreme environmentalism led to the loss of his life (and nearly the lives of the hostages).

Read the article, and if you don't follow me on Facebook (Roger Hicks) or Twitter (BobTHJ) join up to check out the two fun and informational videos I posted about the myths behind overpopulation.

Eco-Hysteria and Overpopulation

Perspectives / The Glory of God

Crystal and I are taking the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement class. I highly recommend it to anyone who is able to take it. The subject matter is deep (it is a college level class), and it makes you think.

One of the subjects I've been thinking about lately is the glory of God. Apparently our pastor (Darrin Crow) has been thinking about it too, because we talked about it for Sunday school, during the sermon Sunday, and at our Perspectives class this Wednesday (where he was the guest speaker).

Our ultimate purpose (that for which we were created) was to bring God glory. As Christians we often miss this idea - focusing our efforts in "being good", condemning evil, or even proselytizing. However, Jesus made this purpose clear in John 17:4:

I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.

Christ came to earth to bring glory to the Father. His work was to redeem us, but the purpose of that work was so that God might be glorified. In the same way our work is to spread the good news of redemption - not so people would be saved from hellfire (though they are) - but so that God's fame might be made known through his awesome work of redemption and we might turn our hearts toward him in worship.

John Piper says "Mission exists because worship doesn't". We need to be missional - the world needs to know God's overwhelming love for them. But in our drive to "reach the lost" we must not lose sight of the primary goal: humanity must be reconciled to God so that it can fulfill it's purpose of glorifying and worshiping Him!

Disclosure: I don't claim any credit for the thoughts in this post - they are almost entirely lifted from the Perspectives course material and pastor Darrin. It's good stuff none-the-less.

Crystal and I are taking the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement class. I highly recommend it to anyone who is able to take it. The subject matter is deep (it is a college level class), and it makes you think.

One of the subjects I've been thinking about lately is the glory of God. Apparently our pastor (Darrin Crow) has been thinking about it too, because we talked about it for Sunday school, during the sermon Sunday, and at our Perspectives class this Wednesday (where he was the guest speaker).

Our ultimate purpose (that for which we were created) was to bring God glory. As Christians we often miss this idea - focusing our efforts in "being good", condemning evil, or even proselytizing. However, Jesus made this purpose clear in John 17:4:

I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.

Christ came to earth to bring glory to the Father. His work was to redeem us, but the purpose of that work was so that God might be glorified. In the same way our work is to spread the good news of redemption - not so people would be saved from hellfire (though they are) - but so that God's fame might be made known through his awesome work of redemption and we might turn our hearts toward him in worship.

John Piper says "Mission exists because worship doesn't". We need to be missional - the world needs to know God's overwhelming love for them. But in our drive to "reach the lost" we must not lose sight of the primary goal: humanity must be reconciled to God so that it can fulfill it's purpose of glorifying and worshiping Him!

Disclosure: I don't claim any credit for the thoughts in this post - they are almost entirely lifted from the Perspectives course material and pastor Darrin. It's good stuff none-the-less.

Perspectives / The Glory of God