Facts & Faith
1993 Quarter 4
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Biology's Big Bang #2
Recent discoveries in geology and are challenging some of the fundamental premises of evolutionary theory. In two previous issues of Facts & Faith, I described the shrinkage of the time window for life's origin from many millions of years down to about ten million or less.1-3 So sudden and unfathomable is the change from an inorganic world to an organic one that it deserves to be called biology's big bang.
And now there's evidence of another bang. Apparently the Cambrian explosion occurred in the brief span of just five to ten million years.4 "Cambrian explosion" refers to the period (about 530 million years ago) when the population of our planet changed from nothing more advanced than simple wormlike organisms (no hard parts or limbs) to a diversity encompassing all the major animal groups, creatures sporting such innovations as skeletons, legs, antennae, and shells. All thirty of the more complex animal phyla alive today (including our own, the chordates) and thirty other phyla now extinct appeared in the Cambrian era.
What a jolt to evolutionism! The Darwinian hypothesis rests on the premise that life evolves through eons as slight changes wrought by natural selection and mutations are passed along to succeeding generations. It is difficult for anyone, evolutionists included, to imagine how the Cambrian's enormous changes of body and biochemistry, not to mention diversity, could possibly have occurred in only a few million years.
Evolutionists once held out hope that maybe the Cambrian explosion stretched over fifty million years and maybe natural processes could work that fast. But such a hope, which many scientists have shown to be false,5-9 must now be abandoned or acknowledged as futile fantasy. Such changes cannot happen on their own, without divine input--not in 50 million years, not in 5 billion years, not in 50 trillion years.
Political changes played a key role in these discoveries of the Cambrian explosion's brevity. For decades the Soviets prevented access to the militarily sensitive northeast corner of Siberia. But when communism fell access became possible. In the rocks from this remote region, plus some other rocks just found in New Brunswick, Canada, a team of U.S. geologists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, working with Russian researchers from the Geoscience Institute in Yakutsk, made their remarkable findings.4 They were able to date the beginning of the Tommotian geologic era at 530 million years ago and the end of the next, the Atdabanian, geologic era at 525 million years ago. The burst of diverse animal phyla took place during these two eras. Dating uncertainties could stretch the explosion over ten million years at most or shrink it to zero years.
How have scientists responded to news of this discovery? Richard Monastersky, an editor for Science News, writes, "The new dating work will help researchers trying to understand what caused the flowering of new phyla and why it never recurred."10 Monastersky quotes Stefan Bengston, a Swedish paleontologist, as saying, "If we try to find out what mechanisms--ecological or genetic--caused this rapid diversification, then surely the absolute rates are very important because they put limits on what we can suggest." Stefan Bengston makes an important point. Ecological and genetic mechanisms do not operate as rapidly as such a time frame would require. Even if they could, the destructive changes would so outnumber and outweigh the constructive changes (in those species with a population less than a quadrillion) as to bring about extermination. When these ecological and genetic speed limits are compared to the 0- to 10-million-year span of the Cambrian explosion, the possibility (with respect to time alone) for naturalism becomes absurdly remote, and the plausibility of supernaturalism substantially increases.
MACHOS Discovered
The latest issue of Facts & Faith (vol. 7, no. 3) reported a detection of exotic matter in the motion of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a dwarf companion galaxy to our own. Since that publication date, the LMC has made the news again.11 Studying that dwarf galaxy closely, two teams of U.S., Australian, and French astronomers have made the first ever detection of MACHOs (massive compact halo objects), something known only in theory till now.
The importance of this detection is that it may lead to a much more accurate measure of the amount and distribution of ordinary dark matter in the universe. This measure, combined with measures of the amount and distribution of visible ordinary matter and of exotic matter in the universe will lead to greater refinement of our model for the creation event.
Time Features Origins
A recent Time magazine article interprets the same research findings I discussed in two "Science in the News" columns a year ago and more.3, 12, 13 Though the Time write-up honestly acknowledges some of the difficulties origin-of-life experts face in devising naturalistic explanations for the multiple origins of life, it conveniently ignores the most intractable problems, including the ones addressed in my articles and in Hubert Yockey's book, Information Theory and Molecular Biology.
--Hugh Ross
Suggested Resources
For background on the Cambrian explosion see Of Pandas and People, second edition, by Percival Davis and Dean Kenyon, and Evolution: A Theory in Crisis by Michael Denton. For background on dark, visible, ordinary, and exotic matter as it pertains to the creation event, see my book, The Creator and the Cosmos. You may order these resources via the response panel on p. 15 or by phone, (818) 335- 1480.
References
- 'The Rays and the Rocks Cry Out," Facts & Faith, vol. 3, no. 4 (winter 1989-90), p, 3.
- "The Case for Creation Grows Stronger: Evolution Loses Yet More Time," Facts & Faith, vol. 4, no. 1 (1990), p. 3.
- "Evidence Builds, Loopholes Shrink in the Case for Creation: Shrinking Time for Origin of Life," Facts & Faith, vol. 6, no. I (spring 1992), pp. 3-4.
- Samuel A. Bowring et al, "Calibrating Rates of Early Cambrian Evolution," Science, vol. 261 (1993), pp. 1293-98.
- Hugh Ross, The Creator and the Cosmos (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1993), pp. 100-104.
- Fred Hoyle and N. C. Wickramasinghe, Evolution From Space (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1981), pp. 4-19, 77-97.
- Evan Shute, Flaws in the Theory of Evolution (Nutley, NJ: Craig Press, 1961).
- Michael Denton, Evolution: A Theory in Crisis (Bethesda, MD: Adler and Adler, 1985), pp. 37- 232.
- Percival Davis and Dean H. Kenyon, Of Pandas and People, second edition Dallas: Haughton, 1993), pp. 91-161.
- "Siberian Rocks Clock Biological Big Bang," Science News, vol. 144 (1993), p. 148.
- Ron Cowen, "Dark Matter: MACHOs in Milky Way's Halo?" Science News, vol. 144 (1993), p. 199.
- "Theories on Life Origin Take New Directions," Facts & Faith, vol. 6, no. 4 (winter 1992-93), pp. 2-3.
- Madeleine Nash, "How Did Life Begin?" Time, October 11, 1993, pp. 66-74.
Let us Reason - Bullets of Faith
We have all heard about the story of David and Goliath. As a practical-minded engineer, I once assumed that David started with five smooth stones to have a few more tries in case of a miss. Now I am convinced that I was wrong, that the number five was not arbitrary, but rather was part of a specific plan. In I Samuel 17 we read the following:
A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp ... Then the Philistine said, "This day I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other."
... David asked...,"Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?...Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear, this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them.... Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine...
David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down ..., and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel ... All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the Lord's...." As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.
Reading further, both in 2 Samuel 21:16-22 and I Chronicles 20:4-8, we discover that Goliath had four relatives, also giants: 1) Ishbi-Benob, whose bronze spearhead weighed three hundred shekels (more than seven pounds) and who said he would kill David; 2) Saph (or Sippai), another descendant of Rapha (the giant); 3) Lahmi (the brother of Goliath), whose spear shaft resembled a weaver's rod; and 4) a huge man (unnamed in the text) with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot.
Goliath and these four were all descendants of Rapha in Gath, "and they fell at the hands of David and his men" (2 Samuel 21:22 and I Chronicles 20:8).
David apparently knew in facing Goliath that these other four might also have to be reckoned with. So David prepared himself to take down all five giants, one stone per giant, if need be. The Bible tells us that the other four did fight against David and his army in later battles, and all four were defeated.
David's stone was a bullet of faith, launched from his sling at probably 100 to 120 mph, and with sufficient momentum to break through Goliath's skull bones. The boastful giant never knew what hit him. The text indicates that David ran toward Goliath as he launched his shot, thus adding to its momentum. We can assume from David's success in killing both bear and lion that he was a fast runner (Goliath could never have caught him in open field running) and an accurate shot, probably able to put a stone into a 3- or 4-inch circle consistently from a distance of 20 or 30 feet (an accuracy comparable to that of today's pro baseball pitchers).
Considering these probable facts, along with David's anger (not to mention God's) at the arrogant Philistine mocking Israel's army and God, I conclude that Goliath was the one in grave danger that day. I also believe that if the relatives of Goliath had counterattacked, David would have gone the distance and certainly would have scored five for five.
What are the characteristics of bullets of faith such as David fired? Must they be really massive, large enough to crush our opponents? No. But they must be able to penetrate enemy defenses, and they will if they are based on the Word of God. They must be well aimed and well timed, and they will be if they are based on the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Such bullets can destroy "monsters" of mockery raised up against God's people.
But shouldn't we also be thinking about other monsters? Aren't the internal battles usually more difficult, more fearsome, than the external ones? I have faced such giants as fear of failure; fear of loss, especially loss of love and respect in key relationships; temptation to act on my own, apart from God's leading; and the list goes on. I take heart as I think of David's courage and confidence when he faced Goliath and was prepared to face four others, too. I pray that God's people, including me, will become spiritually adept at aiming bullets of faith, remembering always that as we face the battles, the Lord will prevail.
--Dale Jones
Dale is a consultant in advanced technological engineering applications. He holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Stanford University and a Ph.D. from Cambridge. He and his wife, Connie, and their son and daughter are active in their church and their community, Visalia, California. Date is preparing to serve on the RTB hotline.
Pray-ers' Closet
Good Fretters Make Good Pray-ers, If...
I'm sure you've heard the perspective that people's negative qualities are good qualities needing adjustment. The strong-willed child, for example, is a potential "stand-up-for-what's right" type, if properly channeled. The "slobs" among us are the flexible ones needing discipline and focus. I've seen and heard many more examples mentioned in print and in talk, but I don't recall any reference to fretters. So I'm adding them to the list. With their remarkable capacity to anticipate both short- and long-range danger and disaster from many directions at once, they can become alert, comprehensive lookout pray-ers.
But we must consider that pesky little if. No change comes just from seeing that it's needed and possible. It must be wanted. And even if wanted, it won't happen without some honest acknowledgment of why it hasn't happened before now. One key question for fretters is this: "What does fretting accomplish?" If you said, "Nothing," think again. If it accomplished nothing it would have been discarded a long time ago. True, it doesn't keep things from happening, but it does protect emotions from the searing pain of disappointment. Just as importantly, it provides a sense of power over the uncontrollable. "I knew this was coming."
Before weighing the value of what's wasted through fretting and what's gained by a different approach to life, it's important for the fretter to consider and talk about and even re-live, emotionally, the experiences that fueled this need and this strategy to avoid pain and feel on top of things.
Long before all this work is done, though, the fretter may be willing to practice a new response to perceived danger and doom: prayer. When trouble looms on the horizon, it's time to alert the Lord. In doing so, the fretter may even see the humor of thinking that something has escaped His notice or bypassed His will. It's okay to ask, "Father, don't let this happen," but it's also a good idea to add, "Is there anything I can do to keep this from happening?" and "If this does happen, what are some of my options?"
Let me say again, good fretters make good pray-ers, if they so choose. And this ministry, for one, hopes to recruit some, for we need all the pray-ers we can get!
--Kathy Ross
Field Report
The fall months have been so packed with wonderful activities highlights are hard to choose. But if one peak stands a little taller than the rest for Hugh Ross, it was the ministry trip to his native Canada. The trip included outreaches in Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta, mostly university lectures, but also a radio interview, a business executives banquet, and a church event--the latter a lifetime first for Hugh in Canada. At each meeting, especially the banquet, the openness to the Gospel exceeded all expectations. Many gave their lives to Christ, and others committed to further investigating the Bible to check out its claims.
"Harrowing" is the word for Hugh's travels in Florida. For each of four days he drove through blinding (no exaggeration) rainstorms, sometimes dodging lightning bolts, to be interviewed on radio and television about The Creator and the Cosmos, his latest book. So enthusiastic were hosts and audiences over its message that he was asked to return as soon as possible for further discussions. While in Florida, Hugh also had the pleasure of meeting with R. C. Sproul and the staff of Ligonier Ministries.
Another first was the opportunity to address the Christian Legal Society's national conference in Virginia. Hugh's purpose was to bring law professionals up to date on cosmological discoveries of the last two years and how these impact the creation-evolution debate. It was a time of intense interaction, even on the bus to the airport.
Hotliners also jumped into the action this fall. Mark Ritter gave a talk on dinosaurs to first- through fifth-graders at Cornerstone Bible Church in Glendora, Calif. Vicki Wiley, Children's Ministries Director, says she and the kids can hardly wait for Mark to come back. Marj Harmon led two events, the first at Glenkirk Presbyterian (also in Glendora), where RTB offered a four- week adult Sunday school series on science and the Bible, and the second at the University of Southern Califbmia medical campus, a meeting of the Christian medical students' club. In both venues her topic was "Genesis I and 2: Myth or History?" and the response was excellent.
Wendy Wallace led a team of volunteers in staffing RTB's booth at the annual convention of Greater Los Angeles Sunday Schools (GLASS), held in Pasadena, while Hugh led two workshops. As in past years, GLASS gave us the chance to interact with many hundreds of people of all ages.
The big event in Janet Kobobel's publications department was completion of another book for NavPress. This one is entitled Creation and Time, subtitled, "A Biblical and Scientific Perspective on the Creation-Date Controversy." It presents an appeal and plan for peaceful resolution of this divisive conflict within the church. NavPress senses a great need and interest. Expected release date is April 1994. We also received word that The Creator and the Cosmos was nominated for Christianity Today's annual Critics' Choice Awards. This is encouraging news.
Here are more details on these and other events:
Churches - Fruitvale Community, near Bakersfield, Calif., organized a well-attended Saturday evening outreach. A week night event at Foothills Alliance, Calgary, Alberta, also drew a full house and an enthusiastic response. After one of two Sunday evening outreaches at Eastside Community, Fullerton, Calif., a young lady stepped forward and asked to be baptized that night. Many people from the community, including some international students from Azusa Pacific University, attended the October Sunday morning series at Glenkirk Presbyterian in Glendora, Calif. And Gaithersburg Church of the Nazarene, in Maryland, tried something new, a Sunday afternoon seminar. Many scientists from nearby research and development firms attended and expressed openness.
Campuses - The Canada trip included one full day of events at the University of Calgary and another at the University of Edmonton. Both included special meetings with faculty.
Business and Civic Groups - Christian Businessmen's Committee in Bakersfield, Calif., sponsored a banquet outreach for couples, as did the Campus Crusade for Christ Executives Ministry in Edmonton.
Radio - More than forty interviews about The Creator and the Cosmos have been broadcast live or recorded in Alabama, Arizona, Alberta (Canada), California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. The interviews have aired in more states than these.
Television - Hugh appeared live in the Clearwater (Fla.) area (delayed broadcast elsewhere) on the syndicated program "Action Sixties." And the Wednesday evening "Reasons To Believe" program continues on TBN (see "Letters" column for a glimpse at the encouraging feedback).
Retreats and Conferences - At Sierra Madre Congregational Men's Retreat at Arrowhead Springs, Calif., Hugh spoke on sharing our faith in an increasingly secularized world. The men have asked for a Sunday morning apologetics course at church. The GLASS workshops (mentioned above) were entitled, "The New Watchmaker Argument" and "Removing a Stumbling Block." At the Christian Legal Society conference (also mentioned above), held at the Founders' Inn in Virginia Beach, Hugh led a seminar on origins.
Internationals - While in Maryland, Hugh also addressed the University of Maryland Chinese-American Fellowship. After an intense Q-and-A session, many indicated they could no longer escape believing in the reality of God and committed themselves to seek His truth.
From Africa
Our readers in Africa who would like to place orders or request other information may contact Dr. David Block at P. 0. Box 60, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2050, Republic of South Africa. His FAX number is 27-11-339-7956.
From Australia
The news from down under is sad, for we must announce the death of our friend and RTB representative in Australia, Bruce Ogden. A long-time international board member for World Vision (and other ministries, including Prison Fellowship), Bruce will be remembered and mourned as a gifted leader, an enterprising entrepreneur, and a family loving husband and father. A memorial service will be held in his honor at the World Vision auditorium in Monrovia, Calif., this December.
John and Loveday Key, known to RTB through Hugh's Sunday morning class at Sierra Madre (Calif.) Congregational Church, have just returned to their native Australia and will be taking up Bruce's RTB post there, at least for the next several months. Our readers in Australia who wish to place orders or request information may contact the Keys at P. 0. Box 68, Laurieton, New South Wales 2443. The phone and FAX number is 065-596-754.
Letters
"...Earlier this year I read Dr. Ross's book The Fingerprint of God and thought it very good.... Someone who had heard your 1991 radio discussion with Duane T. Gish on the James Dobson show (broadcast here late last year) got our local Christian bookseller to order a few copies of it, and I noticed it in the shop. I have been reading the U. S. Astronomy magazine for a few years, so I found the book very interesting. I bought my own copy and copies for the Baptist and Presbyterian church libraries that my mother and I run, and a copy for the public library.
"Could you please send me a copy of your catalog as mentioned in the back of the book? Our bookseller is interested too, as your book has been selling well."
--Nathaniel, Richmond, New Zealand
"I have seen you on TBN and enjoyed you very much, especially the series you just finished on death and dying.
"My mom passed away in 1991, and I had a hard time with it as we had lived together for fifty-five years. She was not only my mom but my best friend, also. Everyone in our church said all the things you hear at funerals, but no one had any answers.... But when I heard you, it started to make sense. I know I serve a loving God, but it was like He just used us, then discarded us, and to me this did not spell love. But praise God you put it in a feasible way, a way I could see from a loving God ......"
--Kay, Medicine Hat, Alberta
"...[Your uncle and aunt] loaned me a set of tapes, which I listened to all the way to Oregon last summer. What a refreshing approach you have! Without getting too verbose, I'll tell you I was bordering on being or becoming agnostic-atheist with my limited scientific background. (The established religious community just didn't have answers for my inquiring mind.)
"Congratulations on what I feel is one of the greatest organizations to come along for as far back as I can remember. I have a long way to go in trying to understand God and the Bible. Am looking forward to reading your new book."
--Noel, Turlock, California
"I am a death row inmate, but I want you to know that I pray for your ministry and have used your book and several other materials to witness here. I know God is using your ministry to reach many who otherwise wouldn't be reached! P.T.L! I also see you on TBN."
--Gary, Atmore, Alabama
[Editor's note: Gary's was one of many letters received this past quarter from prison inmates. I wish I had space to include each one. -KR]
"I would first like to take the opportunity to thank you for saving my life. I'm sure that you have heard stories like mine before-a degree in biology and a belief that Christians were simply weak and afraid of death. My only concession regarding the existence of God was a 'force of nature.' There came a point in my life when I was beaten down by alcohol, when my life appeared meaningless, and I had a hole in my soul. My boss, Don Carmichael, gave me one of your tapes, and it was the first thing that I ever heard (or allowed myself to hear) of the Word of God. I thank you personally for that, and I rejoice that I will spend eternity in the loving hands of God ....."
--Bob, Camarillo, California
"...I am a retired missionary. Even though I am soon 83, 1 have never retired my heart....
"In no way can my mind take in the math or any of the scientific material you present so beautifully--but my heart responds to truth. I get blessed and thrilled as I hear you and read the wonderful truths you present. "
--Carrie, Portland, Indiana
"I recently finished reading The Creator and the Cosmos. I found myself enamored by the evidence for the Creator I call my Lord and Savior. As a physicist and computer scientist, I am constantly challenged by evolutionists who base their 'faith' on fuzzy logic. I was so refreshed to see an organization like yours, dedicated to showing how creation proclaims the name of its Creator. Thank you! I pray for you ......"
--Jason, Sand Springs, Oklahoma
"Thank you for your magazine. I enjoy reading all the articles. I just wanted to let you know that I never throw away any Word-filled magazines or articles. I have left your magazines in hospital waiting rooms, in dialysis treatment rooms, and now recently on my city's buses. I know that His Word shall not return void. My hope is that soon someone will write to you and say they got saved or ministered to by picking up and reading your magazine that was found lying on a coffee table or bus seat. Thank you for giving me seed to sow (Mark 4:14)."
--Nancy, Houston, Texas
Meet Our Staff
Ofelia Habelt joined Reasons To Believe in November 1992 as the receptionist-cum-jack (or should I say jill)-of-all-trades, keeping the phone center of the office composed and orderly. Both her business training and people skills are evident in her work.
The business world is not Ofelia's career direction, however. Ministry is. With her husband, Todd, she looks forward to full-time involvement in youth ministries some day. Such work has a special draw for Ofelia because of the way she came to know Christ. While a high school student in Oakland, she attended a church youth group meeting with a boyfriend. She was so impressed by the warmth and care she experienced there, she went back and continued attending. She began to hear and understand the Gospel.
After high school graduation, Ofelia enrolled at Diablo Community College and met more Christians. Soon she was ready to make the step of faith to accept Christ as her Savior. While at Diablo she participated in some short-term missions to Mexico, and later, after transferring to U. C. Davis, she attended InterVarsity's Urbana Conference in Illinois. That conference turned her thinking toward ministry.
The summer of '91 solidified that decision. That's when she began to date Todd, intern youth pastor at her church, First Covenant, in Oakland. She and Todd married in the fall of '92 and moved to Pasadena for Todd's studies in the M. Div. program at Fuller Seminary. She applied for the opening at Reasons after hearing about it from a friend, the daughter of RTB board member Dave Rogstad.
Ofelia says that the RTB message and materials have helped both her and Todd. "I had never known a ministry that reconciled the Bible and science. When I found Reasons, I was fascinated. Reasons has strengthened both Todd's and my faith, and we both feel better equipped to minister."
In her spare time Ofelia enjoys crafts such as wreath making. She also enjoys putting together scrapbooks and has given several to relatives as a way to strengthen family ties. Todd spends some of his spare time volunteering at the Reasons office. Ofelia's plans include completion of her bachelor's degree. But when and where will depend on what position Todd accepts after his graduation from Fuller in June 1994. The rest of the staff hopes they will stay in the area.
--Daphne Trager
Puzzles & Paradoxes
Last quarter's column on the paradox of Jesus' oneness with and separateness from the Father generated several letters and phone calls. My doctrinal watchdogs feared that I had inadvertently committed, or at least appeared to commit, the Sabellian, modalist, or "Jesus only" heresy. Sabellius, who lived in the third century A.D., viewed the Trinity as simply three modes or manifestations of God. In other words, his perspective gave top billing to the singularity of God and compromised the plurality. I do not agree with Sabellius, and I am sad to think that some interpreted my words as modalistic despite my explicit reference to the Son and Father as "two."
The reaction suggests a tendency within Christian orthodoxy to emphasize and guard the doctrine of the "threeness" of God. Because my article emphasized, I'd be willing to say overemphasized, the oneness of God, alarms went off in the heads of many. I appreciate hearing from readers when those alarms sound because I do want to be alert to potential errors, misinterpretations, and misunderstandings.
I know many people (like myself) like being right, but on this doctrine of the Trinity, who is perfectly right except God Himself? Words are barely adequate, and illustrations fall far short. Lest you think I'm in danger of heresy again, be assured that my words only echo those of Bible scholar Charles C. Ryrie. After quoting Benjamin Warfield's definition of the Trinity (God is "three eternal and co-equal Persons, the same in substance but distinct in subsistence"), which he sees as one of the best definitions, Ryrie comments, "The word person [for each of the Father, Son, and Spirit] is not really so good because it seems to indicate separate individuals in the Godhead; but, though we all recognize deficiency in the word, what better one is there?" *
Accurate illustrations are even harder to come by than accurate words. As Ryrie says, most word pictures "cannot include the idea that the three fully possess all the qualities of the one equally and without separation." Nevertheless, we do attempt to picture the tri-unity, and such attempts do satisfy, in a limited way, our yearning for a concrete picture.
As eager as Christians may be to avoid Sabellius's error, one of the most common illustrations of the Trinity is clearly modalistic. That illustration is the triple point of water, 32° F., at which temperature water can be ice or liquid or vapor, but the molecular make-up is identical. An analogy that comes closer to the biblical revelation of the Godhead is a cup of water that's 100% ice, 100% liquid, and 100% vapor, simultaneously. Though it's more accurate, it's a picture our minds strongly resist because it's unpicturable and apparently contradictory.
My point last time I will state again: The key problem with our words and pictures is our limited point of view. Christians keep trying to make the Trinity doctrine fit into our four-dimensional (space-and-time) framework, and it simply cannot. Like other fundamental doctrines of Christianity, such as the simultaneity of predetermination and free choice, we must reach beyond the confines of the physical universe for an adequate explanation. Otherwise we will only fight endlessly and all be wrong. The Bible both states and illustrates that necessity.
*A Survey of Bible Doctrine (Chicago: Moody Press, 1972), p. 33.
--Kathy Ross
What Do We Believe
Many people who are just becoming acquainted with Reasons To Believe may appreciate clarification of our position on the basic tenets of the Christian faith. The following paragraphs express the key doctrinal convictions of our staff and board of directors.
Scripture - The Bible (Old and New Testaments) gives the true and trustworthy Word of God to humanity, written in the words and literary style of individuals. It says everything God intended to say as He inspired men to write it, and He has provided ample evidence of its complete reliability-- historical, scientific, and spiritual. The Bible is our supreme and final authority in faith and conduct, and it is meant to be taken literally unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
Creation - The physical universe, the realm of nature, is the creation of God. It affirms God's existence and gives a trustworthy revelation of God's character and purpose. God declares that through His creation all humanity may come to recognize His power, His love, His justice, and His mercy, and thus the way to find eternal fellowship with Him. An honest study of nature--its physical, biological, and social aspects--can prove useful in a person's search for truth.
God - God is one, and apart from Him there is no God. He exists simultaneously and eternally as three persons--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Father is the author and initiator of love. Jesus Christ, the Son, is God in bodily form, a tangible expression of all that the Father is, and offers the only way to eternal fellowship with the Father. The Holy Spirit imparts truth, convicts of sin, and turns individuals to Christ. As a person repents of spiritual autonomy (sin) and submits to Christ, the Spirit irrevocably indwell that person and places him or her into Christ's Body, the Church.
Humans - Created in the image of God to fellowship with God and give Him glory, Adam and Eve, the first humans, chose to go their own independent way. As a result, the fellowship was broken, the image distorted, and the sin nature passed on to all their progeny.
Redemption - God has acted sovereignly to bridge the gap that separates people from Himself. He sent His Son, born of a virgin, attested by miracles and by a sinless life, to bear the full penalty for all humanity's sin.
The Resurrection - Jesus Christ rose bodily from the dead, conquering sin, death, and all the powers of Satan. He now lives to indwell all who recognize their sinfulness, repent, and turn their lives over to His authority.
The Church - All people who have personally made this transfer of authority belong to the Church. These people are neither perfect nor sinless, but their lives are coming more and more under the control of the Holy Spirit, expressing His love, joy, peace, and other Christ-like qualities.
The Second Coming - Jesus is coming back. We do not know the day or the hour, but we do know the signs for which He told us to look. We also know the certainty of His promise to return and to judge all humanity. Those who have received His offer of life will go to eternal blessings in His presence (heaven); those who have rejected it, to eternal separation from Him (hell).
The Great Commission - Christ has commissioned His people, the Church, to go into all the world to disciple, to baptize, and to teach everyone everywhere to obey His Word. Because it is impossible to obey Him without trusting Him, we seek to trust Him more and more so that, as a result, our obedience will increase and our lives bring forth much fruit to the honor of God.
A Christmas Meditation
God began the first creation with an incredible explosion producing matter that became the heavens and the earth, and He ended it with creation of the first man, Adam.
God began the new creation with a silent conception in the tiny egg of a virgin that became the second man, Christ Jesus, and He will end it with creation of the new heavens and new earth.
--John Rea, December 1992
Dr. Rea is a retired seminary professor.
The Near Side - Flight to Glory
If you should ever make a trip to Knoxville, Tenn., you will probably see a number of automobiles painted entirely in the color of orange sherbet with a large white "T" on top or sides. Don't make the same mistake I did and yell "Taxi!" The owners are not taxi drivers; they are some of the world's most ardent football fans, supporters of the University of Tennessee Volunteers.
In the year and a half I lived in Knoxville, I found the people there cordial, good-hearted, and brave. But, if they do have one blind spot, it may be their passionate involvement with the game of football. I think this story may now be safely told.
I didn't understand the reason for my boss's apologetic tone when he approached me one December afternoon several years ago. 'We need someone to go down to Dallas the first of next month. . . "
"No problem, Boss," I said. (In those days I still thought business travel a pleasure.)
"You realize you'll need to stay over Saturday night to keep expenses down?"
"Okay," I said cheerfully.
"That's great!" he said. "I thought I would have to pull teeth to find someone to fly down on New Year's Eve!"
Suddenly the trip seemed a good deal less interesting.
I was in a sullen mood two weeks later when I made my excuses and left a perfectly good New Year Eve's dinner party. I was even less cheerful when I arrived at the Knoxville airport.
I hardly noticed the jam of orange vehicles at the curb, with their "Tennessee by birth, Volunteer by the Grace of God" bumper stickers.
I had cut my timing a little close and was jogging toward the gate with my carry-on bags when I first began to catch on that something was out of the ordinary. I heard the voices of a crowd from down the concourse. Not the dull droning of random conversation, but orchestrated cheers as if a protest were in progress.
Not a protest, I realized in a moment, but a celebration.
"What's that spell?!" resounded as I approached my gate.
"Vols!" came back the unison chorus from a hundred ardent throats.
"What's that spell?!"
"Vols!"
The banners at the departure gate finally jogged my memory. "Go Vols, Number One," "Go Johnny, Go Johnny, Go Johnny Majors," "Cotton Bowl, Here We Come," and "Hello, NBC."
I had fallen in with the Cotton Bowl-bound fans, almost certainly the last to depart for Dallas. I seemed destined to endure an extended pep rally all the way there.
We had quite an exhaustive spelling lesson on the word "Vols" over the next few minutes. With a few rousing choruses of "Rocky Top" as well.
The flight attendant picked up the public address microphone and was waiting for a chance to make an announcement. Finally she broke in over the noise. "Ladies and Gentlemen..." (Shouts of "Quiet!" and the cheering subsided.) "...Ladies and Gentlemen, in a few minutes we will be boarding our flight to Dallas."
Spontaneous cheers erupted again, with whistles and clapping.
"Due to the heavy holiday traffic . . (Shouts of "Quiet!") ". . . Due to the very heavy holiday traffic, we are overbooked."
The crowd drew its collective breath. Glances were exchanged, as it was perceived by all that a crisis was developing.
The flight attendant went on. "In a minute, we will be asking for a few. . . "
A shudder passed through the room as the word hung in the air.
" . . . volunteers."
Anguished expressions crossed the faces of all.
The rest of her sentence about free round-trip tickets anywhere within the continental U. S. was nearly drowned out by the stunned exclamations of football fans who contemplated the possibility of missing the opening kick-off, maybe the entire game.
No one moved. Everyone glanced sidelong at his neighbor to see that "someone else" who might step out of the crowd to give up his seat, but it quickly became clear that no was moving. The seasoned travelers began to move surreptitiously in the direction of the departure gate. Realizing the importance of being in physical possession of a seat, they started to form a line. But the other passengers, though not fully comprehending the action, recognized it as an effort to cut them out; so they pressed in a mass toward the same spot.
The flight attendant tried to intervene. "Ladies and Gentlemen, no one will be allowed on the plane until we have a sufficient number of volunteers."
There was a moment of false hope as a young couple approached the podium. They turned out to be orange-clad honeymooners, who distinguished themselves from the other fans only by her corsage and his matching boutonniere. "Our whole honeymoon is planned around the game," they pled. "We have to get on that plane!"
Finally a family with four small children decided that they might be as happy to fly the next day without all the hoopla. That took care of six places, but one more was needed.
A man standing near the podium happened to be wearing a T-shirt with the message, "I'm a Volunteer."
The flight attendant pointed toward him in a tentative way. "How about you, sir?"
He quickly folded his arms across his chest (and a dozen others did likewise). "I'm the kind of volunteer who volunteers to fight. You're looking for the kind of volunteer who wants to take a later flight."
I don't know why it hadn't occurred to me before, but if anyone was free to travel on a later flight, with free tickets to boot, it was I! Perhaps the drama of the moment had pushed the idea from my head, but now it took shape rapidly. Go back to my New Year's party, leave on a later flight with no penalty, the football fans go their way rejoicing, no riot ensues, the airline is happy, everyone is happy.
This resolve was fully formed in my mind by the next time the flight attendant asked, "Isn't there anyone willing to take a later flight?"
I raised my hand. A shout of joy went up all around me. I intended to walk to the podium, but I didn't make it that far. I had achieved instant hero status in the eyes of my fellow travelers. They bore me up and carried me on their shoulders to the counter. Someone pressed a twenty-dollar bill into my hand.
"Hip-hip," someone cried, and the crowd responded, "Hooray!"
This was a heady experience for me. No one who has never been lifted up on the shoulders of an enthusiastic crowd will judge what I did next. Quieting the crowd with uplifted hands, I called out, "Fellow Volunteers, I am not a Tennessean by birth. I couldn't keep one proud Dad or Mom from their rightful place at the fifty-yard line in their moment of glory. But you must promise me one thing. Every one of you must shout your lungs out at that game because the Vols must win! Promise me, promise me!"
The crowd roared.
Moments later I was on my way back to the party with a free voucher in my pocket and a smile on my face.
You must not judge the Vols fans either. It isn't just in Knoxville that it's easier to find someone who'll volunteer to fight than someone who'll volunteer to keep out of one.
--Rob Kroeger
Rob teaches physics at the University of Mississippi and writes fiction for fun.
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