Using Science to Explain Scripture

 

Previously on Truth is... I have tried to express a certain correlation between a popular scientific theory and a Scriptural text, with perhaps less-than-stellar results. In an attempt to allow science to give it a shot, I gave ChatGPT the following instruction: "Explain the connection between the scientific concept of dark matter and Colossians 1:17."

This is the result of that exercise.

Colossians 1:17 is a biblical verse that states, "He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." This verse is often interpreted to refer to God's role in sustaining the universe and maintaining its order.

On the other hand, dark matter is a scientific concept that describes an invisible form of matter believed to make up a significant portion of the total mass in the universe. Although it does not interact directly with light or other electromagnetic radiation, its presence is inferred from its gravitational effects on visible matter and the structure of the cosmos.

The connection between Colossians 1:17 and dark matter lies in the idea that both concepts point to an underlying force or presence that holds the universe together. While Colossians 1:17 attributes this role to a divine being (God), dark matter is proposed by scientists as a potential explanation for the gravitational forces that shape galaxies and galaxy clusters.

Although it's important to note that these are two distinct perspectives—one theological and the other scientific—they both touch upon the mysterious nature of the universe and the fundamental forces that govern its existence.

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Truth is...I'm not sure I could say it any better, other than to add that both perspectives involve exercising faith.

"Well, As I Recall..."

 

The human memory is not all it's cracked up to be.

From the book, This Is Your Brain on Music by Daniel J. Levitin:

In study after study, people are not very good at re-creating a word-for-word account. They remember general content, but not specific wording. Several other studies also point to the imperfection of memory. Seemingly minor interventions can powerfully affect the accuracy of memory retrieval. An important series of studies was carried out by Elizabeth Loftus of the University of Washington, who was interested in the accu­racy of witnesses' courtroom testimonies. Subjects were shown video­tapes and asked leading questions about the content. If shown two cars that barely scraped each other, one group of subjects might be asked, "How fast were the cars going when they scraped each other?" and an­other group would be asked, "How fast were the cars going when they smashed each other?" Such one-word substitutions caused dramatic dif­ferences in the eyewitnesses' estimates of the speeds of the two vehi­cles. Then Loftus brought the subjects back, sometimes up to a week later, and asked, "How much broken glass did you see?" (There really was no broken glass.) The subjects who were asked the question with the word smashed in it were more likely to report "remembering" bro­ken glass in the video. Their memory of what they actually saw had been reconstructed on the basis of a simple question the experimenter had asked a week earlier.

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This makes me think about how sly Satan was when he asked Eve, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” Now, the answer is no...God did NOT say that, but it got Eve asking herself about what the Lord actually DID say and what did he actually mean and did she hear it correctly and the train of doubt has left the station.

Truth is...It's okay to question. It's okay to doubt. But to rely on our own recollections, experiences, or opinions instead of the never-changing word of God is traveling a road to ruin.

A Prayer of Repentance Leading to Revival

 

It's been said that every God-sent revival starts with prayer and personal repentance, and “The depth of revival is determined by the depth of the repentance”(Revivalist Frank Bartleman).

I can't imagine a better prayer of repentance to send us in the direction of revival than this one from John Baillie's A Diary of Private Prayer (updated and revised by Susanna Wright):

Holy God, I have dedicated my soul and life to you, yet I lament before you that I am still so inclined to sin and so reluctant to obey:

So attached to what makes me feel good, so neglectful of spiritual things;
So quick to gratify my body, so slow to nourish my soul;
So greedy for present delight, so indifferent to lasting blessing;
So fond of being lazy, so unprepared to work;
So soon at play, so delayed at prayer;
So quick to look after myself, so slow to look after others;
So eager to get, so reluctant to give;
So confident in my claims, so low in my performance;
So full of good intentions, so unwilling to fulfill them;
So harsh with those around me, so indulgent with myself;
So eager to find fault, so resentful when others find fault with me;
So unfit for great tasks, so unhappy with small ones;
So helpless without you, and yet so unwilling to be tied to you.

O merciful God, forgive me yet again. Hear this sad account of my failings and in your great mercy blot it out of your memory. Give me faith to lay hold of your perfect holiness and to rejoice in the righteousness of Christ my Savior. Grant that resting on his goodness and not my own I may become more like him, so that my will may be united with his, in obedience to yours. All this I ask for his holy name's sake.

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Truth is...I also repent of merely mouthing these words instead of wrenching them up from my innermost being.

De-voted

 

The second chapter of the book of Acts is fairly foundational for those who want to base their Christianity on the earliest model. That's not to say the 21st Century Church needs to do all the things the 1st Century Church did in the same way it did them. The actions and activities recorded in the book are eyewitness accounts of what happened...not necessarily meant to be prescriptions for us to follow.

However...

Acts 2:42 certainly seems like a good idea for a group of Christ-followers to pay attention to.

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

You and I both know what it means to devote oneself: to concentrate on a particular pursuit, occupation, purpose, or cause. And to focus on the pursuits of Jesus' teachings, sharing love and life with fellow believers, and communing with our maker through prayer...this is worthwhile and foundational for calling yourself a church.

However...

What if we looked at the phrase they devoted themselves a little differently? What if we compared devote to similar words like deflate and decelerate?

What if we stopped thinking we had a vote on everything that happens in our lives? What if we decided that our decisions are not always the end-all and be-all of our spiritual journeys?

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Truth is...I want to de-vote myself. I want to take myself out of the driver's seat and give Father, Son, and Holy Spirit complete control.

Have thine own way, Lord. Have thine own way. Thou art the potter. I am the clay.

Here, Boy! Come on, Fido!

 

In contrast to Shakespeare's taunting question, "What's in a name?", Gregory Berns suggests there might be something significant in one's name...even if the individual we're talking about is a dog.

From What It's Like to Be a Dog:

"How do animals treat names? If an animal doesn't have the faculty to understand that words are symbols, it is unlikely that they can translate their names into a sense of self. More likely, animals learn that a particular utterance means something interesting is about to happen and that they'd better pay attention. Whenever someone said (to the dog Callie) 'Callie,' Callie directed her attention to whoever made that noise. I never got the sense that she equated her name with 'me.'

"The experience of animal trainers would support the attention-grabbing function of names. 'Callie, sit,' is thought to be more effective than 'Sit, Callie.' ... Callie responds better to the first because her name gets her attention for the subsequent action. The reverse order requires her to remember the action that precedes her name."

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Not to equate humans with canines, but the same holds true. In a conversation or group discussion, it's always better for someone to say "Dewey, what do you think about XYZ?" than "What do you think about XYZ, Dewey?"

The second phrase could very well get the response: "I'm sorry, what were we talking about?"

Truth is...when God says, in Isaiah 43:1, "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine," it not only comforts me; it gets my attention.

Are Your Kids Ready to Face the World?

 

First things first, let it be said that it is not the local church's responsibility to raise children that love Jesus and can navigate the Bible.

Hear me.

Educating children in spiritual truth and Scriptural literacy is not the responsibility of the congregation of believers commonly referred to as the church. That is a parent's job.

Second things second, it is also true that any congregation worthy of the designation "church" will take seriously the mission of coming alongside its parents and helping in that job.

It is the seriousness of that task that is emphasized in the meme below:

Truth is...The world at large is not necessarily a friendly territory for faith in Jesus, and preparing our children to live in that world needs to be more than just keeping them busy while Mom and Dad worship.

This Title Is a Lie

 

Once upon a time, there was a "movement" that started in the realm of art that espoused the absence of meaning in everything it created. It was called "Dadaism".

"A state of mind rather than a literary or artistic movement, according to its spokesman the Romanian poet Tristan Tzara (1886-1963), Dada was anarchic, nihilistic, and disruptive. Dadaists mocked all established values, all traditional notions of good taste in art and literature, the culture symbols of a society based, they believed, on greed and materialism and now in its death agony. The name Dada -- a nonsense, baby-talk word -- means nothing, so was well suited to Dada's wholly negative nature. Dada even denied the value of art, hence its cult of non-art, and ended by negating itself. 'The true Dadaist is against Dada.'" [Hugh Honour and John Fleming, in The Visual Arts: A History]

The self-negating nature of Dadaism causes me to think about certain statements:

• "There is no absolute truth." (So...is that absolutely true?)
• "People have no right to judge one another." (Usually spoken by someone who has determined, i.e., judged, that someone was being judgy.)
• "Nobody can be totally sure about anything." (Are you sure about that?)

And what about the title of this post: "This Title Is a Lie"? If that's true, then it's a lie, but then that would mean it was true by being a lie...but if it's a lie that would make it true, which would make it NOT a lie, which would make it a lie...

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Truth is...It's not that hard to confound a human's mind. Kinda makes it easy for me to believe Isaiah 55:8-9. “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts."