Certain people have had difficulty with the concept of biblical miracles because they seem to violate or pass around the laws of nature. It is as if the laws of nature are an absolute which cannot be changed.
Of course the teaching of scripture is that in the beginning there was nothing. You see the idea of the laws of nature being distinct from creation is completely un-biblical. God created and continues to uphold all of the universe.
The laws of nature are a product of God's creative power. He chose how the world works. And he can as Creator choose at any moment to suspend or pass around those laws at his pleasure.
Often man gets bent up about biblical principles and objects against them because he does not like them. Miracles are impossible because of this or that many say. Miracles prove that Christianity is an incoherent system some say.
The reality is that from start to finish Christianity is a coherent system of belief. You cannot reject Christianity because miracles disprove Christianity, because the existence of the Christian God would entail the possibility of miracles.
It is often the case that most objections against Christianity and why the religion is "not possible" all fail once we understand the nature of the Christian God, the nature of man, and the relation of God and man. Of course understanding these things does not prove Christianity to the skeptic, but most objections to Christianity simply miss understanding the Christian message on issues.
Often people find a quick objection which "defeats" Christianity and move on because they do not like what it says about humanity. Humanity tends to be painted in Christianity in a far too dark light for most people's liking. Many people feel that man is naturally good and we really don't like the morbidity of the religion.
Of course if we take a realistic view of the state of the world and all that goes on in it we will see that Christianity paints an accurate picture of mankind. Man as a race is not nearly as good as he wishes he was.
Sometimes there are excuses that this or that is the fault of man's issues. There can be truth that certain societal or economic factors intensify the issues of mankind. Ultimately, however, there is nothing apart from God that really changes the heart of mankind to make it good.
Showing posts with label laws of nature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label laws of nature. Show all posts
Saturday, August 9, 2014
Friday, March 21, 2014
The World Upheld by God
"The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word..." Hebrews 1:3 (NIV)
The world is created by God and upheld at every moment by God. Many people have made arguments against the ethic of God acting in the world.
It is as if it would be wrong for God to act upon the world. The Christian teaching is that God must act upon the world at every moment to hold it in existence.
The world does not have the permanence man arrogantly places it as having. It is utterly dependent on God each moment.
The question of the ethics of God acting upon the world is senseless to the bible since it has no existence apart from him continuing to will that the world is.
You see the arrogance of man thinking he can fight against God. Man meets God in the bible and if there is a difference of opinion it is man who is wrong.
God cannot violate the laws of nature because he created them and upholds them at every moment. The bible is always right even when we think it is wrong.
The world is created by God and upheld at every moment by God. Many people have made arguments against the ethic of God acting in the world.
It is as if it would be wrong for God to act upon the world. The Christian teaching is that God must act upon the world at every moment to hold it in existence.
The world does not have the permanence man arrogantly places it as having. It is utterly dependent on God each moment.
The question of the ethics of God acting upon the world is senseless to the bible since it has no existence apart from him continuing to will that the world is.
You see the arrogance of man thinking he can fight against God. Man meets God in the bible and if there is a difference of opinion it is man who is wrong.
God cannot violate the laws of nature because he created them and upholds them at every moment. The bible is always right even when we think it is wrong.
Friday, May 10, 2013
Possibility of Miracles
There is this strange objection to miracles which seems to have come from Enlightenment philosophy. It runs something like this: miracles are not possible because God is not such a God who would intervene in the natural order of processes in the world.
The first question to this strange objection to miracles is how one can by reason know that God would not subvert the natural order of processes in the world. It is as if God according this errant philosophy is somehow morally obligated to uphold the natural processes or laws of nature by which the world typically runs.
A more detailed response to this philosophy is that God created the natural process. In the beginning there was God. There was no universe or natural processes of nature at the beginning of time.
God create nature and as creature of nature if he wants to step in and alter the process momentarily this is his right. There are parts of scripture where God indicates that he has the right to mold creation as a potter has the right to mold clay, since he is the one who created it.
Of course the best response is simply that God reveals in the bible that he has in many times and places stepped in and altered the natural process of the universe, because it pleased him to do so. I personally am not sure the extent to which God does miracles today.
I believe God does intervene in the natural processes even today when he sees a need. Of course this is difficult to defend on only a scriptural basis, but miracles existed since the beginning of recorded scripture and I see no necessity that the death of Christ ended or prohibited God's work in this way.
The first question to this strange objection to miracles is how one can by reason know that God would not subvert the natural order of processes in the world. It is as if God according this errant philosophy is somehow morally obligated to uphold the natural processes or laws of nature by which the world typically runs.
A more detailed response to this philosophy is that God created the natural process. In the beginning there was God. There was no universe or natural processes of nature at the beginning of time.
God create nature and as creature of nature if he wants to step in and alter the process momentarily this is his right. There are parts of scripture where God indicates that he has the right to mold creation as a potter has the right to mold clay, since he is the one who created it.
Of course the best response is simply that God reveals in the bible that he has in many times and places stepped in and altered the natural process of the universe, because it pleased him to do so. I personally am not sure the extent to which God does miracles today.
I believe God does intervene in the natural processes even today when he sees a need. Of course this is difficult to defend on only a scriptural basis, but miracles existed since the beginning of recorded scripture and I see no necessity that the death of Christ ended or prohibited God's work in this way.
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