THURSDAY 2-23-17
Genesis 1:20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly
the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in
the open firmament of heaven.
https://youtu.be/6qKXybyL__4 Alien Life? [North Bergen]
ALIEN LIFE?
ON VIDEO
.New planets just found
.The debate about alien life
.Aristotle
.Cause and effect
.Laws of logic
.Science now proves that all creation had a starting point
.The history of the debate about creation
.Thomas Aquinas
.Isaac Newton
.Einstein
.Dawkins ‘alien creator’
.Hitchens had no answer
.Alexandria
.Cosmology
.God’s unique creation
NEW- Today I talked apologetics- and the proof for the
existence of God from science. This week the news reported that we found 7 new
planets- 3 of them in the ‘Goldie Locks’ zone. Meaning it’s possible that these
planets might have life- or at least the environment to sustain it.
So I talked some about the history of this debate- how some
atheistic thinkers have said ‘maybe aliens made everything’ [yes- smart men
have espoused this theory].
As Christians we usually take no stand on that particular
issue.
Meaning we are not anti ‘extra- terrestrial life’.
If we find life- whether intelligent or otherwise- on
another planet- fine.
But there are indeed reasons that some are really looking
hard to find it.
And these reasons fall into the whole debate about the
existence of God and how science in no way contradicts the Christian world
view.
No- science actually backs up the reality of God.
Going all the way back to Aristotle [considered to be the
first scientist] we find God in the equation.
I wrote/spoke much on this in the past- I’ll add some links-
past teaching below.
PAST TEACHING [Verses below]
ATHEISM- APOLOGETICS [links added- long version]
https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/06/20/history-of-everything-2/
MY RADIO LINKS-
http://wp.me/a4V5qQ-7R Kant, Hume, Sartre
http://wp.me/a4V5qQ-6E
Apologetics- Kant, Hume
http://wp.me/a4V5qQ-62 Apologetics
http://wp.me/a4V5qQ-6F DaVinci code
http://wp.me/a4V5qQ-7Q Something from nothing- Quantum Leap
http://wp.me/a4V5qQ-7O Multiverse
MY VIDEOS
[parts]
In the last Philosophy post I hit on the 10th-14th
century development of modern thought- today I want to jump into the 16th-18th
centuries. Like I said in a previous post- after the Renaissance and the
Reformation and the great scientific revolution- you had the world in somewhat
of a tailspin.
What I mean is for
hundreds of years people trusted in the old institutions [like the Catholic
Church] to tell them what was true or false- then with the development of all
these modern movements people began questioning stuff.
Was it good to question things? Sure. But some challenged
the very foundations of thought and knowing [called Epistemology] and went a
bit too far.
Some thinkers went
back to the thought of Plato [400 years BC] and said that the mind is
the main source of all knowledge- these were the 17th century
Rationalists.
Rationalism- as a philosophy- was an outgrowth of all the
great strides that man was making in all these other areas of life. The
Scientific Revolution totally challenged the age old beliefs of many in the
church.
Math became a sort of new ‘god’. How so? As science invented
the Microscope and Telescope- man was able for the first time to peer deeply
into the heavens- and to see deeply into the microscopic world.
As the great minds [Copernicus] showed us that the Universe
was different than what we thought [Heliocentric versus Geocentric] man was
able to do mathematical calculations and to say that a specific planet or star
[or Comet] would show up at an exact date- or spot- and Walla- it would happen
[you could look thru the Telescope and sure enough the math was right- the
object that was calculated to be there- was.]
These calculations were mathematical formulas- so math began
to be seen as the new religion in many ways.
There are even some thinkers in the modern day that still
say the only ‘real truth’ that exists is mathematical formulas. Yeah- one guy
wrote an entire book on the subject- the problem? Well- his book was not
written in math- but words.
Yes- even the extreme deniers of Objective truth do make
mistakes.
Now- what’s wrong with rationalism? Of course being rational
is okay- but the philosophy itself denied real Objective truth. Truth that
corresponds to some other ‘outside’ reality.
This form of thinking [rejecting outside reality] is called
Relativism/Subjectivism. While there is some truth to all the various fields of
thought- yet extreme Relativism denies ‘reality’ as most of us understand the
term. There was a strong resistance to
the 17th century rationalists- we call this Philosophy Empiricism.
The main thinker in this field was John Locke. Locke lived
most of his life in the 17th century- but his thought laid the
foundation for the 18th century Empiricist.
This philosophy says that the mind does indeed play a major
role in the knowledge of things- but this knowledge does not originate in the
mind [Plato] but in the ‘thing’ itself [Aristotle- remember when we covered
these men? Plato was an idealist- Ideas were more real than matter. Aristotle
was a Realist- closer to the thought of Locke].
Locke developed a theory called the Correspondence theory-
that truth that the Mind discovers corresponds to real things that actually
exist apart from the mind.
Locke was a practicing doctor- and most of the other
thinkers of the day had room to speculate about reality in a way that Locke
could not.
He lived in a real world with real patients who had real
symptoms- in a nutshell Locke had to diagnose his patients based on his
findings- he could not deny that there was a real problem- he had to have his
‘feet on the ground’ [based in reality] while engaging with his head up high.
Okay- I think we’ll end with this. Maybe you can go back and
read some of my previous posts on this subject- just to become a little more
familiar with it.
As Christians- we are not ‘required’ to know Philosophy- or
current events- or science- but it helps us engage the culture when we do
educate ourselves in these areas.
Go slow in learning [not too slow!] and try and see how the
Christian Worldview agrees with- or rejects certain aspects of these different
felids of thought.
Most Christians would reject Rationalism as a Philosophy-
because it denies real objective truth- it says truth is relative- whatever the
mind can conceive- or think- can be defined as truth [Unicorns?]
Biblical truth is based on real historic events- 1st
Corinthians chapter 15 says that if we deny the physical resurrection of Christ- a real event- then
our faith is in vain.
Christians base their faith on a real historic event- not
simply on a belief system.
[parts]
ARISTOTLE
Born in Northern Greece- in 384 BC.
The most famous student of Plato-
attended Plato’s Academy for around 20 years.
His main disagreement with Plato was
on his theory of Forms.
Plato believed that the ‘idea’ world
contained the forms of all things we see in the physical realm.
Aristotle taught that substance
itself was the main thing- that the forms of what we see in the natural realm
come from matter itself.
He spoke about Potentiality and
Actuality- that is the material things have in ‘seed’ form the final product.
The acorn has the Potential of
becoming a tree- the fetus has the Potential of becoming a man- etc.
The form is already embedded in the
thing itself- it does not exist in the ‘idea’ world of Plato.
Aristotle loved and admired his
teacher- yet Plato had somewhat of a disdain for his most famous student.
Plato passed over Aristotle to head
up the Academy- twice.
As things go- Aristotle went and
started his own school- called the Lyceum.
Aristotle did not just teach Philosophy-
but Biology- Logic- Ethics- Rhetoric.
Some refer to him as the first real
scientist.
His development of the laws of
Logic- Cause and Effect- play a key role in the Scientific Method till this
day.
Aristotle taught that the main way
we gain knowledge is thru sense perception and experiment.
As we study the natural order of
things themselves- we gain understanding from them.
What we refer to as the Empirical
method- knowledge gained thru the observation and experimentation of things.
He referred to God as the Final
Cause- not the First Cause.
Why?
He believed in God [some debate
this- Aristotle himself called him God in his work on Metaphysics] and called
him the Prime Mover.
As I said before- a big thing with
the early thinkers was the origin of Motion- who started the ball rolling- so
to speak.
Aristotle credited the source of all
motion to an ‘un- moved Mover’.
He gave the attributes of God to his
Mover- said he had no beginning- was not material- an eternal and imperishable
substance.
So- why the Final Cause?
He said God attracts all things to
himself- so in his mind- motion started by attraction- not by a ‘push’ so to
speak.
This is interesting indeed- in
modern physics we see that the universe is undergoing a continual expansion-
heading somewhere- of course we believe this somewhere is God himself- the
source of all things.
Isaac Newton agreed with Aristotle
on this point- he referred to it in his 3rd law of Physics.
The medieval Muslim thinkers called
him ‘The First Teacher’- and Kant [who we will get to later in this study]
credits him with the bulk of what we know today as the Laws of Logic.
Aristotle taught that the main
activity of God was thought.
The bible says that thru Wisdom and
Understanding God made things [‘Wisdom builds the house- Understanding
establishes it- and thru Knowledge it’s rooms are filled with all pleasant and
precious riches- Wisdom is profitable to direct- the words of the wise are like
nails fastened by the masters of assemblies- as a wise master builder I have
laid the foundation’- various bible verses found in Proverbs- Ecclesiastes and
Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth] - in a way Aristotle was right.
One of his key contributions was the
Syllogism- you start with a Logical argument- you engage in Deductive
reasoning- and come to a Conclusion.
A famous example would be ‘All men
are mortal- Plato is a man- Plato is mortal’.
Aristotle did not believe that
something comes from nothing- a phrase that will come up a lot as we progress
in this study is ‘ex nihilo nihil fit’- meaning Nothing comes from Nothing.
He was also what we refer to as a
Teleolologist- he believed that there was design and purpose in the created
order of things.
He saw design in the universe-
world.
Many today embrace an idea that there
is no purpose or design- that the design we see in the material world is by
accident- and furthermore some say all that we see- CAME FROM NOTHING.
I can’t stress enough that this is
simply not possible- I don’t say this from the Christian view point alone- but
from a scientific one.
Science deals with the observation
and testing of things- we look into the material world and come to certain
conclusions based on what we see- observe.
One of the most fundamental
observations that science SEES- is what I quoted above- NOTHING COMES FROM
NOTHING.
That is- every effect has a cause.
This is important for our day-
because many have capitulated to the view that all things CAME FROM CHANCE.
Not only is this statement illogical
[chance is simply a word- this statement ascribes Ontological status to a word-
which is impossible].
But it is scientifically not true.
Why?
Because science shows us that things
do not ‘pop into existence’ without a cause- from nothing.
True science in no way contradicts
belief in God- no- it backs it up.
Aristotle- as well as most of the
great thinkers we shall cover- came to the conclusion that there had to be some
immaterial thing [being] that was the cause of all other things.
Now- why did he argue for a PRIME
MOVER?
Because he believed that the
universe was eternal- if there ever came a time when science showed us that the
universe had a beginning point- then the argument would be over.
The Theists [those that believe in
God] would win.
Sure enough- in the 20th
century that’s exactly what happened.
Today Physics teaches us that time-
space- matter did indeed have a beginning point- what we refer to as the Big
Bang Theory.
If the early thinkers had this
knowledge- then the argument for a Prime Mover would be moot- because instead
we would have a Prime Starter- see?
Aristotle is
credited with writing the second greatest work on Ethics from the ancient
period- called Ethics [the first one being Plato’s Republic].
He wrote on political theory- believed that Aristocracy [rule by
the excellent] was the best form of government [sort of like Socrates
Philosopher Kings].
Aristotle’s most famous student was Alexander the Great.
During Alexander’s conquests- he took a huge team of scientists
with him- they collected all types of specimens from these conquests- and
Alexander brought them back to Athens and they were used at the Lyceum for
further study.
It has been said that this was the most expensive scientific
enterprise up to the day of the modern space program.
He taught that the intellectual virtues can be taught directly-
but the moral ones HAD TO BE LIVED FIRST.
The bible says ‘the fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom’.
I agree.
Proverbs 3:19 The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by
understanding hath he established the heavens.
Proverbs 3:20 By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the
clouds drop
[parts]
Alexander sought to implement the ideals of his teacher- he
wanted to unify the known world under one people/culture- a belief that Aristotle
held- a sort of ‘unified theory’ [Einstein] that would seek to bring all
learning/knowledge together under one supreme [Divine] principle.
Alexander’s experiment was called Hellenization- which was
the Greek worlds attempt to impose Greek culture/language on all their
conquered enemies- and at the same time allow them to hold on to the their own
culture too. Alexander did amazingly well at this experiment- at the young age
of around 24 he had accomplished most of his mission. The cities were a sort of
composite of Greek culture mixed in with their own culture- this is where we
get the modern term Cosmopolitan.
Alexander died young and his kingdom was divided between 4
generals- one of them- Ptolemy- would himself make it into the history books because
of his keen intellect.
The system of cosmology developed under him would last [and
work!] until some 17-18 hundred years later when it was overthrown by the
Copernican revolution during the time of Copernicus and Galileo.
Alexander’s generals would do their best to carry on the
system of Hellenization- and other nation’s generals would keep the system
going even after Greece fell. One of them- Octavian [Roman general] makes it
into the history books by another famous name- Julius Caesar.
Alexander established a great library in the Egyptian city
of Alexandria [named after him] and many of the great writings were preserved
during this time.
The writings of Aristotle would be discovered again during
the time of Thomas Aquinas [13th century Catholic genius/scholar]
and this would lead to Scholasticism [a peculiar school of thought
developed/revived under Aquinas] and give rise to the Renaissance.
Okay- before the birth of Christ- the Jewish people resisted
the imposing of Greek culture upon them- you had the very famous resistance
under the Jewish Maccabean revolt- where the Jews rose up and fought the wicked
ruler Antiochus Epiphanies- and till this day the Jewish people celebrate this
victory at Hanukah.
Eventually Rome would conquer the Greek kingdom and the
Jewish people were allowed to keep their culture and temple- yet they were
still a people oppressed. Hassidism [getting back to the beginning] developed
during this attempt to not lose their Jewish roots- the Pharisees of Jesus day
came from this movement.
Alexander was pretty successful in his attempt to unify
language- even though the bible [New Testament] was written by Jewish writers-
living under Roman rule- yet the original bible is written in the Greek
language.
Bible scholars till this day study the Greek language to
find the truest meaning of the actual words in the bible [I have a Greek
Lexicon sitting right in front of me].
It would take a few centuries before a Latin version
appeared on the scene [the great church father- Jerome- would produce the Latin
Vulgate].
Yet it would be the re- discovery and learning of the Greek
texts [under men like Erasmus- and the Protestant Reformers] that would lead to
the Reformation [16th century] and other movements in church
history.
The
Jews had various responses to the empires that ruled over them during various
times.
Alexander the Great instituted
Hellenization- a sort of cultural compromise over the people he conquered.
They could keep their
religious/cultural roots- but would be subservient to Alexander and Greek rule.
Some Jewish people rejected any
compromise- we call them the Essenes- they moved out of town- so to speak, and
lived in what we refer to as the Qumran community.
This was a few centuries before
the time of Christ- and this was where the Dead Seas Scrolls were found in the
20th century.
A Bedouin boy was looking for his
goats- threw a rock in a cave right off the Dead Sea- and that’s how we found
the scrolls.
The scrolls might have been
hidden there by the Essenes-
Now- when my friends asked me
about them- I told them that it’s been a while since I read up on any of this-
but to the best of my memory the thing that made them significant was the fact
that they were very old manuscripts- from the bible- and they backed up what we
had had all along.
[parts]
PAST LINKS [verses below]
HISTORY OF EVERYTHING- IN 1 HOUR
And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that
perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be
saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should
believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but
had pleasure in unrighteousness. ... 2nd
Thes. 2:10-13
https://youtu.be/uwDi82SICXo History of everything in 1 hour [part 1]
ON VIDEO-
.Did my ‘prophecy’ come true? Watch and see
.They said a rocket hit the plane
.What did Patience say?
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judge said she broke the law
.Where did the animals come from?
.Is the story true?
Mesopotamia
.Palestine
.Aristotle
.They were looking for the ‘LOGOS’
.Ptolemy
.Copernicus
.Cosmology
.Scientific/Industrial revolution
.Sir Ramsey and documentary evidence
.Luke/Acts as historical evidence
.Phenomenological language
.Aquinas- Anselm and Augustine
.Richard Dawkins alien creator
.Einstein and the big bang
.C.S. Lewis
.Everything is proof of God
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PAST POSTS- [verses and news links below]
1895-
BUYER BEWARE!
We bought the Rocu thing the other day.
That’s the device that lets you watch movies on line.
You get a lot of real good stuff- I was surprised.
I was also surprised to see all the documentaries about
religion and Christianity.
The ones from Netflix looked interesting- so I watched a
couple.
Yikes!!
All of the ones I saw were done from a skeptic’s point of
view.
Now- as someone who writes on apologetics [the defense of
the faith] I am familiar with these arguments against the faith.
But- if you are not familiar- these doc’s will shake your
faith- for sure.
Why?
They are done from the perspective that Christianity
basically copied the Greek myths of God and religion- they focus on the ‘similarities’
between Christianity and Greek [and other cultures] religions.
Okay- what was wrong- or deceptive?
First- this entire school of thought was popularized in the
19th century- from the Christian universities in Germany.
Yes- some good men- well meaning men [others not so good!
Freud- etc] believed that in order for the faith to survive in this ‘brave new
world’ [modernity- and the whole humanistic advance of man since the
enlightenment].
That they had to re-fashion the faith and sort of bring it
up to date with the times.
Men like Rudolph Bultman introduced the idea of ‘de
mythologizing’ the bible.
So- these guys rejected all the supernatural elements of the
bible- no more miracles- angels- demons- or resurrection!
Many people embraced this ‘new’ bold approach to the faith-
and basically became theological liberals.
One of the reasons some of these men went down this road
were covered in the above documentaries.
Okay- as I watched a couple of them- they had similar
themes- and were also wrong in the same way.
They compared about 25 other religious myths- from other
cultures- and they said these other religious myths all had a savior- a son of
god- who had 12 disciples.
They said this Lamb of God died- was buried- and on the 3rd
day rose again.
They said he did miracles- was born of a virgin- was called
Lord and savior.
And they made it sound like this ‘story’- in complete form-
was repeated many times before the Christians ‘picked it up’.
Wow- double wow.
Why are these documentaries dangerous?
First- I actually have read/studied in this field.
The similarities that they described in the doc’s were way
overdone- they simply are not true.
That’s the first problem.
But- they did mix in some truth- with the false stuff.
Both of the documentaries I saw [it seems like there is one
person- producer- behind the 2 I saw] did give an actual quote from a 2nd
century Christian leader- Justin Martyr.
The quote is indeed real- Justin is known as one of the
first Apologists of the church.
He defended the faith during a time when many enemies of the
faith slandered the religion.
In one defense [out of many] he said that those who reject
Christianity because we believe that a Divine son rose from the dead- that
others also held the same type of belief in the pagan world.
He was referring to the god Jupiter and the stories that
surround those who believed in him.
You also do find this same type of thing in the myth of
Hercules.
Okay- so the skeptic was right then?
No.
In the documentary- the skeptic actually gives the quote
from Justin- and Justin says that just because these similarities did exist in
other religions- before Christ- that this in no way means the Christian faith
is false.
How so?
Justin said it was possible for satan to have ‘imitated’
what was really going to happen.
The skeptic mocked this argument from Justin- and went on to
challenge the faith.
A few things.
First- it is possible that Justin was right.
2nd.
This whole line of attack is not new [unless you never heard
of it before- which is why I’m kinda surprised that Netflix has them in their
lineup].
It goes all the way back to the writings of Gilgamesh.
These are writings that also have similarities to the things
we find in the bible- yet they are not coming from the Christian perspective.
They contain a story about a flood [like the one in
Genesis].
So- over time- skeptics have said ‘see- the bible must have
copied these flood stories- because we find them in other cultures’.
I actually covered this before.
Let me give you the short version.
We- as Christians- do indeed believe the story of Noah [the
flood].
Some debate whether it was a global event or local- I don’t
want to get into that now.
But- if there was a huge event- say like a 911 plane attack
on the world trade center.
Would you not expect to find that event- recorded in more
than one culture?
Of course you would.
So the fact that other cultures have a flood event recorded
too- this does not mean the Christians plagiarized the flood- no- it would be
evidence that the flood really did happen.
See?
Now- the similarities between a divine son who rose from the
dead.
First- there ARE NOT 25 or so stories like this- with 12
disciples- raised on the 3rd day- and so on.
The producer of the doc was simply mislead- or outright
lying.
2nd.
We must remember that anything we find in Greek culture-
which predated Christian ‘culture’ was also predated by Jewish culture.
That is to say that the story of Judaism comes before the
Greek philosophers.
Are there any themes in the Jewish religion that speak about
a Messiah who would come- die- and be the Messiah of all mankind?
Yes!
So- you could argue that any similarities between Greek
myth- and Christianity- are actually ‘copies’ taken from the Old Testament
story.
That is- God himself gave us clues about the story of
redemption- and these clues might have very well ‘seeped’ into the Greek
culture- before Christ- and that’s why you might find similarities between the
2.
See?
Okay- I could go on- but I think I made the point.
I was not mad that these documentaries were on net flix.
But I saw the danger in presenting one side like this-
without giving the other view [which I just gave].
All in all- the Christian faith has more historical backing
[like the many thousands of bible manuscripts that survived the early days]
than any other religion or writings of any kind.
The documentaries made a couple of good points- things that
were indeed true- but they had way too much mis information in them to be
playing on such a huge venue.
Buyer [or watcher] beware!
Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post
them on other sites as well as the site you read
ATHEISM- APOLOGETICS [links added- long version]
https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/06/20/history-of-everything-2/
MY RADIO LINKS-
http://wp.me/a4V5qQ-7R Kant, Hume, Sartre
http://wp.me/a4V5qQ-6E
Apologetics- Kant, Hume
http://wp.me/a4V5qQ-62 Apologetics
http://wp.me/a4V5qQ-6F DaVinci code
http://wp.me/a4V5qQ-7Q Something from nothing- Quantum Leap
http://wp.me/a4V5qQ-7O Multiverse
MY VIDEOS
On today’s video- I attempted the impossible- to tell the
story of ‘everything’ in 1 hour.
Ok I bit off more than I could chew.
It took 2 hours [the next video ‘history of the world- part
2’ will finish it].
But- to sum up today’s video.
Is the biblical account of creation accurate?
We read that God made everything- by speaking.
Is this even possible- or some silly fable?
Over the history of time we read the story of the Jewish
people- their trials and failures.
That’s the majority of the history of the Old Testament.
They believed the story in Genesis- while others questioned
whether or not all things actually had a beginning point.
In time- we see the rise of the Greek philosophers- during
what we call the intertestamental period [the 400 years between Malachi and
Matthew].
These thinkers were looking for the answer to these
questions- and the Greek word they used to describe this answer- was LOGOS-
which is the Geek word- for WORD.
Then we had the appearing of Christ in the 1st
century- and the apostle John calls him the LOGOS.
Hmm?
That’s the same word that the Greeks were looking for- John
says ‘we have found him’.
Remember- this is Jesus Christ- the living Word.
Ok- over time we had the great movements of history- the
Renaissance- the Reformation- the Enlightenment- the scientific revolution- the
industrial revolution.
Most scientists believed that all creation was eternal- so-
for them- the answer to ‘everything’ was- it was always there.
In the 20th century we had the great
breakthroughs of Einstein- and we call one of them the Big Bang theory-
meaning- all things did not always exist.
They had a beginning point- which we call the point of
singularity.
Ahh- now we are back to ‘where did it all come from- if at
the start- there was nothing’.
Yes- ‘In the beginning God spoke’.
So- at the end of the
story- of everything- we find the answer at the beginning.
In the beginning God spoke-Yes- the early followers of Jesus
called him by this name- THE WORD.
And science and logic
show us that all events need a cause [even the 'event’ of creation].
So- this history of the world- recorded in the scripture-
was true all along!
Surprised?
[parts]
Quantum Mechanics-
It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter. Prvb.
ON VIDEO-
[past posts- verses below]
.Quantum Leap
.Quanta a mystery?
.Bowling balls need a bowler
.You see it- you did it!
.What’s the big mystery?
.Light both wave and particle
.Observer created reality
.Interpretation of data
.Newton
.Copernicus
.Kepler
.Atoms- Electrons- Nucleus- all ok
.Quanta
.Pilot Wave
.science- or magic?
. Double slit test
.Wonderful- Wonderful Copenhagen?
.Chance or determinism- that’s the question
.Maybe my duplicate will go to heaven!
NEW STUFF-
QUANTUM LEAP
Ok- I want to make this as simple as possible- don’t be
afraid of the title.
I have actually taught some of this over the years- because
in the field of Physics [the study of stuff] this particular area has been used
by thinkers [wrongfully] who refute God [atheists].
So- the past week or so I’ve been commenting about a
documentary I’ve been watching on PBS [Fabric of the cosmos] and have also been
going thru an old Physics course I bought years ago.
It just so happened [yes- I did not plan it] that they both
deal with Quantum Mechanics [the study of very small particles].
As I listened to the good men- I noticed lots of
contradictions- and over exaggerations [maybe they are just excited about their
field?]
Now- if I were to guess- I think part of the excitement- is
based on some of their ‘world views’.
Meaning- in the whole debate about God- and science- many
have tried to argue that the physical universe is ‘not designed’.
The Christian thinker [and the early philosophers] did argue
that you find design in the Cosmos.
So- when Quantum physics as a separate field arose in the
early 20th century- it seemed to be an area where those who ‘want’
no design [or predeterminism] could finally say ‘see- we now have proof that
the universe is ruled BY CHANCE’.
The Physicists I’ve been hearing the last few weeks have
made this statement more than once.
I have taught that this actual statement- is nonsensical.
Because- chance is simply a word that describes the odds of
something.
It is not ‘a thing’ that can cause [or rule] something.
Ok- what they really mean to say is something like this ‘we
have found that random acts- probability- is a factor in what’s happening’.
Now- that’s ok- if they say it that way [even though I do
not agree with all that they are saying- this would be the proper way to say
it].
So- what’s the big thing that the quantum guys are saying?
It’s really not that hard- or such a ‘great mystery’ [which
many are saying].
It comes down to the way Atoms work at the sub atomic level.
Atoms have Electrons inside them- that ‘orbit’ around the
center [nucleus].
In these ‘orbits’ [circles] the electrons seem to pass from
one circle- to another- without actually traveling thru the space.
They kind of ‘jump’ from one line- to the other.
This is called the Quantum Leap.
So- some have said this is proof that ‘something comes from
nothing’ [see- that’s the worldview working].
Actually- it is not proof that something comes from nothing-
and the scientists who were saying this at first- have stopped saying it.
Because- they were shown to be wrong.
The other thing that these guys have been saying is ‘we now
see that the fundamental WORKING OF THE UNIVERSE- IS BY CHANCE’.
This is simply not true.
In the beginning of the 20th century a scientist
by the name of Niels Bohr debated with Einstein about this very thing.
Bohr said these particles were actually reacting- working-
based on the observation of the scientists looking at them.
Yes- he said the fact that they were being observed- made
them act a certain way.
Einstein did not believe this at all- he responded ‘I prefer
to think the moon is there- whether I look at it or not’.
But- over time- some in the field of quantum Mechanics have
said Einstein has been proven wrong- and Bohr right.
But Einstein never said that Quantum mechanics was not true-
he just said over time- we will understand more about the field.
Because that’s the job of the scientist- to keep looking for
causes behind events [see- if you ‘stop’ looking for a cause- and say ‘it’s
chance’- it would be the same thing that some have accused the Christian
thinker of- that when the Christian says ‘see- we have no further explanation-
so God did it’. Now- I do believe ‘God did it’- but- in science- you continue
to look- as much as possible- for the chain of events. And this is what
Einstein was saying].
There were experiments done [Double split- etc.] that showed
that these particles did not respond in the normal way.
That is- individually.
But- over time- you could predict the way they acted- as a
group.
The example used was like a casino- even though the casino
owner cannot say who will win in his casino- yet- because of the odds- the
probability- over time he could be assured that the house will make more- then
the people gambling.
Ok- this is fine- this is not some type of mystery that
overthrows ‘all that we ever knew about the universe’ [which some of the men
are saying].
Also- in the documentary I watched- carefully- they said it
has since been proven that Bohr was right- and Einstein wrong- in the area of
the observation of the particles being affected- simply because they were being
looked at.
But- the documentary did not show how- they did go on to
explain the concept of entanglement- and ‘spooky action’ but I was waiting for
them to show me how Bohr was proven right about the idea that when a particle
is looked at- it then reacts a certain way.
[In the field of Quantum Mechanics there is no equation that
actually shows HOW this works.
QM has many formulas that do indeed work- that’s why we have
electronics- cell phones- computers- etc. - the laws themselves do indeed work.
But there are no equations that show Einstein wrong and Bohr
right- in the particular area of ‘observation created reality’.]
They never showed that.
In short- the Atom has electrons in it- that orbit around
the center.
These particles seem to jump from one orbit- to another [The
Quantum leap] without traveling thru the space.
In my mind- the Atom is a finely tuned ‘machine’ that exists
everywhere.
The fact that these machines exist- and work- is part of the
Grand design.
The reality of the Quantum Leap does not ‘overthrow all that
we ever knew about the universe’.
It is a unique part of the created order.
In short- that’s it.
And the fact that they exist- and function- like everything
else- is proof of design in itself.
Because we cannot predict how each and every particle will
act- but we can predict how they will act as a group- is not proof that
anything happens ‘BY CHANCE’.
If you want to call it ‘a law of probable’s’ that’s fine.
But as a whole- or group- they do work in an orderly
fashion.
Now- there’s a lot more to Quantum Mechanics- but in a
nutshell- that’s was the big debate.
QUANTA A MYSTERY!
- One of the physicists talking about Quanta- a minimum
amount of energy that an electron puts out that can no longer be subdivided-
said ‘this is amazing- nothing else is like that- for example- if you eat food-
there is no minimum amount you must eat- why this is so is an absolute
mystery!’.
Now- is he correct?
Is this so amazing?
The actual subject itself- the study of atoms [and
everything else] is in categories- we define things by saying- well- it is A
THING [meaning- they have limits- big and small].
By definition- yes- there are barriers-categories-limits to
things.
Now- it’s a bit deeper than this- he is referring to
insights Niels Bohr had in the study of Quantum mechanics.
But this is really no ‘mystery that changes everything we
thought we knew’- not in the way the scientist talked about it.
BOWLING BALLS NEED A BOWLER
Now- I don’t want to
be ‘picky’- but I found it interesting that in order for the host of the
documentary to give an example of how these particles were reacting- he gave an
example of a man throwing them- like bowling balls [the example was fine] down
an alley.
He was doing this to show the probability of them acting a
certain way- over time.
The point is- even in his example- he has someone ‘throwing
them’- which would be the ‘cause’ for the effect.
Now- I know this was a simple example- for the viewer to
understand better.
But it is natural- even in a simple example- to have an
actual cause- for an effect.
And what he was trying to show in the example- was that
there was no ‘cause’.
YOU SEE IT- YOU DID IT
Some argue that
Quantum mechanics ‘proves’ that there are effects without a cause.
Which is an ideology that atheists try to use to say ‘there
is no God’.
They appeal to the seemingly ‘causeless’ reaction of the
electrons/particles that have no ‘movement or location’ until they are
observed.
Actually- they do not see that they are contradicting
themselves when they say this.
Why?
They are telling you [and me] there IS A CAUSE.
They are saying the cause is OBSERVATION by humans.
Now- if the Copenhagen interpretation holds true [it is
being challenged by other interpretations- pilot wave-Hidden variables-
consistent history] it would confirm the bible.
How?
The bible teaches us that man is unique- he has ‘dominion’
over the created order [Genesis- Romans- etc.]
Meaning- man- has a special ‘rule’ or authority over
creation in a way that all creation ‘submits’ to his caretaking.
So- if Bohr is correct- that particles at the most
fundamental level of reality- act- move- ‘locate’ themselves- only when man is
observing them- then- this would be consistent with the biblical world view.
Bohr’s view is better defined as ‘observer created reality’.
WHATS THE BIG MYSTERY?
In short- in the Copenhagen interpretation- it seems as if
Electrons/ sub atomic particles are doing what they do- simply because they are
being observed.
As I studied what other physicists are saying about this
interpretation I found out that many of them believe this whole thing is way
overblown.
I came to this conclusion BEFORE I READ THEIR DOUBTS TOO.
Like I said above- if it is true- then fine.
It proves GOD.
If we keep looking- maybe there will be a scientific answer
to the problem.
The other scientists said stuff like ‘the reason these other
guys are talking like it is such a mystery- it overthrows our whole view of the
way we thought the world worked…’
They said it was kind of a ‘rite of passage’.
Like they picked up this ‘mysterious’ way of speaking-
because it simply gets you into the ‘in crowd’.
I’ll be honest- that’s what it looked like to me.
If one little unsolved part of the puzzle [why the particle
seems to be affected by the observer] is not solved yet- fine.
This in no way would overturn all the science that has been
done since the days of Aristotle- to Ptolemy- up to Copernicus- down the line
thru Newton- and then to Einstein.
It simply is not as big as they are making it out to be.
Christianity Today magazine ran an article a few years back-
saying ‘will Quantum Mechanics be the big challenge to God’.
Guess they were
simply trying to be trendy-
Maybe they should read my Blog?
LIGHT- WAVE AND PARTICLE
In the documentary- fabric of the cosmos- one of the
scientists said part of the ‘mystery’ was that waves are not particles- and
particles are not waves.
He used the example of an ocean wave [light wave] and rock
[light particle].
This insight of Einstein at the beginning of the 20th
century was indeed true.
The famous test- double slit- that seems to have confounded
these men- to the point of using language like ‘this mystery will overturn all
that we ever knew about the…’
The test showed that light has BOTH the characteristics of
wave and particle- not that hard to see.
This simple reality seems to back up the Pilot Wave
interpretation of QM’s-
Waves [both light- and ocean] are made up of particles. And
yes ‘a particle is not a wave- and a wave is not a particle’.
But waves are made up of particles- and as simple as this
sounds- that seems to be a part of the answer to the so called ‘puzzle’.
PAST POSTS [verses below]
In the last Philosophy post I hit on the 10th-14th
century development of modern thought- today I want to jump into the 16th-18th
centuries. Like I said in a previous post- after the Renaissance and the
Reformation and the great scientific revolution- you had the world in somewhat
of a tailspin.
What I mean is for
hundreds of years people trusted in the old institutions [like the Catholic
Church] to tell them what was true or false- then with the development of all
these modern movements people began questioning stuff.
Was it good to question things? Sure. But some challenged
the very foundations of thought and knowing [called Epistemology] and went a
bit too far.
Some thinkers went
back to the thought of Plato [400 years BC] and said that the mind is
the main source of all knowledge- these were the 17th century
Rationalists.
Rationalism- as a philosophy- was an outgrowth of all the
great strides that man was making in all these other areas of life. The
Scientific Revolution totally challenged the age old beliefs of many in the
church.
Math became a sort of new ‘god’. How so? As science invented
the Microscope and Telescope- man was able for the first time to peer deeply
into the heavens- and to see deeply into the microscopic world.
As the great minds [Copernicus] showed us that the Universe
was different than what we thought [Heliocentric versus Geocentric] man was
able to do mathematical calculations and to say that a specific planet or star
[or Comet] would show up at an exact date- or spot- and Walla- it would happen
[you could look thru the Telescope and sure enough the math was right- the
object that was calculated to be there- was.]
These calculations were mathematical formulas- so math began
to be seen as the new religion in many ways.
There are even some thinkers in the modern day that still
say the only ‘real truth’ that exists is mathematical formulas. Yeah- one guy
wrote an entire book on the subject- the problem? Well- his book was not
written in math- but words.
Yes- even the extreme deniers of Objective truth do make
mistakes.
Now- what’s wrong with rationalism? Of course being rational
is okay- but the philosophy itself denied real Objective truth. Truth that
corresponds to some other ‘outside’ reality.
This form of thinking [rejecting outside reality] is called
Relativism/Subjectivism. While there is some truth to all the various fields of
thought- yet extreme Relativism denies ‘reality’ as most of us understand the
term. There was a strong resistance to
the 17th century rationalists- we call this Philosophy Empiricism.
The main thinker in this field was John Locke. Locke lived
most of his life in the 17th century- but his thought laid the
foundation for the 18th century Empiricist.
This philosophy says that the mind does indeed play a major
role in the knowledge of things- but this knowledge does not originate in the
mind [Plato] but in the ‘thing’ itself [Aristotle- remember when we covered
these men? Plato was an idealist- Ideas were more real than matter. Aristotle
was a Realist- closer to the thought of Locke].
Locke developed a theory called the Correspondence theory-
that truth that the Mind discovers corresponds to real things that actually
exist apart from the mind.
Locke was a practicing doctor- and most of the other
thinkers of the day had room to speculate about reality in a way that Locke
could not.
He lived in a real world with real patients who had real
symptoms- in a nutshell Locke had to diagnose his patients based on his
findings- he could not deny that there was a real problem- he had to have his
‘feet on the ground’ [based in reality] while engaging with his head up high.
Okay- I think we’ll end with this. Maybe you can go back and
read some of my previous posts on this subject- just to become a little more
familiar with it.
As Christians- we are not ‘required’ to know Philosophy- or
current events- or science- but it helps us engage the culture when we do
educate ourselves in these areas.
Go slow in learning [not too slow!] and try and see how the
Christian Worldview agrees with- or rejects certain aspects of these different
felids of thought.
Most Christians would reject Rationalism as a Philosophy-
because it denies real objective truth- it says truth is relative- whatever the
mind can conceive- or think- can be defined as truth [Unicorns?]
Biblical truth is based on real historic events- 1st
Corinthians chapter 15 says that if we deny the physical resurrection of Christ- a real event- then
our faith is in vain.
Christians base their faith on a real historic event- not
simply on a belief system.
[parts]
Okay- Einstein.
As I read a few chapters every
few days- I want to comment on the important- relevant stuff.
One of them being the very word
Relativity.
Now- I am tempted to go back and
review all the posts we did on physics [you long time blog readers might
remember?].
But this book is not a physics
book per se’- but a biography.
Yet a quick review might help.
Einstein became famous for a few
things- most of us know the famous equation E=mc2.
Simply a conversion of mass into
energy formula- it works for all things- not just Nuclear.
His theory of Relativity shook up
the world of physics- and Einstein is indeed the father of what we call modern
physics [and Quantum theory].
Okay- what he did was he took the
centuries old ideas of Newton [the father of classical physics] and he said
that time and space were not absolutes.
That’s is- that depending on the
observer [and his speed] time actually changes.
Some in the scientific community
could not fathom what he was saying.
The book has actual headlines
from the NY times- they openly doubted some of Einstein’s work
I remember reading this years
ago- but this time I saw the real headlines.
They said stuff like ‘what is
this new theory- that space might be limited- this defies the actual definition
of space’.
Now- it would take too long to
tell you what they were covering- but it is one of the various theories of the
universe.
In actuality- the times might
have been right in this one case [it’s a theory that the universe is curved-
has no detectable edge- if so- you can than argue for an infinite universe in a
closed space- because there is no edge- or end].
As a side note- logically- the
times was correct.
Just because you can’t find a
‘sharp edge’ to a thing- that does not mean the thing is ‘endless’.
I covered this years ago in our
apologetics posts- it was interesting to have re –read this from this author
[Isaacson].
He is a good author- and explains
stuff well.
Okay what was the other stuff that
some objected to?
Some associated- wrongly- the
theory of Relativity- with the modernist philosophy called Relativism.
Relativism [remember the
philosophy stuff?] said that there was really nothing as objective truth- that
what you see might be just as true as what someone else sees.
You might both be looking at the
same thing [morally- murder- etc.] yet to one it might be wrong- to the other-
right.
This idea- Relativism- was
strongly rejected by many philosophers- especially those with a Christians/Theist
background.
Even today this is one of the
major debates going on in the world of the philosophy.
But- some confused what Einstein
was saying- and they thought [or used it] to back up the ‘moral’ philosophy of
Relativism.
This was a mistake.
Einstein himself- as I mentioned
in an earlier post- was not a relativist at all- that is when speaking about
moral absolutes.
So some began to associate him-
as one of the new ‘Jew’ scientists- who were introducing dangerous doctrines to
the world.
Yes- some of the objectors to
Einstein objected on the basis of this new ‘Jewish science’ that was breaking
away from the moors of Christian science- whose father was Isaac Newton.
See how both anti Semitism- and
religious belief played a role in this?
I’ll end with a quote from a
famous man of the time- an up and coming politician- I mean he could awe his
audience like no other.
Obama- Clinton- even the great
communicator- Reagan- were no match for this man when it came to giving a
speech.
He said ‘Science- once our
greatest pride- is today being taught by Hebrews’.
Who said this?
The future leader of Germany-
Adolph Hitler.
[parts]
VERSES-
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Genesis 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness
was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the
waters.
Genesis 1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
Genesis 1:4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God
divided the light from the darkness.
Genesis 1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he
called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
Genesis 1:6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of
the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
Genesis 1:7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters
which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament:
and it was so.
Genesis 1:8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening
and the morning were the second day.
Genesis 1:9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be
gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
Genesis 1:10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering
together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the
herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose
seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
Genesis 1:12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding
seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself,
after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.
Genesis 1:14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of
the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for
seasons, and for days, and years:
Genesis 1:15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the
heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
Genesis 1:16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to
rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
Genesis 1:17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to
give light upon the earth,
Genesis 1:18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to
divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
Genesis 1:20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly
the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in
the open firmament of heaven.
Genesis 1:21 And God created great whales, and every living
creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their
kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and
multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
Genesis 1:23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
Genesis 1:24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living
creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth
after his kind: and it was so.
Genesis 1:25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind,
and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after
his kind: and God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our
likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the
fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every
creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of
God created he him; male and female created he them.
Genesis 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be
fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have
dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every
living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Genesis 1:29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb
bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the
which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
Genesis 1:30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of
the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is
life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
Genesis 1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and,
behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
Psalm 19King James
Version (KJV)
The heavens
declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
2 Day unto
day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.
3 There is no
speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.
4 Their line
is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In
them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,
Note- Please do me a favor, those who read/like the posts-
re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on- Thanks-
John.#
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