STORM CLOUDS ON THE HORIZON? 1-20- 2015
https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/1-19-15-1-aliens-economy-and-does-god-exist-1.zip
https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/1-19-15-aliens-economy-and-does-god-exist-2.zip
1 The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven. 2 He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. 3 And in the morning, It will be foul weather today: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?
Tonight [1-20-15] the President will give his state of the union message- I made the videos for this week yesterday [1-19] and will probably finish the post today.
I mention this because in this week’s teaching I talk a bit about what we are facing- in my view- this coming year.
And it’s not good.
Now- if I were to guess- the President [as most- all- do] will try and put the best face on the coming year.
I would guess that he might even say that the reason our economy is doing good [it is not] is because of all the energy production we are getting from the Fracking we are doing in the nation.
He might say because under his administration he has opened the door for all this new energy production to take place…
Fine- but try and watch my videos- I deal with this issue.
This is not a ‘prediction/prophecy’ in the normal sense of the word- but if I were to make my best ‘guess’ I would say this year [probably sooner] things will shake.
The rest of the world sees our debt [17 trillion] and the unfunded expenses that we have ‘promised’ to pay out [entitlement programs- 120 trillion] and they are seeing our nation as a bad risk [they are dumping our treasury bonds- and not ‘loaning’ us money any more].
The head of the IMF [International Monetary Fund] recently said the U.S. has to get ready to accept the reality that we can no longer be the world’s Default Currency [meaning the U.S. dollar can no longer be the money the world does business in- we are the default currency as of today].
In a nutshell this means we will not be able to keep printing money [like we have in the past] and keep running up our debt.
In short- the gravy train is coming to an end- whether we like it or not.
I discuss more on the videos- but this is the jist of it.
So- read the post- do some research on your own- prepare for some things.
In the scripture I pasted at the top- Jesus said it was important to see the signs of the times- not to panic- but to view things realistically.
God is our refuge- I am not a ‘survivalist’ I’m not storing gold bars in my safe [nor do I have gold bars- or a safe].
I’m not into that whole scene- but- I think we are going to see a big [huge?] market drop- and other things to follow.
Do I want this?
No- I have no personal investments in the market- but my firefighter retirement [like most others] does have money in the market.
So- all in all- I would say- be ready.
- At the bottom I posted a section from my philosophy teaching on Aristotle- the past 2 weeks I just wanted to hit briefly on some philosophy stuff I did over the years.
If I remember- I want to talk a bit about how this verse popped up the other day- it should be on the video.
Nehemiah
8:10 Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and
send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto
our LORD: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.
I think it’s good for people to have some background in more than one field of thought.
As we continue to cover the history of the Church- you will see how science- philosophy- Western Thought- all play a role in Christianity.
Most of the great thinkers and scientists were indeed believers- it was only later in time that many scientists did reject belief in God [percentage wise- more scientists are atheists than in any other field].
Now- there are reasons for this- that some of them don’t even realize [as time advanced many assumed that ‘true’ science could only embrace a naturalistic method- meaning the only things that can count as science- are physical things. I have covered this in the past- and many good men do not realize that they are violating their own standard when they argue for the Multiverse and other things- without realizing it they are using a Metaphysical argument in these debates- which in my mind is fine. But- if you approach science from a purely naturalistic view- then you can’t ‘switch’ over when it’s convenient. I taught all this over the years- on my Radio site if you listen to the programs I did years ago on Apologetics and Physics- you will see what I mean. Here’s an old show- http://wp.me/a4V5qQ-7O
Here’s just a clip from a post I wrote a while back- probably not the best one [the ones I taught on the Multiverse explain it better]- but this will do for now-
Okay- instead- let’s do the other big news story- the so
called God Particle.
Yeah- I heard/read a bunch of stories on the so called
breakthrough discovery.
Now- I am not ‘anti science’.
I am not a person who believes the earth is only 6 thousand
years old- or that kids rode on the backs of dinosaurs.
But- in the historic setting of apologetics- and the role
that science has played in the debate- I must say there are lots of
misconceptions floating around in the air.
Okay- a brief history of the scientific method and how it
came to be.
The past year or so I covered lots of posts on philosophy
and physics and world history in general.
We covered how during the middle of the last millennium
[500years ago] the world began a break thru in many areas- and we often refer
to this as the modern era.
Man- science- thought- all of the fields we see as part of
the modern era- they began at around this point.
Science/philosophy and religion all played a big role in the
debate.
One of the big boys was a man named David Hume- he was a
thinker who questioned what we talked about the other day- the law of cause and
effect.
This law simply says that every effect has a cause.
Hume challenged the popular idea that we can know causes.
He said we think we can know the cause of something- but in
reality we can’t be sure.
The example Hume gave was the Pool table.
He said we see a person hit the q ball- the ball hits
another ball and it goes into the pocket.
Hume said it might look like this a string of cause and
effects- but we don’t know for sure.
Maybe there are other reasons why the balls are reacting
like this.
Another famous example is the Rooster crowing- the guy
couldn’t sleep in because the sun kept shinning in his window- so every morning
right before the sun rose he heard the darn rooster crow.
So he shot the rooster.
Just because one act
precedes another- this does not mean that is the cause.
Okay- we got it Hume.
But some began to doubt all possible knowledge- they said
you can’t make any judgments at all- because we don’t know for sure what the
real cause is.
Okay- this led another great thinker- Kant- to challenge
Hume [the famous quote from Kant was ‘he woke up out of his dogmatic slumber’]
and Kant said even though we can’t be 100 % sure- yet for any possibility for
science to function- we do need to be able to have some type of way we can
settle on knowledge- science does need to be able to say ‘okay- we have looked
at this long enough- we think this is what’s causing this’.
Okay- this whole debate is called Epistemology- how we know
stuff.
Now- the God particle.
As I listened to the various reports the last 2 days- I
could tell right off the bat that there was some funny stuff going on.
The actual statements form the scientists are saying ‘well-
we haven’t ACTUALLY seen the particle [also called Higgs Boson] but- we have
detected enough other particles- so we think the Boson is more than likely
there too’ or ‘it’s like looking in the distance- and you think you see someone-
but maybe you’re looking at his twin instead’.
Okay- what kind of argument is this?
This is what we call a Metaphysical argument.
It’s an argument that is made- not because you actually
detected the thing- but you have come to a conclusion based on the Scientific
Method of Induction/Deduction.
You looked at- observed- and tested various things- and you
now say ‘well- it must be there- because look at all the other stuff’.
[layman’s terms].
Okay- is there anything wrong with this.
Not really.
But- here’s the catch- many in the modern field of physics
refute the argument for the existence of God because in the end it is a
metaphysical one.
That is- the materialist scientist [one who says we only
deal in facts that we can actually see\detect] uses metaphysical arguments all
the time- he just does not realize he is doing this.
Remember the other day- I posted about the many
contradictions good men make when mixing science with apologetics and the laws
of argumentation [or logic].
They often do not realize they are contradicting themselves-
or making out right nonsense statements- because they are scientists- not
logicians.
So what we have in the Higgs Boson case- in the Dark Matter-
Dark energy case- in the entire Multi Verse theory [many universes].
In all these theories- which now make up the majority of
modern physics- they are all the same type of argument that the materialist
scientist says are not good arguments- at least when it comes to the argument
for the existence of God.
In a nutshell- if we agree to accept that a certain particle
must exist- not because we have actually detected it- but because ‘well- it
must be there- because if not- then how do we explain everything else’?
If these arguments are being used in all of the above scenarios-
and trust me- they are.
Then we can’t exclude the Theist from the table- we can’t
say ‘no- you silly Christian- you deal in things we DON’T SEE- we deal in
things we do see.’
Actually- you don’t.
All of the above theories are conclusions based on how the
other things around them respond.
The reason many think Dark Matter exists- is not because we
have found it- we haven’t.
But because in order for the standard model- well- to stand-
then Dark Matter simply ‘must be’.
Okay- this is the same type of argument the Theist [one who
believes in God] uses.
If you want to exclude the believer from the table- on the
grounds that he appeals to a ‘non detectable’ being.
Then we must ditch all of the above.
And it seems- Higgs Boson too.
NOTE- all scientists are not materialists- many are
believers- and even many non-believers are not materialists. If you are a pure materialist scientist- one
who says we cannot accept any other non-material arguments [things we don’t
actually see/detect] then you also would not be able to accept any of the major
theories of physics today- that is if you were consistent in your thinking.
Also why did the researchers at CERN release this as some
great new finding?
The ‘discovery’ was made at the new 10 billion dollar Hadron
Collider.
This is the world’s largest Atom smasher.
In order for the Europeans to justify the cost- they had to
convince people that this was the best chance to actually discover this long
elusive particle.
Now- Europe is in a near depression- as most of you know.
This underground ‘particle smashing tunnel’ [I think it’s
right on the French Swiss border?] when first opened- had a bad day.
It leaked oil into the tunnel and it was shut down- and had
to be repaired at the cost of millions of dollars.
Okay- all of these guys realize- if you do not justify the
cost of this thing- in the midst of a European depression- then what are the
odds that your gonna keep getting funded?
I don’t know if this was the main reason they came out with the
statement now- but for them to have come out- and kinda have fudged on it-
makes me wonder.
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 down the dew.
Unfinished study- will complete over time.
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