Sunday sermon

45 min readAug 9, 2020

SUNDAY SERMON

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

1 Timothy 1:18

This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare;

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https://corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com/p/romans-links-1-2019.html

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NOTE- Every so often some of my sites think I am Spam- or a Bot- I am not. My name is John Chiarello and I post original content [all videos and text are by me]. I do share my past posts from my other sites- but it is not spam. I post 8 videos a night to many of my sites, and text posts 3 times a week. I realize that is a lot for some sites, yet this is the system I felt the Lord led me into. I NEVER take money- or ask for money- ever. Everything is free- to some sites this makes a difference- so I wanted to say that here. Thank You- John.

[TODAY’S POST BEGINS HERE]

Sunday sermon videos-

https://youtu.be/TMDxjB1MU-w

https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2017/09/8-20-17-sunday-sermon.zip

https://ccoutreach87.com/8-20-17-sunday-sermon-2/

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qxzintm25eoj2nu/8-20-17%20Sunday%20sermon.mp4?dl=0

https://1drv.ms/v/s!Aocp2PkNEAGMhyM8cJlbL5_8nrS6

ON VIDEO- [Teaching below]

.Mass verses- Church Unlimited too

.Catholics and Evangelicals

.Immigrants welcome

.Racial prejudice challenged by Jesus

.Puppies eat the crumbs!

.Boundaries shattered

.Not pluralism- but acceptance

.Are we exclusive?

.You are too

.The sun- and the Son

.Objective truth

.Philosophy

.Gentiles- don’t get proud

.We were immigrants once as well [outside of the covenant]

.Ellis Island

.Revolutionary war

.Britannia ruled the seas- yet we won!

.Native Americans were here first

.The principle of storehouse- seeds

.Thales and the eclipse

.Scientific revolution

.Copernicus- Kepler-

.Ptolemy and cosmology [no- we didn’t think the earth was flat- not most of us]

.Alexander the great

.Absolute truth

TEACHING-

I taught on the verses from The Sunday Mass- and made some comments from Church Unlimited and New Christian Harvest [feeding ministry in the Bluff].

I’ll add my past links below and just Make a few comments-

In Isaiah 56 we see the prophet telling God’s people that it was always his intent for the kingdom of God to embrace all people groups-

Isaiah 56:6 Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant;

Isaiah 56:7 Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.

God even had statues in the Old Testament that allowed for this.

Then we read of the account where a woman from Canaan [Matt. 15] came to Jesus with a request-

Matthew 15:22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.

The Jewish [religious] people of Jesus day were quick to cut off people who were not part of the commonwealth of Israel.

Judaism- at the time of Christ- became elitist.

Yet Jesus answers the woman’s request because she showed faith in Jesus as the promised Messiah- the son of David-

Matthew 15:28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

In Romans 11 [by the way- these were the 3 main passages that were read in this Sunday’s mass- and I want my friends to see that these bible verses are not simply read by the priest with no rhyme or reason- they all have a purpose].

Ok- In Romans 11 we see this dynamic come to a head.

Yes- God had given Israel great promises- the law and the prophets were sent to the people of Israel.

Jesus Himself recognized this In his response to the woman-

Matthew 15:24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Yet- the Jews for the most part rejected Jesus as the Messiah-

But this was the purpose of God- so the gospel would go to the Gentiles [non- Jews]-

Romans 11:25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

Now that we have become recipients of these blessings- we should not use this as an advantage against the ‘alien’ — meaning those who seem to be outside of the benefits that we are now partaking of.

Paul teaches in Romans 11 that all this has happened in the greater plan of God-

Romans 11:30 For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:

Romans 11:31 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.

Romans 11:32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

Romans 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

We have now become beneficiaries of the blessings- so those who find themselves where we were- can receive mercy too.

It’s an interesting dynamic for sure.

In our day- those who live in this great country of the United States- have benefited tremendously because our forefathers- who were strangers- made it to this land [Unless you are a Native American- Indian].

But over time- some in this blessed land- have used the plight of the alien- stranger- in a way that says ‘Yes- we migrated here too at one time- we were indeed immigrants- but now we want to protect the blessings we have- and in order to do this- we want to keep others out’.

Now- I’m not purely speaking politics here- this is actually the dynamic we see in the readings above.

Yes- The Jewish people were blessed- with many things.

At the time of Christ- there was an anti immigrant mindset- but more along the Lines of a religious understanding.

When Jesus welcomed the outcast- healed the daughter of the woman who was not a ‘rightful

heir’ — he challenged mindsets- and yes- in doing so- he offended many-

Some were offended to the point that they wanted nothing to do with Jesus-

61 When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?

62 What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?

63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

64 But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.

65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.

66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

So the blessing went to others- to us- to the gentiles.

But wait- the apostle warns us- don’t make the same mistake- the mistake the religious leaders made at the time of Christ-

Romans 11:18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.

Romans 11:19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.

Romans 11:20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:

They rejected the Messiah- and it was thru that rejection- that the gospel came to us-

Romans 11:11 I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.

But those of us who now believe- and received the blessings- we have to be careful that we do not use our privileged position- as heirs of the blessing-

And turn others away.

Yes that’s the warning Paul gave in Romans 11.

Ok- I talked about more on the video- and like I said- I’ll post that below.

But I think if we- especially as Christians- Catholics- Protestants- all of us.

I think if we can apply the truths we have seen in the gospel this day.

Then we will do well.

PAST POSTS- [Past teaching I did that relates to this post- Sunday Sermon- verses below]

https://ccoutreach87.com/2017/04/16/mark-7/

https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/06/21/the-flood/ John 3

https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/2016/06/25/the-well-john-4/

https://ccoutreach87.com/western-intellectual-tradition/

https://ccoutreach87.com/overview-of-philosophy/

https://ccoutreach87.com/romans-updated-2015/

https://ccoutreach87.com/hebrews-updated-2015/

https://ccoutreach87.com/galatians-links/

https://ccoutreach87.com/1st-2nd-samuel-links-updated-3-17/

https://ccoutreach87.com/house-of-prayer-or-den-of-thieves/

THALES AND THE PRE-SOCRATICS

Ok- let me do a little teaching- maybe finish it tonight.

Christianity is not simply ‘made up stories’ from some bible.

No- the history of Western Thought- Philosophy- ideas- all of the various World Views are imbedded with God- our concepts of God- and ask the ultimate question ‘where did all this come from- and why are we here’.

We usually trace the beginning of Ancient Philosophy to the 6th century BCE.

A thinker by the name of Thales sought to find ways to describe natural phenomena without the use of Greek Mythology.

Even though Philosophy deals with Metaphysics [things beyond the natural- physical realm- Physics] yet Thales wanted to find explanations for existence- without leaning on Myth.

He is considered a ‘Pre Socratic’ thinker [before Socrates] and espoused an idea that water was the key source of all things.

These guys were looking for a singular thing to explain stuff.

Sometimes referred to as a unified theory- the same thing that Einstein was seeking to find some 2 Millennia later.

So- Thales surmised that water was the key thing.

There are various ideas of why he came to this conclusion- but one reason might have been the idea of motion.

Many Geek thinkers were looking for the source of motion- where did it come from?

And to the natural eye- if you observe the ocean- rivers- etc. — there does seem to be no cause for the moving of water- so to these guys it seemed like water itself was the source- motion came from water.

Now- there were other religions who taught a sort of idea along these lines.

Some pagan religions said that the ‘god’s’ moved upon the water- and life came that way.

If you read the Christian account of creation in Genesis- you will notice that God did move upon the waters- and the account in Genesis does indeed say that he brought forth life from the water.

Thales came from for Miletus- in Asia Minor.

He was famous for the prediction of a Solar Eclipse that occurred on May 28th- 585 BCE.

The earliest account of this is found in the writings of Herodotus.

Thales is considered one of the 7 sages of the time.

Christianity was born at a time where Greek thought/ideas were a big part of society.

We do find the early apostles using the language/ideas of the Greek philosophers when describing the reality of Christ.

The apostle John refers to Christ as THE LOGOS- The word Logos- is a Greek word for ‘word’.

Jesus is called ‘the word of God’.

Now- the Greek thinkers were in fact seeking for the Logos- they used this term to describe the ultimate answer to all tings.

They were on a search for some Divine principle that could explain things.

So- the writers of the New Testament were in a way saying ‘look- we have found the Logos- the thing that you guys are looking for- it is Christ- the Divine Logos’.

We also see the apostle Paul debating with the Greek thinkers in the city of Athens [the seat of Geek philosophy- the city/state where Socrates was forced to drink cyanide].

In Acts chapter 17 he is preaching to these guys on Mar’s Hill- he says ‘In him we live AND MOVE and have our being’.

Now- today as we read this- we don’t get the full import of what he was doing.

But- to the Greek mind- the source of motion was a big thing.

Paul was a smart guy- and he was saying ‘in him we move’ showing that yes- the ‘source of motion’ [Thales water] is not found in the natural world [Physics] but the source comes from the Metaphysical world [God].

He also says ‘when I was walking thru your town- I saw one of your altars- to the unknown god’.

At the time many believed in a Pantheon of gods- and to cover their bases- they had an altar for any god they might have missed- smart thinking!

So Paul says ‘him I declare unto you’.

Notice how Paul was able to debate- converse with them- and at the end actually use their own ideas- to present the gospel.

In this chapter- Acts 17- we read of the only 2 groups of philosophers mentioned in the bible.

The Epicureans and the Stoics.

The Epicureans were an early form of what we call Hedonism today- the idea that pleasure is the principle purpose of man.

The Stoics believed in ‘stoicism’ that man should have no emotional response to pain or pleasure- that’s why we call people today ‘Stoics’- when they seem to not be moved by anything.

Ok- that’s it for now- might make some comments tonight- but I’m getting ready to fly out soon- and trying to wind down before I leave.

If I don’t write tonight- I’ll talk again when in North Bergen- God bless you all.

1Corinthians 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

1Corinthians 1:19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.

1Corinthians 1:20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

1Corinthians 1:21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

1Corinthians 1:22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:

1Corinthians 1:23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;

1Corinthians 1:24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

1Corinthians 1:25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

1Corinthians 1:26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

1Corinthians 1:27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

1Corinthians 1:28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:

1Corinthians 1:29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.

1Corinthians 1:30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

1Corinthians 1:31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

1Corinthians 2:1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.

1Corinthians 2:2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

1Corinthians 2:3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.

1Corinthians 2:4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:

1Corinthians 2:5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

1Corinthians 2:6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:

1Corinthians 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:

1Corinthians 2:8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

1Corinthians 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth.

See? Paul the apostle had the intellectual capacity to engage with the best of them- but he knew that the core issue- was sin. That is those who reject Christianity on the basis of ‘it’s a religion of foolishness’- in reality- even if you win the intellectual argument- yet for the most part people will still not believe. In the end it is always a matter of true repentance- being honest with ourselves- and others. So- Paul didn’t rely on the ‘wisdom of men’ but the power of the Cross. When needed- he would ‘use it’ [men’s wisdom- Acts 17- Mars Hill] but he closed his argument by declaring Christ.

[parts]

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]

https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2016/06/6-16-16-history-of-everything.zip

ON VIDEO-

.Did my ‘prophecy’ come true? Watch and see

.They said a rocket hit the plane

.What did Patience say?

.Update on detention center

.Bishop Mulvey

.I was right about Devon Anderson- planned parenthood- the 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

MY LINKS-

https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/overview-of-philosophy/

https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/protestant-reformation-luther/

https://ccoutreach87.wordpress.com/qm/

[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]

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]

(1045) Okay, I am up early and just finished prayer time. I kind of heard [spiritually speaking!] the lord speaking to me about a few various subjects, things I haven’t recently studied. I also ‘heard’ the verse ‘there are 12 hours in the day, if a man walks when it is light out, he does not stumble. Walk while you have the light, for a dark time is coming when no one will be able to walk’[Jesus- John’s gospel]. These last few weeks have been pretty bad for me, my work injury has been bad. I really am not sleeping at night because of the severe back pain. I only missed one early prayer time because of it. Not because I am some super hero, but if I don’t ‘walk when it’s light’ [or dark! 3–5 am] then I miss the daily opportunity of real prayer. I realized that to miss a daily prayer/study/teaching time is detrimental to my own health. To get up early and start is difficult, I make a few attempts at standing before I make it to the yard for prayer. I always walk while praying, but after the hour or so prayer walk, I can function okay for a while. I realized that my day starts at around 3:30 am, and it usually ends around 3–4 pm- 12 hours! Jesus gave us a 12 hour work day, we complain about 8! Actually the Jewish day was a 12 hour day, that’s why he said it. Now, let’s talk a little on apologetics. I recently read a few statements from various church traditions that seemed ‘apologetic’ and defensive. The historic church still ‘smarts’ over the whole Galileo affair. Let me defend the historic church a little. A few hundred years before Christ the great philosopher Aristotle developed a cosmology [stars and stuff] that wasn’t that bad. It is a common error to believe that we all believed the world was flat before the 16th century, only a few people believed the flat earth theory, most accepted Aristotle’s [and later Ptolemy] view. Aristotle’s concept was improved a few centuries later by Ptolemy. Ptolemy developed a system that had the sun and planets and stars all orbiting around the earth on a system of ‘Crystalline spheres’ sort of like the earth was the center of an onion and the stars/planets were stuck on these outer layers and they appeared in certain places at certain times. Now, Ptolemy did not differentiate between stars and planets. He simply saw the planets as stars that were ‘irregular’ in their patterns. These ‘irregular stars’ were called ‘wanderers’ that’s where we get the current term for meteorology. Well anyway this system was obviously flawed, but it worked well for almost 2 thousand years. So during the 15–16th century when Copernicus came up with a more accurate system [our present understanding of the solar system- one where we orbit the sun and not visa versa] he was initially rejected on good grounds. What! Do you mean to tell me you believe in the old idea? Of course not, but the first system Copernicus floated was actually wrong! Many people don’t know this. When the church and science looked at the initial theory they found it to be lacking in certain areas. Copernicus had the planets orbiting the sun in a circular orbit, they orbit more on an Ellipsis like pattern. Also Kepler had to make other adjustments to the system to get it to work [complicated stuff like the retrograde motion of mars]. So the church had some ground to stand on when they rejected Copernicus/Galileo. Of course we later accepted the truths of science and do not see science and reason as ‘anti’ Christian. But it is this embarrassing history that puts us on the defense at times, that’s why some notable Christians have embraced evolution as a tool that God used to create man. These Christians are over compensating [in my view] for the bad history on stuff like this. I reject evolution based on scientific grounds, not biblical. If God wanted to use evolution as a tool to create man, he most certainly had that option. But science does not show that ‘tool’ to be true. Those who reject all the evidence of Intelligent Design are standing with the Bishops of Galileo’s day, who when invited to just look into the telescope and ‘see for yourself’ rejected the invitation.

[parts]

Quantum Mechanics-

It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honourof kings is to search out a matter. Prvb.

https://ccoutreach87.files.wordpress.com/2016/02/2-18-16-quantum-mechanics.zip

https://youtu.be/XKfs4SIQ1FA QM

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]