Rightly Dividing

I have wanted to teach on Genesis for some time now. I was encouraged to write a book on it, and I have a manuscript. It is time for me to start teaching what I have learned. I think that anyone who listens to this will glean something new. I am not teaching this to reaffirm anyone's belief about Genesis, and I am teaching this to be honest to the text.

After communicating with Atheist and trying to figure them out I learned somethings that are incredulous. This my rant about the dishonesty of atheist.

Deconstruction seems to be a common term these days. With the rise of the internet more information is available than ever. With all this information confusion sets in as to what is true. In this podcast I want to show how getting back to a big story about your life and this world will help you filter out unnecessary noise. Even if you don't agree with my conclusion I hope it will stimulate your thinking about the need for a big story.

Please comment on this podcast at https:husbandman.org

I admit that this debate is relatively new to me, so I cannot comment on everything as I am not an expert. I want to comment on some things that I heard. One of the things I came across was a discussion between William Lane Craig and Greg Boyd on the Unbelievable Youtube channel.

There are two things I wish to discuss in this article; they are about mixing God with science and religion. Over the years of learning the Bible and about life, I have come to a very different conclusion than I did as an inexperienced young man. I think if one holds on to what they first learned, they can stand on dangerous grounds.

You can read the article here. www.husbandman.org

Today I would like to look at the 10 commandments found in the Bible. There are some things about these commandments that I believe are forgotten or abused. So let us look at them.

At one time, the Ten Commandments hung upon every courthouse and school in America. As our nation started to turn away from God, these commandments were portrayed as a violation of the Constitution. This idea is off-topic so that I will be brief. The Constitution only prevents Congress from favoring religious institutions. Congress cannot interfere with one's religious beliefs. It also says nothing about God. Here is the phrase I am talking about in the first amendment.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

What I am getting here because while the Ten Commandments show up in a religious book, they are religious in nature and natural laws. The reason I say they are natural laws is that even if one does not have them listed in the Bible, one can come to these conclusions on their own. I know that some will disagree with the first four of them being included as natural law. So this is where I will start explaining the commandments.

No rule or law has any power without someone in authority. A parent who does not enforce rules with their children will find they become terrible people. Without a common belief in something more significant than the individual, there will be anarchy. Without a common belief in supreme authority, society will degrade into a selfish, self-destruction entity.

Wherever you find a growing and healthy society, you will find something highly regarded as their guide to right living. But, of course, that which is highly regarded must dictate economics, social norms, laws, etc.

The first four commandments are to recognize that there is a Creator who is the ultimate authority. With that understanding, people can then have a shared belief to build upon. Many would say that this is religious and therefore has no place in society. That is only self-deception. Everyone has ideas about two things, the reason for our universe and about the conscience. Is it spiritual or something else? Whatever one thinks about these two things, they are religious ideas...

This podcast is conceived from a tweet sent out to atheists about the reality of their emotions and meaning. As I contemplated it more I realize that there is a Christian teaching that is very similar and it makes humans as having no real meaning in themselves. Please listen.

When we lose someone, we feel a loss. We feel like there should be more. We need to ask why. If you have the view that we have no real purpose for being on this planet, it is hard, at least in my mind, to justify feeling like there should be more. The Genesis account is one explanation as to why this is. We were created for eternal life. This podcast comes on a day at the loss of my father-in-law. It is at these points that our philosophies are challenged. 

In order to have a rational mind, one must be able to contain thoughts to a specific scope of information. If we allow ideas from outside the specific concepts to enter in, it can disrupt the thought process. That is definitely true when we think of origins, the beginning of the existence of all things.

Do your best to forget about religion, atheism, socialism, communism, social issues, etc., and just focus on the origin. It will help us come to the right conclusion. We know we exist, at least I hope you do. We also know we struggle to make sense of our existence. We want to be happy and prosperous. So there very basis for all this is where did I come from? I mean, where did the whole universe come from? This is a fundamental question that has to be settled in one's mind to build upon that foundation.

The question is, where did all of the universe and life on earth come from? Please, let us not hang all our biases on this question. We need to think of this question in the rawest sense. There are two choices.

We know the universe exists, but where did it come from? Think of all the solids, gases, and liquids our earth and the universe is made of. Where did it come from? Nobody knows. Some will say from the big bang. Well, the bang still needed matter to explode. All we know is it is here.

Secondly is life. Contrary to what some want to affirm, we do not know how life started. Evolution is the explanation of the diversity of life, but not life itself. All we can do is hypothesizes about the formation of life.

So one needs to contemplate this very basic concept about existence. We cannot let our hatred for religion or love for religion, our emotional state, or social concepts affect this. Let this foundational understanding form thoughts about those things rather than the other way around. What does this view mean for your understanding of life? It has to mean there is no ultimate purpose to it. Entropy will win out heat death will be its end.

If you look around, you will see many things that were made. You do not even question that someone made them. However, by just looking at the item, you cannot figure out who made it. You may find the manufacturer, but you will not know the person.

That is the understanding of design in the universe and life. It seems so clear that the universe is designed. The laws that hold it together. Then there is life. Self-reproducing entities that can think, love, heal, etc. There is a code that every cell must have for it to form. So much of this can be seen as design. If it is designed, then there must be a designer.

So much baggage comes with this thought of a designer, or shall we say, God. People will not like this view because they see so much wrong in the world. They say religion is a plague. The Bible is a fairytale and evil book. Again we cannot let those things interfere with this fundamental understanding.  If you accept this basic premise that the universe and life were created, then you must do your best to learn about this Creator, if that is even possible.