Tuesday was another good night as Chip led our discussion -- this time covering some "scientific" evidence of the truth of the Bible. He took his title from the book on the same subject A Case for Faith by Lee Strobel.
We started out with a recap of the faith topics we've been discussing over the past few weeks, and then Chip took us to Acts 1:2-4, which talks about how Jesus was seen by and spoke to people after His resurrection, by "many infallible proofs" (KJV). Chip pointed out to us that in Old Testament books of Isaiah and Micah Jesus birth, life, and death was prophesied hundreds of years before it occurred. We talked about studies that have shown that only 1/5 of 1/10 of 1% of the whole Bible has proven to be even questionable as it relates to the translations. That's only about 40 lines of the entire Bible! It's also been proven that New Testament records of Jesus were written soon after the events took place (the book of Matthew was written roughly 7 years after Jesus' time on earth. The earliest records of the lives of other renowned figures such as Buddha, Caesar, and Plato were not written until several hundred years after their deaths. (Why the big difference? Because the Holy Spirit doesn't forget to write stuff down. [insert rim shot])
Chip showed us physical findings of the Red Sea (the sea Charlton Heston parted in that old movie -- okay, that doesn't even deserve a rim shot) -- including an exploration of the Red Sea floor that revealed a real chariot wheel that has been determined to be from the same time period in which the pyramids were built, and also proof of what is described as a "shelf" wide enough for people to walk on -- on either side of it, the sea floor drops away over a hundred more feet. Chip likened it to Isaiah 51:10(KJV), which says of God "Who made a road in the depths of the sea so that the redeemed might cross over?"
Chip also displayed some scientific findings of laminin -- which a protein moleclule. This protein molecule is a cell adhesion molecule with strong binding properties; within the scientific community it is referred to as the "glue of the body." We were reminded of Ephesians 4:16 which states that from Christ the whole body is joined and held together -- especially when pictures of this laminin under a miscroscope cleared showed it to be shaped just like a cross! (Who ever said God wasn't into subliminal messaging? [rim shot, yes?])
Now, we know that none of these discoveries aren't the whole reason we believe in God and in Jesus ('cause otherwise it wouldn't be called faith -- duh). Our faith is firmly rooted in the Word of God (or it should be). But He did establish things like what we talked about, and so many more, on the earth for people who play hard to get [through to]. So when we talk about our faith to people who don't know Him (like we're supposed to), sometimes it's helpful to be able to point to things like these and go, "Now how could we have made that up?"
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July 13 - Kynetic @ 7:00 p.m. in Holy Grounds Cafe
July 24 - Kynetic's Thanksgiving in July @ 7:00 p.m. in Student Center
July 27 - Kynetic @ 7:00 p.m. in Holy Grounds Cafe
July 24 - Kynetic's Thanksgiving in July @ 7:00 p.m. in Student Center
July 27 - Kynetic @ 7:00 p.m. in Holy Grounds Cafe
1 comment:
I love how everything around us points to a Creator. How can anyone watch the leaves change or gaze at the stars and not know that there’s a God? There’s a song by Steven Curtis Chapman called “Fingerprints of God” and it talks about how we all are covered by God’s fingerprints but I think that also carries over to His creation. It’s like everything we look at it is evidence of His workmanship and you can’t help but see His fingerprints on all He’s made. The stuff Chip talked about in regards to the Red Sea was really cool and is further proof that God is who He says He is.
One thing I love when talking about how the Bible has been proven is the story of Joshua when he led the Israelites into battle. In Joshua 10:12, he asked God to let the sun stand still so that they could defeat the enemy. If the battle wasn’t over by dark, the enemy would be able to regroup and come back stronger the next day. So God heard Joshua and the sun stood still until they had achieved victory. Some may argue that this is just a really good story and that it’s not the sun that moves but the earth, proving the inaccuracy of the story and thus the Bible. But let me add some more (can you feel my excitement?). Yes, the earth moves and not the sun but Joshua wasn’t being literal in his request. He only knew that he needed more daylight so he asked God to stop the sun which does make sense. Let’s assume he was full of adrenaline and just itching to end this battle and wasn’t thinking logically. Joshua’s words, “Sun, stand still” take on a different meaning when examined in the Hebrew language. Ready for some goose bumps? “Sun, stand still” can mean “Sun, cease acting” or “Sun, stop working.” And since the sun has a gravitational pull on the earth, if the sun were to stop “working” it would cease to have that pull on the earth, causing the earth to slow down and the day to be extended. To those who didn’t know about the earth-sun relationship, it would appear that the sun did “stand still.”
Even with this scientific approach to the story, some could still argue that it didn’t really happen. That nothing could cause the earth to slow its rotation. Let me add this. Did you know in other cultures there’s a legend of a long day? I did a little research and one website mentioned this: “There is indisputable evidence from the modern science of ethnology that such an event occurred as Joshua records. In the ancient Chinese writings there is a legend of a long day. The Incas of Peru and the Aztecs of Mexico have a like record. There is a Babylonian and Persian legend of a day that was miraculously extended. Herodotus, an ancient historian, recounts that while in Egypt, priest showed him their temple records, and that he read of a day which was twice the natural length of any day that had ever been recorded.” Coincidence?
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