Supernatural Claims of Natural Men

July 29, 2023July 28, 2023Todd R Leave a comment

Have you ever heard a voice from heaven? If you did, how would you know to believe it?

In John 12:28 Jesus said in front of a crowd of people: “Father, glorify Your name. Then a voice came from heaven, saying “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.”

When this voice spoke, the hearers still had to decide whether or not to believe it. Not everyone on the scene had faith that this voice was actually God. Not everyone who heard it and thought it was God decided that this God deserved their obedience, even though these people were eyewitnesses to a supernatural event that many today would be thrilled to see, to “prove” God’s existence.

Suppose someone on the scene looked up at the sky and said: “Who do you think you are? I don’t know who this ‘Jesus’ guy is, and I sure don’t know who you are – why should I follow you?” Perhaps the voice from heaven responds with a bolt of lightning, and this poor man is now a dead smoldering heap.

Now, the man next to this one could be thinking: “I really should follow this Jesus person, because if I don’t, the next bolt could be for me.” This is rational, solid reasoning. But reason is not the same as faith. This man’s other response could be: “Jesus really is the Son of God and deserves my loyalty. I’m grateful that He is willing to accept me as I am.” Did the lightning really provide convincing evidence of this? Are there still other alternatives? Could the voice be interpreted as some other deity trying to gain followers? Perhaps, so therefore this second response is more like faith than reason.

So, even faced with overwhelming evidence, “reason” does not power a decision to truly make a decision, “faith” does. Reason can lead a horse to water, but it can’t make him drink. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Eph 2:8)

In addition, claims contrary to Christianity require a supernatural faith (albeit one without a source), and here are two examples

1) “There is no God” – Some say that if he exists, he should show himself. Of course, as we have seen, even those who claimed to know Jesus Himself and witness his miracles say this would not convince a skeptic who decided not to believe. Also, how does one prove God does not exist? Europeans used to believe there was no such thing as a black swan because they had never seen one – until they traveled more of the world. They could never prove that black swans did not exist, but they could (and did) believe it. To prove it, they would have to be personally present in all parts of the universe at all times simultaneously – in essence, they would need to be God to prove that all swans were white. “There is no God” cannot be proven by reason, but a skeptic can claim that they have not witnessed God in their experience, and that they have faith that God does not exist outside their experience.

2) “Man is the result of purely natural processes” – If “natural” is that which science has explained, and “supernatural” is everything else, it turns out that this is a claim about the supernatural, not a claim that there is no supernatural. If you change “observed” to “observable” in Merriam-Webster’s definition of “supernatural” (“of or relating to an order of existence beyond the visible observable universe”), you see this distinction. Merriam-Webster takes for granted that all things “supernatural” will become “natural” through scientific advancement in the way the current majority thinks they will. The consensus in Galileo’s day was that everything revolved around the earth – but the consensus was proved wrong. Proving that man is purely natural requires that the current thinking on evolution is correct, and faith that nothing outside of current knowledge could ever possibly over-turn it.

However, in the words of G.K. Chesterton, “Science knows nothing whatever about pre-historic man; for the excellent reason that he is pre-historic.” The “evidence” for one species changing into another is based on deductions from historical fossils, not on eyewitness accounts. While man has observed species mutate and acquire new traits, we have not yet seen a monkey (or anything else) mutating into a man. Regardless, theories of human evolution make a lot of claims about the history of mutations across species. It takes the observed changes within a species, and assumes that over millennia these mutations lead to one species changing into another, then another… It also claims that future evidence will inevitably support current evidence, in spite of the fact that evidence for evolution has been overturned repeatedly in history. Even in my own experience, what I was taught in middle school was different than what I was taught in college about evolution. If the historical track record is not that good, why have faith that the future track record will be perfect? Evolutionists refer to the process of discovery by trial and error consistently as “progress”, but is it always? Unless you already know beyond any shadow of doubt what you are progressing toward, how do you know you are progressing?

I’m not claiming to have dis-proved evolution here, but only to show that to prove it beyond a shadow of any possible doubt is beyond the power of reason. It’s another black swan.

Claims that there is no supernatural, are claims about the supernatural. These claims would require supernatural means to prove. They require seeing the future and the past, therefore, to believe a supernatural claim without supernatural evidence requires faith. It is beyond reason and proof. To me, the evidence and the logic do not live up to the claims they want to support.

Claims that there is no supernatural,
are claims about the supernatural.

All people have faith – just in different things. Materialists fail to explain how man, as a mere complex set of materials and chemical reactions, consciously and intentionally goes about his life pondering deep thoughts about the origin of himself, while an earthworm does not bother. Christians – even the authors of the Bible – fail to explain how some consciously and intentionally choose faith when presented with miracles, while others do not.

There will always be such a thing as the “supernatural”. All people speculate about what’s out there in that realm of knowledge we can’t reproduce in a lab. Many people have dogmas about what’s in that realm – evolutionists believe that everything they do not understand yet will confirm that there is no God; religious people believe that there is enough evidence in the world we’ve already observed to warrant the possibility of a God.

On the one hand, you have the supernatural claims of natural men, claiming two things: 1) that they (and you) are the accidental result of millennia of chemical mutations, and that these chemicals follow rules that they do not know the origins of (yet); and 2) that the chemicals in their brain “believe” without a doubt that they can predict that what they do not know will confirm what they currently know and believe. This future evidence will prove their current belief, which was itself the result of a chain of accidental chemical reactions (but apparently under the purposeful control of some unknown thing that seeks to convince you of your mere natural chemicalness).

On the other hand, there is a written record of a man who claimed to be from that supernatural realm, who sees the future and the past, who knew there were black swans. How many there were. Where they were. And that the Europeans would eventually find them. This man asked for your belief – which set of claims is more reasonable?

“Come near to God and he will come near to you” – James 4:8

Sing a New Song: Participating in the Psalms

July 26, 2023July 22, 2023Todd R 1 Comment

Reading the Psalms is a great devotional habit. Most years, I read one a day starting January 1 until they’re done and then start again the next year. However, too often I read through one without it having any effect on me. Too often I miss that the writers aren’t just trying to teach about God, but they are trying to share their experience of Him with me. They don’t just want me to know what they know about Him – They want me to feel what they felt about Him, and act as they acted toward Him. For example, Psalm 96:1-5 reads like instructions:

“Oh sing to the LORD a new song;
            sing to the LORD, all the earth!
Sing to the LORD, bless his name;
            tell of his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
            his marvelous works among all the peoples!
For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;
            he is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,
            but the LORD made the heavens.”

Verse 1 isn’t “listen to me sing a new song” but instead it asks everyone (and everything) to sing a new song to God. The Psalmist wants us to participate with them in their joy, and even spells out how and why to do this:

“from day to day” – make it a daily habit
“among the nations” – don’t pick and choose your audience. Share publicly and indiscriminately
“For great is the LORD” – because He deserves it
“For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols” – because no other is worthy

Not only the Psalms, but all worship, requires participation.

“A new song” suggests something that’s creative, offered in praise…Perhaps you are not a ‘creative’ person. You might be a tax collector or a soldier[1]. You might be a clerk, accountant, lawyer, politician, engineer, housewife or anything else. It doesn’t matter. It’s about knowing who you are and dedicating that to the Lord and to others.”

Your situation is not mine. Few people have blogs, and God doesn’t always deliver answers to prayer in the same way, but in whatever way we can, He wants us to participate in the praise of the Psalms, sharing Him every day, to all people, because He deserves it.

This day and every day, what can you do to “Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name”? Take a moment and ask Him how you might participate in the Psalms.

[1] See Luke 3:12-14

The God of Intended Consequences

July 24, 2023July 22, 2023Todd R 1 Comment

Case studies, detailed write ups of real-life business situations, are a common teaching tool for business students. From these examples, students are supposed to draw lessons for their own job and for management. One case study I read covered Nordstrom; a large retailer famous for their strong customer service[1]. Nordstrom had recently hired an up-and-coming manager with a strong track record and trusted him with a lot of power to run the business. Since the purpose of a retailer is to sell things, mangement decided to pay every employee in every store more if they sell things. Seemed to make sense.

However, there’s a thing called the “Law of Unintended Consequences,” or more simply, a lack of foresight. In the Nordstrom case study, this Law led to disaster. Employees stopped cleaning the store. They stopped stocking shelves and organizing displays. Customers couldn’t find what they wanted, but they were hounded by enthusiastic employees who were eager to sell them something (and get credit for it). Instead of each employee doing what they specifically needed to do, they all swarmed around annoyed customers.

Not only did sales go down as a result, but Nordstrom damaged what had been its key strength of customer service. This happened decades ago, and Nordstrom has recovered, but what an interesting story. More recently, JC Penney had a similar disaster when they decided to back off their aggressive discounting strategy – the entire reason many people shopped there. A lack of foresight can lead to disastrous unintended consequences.

Nordstrom’s problem was what economists call a “coordination problem,” where a group of people aren’t properly organized to achieve a goal. Even if you have a theory that sales are the sole objective, making everyone focus on sales might not be the right way to coordinate. As Yogi Berra apparently said: “In theory there’s no difference between theory and practice. But in practice, there is.” Humans don’t usually behave the way theory says they will.

Ecclesiastes 3:9-11, titled “The God-Given Task” in my study Bible, says this:

“What gain has the worker from his toil? I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”

The point is the scope of man’s awareness, in his business, or economically. Man works, and sometimes it looks like pointless toil, and sometimes it is beautiful. But, as an image-bearer of God, man knows there is more to it – eternity in his heart. Therefore, we have some sense of a bigger picture, but the picture can’t be seen, only bits of it.

God on the other hand sees all, and nothing appears as unpredictable chaos to Him. His foresight includes all future circumstances, and everything is predictable. In the movie Jurassic Park, Jeff Goldblum’s character explains chaos by putting drops of water on the back of someone’s hand and saying there’s no way of knowing which direction the water will flow. But, when God watches Jurassic Park, he knows exactly which way the water would go. Every. Single. Time. And not because He’s seen the movie before. We look at water and see chaos, but God looks at it and says “Peace! Be still!”

Proverbs 3:19 tells us:

“The LORD by wisdom founded the earth;
by understanding He established the heavens;
by His knowledge the deeps broke open,
and the clouds drop down the dew.”

Because the world was created with wisdom (and not by accident), gravity does what it’s supposed to do, photosynthesis does what it’s supposed to do, and likewise with many “laws” of science. God as omnipotent creator orchestrates all those laws of science how He wants, but in terms of people He has the same raw material as the managers of Nordstrom.

However, God doesn’t get blindsided by anything, including but not limited to:
People not doing what they’re told – He can, and does, include this in His plan.
Second- and third-order effects of rules, such as employees not stocking shelves.
Theory that might not apply in practice.

Managers of your company or organization don’t have perfect foresight. They can’t be certain that their strategy is correct, and they probably don’t know what every employee does on a daily basis, but God is CEO of the entire universe knows all and has a personal relationship with every member of the “company” – and all its competitors.

He has a plan, and while He doesn’t tell us the entire plan, He “has put eternity into man’s heart” that we may learn to trust Him and know that everything will be fixed in the end. Therefore, dedicate more of your time, treasure, and talent to God and see what happens. He intends that there will eternally be good consequences, and when He intends something, it happens. Guaranteed.

Our God is the God of Intended Consequences.

[1] I can’t find the case online or in my files so I’m going from memory here. Forgive me if I go astray, or if you work at Nordstrom.

Faith Takes More Than Proof

July 22, 2023July 21, 2023Todd R 2 Comments

When writing his gospel, John had an objective in mind. As he wrote in John 20:31, he was recording Jesus’ miracles and signs “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.”

What was John’s objective? To persuade anyone reading “that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.”

In the same book, John says that many were not convinced by miracles:
“But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: “Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” – John 12:37

John says this failure to convince was intentional on God’s part and a fulfillment of prophecy. John claims to be a first-hand witness of many miracles performed by Jesus, climaxing in the resurrection of one Lazarus, who was apparently dead for so long that “there is a stench” (John 11:39). John spends a lot of time setting the scene — many people had gathered to comfort Martha and Mary, the sisters of the deceased — pointing out that Lazarus had his own tomb, which indicates he was probably affluent and well-known – and so on. This miracle was to be very public. The result when Lazarus came out? John says many believed in Jesus, but many others did not believe, and some even saw Him as a threat – resulting in His crucifixion.

So John, writing for the specific purpose of creating belief, tells us the ultimate miracles are not enough to generate belief in everyone. “Proof” does not always convince, and those who disagree hold their beliefs as strongly as those who agree. Whatever your beliefs, have you ever been frustrated when someone just won’t come around to your view, no matter what you said? Would you be more frustrated if you were told that any argument you could make wouldn’t be good enough?

Some deny miracles because of a purely naturalistic worldview where the supernatural is not allowed in. Miracles do not exist, and never did. In this view, mankind was created through an unknowing process of natural selection and is a type of animal, although perhaps a special animal. These people have just as much conviction as I do. I could argue against those views, which really are what G.K. Chesterton called a “dogma of materialism” because proving it would require disproving every claim about a supernatural occurrence that any human has ever claimed. This is, of course, impossible. The dogma of materialism is a matter of faith, however much proponents of evolution and other “scientific” ideas claim overwhelming evidence and vast consensus. It takes faith to fill in the gaps in the evidence. Those who disagree with me are obviously willing to accept these gaps.

On the other hand, we have the oral and written testimony of many people reporting many supernatural things over the centuries. This includes John’s records of many first century miracles. However, John also testifies that a man raised from the dead was not enough to convince the skeptics on the scene. This man, Lazarus, even became the target of death threats, because he was evidence that threatened the well-being of those who made their living off the established religion.

There is more to proof than meets the eye. There is more to life than cold reason. People have reasons for believing what they do and acting how they act, and the Apostle Paul says “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood…” (Ephesians 6:12). Therefore, nothing I can write, do, or say is guaranteed to convince anyone, but I take heart that Chesterton also wrote: “When I fancied that I stood alone I was really in the ridiculous position of being backed up by all of Christendom.”

If you are a Christian – what argument can you make that is better than raising a man from the dead, then following that up by raising yourself from the dead? If Jesus couldn’t convince everyone, the best anyone can do is follow Peter’s advice to “in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.” – 1 Peter 3:15-16

What are the reasons for the hope that is in you?

Driving Toward the Morning Sun

What "Not Yet" Means for "Now"

Tag Christian

Supernatural Claims of Natural Men

Sing a New Song: Participating in the Psalms

The God of Intended Consequences

Faith Takes More Than Proof