Diary of a Mad Theologian

Leviathan?

I saw a program on History last night about the search for the Giant Squid. I know, it sounds funny doesn't it. My only experience with squid is at the bait store. What I didn't realize is how nasty these things are. They have sharp claws next to the tentacles on their arms and a "beak" that could tear the crap out of you. They are also cannibals. On the History show they took a photo at 1000 feet of a squid that appeared to be 60' long. They said giant squid could be twice the size, equal in length to a Blue Whale.

http://unmuseum.mus.pa.us/squid.htm
http://www.tonmo.com/science/public/giantsquidfacts.php

Theo Logia: Preamble

As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you O God
My soul thirsts for God, for the Living God
When shall I come and behold the face of God?
My tears have been my food day and night
While people say to me continually: Where Is Your God? PSALM 42:1-3

LT. Dan: Have you found Jesus yet Gump?
Gump: I didn't know I was supposed to be looking for him.

"There used to be one Pope on seven hills. Now there are seven popes on every dung hill in Germany."

And if I have propehetic powers and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge...but do not have love, I am nothing. 1CO.13:2

Theology. God/Words. Words About God. The "scientific, systematic study of the scriptures" relating to who God is, what He's done, and and all other major subjects of the Bible.

Lewis Sperry Chafer makes this statement regarding Theology in the Preface of his monumental work Systematic Theology: "What is the specific field of learning that distinguishes the ministerial profession if it is not the knowledge of the Bible and it's doctrines?"

All of this sounds good to me. As christians we should know what we're talking about. Preachers in particular should be expert in the Bible. But despite all the efforts made to categorize and compartmentalize and arrange the things of God in a neat tidy package, in our century I wonder how truly effective these systems are.

For starters, there appears to be no theological system whose title contains the words God or Jesus or Christian. Or if it did the title was soon modified by the theological system which disagreed with it. We have Catholic, Augustinian, Aquinian, Lutheran, Calvinist, Armenian. We have Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, Covenant, and Dispensational. Dude-ism. (sorry.) Human systems with human titles. And it seems the minister must not only pledge allegiance to God and the Bible but also to the denominational system or theology of the institution granting him his ordination.

How effective is this method of arranging the Bible by subject, or "categories" as we were once taught? I heard a christian talk program where the listener asked a question regarding Ps. 25:14 "the friendship of the Lord is for those who fear Him." Almost without breathing and with the proficiency of a semi automatic weapon the well meaning preacher quoted several verses on the subject from the New Testament as the answer to the question. Ps.25:14 was never discussed, it wasn't even read. There was no explanation or definintion of what FEAR means, no discussion of the verse in the context of the Psalm 25. Did something in the writers life and times give him a reason to make that statement? Ultimately the "meaning" didn't resemble what was simply stated in the verse. I still don't know what it means, which I guess is better than thinking I know what it means after listening to what someone else said about it.

There was a time when theological systems as we know them today didn't exist. A minister, or a Rabbi for that matter, would pretty much have to know the whole thing. In the original language. It often seems "sytematic theology" is a shortcut for a sharp guy with a photographic memory to become "expert" in the Bible in a short period of time. He receives his ordination as the result of a test score, or simply starts out on his own with only his popularity and ability to string together verses in a moments notice "evidence" of God's endorsement. To challenge the belief system of such a person is to engage in an argument usually settled along the lines of "I quoted more verses than you."

Also overlooked is the fact that it is absolutely possible to know what the Bible says and yet have no knowledge at all of it's actual subject: God. There is evidence of this all around us. Religious fraud and misrepresentation of the love of God abound in the 21st century and we have been victims of it ourselves. It appears to be so easy for the well meaning sheep to be taken in by the Bible quoting "expert."

If the Bible is indeed a work inspired by God then perhaps there is a reason He handed it to us the way He did. It didn't come to us in 12 volumes arranged by subject, in alphabetical order, or with an index. The Bible is a book of Stories. It took centuries to write it down. It is an epic piece of literature containing all the literary devices used by great writers. It contains historical information, letters, songs, poetry, proverbs, sermons, conversations, arguments, construction diagrams and even a piece of erotica. It contains words of wisdom and acts of folly. It is a record of spiritual beliefs and experiences of the people who wrote it as well as their superstitions. It contains moral guidelines, civil laws, procedures for medical quarantine, and a healthy diet plan. It's heroes are people of good character and people with personality disorders, bold adventurers and cowards, intellectuals and simple folk. It speaks of a supernatural world not detected with normal human perception. It can lift your spirit or scare the crap out of you. It says God visited Earth wearing a human body. It is the ancient foundation of our beliefs. It is a great book. It is the best selling book of all time.

Has our effort to understand the Bible by arranging it "systematically" in fact resulted in an oversimplification of what it means to believe in the Christian God? Has our effort to eliminate error by having "correct doctrine" resulted in an even greater error? Do we honestly believe we know everything there is to know about God?

Homework: Genesis 1. Revelation 1 and 4.

This post has been edited by Dude on Sep 13 2008, 03:04 PM

Just a short post to say
"I really appreciate what you are writing".

Very well said Dude. Could it be that so many of these theological systems don't have God, Jesus, or Christian in their titles because these systems have a lot of man made teaching in them? I think so. Too much man and not enough Jesus! How sad it is that those at the center of so many theological systems insist that others accept their own personal interpretations of the Bible and their own ideas. Those that want to be ordained by leaders in these theologies all too often end up having to agree to teach these man made ideas and interpretations to others. But then these systems are basically human systems so its not surprising that they would be full of many man made ideas for people. A lot of loyalty to men and their own ideas is of course expected. No wonder faulty man made doctrines have become so widespread!

History up to the present moment tells us again and again that a narrow understanding of faith very readily turns to bitterness and coerciveness. There is something about certainty that makes Christianity un-Christian. Instances of this are only too numerous and familiar. Therefore, because I would be a good Christian, I have cultivated uncertainty, which I consider a form of reverence.

From Credo by Marilynne Robinson
http://www.hds.harvard.edu/news/bulletin_m...2/robinson.html

I don't really get on the site too often any more but I really think this last post by Dude captures the gist of what I could not reconcile to faith in ggwo or the american evangelical camp...there is so much certainty there is no room for mystery, for awe, wonder, childlike faith...people who cannot question what they claim is absolute truth (as a human being with a finite mind) acquire the rigid, dogmatic manner of being. I cannot imagine the experience I had of "brushing" up against this kind of person being in any way, shape, or fashion, similar to the experience of brushing up against the person of Christ we read about in the New Testament.

But I don't write here as a "christian" but just as a traveller in this life who could no longer live trapped in a tyrannical ideology where "being right" and being in bondage to one finite preacher's view of what an eternal god's mind was thinking was the daily goal of my life. I literally stopped "living" and all the beauty and thrill of discovery and learning was taken away.

I have made the analogy before of ggwo and groups like it being like someone who catches a bird and clips its wings and then expects it to believe they will be freer in a cage (categories) rather than being able to explore the vast, open skies.

Thanks Dude...I think this person you quoted has found one of the secrets of true faith...outside the camp...any camp really...that doesn't respect the ultimate and inherent freedom of the individual human spirit. No more clipped wings for me and no more playing god with others when I have no idea what god is thinking.

Theo Logia: The First Revelation/Prime Real Estate

To all the people of earth, we have this message for you: "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth..."
William Anders, Apollo 8 astronaut while orbiting the moon, Chrismas Eve 1968

It was science and technology that got me to the moon. But science and technology did not in any way prepare me for what I found when I got there. When I got to the moon I realized there had to be something behind all this...There has to be a creator.
Gene Cernon, last human to set foot on the moon.

The world and all that is in it is mine.
Psalm 50:12

As full time residents of the planet Earth there is a natural tendency to take our home for granted. Particularly if you live in an urban area. We are surrounded by a landscape of concrete, glass, and steel, we smell the aromas of pollutants emitted from automobiles and factories, while our ears tune in to today's weather report informing us of events we know longer have time to observe ourselves. It's no wonder that the arrival of the Industrial Age also signaled the arrival of a world view that either denies or ignores the existance of God. It's not that the spark which connects human beings to God has gone out, it's that the fire that ignites that spark is getting harder to see. We're too busy watching television.

We go to school and we go to Universities and we are told there is no God. It is the "miracle of Evolution" to which we now owe our existance. Belief in a creator is ridiculed, and adherants to that ancient belief become straw man caricatures of an irrelevant age.

And then you walk out the door and you look up. You crack open a beer and sit on the porch and it's a beautiful sunny day. You never noticed the sky was so blue. The trees are green and the flowers are in bloom and the birds are singing their song and a blade of grass pushes itself through the concrete. You breathe. You take a deep breath of some clean cool air which sustains all life on this planet and it feels good. You look up again, not aware of the "dome" you're living in, supplying you with oxygen, without which you'd be dead in 5 minutes. But who cares about that now, it's a beautiful day and the sun is out and somehow deep in the back of your mind you realize this is what life's about. Somehow you're a part of all this.

When man began to look into deep space with telescopes and started to see how vast our galaxy and the universe really is there developed a sense that the human race is truly insignificant. You are a mere speck of dust floating around on a mere speck of dust, a tiny grain of sand on a giant beach called THE UNIVERSE. One hundred billion stars in a galaxy spinning among one hundred billion others. But as science takes a closer look somehow things turn in the other direction. Our unique place in the giant scheme of things becomes a fact that cannot be ignored.

Science has proven our neighbors in the solar system are too hostile to sustain life. We may take that for granted but it was only around 70 years ago that a radio station announced Martians had invaded Trenton New Jersey and people believed it. Now, the Hubble telescope has looked into space and found over 300 other planets orbiting stars. None capable of sustainging life and a planet with conditions similar to ours is yet to be discovered. The search goes on.

Our own sun is unique. Most of the stars you see at night are actually two stars, Hubble has discovered the majority of stars are binary. The garden on planet Earth which provides food to its inhabitants is nourished by a single sun.

If you were to fly to earth from another star, as you approached you would notice not only how unique our planet is but also how unique our moon is. Unlike Jupiter, a giant magnet on the outer rim of the solar system whose gravity protects us from asteroids and comets and is orbited by over 50 tiny moons, Earth is orbited by only one. A single, huge moon 1/4 its size. To view earth for the first time is to see it's moon as well. These two bodies are partners. It would take a long term stay on earth to understand that besides being a giant flashlight the moon also controls our ocean's tides. And that because it is the perfect size and distance from the sun and earth it provides two of the most unique astronomical shows in the galaxy or perhaps the Universe itself: Solar and Lunar Eclipses.

The obsevation of the "miracle" that is our plantet and our home goes on and on. The information science gathers seems to leave us with more questions than answers. The more we understand how it works the less we know about how it all got here. But one thing seems to be clear. This is a unique piece of real estate we are living on. This place we call Earth is different. It's a unique place in our galaxy and a unique place in the universe. The people and the animals and the plants and the soil and the water that are here are unique. We're very different from all the other "cosmic dust" that's floating around out there. The Earth is a special place.

The answer to the question about how we got here is still unresolved by modern science. Ancient civilizations have claimed to have the answer for centuries: someone put us here. But for those who are wondering if there's a God or where he is maybe the answer is as simple as looking out the window or taking a moonlight walk on the beach. He seems to have left the evidence all around us...

This post has been edited by Dude on Sep 30 2008, 03:27 PM

How It All Began

In THE BEGINNING, there was NOTHING. Absolutely Nothing. Not only was there Nothing, but there was no Space for Nothing to exist in. There was only non-existance. Nothing existed and therefore there was Nothing.

No one knows how long this Nothing which didn't exist existed. Besides being Nothing, there also was no Time to tell us how long Nothing existed. But we could probably say Nothing probably existed, well, didn't exist, for a very long Time.

Then one day it happened. Nothing became Something. It was a pretty good trick on Nothing's part because Nothing hasn't been able to turn itself into Something ever since. In fact, there seems to be Nowhere where Nothing exists anymore. But way back then it happened. There was Nothing. And then it became Something.

Not only that but Nothing also turned itself into an infinitely huge Space for Something to exist in.

Something, although not very big compared to the Space it inhabited, became so great in mass that as time went by it's own gravitational force made it collapse on itself causing it to implode. This implosion then became an explosion. When it imploded and then exploded it made a sound which we can now only describe as BANG! But nothing like it had happened before or since so it's called The BIG BANG, although I'm lobbying to call it The BIGGEST BANG.

There were a few major by-products of this BIG BANG. Hydrogen, helium, LIGHT, and alot of cosmic debris. (It must have been really dark when there was only Nothing.) These by-products just kind of spun around for a few billion years or so. They moved away from Nothing which had become Something at the Center which didn't previously exist. Something REALLY turned itself into something else altogether. Something became what we now call the Universe.

Floating in Infinite Space.

In this Universe a Galaxy began forming itself among 100 billion others which were forming themselves. A billion or so years later it became known as the Milky Way. It formed a star we call the Sun. A Solar (sun) System formed around it from the leftover hydrogen, helium, LIGHT and debris, molding itself into planets, moons, asteroids, comets, and meteors. The third planet would be called Earth.

For some reason the hydrogen, helium, and cosmic dust organized itself in a way on Earth so that it formed an atmosphere (or vapor dome), water, soil, and a billion chemical agents which formed themselves into single cell organisms. These organisms contained DNA and Genes. The dome would act as a filter for sunlight energy and manufacture oxygen for life forms that would take millions of years to appear.

Through a process called genetic mutation cells kept dividing themselves into bigger and better cells until one day some became fish. The fish reached the point where they were tired of getting their food and oxygen (which was plenteous) from the water and decided to move to dry land. They wanted to do some tanning and beachfronts were free back then.

After several million years or so they learned to breathe air instead of just hopping back in the water like fish do today. But then they realized how hard it was to get around. More genetic mutation was needed. Since the best way to travel was and still is flying, they mutated wings as well as legs. As luck would have it some other cells had mutated themselves into plants so there was plenty for everybody to eat. It was such a long and difficult process that the rest of the cells gave up and opted not to mutate into land creatures, which is good for us now because everybody loves shrimp and the Fall Striper/Bluefish Run has started.

Well, we all know how the story ends. The fish mutated into reptiles, the reptiles into birds and mammals, and eventually one of the mammals became our great grandfather. A chimpanzee. Since you can't run for Congress if you're a chimp (well not yet anyway), chimps mutated into humans who mutated into better humans who learned how to use tools and plant crops and invented monarchies and built pyramids at five different locations. The pyramids were all in perfect alignment with True North with light illuminating special chambers at solstice and equinox. They used that and planetary orbits to invent a calender so they'd know when to plant the beans.

But these people really weren't very smart so they invented RELIGION to explain it all. They weren't advanced enough to invent a theory that would start with Nothing. That would come centuries later.

This Nothing theory led to the invention of THE BOMB. If THE BOMB ever does goes off it will probably be a BANG, but not nearly as big as the BIG BANG which occurred when Nothing turned itself into Something. But what else would you expect from a bunch of monkeys?

Got it?

"There is no missing link. There are hundreds of links missing." Louis Leakey.

"The number of intermediate varieties which have formerly existed on earth must be truly enormous. Why then is not every geological formation and every stratum full of such intermediate links?...This is the most obvious and gravest objection which can be urged against my theory." Charles Darwin

"All of the primitive plants had propagated and survived for hundreds of millions of years via asexual reproduction. Then, about 100 million years ago, flowering plants inexplicably emerged.
...With plants developing flowers in anticipation of insects to pollinate them, a similar anticipatory intelligence would have to have been present in insects so that they might develop into pollinating bees and butterflies." Will Hart

"For the last 100 years science has believed changes on Earth were incremental and took millions of years. We now believe that changes on the Earth were sudden and catastrophic. Which is what man seemed to believe to begin with." Dr. Brian Atkisson

This post has been edited by Dude on Oct 3 2008, 12:40 PM

On the other hand, it is significant to note that while fundamentalism declared itself a defender of traditional orthodoxy, it gave rise to new interpretations of the Bible. It's emphasis on biblical inerrancy and its rejection of many of the conclusions of biblical scholars (liberal Protestants circa mid 19th Century) made it possible to juxtapose texts from different books of Scripture and thus to develop a number of schemes outlining and explaining God's actions, past, present, and future. The most successful of these schemes were those of the "dispensationalists."...

Justo L. Gonzalez, The Story Of Christianity Vol.2, The Reformation to the Present Day. pg.257

Notes on Genesis 1

"You are but a mortal and no god, though you compare your mind with the mind of a god."
Ezekiel the Prophet

"Up until now most scientists have been too occupied with the development of new theories that describe what the universe is to ask the question why. On the other hand the people whose business it is to ask why -the philosophers- have not been able to keep up with the advance of scientific theories."
Stephen Hawking.

"Quantum mechanics is reformulated in a way which eliminates its present dependence on the special treatment of a system by an external observer."
Hugh Everett III

"Then God said 'Let There Be Light' and there was light. And God saw that light was good and God separated the light from the darkness."
Genesis 1

The Genesis account of creation is the focal point for those who would tell us that the Bible is ridiculous and that there is no God. (A close second and third are ancient Israel's practice of killing all their enemies and slavery.) According to biological science the Genesis account is an obsolete myth due to the discovery of evolution. It's a fairy tale and of no use to modern man. And if creation isn't a literal fact, then Jewish and Christian fundamentalism are wrong in their assertion that the Bible is God's word.

I guess my question would be if God actually explained to us exactly how He formed the Universe and the Earth would anyone be able to understand it? Perhaps instead of blessing the Ancients with the creation story He could have said something like:
S=m(D)+1/2(C-E-E1)+theta(E)+(1-theta)m(E1) Got it?

If there is a constant in the universe it's that man seems to feel he has all the answers and that he's always right. Our history says otherwise. We waited until the 16th Century for someone to figure out that we live on a sphere and that the planets orbit the sun. We take that fact for granted now but it took about 6000 years or so before it was proven. One lesson of the 20th century is that there is an unseen world in biology and particle physics that we were totally unaware existed 100 years prior. We live in a completely different world because of these discoveries. Who knows what someone will find tomorrow?

I haven't read the books on "intelligent design" and doubt I will. But there are a couple things in the Genesis story that seem to stick out. One is the creation of LIGHT preceding the creation of the sun and the moon. Albert Einstein turned physics on its ear with his theories of special and general relativity when he stated time and space were not the constants in the universe but that light was. Light is the yardstick and the speed limit for the Universe. One result of this theory was in quantum physics where splitting an atomic particle in half and propelling it toward the speed of light caused a release of energy resulting in an explosion powerful enough to level a city. So maybe there's more to this sentence in Genesis 1 about light than meets the eye.

Einstein further stated in the Twins Paradox that a person who spent 20 years traveling at the speed of light would barely age while his twin who remained on earth would have aged the full 20 years. Theoretically someone travelling at the speed of light could live eternally. Could the Bible be telling us something when it says God Is Light? And if time is measured by orbits around the sun or human life spans, perhaps based on Einsteins theory we could believe it is possible for a being to exist outside of timespace parameters. And at light speed who knows how long a day really is.

David Hume developed his philosophy at a time when when rationalism was emerging as the prevailing method. Cause and effect in a closed system. Hume challenged that by using billiards as an illustration. If you observed a ball on the table being struck by another you would say the movement you observed was caused by the balls hitting each other. But what you didn't see was the cue, the person using it, or the thought process which produced the action. So observation as evidence of reality isn't alway reliable, as we are limited by what we can observe.

Or stated another way, Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it isn't there.

Is the Genesis story a total myth that belongs in the trash heap? Is it an oversimplified explanation from a being who's brainpower is beyond our comprehension? Was it given to explain why rather than how? Did God really tell someone that story? I guess my point would be: We still don't know everything.

To be continued...

Supplimentary reading: The Universe in a Nutshell. Stephen Hawking
(Yes I know Hawking isn't a proponent of intelligent design or creationism.)

This post has been edited by Dude on Nov 18 2008, 03:25 PM

Coincidentally History ran a show on Einsteins theory last night.

Tonight on History at 9:00pm, Parallel Universes, referred to in the above quote by Hugh Everett.

The Universe: Parallel Universes
Some of the world's leading physicists believe they have found startling new evidence showing the existence of universes other than our own. One possibility is that the universe is so vast that an exact replica of our Solar System, our planet and ourselves exists many times over. These Doppelganger Universes exist within our own Universe; in what scientist now call "The Multiverse." Today, trailblazing experiments by state of the art particle colliders are looking for evidence of higher dimensions and Parallel Universes. If proof is found, it will change our lives, our minds, our planet, our science and our universe.

Notes on Genesis 1 continued.

"The first account (Genesis 1) has a vision of the cosmos that no educated person today could assume...the sky is a dome over the earth."
John Shelby Spong, Episcopal Bishop

"The greatest empiricists among us are only empiricists on reflection: when left to their own instincts they dogmatize like infallable popes."
William James

"Historians of science in the future will find it interesting to chart the changing tide of opinion among theoretical physicists."
Stephen Hawking

"You can observe a lot just by looking."
Yogi Berra

We live in an era of Biblical interpretation where the Genesis story has become something either taken too seriously by some or ignored completely by others. On one hand there is Science which has ruled out the possibility of a mind behind the catastrophe which formed the cosmos and the earth we live on. On the other is religion which often insists on a literal interpretation which denies the possibility the 6 days are probably an anthropomorphic illustration and refuses to acknowledge the realities of scientific discovery. But the more I look at this simple story there seems to be something to it.

One thing science seems to agree on is that there indeed was a "beginning." Stephen Hawking and Roger Penrose proved mathematically that the Universe had a Singularity, a starting point. This came at a time when the majority opinion was that the Universe was timeless, a view shared by both Newton and Einstein. It's something to consider before writing the creation story off as bunk.

Also of interest is the biological order of creation. With the exception of the creation of the sun and the moon placed in verse 16 it does match the order proposed by Darwin and what is accepted by science. The earth started as a formless void, then grew atmosphere and water. Then came live on earth: vegetation, fish, birds, reptiles, mammals, and finally man. Based on the latest research in DNA I do not think it is heresy to believe God used the same chemical as the building block for life on earth. Nor do I think you have to accept that information as proof there is no God.

But the most interesting thing I found in the course of my reading was comment on the translation of the word "firmament" in Genesis 1:6-7. NRSV translates it "dome" which is accurate. Most of what I read attacking the Bible mentions this. It just seems to many that this is a ridiculous notion, a view of primitive man that points to the obvious fact that the creation myth is flawed and anyone who continues to believe it has abandoned use of their mental faculties. On this point the herd of modern critics nod their heads in agreement. "Harumph, harumph, harumph..."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JN99jshaQbY

I guess you could hold the notion of a dome proposterous until the day came that you had to fly though it on the Space Shuttle. "Our planet resides in a protective bubble created by its magnetic field and ions trapped inside it." (Astronomy Magazine, September 2008, pg. 38) We live in a giant biosphere, a giant dome of oxygen, nitrogen, and argon which sustains all life on earth, filters the suns harmful rays while allowing those which are beneficial, and waters the earth's plant life through the cycle of evaporation and rain. Well, at least that's what Miss Omwake told me in 4th grade science class. And if at re-entry you strike the dome at the wrong angle you'll either bounce off and go careening out into space unable to return, or burn to a crisp. It also appears that the biggest problem facing the human race today is that we have been filling this bubble up with pollutants.

The fact is The Dome is real, despite the author's contention that it contained the stars. Later in Psalm 19 the distinction is made between the heavens and the dome.

I do not work in science and do not propose to have all the answers regarding evolution vs. creation theory. My comments here reflect the point that the Creation is a Revelation of God Himself and that for people of faith there is no reason at this time to abandon the idea that someone is behind all this. Scientists are required to work with what they can see and go from there, but it is interesting to note how people who have dared to work with what they can't see often make the most astounding discoveries. I believe science and faith are compatable and that God's Creation is a wonder to behold. In our lifetime we are fortunate to have so much information available to the layman regarding how it all works. And the more we learn about how it works the more miraculous it becomes. (I can't watch a wildlife program without hearing the phrase "the miracle of evolution.") It seems God has left a trail for all to see, this great planet we live on and the universe beyond it.

It makes me feel like taking a walk.

Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible thought they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made. Romans 1:20

You are worthy our Lord and God, to receive glory honor and power, for you created all things and by your will they existed and were created. Revelation 4:11

This post has been edited by Dude on Dec 5 2008, 12:41 PM

In Texas, a Line in the Curriculum Revives Evolution Debate

Stephen C. Meyer, an expert on the history of science and a director at the Discovery Institute, denied that the group advocated a Biblical version of creation. Rather, Mr. Meyer said, it is fighting for academic freedom and against what it sees as a fanatical loyalty to Darwin among biologists, akin to a secular religion.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/22/educatio...7XWRldsFF0uxyQw

Hi Ya'all, As you know I haven't written in my diary for a while. I guess there's a couple reasons. One is I don't have to. lol.

I read the Bible through last year and studied several parts in detail, something I hadn't done in years. I also spent a lot of time at the library and read a variety of books on world religions, christianity, and church history. I also spent a lot of time seeking God.

This forum offered me the opportunity to write down some of the things I was thinking about. Mostly because I enjoy writing.

I also spent some time working on an application to do a graduate degree in Theology. I had thought maybe there was a chance to continue my career in ministry and education. After all I've been through I still was interested in Biblical Scholarship, although not in the "fundamentalist" context. I had hoped to post here regarding the miracle of being admitted to such a fine institution and planned for the redemption of my religious life. Unfortunately I was not accepted due to my lack of academic credentials. (I had a conversation with the registrar at MBC&S and he mentioned several schools which accept MBC&S credits, but I wasn't interested in a "baptist" school.)

Well, the whole thing certainly knocked some of the wind out of my sails. One result is my absence from this forum.

For me there seems to be no redemption of the loss of time spent at TBS/GG. We've all been through it. Probably those who managed the best were those who immediately put their energy into a new degree, career training, or a new church. Some had family that came to the rescue. I guess I waited too long. "No one told you when to run. You missed the starting gun."

So for now prayer and study are on hold. Something is really going to have to happen for me to renew my faith. I'm tired of talking to the stars, marveling at the mind behind their creation, but receiving no reply.

In the meantime I continue to pursue career options, trying to do the best with what I have. Which isn't much. But at this point I guess it doesn't make any difference what I do. I'll give it another year or so before I get that BORN TO LOSE tatoo.

Dude

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJXc0NRCmRQ

This post has been edited by Dude on Apr 9 2009, 01:02 AM

"Born To Lose, LIVE TO WIN!"

It Makes No Difference is the best sad song EVER, IMO. My Morning Jacket does a great cover of the whole song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztN42h9Bm-o...rom=PL&index=27