Archive - February, 2010

Book Review: Isaac Newton

This review is part of Thomas Nelson’s BookSneeze program. Have a blog? Like free books? Check this out.

Thomas Nelson is releasing a series of biographies under the banner “Christian Encounters.” From the inside cover:

We learn about life through the lives of others. Their experiences, their trials, their adventures become our schools, our chapels, our playgrounds. Christian Encounters, a series of biographies from Thomas Nelson Publishers, highlights important lives from all ages and areas of the Church through prose as accessible and concise as it is personal and engaging.

I was shocked and delighted to find the first five when I logged into BookSneeze recently: Isaac Newton, Jane Austen, John Bunyan, Saint Patrick, and Winston Churchill. It was the hardest BookSneeze decision I’ve ever made. I don’t remember why, but I went with Isaac Newton.

I suspect I would have said this about any of the available choices, but that doesn’t make it less true or in any way insincere so I’m saying it still: I’m glad I chose Isaac.

What I knew about Isaac Newton last week: Sir Newton was a very smart man who was good at everything, discovered gravity, and invented calculus. I admit that’s shamefully little.

After devouring Mitch Stokes’s biography – which, for the record, actually was “accessible and concise,” “personal and engaging” – I think I qualify for the most ignorant yet most enthusiastic Isaac Newton super-fan. I’m not only eternally impressed with his intellect, diligence, and invaluable contributions in mathematics, natural science, and chemistry – I’m in love with his humble demeanor, his under-handed humor, his quirky disposition, and the innocent way he avoided conflict.

I have a school-girl crush on Isaac Newton.

I was also completely captivated by his faith. Sir Issac Newton – the man who single-handedly rewrote man’s scientific understanding of all of creation (that’s not the slightest exaggeration)  – wrote far more about theology and his deep Christian faith than any of the sciences or mathematics he studied (or created).

Newton believed that science is worship.

The ultimate goal of Newton’s studies was to know God and ‘give Him honour and glory.’ In face, for Newton, natural philosophy’s main benefit was not the improvement of man’s earthly condition; that was the Baconian view. Newton believe that all knowledge – including knowledge of nature – was, in the end, knowledge of God. Knowing was worship.

Newton’s behavior illustrates this more than empty words he may have written. He began developing the language of calculus alone in his room at age 22 and didn’t publish anything for decades. In fact, most of his discoveries – from the nature of light to the shape of a planet’s orbit – he simply figured out and set aside.

He was a passionate, insatiable man, but it wasn’t for his fame or even the benefit of mankind. Newton ate little and slept even less, dedicating fervent and endless hours to his curiosities and puzzles, because he wanted to understand God and he felt he could best do so by deciphering and understanding His work.

So much about Isaac Newton is amazing – bordering unbelievable – and inspiring that you just have to check out this book. It would make for an endless blog post that no one would want to read. I’m sure the others are great, but I can vouch for this one: You will not be disappointed with Isaac Newton.

Quotes after the break … Continue Reading…

My husband is the devil

Pastor decided to do a short, three-week bit at Church in the Word on “When the devil comes to church.” So, can we get a quick graphic? Sure.

If you were around on Sunday, you’ll hopefully remember the little interview between Pastor and Satan. Good times.

We were at church most of the day Saturday taking some pictures so I’d have something to use for a title graphic. I took 110 shots and had to narrow it down to three. The agony. Here are some of the out-takes, ’cause I think they’re hilarious.

Trilemma Rebuttal 4

Last week we were discussing this bit of idiocy:

Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then He is not omnipotent.
Is He able but not willing?  Then He is malevolent.
Is He both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
Is He neither able nor willing? Then why call Him God?

We started with the inherent flaw in denying God and yet defining Evil. Then we tried expanding our view of what actually allows evil, since we’re talking about preventing it. And then we discussed why God does not do what He is both willing and able to do, and why you don’t really want Him to anyway.

And I know that some will say, after our last discussion, that in practice it seems God is neither willing nor able.

Is He neither willing nor able? Then why call Him God?

Short answer: Because He is God.

Here again, human beings have this amazing arrogance that would point a finger at the One who, moment to moment, sustains the life He gave us for no reason other than love, and say, “Because You do not behave the way I want (in this case, preventing what I determine – and only what I determine – is evil), You are not God.”

Can a child decide that his mother is not his mother if she doesn’t let him have ice cream for dinner? If he falls while he’s playing and gets a splinter, is she no longer his mother because she should have known he may hurt himself outside and kept him away from the possibility of pain?

The arrogance in the question is nauseating.

God has no responsibility to our expectations of Him. He is not required to be what we decide we want Him to be. The Christian God defines Himself in scripture, and that is what is required of Him.

In Genesis, He introduces Himself as ELOHIM, which means “God Our Creator.” Throughout the Old Testament, He gives us different names for Himself that describe His character, but they all start with “Jehovah,” which indicates covenant. He reveals Himself as the God who provides for His people, the God who heals His people, etc. But you can’t get to the “Jehovah” revelations – the promises of God – without going through “God Our Creator.”

A lot of people don’t believe in God Our Creator, yet they want the God who will perform tricks and make their lives comfortable. Maybe it’s because someone doesn’t understand “God My Creator” that he expects his life belongs to himself, and God should facilitate it.

He is willing and He is able, and there is a day coming when He will. Jesus Christ will tear open the sky and come back to His creation to right all the wrongs, ease all the pain, judge all the evil, and erase darkness. In the meantime, we call Him God because He is. Because His thoughts are higher than ours, and all of our pain and misunderstandings don’t change who He is.

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