Psalm 90:1-2

 

Psalm 90:1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place for all generations. 90:2 Before the mountains were brought forth, before you had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, you are God. (World English Bible, public domain)

With Christ in the school of prayer, by Andrew Murray, excerpt 201

This post continues a series of excerpts from With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray. I do this, not because I'm a powerful prayer warrior, but because I'm not. Murray was. I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this public domain work available. To see their post of the book, go here. His book is based on Mark 11:22-24. The previous post in this series is here. As usual in this blog, long quotations are in this color. Murray's book is based on Mark 11:22-24.

To understand how the coming of the Holy Spirit was indeed to commence a new epoch in the prayer-world, we must remember who He is, what His work, and what the significance of His not being given until Jesus was glorified. It is in the Spirit that God exists, for He is Spirit. It is in the Spirit that the Son was begotten of the Father: it is in the fellowship of the Spirit that the Father and the Son are one. The eternal never-ceasing giving to the Son which is the Father’s prerogative and the eternal asking and receiving which is the Son’s right and blessedness—it is through the Spirit that this communion of life and love is maintained. It has been so from all eternity. It is so specially now, when the Son as Mediator ever liveth to pray. The great work which Jesus began on earth of reconciling in His own body God and man, He carries on in heaven. To accomplish this He took up into His own person the conflict between God’s righteousness and our sin. On the cross He once for all ended the struggle in His own body. And then He ascended to heaven, that thence He might in each member of His body carry out the deliverance and manifest the victory He had obtained. It is to do this that He ever liveth to pray; in His unceasing intercession He places Himself in living fellowship with the unceasing prayer of His redeemed ones. Or rather, it is His unceasing intercession which shows itself in their prayers, and gives them a power they never had before.
And He does this through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the glorified Jesus, was not (John vii. 39), could not be, until He had been glorified. This gift of the Father was something distinctively new, entirely different from what Old Testament saints had known. The work that the blood effected in heaven when Christ entered within the veil, was something so true and new, the redemption of our human nature into fellowship with His resurrection-power and His exaltation-glory was so intensely real, the taking up of our humanity in Christ into the life of the Three-One God was an event of such inconceivable significance, that the Holy Spirit, who had to come from Christ’s exalted humanity to testify in our hearts of what Christ had accomplished, was indeed no longer only what He had been in the Old Testament. It was literally true ‘the Holy Spirit was not yet, for Christ was not yet glorified.’ He came now first as the Spirit of the glorified Jesus. Even as the Son, who was from eternity God, had entered upon a new existence as man, and returned to heaven with what He had not before, so the Blessed Spirit, whom the Son, on His ascension, received from the Father (Acts ii. 33) into His glorified humanity, came to us with a new life, which He had not previously to communicate. Under the Old Testament He was invoked as the Spirit of God: at Pentecost He descended as the Spirit of the glorified Jesus, bringing down and communicating to us the full fruit and power of the accomplished redemption.

Thomas à Kempis on a long life versus a good life

 

Thomas à Kempis on a long life versus a good life 

-- he desired for a good one!

How to be ready for Christ’s return

 

Some suggestions on how to be ready for Christ’s return.

 

Sunspots 956

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to others*

Computing: Gizmodo reports that workers who work accompanied by robots tend to slack off more than workers who work with humans.

Ethics: A Conversation writer has studied lies and lying: how often, in what circumstances.

Health: A Conversation writer tells us that chicken soup really does us some good.

Gizmodo reports on a woman who had a spider living in her ear. Really.

Politics: (or something) NPR reports on an analysis that shows that children of married parents are better off than children of single mothers.

(or something) A Conversation writer discusses traffic roundabouts.

Science: Nature reports on the question of whether there is life on earth. Really.

Sex: A Conversation writer points out that neither humans nor animals are entirely male or entirely female, and discusses other aspects of sex and reproduction.

(and the Arts) NPR reports on a study indicating that young people think there is too much sex in movies and TV.

*I try not to include items that require a password or fee to view

Thanks for reading.

"An Open Letter to Ken Ham"

The Sparks blog has posted an open letter to Ken Ham, which is well worth reading.

Sunspots 955

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to others*

Computing:  Gizmodo reports on a study that indicates that teenagers in the US spend nearly five hours a day on social media.

Gizmodo reports that New York is considering requiring a background check in order to purchase 3-D printers.

Education: Grammarphobia tells us that there are too  many exclamation points in communication.

Medicine: Gizmodo reports on transplanting pig kidneys to monkeys. Seems quite successful.

Politics: A Conversation writer discusses the failure of Israel to be ready for the recent attacks.

Science: A new kind of ice has been discovered, according to a report on ScienceAlert.

A Conversation writer tells us why space is so dark, even though there are lots of stars.

Gizmodo reports that special wildlife exits, avoiding traffic, are, indeed, being used by ocelots and other animals, in Texas.

*I try not to include items that require a password or fee to view

Thanks for reading.

 

With Christ in the school of prayer, by Andrew Murray, excerpt 200

This post continues a series of excerpts from With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray. I do this, not because I'm a powerful prayer warrior, but because I'm not. Murray was. I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this public domain work available. To see their post of the book, go here. His book is based on Mark 11:22-24. The previous post in this series is here. As usual in this blog, long quotations are in this color. Murray's book is based on Mark 11:22-24.

In Christ’s teaching on prayer there appear to be three stages in the prayer-life, somewhat analogous. In the Sermon on the Mount we have the initial stage: His teaching is all comprised in one word, Father. Pray to your Father, your Father sees, hears, knows, and will reward: how much more than any earthly father! Only be childlike and trustful. Then comes later on something like the transition stage of conflict and conquest, in words like these: ‘This sort goeth not out but by fasting and prayer;’ ‘Shall not God avenge His own elect who cry day and night unto Him?’ And then we have in the parting words, a higher stage. The children have become men: they are now the Master’s friends, from whom He has no secrets, to whom He says, ‘All things that I heard from my Father I made known unto you;’ and to whom, in the oft-repeated ‘whatsoever ye will,’ He hands over the keys of the kingdom.
Now the time has come for the power of prayer in His Name to be proved. The contrast between this final stage and the previous preparatory ones our Saviour marks most distinctly in the words we are to meditate on: ‘Hitherto ye have asked nothing in my Name;’ ‘At that day ye shall ask in my Name. ‘ We know what ‘at that day’ means. It is the day of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The great work Christ was to do on the cross, the mighty power and the complete victory to be manifested in His resurrection and ascension, were to issue in the coming down from heaven, as never before, of the glory of God to dwell in men. The Spirit of the glorified Jesus was to come and be the life of His disciples. And one of the marks of that wonderful spirit-dispensation was to be a power in prayer hitherto unknown—prayer in the Name of Jesus, asking and obtaining whatsoever they would, is to be the manifestation of the reality of the Spirit’s indwelling.

Pi and the diameter and circumference of the molten sea in front of Solomon's temple

1 Kings 7:23 He made the molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in shape. Its height was five cubits; and a line of thirty cubits encircled it. (World English Bible, public domain)

The ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle is pi, an irrational number. The first few digits of pi are 3.14159. Taking 1 Kings 7:23 as a math text means that it is wrong about the dimensions of the molten sea, apparently reporting the ratio of the circumference to the diameter as three, or that the sea wasn't exactly round.

Answers in Genesis defends the accuracy of the bible on this point. Their defense, however, involves significant figures. But significant figures, according to this source, weren't considered until long after the temple was built. Or, the article from Answers in Genesis says, perhaps the circumference was thirty cubits, measuring the circle formed by the water in the molten sea, but not the container itself, inside the metal container, whereas the diameter was measured across the outside of the construction, including the container. 

It seems, however, that the description of the building of the temple wasn't meant to give directions, or exact sizes. There are no detailed directions for other parts of the temple, just brief general descriptions. (Lest there be any doubt, the illustration at the top of this post is an artist's conception, and may differ significantly from the original Temple's design.)

Consider these verses:

1 Kings 7:15 For he fashioned the two pillars of bronze, eighteen cubits high apiece; and a line of twelve cubits encircled either of them. 16 He made two capitals of molten bronze, to set on the tops of the pillars. The height of the one capital was five cubits, and the height of the other capital was five cubits. 17 There were nets of checker work, and wreaths of chain work, for the capitals which were on the top of the pillars; seven for the one capital, and seven for the other capital. 18 So he made the pillars; and there were two rows around on the one network, to cover the capitals that were on the top of the pillars: and he did so for the other capital. 19 The capitals that were on the top of the pillars in the porch were of lily work, four cubits. 20 There were capitals above also on the two pillars, close by the belly which was beside the network. There were two hundred pomegranates in rows around the other capital.

The Bible doesn't tell us what a net of checker work, or wreaths of chain work, were like, or what lily work might mean. What kind of lilies? Lily buds, flowers, leaves, or the entire above-ground shoot? What was a "capital" like? It seems likely that the ten cubits and thirty cubits in verse 23 were the same sort of description -- "you see, it was about thirty cubits around, and about ten cubits across." There's no valid reason to accuse the Bible of error on this point, or to defend descriptions from pre-Christian Jewish culture by using recent measuring practices.

The Bible is not a math text, or a detailed blueprint for temple construction. It does tell us that God expected and valued good workmanship, and provided a beautiful, well-constructed place for worship for the Israelites.

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 954

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to others*

Christianity: (and Politics) The Conversation discusses five events in the life of former President Jimmy Carter, and his accomplishments.

Computing: Gizmodo reports that artificial intelligence is expected to take as much electricity as a country like Sweden does.

Science: Gizmodo reports on mammals that glow in the dark. Really.

Gizmodo also reports on amazing progress in artificial hands in people who have lost one.

There's a report, in a source I'm not familiar with, of a now-extinct Mediterranean goat species that was cold-blooded, like reptiles.

*I try not to include items that require a password or fee to view

Thanks for reading.

With Christ in the school of prayer, by Andrew Murray, excerpt 199

This post continues a series of excerpts from With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray. I do this, not because I'm a powerful prayer warrior, but because I'm not. Murray was. I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this public domain work available. To see their post of the book, go here. His book is based on Mark 11:22-24. The previous post in this series is here. As usual in this blog, long quotations are in this color. Murray's book is based on Mark 11:22-24.

At that day;’
Or, The Holy Spirit and Prayer.
‘In that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my Name, He will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my Name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. At that day ye shall ask in my Name: and I say not, that I will pray the Father for you, for the Father Himself loveth you.’—John xvi. 23-26.
‘Praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God.’—Jude 20, 21. THE words of John (I John ii. 12-14) to little children, to young men, and to fathers suggest the thought that there often are in the Christian life three great stages of experience.
The first, that of the new-born child, with the assurance and the joy of forgiveness. The second, the transition stage of struggle and growth in knowledge and strength: young men growing strong, God’s word doing its work in them and giving them victory over the Evil One. And then the final stage of maturity and ripeness: the Fathers, who have entered deeply into the knowledge and fellowship of the Eternal One.

Sunspots 953

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to others*

Christianity: (and Politics) Joel Edmund Anderson is not happy with our habit of picking a verse that seems to back up our position, but ignoring the biblical and cultural context. He points out examples from both major positions -- conservative and progressive.

Computing: Gizmodo reports that children with mobile phones receive a mind-blowing number of notifications each day.

Gizmodo also reports that there's a deepfake, based on the appearance and sound of Tom Hanks, that's being used to sell on-line. Hanks has nothing to do with the fake.

Politics: The Conversation has a post on "conservative" and "liberal" Supreme Court justices -- they aren't easy to categorize.

CBS News tells us about the more than a dozen government shutdowns since 1980.

Science: ScienceAlert discusses dog-like animals in South America (there are four species there), and a new hybrid between a pampas fox (one of them) and a domestic dog.

Gizmodo reports on a study that indicates that, 250 million years from now, the present continents will have merged into one, and that land mass will not be suitable for mammalian life.

And Gizmodo gives us a guide to the solar eclipse coming soon to the western hemisphere.

Gizmodo also reports on a study that indicates that some elephants are considerably better than others at solving puzzles. Gizmodo also reports that some scientists claim that elephants, humans, and bonobos are self-domesticated -- they have become more social and less aggressive towards others of the same species.

*I try not to include items that require a password or fee to view

Thanks for reading.

Dinosaurs: (Mis)interpreting Genesis: How the Creation Museum Misunderstands the Near Eastern Context of the Bible, by Ben Stanhope

I have recently read the book that has the same title as this post. (I'll call it Stanhope throughout the rest of this post. I'll also call the author Stanhope. I think you can figure out which is meant, if both aren't.)

Amazon allows for reviews. There are many, mostly five stars (out of five), and an occasional four stars of Stanhope. There is one one-star review. The author of that review complains that Stanhope doesn't have a doctorate, whereas Jason Lisle, of Answers in Genesis (AiG) has a doctorate. I looked up Lisle, and, sure enough, he has a doctorate in astronomy. Stanhope does refer to Lisle, a little, but argues strongly against the positions Lisle takes. Lisle has little or no expertise in the subject matter of Stanhope. Stanhope, doctorate or not, seems to have a firm grasp of his subject  matter.

Here's a review by a person with expertise in ancient near eastern languages. It is highly complimentary. 

Stanhope criticizes AiG publications and positions. And his criticism is based on analysis of the manuscripts used to construct the Bible. (As he says, most of these  manuscripts, and other original source materials, have not been available until the last 150 years or so.)

What does Stanhope criticize?

Dinosaurs

First, he demolishes claims, by AiG, that there were dinosaurs alive in Bible times. He does so by examining the texts carefully. Ken Ham, of AiG, claims that Job 41 mentions Leviathan, and that Leviathan was a dinosaur. (See also Job 3, Psalm 74, 104, and Isaiah 27. A similar claim is made for Behemoth, mentioned in Job 40.) Stanhope finds other, better ways to interpret these passages.

Why does AiG insist upon dinosaurs in historical times? Well, I guess they believe they existed. But there is another reason. If, as they claim, the earth is only about 6000 years old, the plausibility of dinosaurs in historical time is much higher than it would be if the earth were very old. Conversely, if dinosaurs were around in historical times, that's evidence for a young earth. And there's another reason. Dinosaurs attract people to the Creation Museum, to AiG literature, and to AiG presentations in churches.

Stanhope analyzes AiG claims that there were unicorns mentioned in the Bible (They are, if you are using the King James version -- Deuteronomy33:17, Job 30:10, Psalm 29:6 and Psalm 92:10.) Stanhope demolishes these claims. He does the same for AiG claims that there are flying reptiles mentioned in the Bible. (Isaiah 30:6, and possibly other places.)

Genesis 1:1 

Stanhope spends several chapters to argue that Genesis 1:1 is usually mistranslated, and should say something like "in the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth," with more thoughts to follow, in the same sentence. Stanhope may be right, but I only found one English translation of the Bible that translates Genesis 1:1 like this, and I'd never heard of this translation before.

I found Stanhope to be helpful, perhaps because he supports my view of dinosaurs in the Old Testament, but mostly because he seems to have solid knowledge of Biblical Hebrew.

Thanks for reading. (Edited for clarity on October 4, 2023)

With Christ in the school of prayer, by Andrew Murray, excerpt 198

This post continues a series of excerpts from With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray. I do this, not because I'm a powerful prayer warrior, but because I'm not. Murray was. I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this public domain work available. To see their post of the book, go here. His book is based on Mark 11:22-24. The previous post in this series is here. As usual in this blog, long quotations are in this color. Murray's book is based on Mark 11:22-24. 

The following is a long quotation by Murray:

‘What is meant by praying in Christ’s name? It cannot mean simply appearing before God with faith in the mediation of the Saviour. When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, He supplied them with petitions. And afterwards Jesus said to them, “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my Name.” Until the Spirit came, the seven petitions of the Lord’s prayer lay as it were dormant within them. When by the Holy Ghost Christ descended into their hearts, they desired the very blessings which Christ as our High Priest obtains for us by His prayer from the Father. And such petitions are always answered. The Father is always willing to give what Christ asks. The Spirit of Christ always teaches and influences us to offer the petitions which Christ ratifies and presents to the Father. To pray in Christ’s name is therefore to be identified with Christ as to our righteousness, and to be identified with Christ in our desires by the indwelling of the Holy Ghost. To pray in the Spirit, to pray according to the will of the Father, to pray in Christ’s name, are identical expressions. The Father  Himself loveth us, and is willing to hear us: two intercessors, Christ the Advocate above, and the Holy Ghost, the Advocate within, are the gifts of His love.
‘This view may appear at first less consoling than a more prevalent one, which refers prayer in Christ’s name chiefly to our trust in Christ’s merit. The defect of this opinion is, that it does not combine the intercession of the Saviour with the will of the Father, and the indwelling Spirit’s aid in prayer. Nor does it fully realize the mediation of Christ; for the mediation consists not merely in that for Christ’s sake the Holy Father is able to regard me and my prayer; but also, in that Christ Himself presents my petitions as His petitions, desired by Him for me, even as all blessings are purchased for me by His precious blood.
‘In all prayer, the one essential condition is that we are able to offer it in the name of Jesus, as according to His desire for us, according to the Father’s will, according to the Spirit’s teaching. And thus praying in Christ’s name is impossible without self-examination, without reflection, without self-denial; in short, without the aid of the Spirit.’—Saphiv, The Lord’s Prayer, pp. 411, 142.