I'm thankful for the electromagnetic spectrum

I'm thankful for the electromagnetic spectrum. The what? you say. The electromagnetic spectrum. You read correctly.

So what is this? The electromagnetic spectrum is one of the types of energy. Instances of this type of energy can be thought of as little energy vibrations. They all belong to a family, as the different notes on a piano keyboard belong to one family. When sounded, each piano note is different, but they are all very much alike, sounds, vibrations of a certain type. (Sounds are a different sort of vibration from the vibrations of the electromagnetic spectrum). Sounds differ from one another in their frequency and wave length. High pitched sounds have a high frequency and a small wave length. Low pitched sounds have a low frequency and a large wave length. But all sounds are very similar, part of the same family. The members of the electromagnetic spectrum are like that. They are very similar, differing in their wave lengths and frequencies. (They, and sounds, also differ within the two families in the amount of energy they have.) The energy of the electromagnetic spectrum travels at the velocity of light, c in Einstein's famous e = m times c squared equation.

So why should I be thankful for the vibrations of the electromagnetic spectrum? Because I wouldn't be here without them, and neither would you. How so? Well, let me list some of the members of this large family. It includes, at the very small wave length, high frequency, and high energy end, gamma rays. Then, as wave length increases, and the frequency and energy decrease, X rays, ultraviolet rays, light, infrared/heat, and all of the radio waves. The range is enormous. Gamma rays have wave lengths on the order of a trillionth of a meter, and the radio waves can have lengths as long as 10 million meters. (We don't use those for ordinary communications.) As the Wikipedia article on this subject puts it: "In our universe the short wavelength limit is likely to be the Planck length, and the long wavelength limit is the size of the universe itself (see physical cosmology), though in principle the spectrum is infinite."

Okay, so there is a tremendous family of energy. So why is this important? There are many reasons, dear reader, but I will mention one as of most importance. Our earth gets most of its available energy from the sun, carried here by light, which is part of the electromagnetic spectrum. This light keeps the earth from being a frozen ball of rock and ice. It fuels photosynthesis, the process by which plants turn water and Carbon Dioxide into food. It powers the water cycle. It makes it possible for those of us blessed with eyesight to see the world around us. If there were no electromagnetic spectrum, we wouldn't be here. Because there is an electromagnetic spectrum, we are.

In case you are wondering how we can be heated by light, the energy in light is absorbed by matter. This absorption of energy heats things up. Objects so heated can, then, give off heat in other ways.

Besides the critical energy we get from the sun, I'd like to mention two other aspects of the electromagnetic spectrum. One is color (See also here). God didn't have to create light at all, I guess, and when He did, it didn't have to be colored. But it is. Without that part of the electromagnetic spectrum, light, we wouldn't see color in flowers, in babies, in great art, in the sky, the grass, and sidewalks. (I know -- some of us can't see color, and some can't see at all. But most of us can do both, and take it entirely too much for granted.) The second aspect is just that we (and many animals) can see at all. I take this too much for granted. There are many other reasons that the electromagnetic spectrum is important, in industry, in medicine, in communications, and elsewhere, but that will do.

Lest there be any doubt, I'm thankful to God for the electromagnetic spectrum. Although I can't prove it, I believe that God designed the universe to include it, and I'm glad He did.

Here's a post on Biblical references to light.

By the way, I'm also thankful for the Wikipedia, and for Rebecca, who suggesting that November be a month of blogger gratitude emphasis. I also thank you, my readers. I am posting this on November 23, 2006, Thanksgiving Day in the United States. For what it's worth, Rebecca is a Canadian. Here is another post expressing my gratitude for a number of things, here's one, expressing my gratitude for cell division, and here is one expressing my gratitude for Carbon atoms.

Sunspots 83

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Computing:

Stand to Reason on Blogging Winsomely. (Could have put this one in Christianity category.) Common sense, but important.

From Wired: different aspects of technology that have been referred to as the Mark of the Beast .

Science:
On how the vertebrate eye is poorly designed. The article says that claims that the "reverse wiring" of the retina are actually advantageous, because they allow for better cooling, are false.

Some of the genetic code of Neanderthals has been sequenced. Really.

Literature:
What is Elf? is a rather long, but interesting and important post on Tolkien, and fantasy in general, dealing with the spiritual status of elves.

Stephen E. Burnett continues his series, Nine Marks of Widescreen Stories. In part 4 , he writes about the contrast between, say, a Pixar movie, and The Silver Chair, by C. S. Lewis:
Isn’t that great? The themes are so embedded, so deep and epic, that one cannot in good conscience say It’s A Story About Following Your Dream. The same is true of just about every timelessness-proved work of literature: you can’t pin down its Take-Away Value.

"God Fearing," an essay in the New York Times Book Review (free, and spam-free registration with the Times may be required) by John Wilson, editor of Books & Culture (A subsidiary of Christianity Today), who argues that fears of a Christian takeover of the U. S. are wildly exaggerated.

A fine post on "Nobility in Narnia ."

Christianity:
Kevin Wright on how John Calvin and John Wesley viewed the image of God in humans, and their resulting view of evil.

The Evangelical Ecologist on the importance of prayer, and repentance, as related to Christian stewardship.

Pastor Perry gives dating advice , mostly to guys.

This week's Christian Carnival is here. (For information on locating these Carnivals, see here.)

When I don't tell where I found an item above, I either found it directly, or was probably pointed to it by the Librarian's Internet Index, SciTech Daily, or Arts and Letters Daily. All of these sources are great.

Thanks for reading! Keep clicking away.

Image source (public domain)

False Witness, Lying, Deceit, etc. - it's usually wrong

In previous posts, I considered the Ninth Commandment (against false witness), first by quoting from some old commentaries on the subject, and suggesting that perhaps this Commandment means what it says, rather than that it's a blanket condemnation of deceit, then (in a single post) considering the definition of a lie, and also nine cases in the Bible where it appears that God may have approved, or at least allowed, some act of deceit by a character who was commended by God.

If deceit is sometimes all right, it usually is not. The Ninth Commandment, itself (Exodus 20:16) is one evidence for that. There is other evidence. I thank my pastor for a sermon where he presented some of these additional verses. (There are others, which I have not cited)
In Joshua 7:11, when Achan took loot against God's command, his disobedience, his taking, and his lying are apparently all sinful.

Leviticus 6:1-7 says that lying and deceit which result in loss of property to another are sins, and restitution must be made.

Leviticus 19:11 says, in part, "you shall not lie to one another." (all quotations and links to the ESV)

Psalm 5:6 says that God destroys liars and abhors deceitful people.

Here's Psalm 101:7:
No one who practices deceit
shall dwell in my house;
no one who utters lies
shall continue before my eyes.

Proverbs 12:22 says that God abhors lying lips.

Proverbs 19:9 condemns false witnesses and liars.

Proverbs 21:6 says that getting property by deceit leads to death.

in Jeremiah 27:12-16, Jeremiah condemns false prophets for their lies.

These, of course, are all Old Testament scriptures. The New Testament also has harsh words for deceit.

In John 8:44, Jesus says that the Devil is the father of lies.

In Acts 5, Ananias and Sapphira died because they lied to the Holy Spirit.

In Colossians 3:9, Paul tells Christians not to lie to each other.

1 Timothy 1:8-11 includes both liars and perjurers in a list of types of sinners.

1 Timothy 4:1-5 says that the time will come when some believers will "depart from the faith" due to the influence of demons, deceitful spirits, and liars.

Revelation 21:8 places "all liars" into the lake of fire, with murderers and other sinners.

This is not a pretty picture. It is possible that deceit is sometimes allowed by God, generally to protect someone else from evil, but generally, it is not. There is no scriptural evidence that it is ever all right to selfishly advance your own interests by lying, or that it is ever all right to harm an innocent party by lying.

I may return to this subject.

Thanks for reading.

I'm thankful for Carbon

In previous posts (see here for a link to them) I have mentioned various things that I am grateful for. I listed some chemical elements, including Carbon, but I want to devote a whole post to this subject.

Carbon is one of the approximately 100 types of matter -- the elements -- that make up the material world.

Why emphasize Carbon specially? Well, that's a good question. Life as we know of would not be possible without many, maybe even most, of all the elements, not just Carbon. But Carbon is special to life.

Suppose you had to invent life from scratch. You would need building blocks that would be readily available to living things, or life would have been too difficult. You would need building blocks that can be assembled into many complex structures, or the complexity of information that is necessary for life would not have been possible. Consider language and the alphabet -- to have the complexity of language information that we have, we must have the capacity to make complex structures, like words, sentences, and paragraphs, from assemblies of simple structures -- letters. Carbon is the basis of the complex molecules that make life possible. I know, they are also made of other things, such as Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen, Sulfur, and other chemical elements, but Carbon is the key. Why is that? It is because Carbon has two properties. One of these is that Carbon is readily available to living things. Carbon's atoms are light, compared to, say, those of Iron. Carbon Dioxide, therefore, is a light substance, which is gaseous under common conditions, thus readily available to the green plants that turn it into food in photosynthesis. If Carbon were heavier, this could not happen.

The other property is that Carbon, with its six electrons, will readily form covalent bonds with four other atoms, including other atoms of Carbon, all at the same time. Huh? What does that mean? Consider our hands. Most of us have two. We could hold hands with two other people at the same time (or with one person, holding both hands). This makes it theoretically possible to make straight chains of people holding hands. Such chains could be very long, but they wouldn't be especially complex. They would be one-dimensional. Now, suppose we had four hands. We could make two-dimensional structures (or three-dimensional, if some of us would stand on ladders or get down in holes) much more complicated than straight chains of people. We could make complicated structures, indeed, in this way. If molecules could only be long, straight, chains, the complexity of the molecules we depend on, such as proteins and DNA, would be impossible. Both proteins and DNA have many Carbon atoms which are attached to three or four other atoms, making molecules with complex three-dimensional structures possible. The basic building blocks of proteins are amino acids. The heart of each amino acid is a Carbon atom, which is attached to four different groups of atoms at the same time.

I have inherited characteristics from my ancestors. I have had the privilege of passing on some of these characteristics to my daughters and my grandson. The information that makes this possible is carried in DNA molecules. The complexity of DNA makes this possible. DNA, too, has many Carbon atoms that are attached to four different groups of atoms at the same time.

It isn't just DNA and proteins. All the basic foods -- the substances we take in to give us energy -- are based on Carbon. Their smells and tastes are largely because of the Carbon-based molecules in their substance. So is their color. There are also human-made molecules that we have come to depend on, such as plastics, and man made fibers. Fuels are possible because of Carbon-based molecules. So are wood, paper, and many other things. We are, truly, Carbon-based life forms.

So, in this Thanksgiving season, I'm thankful to God for Carbon. Without it, I wouldn't be here, and you wouldn't be, either. I also thank Rebecca for suggesting that November be a month of blogger gratitude emphasis. I have also used this emphasis as an excuse to be thankful for the electromagnetic spectrum, and for cell division.

Thank you for reading.

Diary of an Old Soul, Nov 19 - 25

19. There is no word to tell how I must know thee;
No wind clasped ever a low meadow-flower
So close that as to nearness it could show thee;
No rainbow so makes one the sun and shower.
A something with thee, I am a nothing fro' thee.
Because I am not save as I am in thee,
My soul is ever setting out to win thee.

20. I know not how--for that I first must know thee.
I know I know thee not as I would know thee,
For my heart burns like theirs that did not know him,
Till he broke bread, and therein they must know him.
I know thee, knowing that I do not know thee,
Nor ever shall till one with me I know thee--
Even as thy son, the eternal man, doth know thee.

21. Creation under me, in, and above,
Slopes upward from the base, a pyramid,
On whose point I shall stand at last, and love.
From the first rush of vapour at thy will,
To the last poet-word that darkness chid*,
Thou hast been sending up creation's hill,
To lift thy souls aloft in faithful Godhead free.

22. I think my thought, and fancy I think thee.--
Lord, wake me up; rend swift my coffin-planks;
I pray thee, let me live--alive and free.
My soul will break forth in melodious thanks,
Aware at last what thou wouldst have it be,
When thy life shall be light in me, and when
My life to thine is answer and amen.

23. How oft I say the same things in these lines!
Even as a man, buried in during dark,
Turns ever where the edge of twilight shines,
Prays ever towards the vague eternal mark;
Or as the sleeper, having dreamed he drinks,
Back straightway into thirstful dreaming sinks,
So turns my will to thee, for thee still longs, still pines.

24. The mortal man, all careful, wise, and troubled,
The eternal child in the nursery doth keep.
To-morrow on to-day the man heaps doubled;
The child laughs, hopeful, even in his sleep.
The man rebukes the child for foolish trust;
The child replies, "Thy care is for poor dust;
Be still, and let me wake that thou mayst sleep."

25. Till I am one, with oneness manifold,
I must breed contradiction, strife, and doubt;
Things tread Thy court--look real--take proving hold--
My Christ is not yet grown to cast them out;
Alas! to me, false-judging 'twixt the twain,
The Unseen oft fancy seems, while, all about,
The Seen doth lord it with a mighty train.

*I believe "chid" is a variation of "chided."

The above is excerpted from George MacDonald's A Book of Strife in the Form of The Diary of an Old Soul (Public Domain, 1880). For further information see this post. These are the entries for/from November 19 through November 25.

False Witness, Lying, Deceit, etc.

Once, I was asked to speak on cloning, I believe it was, to a group at our small church. I said, "What's the first thing you should know about any subject?" I expected what would have been my own response, namely "What does the Bible say about it?" I got an even better response, from a man who, though living, can no longer speak. He said "What is it?" I'm musing about lying. What is it? What does the Bible say about it?

What is a lie? The Wikipedia article on the subject, as of Nov 15, 2006, says:
"A lie is an untruthful statement made to someone else with the intention to deceive. To lie is to say something one believes to be false with the intention that it be taken for the truth by someone else." The article goes on to exclude actions not using language, such as pretending to be asleep, or wearing a false mustache, from lying.

The Free Dictionary says that a lie is:

"1. A false statement deliberately presented as being true; a falsehood.

2. Something meant to deceive or give a wrong impression."

This would be, then, a broader definition, in that pretending to be asleep and wearing a false mustache are included.

The Wikipedia article goes on to say that there have been important thinkers who have believed that lying is never permissible, including St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, and Immanuel Kant, who, says the on-line encyclopedia, had these arguments against lying:
1) it is unnatural use of the power of speech
2) lying attacks the trust on which society is based on
3) in lying, you are demeaning the person(s) lied to, by making a decision for them, and not allowing them to decide something for themselves
4) lying is a way of using someone else as a means to an end.

There are, however, a few cases in the Bible where someone indicated as generally having God's approval, or God Himself, told something, or told someone else to tell something, that the speaker knew to be untrue. They are given below. I have marked cases where the evidence that God approved the lie in some way is strong:
Abraham, in Genesis 12:13 (all links to ESV), also 20:2, and 26:7, told someone that Sarah was his sister, not his wife. (This was partly true, as she was his half-sister, but the intent was to deceive -- she was his wife.)
*The Hebrew midwives, in Exodus 1:18-21, told the Egyptians that the Hebrew women gave birth to sons before they could kill these babies, which was false. Exodus says that God blessed them for protecting them.
*Rahab lied to the army of Jericho, telling them that the Israeli spies had left, when she had hidden them, in Joshua 2:1-21. Hebrews 11:31 lists Rahab as one of the heroines of faith. (Abraham, described above, is also listed as an example of faith in Hebrews 11.)
*in 1 Samuel 16:1-3, God told the prophet Samuel to go to Bethlehem and anoint a king as successor to Saul, who was still very much alive. Samuel responded that Saul would kill him. God then told Samuel to say that he had come to Bethlehem to offer a sacrifice (which he did) but that wasn't his main purpose.
In 1 Samuel 21:1-6, David lied to the high priest about the purpose of his journey, which was to escape from Saul, rather than to go on a special mission for him, which latter is what David said. The high priest was killed for giving David help, which he had done in innocence -- he apparently believed David.
*In 1 Kings 13:1-22, there are two prophets. God told one of them to deliver a message without eating and drinking at the destination. The second prophet, an old man, lied to the first, saying God had told him to come home to eat and drink with him, when the Bible says that God had not done so. Then the second one prophesied that the first prophet would die as a result of disobedience.
*In 1 Kings 22:1-39, God is described, by a prophet, Micaiah, who is speaking for God, as having put a lying spirit in the mouth of King Ahab's pagan prophets. (It is possible, I think, that Micaiah didn't understand where the lying spirit came from, or that he was just telling a story, because he knew that the pagan priests were liars.)
*In 2 Kings 6:8-23, Elisha struck an enemy army with temporary blindness, through God's power, then lied to them about where he was taking them. The blindness was removed, at which time they knew they had been lied to, and these men were unharmed.
Jehu, on a mission of meting out God's punishment, in 2 Kings 9:1-26, says that he has come in peace, when he has not.
In Jeremiah 38:24-28, the king asks Jeremiah about his fate. Jeremiah prophesies, telling him. The king commands Jeremiah to say that he has been speaking to the king about something else, namely Jeremiah's fate, and Jeremiah complies.
Some allege that, in John 7:1-10, Jesus lied to his disciples, saying that He was not going to a feast, when He did go in a day or so. This case seems to me (and others, including the writers of the Wikipedia article) to be, at best, ambiguous. I include it here for completeness, not because I believe that Jesus lied in this case.

I don't believe that any of the cases above show any evidence of deceit for selfish reasons. In several of the cases, the intent was to protect someone else from harm.

I am not aware of any certain example of anyone, who is clearly approved by God, lying in the New Testament.

Please don't take this post as license to lie. Besides the Ninth Commandment, there are other indications in the Bible that lying is usually, maybe even always, wrong. I intend to post on that later.

A previous post in this series, on the meaning of the Ninth Commandment, is here. A subsequent post, giving scriptural evidence that lying is, at least usually, sinful, is here.

Thanks for reading.

False Witness, Lying, Deceit, etc., commentaries

Is lying a sin according to the Ten Commandments? I'd like to muse about that. I have long suspected that two of the Commandments, namely the prohibitions against adultery and false witness, were meant to be specific. That is, although other sexual misconduct is sinful, and other types of deceit at least usually are, adultery, because it violates the marriage covenant, and false witness, because it undermines the system of justice, are especially bad, and therefore made the list of Ten. I decided that I'd better check to see what some experts had to say on this commandment.

Here's what Matthew Henry, the seventeenth and eighteenth century English clergyman, had to say about the ninth of the Ten Commandments, in his commentary on Exodus 20:
The ninth commandment concerns our own and our neighbour’s good name: Thou shalt not bear false witness, v. 16. This forbids, 1. Speaking falsely in any matter, lying, equivocating, and any way devising and designing to deceive our neighbour. 2. Speaking unjustly against our neighbour, to the prejudice of his reputation; and (which involves the guilty of both), 3. Bearing false witness against him, laying to his charge things that he knows not, either judicially, upon oath (by which the third commandment, and the sixth of eighth, as well as this, are broken), or extrajudicially, in common converse, slandering, backbiting, tale-bearing, aggravating what is done amiss and making it worse than it is, and any way endeavouring to raise our own reputation upon the ruin of our neighbour’s.

John Calvin wrote this in his commentary on the same commandment:
Although God seems only to prescribe that no one, for the purpose of injuring the innocent, should go into court, and publicly testify against him, yet it is plain that the faithful are prohibited from all false accusations, and not only such as are circulated in the streets, but those which are stirred in private houses and secret corners. For it would be absurd, when God has already shewn that men's fortunes are cared for by Him, that He should neglect their reputation, which is much more precious. In whatever way, therefore, we injure our neighbors by unjustly defaming them, we are accounted false witnesses before God. We must now pass on from the prohibitive to the affirmative precept: for it will not be enough for us to restrain our tongues from speaking evil, unless we are also kind and equitable towards our neighbors, and candid interpreters of their acts and words, and do not suffer them, as far as in us lies, to be burdened with false reproaches. Besides, God does not only forbid us to invent accusations against the innocent, but also to give currency to reproaches and sinister reports in malevolence or hatred. Such a person may perhaps deserve his ill-name, and we may truly lay such or such an accusation to his charge; but if the reproach be the ebullition of our anger, or the accusation proceed from ill-will, it will be vain for us to allege in excuse that we have advanced nothing but, what is true.

John Wesley's Commentary (available from this source) says almost exactly the same thing as Matthew Henry does, according to the above. I won't repeat it, therefore, as I am not sure of the reason for the duplication. I thank Tap for pointing out this error on my part. I re-published this post on the same day as first publication.

Adam Clarke's Commentary (available from this source) says:
Verse 16. Thou shalt not bear false witness, &c.] Not only false oaths, to deprive a man of his life or of his right, are here prohibited, but all whispering, tale-bearing, slander, and calumny; in a word, whatever is deposed as a truth, which is false in fact, and tends to injure another in his goods, person, or character, is against the spirit and letter of this law.
Suppressing the truth when known, by which a person may be defrauded of his property or his good name, or lie under injuries or disabilities which a discovery of the truth would have prevented, is also a crime against this law. He who bears a false testimony against or belies even the devil himself, comes under the curse of this law, because his testimony is false.
By the term neighbour any human being is intended, whether he rank among our enemies or friends.

These three do not completely agree, but they do agree on this -- speaking deceitfully in such a way as to damage a neighbor's reputation is the most serious violation of this commandment. Of the three, only Henry includes plain vanilla lying.

In two or more subsequent posts, I have examined some cases where Biblical characters (perhaps even God Himself) may have deceived others with God's approval. However, I also have reviewed the evidence that indicates that lying is at least usually, sinful, and examined what may or not be cases where deceit is acceptable.

Thanks for reading.

(I made some editorial changes to the paragraph beginning "In  two or more . . ." on February 4, 2014.)

Top 50 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books

The Science Fiction book club has published a list of the "Top 50 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books." The list covers 1953 - 2002.

I have a few comments:

No such list can be without controversy.

I recall reading about half of these, some more clearly than others. I have read a few of them several times.

My own list would have included some different items, including The Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis; something by Jack Vance, I guess The Dying Earth, although The Dragon Masters or The Last Castle would also be good candidates; The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin, and Watership Down, by Richard Adams. C. S. Lewis isn't on the list, but I guess he shouldn't be, as most of his Narnia books were published before the period indicated, and, much as I like his space trilogy and Till We Have Faces, I can see that they haven't influenced others who write in the field, or the fantastic reading public, as much as, say, the books of Robert Heinlein or Arthur C. Clarke.

In my opinion, Tolkien and Le Guin are the most important authors of fantastic literature in English, the former early in the period covered, Le Guin for the last 35 years, to the present. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy is number 1 (His The Silmarillion is number 41) Le Guin's Wizard of Earthsea is number 5 on the list (There are other Earthsea books, and some short stories, in addition.).

Many of these books have strong ethical, religious or moral implications. Tolkien was a Christian. Willis (who didn't make the list) may be. There is a Catholic priest in her The Doomsday Book who is a very sympathetic character, and most of her books include references to going to church. Miller's Canticle for Leibowitz is about the morals of nuclear war. Cordwainer Smith and Gene Wolfe include Christian symbolism in their works. Le Guin is a Taoist, and there are Taoist implications in her works. Ender's Game (by a Latter-Day Saint, Orson Scott Card) and The Forever War deal, in part, with the morality of war. (There are, I'm sure, other Christian writers represented, as well as those of writers of other faiths, and atheists and agnostics. For more on the religious affiliations of 70 of the most important authors in fantastic literature, see here.)

A person who wants to read the most important fantastic literature in English could do a lot worse than read this list. Everyone should read Tolkien. For someone who wants to taste the rich world of fantastic literature, I'd say that these five are the best: Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game, Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea, Cordwainer Smith's Rediscovery of Man, and Larry Niven's Ringworld. Of these, Ringworld is the "hardest" science fiction, with science being critical to the plot and setting, and character less so (although not absent) and Rediscovery perhaps the most fantastic -- Smith is presenting visions in these short stories, not real possibilities. Once more, although I agree that the Earthsea books are great, in my opinion, Le Guin's Left Hand of Darkness, which should have been on the list, is the more profound book. It is written intelligently, in structure and theme. The characters, almost all of them humanoid aliens, are multi-dimensional. The book deals with the themes of communication and fellowship, and of sexual identity, in a way that has seldom been matched in literature of any genre. (It isn't pornographic, in case anyone wonders. It just questions the whole question of sexual identity, in a way that can only be done in fantastic literature.) It's also about a cold planet, and it's a nice book to read if you are reading in a warm place, if the weather is cold. (Here's the Wikipedia article on the book. Here's a helpful study guide, although it doesn't spell the name of Le Guin's planet correctly. Sci-Fi Weekly gave the book an A+ review, and describes it a "a good story well told." Here's a lengthy analysis and discussion of the book, and its sexual implications, including an interview with Le Guin. Some reviewers disagree about the book's excellence, of course.)

I posted a series, some time ago, on features of Watership Down, Le Guin's Earthsea books, which are represented on the list, and on Tolkien. Those posts are here, here, here and here. Under Some of the feeds I subscribe to, on the right, you will see two group blogs devoted to Christian fantastic fiction, namely Speculative Faith and The Lost Genre Guild, and a personal blog, Claw of the Conciliator, which occasionally deals with that topic. So do I.

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 82

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Computing: Dave Taylor is "The Very Model of a Blogging Evangelical." He knows his Gilbert and Sullivan, too, at least part of it. Like G&S, his post is hilarious.

Sara posted a link to "How Many of Me?" which says it tells you how many other people in the US have the same name as you do. I'm unique, name-wise, this site says. I suspected as much.

Science: Foxtrot, the comic strip, on mathematics and football.

A giant storm, resembling a hurricane, has been found on Saturn.

Henry Neufeld's essay on "An Evolutionary Understanding of Kinds."

A couple of scientists, prominent enough that I have heard of one of them, are claiming that "life was the necessary consequence of available energy built up by geological processes on the early Earth. Life sprang from this environment, they say, in the same way that lightning relieves the accumulation of electrical charge in thunderclouds." I'm not convinced.

Christianity: Foxtrot, the comic strip, on theology, philosophy, and football.

The Evangelical Ecologist on creation care, and knowing the "gardener" of the earth.

This week's Christian Carnival is here. (For information on locating these Carnivals, see here.)

When I don't tell where I found an item above, I either found it directly, or was probably pointed to it by the Librarian's Internet Index, SciTech Daily, or Arts and Letters Daily. All of these sources are great.

Thanks for reading! Keep clicking away.

Image source (public domain)

Announcement: Labels finished!

I am using Blogger Beta, which has several nice features. One of these is labels, which occur at the end of each post. (This one has Blogging as its only label.)

Labels are so that you (or I) can find previous posts on more or less the same subject. If you click on a label, you should see all, or at least the beginning of "all," if there are a lot of posts with the same label, of the posts with that label.

I am pleased to announce that I have finished labeling all of my posts. This one is the 567th post still available (I have deleted a few), so it took a while. I'm glad to have finished it. Thank God. Some of you, depending on how you access this blog, may have wondered why you have seen groups of old posts show up from time to time. Adding labels requires re-publishing the posts. This should be over, and you shouldn't see anything like the previous activity. I may add a label or two, or otherwise tweak previous posts, but not on the same scale, at least for a while.

Thanks for reading.

Random Designer

I just finished a book by Richard G. Colling, namely Random Designer: Created from Chaos to Connect with the Creator. (Bourbonnais, IL: Browning Press, 2004). Colling's thesis is that God uses the randomness in nature to accomplish His purposes.

Randomness, and seeming failure, writes Colling, doesn't bother the Creator:
But to the Random Designer, real failure simply does not exist! A string of separate events that appears devastating from our limited perspective is not even a setback for Him. (p. 69)

Colling is clearly a believer, and a scientist. He is not happy with all believers:
For some religious people, it is simply far too tempting to automatically attribute anything that is not easily understood to a supernatural cause and to inappropriately interpret scripture as a literal scientific textbook. (p.123)

The book is well written, and accessible to an intelligent non-scientist. I was especially interested in what Colling had to say about the immune system, which, as he says, generates the tremendous variety of possible antibodies by random shuffling of a relatively small number of genes. At least in this phenomenon, God seems to use randomness to achieve his purposes.

Thanks for reading.

Beulah

I previously posted on the old song, "Is not this the Land of Beulah?"

I thought I would do some further research on the word, Beulah.

The Free Dictionary says:
Beu·lah n.1. The land of Israel in the Bible.2. The land of peace described in John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress.

The same source notes that the word occurs in Mosses from an Old Manse and other stories by Nathanael Hawthorne, where it refers to a pleasant land. A link from that source says that the word also occurs in Jane Eyre.

The word is Biblical, occurring in Isaiah 62:4, as a land, and meaning "married." (Some versions do not use the word, beulah.)

Isa 62:4 Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. (KJV)

The first reference I can find in literature is, as the Free Dictionary says, in John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. Here it is:
{382} Now I saw in my dream, that by this time the Pilgrims were got over the Enchanted Ground, and entering into the country of Beulah, whose air was very sweet and pleasant, the way lying directly through it, they solaced themselves there for a season. Yea, here they heard continually the singing of birds, and saw every day the flowers appear on the earth, and heard the voice of the turtle in the land. [Isa. 62:4, Song of Solomon 2:10-12] In this country the sun shineth night and day; wherefore this was beyond the Valley of the Shadow of Death, and also out of the reach of Giant Despair, neither could they from this place so much as see Doubting Castle. Here they were within sight of the city they were going to, also here met them some of the inhabitants thereof; for in this land the Shining Ones commonly walked, because it was upon the borders of heaven. In this land also, the contract between the bride and the bridegroom was renewed; yea, here, "As the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so did their God rejoice over them." [Isa. 62:5] Here they had no want of corn and wine; for in this place they met with abundance of what they had sought for in all their pilgrimage. [Isa. 62:8] Here they heard voices from out of the city, loud voices, saying, "'Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh! Behold, his reward is with him!' Here all the inhabitants of the country called them, 'The holy people, The redeemed of the Lord, Sought out'", etc. [Isa. 62:11,12]

This passage is about Christian, the Pilgrim, and his companion. Bunyan also wrote about the separate pilgrimage of Christian's wife, Christiana. Here's what he had to say about Beulah:
After this, I beheld until they were come into the land of Beulah, where the sun shineth night
and day. Here, because they were weary, they betook themselves a while to rest. And because this country was common for pilgrims, and because the orchards and vineyards that were here belonged to the King of the Celestial country, therefore they were licensed to make bold with any of his things. But a little while soon refreshed them here; for the bells did so ring, and the trumpets continually sound so melodiously, that they could not sleep, and yet they received as much refreshing as if they had slept their sleep ever so soundly.

His idea was that there is a place where the Christian is close to Heaven, having passed through most of the trials of this life, and rejected most of its temptations, where we can be close to God. The word has also been used, more recently, to refer to Heaven itself, but that's not what Bunyan had in mind.

There was a radio show, and related TV program, named Beulah. This TV show was the first TV comedy to star an African American. Ethel Waters was the first TV Beulah. The show used some racial stereotypes, unfortunately.

There are some Christian songs that use the idea of Beulah, but not all of them use it in the original sense. Some of them use the word to mean "Heaven." The most widely used is probably "Beulah Land" by Squire Parsons, who meant Heaven.

Thanks for reading.

Diary of an Old Soul, Nov 12 - 18

November 12. Why should I still hang back, like one in a dream,
Who vainly strives to clothe himself aright,
That in great presence he may seemly seem?
Why call up feeling?--dress me in the faint,
Worn, faded, cast-off nimbus of some saint?
Why of old mood bring back a ghostly gleam--
While there He waits, love's heart and loss's blight!

13. Son of the Father, elder brother mine,
See thy poor brother's plight; See how he stands
Defiled and feeble, hanging down his hands!
Make me clean, brother, with thy burning shine;
From thy rich treasures, householder divine,
Bring forth fair garments, old and new, I pray,
And like thy brother dress me, in the old home-bred way.

14. My prayer-bird was cold--would not away,
Although I set it on the edge of the nest.
Then I bethought me of the story old--
Love-fact or loving fable, thou know'st best--
How, when the children had made sparrows of clay,
Thou mad'st them birds, with wings to flutter and fold:
Take, Lord, my prayer in thy hand, and make it pray.

15. My poor clay-sparrow seems turned to a stone,
And from my heart will neither fly nor run.
I cannot feel as thou and I both would,
But, Father, I am willing--make me good.
What art thou father for, but to help thy son?
Look deep, yet deeper, in my heart, and there,
Beyond where I can feel, read thou the prayer.

16. Oh what it were to be right sure of thee!
Sure that thou art, and the same as thy son, Jesus!
Oh, faith is deeper, wider than the sea,
Yea, than the blue of heaven that ever flees us!
Yet simple as the cry of sore-hurt child,
Or as his shout, with sudden gladness wild,
When home from school he runs, till morn set free.

17. If I were sure thou, Father, verily art,
True father of the Nazarene as true,
Sure as I am of my wife's shielding heart,
Sure as of sunrise in the watching blue,
Sure as I am that I do eat and drink,
And have a heart to love and laugh and think,
Meseems in flame the joy might from my body start.

18. But I must know thee in a deeper way
Than any of these ways, or know thee not;
My heart at peace far loftier proof must lay
Than if the wind thou me the wave didst roll,
Than if I lay before thee a sunny spot,
Or knew thee as the body knows its soul,
Or even as the part doth know its perfect whole.

The above is excerpted from George MacDonald's A Book of Strife in the Form of The Diary of an Old Soul (Public Domain, 1880). For further information see this post. These are the entries for/from November 12 through November 18.

". . . being dead, yet speaketh." Bible

My wife saw a quote from a previous post of mine, which said this:

"I am constantly struck by the strangeness of reading works that seem addressed, personally and intimately, to me, and yet were written by people who crumbled to dust long ago." (source)

She told me that she wanted to know some of the statements that seem addressed to me. In other words, who speaks to me, though dead? (Hebrews 11:4, KJV, says "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.")

So, here's the first installment, my top ten, as it were, quotations from the Bible. All quotations are from the ESV. (I am grateful that this version of the Bible is available on the web, and that they allow use in blogs, provided the version is cited as I have done -- with a link like the previous sentence, and links to specific passages.)

I have already posted about the significance of some of my choices. To read about why I think the first three choices speak to me, and are important, as relating to a view of science, see here.

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (See also this post, about why a doctrine of origins is important.)

Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above [text note: "expanse"] proclaims his handiwork.
2 Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge. (See also this post, about not seeing God revealed in nature.)

Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him [Text note: by means of; or in. Text notes give possible alternate readings.] all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.


Psalm 84:11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold
from those who walk uprightly. (See also this post, about the title of this blog.)

Matthew 22:35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Philippians 2:3 Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus [Text note: "which was also in Christ Jesus"] 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, [Text note: "bondservant"] being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Hebrews 7:25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost [Text note: Or at all times (that is, completely)] those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
26 For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27 He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. 28 For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.

Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. (See also this post, on the significance of this verse. This verse is featured at the top of this blog.)

1 John 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And we are writing these things so that our [text note: "your"] joy may be complete. 5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

This was a fair amount of work, but, I believe, it was more than worth it. I thank my wife for the suggestion. This one is goes into my list of "Important (I think) posts," (See near top right of this page).

I recognize that there are serious dangers in such an exercise, the main one, I suppose, being that one who does it might ignore other Bible passages.

Thanks for reading.

If any of you would like to produce a similar compilation, I would appreciate hearing about it in a comment, but that, of course, is up to you. Thanks in advance.

In the second installment of a series of three, I posted some important quotations from three of my favorite dead authors of fantastic (and other) literature, C. S. Lewis, George MacDonald, and J. R. R. Tolkien. In the third, and, I believe, last, I posted some important quotations from scientists, including Darwin, Newton, Einstein, Copernicus, and Watson and Crick.

* * * * *

Added July 3, 2007, an eleventh passage:

Psalm 136:4 to him who alone does great wonders,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
5 to him who by understanding made the heavens,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
6 to him who spread out the earth above the waters,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
7 to him who made the great lights,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
8 the sun to rule over the day,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
9 the moon and stars to rule over the night,
for his steadfast love endures forever;

Thanks for reading!

Brother Lawrence on using the Web

The Practice of the Presence of God, about Brother Lawrence of the Cross, written in the late 1600's, is a short book, available in several places on the web, including here. It details how Brother Lawrence found ways to be in constant communion with God in his daily tasks. I have read that the book is the second most widely read, after the Bible. I don't know if that is true. Brother Lawrence never heard of the Internet, of course, but it strikes me that I need to practice God's presence in my activity on the web. Here's an excerpt, which, if I substitute appropriately, is a guide to doing that. May I do so.

He noted that in the beginning of his novitiate he spent the hours appointed for private prayer in thinking of God so as to convince his mind and impress deeply upon his heart the Divine existence. He did this by devout sentiments and submission to the lights of faith, rather than by studied reasonings and elaborate meditations. By this short and sure method he exercised himself in the knowledge and love of God, resolving to use his utmost endeavor to live in a continual sense of His Presence, and, if possible, never to forget Him more.

When he had thus, in prayer, filled his mind with great sentiments of that Infinite Being, he went to his work appointed in the kitchen (for he was then cook for the community). There having first considered severally the things his office required, and when and how each thing was to be done, he spent all the intervals of his time, both before and after his work, in prayer.

When he began his business, he said to God with a filial trust in Him, "O my God, since Thou art with me, and I must now, in obedience to Thy commands, apply my mind to these outward things, I beseech Thee to grant me the grace to continue in Thy Presence; and to this end do Thou prosper me with Thy assistance. Receive all my works, and possess all my affections." As he proceeded in his work, he continued his familiar conversation with his Maker, imploring His grace, and offering to Him all his actions.

When he had finished, he examined himself how he had discharged his duty. If he found well, he returned thanks to God. If otherwise, he asked pardon and, without being discouraged, he set his mind right again. He then continued his exercise of the presence of God as if he had never deviated from it. "Thus," said he, "by rising after my falls, and by frequently renewed acts of faith and love, I am come to a state wherein it would be as difficult for me not to think of God as it was at first to accustom myself to it."

Thanks for reading. Practice the Presence of God.

Sunspots 81

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Politics: Charles Colson wrote "Our message is not, We put you in office, now pay up; but rather, This should be done because it is right, it is a principle that undergirds any well-ordered civil society," and "This is why it is so crucial not to allow ourselves to be tucked into any party's hip pocket, or cast as just another political interest group in the ideological struggle."

Computing: An article reports that Tim Berners-Lee, who probably best deserves the title, inventor of the Internet, has called for studying it socially, economically, and psychologically. It's not just a computer network. He's right about that.

There's a Six Word Story group in Flickr. The idea is to post a photo, and a six word story that goes along with it. * (see below for another Six Word Story item)

Science: P. Z. Myers on Jonathan Wells (author of Icons of Evolution), who, says Myers, misunderstands and/or distorts the embryonic evidence for common descent.

Mathematicians on how to cut a cake (or divide other items) fairly.

Literature: A good post on Why I Read Fantasy. She says "Best of all, fantasy novels are almost always about great heroes, which I see as illustrative of our Lord, the greatest hero of all."

Heard, and read, on The Writer's Almanac for November 7th , this quotation from Stephen Greenblatt: "I am constantly struck by the strangeness of reading works that seem addressed, personally and intimately, to me, and yet were written by people who crumbled to dust long ago."

Christianity: Jan argues that Christians, like others, have an erotic imagination. She also remarks that our art doesn't reflect that, although there's some that does in the Bible.

Patricia, at Intellectuelle, has posted that not just men like Ted Haggard (whatever he did), but women may be tempted toward wrongful sexual behavior.

*Commenter John Dekker told me about a blogger who is compiling six word summaries of all the books of the Bible, and taking suggestions. (In my last Sunspots , I mentioned six word science fiction stories by well-known authors.) This week's Christian Carnival is here. (For information on locating these Carnivals, see here.)

When I don't tell where I found an item above, I either found it directly, or was probably pointed to it by the Librarian's Internet Index, SciTech Daily, or Arts and Letters Daily. All of these sources are great.

Thanks for reading! Keep clicking away.

Image source (public domain)

"One Night With the King" -- yes, there is a Hathach

In a previous post, I questioned any telling of the story of Esther without mentioning the role of Hathach, who speaks what many people think of as the most important lines in the Book of Esther. At the time, I was relying on the IMDB listing of the cast (See previous post for link) and Hathach was not listed as one of the characters. I was disappointed.

Well, now I have seen the movie. I hope it isn't giving away too much of the plot to any of the infinitesimally small fraction of the inhabitants of this planet who use the Internet, read this blog, and will have a chance to see "One Night With the King." and plan to see it, to say that there is a Hathach in the movie, after all, and that he does speak those lines to Esther. Like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and Esther herself, Hathach is presented as having both a Jewish and an Mesopotamian name. Perhaps the original Hathach was Jewish by birth. Perhaps not.

I thank Claw of the Conciliator (See Some of the feeds I subscribe to, on the right, for a link) for pointing me to a review of the movie by Ben Witherington. Having seen the movie, I mostly agree with him. I thought that Tiffany Dupont had tremendous appeal as Esther.

* * * * *

Addendum, November 8th: When I originally posted this, I hadn't included a link to the movie's web site. (Duh . . .) I have now done so. On visiting the site, I was surprised to see that the only actors mentioned on its front page are Dupont, Omar Sharif, and Peter O'Toole. Dupont had the main role. O'Toole had a very brief part, what I think is called a cameo appearance. Sharif did well in a supporting role. John Rhys-Davies, as Mordecai (aka Gimli in the Tolkien movies), had almost as much screen time as Dupont, and did his job well. I'm surprised that he wasn't mentioned on the front page.

I should have also said that the film was free of objectionable language and gratuitous (or any other kind of) sex and of gratuitous violence. There was a little violence, but it wasn't lovingly caressed (or hugged and fondled) as it sometimes is in the movies.

I should have also said "Thanks for reading!"

A Model for Christian political blogging: Philiphronos

Laura, at Pursuing Holiness, posted a challenge to those who blog about political issues, and claim to be Christians. She quotes from I Peter 3:14-16, which includes: "However, make your defense with gentleness and respect." (I'm not sure which version she is using.) Then, she says:

If we are called to make our defense of our faith with gentleness and respect, how much more should we do so with respect to minor issues like the politics of our nation or any of the temporary governments of this world?

Indeed.

A good plan. I don't think I major in politics here at Sun and Shield, but it comes up occasionally. I hope I have followed this pattern, and I intend to do so from now on.

Laura, who is working in conjunction with another blogger, invites other bloggers to join them in various ways, for example by adding the Philiphronos blog to your blogroll. Instructions (which may not work for all blog platforms) are included.

I thank Bonnie, of Intellectuelle, for the link to this material.

Thanks for reading.

Diary of an Old Soul, Nov 5 - 11

5. "Wake, thou that sleepest; rise up from the dead,
And Christ will give thee light.*" I do not know
What sleep is, what is death, or what is light;
But I am waked enough to feel a woe,
To rise and leave death. Stumbling through the night,
To my dim lattice, O calling Christ! I go,
And out into the dark look for thy star-crowned head.

6. There are who come to me, and write, and send,
Whom I would love, giving good things to all,
But friend--that name I cannot on them spend;
'Tis from the centre of self-love they call
For cherishing--for which they first must know
How to be still, and take the seat that's low:
When, Lord, shall I be fit--when wilt thou call me friend?

7. Wilt thou not one day, Lord? In all my wrong,
Self-love and weakness, laziness and fear,
This one thing I can say: I am content
To be and have what in thy heart I am meant
To be and have. In my best times I long
After thy will, and think it glorious-dear;
Even in my worst, perforce my will to thine is bent.

8. My God, I look to thee for tenderness
Such as I could not seek from any man,
Or in a human heart fancy or plan--
A something deepest prayer will not express:
Lord, with thy breath blow on my being's fires,
Until, even to the soul with self-love wan,
I yield the primal love, that no return desires.

9. Only no word of mine must ever foster
The self that in a brother's bosom gnaws;
I may not fondle failing, nor the boaster
Encourage with the breath of my applause.
Weakness needs pity, sometimes love's rebuke;
Strength only sympathy deserves and draws--
And grows by every faithful loving look.

10. 'Tis but as men draw nigh to thee, my Lord,
They can draw nigh each other and not hurt.
Who with the gospel of thy peace are girt,
The belt from which doth hang the Spirit's sword,
Shall breathe on dead bones, and the bones shall live,
Sweet poison to the evil self shall give,
And, clean themselves, lift men clean from the mire abhorred.

11. My Lord, I have no clothes to come to thee;
My shoes are pierced and broken with the road;
I am torn and weathered, wounded with the goad,
And soiled with tugging at my weary load:
The more I need thee! A very prodigal
I stagger into thy presence, Lord of me:
One look, my Christ, and at thy feet I fall!

The above is excerpted from George MacDonald's A Book of Strife in the Form of The Diary of an Old Soul (Public Domain, 1880). For further information see this post. These are the entries for/from November 5 through November 11.

*Ephesians 5:14 (KJV)

Movie about Esther -- no Hathach?

I haven't seen "One Night With the King," which is currently showing in some theaters, and is about the story of Esther. We may see it. The Christianity Today review indicates that the movie probably puts too much peripheral material into the story, rather than concentrating on what actually happened. (The reviewer does recognize that lots of interesting things that really must have happened aren't in the Bible.) The review indicates that the production company is Christian, and gives them good marks for production values/artistic merit.

One thing I was interested in is whether Hathach, the eunuch, is part of the movie's story. Apparently, based on the IMDB cast list, he isn't. That's interesting, because, although most Christians (and probably Jews) don't seem to realize it, he played a critical part in the story, according to the Bible.

Thanks for reading.

Why I plan to vote

Veracity published an interesting post, in which she argues that Christians should not vote, if they are not convinced that one of the candidates is a good one. I'm not clear as to whether she thinks it's OK to vote for some offices, but not for others, but I suppose she would allow that.

As I say, it was interesting, but I'm not convinced. Her opening sentence was the oft-used phrase: "I don't think any candidate is good, so I will vote(choose) the lesser of two evils." She went on to argue, scripturally, that Christians should not do evil.

I don't think Christians should do evil, either, but I would like to respectfully differ with the common phrase. It doesn't state the situation correctly. Being able to vote in the first place is good. (See recent votes in Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. Many people, some of them Christians, believed strongly that the very opportunity to vote was a great good.) So good that voting for Jones, who agrees with me on, say, 2 out of 6 issues where I believe there is some sort of scriptural mandate, over Smith, who only agrees with me on one, means that voting for Jones is better than voting for Smith, and is good.

There is some scripture which backs up this position. Romans 13 says that "For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God." (ESV, verse 1b) Surely Paul, who lived under a Roman dictatorship, knew something of the faults of that particular government. But he implied that there was some good in it, and, in fact, in all governments. I'm not sure what to make of some current regimes, such as the one in Sudan, related to this verse, but most governments, even if imperfect, even if they don't allow voting, have some good about them.

The Gettysburg Address, by perhaps the greatest President of the United States, says that that country's government is "of the people, by the people, for the people." The Declaration of Independence of the United States said that "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed . . ." I know that neither the Gettysburg Address, nor the Declaration of Independence, have the force of Scripture, but they are important, and many would say that they are derived from Judeo-Christian ideals. If I am governed by persons and institutions that ultimately require my consent, if government is by the people, and if governments are ordained by God, then I think I have some duty to inform myself about the issues and the candidates, and vote.

Must I vote for every office? I would not say so. But I believe that most citizens have a duty to inform themselves about the issues and the candidates, and prayerfully vote for those they think most consistent with their best understanding of what is right.

Will Christians always make the right decisions when voting? Of course not. Those of us who have the privilege of voting on pastors or church officers sometimes find that it seems we, personally, or as a congregation, haven't made a good choice. But that does not excuse the duty to do our best.

Do Christians always have God's view of the issues, or the candidates? Again, no. I need no further evidence for this than that sincere Christians disagree about issues, or candidates. One thinks that abortion is the only issue. Another is concerned about world peace, or alleviating poverty, both scriptural principles.

Is voting the main way Christians should try to change the world? Certainly not. Christians should demonstrate Christlikeness, and create a hunger for it in the hearts of others. That's the best way to change the world. But it's not the only one.

For what it's worth, I plan to vote. I pray that I am voting as God wants me to, and that He will oversee the result.

Thanks for reading.

P. S., about half an hour later: This is another way of saying that I'm thankful that I can vote.

Sunspots 80

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Politics:
A Slate article, claiming that the US is now using torture, and that torture has a devastating effect on the military and police of countries that use it.

Science:
He Lives is at it again, criticizing William Dembski and the Intelligent Design movement, because Dembski is at it again. Quote from He Lives: "If you are worried that scientific research can undermine your faith, then I suggest you work on strengthening your faith instead of attacking the researchers." Well said!

Some speculations on the function, if any, of brilliant fall leaf colors. No firm conclusion.

Article in Discover on "How to Build an Invisibility Cloak." (It's not been done yet, but there's progress)

Asian Elephants join humans, chimpanzees and dolphins in demonstrating self-awareness.

Literature:
Jan on what makes Christian art (including literature). She's got four simple rules, including (are you ready for this one?) #4. Non-Christians can make Christian art. Mark Daniels follows up on that theme. Writes Daniels: "Any artistic expression that acknowledges the realities of life is far more likely to be Christian or to have Christian implications than some of the bland banalities that pass for 'Christian art' these days."

E Stephen Burnett has posted the third of three posts on Christian speculative fiction. Among other things, he talks about the Harry Potter series.

A few dozen six word stories by authors of fantastic fiction, in Wired.


This week's Christian Carnival is here. (For information on locating these Carnivals, see here.)

When I don't tell where I found an item above, I either found it directly, or was probably pointed to it by the Librarian's Internet Index, SciTech Daily, or Arts and Letters Daily. All of these sources are great.

Thanks for reading! Keep clicking away.

Image source (public domain)