Grace, teacher

Titus 2:11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,12 instructing us to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we would live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world; (World English Bible, public domain).

I was reading this passage in the New International Version, in preparation for my Sunday School class, when it hit me that, according to this passage, Grace is not simply some mushy goody stuff, but is also a teacher! I checked several other translations, and found that, except for the NLT, they read as if Grace, itself, teaches us.

I shouldn't have been surprised by this. For one thing, I had often sung:

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears reliev'd;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believ'd! John Newton, Amazing Grace (public domain).

So, Grace, God's gift to us through Christ, is a teacher.

Thanks for reading!

Sunspots 323

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

Science: Fox News reports on a nasty weed that's increasing its range.

And, speaking of weeds, the wide use of "Roundup Ready" crops, and spraying them generously with Roundup, has led (surprise!) to selection for Roundup resistant weeds, according to Wired.

Politics: (or something) NPR reports that adding more lanes, and widening roads, leads to more traffic.

Computing: How green is Cloud Computing? Not as green as it ought to be, according to Greenpeace. Twitter is particularly non-green.

(or Shopping) Wired on how on-line companies get us to spend more.

Image source (public domain)

Debt and taxes

I don't have the answers for all that's going on (or not) with the Congress and the President right now. But I think I know some Biblical principles.

1) Pay your debts. And, not only should they be paid, but paid when the creditor is expecting to receive them. The Golden Rule relates to that. So does a specific command in the Bible. (Leviticus 19:13b The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning.) It is possible that failing to raise the debt ceiling will not result in economic disaster, although most economists say that it would. I don't know. But failing to raise the debt ceiling, which, unfortunately (see principle 2) is necessary in order to pay our obligations, would be a moral disaster.

2) Don't take on debts that you shouldn't. I don't have a specific verse in mind for this, but I think it's a sound principle, supported by scripture.

If we hadn't had trouble with principle 2, we wouldn't be worrying about principle 1, and, it seems to me, we need to do something about cutting down on our spending now. We should have done it before, but now is the best time we have. Let's do it. The deficit also needs to be addressed. We are spending too much. Let's do something about it, for now and for the future.

3) Don't deceive others. Speaker Boehner, and others, have said "taxes kill jobs." Perhaps that was just a sound bite, and taken out of context, but, as it stands, that's deceit, and surely the Speaker knows it. (He's not the only deceiver in politics, of course.) There are two obvious extremes on taxes. All income, of business or individuals, could be taken. Or none of it could be. In the first instance, there would be little incentive to work, or to develop business which might hire others. In that sense, the Speaker is right. But the second instance also would have terrible consequences. What legitimate business would want to establish in a location where there is no police or fire protection, no system of justice, no military protection, where infrastructure is not repaired or developed, where there are no schools or hospitals? What family would want to locate there, in the 21st Century? Taxes pay for these things, and, thus, some taxes are necessary. And, taxes do create some jobs, like, say, firemen or soldiers, or, for that matter, the job of Speaker of the House! Having these things, paid for by taxes, means that jobs may be created by the private sector, too. Too many taxes can kill jobs. So can not enough taxes.

Calling some things taxes is also deceptive. How a reasonable person can say that taking away subsidies for the production of ethanol from corn is a tax escapes me. The same thing goes for taking away special accounting treatment for hedge fund managers, or taking away tax breaks for oil companies.

Claiming that there would be no consequences for not paying our debts on time is also deceptive, because there would be moral consequences. (So, of course, would claiming worse consequences than we know to be true.)

4) Don't be selfish. Politicians should have the good of the country, not re-election, in mind. Seniors (I'm one of them) should have the good of the country, not expectation of social security income rising faster than inflation, in mind. Businesses should not be greedy. Neither should labor unions, and workers in general.

I am not particularly fussing at Speaker Boehner, just using him as an example. Apparently he has been making a good-faith effort to get us out of this current mess.

God help us all!

*   *   *   *    *

On July 22, 2011, I added the next to last paragraph, and made some additional changes.

Prayers in the Bible: Romans 1

In his letters to churches, Paul often has words like this, near the beginning of the message:

Romans 1:7b Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, that your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world. (World English Bible)

The request that God send grace and peace is supplication, and verse 8 is thanksgiving. There is no confession or adoration, two other types of prayer, in this part of Romans 1. I don't use those types of prayer enough. (I'm not saying that Paul didn't use them enough!)

Grace and peace to you, whoever may read this, and I thank God for you, whoever you might be.

Thanks for reading. This is one in a series of posts on prayers in the Bible. The previous post is here.

"How Christians Warmed to Harry Potter"

There's a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, entitled "How Christians Warmed to Harry Potter." It's by an on-line editor for Christianity Today.

Baby parrots have unique "names" which function like human names

I was amazed to read some reports on research by a Karl Berg, and his group, from Cornell University, that indicates that baby parrots are given names by their parents, and modify these slightly, so that each parrot has a unique sound sequence that identifies the animal, much like "John Jones, Jr." might identify a human individual.

Here is the report in Science Now, and here in Nature News blog. The reports are readable, and interesting, and both of them include a short video. Science and Nature are the two most important scientific periodicals in English.

Thanks for reading!

Sunspots 322

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

Science: Wired reports on a small water insect that makes a very loud noise -- by rubbing its penis against the abdomen.

Politics: (or something) National Public Radio reports that a seemingly ordinary house in Wyoming is the legal address of about 2,000 shell companies.

Henry Neufeld on why he would have difficulty praying at a governmental function.

Computing: You can put jigsaw puzzles together on-line, free.

Gizmo's Freeware highlights two sandbox games -- games with no set rules. You can just do what you want with the game objects. 

Image source (public domain)

Thurber, Bunyan, Tolkien and MacDonald on odors

From The White Deer, by James Thurber (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1945):
You'll know the woods when you are still a long way off by virtue of a fragrance you can never quite forget and never quite remember. (3)

From all the trees a sticky thickish liquid dripped and oozed and gave or rather lent the air a heavy sweetish fragrance, for the sweetish heavy fragrance died and rose and died again and rose and died and rose again. (50)

Yet hints come to me from the realm unknown;
Airs drift across the twilight border land,
Odoured with life; and as from some far strand
Sea-murmured, whispers to my heart are blown
That fill me with a joy I cannot speak,
Yea, from whose shadow words drop faint and weak:
Thee, God, I shadow in that region grand.
A Book of Strife in the Form of The Diary of an Old Soul, by George MacDonald (public domain, entry for May 29.)

Ned's eyes were white with wonder. "May I look at it, Dad?" he said. He took it with careful fingers and peered into the flowers. "The work is a marvel!" he said. "And, Dad, there is a scent in the bells: a scent that reminds me of, reminds me, well, of something I've forgotten." J. R. R. Tolkien, Smith of Wootton Major & Farmer Giles of Ham (New York: Ballantine, 1972), p. 49. Smith, the Dad, has brought home a marvelous flowering head from fairyland.

Were I to adopt the figurative language of Bunyan, I might date this letter from the Land Beulah, of which I have been for some weeks a happy inhabitant. The Celestial City is full in my view. Its glories have been upon me, its breezes fan me, its odours are wafted to me, its sounds strike upon my ears, and its spirit is breathed into my heart. Nothing separates me from it but the River of Death, which now appears but as an insignificant rill, that may be crossed at a single step, whenever God shall give permission. Included in the on-line version, here, of John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress (public domain). This was not written by Bunyan, but in a letter from a Dr. Payson, near his death.

Thanks for reading!

The Activity of the Holy Spirit, according to John 14-16

In John, chapters 14, 15, 16, Jesus described the activity of the promised Comforter, the Holy Spirit. Using the World English Bible, which is public domain, here is what Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would do:

“[live] with you, and will be in you.” 14:16

“teach you all things” 14:26

“remind you of all that I [Jesus] said to you” 14:26

“testify about me [Jesus]” 15:25

“convict the world about sin . . . because they don’t believe in me” 16:8-9

“convict the world . . . about righteousness, because I am going to my Father, and you won’t see me any more” 16:8, 10

“convict the world . . . about judgment . . . because the prince of this world has been judged.” 16:8, 11

“guide you into all truth” 16:13

“declare to you things that are coming” 16:13

“glorify me [Jesus] 16:14

Thanks for reading. Read John.

Prayers in the Bible: Psalm 4

Psalm 4:1 Answer me when I call, God of my righteousness.

Give me relief from my distress.

Have mercy on me, and hear my prayer. (World English Bible, public domain)

This, I believe, is the first prayer in the Psalms. It is one all of us could pray, sometimes, or often.

This post is part of a series on prayers in the Bible. For the previous post, see here. Thanks for reading.

A Friendly Letter to Skeptics and Atheists, by David G. Myers

I recently read A Friendly Letter to Skeptics and Atheists: Musings on Why God is Good, and Faith Isn't Evil, by David G. Myers. (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2008). Myers is a psychologist.

I have read a few books by atheists, and apparently Myers has, too. I don't know if most atheists have bothered to read good books by Christians. I doubt if many, or even any, have read Myers. From my perspective, that's unfortunate. Myers, from my perspective, understands atheism well, and although he makes no arguments that demolish such a point of view completely, he does show that intelligent, bible-believing Christianity, which is respectful of science, can hold its own in a discussion with atheism.

Myers quotes liberally from Richard Dawkins. He discusses some of the misconceptions of Christianity held by atheists, or -- let's be fair -- some of the eccentricities of some Christians. To Myers, the Bible does not require that Christians deny descent of organisms with modification, that they be prejudiced against people of other faiths, that they believe that the soul is separate from the body, or, even, that they oppose same-sex unions, provided that these relationships are between individuals who have a long-term exclusive commitment to each other. Some Christians are going to disagree with Myers on some things, I am sure. I'm not sure that I agree on the last point myself. (He says, correctly, that the Bible doesn't deal with such relationships when it mentions homosexuality, but it doesn't necessarily follow that such relationships are approved by God.) But most of Myers' ideas should be no problem for most educated Christians.

His main thrust is that a lot of atheistic attacks are on positions that Christians don't hold, or that they don't need to hold. I believe that he is correct in that.

I found the book to be well written, and easy to read. (It's only 152 pages long, and that includes an index and notes.) I recommend it to any Christian who is dealing with atheism. I also recommend it to any atheists who may read this.

Thanks for reading. I have posted previously on some of the writing of Richard Dawkins. Here's one such post.

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

I try to read all of the Newbery Award winners. The most recent of these enjoyable trips into reading was When  You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead. (There is a Wikipedia article on the book. You can read that article for more on the plot of the book.)

One aspect of the book is time travel plays a central role. The main characters don't engage in it, and the book does not attempt to give much of a description of how time travel works, or what a time traveler might experience, but without one character, who does do time travel, the plot would have fallen apart.

Is time travel possible? We don't know, according to the Wikipedia article on the subject. Even if it is possible, would a human being be able to experience it? If so, would a human be able to return? Obviously, we don't know the answers to those questions, either.

Why the fascination with Time Travel? (Not everyone is fascinated by it, of course, but clearly some writers of fiction, and their readers, are. The Time Machine, by H. G. Wells, The Narnia books by C. S. Lewis, a series of award-winning books by Connie Willis, and The Time Traveler's Wife come to mind.) I suppose that one reason is that we would like to know what really happened in the past. For example, does Exodus describe the travels of the Israelites realistically? When did humans enter North America, and what were they like? Was Franklin Roosevelt surprised by Pearl Harbor? What were dinosaurs really like? What happened during the last hours of Julius Caesar? Most people probably have questions about their family, or their own early life, that aren't considered in history books, or covered by contemporary news media. Another reason is that most of us have experienced occasions where, it would seem, we might have acted differently than we did, and, we guess, we and others might now be better off if we had.

Lastly, there is a moral question, and Stead brings it up, although she doesn't make a big deal out of it. Should we go back in time to make things right, or perhaps to unselfishly protect someone else, even at the cost of our own lives?

Interesting questions. I don't have much in the way of answers. However, one way of looking at the life of Christ is that He came into time, from some sort of existence outside of time, to unselfishly make all of our protection possible. And it cost Him something to do that.

Finally, I note that Stead was influenced by Madeleine L'Engle's work, and especially by A Wrinkle in Time. Wrinkle is referred to in the book.

Thanks for reading!

Sunspots 321

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

Humor: (or something) A cake in the form of a green dragon, with wings, horns, scales, and flames coming out of its mouth.

Science: Wired reports that seeing the photo of a loved one can make some pain diminish.

Listen to a video of a distant star, and the noises it emits.

Sports: Wired reports on the advantage of a superstar -- Tiger Woods in his prime, for example. Other competitors did worse when a superstar was in the competition.

Image source (public domain)

Prayers in the Bible: Paul and Silas, and the jailer

Acts 16:25 But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were loosened. 27 The jailer, being roused out of sleep and seeing the prison doors open, drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, “Don’t harm yourself, for we are all here!”


29 He called for lights and sprang in, and, fell down trembling before Paul and Silas, 30 and brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”


31 They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 They spoke the word of the Lord to him, and to all who were in his house.


33 He took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes, and was immediately baptized, he and all his household. 34 He brought them up into his house, and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, with all his household, having believed in God. (World English Bible)

The events described above took place after Paul and Silas had been unjustly thrown into jail. Apparently, the stocks were not comfortable, and they were praying and singing. What about? We don't know. Perhaps they were praying for release from prison, or that they could sleep. But their prayer was powerfully answered -- they were released the next morning, released from the stocks right away, but, probably, didn't get any sleep.

The jailer had a simple prayer. Was he praying to be saved from sin? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Maybe he was praying to be saved from the earthquake, or from losing his job, or that his life would be spared. But Paul and Silas knew what the man really needed, and his prayer for salvation was answered.

God doesn't always answer spectacularly, or right away. But He did on this occasion.

Thanks for reading. This is one of a series on prayers in the Bible. The previous post in the series is here.

The Ethics of Global Climate Change, edited by Denis G. Arnold

I recently read The Ethics of Global Climate Change, edited by Denis G. Arnold (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2011). I have a few thoughts on the book.

First, the authors all accept that the global climate is changing, and that humans are playing a significant role in such change. Unfortunately, some of our political leaders, or potential leaders, don't seem to believe this. The editor compares the fossil fuel industry's tactics on obfuscating the reality of climate change to the tobacco industry's campaign to discredit the link between smoking and cancer. Although adding Carbon Dioxide to the atmosphere is not the only thing we do that plays a role in climate change, it is probably the most important, and the authors didn't consider other actions in any depth.

Second, the topic given the most space in the book is the ethics of what happens to future generations as a result of decisions made, or not made, in the present. Most likely, our descendants will suffer in significant ways because of current inaction, or slow action, on our part.

Third, there seems to be general agreement, among people thinking about the issues, that regulating what countries do is not the only important thing that should be done. There are individuals, in all countries, who have a disproportionate effect on future climate, because of their life style is contributing more Carbon Dioxide to the atmosphere than most people. (There are also individuals in all countries, including the US, such as, I suppose, the Amish, and homeless people, who are making little such contribution.) So regulating the United States, and not, say, Bangladesh, may mean that a few of the inhabitants of Bangladesh will be affecting the atmosphere considerably more than the average citizen of the US, but their actions will remain unregulated.

Fourth, there was little discussion of the effect of global climate change on non-human organisms, apparently because there has been little study of the issues.

I close with a quotation from the book: "Every state is a 'failed state' as far as climate is concerned." Henry Shue, "Human rights, climate change, and the trillionth ton," pp. 292-314. Quote is from p. 297.

Thanks for reading!

Republican Presidential Candidates on Global Climate Change

According to this source, Republican Presidential candidates Mitt Romney and John Huntsman believe that the climate is changing globally, and that humans are influencing that. The same source indicates that candidates Tim Pawlenty, Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum do not believe either of these statements. I do not know the position, if one has been taken, of Newt Gingrich, Herman Cain, and any other Republican candidates for President. (During the 2008 campaign, Sarah Palin argued that there is no Global Climate Change, even though the Republican platform acknowledged it.)

It's easy to find one thing Bachmann has said (see video), namely, that Carbon Dioxide is a naturally-occurring gas that plants benefit from, with the implication that we don't need to worry about it. Bachmann either didn't know, or chose not to tell, the whole story. Water is also a naturally occurring substance that we have to have to sustain life. But that doesn't mean that we can't get too much of it. Just try breathing water! Carbon Dioxide is a natural gas, and one that plants need for photosynthesis, but it is also a greenhouse gas -- one that is transparent to light coming in from the sun, but not so transparent to heat radiated from the earth.

In the same speech, Bachmann missed the amount of Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere by a factor of about 100-fold, which means that her dismissal of the addition of Carbon Dioxide due to human activity was also off by about 100 times.

It is unfortunate that anyone seeking high office is either misinformed, or resorts to deception.  Mrs. Bachmann, however, doesn't seem to have changed her views on this subject.

Global Climate Change is by no means the only important issue in the upcoming election, but it is an important one, and at least some of the Republican candidates seem to be either uninformed about it, or engaging in deliberate deception. It is also true that positions on the matter may change, or develop over time.

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 320

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

Science: The New York Times reports that, in some species of sharks, embryo animals eat their siblings.

Wired reports on the discovery of a previously unknown group of people, in Brazil.

Christianity: A Christian author of fantastic literature claims that the Bible rules out the possibility of non-human intelligent life in the universe. Some similar authors, in the comments to that post, don't agree.

Image source (public domain)

Alphabet of Thorn, by Patricia A. McKillip

I previously posted briefly on two fantasy works by Patricia A. McKillip, one being Alphabet of Thorn. Having re-read that book (twice consecutively), I wish to return to it. The Wikipedia article on the book is here. I'm going to say some things that aren't in the article. Almost all of them relate to McKillip's writing in general, not just to this book.

First, McKillip is a stylist. Her writing is careful, doesn't mimic anyone else's, and weaves its own spells.

Second, McKillip shifts between reality and whatever is outside of that. In this book, the construction of the library, and the politics after the death of fourteen-year-old Tessera's father, resonate with real things. The things Tessera explores could not exist in the real world of the room in our house, where I am writing this, or in any nearby part of this earth as we know it.

Third, a recurring theme is that young people do not have parents, or do not know who they are. I've already referred to the death of Tessera's father. Nepenthe, the other important character who is a young woman, is a foundling. Someone left her for the librarians to raise. She is not the first baby raised by the librarians. Axis, a male character, loses his father before he reaches adulthood.

Fourth, there is a school. In this case, it's the school for wizards, a floating school. It is not anchored to the earth, or at least it is not found in a fixed place.

Fifth, important characters in McKillip's tales often turn away from exacting vengeance, even for grievous wrongs. That is not a feature of this book, but Kane, an important character, does withdraw herself from a powerful army that has been conquering diverse kingdoms without being defeated. She turns away from the spectacular to the ordinary.

A feature that is not, to my recollection, found in any other of McKillip's other stories is time travel. Some of the characters in Alphabet of Thorn can travel through time.

Thanks for reading. By all means, read McKillip.

Fantastic Literature - E. Stephen Burnett points out how the Bible supports it, part 2

In a previous post, I briefly described the Biblical arguments of E. Stephen Burnett, who claims that, first, Christians can produce fiction, and, second, that that fiction can be fantastic, even have elements of paganism in it. (If you wish to skip my post, and go directly to Burnett, go here and here. But I did more than just point to Burnett.)

Burnett has now gone further, claiming that, first, story-telling was a critical part of the ministry of Jesus, and, second, that at least some of the parables of Jesus were fictional. Burnett's claims are based on what the Bible says about the parables.

Thanks for reading. Read Burnett.

Prayers in the Bible: Not believing we've been answered has a long tradition

Acts 12:12 Thinking about that, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. 13 When Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a maid named Rhoda came to answer. 14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, she didn’t open the gate for joy, but ran in, and reported that Peter was standing in front of the gate. 15 They said to her, “You are crazy!” But she insisted that it was so. They said, “It is his angel.” (World English Bible)

Apparently Rhoda believed, but James and John, and Mary, and whoever else was there, didn't. How like us!

This is part of a series on prayers in the Bible. The previous post is here. Thanks for reading. God can, and does, answer prayer. Praise Him!

After Long Silence, by Sheri S. Tepper

I recently re-read After Long Silence, by Sheri S. Tepper. (Bantam: New York, 1987) I have previously posted on another of her works, Grass. After Long Silence has no Wikipedia article, so far. It deserves one. This won't substitute for a formal article. There are brief reviews here and here.

The basic plot is one that has been used before. An evil company controls the exports from the planet Jubal. The company, and its evil local representative, will do almost anything to keep this state of affairs as it is. This includes suppressing any evidence of native sentient beings.

The main character, Tasmin Ferrence, is a Tripsinger. The land on the planet is functionally divided into areas where the soil is deep, and areas where it is not deep, or is nonexistent. In such areas, there are giant crystals, hundreds of meters/yards in height, and with circumferences to match. It is dangerous to go into, or through, such areas. In fact, the only way to do so safely is to make music which keeps the crystals from shooting off parts of themselves and killing anyone near. The Tripsingers have learned how to traverse some areas where the crystals exist. The music is complex enough that untrained persons cannot survive such trips without a Tripsinger. The Tripsingers, who haven't discussed their beliefs on the subject explicitly, believe that the crystals are sentient.

It turns out, in the end, that there are two intelligent species on Jubal. One is the crystals, and the other is the viggies, a creature appearing somewhat like squirrels or rabbits.

How Tepper gets us to this conclusion is the plot, and it uses her characters. One thing that annoys me about Tepper is that her bad characters get peculiar names -- Chantiford, Aphrodite, whereas her good, or ordinary characters, get more ordinary, if non-common, names. Tasmin, and his assistants, Reb Jamieson and Clarin, are well-drawn. The evil characters, reprehensible as they are -- several of them have no apparent redeeming character traits -- are reasonably well-drawn, too.

This is a solid example of humans-meet-aliens science fiction. There is a fair amount, but not too much, of explicit translation, which helps to see how hard it is to understand beings who don't think like us. There is plenty of music, and it is evident that the music of both non-human intelligent beings is beautiful. There is an appendix, apparently written by a real-life expert on such things, explaining how a crystalline life form could have high intelligence. I'm sorry that I can't be a tourist to Jubal, and see the beautiful crystals, and hear the beautiful music.

One of the evil things that the local company boss does is to hire three other villains to create a religion, for the purpose of attracting tourists, and money, to Jubal. The doctrines of this religion are not well fleshed out, so I can't comment intelligently on it.

There are various kinds of love relationships in the book, including the admiration of Reb Jamieson for his master, Tasmin, and his willingness to sacrifice for Tasmin. Tepper does a good job of explaining the motives of the characters in these relationships.

The last feature I will mention is that Tasmin seeks vengeance on the local company boss. Another character talks him out of it. It isn't easy for her to do so.

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 319

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

Science: From Wired, some amazing animal sounds. I particularly recommend the portion on the pistol shrimp.

NPR reports on a new development in artificial hearts -- continuous-flow hearts. There's no pulse!

Politics: (or something) Airlines took in over 3 billion dollars in fees for baggage last year, according to CNN.

Image source (public domain)

Heaven is for Real

I recently read Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His trip to Heaven and Back, about then four-year-old Colton Burpo, by his father, Todd Burpo, with assistance from Lynn Vincent. The book has been a best seller, but does not have a Wikipedia page. There is a page for the book.

Even though, or maybe because, I had heard a lot of enthusiasm for the book, I didn't expect to be convinced. (Todd Burpo is a pastor in The Wesleyan Church, of which I am a member. I had never heard of him until the book was published.) I expected to read a standard "out of body" experience book. There was a little of that, but the book did not rest on that aspect of what happened to Colton Burpo.

In a paragraph, the book presents the experiences of Colton's parents, as they come to realize that their son, who had undergone drastic surgery for a ruptured appendix, knew things that they had not told him, and that they didn't believe that he could have known, without having some supernatural experience. Probably the most amazing knowledge is that Colton said that he told his parents that he had seen an ancestor of his that he had never seen, and that ancestor looked like he did when he was an early adult, based on a photo that Colton had never seen.

It is possible that the book is a fake. But, to me, it presents real evidence that there is a life after death. I believed that already, of course.

Thanks for reading. Read Heaven is for Real.

Prayers in the Bible: Elijah's prayer on Mt. Carmel

Elijah's prayer on Mt. Carmel is one of the classic prayers in the Bible.

Here it is: 1 Kings 18:36 It happened at the time of the offering of the offering, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, “Yahweh, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. 37 Hear me, Yahweh, hear me, that this people may know that you, Yahweh, are God, and that you have turned their heart back again.” (World English Bible, which is public domain.) The whole story, giving the context, is here.

Elijah doesn't seem to have said a lot, compared to what the priests of Baal did. They whooped and hollered for a few hours. Elijah was praying to a real God. They weren't. Furthermore, Elijah was acting on God's command, so he had a right to expect an answer to this prayer. And, most importantly, God's honor was at stake. God always proves Himself under such circumstances. He certainly did then. He does in 2011.

This is one of a (so-far) year-long series. The previous post in the series is here.

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 318

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

Science: NASA has posted a video, and a still photo, of a recent spectacular solar flare.

Wired reports on how some plant parts can fold and unfold, depending on the humidity, after they have fallen off of the plant.

A David Barton, who is apparently a figure I should know about, but didn't, is on video, claiming that the Founding Fathers had discussed the matter of evolution fairly thoroughly. They couldn't have. Darwin was born at about that time.

  

Image source (public domain)

Prayers in the Bible: Psalm 119, again

In my previous post in this series, I looked (a little) at Psalm 119 as a prayer. Here are the last three verses of that Psalm. They are mostly a petition to God, hence a prayer.

Psalm 119:174 I have longed for your salvation, Yahweh.
    Your law is my delight.
175 Let my soul live, that I may praise you.
    Let your ordinances help me.
176 I have gone astray like a lost sheep.
    Seek your servant, for I don’t forget your commandments. (World English Bible, public domain)

Thanks for reading.

Fantastic Literature - E. Stephen Burnett points out how the Bible supports it

Some Christians think that, say, the Harry Potter books have no place in a Christian's reading, because they have to do with magic. The same has been said for books that have some sort of pagan religion, or even, like the Narnia books, minor characters (such as Tumnus the faun) that are based on non-Christian mythology. I recognize that there are some books that I shouldn't read, because of some sort of sinful content, and that some Christians probably have no business reading the Harry Potter books, or maybe even the Narnia books, because of their own personal make-up and experience, which might open them up to temptations that I don't think are particularly dangerous for me. But I disagree with the idea that no Christian should be reading books with magicians or some sort of pagan religion, and certainly disagree with crossing off all fantastic literature.

See here for a post on a series of books that I decided not to continue reading. See here for a post on the work of a particular author who is a self-declared Druid, but whose work is clearly sympathetic toward Christianity. Here is a post, attempting to describe Christian novels. Here is an examination of Christianity, or lack thereof, in the Harry Potter books.

E. Stephen Burnett is one of the authors of the Speculative Faith blog. In two recent posts - here and here - he opened my eyes about two pertinent Biblical facts. First, Daniel, and his Israeli companions, had to be conversant with the literature of Babylon. (See Daniel 1, particularly verse 17.) That literature almost certainly included stories about pagan deities. Second, the Tabernacle, as God directed its construction, almost certainly included materials given to the Israelites by the Egyptians, and most likely some of those materials were related to Egyptian idol worship. (See here for the source of some, or all, of the Israelite gold, and here for the instructions to use gold in the building of the tabernacle.)

Thanks, Burnett. It seems that God-serving people could know about the stories of pagan gods, and that the worship of God could use materials that had previously been related to the worship of other gods. So fantastic literature can also be used to God's glory, and the edification of Christians, even though it contains elements of magic or paganism. I have thought so for a long time, but this confirms it.

Actually, Burnett goes even further, because he thinks he needs to. Some Christians think, and argue, that no fiction, of any kind, is suitable for Christians to read. (See here for documentation.)

Thanks for reading. Read Burnett.

Sunspots 317

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

 

Science: (or something) National Public Radio on the hardest spelling words in the Scripps spelling bee.

Wired reports that there are animals found far below the surface of the earth, which is news.

Sports: Shaquille O'Neal, who recently announced his retirement, is destined for the NBA hall of fame, but his lifetime free throw shooting percentage was a dismal 53.7%. His worst year at the line, he shot 42.2%.

Li Na has become the first Chinese player to win a major tennis tournament.

Christianity: E. Stephen Burnett presents a brief theology of things (and deals with other matters).

Image source (public domain)

Prayers in the Bible: Psalm 119

Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible.

It finally occurred to me that it's one long prayer! Here's a sample of it:

Psalm 119:68 You are good, and do good.
Teach me your statutes. (World English Bible)

Many of the 176 verses in this Hebrew acrostic are part of a prayer to know God, and what God wants us to do. Always appropriate as prayer!

The previous post in this series is here.

Faithful hidden lives

Her finely touched spirit had still its fine issues, though they were not widely visible. Her full nature, like that river of which Cyrus broke the strength, spent itself in channels which had no great name on the earth. But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs. - George Eliot, Middlemarch, last paragraph (Project Gutenberg post of the book, which is public domain.)

Romans 2:5b God; 6 who “will pay back to everyone according to their works:” 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory, honor, and incorruptibility, eternal life; (World English Bible, public domain.) (See here for ESV version of this passage.)

I don't know if Eliot (aka Mary Anne Evans) had the Romans passage in mind when she finished Middlemarch, but her description, of a faithful hidden life, matches Paul's description of a quiet, patient life.

Thanks for reading.

Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay

I recently read Under Heaven, by Guy Gavriel Kay. (The first link in the previous sentence gives plot and publication information.) It was a good read, indeed. The book was, as the Wikipedia article says, a fictionalized setting of the An Shi rebellion in ancient China, an event which took more lives than any other war in recorded history, up until World War II (by which time there were a lot more people living).

Kay considers the war, but most of the book is about the events leading up to it, and he doesn't give much notice that a war is coming until the book is far along. Under Heaven is about characters and setting. It has a plot, too. What characters? What setting?

The book is too long, and too complex, for me to do it justice. See the first link in this post, if you want more detail and scope.

The characters are the most powerful people around the emperor, the family of the late General Shen Gao, and some other individuals who are important to that family. The emperor, himself, is a minor character. Kay occasionally introduces a totally new character, and tells some aspect of his story from the point view of that person for a chapter or more. In one case, he does this for a street beggar.

The book is also a love story. Two of the characters discover that they are in love with each other, after being associated for a long time.

The setting is the ins and outs of China, and surrounding lands, as Kay sees it, at that time. Much of the book bristles with court intrigue and protocol. One way to become important is to be a good poet -- one character in the book is a professional poet. Prospective court officials are tested, in part, on their ability to write poetry. There is a poetry contest between two characters.

The book is fantastic, a little. It would be historical fiction, but for the shamans, and the ghosts. There are ghosts, and they save the life of one of the characters. There are shamans, and they can work magic. They almost succeed into turning one of the characters into a wolf -- they would have, if the magic hadn't been interrupted. The ghosts and the shamans, or their effects, are necessary in the development of a son, and the daughter, of General Shen Gao. There is also a society, the kanlin, who are warriors, as in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. While it is not clear that they possess extraordinary powers, it is not certain that they don't. They certainly fight well.

Although I found no Christ-figure, and this is by no means a Christian novel, there are characters with integrity, and even characters who sacrifice their own lives, in the book.

If you want to be taken into a complex world, unlike 21st Century North America, try Under Heaven.

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 316

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

 

Science: National Public Radio reports on the use of the test that decides whether someone is a psychopath or not.

National Public Radio also reports that we don't really know the cause of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome -- we had thought that we did, but no.

Sports: Congratulations, sort of, to Mike Brown, who will apparently be the new coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, replacing Phil Jackson, who is retiring.

Image source (public domain)

Christianity and high art

Warning! This is longer than a Twitter tweet!

My Sunday School quarterly for next Sunday includes the following questions: "Why do you think many Christians have no time for or interest in higher forms of artistic expression? Should they?"*

I shall not attempt to define "higher forms." Here are my answers to the first question.

1) The most obvious answer is that Christians reflect their culture. Most people in North America in the 21st century have very little interest in, say, opera, or the poetry of Keats. So it is not surprising that Christians don't, either.

a) One reason for this is that most "higher art" is from the past. We don't pay much attention to history, or fashion, or even politics or religion from the past, except to mock it. "New" is probably the most common title of advertisements. It's also probably the most common word in names of churches begun within the last fifteen years.

b) Another reason is our short attention span, often disguised as multi-tasking, and evidenced by twitter, Facebook, etc. Even motion pictures are seldom longer than about two hours. Most literature, and much music and painting from the past, requires that we pay attention to it for an extended period, in order to appreciate it.

2) We are afraid of being contaminated. Many conservative Christians are suspicious of artistic expression, unless it is specifically designed for them. They will read the "Left Behind" series, for example, but not the National Book Award or Pulitzer Prize winners. They listen to, or sing, contemporary Christian music, but not the latest hits. They will see Fireproof, or Soul Surfer, but not The King's Speech. Why is this? There are several reasons. Secular literature and music may be written  or performed by atheists, pagans, adulterers, fornicators, people with drug habits, and the like. Movies, painting and sculpture may show such ways of life, or be created or performed by actors who practice such. Sinful ideas may rub off on us if we watch or listen to such things. We may become contaminated.

3) Conservative Christians are often anti-intellectual. We aren't the only ones -- see 1) above. But, again, we fear contamination. We are taught, and believe, that the Bible is more important than any other book. Thus, we tend to reject other books, even non-fiction books. We are probably less inclined to take up new ideas than our contemporaries are. Many of us educate our children at home, or in Christian schools, in part so that they are not exposed to some ideas that some Christians consider anti-Biblical. (Again, fear of contamination.) The Ten Commandments include a commandment against making "graven images" (King James language). Isn't this a prohibition against sculpture, and perhaps painting?

Here's my answer to the second question.

Yes, we should!

Why do I say so? There are three Biblical reasons. In John 17:5, Jesus said "I pray not that you would take them from the world, but that you would keep them from the evil one." (I'm quoting from the World English Bible, which is public domain.) This implies that we are to engage the world. Carefully, but we are to engage it. We aren't going to be able to minister effectively to those around us if we don't have much in common. Although the world at large is anti-intellectual, there are some people who produce, or treasure, "high art," even in 2011. It is often people who are going to be among those who have the greatest influence.

In Philippians 4:8, Paul gave a commandment. He wrote, in Philippians 4:8, "Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there is any virtue, and if there is any praise, think about these things." Much "high art" is worthy of praise, and being paid attention to. Work of the past, such as the music of Bach and Handel, specifically magnified Christ. Works that have won awards in our own day sometimes do, too, or at least they portray Biblical ideas.

God apparently likes high art -- the Bible describes the plan for the building of the tabernacle in considerable detail. It seems clear that God called craftspeople of great skill to lead this project. It is also clear that God demanded beauty in the construction of the tabernacle, and in its furnishings. An entire book -- the longest one -- in the Bible consists of nothing but poetry.

A final thought -- surely, even in the 21st century, God has equipped some Christians to participate, even be leaders, in the production and performance of the "high arts," just as He did during the Exodus, and since.

Much more could, and should, be said about these questions.

*Wesley Adult Bible Studies, 122:4, June-August 2011, "Songs of Praise for Every Generation," by Barbara Hilton, pp. 3-9. Quotation is from p. 7.

Thanks for reading!

James 1 chart

This chart is based on one used by Kenneth Foutz, who, like me, has retired from teaching at Southern Wesleyan University. He gave me permission to post this, which has been modified a little from his chart, but not much. I thank him.

The text used, in text form, is: James 1:12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who love him. 13 Let no man say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God can’t be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each one is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed. 15 Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin; and the sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death. (World English Bible, which is public domain)

The graphic serves as a link to my Flickr photostream, where larger versions of the chart may be found.

Thanks for looking! Don't be enticed.

For more on this passage of scripture, see what theologian and scholar Ken Schenck says about it.

Prayers in the Bible: Gideon prays for guidance

One of the best known examples of looking for God's guidance, in the Bible, is the story of Gideon. Here's part of it:

Judges 6:36 Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have spoken, 37 behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then shall I know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have spoken.”

38 It was so; for he rose up early on the next day, and pressed the fleece together, and wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.

39 Gideon said to God, “Don’t let your anger be kindled against me, and I will speak but this once. Please let me make a trial just this once with the fleece. Let it now be dry only on the fleece, and on all the ground let there be dew.”

40 God did so that night: for it was dry on the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground. (Quotations from the World English Bible, which is public domain.)

Note that Gideon prayed. He spoke to God, twice. And he asked God, basically, either if God knew what should be done, or, more charitably, if he had understood God correctly. It seems to me that the most important part of this story is that God didn't zap Gideon for his doubt, or for not paying close enough attention. He answered Gideon both times, with, apparently, a small miracle in each case.

The story is even more remarkable when we remember how God spoke to Gideon in the first place, and that God wasn't done speaking to him. Here's how God spoke to Gideon at first:

Judges 6:11 The angel of Yahweh came, and sat under the oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained to Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. 12 The angel of Yahweh appeared to him, and said to him, “Yahweh is with you, you mighty man of valor!”

13 Gideon said to him, “Oh, my lord, if Yahweh is with us, why then has all this happened to us? Where are all his wondrous works which our fathers told us of, saying, ‘Didn’t Yahweh bring us up from Egypt?’ But now Yahweh has cast us off, and delivered us into the hand of Midian.”

14 Yahweh looked at him, and said, “Go in this your might, and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Haven’t I sent you?”

15 He said to him, “O Lord, how shall I save Israel? Behold, my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”

16 Yahweh said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.”

17 He said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, then show me a sign that it is you who talk with me. 18 Please don’t go away, until I come to you, and bring out my present, and lay it before you.”

He said, “I will wait until you come back.”

19 Gideon went in, and prepared a young goat, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of meal. He put the meat in a basket and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out to him under the oak, and presented it.

20 The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.”

He did so. 21 Then the angel of Yahweh stretched out the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes; and fire went up out of the rock, and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes; and the angel of Yahweh departed out of his sight.

22 Gideon saw that he was the angel of Yahweh; and Gideon said, “Alas, Lord Yahweh! Because I have seen the angel of Yahweh face to face!”

23 Yahweh said to him, “Peace be to you! Don’t be afraid. You shall not die.”

In verse 14, Gideon got a clear command to lead the Israelites. It was accompanied by at least three miracles. God (or an angel) appeared to him, and spoke to him, in the first place. Second, Gideon asked for a sign, and was given one. Third, the angel miraculously disappeared. In spite of all of this, Gideon still wasn't convinced. That's why he made the requests about the fleece. That makes five miracles.

Actually, it seems that Gideon still wasn't sure. In a later passage, God showed him yet another miracle, shortly before he actually led the attack on the Midianites. The point seems to be that, even with people who are hard to convince, God does answer prayer for guidance. It also seems to be true that God doesn't despise honest (or maybe even somewhat dishonest) doubt. Probably the biggest miracle of the entire story is that Gideon, a man who didn't really want to do this, actually did lead the Israelites against the army of Midian, rather than running back home to the farm.

Here is a discussion of another case of honest doubt. These two aren't the only ones in the Bible.

This post is part of a series on prayers in the Bible. The previous one is here.

Sunspots 315

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

Humor: A video of a cat and an owl, who are apparently good friends, but play roughly.

Science: It is possible to use  the  incidence of  Google searches for MRSA to  plot the spread of the disease, according to a report in Wired.

NPR reports on what may be the last living tree of an ancient species.

Christianity: Ken Schenck, Bible scholar, on common mistakes made by people who read the Bible. 

Image source (public domain)

Biblical truths in "Thor," the movie?

A question that readers of fantastic literature should often ask themselves is "does reading about non-Christian religions, the occult, vampires, etc., lead me away from the True God?" Sometimes, I think so. I recently decided that a book, marketed for young adults, and, apparently about fairies living among normal people, was not going anywhere that I wanted to go. I stopped reading it after a couple of chapters. On the other hand, I have read a number of authors who have laid out pagan religions of some sort, and, I believe, found such stories to be uplifting. (See here for more on that subject.)

E. Stephen Burnett has recently posted his thoughts on this sort of subject, with emphasis on the recently released movie, Thor. He concludes that this movie was uplifting, as a whole. His posts are in two parts, here, and here.

The movie was worth watching, and Burnett's thoughts are worth reading.

Prayers in the Bible: John prays for Christ's return

The most important parts of a book, story, essay, and the like are often the beginning and the end. I'm not sure that that's quite true of the Bible, as the beginning and the end don't say much about Christ's life, ministry, death and resurrection. But the beginning, setting forth a powerful God as creator, is important. So is the ending. The next to last verse in the Bible says, in part: "Even so, come, Lord Jesus." (World English Bible, Revelation 22:20b)

A lot of what is in Revelation isn't clear. But this seems quite clear. John, the same John who was one of Christ's closest followers, prayed for His return. So should we!

A group of Christians (I hope) declared that yesterday was the beginning of Christ's second coming -- that "the Bible guarantees" that that would occur on May 21st, 2011. If you are reading this, presumably that didn't happen. (Here's more on their claim.) Many Christians agree with me that such predictions are, at best, foolish, but about one thing we should be agreed -- we should work for, and pray for, Christ's return.

Thanks for reading. This is part of a series on prayer. The previous post is here.

Immanence

I have some idea of what immanence means. Perhaps you do, too.

I recently read a fine article on the subject, as it relates to God's creation, and I recommend it to you.

Thanks for reading. God is immanent!

Sunspots 314

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

Humor: Wired reports on a professor's attempt to classify all jokes (A Venn diagram is included). Seriously.

Science: Robots may be subject to selection for  unselfishness, according to  a report in  ScienceNow.

Christianity:  Henry Neufeld on the Second Coming: "The fact is that we’ve been proclaiming 'soon,' in the [sense] of 'just around the corner' for so long, that it no longer sounds very convincing."

Image source (public domain)

Stephen Hawking and God, again

Stephen Hawking, famous scientist, and best-selling author, has said, in an interview, that 'There is no heaven; it's a fairy story.' He believes, as many do, that human existence ends with death.

Perhaps Hawking is right. I can't prove that he is not.

But statements such as this are not scientific. Hawking has not proved, by experiment, that there is no heaven. He presents no firm scientific evidence for this assertion.

It is interesting that the reason for interviewing Hawking was a lecture he recently gave on M-theory. M-theory is one version of a so-called Theory of Everything, an attempt to explain the physical laws that undergird our universe in one unified scheme. As the Wikipedia article on the theory says, so far, M-theory lacks experimental proof, and ". . . the tangible success of M-theory can be questioned, given its current incompleteness and limited predictive power, even after so many years of intense research."

That doesn't prove that M-theory isn't right. It may be. But perhaps its predictive power is roughly equivalent to assertions about the existence (or not) of a heavenly afterlife. (I would guess that the establishment of M-theory, should that take place, would neither prove or disprove the existence of God.)

For more on Hawking's religious beliefs, see this paragraph in the Wikipedia, or go here.

Thanks for reading.

Prayers in the Bible: A delayed answer in the war against Benjamin

Judges 20 tells a remarkable story. The Israelites were attacking one of their own tribes, that of Benjamin, and for a good reason. The Benjaminites had refused to turn over some of their own, who had committed rape and murder, for punishment. (You can read about the crime in Judges 19.)

The people of the other tribes consulted God before going to battle, and they were answered. For two consecutive days, they consulted God, and, when answered, followed God's orders, but were soundly defeated by the warriors from Benjamin. In fact, 40,000 of them were killed on these two days. (This was more than the entire army of Benjamin, so it wasn't because they were outnumbered.) The people consulted God before the first day's battle, and followed His directions. They were beaten. They consulted God before the second day's battle, and followed His directions. They were beaten. They consulted God before the third day's battle, and, this time, almost wiped out the entire army of Benjamin. Why did it take so long? Why did God direct them to what seems, to us (and to the Israelites) two days of disaster? We really don't know why.

But I think there are lessons for me in this. I need to persevere. I'm not God. I don't understand everything. God does. I hope I've learned these lessons.

This is one of a series on prayers in the Bible. The last post is here. Thanks for reading. Keep praying.

Disagreeing about origins can be done courteously!

In a recent post, Steve Matheson, of Quintessence of Dust, points out some serious flaws in one of the very few attempts to demonstrate Intelligent Design scientifically. And he does so in a courteous and respectful manner.

In my opinion (and I'm far from alone) demonstrating ID scientifically would be very difficult, hasn't been done, and there are very few published attempts to do so. Matheson's post includes links to some such attempts, and shows how they are lacking.

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 313

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

Science: Wired reports on the discovery, in the lab, of a new parthenogenetic species of lizard. Unfortunately, the photos at the end confused me.

 
Politics: I have been a Flickr member for several years. (Flickr is a photograph-based social network.) I recently discovered that President Obama has a Flickr account. I doubt if he took all of the over 50,000 photos that are in it by himself . . .  So I checked on some other political people. Tim Pawlenty has an account, with a lot less photos. Michele Bachman, Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich don't seem to have accounts.

Computing: You've probably seen this all before, but here's an article on how passwords are hacked.

Christianity: An English translation of the Latin text of the Requiem Mass, by Mozart (and others).

Image source (public domain)

Prayers in the Bible: Hagar

This is part of a series on prayers in the Bible. For the previous entry, see here.

This being Mother's Day in the U. S., I decided to look for the first prayer, by a mother, in the Bible. I was surprised at the mother I found. Hagar. And, I must disclose that the Bible doesn't really say that Hagar prayed. It does imply it. She got answers.

Probably there were other women, before Hagar, who prayed to God. But the stories of the patriarchs are mostly about the men, not the women, and there is not much description of praying even by the men, in Genesis. In fact, even of the men who must have been closest to God, we are seldom told specifically that they prayed. Joseph, for example, said that God showed him how to interpret Pharaoh's dreams, but we are not told that he prayed that he would be shown the answer.

According to Genesis 16, Hagar was an Egyptian servant, or slave, of Abraham and Sarah. Sarah decided, since she wasn't getting pregnant, that Abraham should have a child by Hagar. As far as we know, this wasn't Hagar's idea, or Abraham's, but they went along with it. Then, when Hagar became pregnant, there was serious friction between Sarah and Hagar, perhaps mostly Hagar's fault. So Hagar ran away. An angel appeared to her, told her that she would have a son, Ishmael, and to go back and submit to Sarah. Hagar evidently had some sort of relationship with God, at this point (perhaps before this) because she acknowledged that God had spoken to her. She went back to serve Sarah.

In Genesis 21, we read that, after the birth of Isaac, Abraham sent Ishmael and Hagar away, because Sarah demanded this. Abraham, we are told, didn't like it. (Paul, in Galatians 4, uses this story to illustrate the difference between the two Covenants.) Off they went into the wilderness, and Hagar thought that they were going to die of thirst. The Bible doesn't say that she prayed, but it does say that God answered her desire that her son wouldn't die, and Ishmael's crying, and showed her a source of water. Hagar was able to raise Ishmael, and, eventually, as God had promised his father, he became an important tribal chief.

Did Hagar pray that her son would be preserved? I'm not absolutely sure. But it would make sense that a mother deeply concerned about her child, who had already had at least one experience in communicating with God, would seek to do so again. The word, pray, in the sense of praying to God, is absent from the Bible until Genesis 20. Presumably people, such as Noah and Enoch, did pray, but for some reason that is not specifically indicated in the Bible. This makes it more plausible that Hagar may have.

We don't know what happened to Hagar after this. We do know that she at least lived long enough to get a wife for Ishmael. Perhaps she died soon after that. Perhaps she was married. We are not told. But mothers love their children, and want the best for them. I suspect that Hagar did pray on this occasion. Whether she did or not, she was answered.

Thanks for reading. Happy Mother's Day!

Influencing Twitter through Twitter robots

In the recent Atlantic, Andy Isaacson reports on an experiment to create Twitter bots, and the results. As the report says: "Can one person controlling an identity, or a group of identities, really shape social architecture? Actually, yes."

The report is brief, and gives examples. Presumably, the same thing could be done through Facebook.

Sunspots 312

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

Humor: (but quite serious) The housing price index, for the last 10 years, sung as an operatic aria, on NPR.

(or possibly The Arts) A Flickr gallery of photos of cakes made in the form of a Rubik's cube. Some of them are twisted.

Science: Wired has a listing of some minerals you've probably never heard of. Just to be sure, I looked up Tugtupite and Herbertsmithite. Yes, they exist.

Wired also reports, and has video, from the air, of an amazing gathering of whale sharks. Whale sharks are the world's largest fish.

Image source (public domain)

Death of bin Laden: musings

Osama bin Laden was an evil man. He was dedicated to the destruction of the U. S. Indirectly, he caused the deaths of three or four thousand U. S. citizens. (See here for the Wikipedia article on his beliefs.)

I have a few thoughts on bin Laden's death:

1) I don't believe God takes any pleasure in bin Laden's death. In Ezekiel 33:11, we read this: "Tell them, As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn, turn from your evil ways; for why will you die, house of Israel?" (World English Bible) I don't think that I should take pleasure in it, either.


2) The Bible does seem to indicate that nations have a right to protect their citizens. I believe that we had a right to go after bin Laden. There is a long history of discussion, among Christian thinkers, about the issue of what wars, if any, are just. Not all military action is justifiable, probably including some military action by the United States. Any military action may lead to the death and injury of innocent civilians, and most of them do. They also lead to property destruction and environmental damage.


When the Israelites wanted to go through Edom, under Moses, the Edomites refused them passage, and the Israelites changed direction, rather than go to war. (Numbers 20:14-21) At other times, of course, they did go to war.


3) The United States is a nation blessed by God, with, for example, many natural resources and territory which is difficult to attack by land. There are many Christians in the U. S. But God is not necessarily on the side of the U. S. God sometimes favored other nations against the Israelis, after all. (The U. S. is not some sort of modern-day Israel.) When Joshua, a God-ordained leader, asked the leader of the heavenly hosts if he was on Joshua's side or not, the response was that he was not on either side. (Joshua 5:13-15) The important question is "are we on God's side?" God is not on ours. Joshua, by the way, was on a God-ordained mission, but even in that case, he could not take the approval of God for granted. We shouldn't, either. We have probably taken military actions that were not God-approved, and, perhaps, there are military actions that we should have taken, but didn't.


4) I said above that the Bible seems to indicate that nations can go to war in retaliation for attacks, or to protect weaker nations. It is less clear that individual Christians can retaliate for attacks on their own persons, or to their property, according to Christ, in Matthew 5:38-45. Christians can come to the defense of the weak, and oppose injustice.


Thanks for reading.

You can't imagine your future without a functional memory

Carl Zimmer is one of today's best science writers. In a recent column in Discover, he reports on research that indicates that some parts of the brain function in both memory and projecting into the future -- what will I be doing in 20 minutes? What happens tomorrow? Of course, no one knows the future for sure, but normal people have ideas about what's going to happen. Fascinating reading.

Thanks for reading this.

Prayers in the Bible: A prayer that Gideon didn't pray

Judges 7:9 It happened the same night, that Yahweh said to him, “Arise, go down into the camp; for I have delivered it into your hand. 10 But if you are afraid to go down, go with Purah your servant down to the camp: 11 and you shall hear what they say; and afterward your hands will be strengthened to go down into the camp.” Then went he down with Purah his servant to the outermost part of the armed men who were in the camp.

12 The Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like locusts for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand which is on the seashore for multitude.

13 When Gideon had come, behold, there was a man telling a dream to his fellow; and he said, “Behold, I dreamed a dream; and behold, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian, and came to the tent, and struck it so that it fell, and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.”

14 His fellow answered, “This is nothing other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel. God has delivered Midian into his hand, with all the army.”

15 It was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and its interpretation, that he worshiped; and he returned into the camp of Israel, and said, “Arise; for Yahweh has delivered the army of Midian into your hand!” (WEB)

Gideon didn't pray about his fear, but he must have had some, or God wouldn't have sent him to eavesdrop on the camp of Midian. And what he heard fixed his fear in a hurry! He surely prayed then -- a prayer of thanksgiving.

This is one of a series on prayers in the Bible. The previous post is here.