On Judicial Kings, Common Law, and Common Sense...

In the obfuscation surrounding the Terri Schiavo case we first need to understand that the point is not how we would want to be treated if we were in Terri's position. That you or I would not want to be continually fed, were we in the same condition, is completely irrelevant. Consider (from the comments to a previous post),

[u]ltimately this case...is about Theresa Schiavo's right to make her own decision, independent of her parents and independent of her husband....the trial judge [made] a decision that the clear and convincing evidence shows the ward [Mrs. Schiavo] made a decision for herself.

Where did this clear and convincing evidence come from, if not from Terri Schiavo? Could it be... Michael Schiavo? If so, then Terri's life hangs in the balance based on Michael's motives and intent. We must understand that the judicial branch of our government does not hold the trump card, so to speak. We are not mandated to bow down to our judicial rulers. While I am certainly not advocating an_rchy, we must become cognizant of the fact that there are legal ways to correct judicial power-grabbing. The Terri Schiavo execution will serve as a wake-up call with regards to a judicial branch run amuck. Lastly, Michael Schiavo's actions, with regards to his current love, are certainly admissible as indicators of motive and intent. While proceedings behind closed courtroom doors may follow the letter of the law, and thus deal a death blow to Terri in the supposed name of dignity, the common man understands quite well what is happening. Consider (also from comments to a previous post),

...an independent report to Gov. Jeb Bush and the judicial system two years ago said 'the evidence is incontrovertible that [Michael Schiavo] gave his heart and soul to her treatment and care.'[XXX]...The exhaustive 2003 report by Jay Wolfson, professor of public health and medicine at the University of South Florida...

To keep the proper perspective, at the [XXX], simply insert,

as evidenced by the fact that he now shacks up with his girlfriend and has fathered two children by her.

Finally,

...It took Michael a long time to consider the prospect of getting on with his life---something he was actively encouraged to do by the Schindlers...He was even encouraged by the Schindlers to date...

Maybe a little clarification is in order here... To impregnate your live-in girlfriend twice is not equivalent to "dating." Again let's try a little common sense - if your spouse were to start dating wouldn't you assume that your marriage was, for all intents and purposes, over? How about if your spouse either impregnated their lover a couple of times (or was impregnated a couple of times)? Who would, in their right mind, not think that such a spouse was anything more than a cheating two-timer? If the judicial branch were truly interested in executing law, they would have declared Michael and Terri divorced, and turned guardianship over to those blood relatives who have continually expressed a desire to love and care for her. While the judicial branch seems confused by Michael's actions, the common man is not.

On Resurrection Day...

From a post published on May 26, 2004: Back around Resurrection Day (Easter) I received an e-mail from a reader named Darren who inquired about potential discrepancies contained within the four narratives on the Resurrection of Christ. He said, among other things,

If you contrast the accounts of the resurrection in the book of Matthew to that written in the book of John, there are some discrepancies that make the resurrection seem less than plausible. In Matthew we read of a post-resurrection story where the two Marys are greeted at the tomb by an angel who had just rolled away the stone from its entrance. After revealing to both women the empty place where Jesus’ body once laid, the angel proclaims to them that Jesus had already risen from the dead. The angel goes on to instruct both Marys that they are to tell the disciples that Jesus had gone before them to the Galilee to meet them. (Matthew 28:1-7) If that encounter wasn’t convincing enough for the two women, Matthew continues to relate how, after leaving the tomb, both Marys unexpectedly meet the resurrected Jesus himself, whom they both worship. Jesus then essentially repeats the angels instructions to them, and sends the women to inform the disciples that they are to meet the resurrected Jesus in the Galilee. (Matthew 28:8-10) In Johns version of the first Easter morning, when Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb, there is no angel there to greet her with information about Jesus’ whereabouts or instructions about a rendezvous in the Galilee as we find in Matthews account (Matthew 28:5-7). On the contrary, in Johns story, after Mary finds the empty tomb, she concludes that someone had removed the body from the grave. Mary certainly had no reason to believe otherwise. She therefore quickly runs back to the disciples and reports, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him!” (John 20:1-2) The above account is entirely inconsistent with Matthews post-resurrection narrative. Why didn’t Mary know that Jesus’ body was not laid anywhere? In Matthews story, the angel had already reported to her that Jesus rose from the dead and had gone to the Galilee. It would therefore have been ridiculous for her to think that someone had moved the body when the angels had already informed her that Jesus’ resurrection had occurred. Moreover, if the angels instructions to her were not convincing enough, Matthew maintains that Mary also met the resurrected Jesus himself right after leaving the tomb (Matthew 28:9); and all this transpires before Mary ever sees the disciples. Why then in Johns Gospel is Mary clueless as to where Jesus’ body was moved, when according to Matthew, Mary had already heard from two reliable sources, the angel at the tomb and Jesus himself, that Jesus rose from the dead?

Not surprisingly, Darren also had questions about whether the doctrine of the Trinity is truly taught in the Bible. I will not address Trinitarian doctrine on this post but concentrate, instead, on the Resurrection. There are many sources of information with regards to the historicity of the Resurrection accounts, e.g., William Lane Craig, or Jeremy Pierce (from Parablemania), but I found two sources to be particularly helpful with regards to the issue of contradictions within the accounts. One was Alleged Discrepancies of the Bible, by John W. Haley, and the other was Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, by Gleason Archer. Archer states, with regards to the four Gospel accounts,

The very fact that each of the four writers contributed individual details from his own perspective and emphasis furnishes the most compelling type of evidence possible for the historicity of Christ’s conquest over death and the grave. A careful examination of these four records in comparison with another demonstrates that they are not in any way contradictory, despite the charges leveled by some critics. It is helpful to synthesize all four accounts in order to arrive at a full picture of what took place on Easter itself and during the weeks that intervened until the ascension of Christ.

In our Western cultural mentality we tend to look for detailed and exact accounting with regards to historical presentation. Our typical view of a genealogical listing, for example, is that it be as detailed, precise, and comprehensive as possible. Yet cultures from the past, the Middle East in particular, viewed a genealogy as a means of identifying how ancestor A got to ancestor Z, regardless of whether every intermediate ancestor was listed. Reading a genealogy, written in a different culture, with our 21st century mindset may give us a false impression of the information being conveyed. Similarly, we need to understand that multiple accounts of the same event need not be exactly the same, so long as they are not formally contradictory. That said, it should not be surprising that events listed in one account of the resurrection may or may not be listed in another account. Further, we must be careful not to make the assumption that if an event was not listed in an account, then it means that the event did not occur. An omission of data is simply that – an omission. Also, we should be aware that a writer may skip a portion of the narrative that he felt unnecessary to include. That seems contrary to our mentality which states that if we want to prove a point (e.g., the resurrection), then we should outline all the pertinent facts. Of course this ignores the probable fact that the Gospel writers did not include every detail anyway. Lastly, we need to be cognizant of the fact that we are reading the account with full knowledge of events prior to and after the resurrection. We understand the meaning and purpose of Jesus’ resurrection only because of the chasm that the initial witnesses spanned as it was revealed to them. Archer analyzes the four Gospel accounts as such:

On Saturday evening three of the women decided to go back to the tomb belonging to Joseph of Arimathea, where they had seen Christ’s body laid away on Friday at sundown. …There were three women involved (Mark 16:1)… They apparently started their journey from the house in Jerusalem while it was still dark, even though it was already early morning (John 20:1). But by the time they arrived, dawn was glimmering in the east (Matt. 28:1).

Where the women were, when the earthquake occurred in which the angels rolled away the stone from the tomb, we are not told. They were apparently unaware of the event given their reaction upon reaching the tomb and finding the stone rolled away for them. Archer continues,

They then entered the tomb, side-stepping the unconscious soldiers. In the tomb they made out the form of the leading angel, appearing as a young man with blazing white garments (Mark 16:5), who, however, may not have shown himself to them until they first discovered that the corpse was gone (Luke 24:2-3). But then it became apparent that this angel had a companion, for there were two of them in the tomb.

The angel tells the women not to be afraid, yet one can hardly expect them to immediately calm down. The angel also reminds them that Christ Himself had spoken of His resurrection and that they are to go and tell His disciples that He had risen from the dead. In the Gospels we see, time and time again, that Jesus’ identity as Messiah is intentionally revealed and not necessarily deduced. That his resurrection could be both knowable and yet unexpected should not surprise us. We are told in John 20:9, “For they did not yet understand the scripture that Jesus must rise from the dead.” It is sometimes difficult for us to realize the paradigm shift in thinking that the disciples had to go through, e.g., even after they understood that Jesus was resurrected, they still expected Him to begin His earthly reign as Messiah (Acts 1:6). Thus, the women leave the tomb, for the first time, and tell the disciples that, “They have taken the Lord away from the tomb, and we don’t know where they have laid Him!” (John 20:2). The Jewish concept of the resurrection was that all were resurrected at the end of the age. That Jesus was to rise from the dead, on his own, was a foreign concept to them, not to mention that at this point in time they had yet to see Jesus for themselves. Regardless, Peter and John decide to inspect the tomb for themselves (John 20:3). Archer states,

John arrived there first, being no doubt younger and faster than Peter. Yet it turned out that he was not as perceptive as Peter, for all John did when he got to the entrance was stoop down and look into the tomb, where he saw the shroud… But Peter was a bit bolder and more curious; he went inside the chamber and found it indeed empty. Then he looked intently at the winding sheet… Instead of being spread out in a long, jumbled strip, it was still wrapped together in one spot…

It appears that Mary Magdalene decided to return to the tomb after Peter and John. There is no mention of whether Peter and John saw her at the tomb or on their way back home. After she returned to the tomb she was once again greeted by the angels who asked her why she was crying. She apparently still had not understood the full meaning of what the angels had initially told her. After asking the angels, “They have taken my Lord away, and I do not know where they put him,” Jesus appears behind her. She turns to see him but does not recognize him. We are not told whether this was intentional on Jesus’ part or whether it was due to Mary’s emotional state. Per Archer,

It was at this point that the kindly stranger revealed Himself to Mary by reverting to His familiar voice as He addressed her by name, “Mariam!” Immediately she realized that the body she was looking for stood right before her, no longer a corpse but now a living, breathing human being – and yet more than that, the incarnate God. “Rabbouni!” she exclaimed (that is to say, “Master!”) and cast herself at His feet.

Jesus then instructs her to return and tell His disciples that He must briefly ascend to the Father (John 20:17). Conferring with Matthew 28:9 we see that the other women also returned to the tomb and were met by Jesus as well, although we are not told if they met Jesus specifically at the tomb. That point is important because Peter appears to be the first male disciple to be visited by Jesus after His resurrection for when the women returned the second time from the tomb to report their news of meeting Jesus, the disciples replied, “The Lord has really risen, and has appeared to Simon!” (Luke 24:34). We are told that Jesus had appeared to Peter, but we are not told when or where the event happened. This is just a brief analysis of the Gospel accounts regarding the resurrection. Far from being contradictory in nature, the Gospels provide a rich tapestry of detail with regards to the various events surrounding that unique day two thousand years ago.

On Good Friday...

They came to a place called Golgotha (which means "Place of the Skull") and offered Jesus wine mixed with gall to drink. But after tasting it, he would not drink it. When they had crucified him, they divided his clothes by throwing dice. Then they sat down and kept guard over him there. Above his head they put the charge against him, which read: "This is Jesus, the king of the Jews." Then two outlaws were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by defamed him, shaking their heads and saying, "You who can destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are God’s Son, come down from the cross!" In the same way even the chief priests—together with the experts in the law and elders—were mocking him: "He saved others, but he cannot save himself! He is the king of Israel! If he comes down now from the cross, we will believe in him! He trusts in God—let God, if he wants to, deliver him now because he said, 'I am God’s Son'!" The robbers who were crucified with him also spoke abusively to him. Now from noon until three, darkness came over all the land. At about three o’clock Jesus shouted with a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, "This man is calling for Elijah." Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink. But the rest said, "Leave him alone! Let’s see if Elijah will come to save him." Then Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and gave up his spirit. Just then the temple curtain was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks were split apart. And tombs were opened, and the bodies of many saints who had died were raised. (They came out of the tombs after his resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.) Now when the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and what took place, they were extremely terrified and said, "Truly this one was God’s Son!" - Matthew 27:33 - 54 (NET)

How undignified!...

CNN has the answer to why it is okay for judges to order the execution of Terri Schiavo. From it's main web page (as of 9:20 p.m. PST), we read:

Hours after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected pleas to intervene in the case of Terri Schiavo on Thursday, her parents again asked a federal judge in Florida to order the brain-damaged woman's feeding tube restored. Courts have consistently ruled against her parents, who want to keep her alive, and in favor of her husband, who says he wants her to die with dignity. (emphasis added)

Of course. That's it. While her cheating husband wants her to die with dignity, her loving parents want her to remain undignified (i.e., alive). God help us.

On Terri...

From a post I wrote in October of 2003: ...This is scary folks. All arguments regarding the courts and judges and lawyers aside, there are some incredibly crazy thoughts here. Jeb Bush has ordered that nutrition and water be given to Terri, overruling a court order which removed them from her about 5 days ago. Do you understand what is going on here? A U.S. Court ordered that Terri Schiavo be starved to death! According to the article [per outdated Reuters' link],

"Republican state Sen. Tom Lee said senators felt political pressure to quickly approve the bill or be blamed "for killing Terri Schiavo." "Some people came up with a political brainstorm to use this woman's life as a political football, to appeal to the Christian conservatives in this state who will never understand the details that construct this case," Lee said. Some lawmakers and scholars questioned whether the state constitution authorized the legislature to give the governor power to overrule a court."

That's right Tom, blame it on those moronic Christian conservatives who will never understand anything as complicated as this court case. From Boykin to Ashcroft to Schiavo supporters... it's those radical right Christians. Tell me Tom, do you have the fortitude to watch Terri starve to death? Do you understand that it is a long, painful process? Will you monitor her condition as her life slowly slips away? Note the ending of the article,

"Robert Schindler [Terri's father] was delighted with Tuesday's turn of events, telling reporters outside the hospice where Schiavo is being treated in Pinellas Park, a suburb of St. Petersburg, "It's incredible." But George Felos, an attorney for Schiavo's husband, called the legislature's action unconstitutional and said he would try to have the bill overturned. Felos also said he would file civil suits against anyone who helped put Schiavo back on life support."

Life support? This is completely false. Terri is not on life support... she is being provided with nutrition. Maybe attorney George Felos should be reminded of that the next time he sits down for a meal? What should be scary here is the lack of outrage we see on the streets. Is this indicative of agreement by a majority of Americans with the court's decision to starve Terri to death? If so... where will it stop? Update: I was stunned on the commute home from work today. I carpool, and it was my turn to drive. I had Hugh Hewitt on and, of course, he was discussing the slow execution that Terri Schiavo is now experiencing. My carpool partner, upon hearing Hewitt's doubts regarding Michael Schiavo's veracity as Terri's husband, since he lives with his girlfriend and has fathered two of her children, turned to me and said, "I didn't know that!" It's truly mindboggling that entire segments of our population haven't a clue about what is going on here. Then again... maybe it isn't.

The elegance of modern English...

I was walking down a hallway at work one day and crossed paths with two women. As they passed by, I overhead one of them say to the other, "We are so not planning that this year!" We are so not planning that? I thought. Was that equivalent to stating, "We are definitely not planning that"? Mind you, they were not a couple of 14 year old adolescents but were, supposedly, working professionals. Recently I read a mailer from a Christian organization which attempts to reach out to today's youth - the so called Emerging Generation. One of the youth mentors was interviewed in the piece and, despite the interview being only a few paragraphs long, used the word awesome at least four times. Are our 21st century minds truly that limited? I've had colleagues, in their 30's no less, tell me that they "googled" something on the internet. I thought Google was a noun, not a verb. This was, of course, after they addressed me as "dude." These same individuals will respond on an instant message with "k" instead of "OK." I suppose it's important to save that one keystroke (and the "shift" key... to avoid the extra time to enter UPPERCASE letters). Are we really in that much of a hurry? Is there any elegance left in our communication when we resort to using the language of simpletons? In Lelan Ryken's book, The Word of God in English, he refers to the elegance of a translation as applied to beauty and to cadence. While a simpler version may be more readily understandable, he argues that the more complex version is more lasting, and more easily remembered. Consider the following passage from Phillipians, in the King James Version:

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. - Phillipians 4:8

Now compare it with the simpler, and more easily understood paraphrase found in The Message:

Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious - the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.

While one version is certainly easier to understand, is the more complex version beyond our grasp? p.s. dude, i googled on elegance but way too many hits came up. i was all, like... i am so not going to search through that. dude, it would be so not awesome. y'know what i'm saying? k. Update: I think it's awesome that this post generated so many comments. I was just telling my wife about what an awesome opportunity we have to blog about blogging on our blogs. To see the influence such power can wield is truly an awesome experience. I'm hoping for some more exciting and awesome adventures in the road ahead. (note: I really don't have anything against the word awesome... I simply wish that some people would attempt to spice up their vocabulary with a bit more variety)

Friday Rant, 3/18/05...

The execution of Terri Schiavo has begun, in a most cruel and unusual manner. Schiavo's husband is supposedly at her bedside, evidently taking time away from his girlfriend and her children, whom he fathered. An attorney, in league with the executioners, stated that Terri has a right to die in peace. A bullet to the back of the head would be a more peaceful way to leave this earth... John Evander Couey has reportedly confessed to kidn_pping and k_lling 9 year old Jessica Lunsford. John Evander Couey is a convicted s_x offender who was residing, not where he had reported to authorities, but across the street from where Jessica lived. How does law enforcement lose track of the whereabouts of a convicted s_x offender? Shouldn't we be the least bit concerned? Why are we not serious about protecting our children? Why do we care about Brian Nichols and whether his choice of h_stage, Ashley Smith, was part of God's Will? The man brutally m_rdered four people. He chose his actions. While I wouldn't wish the ordeal Smith went through on anyone, her compassion might be better directed towards the families of those four innocent victims. Nichols may indeed spread the word of God to fellow prisoners, but his earthly actions deserve earthly payment. If God could bring Nichols to Smith's door, then why couldn't God have brought him to the courtroom, sans four corpses? And does anyone else see a bit of aberrant theology driven, perhaps, from expecting a purpose in the whole episode? Education Taxed By Non-English Speaking Kids.

One in six students in California are children of illegal immigrants though many are born in the United States and therefore are U.S. citizens.

I like to be in America, Okay by me in America. Everything free in America, For a small fee in America. Per FoxNews,

A 5-year-old girl was arrested, cuffed and put in back of a police cruiser after an outburst at school where she threw books and boxes, kicked a teacher in the shins, smashed a candy dish, hit an assistant principal in the stomach and drew on the walls.

The girl's mother said, She's never going back to that school. They set my baby up. Yeah, that's it.

Science & Christianity...

Caetz, over at Allthings2All, has the Science & Christianity Showcase up. Stop by and read some very good posts that she has assembled from various Christian bloggers.

A Phased Schedule: how to summarize an entire project (such as creation)...

In dealing with the debate between the young earth and old earth creation scenarios we must always remember to not limit our analysis to just the text of Genesis 1. The Bible has various other references to God's activity in creation (Genesis 2, Job 38, and Psalm 104 immediately come to mind) and if we are to fully understand this activity then we must strive to harmonize the various passages. A question (or some variation thereof) that young earth proponents frequently ask is, why should we take the days to be long periods of time when the text clearly states that they were days? While there are hermeneutical reasons why the old earth stance is permissible, I would rather address the possible reasons why, when we read the text of Genesis 1, we may come away thinking that the creation days must be six 24 hour periods. The first reason, of course, is that the text lays out the creation events into six periods, using terminology that could lead one to believe that the periods correspond directly with our days of the week. Yet note what just transpired - we see a direct correspondence between God's action during creation and the days of our week. Was the intent, or one of the intents, of the creation account to give us information as to the age of the universe and / or the length of time God used in creating? Or was the intent, or one of the intents, of the creation account to illustrate a pattern that virtually all peoples could relate to and understand? (namely, that of the 6 / 1 pattern) Even a cursory review of the scriptures will reveal virtually nothing written to reveal the age of the universe / earth in terms of actual numbers, yet we see an immensely rich use of the 6 / 1 pattern. As a planner/scheduler I can appreciate the use of a summarized schedule which one can use to represent an entire project of virtually any duration. Consider the graphic below.
This is a simple summarized schedule, representing a project that spans the duration of two years. Typically a project that involves engineering, purchasing, manufacturing, and construction will be broken down into various groups, or phases. The actual distinction between phases is subjective and can be assigned on a per project basis. For one project it might make sense to base the phases directly on the engineering, purchasing, manufacturing, and construction sequences. For another project it might make more sense to base the phases on physical areas of work at the project site. The point to understand is that any project can be categorized into groups of work (or phases). Note how, in the graphic above, I have listed 6 phases of work which span across the two year time period. The 6 phases of work, while they encompass the entire project duration, are not equal in duration themselves. Phase I is only 1 month long and Phase II is 7 months long. However, note that the phases follow each other in sequence (this is not a necessity, but is used here for the illustration). When schedules such as these are presented to management, or to the client, the duration and timing of the project and of each phase is extremely important. The reason for this is typically because it is our intent to demonstrate how quickly the project will be completed. After all, time is money. Yet, what if my intentions were to present the schedule of this project to a group of people, not to inform them of the duration of the project, but to definitively state for them who was in charge of the project and to set up the foundation for the six phase pattern I would later use in guiding them? I'd probably give them something like that of Genesis 1.

Reading naturally...

Dory, over at Wittenberg Gate, is in the middle of a series of posts dealing with Death before the Fall. As part of her argument, she addresses the various interpretations of the Genesis 1 creation account with regards, mainly, to whether or not the text indicates 6 24 hour days or 6 long periods of time. She refers to the concept of "natural reading" and states,

First, I would like to make the point that if someone was confronted with the text of the first two chapters of Genesis and had no preconceived notions about it, he or she would come away with the idea that this text asserts that in the space of six days God created time, matter, and space, organized those elements to form the earth, moon, stars, etc., and made the earth's plants and its animal and human life. This is what I will refer to as a natural reading of the text. This is different than a literal reading of the text. If I said it was raining cats and dogs, a literal understanding of that would be absurd. However a natural reading of that statement is to recognize an obvious metaphor, or use of poetic speech, and understand that it is raining heavily. I do not believe that Scripture should always be read literally, however, I would assert that it needs to be read naturally. Determining what is a natural reading of a text can be complicated by cultural differences and translations. This is a common problem with Westerners reading the visionary, and to a lesser extent, the poetic portions of Scripture, as we are not as well exposed to these Eastern literary forms. (We need to improve our education on that, I believe.) Westerners reading the Psalms, for example, generally fail to see the intricate internal structure of these poems unless they are first trained to do so. However, the first chapter of Genesis is not in a poetic or visionary form. The creation is set out as a straightforward history with a chronological structure. There is the beginning, first day, second day, third day, and so on, and then a declaration that the work is complete, followed by rest. To insert a gap into a text that is so focused on a time sequence, seems to be straining the text quite a bit. Anyone asserting that this is necessary ought to bear the burden of proof and show why such a reading is warranted. What could justify a day-by-day rendering of creation events leaving out millions of years?

While I agree with Dory that a natural reading of the text, in the proper context, is essential for understanding the text, I would argue that, within the context of the 21st century West, a natural reading of Genesis 1 and 2 could lead to exegetical error. The reason for this is that our "natural reading" of the text is bounded within a 21st century mindset. The very notion of asking "how long did Creation take?" betrays our tainted viewpoint. The ancients would not have asked that question because that was not the point of the text. In other words, although the text describes successive time periods for the Creation, the point of the narrative was altogether different. Consider the narrative describing the Ten Plagues that God brought upon Egypt through Moses. I've written before that the point of the account was to demonstrate God's supremacy over specific deities within Egypt's animistic religious system. The Nile was worshipped; Heqet was a goddess of childbirth and depicted as a frog; Ra was the Sun god. These, and other deities, were systematically defiled by God - who was demonstrating to the Egyptians and to the Israelites that He was sovreign over His creation. A 21st century reader needs to have the specifics of that narrative explained to them - but an Israelite (or an Egyptian) of the period would have clearly understood what was happening. In this case, our natural reading of the text deprives us of the deeper truths intended there for us. In virtually every discussion I've had with a young-earth proponent, the major hurdle I see them approach is the apparent fact that the "plain reading" of the text tells them that the Creation occurred over the space of 6 24 hour days. Perhaps a bit more attention should be given not towards a plain or natural reading, but for the most in depth reading of the text?

Changes to New Covenant...

On October 17, 2004, I wrote a post explaining how I thought that the time commitment required to maintain a successful blog was excessive - excessive to the point of being unrealistic for a person with the responsibility of a separate job, a spouse, and a family. Since that time I have adjusted the way I write posts, including both their frequency and length. Due to recent changes in my employment situation I must now implement additional changes to how New Covenant is managed. I am now working a shift in which I must arise at 4:30 a.m., leave for work by 5:30 a.m., and typically return home by 6:00 p.m. While such a schedule allows me to have more time on the weekends I find that my weekdays are filled with other, more pressing, responsibilities. Thus, I will still attempt to post, although such postings will most likely occur only on weekends. Also, with but a few exceptions, I will no longer respond to comments left on my posts. While I enjoy responding, I have found that such responses almost take as much time to structure as the posts themselves. I apologize for leaving any ongoing debates mid-stream, but such is the situation at hand. I will continue to post photos at Imago Articulus as it requires much less of an expenditure of time to accomplish (and it's a real kick!).

You belong at the Zoo...

My family and I went to the San Diego Zoo this past Saturday. I've placed a few photos over at Imago Articulus.

Liturgical High Fives...

Years ago I went with my cousin to a Christian concert held at a Catholic church. Prior to the actual concert the parish priest came out and spoke a bit. As he concluded his talk he explained the meaning of the sign of the cross gesture that Catholics do. He invited those who wished, regardless of whether or not they were Catholic, to follow him as he led the audience in the sign of the cross. I felt uneasy about following his lead and opted out of performing the gesture. During our worship service today, one of the associate pastors, in an apparent attempt to get the congregation to connect with one another, asked everyone to turn and give someone close by a "high five." Stadium liturgy at its best. As the high fives resounded throughout the church, I suddenly found myself yearning for the reverence found when one acknowledges the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

How Wal-Mart conquered the world...

First Hugh Hewitt is amazed that anyone would oppose the opening of a Wal-Mart superstore. Then the Professor chimes in explaining why he thinks such an event is not so good for the community. And we have Joe Carter writing quite a bit about why he considers Wal-Mart a company worthy of admiration. Back in November of 2003 I threw down a few comments with regards to how Wal-Mart achieves its low prices, per an article from the L.A. Times.

Rusty Nails, 2/24/05...

When Public becomes Private: from Photoblog.org and Stay Free! Daily,

Christo's publisher claims a vast new degree of copyright and trademark protection. They claim they will prosecute anyone who sells their own original photos of The Gates; who makes and sells a drawing of The Gates or who even uses the words, The Gates, without their permission....They also claim to have an agreement with the media that media sources may only use news photos of the gates for the period the installation is up. That after that the media will only be allowed to use "official" photos of The Gates.

Well, if true, why don't a group of NY state photo-bloggers organize a meet-up in Central Park to shoot photos of... trees, the sky, leaves, sidewalks, etc., that just happen to have THE GATES in the background? ########## Trackers kill Tiger in Ventura County, per the L.A. Times. A 125 pound mountain lion is deadly; this tiger was 425 pounds.

But animal rights activists said death was too high a penalty for an animal that had not harmed anyone since its tracks were discovered Feb. 8 on the grounds of a nursery in the nearby Santa Rosa Valley. "With all this time to track it and all these options they could draw on, you have to ask the question, was it really necessary to kill the tiger?" said Madeline Bernstein, president of the Los Angeles branch of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Is anyone surprised by the reaction of the SPCA? ########## Joe Carter gives us a dose of reality with regards to the Gonzo s_icide of Hunter Thompson in his Outtakes 2.23.05. He says,

Thompson’s meticulously composed drug addled rants are, like the author himself, self-contradictory and ultimately self-defeating.

So, was he talented because he was p_ychotic, or was he p_ychotic because he was talented? Or, is this just another example of the Hemingway Syndrome? ########## Bill Wallo hosts the latest installment of the Christian Carnival. ########## Listen to an interview of Simon Conway Morris, by Reasons to Believe.

Church, and the United States...

An interesting article from David Mills, over at Touchstone Magazine, titled Reorganizing Religion: Why the Church Bureaucracies Have to Go. While it deals mainly with how church structure can develop into a detrimental aspect of the body of the church as a whole, he concludes with an interesting juxtaposition of how the church in Africa appears to be growing, quite well thank you, without the same bureaucratic anchors we seem to find in the West. Mills says,

The test of the reform is evangelism: whether the bureaucratic or the personal styles of ministry will reach the world most effectively. The extraordinary growth of the churches in Africa and Asia, where bureaucracies are small and bishops and their priests are usually evangelists as well as pastors, suggests the superiority of the personal to the bureaucratic. When their churches are growing so rapidly, even as they are persecuted for their faith, the West might wisely defer to their wisdom. It can’t claim to have had great success doing things its way. The Western churches might see the beginning of a revival if their bishops filed all the reports and resolutions, dissolved all but the essential committees, and canceled the legislative meetings, and went out into the streets of their sees with a bishop from Africa to tell people about Jesus.

Meow...

From KABC TV in Los Angeles,

Parents were warned Friday not to leave their children unattended outdoors amid word a large exotic cat - possibly an African lion - was believed to be roaming an area near the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. (emphasis added)

Yikes!

Something's fishy here...

In the responses to Serge’s post, Pharyngeal Phantasies?, over at Imago Dei, we see continued examples of how neo-Darwinists approach the idea of common descent in a circular fashion. If you recall, Serge raised the question, “if the structures of the human face evolved from gills in a fish, why are CN V and VII, derivatives of the first and second pharyngeal arches, not present in fish gills?” Serge was immediately taken to task for not only having too simplistic an understanding of the processes at hand, but for mistaking that we should expect evolution to operate in such a manner as to produce a one for one correlation between organisms which supposedly shared a common ancestor. Yet the arguments presented illustrate that the neo-Darwinists already assume that the evolutionary process has answered the question. Consider this scenario one dissenter presented:

The actual model is rather more like this: (a) start with a jawless fish with no jaws but lots of gill arches (b) the first few gill arches evolve into jaws (c) much later, this now-jawed lineage splits into teleost fish (most modern "fish") on the one hand, and tetrapods+lungfish and relatives on the other.

Keep in mind that the reason this is how the process is thought to have occurred is because of similarities in structure combined with a supposed functional advantage. This is how the process works – data is viewed through evolutionary spectacles and then unwarranted extrapolations are made. The key, for the neo-Darwinist, is not whether or not a process can be shown that produces common descent, but whether or not similarity in structure can be found. Thus, the gist of criticism such as Serge’s (and mine) is tossed aside under the pretense of nonsensical. One commenter to P.Z. Myers website even commented that my arguments never tell how anything occurred and, interestingly enough, that he found my arguments regarding “posts on how the bible doesn’t have moral relativism” to be “particuarlly [sic] funny” (one wonders what such an addendum has to do with cranial nerves - especially if all the neo-Darwinist is interested in are scientific explanations?). The problem with the reasoning going on by the neo-Darwinists is that they ignore the aspect of intentions – designer’s intentions. Should we assume that a lack of one for one correspondence between cranial nerves and pharyngeal arches is indicative of evolutionary processes, or should we assume that such a lack of correspondence indicates design? Consider the processes involved in engineering and construction projects. Although there are a variety of types of projects (e.g., refinery, power plant, highway, telecommunications) they typically involve using similar processes with which to achieve project completion. However, there are times when a particular phase of a project does not start even though it is physically possible to do so. In many government projects such an occurrence is usually due to the fact that the phase is not only dependent on its physical predecessor, but on legislated monetary funding as well. Government projects have the idiosyncrasy of having additional pathways, through which activities must flow, in order to achieve project completion. That such red tape stricken processes may be inefficient is beside the point, for what must be understood is that despite it appearing that a designer would not have chosen such a pathway, it is an intelligently designed pathway nonetheless. Another example would be that of a software system designed to produce monthly data for a company with regards to the status of a particular project’s financial status. Suppose that we find out that the same type of monthly data for two different projects is produced by different software code pathways. What gives? Would we be justified in concluding, because the two different pathways produced similar type of data, that the pathways were not intelligently designed? Certainly not. And not simply because we happen to know that the software was intelligently designed. The error in such a conclusion is due to the fact that the outside observer is simply not aware of why the different pathways were used. It just so happens that the type of contract the project was brokered under will determine the manner in which the financial data is calculated. This key factor indicates why two dissimilar pathways are used to achieve similar outcomes. Without understanding the full parameters of the process, as well as the intentions of the designers, claims that the system was not designed are unwarranted. That similar structures can be purposely designed to produce various functions, and that various structures can be purposely designed to produce similar functions, indicates that the designer's intentions must be considered when analyzing how functional systems came to be. And intentions can only come about through a mind. --- For further reference, check several posts I wrote regarding how planning and scheduling relates to the concept of intelligent design. I didn't Plan it that way... What are your intentions?... Attributes of the Designer... A Scheduling Nightmare... ---- Update: check Unintelligent Design, at the NYT, for another example of unwarranted assumptions. HT: World

Rusty Nails, 2/18/05...

OMF Serge at Imago Dei links to my post below, Naturally Designed, in a post titled, Pharyngeal Phantasies?. Besides providing us with a link to view the muscles in a cadaver, he asks an interesting question regarding how cranial nerves in humans and fish are related, or not. I've thought the issue similar to why, if the idea of common descent is valid, do similar genes express differently in various species, and different genes express similarly? ########## On something I forgot to mention a while back: The Professor may know oodles about corporate law, but to posit that The Who is the greatest rock 'n roll band ever (over The Beatles?) can only mean he's been doing a bit too much wine tasting. ########## Stop by What Attitude Problem? for you daily Day by Day update.

Friday in the Word...

But thanks be to God who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and who makes known through us the fragrance that consists of the knowledge of him in every place. For we are a sweet aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing — to the latter an odor from death to death, but to the former a fragrance from life to life. - 2 Corinthians 2:14-16 (NET)