{"id":9197,"date":"2018-01-26T22:50:58","date_gmt":"2018-01-26T16:50:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/intelligent-torvalds.74-208-171-134.plesk.page\/?p=9197"},"modified":"2024-04-05T19:06:20","modified_gmt":"2024-04-06T00:06:20","slug":"who-am-i-part-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/religiousmind.net\/?p=9197","title":{"rendered":"Who Am I? Part 8"},"content":{"rendered":"

I study the Bible for my own benefit primarily.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been on a work binge lately, long days with no time or energy to study.\u00a0 The sin in my flesh obtrudes, wanting dominion over my thoughts and motives.\u00a0 Both\u00a0\u02bd\u00e2bar<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0n\u00e2s\u00e2h<\/a> <\/em>await my attention<\/a>, holding out the promise of deeper access and new insights into the mind of Christ.\u00a0 I\u2019ve had more than enough of the uncertain gossip on my newsfeed.\u00a0 I crave the word of God.\u00a0 But I\u2019m putting that on hold to write this essay.<\/p>\n

I woke up the morning I began studying for the previous essay<\/a> with a philosophical insight.\u00a0 I typed it into my phone before it faded away.\u00a0 I\u2019ve written before about the philosophical bent[1]<\/sup><\/a> of my mind.\u00a0 I still have philosophical thoughts and insights but usually keep them to myself.\u00a0 I assume they are the Holy Spirit working out my own particular flavor of \u1f00\u03c3\u03ad\u03b2\u03b5\u03b9\u03b1<\/a>.\u00a0 This one seems relevant somehow:<\/p>\n

The primary frustration of being a materialist<\/a> is that the science based on that materialism never discovers any matter, only ideas obeying laws.\u00a0 It\u2019s absurd, utterly irrational, unless:\u00a0<\/em>In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I offer a couple of corroborating testimonies from the \u201cCriticism and alternatives\u201d section of Materialism<\/a> on Wikipedia for those who don\u2019t spend a lot of time thinking about the relationship between science and materialism:<\/p>\n

In 1991, Gribbin and Davies released their book\u00a0<\/em>The Matter Myth<\/a>, the first chapter of which, “The Death of Materialism”, contained the following passage:<\/em><\/p>\n

Then came our Quantum theory, which totally transformed our image of matter. \u00a0The old assumption that the microscopic world of atoms was simply a scaled-down version of the everyday world had to be abandoned. \u00a0Newton’s<\/a> deterministic machine was replaced by a shadowy and paradoxical conjunction of waves and particles, governed by the laws of chance, rather than the rigid rules of causality. \u00a0An extension of the quantum theory goes beyond even this; it paints a picture in which solid matter dissolves away, to be replaced by weird excitations and vibrations of invisible field energy. \u00a0Quantum physics undermines materialism because it reveals that matter has far less \u201csubstance\u201d than we might believe. \u00a0But another development goes even further by demolishing Newton’s image of matter as inert lumps. \u00a0This development is the theory of chaos, which has recently gained widespread attention.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014\u2009Paul Davies and John Gribbin, The Matter Myth, Chapter 1<\/em><\/p>\n

Their objections were also shared by some founders of quantum theory, such as\u00a0Max Planck<\/a>, who wrote:<\/em><\/p>\n

As a man who has devoted his whole life to the most clear headed science, to the study of matter, I can tell you as a result of my research about atoms this much: There is no matter as such. \u00a0All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particle of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together. \u00a0We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent Mind. \u00a0This Mind is the matrix of all matter.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014\u2009Max Planck, Das Wesen der Materie, 1944<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

My own insight continued:<\/p>\n

Though materialism purports to be the idea that posits all of this lawful behavior within matter itself, it is entirely dependent upon the existence of One with the power and patience to keep all of these ideas obeying all of these laws, lest science collapse into a local observation of immediate phenomena: Adam naming<\/a> the animals.\u00a0 Instead of establishing the paramount reality<\/a> of everyday life, science based on materialism transforms everyday life into an illusion. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Still, I persist perceiving all of this material around me.\u00a0 I walk on the floor rather than blending insensibly with it.\u00a0 I breathe the air rather than dissolving amidst it. Likewise I shower in water and soap, and leave the shower distinct from them as they wash away down the drain.\u00a0 I put on clothes and take them off without the least confusion between them and me.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/a>I also recalled the event that led me to work on The Tripartite Rationality Index.[2]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 I had set Psalm 121<\/a> to music for a children\u2019s Sunday school class.\u00a0 The line\u2014He will not allow your foot to slip<\/em>\u2014had filled me with hope that I was not on my own with my sin problem, until a child dashed that hope.\u00a0 As I taught the song he raised his hand at the fateful line.\u00a0 \u201cI fell down yesterday, how come?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

I told him I would need a week to think about it.\u00a0 It was a bad week, arguing within myself about how true the Bible was ultimately.\u00a0 I had thought childlike faith was na\u00efve and gullible.\u00a0 But I was the na\u00efve and gullible one, getting all excited about the potential \u201cspiritual truth\u201d of an ancient song even as I had ignored the literal meaning of the words.\u00a0 That was my life at that time, brief moments of faith and hope swallowed up again in a boiling cauldron of doubt.\u00a0 Fortunately, that child didn\u2019t confront me a week later demanding an answer I didn\u2019t have.<\/p>\n

I worked a straight 6 to 2 shift at the time.\u00a0 I left work one afternoon, waved to a couple of buddies staring out the second floor window of the factory and stepped into an oil slick from a leaky fifty-five gallon drum.\u00a0 I was going down, my legs doing a split.\u00a0 Then I threw my left elbow up into the air and stepped out of the oil.<\/p>\n

I was embarrassed at the spectacle I made of myself but didn\u2019t turn to see if my buddies were laughing at me.\u00a0 As I walked on toward the parking lot I began to wonder how I didn\u2019t fall in that oil slick.<\/p>\n

I must have lifted myself out by throwing my elbow up in the air, I thought.\u00a0 Newton\u2019s third law of motion<\/a> came to mind: \u201cFor every action, there is an equal and opposite re-action.\u201d\u00a0 Throwing my elbow into the air should have pushed me downward, faster and harder.<\/p>\n

I must have lifted myself by pulling my legs back together with my thigh muscles, I surmised, throwing my arm in the air stabilized my balance somehow.\u00a0 As I walked on I realized my thigh muscles didn\u2019t feel like they had done that kind of work.\u00a0 My left shoulder, however, was killing me.<\/p>\n

Only after I stuck my key in the car door did I turn again, look back at the scene and question aloud, \u201cGod?\u201d\u00a0 Only then did the words of the psalm return to my mind: He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber<\/em>.[3]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 As I drove home I argued that I wasn\u2019t worth his time and trouble.<\/p>\n

As I think about it now, recalling that I had no sensation of being touched[4]<\/sup><\/a> by an unseen hand, it seems more efficient to imagine that God\u2014if God intervened at all\u2014switched off Newton\u2019s third law of motion for the time and space I was in that oil slick.\u00a0 But even that doesn\u2019t account for the crazy thing I did with my left elbow.<\/p>\n

\n
Who Am I? Part 9<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n
Back to Who Am I? Part 3<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/a>[1]<\/sup> Jesus’ Artifacts, Part 1<\/a>; Jesus’ Artifacts, Part 5<\/a>; Jesus’ Artifacts, Part 6<\/a>; Jesus’ Artifacts, Part 7<\/a>; Jedidiah, Part 3<\/a>; David’s Forgiveness, Part 4<\/a>; Torture, Part 4<\/a>; Romans, Part 73<\/a>; Sexual Immorality Revisited, Part 2<\/a>; Fear – Deuteronomy, Part 6<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>[2]<\/sup> David’s Forgiveness, Part 2<\/a>;\u00a0You Must Be Gentle, Part 3<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>[3]<\/sup> Psalm 121:3 (NASB)<\/p>\n

<\/a>[4]<\/sup> On several occasions of extreme despair I do recall the sensation of being touched on the shoulder by an unseen hand and being comforted by that touch.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I study the Bible for my own benefit primarily.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been on a work binge lately, long days with no time or energy to study.\u00a0 The sin in my flesh obtrudes, wanting dominion over my thoughts and motives.\u00a0 Both\u00a0\u02bd\u00e2bar\u00a0and\u00a0n\u00e2s\u00e2h await … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3833,5,15],"tags":[1825,4183],"class_list":["post-9197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-section-four","category-what-kind-of-carpenter-is-jesus","category-who-am-i","tag-genesis-11","tag-psalm-1213"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/religiousmind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/religiousmind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/religiousmind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/religiousmind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/religiousmind.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9197"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/religiousmind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9197\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12202,"href":"https:\/\/religiousmind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9197\/revisions\/12202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/religiousmind.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/religiousmind.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/religiousmind.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}