Friday: Further Thought ~ Education in Arts and Sciences
Further Thought:
Two reasons exist why science, which gets so many things right, gets origins so wrong: first, science, which studies the natural world, must look only to the natural world for answers; second, science assumes that the laws of nature must remain constant. Yet both these are wrong when it comes to origins.
Take the first one, which requires natural causes for natural events.
Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com
That’s fine for hurricane tracking, but it is worse than worthless for origins that start out with “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen: 1:1). What can science, which denies the supernatural in origins, teach us about origins that were totally supernatural?
And the constancy of nature? This seems to make sense, except that Romans 5:12 – “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned” (NKJV) – presupposes a natural environment discontinuous, and qualitatively different, from anything that science now confronts. A world in which death did not exist is radically different from anything we can study today, and to assume they were very similar when they weren’t, also will lead to error.
Hence, science gets origins wrong because it denies two crucial aspects of the creation: the supernatural force behind it, and the radical physical discontinuity between the original creation and what’s before us now.
Discussion Questions:
|
(86)
About four years ago, I made a decision to write a lead comment every day for Sabbath School Net. I had been involved in Sabbath School Net since about 1997 as a commentator and occasional contributor and moderator. I felt that we needed to get people to think a bit more about the lessons rather than just writing off-the-cuff remarks. So, for the last four years, I have tried to put together a daily comment that is readable, a bit challenging, and useable by teachers who want to extend the study for their classes. I particularly wanted to avoid that sort of religious language that we often use to describe our Christian beliefs, mainly because we become so ingrained in using that language that we cannot speak meaningfully to those we with whom we want to share it with and have no knowledge of the language.
That is my contribution to the "arts". And it is one of the reasons why I am disappointed that this lesson has essentially missed out the most significant part of the Education and the Arts. It is in this arena where we learn to use our language skills to communicate our message meaningfully to others.
What are some of the meaningful precursors to the direction I have taken. One of the most important influences on my thinking is CS Lewis. He was a literary specialist, and Oxford Don, who saw writing as a means of sharing the Gospel. He not only wrote about the principles of the Gospel but did it in such a way that we received literary acclaim even from atheists.
I don't pretend to be a CS Lewis (I know what marks I got for English in High School) but I accept the challenge to write in such a way that makes us all think about what we believe. You can be the judge of whether I am successful.
Good morning Maurice,
I resonated with your commentary, recognizing that the authors probably felt the push-pull of conflicting ways it could be presented and I am sure, after much prayer, the route they took was broad enough to engage a global SS community. Yet, each day, I felt something lacking...so I have searched each day to find a specific meaning!
For me, I always start out my nursing research class by getting everyone on the same page with definitions and concepts. It is often an engaging and fun discussion to hear individual thoughts on what words mean then coming to a consensus on words or terms. This goes a long way to diminishing confusion fear and promoting understanding.
Earlier, this morning, I asked my daughter what the word "art" or "arts" meant and encouraged her to think outside the box. She replied painting, crafting, carpentry, and beauty... Sooo, I went to Google and looked up the words art and arts. Found "arts etymology" https://www.everypainterpaintshimself.com/blog/arts_etymology.
Interesting read and aligned well with what my daughter voiced.
That being said, in my "wondermental ponderling" of the arts and science biblical worldview, I started with a Bible search of where is "art" found in the Bible. The "https://www.openbible.info/topics/art"
populated on my screen with a plethora of verses. As I reviewed them, one verse stood out and I returned to it several times: John 6:35 "Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst." What a word picture of selfless love, grace, and promise of eternal life.
Another aspect of art is people: "...red and yellow, black, and white..."Isaiah 64:8 ESV
"But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand."
See this great video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVgmF058YGI
I would like to personally thank you for your contribution to the lesson study. There are many mornings that I turn to my wife and say, Maurice gets it, I sure do like him. Looking forward to meeting you in person one day. Also thanks for the link to your u-tube channel. That is some amazing art you have captured. Thanks again. Blessings on your family.
Thank you for your comments. I like how they are thoughtful and to the point. Please continue.
Thank you for your service Maurice. I always look forward to the commentary section. To me it is as much a part of the lesson as the lesson itself. I learn so much from it. May God Richly Bless your day, Tammy
Hi Maurice,
I use that blog for all the comments, specially for your comments. This week I learned more from your insights (and others) than from the lessons contents. I was very disappointed with that lesson, not only because I am an artist (I have a degree in Music) and a scientist too (degree in Computer Science), but also because it was off the track. But reading your thoughts opened my mind to higher/other perspective and blew away my displeasure. Thank You!
Art is/has science and science is/has art. It's very weird that our church thinks more about science than art. Most of the time, they present God as a Scientist not as an Artist. Other fact: they tend to put emphasis on showing the negative part in both science and art then teaching people how to use them to worship God and to preach the world.
I thank You so much for your ministry; You are a blessing for us. Blessed were your students. Having You as a teacher would be marvelous.
God bless You and your family!
I feel like we need to devote a whole quarterly to science and the Bible and another to art and the Bible.
This will help us tease out more examples and relate it to the different genres of art and science , and not just reduce science to the creation story only. There is so much material and one week of a lesson quarterly is not enough.
I really appreciate your daily comments. They are always insightful and make me think deeper. I often reference your comments during our Sabbath school discussions, or share them with my family. I find your real life examples to be helpful as well. And thank you as well for sharing your photography with us. Photography is an excellent way to learn about creation even in places I will likely never have the opportunity to visit. Blessings to you, Maurice, for all you do!
Just want to thank you for your comments throughout the years. You have allowed me to see other perspectives. Thanks for teaching me about Australia as well. Your pictures are beautiful and as I looked at videos I realized more what an awesome God we serve. He is indeed a Master Artist and a Master Scientist. I marvel each day as we see His presence in nature. May the Lord continue to bless you as you continue to reach others.
Thank you for your powerful comments and links all week, Maurice! What you’re saying here is especially fascinating being that you’re a visual artist. You bring up an interesting and important, I think, thread about our use of language in sharing our testimony. As we are sensitive to giving up words and phrases that are worn out, which phrases and words should we use? What of the connection between the visual arts and the literary arts?
Increasingly our culture leans more on the power of images, and looks are more important than what is said. I remember the old National Geographic articles that had small- print extensive text along with the amazing photography. Now it seems more like a photography magazine. Another example from 1960, a survey conducted the day after the first Kennedy-Nixon presidential debate showed that TV viewers scored Kennedy as the winner while radio listeners gave Nixon the edge. Could this have been the beginning where what a candidate looks like is more persuasive than what he or she says? Pictures have the power of impact. Words have the power of content.
So how best to communicate a specific message about Jesus today? Jesus himself used both words and pictures. He revealed himself visually in creation. As in the words of the hymn “How Great Thou Art”, nature shows us that God is powerful and great. When we see a mother bird tirelessly feeding her babies or a feline mother with long canines gently transporting her kittens, we see a tender God. Jesus also reveals himself verbally in the Scriptures. This is how we learn about him coming to earth as a baby, dying, rising from death, promising to come again and receive us to Himself.
So which words should we use in a world that challenges truth, says words aren’t important? How do we speak about Jesus outside of the church family? I find an answer in 1 Peter 3:18-22. Peter is telling us that Jesus spoke by His spirit through Noah. Noah was speaking to a highly resistant generation whose thoughts were only evil all the time. He was not discouraged by small results, only his eight family members entered the ark. Noah knew God‘s judgment was coming on the whole world. He accepted the call to live courageously in that window of opportunity. This text says to me that when we speak about Jesus, Jesus speaks through us. He fixes the choice of words for the audience and He makes sure the hearer can hear.
We are like Noah today and God has given us the task of pointing others to the ark, Jesus. 1 Peter 3:15 tells us to always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks about the hope that we have. 1 Peter 1:23 calls the Scriptures the living seed. We can be ready to plant it in the soft soils of hearts that are open and searching. It says “do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened” (1 Peter 3:14). Turn on the news and we see and hear and feel what everyone is afraid of… COVID-19, terrorism, the economy, illness. Our distinguishing mark as Christians is that we can live confidently and with peace while others are worrying. We don’t need to share the panic that grips our culture. In the situations where God has placed us we can use our gifts in the fields of the Arts, Sciences, Education, and everyday conversation to show others a Savior that holds each creature safely in His Hand.
Neither give place to the devil Eph 4:27
#1. In class, talk about the question of beauty. What is beauty? How do we define it? How might a Christian define and understand beauty differently from a non-Christian?
The bible tells us what is beauty- a few days ago I mentioned about augmentation and our bodies. Many people look at the outward of humans to describe beauty but Jesus looks at the heart. Humans thought beauty and being beautiful has to do with changing ones' outward looks.
Beauty comes from the inside and changing of ones' heart/mind then it is shown on the outside. Jesus said a new heart and a new mind will I give to them. Jer 31:33-35. The beauty of both the human heart and the things of nature. The power of Jesus to create, recreate, regenerate, sustain, the great Physician to do heart and mind surgery without any outward intervention of surgical knives. Ezek 36:26; Eph 4:20-32 also points to a Holy Father watchful eyes on his children to change the heart by removing all the extra dead, or fatty tissues that is preventing the heart from functioning properly. He has the power to clean the vessels of all plaques and clots of inward and outward worldly desires. As a result we are left with a new beautiful heart/mind.
I am looking for today to be my surgery day. Today for that new transformation into that beautiful me. The change in my heart/mind.
Dear Lyn – I appreciate your comment’s concluding thought: “I am looking for today to be my surgery day. Today for that new transformation into that beautiful me. The change in my heart/mind.”
I read other's comments after submitting my post and found that your and my studies made the same observations. I want to add one more scripture reference to your references related to your analogy of God performing ‘heart surgery’ - God is ‘circumcising our hearts’. Col.2:8-11KJV –
”Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments(himself) of the world, and not after Christ.
For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power;
In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:"
God blesses all who willingly submit to this circumcision of their hearts and minds!
My Hats off to those who can create quality content reliably and consistently, the very thought of it brings on pangs of envy from the depths of my soul. Blessings on you Maurice for your valiant efforts, may the Lord be with you and guide your thoughts and keyboard.
Honestly, I’ve found my thoughts on the SS lessons recently to be somewhat contentious, if not flat out argumentative, but I promise to utilize what little diplomatic skills the Lord has instilled in me through hard, and somewhat bitter experiences to His names honor and glory.
Our lessons give me a warm and fuzzy feeling as I read what academia has handed down for us to read, and many of the insights are intriguing as well, which, as Maurice has mentioned, will no doubt lead to many “off the cuff” remarks Sabbath morning, leading to my texting someone in search for more stimulating exchange of intellectual content.
In our lessons the concept was presented that “origins” was the premise for determining truth or error. The principle is, science that takes a creator God into consideration of its understanding of how everything began is far more reliable than science that does not. Does this principle apply only to science or can we look into origins of other things and come away with a deeper understanding of what is being presented? When we interpret scriptures one of the principles we use to discover truth is to invoke the concept that certain principles are immutable. Does this apply to the “origins” principle? Would it be intellectual insurrection to look into the origins of this quarterlies authors? I’ve tried to discover the source of what we are reading and found only generalities, no one specific that a question could be directed to. Maybe someone can enlighten me, it would be much appreciated.
I believe we are living in the last split second of earth’s history. All the things that has been making it’s way in darkness that EG White writes about will soon to come to light. It would be sad if Seventh-day Adventists got caught by surprise by the things that are soon to be upon us. I wonder what we would be studying if we knew for certain that probation would close this time next month; would spending our time gaining insights into the benefits of a Christian education?
Thanks, Cliff, thinking more about the focus of what it means to live at this time in earth's history. As I continue to read from the apostle Peter, at 2 Peter 2:5, we find that Noah was "a preacher of righteousness". So antediluvian end-times peoples were to be spending their time contemplating righteousness. That leads me to ask "What exactly is righteousness?"
In describing the full armor of God Paul tells us to put on the breastplate of righteousness. Today we'd probably call the breastplate of righteousness the bulletproof vest. It protects the heart and vital organs from damage. It is through righteousness that our hearts are protected from the devil’s projectiles against us. We are to be spending our time with our hearts tuned and trained toward God, following in Jesus' footsteps (1 Peter 2:21). A constant attitude of prayer absorbs the impact and stops the self-centered and fearful atmosphere of the world from penetrating our core of trust in God.
Proverbs 4:18-27 says it so well. "18 The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day. 19 But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble. 20 My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. 21 Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; 22 for they are life to those who find them and health to a man's whole body. 23 Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.....25 Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. 26 Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm."
To qoute a bumper sticker I saw: “Earth without art is just eh.”
Thank you brother Maurice for your contributions. God has truly blessed the SSNet community with your dedication and inspired insights. As far as the definition of beauty goes, it is captured in a photograph I took of my wife (unbeknownst to her) handing off a box of food to a single Immigrant grandmother who is raising a young grandson and caring for an ailing brother with very little income.
I'd just like to thank everyone for all their comments this week. Back on Wednesday, I left a message saying how disappointed I was in this lesson. The fact is, I'm supposed to teach tomorrow -- and with the way the quarterly was written, I had no idea how to proceed. I was seriously up against the wall.
But I've mostly got a plan together now. In large part, that's thanks to all of you. Thank you for your inspiration, everyone. Take care, and have a great weekend.
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled: and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. Act 4:13.
#2.Christ could have come to earth as a brilliant scientist,.....Instead, He came and trained as a humble craftsman. What encouragement does this offer us, wherever we may be in our educational or professional journey?
Satan is a very skilled artist and scientist. He is not afraid to use his skills and he uses them beautifully on the Christians because he knew he already has some under his control.
I was introduced to this site some time ago by another person from my church. An adult but have no higher degree of learning. She stop doing lesson study online because as she stated the contributions are above her level of learning. I always encouraged her to return by she stated, she is not learning anything.
'There are many who have received but a limited religious and intellectual training, but God has a work for this class to do, if they will labor in humility, trusting in him....
The Lord says, I will take illiterate men, obscure men, and move upon them by my Spirit to carry out my purposes in the work of saving souls.{RH September 21, 1905, par. 7-8}
Cliff, I share your concerns- A great work is yet to be accomplished.... If we would at last share the reward of the righteous, we must wisely improve the time of our probation. Moments are more precious than gold. {RH April 21, 1910, par. 1}
How do we as SDA put theory into practice?
Ronald I agree with you- How do we as SDA put all our theories of art and science into practice as Jesus did while he was on earth. How did Paul, Peter, John and the other disciples dealt with the arts and science of signs and wonder. Peter and John shew us beautifully and humbly. Silver and gold have I none, but in the name of Jesus- Acts 3:1-16.
Solution-People do not care how educated we are, there are people out there who are more educated than us. There were people more educated than the disciples. Paul wrote his resume in Phil 3:5-7. People want to see the love of Jesus dwelling and shining through us.
What I have done- I met a couple at work, they don't believe in the God of the bible. I had several contacts with them. They had some documents to be sign but had same in their email. They were worrying how to print them out. I told them to send them to my work email then I printed the documents. They were thankful. As I was leaving them, I told them to keep praying to the Lord for help. When I said those words, I felt a total and strange silence. They replied, thanks for all you did for us. I usually tell people not to thank me but to give thanks to Jesus.
This verse is very interesting to me- Paul stated, and be found in him, not having my own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. Phil 3:9
Hello again, Lyn - there are several more passages in the KJV of the Bible that speak to the *faith of Jesus*. I discovered that other versions do not translate this passage in this way. I am sure that God will bless your studies should you decide to follow up on your discovery.