Christmas Week and Religious Faith

As we lead up to Christmas Day (tomorrow), I thought it would be good to share an article from the Daily Mail newspaper Online (United Kingdom), which they titled: “For Christmas week, we asked some eminent scientists if it's possible to reconcile reason with religious faith.”

It is an interesting article to read as the writer reminds us of the Apollo 8 mission:

Just as the astronauts were dependent on their frail spacecraft, we were all passengers on one vessel sailing through space. It was, in effect, a religious observation about humanity being one, united group. And then, providing a shock to the system I can still recall today, Anders' flat, controlled, testpilot voice announced that his crew had a message they would like to send us. 'In the beginning God created the heaven and the Earth. And the Earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep . . .' he said. One by one, the men read the first paragraphs of the Book Of Genesis, with Commander Borman ending on 'and God saw that it was good'.

'And we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas - and God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth,'

We are reminded of the teachings of atheist Richard Dawkins:

Yet, at the same time as many scientists have quietly maintained a belief in God, atheism has continued to be in fashion for educated people around the world.

Militant atheists such as Professor Richard Dawkins of Oxford University, author of the influential book The God Delusion, have brought, ironically, a religious fervour and wrath to their 'preaching'.

A number of scientists/Professors are interviewed, and then the writer states:

It was notable how these religious scientists balked at the more simple-minded 'creationist' views (the belief that the world was created in six days) that have been exploited by Professor Dawkins and his supporters. 'The creationists mistake the first chapter of Genesis for a divinely dictated piece of science,' said Sir John Polkinghorne. 'It's deeper than that. Its purpose is to say that nothing exists except through the will of God.

'The irony is that while seeking to be respectful to scripture, these people abuse it.' [Actually, it is scientists like these who compromise the Word of God, abusing God’s Word AND science].

And then the writer ends with comments from Professor Stuart Burgess, who is a Bible believing creationist (I know him personally and have spoken at a conference with him):

Miracles, simplistic propaganda fodder as they may be to some sceptics, are less of a problem to Stuart Burgess, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Bristol University. 'I'm not ashamed to believe in miracles,' he said. 'It is actually the claim that miracles are impossible which is anti-science because science should always be openminded. It is not just religious people who have faith without proof. 'Despite expensive equipment and the promise of the most famous Nobel Prize in history, no scientist has reproduced the spontaneous generation of life in the lab. As things stand, atheists must have faith the size of a mountain to believe that life arose without an intelligent designer. The mix of faith and evidence that a Christian has can be seen in the Christmas story.

'The miraculous bright star which appeared over Bethlehem was an evidence of a special birth. But the Wise Men had to have enough faith to take the risk of following the star all the way to Bethlehem.

'The most moving evidence for Christianity I have seen is when a person with a broken life puts their trust in the Lord Jesus and finds healing, peace and purpose.'According to Professor Burgess, a spacecraft specialist who designed the solar panels of a £1.4 billion satellite: 'This is what the Christmas message is really about.'

Praise the Lord there are scientists like Stuart Burgess who are prepared to boldly stand on the authority of the Word of God!

You can read the entire article at the Daily Mail website.

ICE, ICE AND MORE ICE

Well today was an interesting day. After a few days of brutal cold, just as a warm front was about to move into the tristate area where AiG and the Creation Museum are located, it rained—and covered the roads in ice. There were accidents all over the area, interstates shut down, roads and bridges closed—it was a MESS. I was returning from Dayton with some of our family and a one-hour trip took us 8 hours!! As well as the hundreds who visited the Creation Museum today, we still had 150 or so turn out tonight for the Live Nativity (held indoors because of the weather)—I’m surprised any turned up. Actually, some people were trapped at the Museum and had to wait for interstates to re-open and ice to melt! It was one of those days!

However, the Creation Museum is open FREE to the public today—and the Live Nativity/Road to Bethlehem will be back outside in the Gardens this coming Friday and Saturday evenings, Wednesday evening (the 31st.), and the following Friday and Saturday evenings. See the Creation museum website for further information.

DEVOTION

To know and respond

(Jon 3:5) So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.

To know & respond to God is better than the hard heart of either not knowing & not wanting to know or knowing & not wanting to do anything about it.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying

Ken