Public Opinion

I know I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but I've always gotten the impression that Darwinian Evolution is the "origin theory" chosen by the vast majority of Americans (I would have guessed 65-70 percent). I was surprised to learn that this isn't the case.

According to a CNN article, "the most recent Gallup poll on the issue, conducted in May, found that only 14 percent of Americans believe that humans developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life. Forty-four percent believe that God created human beings almost overnight within the past 10,000 years, and another 36 percent believe that God guided humans' evolution from animals over a much longer period of time."

These statistics (and, of course, that's all they are) really shocked me. I just always assumed that those who believed God was involved in the Creation process (a form of Young Earth Creationism; or some type of Theistic Evolution), were just a small group of people on the fringe of societal thought. Rather, 80% of those polled thought God was involved in the Creation process.

Obviously, this isn't an argument for Creation. The number of people who believe something has absolutely NOTHING to do with whether or not it is true. Truth can't be snuffed out by even the biggest and angriest of mobs. If an argument for Creation is to be strong, it will have to come from different means than a popular opinion poll.

Tangential What?

The title of my blog, Tangential Lucidity, is pregnant with meaning, and I chose it for two reasons. First, Tangential Lucidity is designed to approach topics in a roundabout way (tangential), in an effort to bring clarity of thought (lucidity) to various issues for you, the reader.

Secondly, Tangential Lucidity is designed to indirectly (tangentially) sharpen the thinking skills (lucidity) of me, the writer. Both of these purposes are underneath the broader umbrella of bringing Glory to God (increasing His reputation), by developing a thoughtful, Biblical worldview through the avenue of blogging.

Thanks for reading!

Taboo

"Politics and religion, are two topics we don't talk about in this office.", my boss said to me after pulling me into his office. My boss dismissed me from his office, and then pulled everyone else who works in our department into his office, one by one (six of us in all). He gave each of them the same "only-talk-about-non-controversial-stuff-at-work-like-donuts-and-the-weather" speech. Are you kidding me?

Allow me to fill you in on the nitty-gritty details which precipitated this blatant censorship of conversation.

In the south, there is already a slight racial tension in the air. This was enhanced, ironically, on the day President Obama was sworn into office. During the festivities of the day, some of the ladies in my office were discussing the dress worn by Michelle Obama. They were saying things that only make sense to a female mind like, "Oh, it just wasn't that flattering on her." and "I just can't believe she picked that style." and "She looked so much better the night of the election." SNORE.

Anyway, us guys were (smartly) staying out of the whole conversation. That is, until one of the male supervisors (who happens to be Caucasian) blurted out, "Michelle wouldn't look good no matter what she wore." Cue pin drop silence. Needless to say, this did not go over to well with one of the female supervisors (who happens to NOT be Caucasian). The whole situation escalated, with the male supervisor eventually getting accused of "racism". This little episode made it all the way to the plant manager, which prompted my boss to pull us all into his office for the afore mentioned speech.

It's really sad. Grown men and women who are actually banned from entire categories of conversation! Shame on the employees who are unable to have a mature discussion about important topics. Shame on our managers for choosing the easy way out and not allowing dialogue in the workplace. Shame on us all for choosing productivity at work over freedom of thought and discussion.

Is the truth worth fighting for or not? Are there good ideas and bad ideas or not? Will we be judged by God for our views or not? Let's keep the table open, stop this needless censorship. Let's keep the dialogue going, stop ignoring people just because we disagree with them. Let's respectfully and cordially discuss our viewpoints, stop the name-calling and combative attitudes. Let's be more informed and educated, stop being ignorant of others' views.

Jerusalem

The ability to place yourself in someone else's shoes is an important life skill. While I'm not Jewish, and while this song is certainly not Christian, I can appreciate some of the sentiment communicated in this song. I am so grateful for the Jewish people, through whom came a Messiah for the Gentiles.

This video was first introduced to me a couple of years ago by a good friend of mine. I have seen this video over a dozen times, and I still can't watch it without it having an emotional impact on me.

This song is performed by Matisyahu, a Jewish reggae musician, and is based on Psalm 137:5-6. The pictures were juxtaposed to the music by a third party, and I'm not sure if the comments at the end are accurate.

Why You Should Care about Nadya Suleman

Nadya Suleman, 33, had octuplets through fertility treatments, despite already having six children ages seven and under, with no clear source of income. This has caused an outburst of controversy, you can read more about her story here.

If you desire to keep your finger on the pulse of culture, you should care about Nadya Suleman. Here are two reasons why…

Two Words: Case Study
Catch phrase of the day? Selective Reduction. Question of the day? Why didn’t Suleman choose to abort one or more of her babies during the pregnancy, in order to give the others a better chance at survival and\or a better life? If you’re pro-choice, this case should interest you because it is a classic opportunity to further your women's-rights agenda. If you’re pro-life, this case should interest you because it offers you the chance to sharpen your views, and determine if there are ever any exceptions to a no-abortions stance. Many people have taken a keen interest in this case, and it would be foolish to miss this opportunity to strengthen and defend your convictions.

Big Brother and Reproduction
Suleman had six embryos implanted, two of which split, resulting in 8 babies (all 14 of her children were the result of in-vitro fertilization.) This relatively high number of embryos has sparked controversy, prompting some to call for limiting the number of embryos that can be implanted. It doesn't take too much imagination to envision the federal government stepping in and beginning to regulate the number of embryos which can be implanted (there may be regulation already in place - not sure). Either way, this could be the spark needed to propel us down the slippery slope of limiting the number of children per household (or limiting children based on income). Obviously, we are several steps removed from this type of drastic action, but this case at least reminds us of the possibility.

Christians must capitalize on this opportunity for constructive dialogue. We must reinforce our commitment to the sacredness of life inside the womb. We must reinforce our commitment to exercise the rights God has entrusted to us. We must keep the conversation going, and endeavor to build bridges to those who disagree.

Not Guilty

Ten things (in no particular order) I feel guilty about.... (I got this idea from my sister-in-law's blog, Ceaseless Praise)


1. When I get more than 7 hours of sleep on a weeknight. I just hate the thought of sleeping away 1\3 of my life.

2. If I'm a poor testimony at work. It is so hard to maintain a good testimony for 40 hours each week. Which is really sad, because I'm supposed to be a good testimony 168 hours a week.

3. For the people in my life during my high school and college days that I treated like a jerk. I'm not proud of some of the ways I've treated people...I wish I could somehow make it up to them.

4. When I raise my voice at my wife. I still don't think I realize the full impact my harsh words have on her.

5. When I watch TV, play games, or surf the web instead of getting work done. This probably happens way more than I realize.

6. When I'm selfish in conversations, and don't ask people about their day\how they are doing. I do this a lot.

7. For leaving my friends in Ohio. This is one of those bizarre things that still comes back and bothers me. I know I left Ohio to go college, but I still just feel guilty about leaving.

8. When I don't listen very well to my wife when she tells me about her day. For guys, their day was either, "Good" or "Not Bad".

9. When I miss\don't create an opportunity to share with someone about my Savior, Jesus Christ. There's no excuse for this.

10. For being judgemental and not loving people like I should. I wonder how many people I have written off just because, "They rubbed me the wrong way." Imagine how many good friendships I've missed out on, because I was selfish and proud.
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I'm not trying to wallow in guilt, just some honest reflection. I'm so grateful my sins are forgiven through Christ (though not every one of these is a moral issue), but I don't want to keep sinning so that grace may abound!

Cats

Once upon a time, there was a small country church nestled among the trees along Highway 68. The little baptist church consistently drew in an about 75 attendees each week. It was a tight knit community of believers, led by their beloved pastor, Pastor Smith. The church had no air conditioning, and during the hot summer months, they would leave the doors open in order to allow a slight breeze into the auditorium. This of course posed a few problems, one of which was a stray cat which would wander into the morning service and meander around the auditorium, distracting the parishioners. Pastor Smith decided it was time to remove this distraction from the morning service, and tied the cat up to the piano on the far right hand side of the auditorium. Each Sunday morning when the Pastor arrived at church, he would tie up the cat, and then let it go at the end of the day. Just a few months later, Pastor Smith moved away. Never fear however, because the chairman of the deacon board immediately took it upon himself to tie the cat to the piano each Sunday morning.

Eventually, as the church grew, they were able to afford air conditioning. Consequently, they shut their doors during the morning service, and the cat was no longer able to wander in from the outside. Oddly however, the chairman of the deacon board searched out the cat, hauled it into the auditorium, and tied it to the piano during the service. Several years past, the church grew in numbers, and still the cat was dutifully tied to the piano each Sunday morning. The "tying of the cat" even found it's way into the bi-laws of the church. After several years, the cat died. But, not to be outdone, the chairman of the deacon board immediately adopted a new cat from the animal shelter and tied it to the piano. Eventually, the chairman of the deacon board moved away, and the ritual of tying the cat to the piano was passed on to the current pastor. The pastor didn't really know why, but he didn't want to mess with tradition. Years past, and each and every Sunday morning, their was a cat purring underneath the piano during the service. And the cat lived happily ever after.

What "cats" do you have in your church?

Core

Several years ago, while at Bethany Camp, I met Dr. Charles Colton (senior pastor of the Panama Baptist Church in western New York State) and had the privilege of discussing the "sine qua non" of Christianity with him. Dr. Colton was very pleasant to dialogue with, and I enjoyed our discussion immensely. I recently had the opportunity to read Dr. Colton's book (published a year or so after our discussion), Core Christianity. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and, though I don't agree with Dr. Colton on every point, I highly recommend it.

Word Games

This past Sunday I had the opportunity to preach on I John 2:12-14 at The Gathering.

The ending of verse 14 says, "I have written to you young people, because you are strong, and the Word of God abides in you, and you have conquered the evil one."

I asked the question, "What did John mean by the phrase, 'the Word of God'?" In the sermon, I answered the question in relatively broad terms. The following is some of my expanded thoughts on the subject.
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What did John mean by the phrase, "the Word of God?"

Obviously, these believers did not have the complete Bible, so to what is John referring? For certain, he is referring to the Jewish Scriptures, what we call the Old Testament. Some Christians might have had access (or have known someone with access) to a copy of the Septuagint, which was a Greek translation of the OT.

As for the NT, it is possible that they had one of the synoptic Gospels. If we assume Mark was written c. 45 AD, that gives about 45 years for it to circulate, and possibly have gotten into the hands of John's audience. Matthew and Luke, written c. 70 AD (depending on your view), would have only had roughly 20 years. If you date Matthew and Luke in the 80's, it would be even more difficult for John's readers to have access to them. It is also possible that they had a small collection of two or three of Paul's epistles (written in the 50's and 60's). However, even if we assume the best possible scenario - that they had access to one gospel, and some Pauline epistles - we must remember that literacy rates were much lower, and copies of the scriptures were very, very few.

That said, there was another body of teaching that would have been passed on orally - the Kerygma. Kerygma is a term that means, "preaching, or proclamation". Kerygma is used to refer to the body of truth proclaimed by the early apostles about Christ, and the Christian message. Some of the elements of the Kerygma would have included, key points of Christ's earthly ministry; that Christ died for our sins, was buried, rose again, and was seen by many witnesses; and a proclamation of salvation through Christ. (SEE: I Corinthians 15:1-8; Acts 2:22-38; Acts 4:8-12; Acts 10:34-43; Acts 13:23-39) In short, the kerygma is the apostolic proclamation of salvation through Jesus Christ.

To sum up, when John uses the phrase, 'Word of God' he was referring to the OT, possibly one or two books in the NT, and the Kerygma - the apostolic teaching about Christ.

There is still another aspect that I didn't get into during the sermon. If John's readers had access to some NT books, would they have even viewed them as canonical at this point? In other words, would they themselves have viewed Mark, for example, as the Word of God in 90 AD?

Another question, is it possible that when John used the term, "Word of God", he was referring to a gift of prophetic revelation? That is, did the readers of I John really did have the Word of God abiding\residing in them? In I John 2:20 it says, "Nevertheless you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know.", skip to verse 27, "Now as for you, the anointing that you received from him resides (same grk word as v.14) in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, it is true and is not a lie. Just as it has taught you, you reside in him." The context of these verses is a warning against false teachers. Teachers who may have claimed some type of elite secret knowledge about Christ. In this type of context, the anointing seems to be aiding in the discernment process - discerning between false teaching about Christ, and correct teaching about Christ. Thus, it isn't certain that by, "word of God", John was speaking about an inner prophetic gift. Even if this were the case, this does not negate the definition of "Word of God" given above (OT, parts of NT, and kerygma), it nearly expands the definition. Any genuine "Word of God" via prophecy from within, would have to conform with the OT, NT, and apostolic teaching (Kerygma).

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Authors

Jason L. Hart
Jason resides with his wife, Emily, in Chattanooga, TN. He graduated from Faith Baptist Bible College with a Bachelor of Arts in 2008, and is currently pursuing a masters degree at at Temple Baptist Seminary. His main interests are the synoptic gosples, textual criticism, theodicy, apologetics, and pop culture.


Stephen T. Archer
Stephen is currently a senior in college at Tennessee Temple University studying Music and Spanish and plans on getting a Doctorate Degree in Theology in a few years. He is interested in every part of the Doctrine of Salvation from Penal Substitution to the Crucifixion itself.