Esse est percipi

Warning. This posting is more philosophical than most of mine. Feel free to skip it.

Esse est percipi—to be is to be perceived. If you can’t see it, hear it or touch it, either with your senses or with instruments, it doesn’t exist. That is not exactly what idealist philosopher George Berkley meant when he penned those words, but his aphorism has spawned plenty of whimsical offshoots. For example:

If a tree falls in the forest, and there is no one around to hear it, is there any sound?

If a man is in the forest by himself, and there is no woman around, is he still wrong?

I don’t call myself an idealist (in the philosophical sense) for two very good reasons. First, there may be as many kinds of idealism as there are idealist philosophers. Second, many idealists deny that matter really exists. They say that spirit (or Spirit) is the only true substance. The first verse of the Bible says that God created the heavens and the earth; it doesn’t say He just imagined them.

Nevertheless, I am attracted to certain aspects of idealism. Everything that exists outside of God was first an idea in the mind of God, and He is the one who holds all creation together. If He stopped doing that, everything from stars to starfish, including ourselves would cease to exist.

For by Him [Christ] all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-- all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together (Colossians 1:16-17).

How does Jesus Christ hold all things together? Well, by His power, of course, but because He is omniscient and omnipresent, He sees all things (Psalm 139). If it were possible for God to stop seeing His creation, it would no longer be here.

The all seeing eye of God may lie behind one of the greatest mysteries of modern science. According to quantum mechanics, two particles or photons born together out of the same subatomic event are entangled. No matter how far apart they may travel, what happens to one immediately affects the other. Einstein thought that this consequence of quantum mechanics demonstrated that the theory must have a serious flaw. However, the fact of entanglement has been demonstrated in the laboratory.

How can widely separated twins have instantaneous communication with each other? I am not a physicist, but I suspect two factors at work. First, I think it may be possible to devise a theory that provides a suitable explanation for entanglement. I hope so, because that would be very interesting. But second, I believe that God’s perception of all creation—the perception that allows the world to continue existing—is also the perception that enables this entanglement to work. He is always everywhere, so instantaneous communication between widely separated parts of His creation is no problem for Him.

Notice what I am not saying. I am not claiming that God fills in the gaps of our physical knowledge—thunder, for example, used to be God’s voice, now it is just the sound of a big spark passing through the air. No, the biblical picture of God is not that simple. Rather, in every event, certain natural and explicable causes are operating, but at the same time God is at work upholding and sustaining those processes and bringing about His will through them.

As Psalm 104:21 says, “The young lions roar after their prey And seek their food from God.” The lions have to hunt; that is nature. God feeds them; that is His secret work, of which the lions are totally unaware. So God speaks powerfully in the thunder, which is the sound made by a big spark. God sees entangled particles as one and upholds the physical process by which entanglement occurs.

A Word to the Wise

Jesus prayed, “I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.”

Those with an above average IQ start out with a spiritual disability. There is no spiritual benefit to ignorance because eternal life depends on knowing God the Father and His Son (John 17:3). But neither is there a special spiritual benefit to intelligence. To the contrary, the intelligent may think—like all ancient and modern Gnostics—that they are saved by the strength of their intellects.

The intelligent are given a tool to use for the glory of God, that is, their minds. The physically strong are given their strength; the artistic are given their sense of color, tone, or proportion. All these are to be used for God and by God’s strength.

The weak are given their weakness, which they must present to the strong to be helped by them, neither demanding help, as though it were due them, nor refusing help through fear of being a burden, for both of these responses are forms of pride.

And so all of us must become little children if we want to enter the kingdom of heaven.

2012 Apocalypse

Contrary to the wackos, the conspiracy theorists, and a recent movie, the world will not end on December 21, 2012. First, although the thirteenth Baktun cycle of the Mayan calendar does end then, the Mayans did not associate anything special with that date. Second, the sun will not line up with the galactic center on that date. Third, there is no special alignment of the planets on December 21, 2012. All of these issues are clearly explained by E. C. Krupp, chief astronomer at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles. Krupp is a frequent contributor to Sky and Telescope, the premier magazine for amateur astronomers, and the astronomy of ancient civilizations is one of his specialties. Here is a link to his article, "The Great 2012 Scare" from the November 2009 issue.

There is also a good theological reason for saying that the world will not end on December 21, 2012 or at any other time that some unbalanced publicity seeker announces. When the disciples asked Jesus to nail down a date, He replied, "It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth" (Acts 1:8-9). Furthermore, Jesus said, "The Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect: (Luke 12:40). So when a group of Christians or atheists or cultists expects Him to come, He's not coming then.

When Jesus talked about His Second Coming, He frequently emphasized three things. (1) You cannot know when He is coming. (2) Keep on doing your duty, so that when He comes He will be pleased with you--preach the gospel, care for the poor, love your neighbor. (3) There will be very hard times throughout this age, but suffering is not a sign of the end. Therefore, endure it without giving up your faith in Christ.

Three Cups of Tea

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson is one of the most amazing stories I have read in a long time. It is a must read for anyone who wants to understand what is going on in Afghanistan and Pakistan. And it is simply a good, inspiring read. For a longer review, here's a link to a friend's blog.

http://faithlit.wordpress.com/2010/01/17/books-not-bombs/

Whom Does God Love

While handing out tracts at “The Great Allentown Fair,” I have read the slogans of innumerable T-shirts. Among the blasphemies, the beer commercials and the “I’m with stupid” mottos, I saw one T-shirt that sums up the spirit of our age.

Our me-centered culture needs to hear that God’s chief concern is not to give us stress-free, fun-filled lives. You and I are not the focus of His affection. Putting it more bluntly—God loves His eternal Son far more than He loves you.

Since God’s love is infinite, we may suppose that He has an infinite love both for His adopted children and for His eternal Son. This cannot mean, however, that He loves us in exactly the same way and to the same degree as He loves Christ, for if the Father loved any creature exactly as He loves His Son, He would be placing the value of that creature on a par with the value of God. I believe that God’s love for His adopted children is infinite, but Georg Cantor has shown that some infinities are larger than others. For example, there are more points on a line one inch long than there are integers. Therefore, even if the Father’s love for His adopted children is infinite, it is not a contradiction to say that His love for His eternal Son is greater.

Why, then, are we here, if we are not the main attraction? Why did God make us? What in the world is God doing? The thesis of this book is that God’s love for His Son is the reason that He created the world. The bond of love between the Father and the Son is the bedrock on which creation, redemption, judgment, and final glory ultimately rest. This divine love is the primary beauty; all the beauty we experience in the world around us is a secondary kind of beauty that depends on and reflects the beauty of God.

The fact that God loves His Son far more than He loves us has two astonishing corollaries: First, God created us because He loved His Son; second, He loves us because He loves His Son.

Beauty and Glory

The most common Hebrew word for glory is Kavōd. Kavōd is related to an adjective (kavēd­ = heavy) and to a verb (kavēd = to be heavy). Eli is an old man and heavy—kavēd (1 Samuel 4:18). Abraham is also kavēd, not because he is fat, but because he is rich (Genesis 13:2). He is heavy (or we would say loaded) with possessions. In general, the Hebrew language can use kavēd for anything that is heavy or impressive, in a literal or in a figurative sense. Children are commanded to honor (kavēd) their parents (Exodus 20:12). That is, they are to treat them as weighty or impressive people. When we glorify the Lord, the word is again kavēd. Unlike the varied senses of the verb, the noun kavōd always means glory or honor, but the underlying thought is that God is weighty or impressive. In Hebrew, glory is a heavy word. Even though the apostle Paul wrote in Greek, the heaviness of glory in Hebrew was no doubt on his mind when he wrote,

For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:17-18)

All of God’s attributes are glorious, but when His actions are considered individually, they are not all beautiful. Ezekiel 39 speaks of a great battle in which God destroys the rebellious armies of the earth. At the end of the battle, the Lord invites the birds of the air to come and “eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth. . . . So you will be glutted at My table with horses and charioteers, with mighty men and all the men of war” (Ezekiel 39:18–20). That is not a pretty picture, but in the next verse the Lord declares, “And I will set My glory among the nations; and all the nations will see My judgment which I have executed and My hand which I have laid on them.” God’s just judgment is impressive; it is an expression of His glorious holiness and wrath, but considered by itself, it is not attractive. God’s judgment is only attractive when we view it in the context of all His perfections.

This, then, is the distinction I wish to point out: God’s glory is what makes Him impressive. His beauty is what makes Him attractive. The sum of all God’s attributes is both glorious and beautiful.

Book Review--One Thing

One Thing: Developing a Passion for the Beauty of God

by Sam Storms (Christian Focus, 2004)

This is a beautifully written book. Sam Storms has adopted John Piper’s phrase to describe himself as a Christian Hedonist. Like Piper (and like me), Storms has been captivated by Jonathan Edwards’ description of God’s glory and beauty. After introducing the importance of beauty as a category for understanding and enjoying God (3 chapters), Storms illustrates the beauty and majesty of God with chapters on Handel’s Messiah, Galactic Grandeur, and Microscopic Majesty. He concludes with three chapters on the vital importance of beauty for a healthy, happy Christian life.

“The essence of loving living as a follower of Jesus isn’t in trying harder but in enjoying more. I’m not saying you can change without trying. I’m saying that enjoyment empowers effort. Pleasure in God is the power for purity” (p. 128).

While Sam Storms has the same understanding of God’s beauty as I do, our books are nevertheless quite different. One Thing is more devotional, my Beauty of God for a Broken World is more theological. Storms does an excellent job of illustrating God’s beauty. I have attempted to defend it.

Link to Sam Storm’s website