Einstein

Yesterday’s quote research took me along another path.  Many famous people have been asked, and have responded, about their beliefs.

Albert Einstein made very known his religious views on many occasions, clearly stated in a 1954 quote: 

It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it. [Letter to an atheist 1954]

There were other years, other quotes.  This one gives a bit more definition to his beliefs on the intelligence behind the universe.

I'm absolutely not an atheist. ... The problem involved is too vast for our limited minds.  ... We see the universe marvelously arranged and obeying certain laws but only dimly understand these laws. Our limited minds grasp the mysterious force that moves the constellations.

Mankind as a whole has benefited from the time Einstein spent working on those laws that define the moving of the constellations. He was able to formulate concepts that keep scientists busy today searching for proof, building on his foundations. 

He also was quoted:

I do not believe in the God of theology who rewards good and punishes evil. His universe is not ruled by wishful thinking, but by immutable laws.

In this and the earlier quotes I can see his search for the physical laws that control the dancing stars, and the understanding of a “mysterious force” that includes “immutable laws.”

Christians, too, see a mystery:

Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, (Romans 16:25 KJV)

Christians, too, see a God who instituted immutable laws.  Breaking one of the universe’s immutable laws has consequences. Why limit the “mysterious force that moves the constellations” to the physical? Why should men deny there are also “immutable laws” within the spiritual?

Einstein’s religious concepts were partially shaped in a Catholic school in Germany, a culture that at that same time was incubating Nazism, filled with anti-Semitism.  When Christians compromise God’s laws for comfort within a culture, His will is not accomplished and the affect on others has lasting, wide-spread consequences.

The Bible tell us:

Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. (John 4:48 KJV)

Einstein saw signs and wonders through the movement of constellations, but could not accept the concept of a personal loving God:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16 KJV)

There’s nothing more personal than this, and the combination of an all powerful yet loving God is awesome. This is what Christians should be teaching through their lives.  Often we are the Bible others read.

Researching A Quote

Former Bishop N. T. Wright is considered a conservative in the Anglican Communion, which I found to be a valid statement, based on reading his 2009 Times article regarding the schism in his community:

“But saying ‘we want to stay in, but we insist on rewriting the rules’ is cynical double-think.”

The Bible is not to be rewritten nor ignored in order for selfish people to continue erroneous lifestyles.  Better they admit they do not believe all the Bible says and be open about the parts they do not wish to follow.
While I disagree with former Bishop Wright’s lack of concern about hell and his dismissal of what is termed ‘rapture,’ I do find several of his quotes right on.  The first was included in a question to him about hell:

“… it seems to me that the New Testament is very clear that there are people who do reject God and reject what would have been His best will for them, and God honors that decision.”

There we do agree.  God never has sent a person to hell, but does honor their decision not to be with Him in heaven.

He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:18 KJV)

I found the above information while researching the source of a quote. I do not post quotes until I know something about the person quoted, even when I think it sounds worthwhile. It may have been taken out of context and not mean the same thing to the author. It appears Bishop Night and I do agree on this, too:

“...the work of salvation, in its full sense, is (1) about whole human beings, not merely souls; (2) about the present, not simply the future; and (3) about what God does through us, not merely what God does in and for us.”

To accept Jesus as Christ, then focus on what rewards are expected in heaven is to reject the Great Commission and the second greatest commandment. What we do in the present is of utmost importance to our future. Living within God’s will, He is able to work through us to display His glory to those around us, nothing of our own.

I love both the lyrics and music of “To God Be The Glory.”  We sang it last week in services and I was again reminded of Fanny Crosby and her gifted talent.  A blessed example of what God accomplished through her, not what He did for her.  Opening her heart to His work, her hymns are sung world-wide, her present was blessed and ours is, too.

Few people from two centuries ago are so widely remembered.  Few from this century will be remembered two centuries from now.  If we do little or nothing, we will not be among those few.

God will honor our choice to be with Him, or not.  He is available for those who seek Him.  He answers those who call upon Him. He has given us guides to find Him.  Among those guides are people who chose Him.  I do, as Joshua did:

And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. (Joshua 24:15 KJV)

Nothing

Babylon’s Hanging Gardens

Sunday’s lesson is “Faithful Old Daniel.”  No longer the purposed young man taken from Judah into captivity, he has answered and counseled several kings.  Now his political enemies (last mentioned in Politics, As Usual) have succeeded in backing him into a corner with the decree Darius signed that said:

… whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. (Daniel 6:7 KJV)

All Daniel had to do to save his life was nothing.

The commandments told Daniel that he must love the Lord, his God, with all his heart, soul and mind – but there was no commandment requiring him to petition Him daily.  So, for those thirty days, Daniel simply had to do nothing.

We’re very good at that, aren’t we?  Most of us pass a church or two every single day.  Daniel was in a country that did not offer him that opportunity.  We’re very good at saying, “I go on Sunday morning, and that’s enough.”  It takes faithfulness to attend the remaining services and activities. I don’t know about your church, but attendance is highest on Sunday morning than it is for any other service.

It appears Daniel was alone, too.  No mention of the three companions we hear of earlier in the book.  No peer pressure, no supportive fellowship, just communion with his God.  Simply say nothing in prayer for thirty days.

Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. (Daniel 6:10 KJV)

Daniel did not allow the laws written by men of malice to change his relationship with God. He did as he had always done, in a window open to the world, not quietly in a closet.  To have changed his habit would have been to acknowledge an earthly power.

The God he petitioned is the same God I petition.  The gifts we have received are not.  We are unique, as is our calling.  I am grateful that God’s will has not taken me on the same paths of Joseph and Daniel, though I am blessed by their lives.

Faced with Daniel’s death, Darius looked for a way out:

Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him: and he laboured till the going down of the sun to deliver him. (Daniel 6:14 KJV)

Once signed, the law of the Medes and Persians could not be changed, and Daniel’s enemies had counted on this.

In our world we often choose to do nothing.  Thus our beliefs, our Lord, is not visible through us.  By his consistent actions, Daniel displayed his love of God.  Will we continue to choose nothing?

A Loaded Question

Mosaic from Dominus Flevit

"As a parent when we see our children do wrong are we still not willing to stand by them and still love them?"

I answered the parent that wrote that very loaded question. That question arises often, though the circumstances change from family to family.  So, I decided to expand a bit here and share my thoughts.

The quick and easy answer is, "Yes. This is my child, forever and nothing can change that. I stand by them and love them, no matter what"

The factual answer is "As a parent, we never stop loving our child, but their actions can become painful for both of us.  If they do wrong, breaking man's law or God's, and turn away, living in danger or error, we cannot stand by and keep quiet." 

No matter how much we love our children, we can be faced with the same situation Christ was:

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! (Matthew 23:37 KJV)

There are times when a child does wrong and a parent's heart is broken because they have tried to gather and protect -- but the child will not listen to loving experience.

The Bible has the answer to the final question that person wrote, too, about how to know when something is wrong: "How do you figure that out?"

Through Bible study and prayer. Good verses are:

Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.  Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. (Matthew 7:16-20 KJV)

The Bible also tells us what those fruits are:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23 KJV)

It also tells us what is wrong and should not be done:

Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21 KJV)

While it is true that there are parents that do not love their children (and for those children, my heart breaks), we all have a Father who loved us first (1 John 4:19), enough to die for us (John 3:16, John 12:27) and has taught us forgiveness (Matthew 18:35).

He has provided requirements as well as instructions on how to achieve those requirements.  When we fail to follow those instructions, there are consequences – also spelled out in His word.

Which One First?

My mother used to tell the story of some sibling who listened to part of what their mother said (which was “Do not put beans in your nose.”) and as soon parents left, began sticking beans in his nose.  The doctor was able to remove them all (we think.)

I was reminded of this when my Second Great-GrandDaughter was at the lake with her grandmother and some teenagers.  Everyone was chatting over a project, no one noticing more than Second GGD was tearing tissues into strips.  Not until the pastor’s wife said, “No, no, Sariah!”  They were carefully removing strips when she sneezed and yuckily removed them all (we think.)

Sometimes we forget the “Don’t,” and get our instructions out of order, at the least.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. (Genesis 1:27-28 KJV)

What a nice directive.  An ecologist’s dream – fresh new earth, fully stocked with fish in the sea, fowls in the air and living things moving upon the earth.  All Adam and Eve had to do was be fruitful and multiply, using all the raw materials at hand, and having enough time to walk in the cool of the evening with their Lord. Truly Paradise.

And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. (Genesis 1:29-30 KJV)

Later on God gave them an additional command:

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. (Genesis 2:16-17 KJV)

They had not been fruitful before Eve messed up on that second directive.  There were no children to blame, though Adam tried his best to blame Eve:

And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. (Genesis 3:12 KJV)

What has God told us to do?  What has God told you, specifically, to do? Are there “Don’t” commands where we’ve dropped that word and proceeded to the equivalent of putting beans in our noses?  How about a quick check of the priorities God has given us.  A little paying of close attention to His word?

Politics, As Usual

Here we have a two-party (for the most part) system where the incumbent president isn’t challenged within his party but it’s a wide-open field for the other party.  And our presidential election is still over a year away.  Time for many to fade away, and others to get a case of foot-in-mouth disease on any number of television appearances.

Wasn’t that way back when Cyrus took over Babylon.  We’re told:

It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom; And over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage. (Daniel 6:1-2 KJV)

Whole different aspect of “one man, one vote,” isn’t it? No year of campaigning, just political appointment. Cyrus did pick the right man for one of the jobs of president – in fact, he wanted to promote him quickly.

Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. (Daniel 6:3 KJV)

That did not go over well.  No better than it does today when diametrically opposed ideologies meet.  Today battles are pretty much confined to gerrymandering by the winners to retain advantages.  Daniel’s opposition took it a step further.  Looking at Daniel’s life, they found a soft spot.  An area where he could be attacked and stopped.

Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God. (Daniel 6:5 KJV)

Politics as usual.  The media writes and the public reads all about the action, character and beliefs of those running for office. Michelle Bachmann recently received a journalist’s question regarding submission. I’m certain there is more to come.  Some of them will come for the same reasons cause was sought against Daniel.

They were successful in creating a law designed to stop Daniel from speaking to his God, or die.  They went to the king and convinced him:

… to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. (Daniel 6:7 KJV)

Do we have the courage of Daniel?

Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. (Daniel 6:10 KJV)

Do people know what our beliefs are, or are they hidden in secret. Are we able to discuss our beliefs calmly in daily discussions?  Do we continue our praises in difficult situations, or ignore Him? Can we follow Peter’s exhortation?

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: (1 Peter 3:15 KJV)

Who Do We Turn To?

We’re still in the book of Daniel in Sunday School.  Way past the time he explained a couple of dreams to Nebuchadnezzar.  You remember, the ones that gave attention to his God.  We’ve ceased to hear of his three companions following their deliverance from the fiery furnace.

Seems as though all of that has been forgotten.  We’ve moved from Chapter 4 where Nebuchadnezzar’s voice tells of that second dream and in Chapter 5 we have a new king, Belshazzar.  And, he’s having quite a party.

Reminds me a bit of the book of Esther.  Surrounded by those he wishes to admire him, he decides to show off.  Instead of attempting to display the beauty of a wife, Belshazzar picks instead the treasures of God’s temple.  He shouldn’t have.

We aren’t told at this point what was written, but the sight of a disembodied hand writing on the wall was sufficient to focus the attention of a drunken king.  As twice before in the book of Daniel, the cry went out:

The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. (Daniel 5:7a KJV)

Why didn’t he just call for Daniel?  It had been a while, a couple of kings between Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar, and Daniel had been forgotten.  Leave it to a woman to remind a man of what he should have known.  His mother described the man who helped Nebuchadnezzar:

Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation. (Daniel 5:12 KJV)

I particularly like “shewing of hard sentences.”  Maybe even a bit more than “dissolving of doubts.”  Have we ever dissolved anyone’s doubts?  Are we known as a person another can turn to, one who has knowledge and understanding?  One who can handle the hard stuff?

Don’t just look at Daniel’s ability to interpret dreams.  That’s a God given gift, just as his prophecy in later chapters. It is the building of an excellent spirit, just as Daniel purposed in his heart not to defile himself spiritually, that can be within us. 

We decide whether or not we will be pure before our God.  We decide whether to study His word or to ignore Him.  We decide what to do with our bodies, to turn them over to His will or to show off what we can.

And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. (Daniel 5:25-28 KJV)

We, too, will be weighed in the balances.  Will we be found wanting?