The Evangelical Universalist Forum

Evolution, The Flood, and God’s True Nature

Actually, that question has been asked, on the secular Yahoo forums at:

Are Angels immortal or mortal?

Let me share, what was voted the best answer :exclamation: :smiley:

This is also discussed on the secular site Quora at:

Are angels immortal? Why or why not?

Now as a** free bonus**, I share this from Quora: :laughing:

What joke will make one burst into laughter for at least 30 seconds?

Gabe/All: of course, from the moment they were created as adults, Adam and Eve had the appearance of age. And here are some ancient dinosaur depictions.

I believe that everything that was created by God, both the physical and the spiritual, was created during Creation Week. For both angelic and human people, I think our existence within the classroom of time affords us the opportunity to choose to freely receive the love of God, and to obey Him. After Judgment, the Lake of Fire is a continuation of opportunity for rebels to be healed and free to accept Jesus. Then, when death has been totally eradicated, there is no more need for linear time: we will all be fully conscious of our eternal place with our loving God. And then the real adventure begins:

There is a lot of evidence for a young earth—depending on your scientific paradigm. Here is a short article based on the work of John D. Morris, Ph.D. (His father Henry, also a young earth creationist, was department chair of civil engineering at Virginia Tech, my alma mater): “Arguments for a recent creation.”

Also, a fascinating book I studied in a course on the history of science was called The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962), by physicist and philosopher Thomas S. Kuhn. Kuhn’s book argues that “the evolution of scientific theory does NOT emerge from the straightforward accumulation of facts, but rather from a set of changing intellectual circumstances and possibilities. Such an approach is largely commensurate with the general historical school of non-linear history.” (Wikipedia.)

Kuhn coined the term “paradigm shift” to describe a fundamental change in the basic concepts and experimental practices of a scientific discipline, leading to a scientific revolution. This is in contrast to the activity of “normal” science, which he described as scientific work done within a prevailing framework (or paradigm).

Kuhn’s examples of paradigm shifts are primarily from the physical sciences: Aristotelian dynamics, Copernican astronomy, Newtonian optics, and Einstein’s theories of relativity. A paradigm shift is a crisis brought on by conflict between two or more paradigms, in which the best paradigm survives. Wrong presuppositions and prejudices must be recognized and abandoned, in deference to a new paradigm that explains the data better.

But, I would argue, there is a spiritual dimension to seeing the right paradigms, and letting go of false paradigms, even in the physical sciences.

Blessings.

I read the article, and I have no idea how to find arguments contra each one of them.
The propositions might be right, but I have no way of knowing.

So ‘duelling propositions’ are not going to help me as a layman. I try to keep an open mind about these things but, in the loooooooooong run, I don’t think my deciding either way matters at all. But it is interesting. :smiley:

Hermano means brother in Spanish. And sometimes, I have no idea what he believes. Perhaps: :laughing:

He sides with the Seven Day Adventists on wine in the bible is grape juice
He sides with the fundamentalists on young earth and 7 days.
He sides with the miracles you find in the Charismatic churches, and among the saints of Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism
Etc.

And he’s very much a crusader, for what he believes in. :laughing:

I could. But it would take some time to research. And take me away from non-redeeming things. Like watching tonight **The Librarians ** battling supernatural forces. Or the **Walking Dead **crew battling zombies and non-redeemable bad guys. :laughing:

There is a whole website devoted to Christianity and science. Their articles are along the lines of Christianity, coexisting with big bang, evolution and old earth. The website is godandscience.org/. They also have articles blasting atheism.

Just an observation. One can be a believing Christian (i.e. especially the orthodox type, with creeds and such). And they can side with creationism, intelligent design, old earth, young earth, big bang, no big bang, climate change a hoax, climate change real, etc. - and coexist as Christians :exclamation: :smiley:

or

youtube.com/watch?v=JWVshkVF0SY

I am no scientist by any means, but from reading the Bible I get the idea that perhaps they viewed time as going in a circular pattern?? I don’t think prophecy was “seeing in the future” things that had not yet taken place, but rather the foretelling of events that will occur via the things that have taken place in the past. As Ecclesiastes says, “There is nothing new under the sun.” There are a lot of verses in the Bible that indicate those who know God are to know certain things through wisdom. There is also talk being able to discern the future by seasons, such as the parable of the fig tree. Luke 19:41-44 speaks of knowing the time of our visitation, and Matthew 24:15 says this: “Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place…” From what I understand, history basically repeats itself.

The problem I have with Hermano, is he likes to go on a crusade. And he will keep bringing up studies and “experts”, to back his crusade. Well, Hermano, alcohol is here to stay in Christianity. Same goes for evolution, old earth, and big bang. Scientists will embrace these ideas, even if they are Christian. And they will present evidence, studies, etc., to back their scientific ideas - and embrace it with their Christian theology. All sides will argue for their positions, until the end of time.

http://beforeitsnews.com/mediadrop/uploads/2013/38/c1581d8cd15bab6fd82059b012e4c56611053f33.jpg

So Hermano, what practical difference does this make? A Christian embraces Christianity, via the Orthodox, historical creeds…but they are also scientists, who embrace evolution, big bang and old earth :question:

In one sense, I think I see what you’re saying LLC: when we understand the cause and effect relationship often seen in God’s Word, much of what we consider prophecy actually shows general principles to live by. A prophetic message is “a word fitly spoken” (Proverbs 25:11).

But I think you’re missing the **supernatural **nature of the gift. God knows everything, and can make pieces of the future known to us, as He deems appropriate, suited to the needs of the moment. For example, in Acts 11:28, we read, “Then one of them, named Agabus, stood up and showed by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar.”

You can’t study Scripture without studying prophecy. Prophetic passages are found throughout the Bible; for example, Ezekiel, Daniel, the Olivet Discourse, and Revelation. In many cases we can see the fulfillment of prophecies in the historical portions of the Bible, and in the historical secular records. But in other cases, the prophecies are yet to be fulfilled.

Psalm 22 gives very great detail about the crucifixion of Christ, over a thousand years before the event, and over eight hundred years before the Romans ever began using that method of execution!

-The First Coming of Jesus Christ was prophesied, and fulfilled
-The Second Coming of Jesus was prophesied, and is yet to be fulfilled

Prophecy demonstrates that God is in control and there is a plan—but I believe the high level of apathy and ignorance of Bible prophecy is helping pave the way for a literal future Antichrist.
**

1 Cor. 14:1.**
The Bible is a finished book. BUT prophecy for the Church today is the “contemporary Word of God” to encourage and guide His people; it comes directly from God, and “he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men” 1 Cor. 14:3. A fresh word of prophecy may be extra biblical, but it will not be anti-biblical.

Friends, I am not a cessationist, but rather a continuationist: these gifts are still available today. Reconsider the experiential steps laid out in Scripture:

-First, Jesus breathed on the disciples, saying, *“Receive the Holy Spirit” * (John 20:22), and they were then “born again.”

-Second, the disciples willingly received the Baptism-filling-immersion in the Holy Spirit, after which the Holy Spirit was able to flow out of them and manifest himself through imparted supernatural gifts. Acts 2.

(Of course, these two distinct experiences no longer have to be separated by time—if one is informed, and willing.)
In conclusion, to reiterate Peter’s warning about ignoring prophecy,

Deliberately forget”? Sounds to me just like Darwin’s conscious choice to let go of the supernatural, in order to more fully embrace the natural.

Blessings.

This may surprise some. Somethings I’m in complete agreement with Hermano. Sometimes I am not. But my mother - now deceased at 92.5 years (in Oct. 2013), had the gift of prophesy. She was a lifelong Protestant Christian and was told by her mother, that she was born with a veil over her eyes. Not sure what that means. Or why she was born, with the gift of prophesy. But I had plenty of opportunity to witness its truth and practical application - in my life.

Yes, God knows everything that is possible to know. But the future doesn’t exist, and therefore there is nothing to know. The fulfillment of prophecies are not certain; they are but predictions based on what IS known, but prophecies, even those uttered by true prophets of God, don’t always come true. Doubtless God inspired Jonah to prophesy, “Yet 40 days and Ninevah shall be overthrown!” Forty days elapsed, and Ninevah was NOT overthrown. Yes, I know the reason—the Ninevites repented, and so God changed his mind and did not overthrow Ninevah. It seems at the time God inspired Jonah to utter the prophecy, he had expected that the Ninevites would NOT repent.

It is not possible to know in advance what a free-will agent will choose in the future. If someone KNEW in the absolute sense, that you are going to eat an apple tomorrow, then it is now a fact that you will eat an apple tomorrow. Therefore it is impossible for you to refrain from eating an apple tomorrow. And THAT would imply that you will not have the free will to refrain from eating an apple tomorrow. Thus it is a logical contradiction for anyone to KNOW in advance what a free-will agent will choose.

Even God, who is omniscient, has sometimes thought his people would do one thing, when in fact, they did another. Here is an example:

Then the LORD said to me in the days of Josiah the king, “Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and she was a harlot there. I thought, ‘After she has done all these things she will return to Me’; but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.” (Jeremiah 3:6,7 NASB)

Paidion - do you think that Yahweh actually spoke those words to the prophet?

Qaz, I love you, too, my friend (which must be agape, since we’ve never met in person). But as you must realize, calling something a “conspiracy theory” can (sometimes) just be a term thrown out to shut down debate—to stigmatize ideas and information that the “gatekeepers” want to discredit. As someone once said, *“ ‘Conspiracy Theorist’ can be used as a PC thoughtcrime label.” *

(For the record, I believe the holocaust and the moon landings really took place. And although I believe Elvis is dead, I think that Paul McCartney is not.)

Conspiracies often seem to be in the eye of the beholder. Here is my top favorite conspiracy theory:
*

2 Cor. 4:4. *


Paidion, while prophets may get things wrong about the future—seeing “through a glass, darkly”—I understand God’s omniscience to be completely unlimited. And even though I believe God works in certainties, not probabilities, I don’t believe that God knowing the future, means we somehow lose freedom of choice. Just because God knows that something will happen, does not mean that He causes it—after all, God’s method of conquering is always to "overcome evil with good.”

For me, omniscience cannot be qualified: it means unlimited knowledge. However, like you, “Open Theism” says that although omniscient, God does not know what we will freely do in the future (for me, a non sequitur). And “Moral Government Theology” argues that God “only knows what is knowable,” that is, He has limited foreknowledge, or, as they term it, “limited omniscience” (for me, an oxymoron).

I believe the eternal God created the construct of linear time at the beginning of the Creation Week, a few days before He created people. Linear time is part of a classroom environment for us to learn about Him, in order for each individual to (eventually) decide to freely receive His love and salvation in Christ. Being both outside and inside this timeline, I think God can see every point on it simultaneously, from its beginning to its end.

I know we could play Bible verse ping pong all day, but here are some I like to support my point:

-Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. Psalm 139:4.

-Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them. Isaiah 42:9.

-Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning. Isaiah 46:9-10.

-This is what the LORD says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut. Isaiah 45:1. (And, of course, God revealed to Isaiah the name of Cyrus over a century before Cyrus was born.)

-He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. John 21:17.


Blessings.

In my deceased, Protestant mom’s case, I can’t really say if she saw:

What God knew in his mind would happen
What God saw as the most probably outcome
Etc.

Personally, I side with the viewpoint of open theism (a position Paidion more or less embraces).

As far as gifts of the spirit goes, I look at the case of the Roman Catholic priest I know. He has the:

Gift of healing
Gift of hearing God speak

But in his own cases of illness, sometimes he gets results from

Spiritual healing and prayer
A herbal remedy
A conventional remedy or treatment.

Usually I am pragmatic and I do have trouble understanding **contradictory **things - sometimes. Like why Turmpenstein:

Likes to be buddy buddies with Russia’s Putinstein
But stirs up a hornet’s nest with Chinese, over the official one China policy - and risk a trade war, with the second largest economy

But I follow the pragmatic trail. Like:

Following the scientific evidence trail, that leads me to support the big bang, old earth and some form of possible evolution
While acknowledging the benefits of spiritual healing and prayer, supporting the great work of conventional and alternative medicine.

or

youtube.com/watch?v=gApXDGjyksw

Open theism aside, You have to deal with the problem of when the Parousia happened, or was to happen because that is a game changer. All of the Gospels and epistles are written in ‘about to’ language. There was definitely expectation in their writings. :astonished:

I have been posted from my phone a lot lately, so I have made a few typos, also didn’t convey some things I wanted to convey properly. Anyhow, I wanted to add the following thoughts on the matter.

Evolution is loaded word. What I mean by evolution and every other person is likely different in some way. It is far to broad of a term. People try and box someone in a corner with micro and macro evolution. Both sides can provide very convincing arguments. But what I wanted to present is my viewpoint, only for the sake of find someone common ground of fairness.

Science is always self correcting, at some point. It might take a while, but eventually the truth wins out and builds upon more truth. Knowing this, I find it very unfeasible to say that everything we have learned in the last 100 years of astronomy is ‘incorrect’ and while I know I am sweeping with a broad brush, possibly misrepresenting those who disagree with me, I’ll say this: True science builds upon verifying theories. If the model is flawed, it can implode and rightly so. However, sometimes a model is needed, much like putting a puzzle together. Just because we are missing some pieces of the puzzle, doesn’t mean that what we have is incorrect. Imagine putting a puzzle together. It is a picture of a horse… You see some legs, and a tail, part of a head. Everyone thinks it is a horse - but, of course, it might not be. Still, is it wrong to guess? Should take the puzzle apart because there isn’t enough evidence that it is a horse, or do we keep trying pieces? I’d argue the latter.

Who created the universe? God. How did he do it? He just did it! Great, now the conversation is over. No need to study astronomy, because we know God did it. Unfortunately, that is basically how I see young earthers.

Who created the universe? God. How did he do it? I don’t know, but I want to figure it out! I want to learn. That is how I view Christian Evolutionists, so to speak, even those that don’t necessarily believe in all the wild theories of evolution.

Open theism helps me to explain the Health and Prosperity gospel of Joel Osteen. Or to put it into “new age language”, the “law of Attraction”. In other words, our attitudes, thoughts, feelings, prayers, etc. - influence how God responds.

We could say God knows everything, including our free will choices. And we can follow the logic of Calvinist Matt Slick at If God knows our free will choices, do we still have free will?. In which he says this:

We can take the position of theologian A.E. Knoch, where we don’t have fee will. God knows all our choices, but it is God pulling the strings.
We can take the position of folks like Greg Boyd, that God knows all possible or probable outcomes
Etc.

Take a framework (i.e. Hermano, Paidion, etc.), and run with it - whatever works for you. :smiley:

As to What is the Parousia?, from the “Calvinism in Disquiet”, Got Questions site:

That’s what potentially saves mankind. And also implements the Health and Prosperity gospel or law of attraction.

Yes, there is “expectancy”, if you watch TV evangelist Joel Osteen. We expect the best, as children of God. But sometimes God knows a better probably outcome for us, then what we envision.

Hey Randy, you said:

Can you expound? :confused:

We are not locked into a script. We have many possibilities - that God knows. But we have a say, in which probability gets manifested. God does respond to our thoughts, feeling, etc., with possibilities. Either directly, or indirectly (i.e. though the saints or the holy angels). It’s a side benefit of Christ’s death and resurrection. I have to watch some un-redeeming shows tonight. But let me know what’s unclear and I’ll try to clear it up. Keep in mind, I am just working with a framework. Much like choosing Open Theism, Immanuel Kant’s epistemological framework, etc.

These frameworks work for me. But if you find other frameworks work for you, then run with them. :smiley:

I found this article helpful, in explaining the connection:

The Link Between Open Theism and the Prosperity Gospel

HFPZ said:

I’m with you. :open_mouth: :laughing:

Amen. I believe in miracles! And they happen every day :smiley: