The Warrior Within (Part 1)

View this post on Willed Induction.

Should we engage in the fight of ideas and try persuading unbelievers, or decide to stay on the sidelines because whatever we say cannot make "fools" change their minds? Or worse, do we half-heartedly talk to an unbeliever because we are commanded to, without any real hope for positive impact or victory? Is this what Paul did?

Over the last ten years or so, it has become clear to me that, as bearers of truth for the advance of the Kingdom of God, we are fighting against ideas and not people. We are not fighting a particular person or sets of persons, though we engage them personally. It is their ideas, such as radical Islam (a tautology in my opinion), socialism, Marxism, relativism, naturalism and so on, that we are attempting to destroy. These types of false ideas blind the persons we are engaging and taint their worldview. These ideas are the types of fortresses Paul warns the Corinthians about:

"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ" (2Cr 10:3-5)

Did Paul regard unbelievers as fools without free will that could not be persuaded no matter what? Here are some passages that suggest quite the opposite.

Paul on Mars Hill in Athens, Greece, in Acts 17:17 is relentless,

"So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there."

After he left Athens he went to Corinth,

"And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded both Jews and Greeks." Acts 18:4

Then Acts 18:19 tells us that he again reasoned elsewhere with unbelievers,

"And they came to Ephesus, and he left them there, but he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews."

The Holy Spirit of God has no doubt his own work cut out, but we need to worry about our own role. Giving people reasons for why we believe the things we believe is of utmost importance. If Paul reasoned with unbelievers with that type of fervor, there is good reason to believe that there is value for us in presenting good arguments and evidence for Jesus Christ to the unbelieving crowd.

But why would God and Jesus, who trained 12 people to be "fishers of men" or Paul, engage unbelievers if they cannot discern the truth?

Did God not say: "Come now, and let us reason together," or "argue this out," as the NLT translates it (Isaiah 1:18)? In other words everyone is free to choose to follow or not, based on the arguments (see also Acts 17:11).

Paul explains that God is evident to all men first in his creation:

"Because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse" (Rom 1:19-20)

and in his absolute moral law:

"For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them" (Rom 2:14-15)

Now perhaps certain people have rejected God and God has "hardened their hearts" in a way that no arguments will ever convince them, but note that they first rejected God. We just cannot assume that.

We can see that the creation screams to all men that God exists. Energy in the universe is running out which implies it was full or had a beginning at some finite point in the past. If that wasn't enough the universal moral law "written in their hearts" speaks to their conscience. Find out what relativists hold dear and see how quickly they change their position when you threaten what they value. If we appeal to creation to point to a creator, and absolute moral law which implies a moral law giver, we can successfully persuade others that Christianity offers insight into the true nature of God.

IN BATTLE WE WILL BE VICTORIOUS!

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Mousetrap Soup for the Mind

Michael Behe used the mousetrap device as a popular example of an irreducibly complex system. The mousetrap with its parts working together with the sole purpose to catch mice was used to illustrate protein structure and function in biological systems such as the bacterial flagellum seen in the cell. I describe the flagellum motor on my post Irreducible Core.

Michael Behe describes how all elements of the system must be present at once in order for the purpose of the system to be carried out: "an irreducibly complex system is one that needs several well-matched parts, all working together, to perform its function."

I thought I'd buy a couple of mousetraps for my garage but after the fact Andi preferred me using granular bait instead. The idea of Camille or Gabe and friends getting their fingers caught, witnessing or removing broken mice from the trap was not too appealing to her. I'm easy to get along with so I complied. I could always use the mousetraps on Willed Induction I thought. Of course that was premeditated on my part.

Man has an idea on how to solve a problem - here mice coming into the garage. He designs, then builds the solution. The process occurs in the mind first (as opposed to the brain - let's use Christian talk), and it is then carried out in the physical sense. There is a lot that goes into making a mousetrap. Just like there is a lot that goes into making a bow and arrow system, or a working outboard motor like the bacterial flagellar motor. You can read my post Of Hurdles and Bolts to get an idea of what that process might look like.



So, the mousetrap first begins with a purpose in mind. While there are many types of mousetraps out there, this one captures 60% of the market worldwide. The 1/60th of a second deadly design is simply the most effective (watch it in slow motion).

There are nine parts to this mousetrap. Nine carefully crafted parts that fit together only a certain way. Much like a biological machine, the manufacturing process it takes to build each one of the parts is complicated in itself. First you have to find the raw materials such as the metal and the wood necessary to make the individual parts.



Then each part must be cut and, in the case of the wiring, twisted a certain way for the design to carry out its purpose.





Even the piece of wood and thickness is carefully chosen so that it is not too thin as to break under pressure, or too thick that mice are turned away. Holes on the board are at precise locations so that the pieces fit harmoniously.



I think you get the picture. It would be impossible (read: never in an infinite number of future moments) for the pieces to come together by chance, just like the human body or a simple cell cannot arise out of naturalistic small unguided evolutionary incremental steps. Chance knows no purpose.

Michael Behe continues "The reason that such systems are headaches for Darwinism is that it is a gradualistic theory, wherein improvements can only be made step by tiny step, with no thought for their future utility. I argued that a number of biochemical systems, such as the blood clotting cascade, intracellular transport system, and bacterial flagellum are irreducibly complex and therefore recalcitrant to gradual construction, and so they fit poorly within a Darwinian framework. Instead I argued they are best explained as the products of deliberate intelligent design."

Looking for a brand name -- Evolution proponents are like the skeptics who circularly keep asking "how do you know?" or "If there is a designer, who is it?" The thing is ID proponents do not need to go into the who or how questions for it to be science. The forensic scientist or the archeologist leave those questions for the detectives or the historians.

The fact that something is designed implies a designer no matter what, so it is irrelevant to the debate of whether something is designed, who did it or how it was done. While the design does not carry a flagrant brand name as the mousetrap does, the purpose of the design of human beings, animals, plant life, solar system point to an intelligent, cautious, very caring, personal creator. While studying biology, philosophy, world religions and observing people and places while traveling to Europe, North America, India and Africa, the person of Jesus Christ has become the most plausible person responsible. Some ID proponents are not religious, some believe in other types of deity. That's just my personal observation.



Resource: Behe, M.J. (1996) Darwin's Black Box: the Biochemical Challenge to Evolution. The Free Press, New York, p. 72.

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Belief about free will

One belief I was thinking about this morning was whether human beings have "free will."  Our actions are shaped by our worldview. Willed Induction is a way to express my worldview. Worldviews are shaped by our personal web of beliefs.  It is after all why I named this blog Willed Induction - in part because God wills matter into existence and also because I believe that humans beings, made in God's image, have the power to carry out their will freely. Free will is the idea that we have the God-given ability to take or refrain from taking some action. This seems fairly obvious, but some believe that we do not have a will, free will or only have the ability to exert our will at certain times and not others.  Slippery slope.  Responsibility for our actions can be ours alone.

My VW customers, for example, have willfully thought about a number of vehicle options before freely deciding whether or not to buy a Volkswagen from me. There are hundreds of small decisions made along the way - from whether to keep the old car running or not, to buying new or used, to prioritizing safety or not, factoring the thickness of the steel or not, the salesman's appearance or not, his breath (yikes! where are my mints?), perceived honesty, vehicle color, interior materials, optional equipment, buying or leasing, and so on.  Literally hundreds more I could list that I've personally seen people struggle with out loud and an innumerable amount they are only privy to from a first person's perspective.

We decide who to vote for, who we listen to, whether we want to have a baby or not (whether we can or not is a different issue), who we spend time with, who we believe, who we follow.



God created a perfect world with perfect creatures with the ability to interact with their environment in the most perfect way.  We can see things that are beautiful to see, smell things that smell so delicious, taste things that are out of this world yummy, touch things (or other people) that feel so good to our fingertips, and listen to delightful music or a magnificent voice.  Just think about what those things were like before Eve and Adam screwed up.

Most wonderful of all, we have the ability to think and to think about our own reasoning from a first person perspective, and analyze the reasoning of others from a third person's perspective.  We can weigh the evidence and acquire a new belief by just pondering about it in our mind.  This stuff fascinates me.  What really gets me going is creating matter out of just thinking about things.  Ever sang a song that you made up in your mind, or written a thought down on paper, maybe the plan for a whole vacation?  The mind is an incredible gift from our Father.

So I was reading in the Bible, which I believe is God's word, verses which reinforce the fact that we have a will and the ability to freely chose what we want to believe. Consider the following verses:

Why should a fool have money in his hand to buy wisdom when he has no sense? Pro 17:16

"And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. Jhn 3:19

"For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. Jhn 3:20

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. Rom 1:28

and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 2Th 2:10

Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, 2Th 2:11

in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 2Th 2:12

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