Saturday, January 22, 2005

Creeds

Doug Wilson has me thinking again. Imagine that. On his blog (at www.dougwils.com, he has some quotes from one of his books about how creeds are inescapable. That got me thinking, so I decided to post a few phrases from my own personal creed for further rumination.



I believe that God is at heart a storyteller, and that He loves suspense, plot twists and happy endings. I believe that He likes the way He has made us including our romance and habits and recreation and work. I believe that He is making the world better. I believe that He loves the material as well as the spiritual, or probably that He doesn't even notice the difference. I believe that He loves His people together as well as individually, thinking of their children as His own. I believe that He hasn't changed. Ever. I believe that He has known what He is doing from the beginning. I believe that He knows what He's doing even now.



And I believe that many other Christians do not believe some of these things, or else we wouldn't disagree about so much.

Evolution

Evolution is quite a funny theory, when you think about it. It points out the best in modern secular unbelief. Consider:



A modern evolutionist does not believe in a Creator because he says it is too far-fetched and mystical. Yet he believes in amoebas turning into dogs turning into men.



A modern evolutionist does not believe in a Creator because he cannot find evidence of such a thing in the laboratory. Yet who has ever seen any of the transformations mentioned above occur? We have more statistical and testimonial evidence of ghosts and extraterrestrial beings than of dogs turning into men.



A modern evolutionist does not believe in a Creator because he claims to work from data rather than from faith. Again, where is the data for such astonishing transfigurations? A man may as well believe in chariots turning into pumpkins, or frogs into princes. At least some folks remember such things happening, if only in their oral traditions.



It seems that we Christians may have something to learn from our modern evolutionist friends, for they have much greater faith than many of us.

There is Nothing Better

There seems to be quite an industry going around the inspirational attitude of making the most of every day, living in the moment, etc. Most people seem to be quite enamored of the idea, but very few people seem to understand how. Yet the question and answer are as old as the earth.



There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God. For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him? For to a person who is good in His sight He has given knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who is good in God's sight. This too is vanity and stiving after wind. Ecclesiastes 2:24-26