Scott's Commentary: Recent Episodes
Scott
What most of the resistance in accepting modern cosmology for young earth creationists isn't based on wether or not God was the first cause. Most of the debate is about the definition of a day in the creation account. The whole artifice of rejecting cosmology and other scientific suggestions and implications is based on the hard adherence to six rotations of earth. Is this the way we are supposed to understand the timeline? What does verse fourteen tell us?
In the last episode, we made many observations about the Garden of Eden, but what if we've been looking at it all wrong? We've been judging everything through the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. That's the tree in which God forbade to eat. Let's take another look at this story through the Tree of Life view, strip the story of stigma and look at it a-morally; the way we were originally supposed to view the world.
Chapter 3 to me is very obviously a metaphor but we’re going to assume for the sake of our literal brother that the snake was literally a talking snake. I’m going to identify exactly what kind of snake it was while teaching you all kinds of things from this fascinating first story.
In what way can we believe the Bible? Historically? Scientifically? Physiologically? Do these areas matter? Here's my introduction to the Bible.
While at family camp at Camp Joy Wisconsin, I interviewed the Speaker of the week Evangelist Dwight Smith. There were a few recordings but for technical reasons they remain unpublished. In this one, I sound distant but the important voice in this interview comes through clearly.
For the month of December, my wife Jenny had the idea of the extended family taking turns reading a chapter a day in Luke. When it came to my turn for chapter 11, I saw a lot that I wanted to say about it so I turned it into a podcast.
Genesis 1:15-19 seems to have implications that can apply to the latest cosmology today. I use scripture to understand science better, but I also use science to understand the scripture better.
Pull Quotes
If the purpose of the lights in the heavens are to measure time, wouldn’t more lights help us measure more time?
Peter literally tells us not to be ignorant about one thing. That one thing is not just time but the distinct difference of time variance between us and God.
After reading my blog on "What Works the Waters?" Sherman and I talk about the content and exchange thoughts.
Fredrick Adams and I talk about the Greater and Lesser lights and what they represent in the cosmos.
The waters below and above correspond to several things in nature. Find out what they mean in this episode.
Fred and I talk about the many applications that the waters above and below can mean as we review a few verses in Genesis one.
"It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, and the honor of kings to search it out." Proverbs 25:2. We don't have too many kings these days, but by kings could Solomon be referring to capable and knowledgeable people with understanding? After all, the writer of this proverb was a scientist. Has God concealed some things in scripture that we can search out with our advanced access to knowledge today? We'll never find out if we don't learn about nature and study the text.
While reading Galatians 5:22,23 Sherman discovered biblical anarchy with the words "against such there is no law" Find out what he means in this podcast.
The book of Job, the story of Job, the philosophy of Job has strengthened my spirit, nourished my soul, and stimulated my mind. Within this book, an inquisitive mind can find satisfaction, a struggling soul can find solace, and a confused heart can find company. Some day, somehow, you may have a moment, a day, a week, or even a year or more where you may be reminded of Job. You may even sympathise with Job’s plight on some scale however microscopic. When that day comes in your life or anothers, I hope you will come back or refer someone to this; my partnership with the Book of Job.
The disciples believed that Jesus was the Christ before his death, burial, and resurrection. They confessed that in Matthew 16:16, John 1:49, and John 6:69. Yet their belief that He was the Christ; the Son of the living God was not enough for them to understand what that meant; even when He explained it to them.
How much can we understand the words that represent the creation of the world, if we limit ourselves from understanding the world that those words represent? In the same way that the word “said” has more meaning than we can speak of, and the word “saw” has more dimension than we can perceive and the word “light” has more spectrum than we can see, these other words do actually represent more than what we may notice upon our first reading of them. Unless you realize that, you won’t understand how relevant this ancient text is to reality as we can know it today.
After Jesus was publicly proclaimed to be the beloved Son of God, he was sent into the wilderness to be tested by "the tempter." Satan didn't come to him on day one, or day two, or even in the first week or the first month! Satan waited forty days until Christ's physical and mental limitation without food and nourishment was close. As in this story, our tempter is most prevalent when we are alone.
Mathew 5:3-12 like you've never heard it before. What if we reverse the meanings of the Beatitudes?
I show how when his intellectual schemes backfire and escalate into national war, Samson has no choice but to reluctantly revert to his supernatural power. Though he appeals to justice saying, "as they have done to me; I have done to them," I point out the dishonesty in his accounting.
I point out Samson's mental health decline as he becomes increasingly reckless and even suicidal. Yet even in his last revenge, Samson executes a masterful plan that includes four factors of timing, two factors regarding location, one divine appeal, and every last ounce of his strength.
I make the case that Samson had a son with Delilah. Several facts in the story that follows within the next two chapters support this assertion. We may never know for sure, but you decide whether the case is a good one. Did Delilah become with child by Samson? Was Micah Samson's final secret?
Joshua's Prophecy, The Angel's Message: From Barren to Bearing Brothers.
Samson may be the most interesting person in the Old Testament. Certainly, his story is. Yet much of what fascinates me has never been highlighted when I've heard it. Possibly, the least interesting thing about him to me was his physical strength. Take that away and you might think there would be no story left, but you'd be wrong. How many individuals in the Bible were specifically prophesied of by anyone let alone the second great leader of the Hebrew people (Joshua)? Samson was. How many were foretold personally by an angel with specific instructions? Samson was. How many people single handedly devastated the Philistine economy bringing the foreign threat to its knees? Samson did, and without anyone's help and furthermore without using his supernatural strength. Did you know Samson didn't want to be known by his supernatural physical strength? What did Samson want to be known for? I will show you as I reveal his story in this series like you've never heard it before.
Did you know that Joseph prevented a capitalist Egypt from becoming a Socialist State? What Egypt became in the end might not look like any government we have today. What do you call an economic system where the means of production are owned by the government but are managed by the people? Is this what a healthy relationship between government and citizen looks like? Did Joseph's leadership guide Egypt in a way that politicians should take note of? Was he completely transparent with the citizens, or did he pull a fast one? Joseph may be the first example in history of someone who did not "not let a crisis go to waste" as he consolidated political power for Pharaoh. Let me take you through the text and let's see if we can notice things that you've never seen or thought of before.