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aushpog (profile) wrote,
on 12-28-2004 at 5:51pm
Current mood: pondering once again
Music: [=] for you + cool hand luke
Subject: JUDAISM, PROPHECY, AND SCIENCE.
what was i going to write? oh yes.

i have most likely mentioned this before, but knowing me... i'll just have to mention it again.

i was watching the coral ridge hour (saturday nights at 7 on TBN) and they were interviewing this guy who used to be jewish. and something i remembered was that he said something like "if they had just shown me isaiah 53 i would have believed them!" when christians tried to minister to him.

it's crazy how revealing, how correct prophecy is. the most obvious are psalm 22 and, of course, isaiah 53.

i mean here we have daniel, describing crucifixion pretty much word for word what it is. what he described in psalm 22 could not POSSIBLY describe anything else. and not only crucifixion itself, but CHRIST'S crucifixion. take a look (if you want the specifics, see highlighted points):
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, and am not silent.
Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the praise of Israel.
In you our fathers put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.
They cried to you and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not disappointed.
But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by men and despised by the people.
All who see me mock me;
they hurl insults, shaking their heads:
"He trusts in the LORD;
let the LORD rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
since he delights in him."
Yet you brought me out of the womb;
you made me trust in you
even at my mother's breast.
From birth I was cast upon you;
from my mother's womb you have been my God.
Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is no one to help.
Many bulls surround me;
strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
Roaring lions tearing their prey
open their mouths wide against me.
I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted away within me.
My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me in the dust of death.
Dogs have surrounded me;
a band of evil men has encircled me,
THEY HAVE PIERCED MY HANDS AND MY FEET.
I can count all my bones;
people stare and gloat over me.
They divide my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing.
...Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord.
They will proclaim his righteousness
to a people yet unborn-
for he has done it.


well then. that about does it, eh?

i was talking to an awesome sister in christ on the phone not too long ago, and we were talking about this. she brought up psalm 22 and brought something up that makes the chapter seem ten times as crazy.

CRUCIFIXION WASN'T EVEN INVENTED WHEN DANIEL WROTE THAT PSALM.

hm. think about that one and let it melt in your brain even more. crazy, isn't it? these people were BOO-YAH for the word of god. i can't imagine being as obedient as daniel and isaiah- i mean their words weren't their own. they alone could not predict this- god was in the works. also, about the highlighted part... i read about the science of crufixion and its effects on the body in lee strobel's the case for christ. this is what i remember. okay, so jesus' body is put on the cross, his arms are stretched to the point of his elbows being dislocated. but the weight of his body is on his ankles, nailed to the cross, because the nails could not rip through them like they can his hands. but in order to breath, the diaphragm (what you use when you breath) goes down AND up. but since jesus has so much support on his ankles, he has to push UP on them to breath because his diaphragm must go up. and as i am using this website to help me out... i found something so... well, i can't give words. well you know how it's incredibly difficult to breathe? well then it's obviously hard to talk too. but yet jesus still spoke SEVEN times while he was on the cross, one of these times in particular to say "father, forgive them." isn't that amazing? what christ said on the cross must've been pretty important, seeing that he had to suffer ten times as much pain to get the words out. man. but notice how much psalm 22 coincides with this-
[1] "...and all my bones are out of joint" referring to his elbows being dislocated as he is stretched out. the website says that jesus' arms were AT LEAST SIX INCHES LONGER when they stretched him out.
[2] "I am poured out like water" which i THINK refers to when the soldiers spear jesus in the side to confirm that he is dead- blood and the watery fluid from his lungs comes out.
[3] "...and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth" referring to his thirst. jesus says "i thirst" when he is on the cross because he becomes dehydrated when his lungs start to collapse.

i think the rest is pretty obvious and just regards parallelism to scripture, like casting lots for clothing and the obvious part where jesus is nailed down.

and in isaiah 53 i will just include the obvious:
Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
And who can speak of his descendants?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was stricken.
He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering,
...After the suffering of his soul,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied,
...Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
...because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
FOR HE BORE THE SIN OF MANY,
AND MADE INTERCESSION FOR THE TRANSGRESSORS.

sorry if i put a little too much there, but all of it is pretty much relevant.

so i guess the death of this jesus guy was pretty important, seeing it was prophesied so.

that's craziness. you have to read that website article about the science of it- not just for the science, though. the person who wrote it knows christ's love. nobody could EVER fathom that kind of pain unless they endured it. and none of us have. and that shows his love. i mean whoa. and he suffered even more pain just trying to get a few important words out, like "today you will be with me in paradise" (luke 23:43) and "father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing" (luke 23:34).

i mean it's just incredible. looking this stuff up just boggles my mind, the fact that i could never fully understand the extent of it. and not just that but how obvious it is that jesus rose from the dead. i mean, he obviously died. and so he obviously rose from the DEAD, not from half-aliveness. SCIENCE supports it. so don't listen to the people who say "science disproves everything about christianity" because it truly doesn't. and a lot of the time (i'm not saying all the time) people just disagree without having any proof behind what they're saying, just because they don't agree. like in the case of danny's dad, when he talks to atheists/agnostics/humanists/etcetera, a lot of the time people say "well you don't understand what i'm saying" or whatever. but danny's dad replies with the fact that he once lived from their perspective for 19 years before he became a christian. in other words, he's saying, "i've been on both sides of it and i know that the side i'm on is the RIGHT one."

but that's a different thing. walking on another line now- evolution. it was either danny or chris who said that in some places students are being told to refer to christianity as "the myth of christianity." well, while i was searching for the whole judaism and isaiah 53/psalm 22 deal, i found this pretty cool website referring to evolution as "the theory of evolution: the great myth" (check it out here). here is one quote that popped out:
"The miracles required to make evolution feasible are far greater in number and far harder to believe than the miracle of creation." -Dr. Richard Bliss, former professor of biology and science education at Christian Heritage College, "It Takes A Miracle For Evolution"

and though the site might seem biased because it is from the christian viewpoint, some of the most interesting quotes come from evolutionists themselves. here are some quotes from a variety of people- evolutionists, creationists... but they're all very interesting. so read on, my friends...
"There are only two possibilities as to how life arose; one is spontaneous generation arising to evolution, the other is a supernatural creative act of God, there is no third possibility. Spontaneous generation that life arose from nonliving matter was scientifically disproved 120 years ago by Louis Pasteur and others. That leaves us with only one possible conclusion, that life arose as a creative act of God. I will not accept that philosophically because I do not want to believe in God, therefore I choose to believe in that which I know is scientifically impossible, spontaneous generation arising to evolution." -Dr. George Wald, evolutionist, Professor Emeritus of Biology at the University at Harvard, Nobel Prize winner in Biology [and why?]

"Most modern biologists, having reviewed with satisfaction the downfall of the spontaneous generation hypothesis, yet unwilling to accept the alternative belief in special creation, are left with nothing." -Dr. George wald, evolutionist, Professor Emeritus of Biology at the University at Harvard, Nobel Prize winner in Biology

"Evolution is a theory universally accepted not because it can be proven by logically coherent evidence to be true, but because the only alternative, special creation, is clearly incredible." -Professor D.M.S. Watson, leading biology and science writer of his day

"My attempts to demonstrate evolution by an experiment carried on for more than 40 years have completely failed...It is not even possible to make a caricature of an evolution out of paleobiological facts...The idea of an evolution rests on pure belief." -Dr. Nils Heribert-Nilsson, noted Swedish botanist and geneticist, of Lund University

"Scientists who go about teaching that evolution is a fact of life are great con-men, and the story they are telling may be the greatest hoax ever! In explaining evolution we do not have an iota of fact." -Dr. Newton Tahmisian, Atomic Energy Commission

"When you realize that the laws of nature must be incredibly finely tuned to produce the universe we see, that conspires to plant the idea that the universe did not just happen, but that there must be a purpose behind it." -John Polkinghorne, Cambridge University physicist, "Science Finds God," Newsweek, 20 July, 1998

"The pathetic thing about it is that many scientists are trying to prove the doctrine of evolution, which no science can do." -Dr. Robert A. Milikan, physicist and Nobel Prize winner, speech before the American Chemical Society

and my VERY favorite...

"The probability of life originating from accident is comparable to the probability of the unabridged dictionary resulting from an explosion in a printing shop." -Dr. Edwin Conklin, evolutionist and professor of biology at Princeton University

"The more statistically improbable a thing is, the less we can believe that it just happened by blind chance. Superficially, the obvious alternative to chance is an intelligent Designer." -Professor Richard Dawkins, an atheist

"The probability for the chance of formation of the smallest, simplest form of living organism known is 1 to 10-340,000,000. This number is 1 to 10 to the 340 millionth power! The size of this figure is truly staggering, since there is only supposed to be approximately 10-80 (10 to the 80th power) electrons in the whole universe!" -Professor Harold Morowitz [that one was a little ZJOOP, over my head]

and another similar to my favorite...

"The chance that higher life forms might have emerged through evolutionary processes is comparable with the chance that a tornado sweeping through a junk yard might assemble a Boeing 747 from the material therein." -Sir Fred Hoyle, highly respected British astronomer and mathematician

and another favorite, which is just awesome...

"Science and religion...are friends, not foes, in the common quest for knowledge. Some people may find this surprising, for there's a feeling throughout our society that religious belief is outmoded, or downright impossible, in a scientific age. I don't agree. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that if people in this so-called 'scientific age' knew a bit more about science than many of them actually do, they'd find it easier to share my views." -Physicist John Polkinghorne, "Quarks, Chaos, and Christianity"

another one with ironic humor...

"Would it not be strange if a universe without purpose accidentally created humans who are so obsessed with purpose?" -Sir John Templeton, "The Humble Approach: Scientists Discover God," page 19

"Faith does not imply a closed, but an open mind. Quite the opposite of blindness, faith appreciates the vast spiritual realities that materialists overlook by getting trapped in the purely physical." -Sir John Templeton, "The Humble Approach," page 115

"Human DNA contains more organized information than the Encyclopedia Britannica. If the full text of the encyclopedia were to arrive in computer code from outer space, mostpeople would regard this as proof of the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence. But when seen in nature, it is explained as the workings of random forces." -George Sim Johnson, "Did Darwin Get it Right?" The Wall Street Journal, October 15, 1999

"Contrary to what most scientists write, the fossil record does not support the Darwinian theory of evolution because it is this theory which we use to interpret the fossil record. By doing so we are guilty of circular reasoning if we then say the fossil record supports this theory." -Dr. Ronald R. West

"I think in fifty years, Darwinian evolution will be gone from the science curriculum...I think people will look back on it and ask how anyone could, in their right mind, have believed this, because it's so implausible when you look at the evidence." -Dr. Johnathan Wells, author of the book, "Icons of Evolution"

"I doubt if there is any single individual within the scientific community who could cope with the full range of [creationist] arguments without the help of an army of consultants in special fields." -David M. Raup, "Geology and Creation," Bulletin of the Field Museum of Natural History, Vol. 54, March 1983, p.18

"The success of Darwinism was accomplished by a decline in scientific integrity." -Dr. W.R. Thompson, world renowned entomologist

and directly from our buddy, the genius, Albert Einstein...
"Everyone who is seriously interested in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the universe, a spirit vastly superior to man, and one in the face of which our modest powers must feel humble."

"George Bernard Shaw wisecracked once that Darwin had the luck to please everybody who had an axe to grind. Well, I also have an axe to grind, but I am not pleased. We have suffered through two world wars and are threatened by an Armageddon. We have had enough of the Darwinian fallacy." -Dr. Kenneth Hsu, "Reply," Geology, 15 (1987), p. 177

"When students of other sciences ask us what is now currently believed about the origin of species, we have no clear answer to give. Faith has given way to agnosticism. Meanwhile, though our faith in evolution stands unshaken we have no acceptable account of the origin of species." -Dr. William Bateson, great geneticist of Cambridge

and that, my friends, is why completely blind faith isn't a good excuse. and in truth, christians don't have blind faith. a lot of us think we do because we are told that science is here * and christianity is here _, and christianity can't be supported, that it's all faith. but we have proof that jesus lived, that he died, that he came again... and so much more. in some issues we have blind faith- in MORE issues we just have FAITH. faith + facts. we don't have scientific evidence of god holding his hand out and creating light (yet, at least). but we know the bible is true because it has proved itself to be true PLENTY of times. and we know that god always keeps his promises. and we know that evolution isn't correct, so that leaves us with one answer- god creating the earth. so while creationism requires faith, it doesn't require blind faith. from what all these scientists are telling me, evolution is what requires blind faith. am i making any sense here? these aren't even half the quotes from that website. if you are really interested in this, there are a ton of books/other sources to check out- on BOTH sides of the line. also, the website i linked above answers so many questions that make people doubt god and christianity. it's an amazing website, keep cruisin' it. but here are the sources.
[1] Darwin's Origin of Species (the ORIGINAL copy)
[2] Michael J. Behe's Darwin's Black Box
[3] Make sure you check out the section entitled "Evidence for Creation" at the bottom of the website I got all the quotes from.
[4] Johnathan Wells' Icons of Evolution
[5] Dick Fisher's The Origins Solution
[6] Kenneth R. Miller's Finding Darwin's God
[7] Lee Strobel's The Case For A Creator
[8] Ernst W. Mayr's and Jared Diamond's What Evolution Is
[9] Geoffrey S. Simmons' and William A. Dembski's What Darwin Didn't Know: A Doctor Dissects the Theory of Evolution

pretty crazy. you can check out the reviews for the books as well as other books suiting the topic (and there are BAJILLIATRILLIAQUADRILLIONS) at the barnes and noble website.

now that this entry has taken quite a few hours on and off, i think it's time to end it. and i never got to finish the last entry but that's okay, i'll do it when i have time (which is much later).

in christ,
autumn



My sweet Jesus,
I love you.
And I'm trying so hard.
It's not so easy,
down here anymore.
Everyone just treats me,
like I'm crazy or something.
Sometimes I feel like I am,
because no one seems to understand.

But if I'm a fool, I'm a fool for you.
And if I'm alive, I'm living just for you.
If I sing a song, then I sing for you.
I sing all day long, in everything I do.

My sweet Jesus,
I'm sorry,
that I let you down again.
It's not so easy,
Down here anymore.
Everyone just treats me,
like I'm crazy or something.
And sometimes, I feel like I am.
Because no one seems to understand.

But if I'm a fool, I'm a fool for you.
and if I'm alive, I'm living just for you.
If I sing a song, then I sing for you.
I sing all day long, in everything I do.

I will rejoice in this foolishness.
I will rejoice in this foolishness.
Post A Comment
Anonymous

12-28-04 10:51pm

Dude Autumn you are so blessed w/ words. All that stuff you said was totally and completely crazy and unbelievable! You are such an incredible Christian!
til they all know,
Laura

(reply to this)

aushpog

Re:, 12-28-04 11:10pm

thank you laura for your encouragement- it's crazy how god works. i'm glad you can see it :) and it's comforting knowing that he keeps his promises! sho' 'nuff. i think we have the websites to thank though because, let's face it... wait no, we have GOD to thank because he created us and we created the internet? no that's wrong too. how about we just thank god and that without him we wouldn't even be talking about this. heck, we wouldn't even be here.

well i think i've rambled enough for the day. i love you SO much laura, you are a lovely, stupendous, magnificent, fabulous, fantastic, marvelous sister in christ.

i love you :)

god's,
autumn

(reply to comment)