A Question about Beauty

Here is a question (in blue text) I received about the subject of beauty…

“In Short: What is the scriptural/ biblical stance on the role or value of material beauty (or things of beauty)?

More meat: I suppose beauty in general but more specifically creating things of beauty. Gen 35:30-35 Importance of ornament/artistic design/ craftsmanship for Tabernacle. Idea of God-giftedness in this.

Significance to me: I really like beautiful things and find myself drawn to and inspired by beauty. A job I’ve been semi-considering is Interior Design aka making a home more beautiful. Is this a worthwhile use of my gifts/talents/abilities for the Lord? Part of me feels like it is a frivolous pursuit yet beauty wouldn’t exist if God had not created it. So what is God’s intended design for beauty? How does God value beauty?

I’ve also been reading Os Guinness’ The Call. Side note: a really great book you should read if you haven’t already. There he talks about primary calling as followers of Christ (being by God, to God, for God) and secondary calling (“considering who God is as sovereign, is that everyone, everywhere and in everything should think, speak and act entirely for him”). These two taken equally (harder said than done) may make my above question somewhat unimportant. At the heart of the question I’m still trying to understand (though I believe it) that being a full-time, foreign missionary or a pastor are not the only two viable, nor even superior professions of a Christian.

What does it look like to daily live out the gospel as a_____ ? (decorator, marketing /HR professional, associate camp director- that one’s for you, etc) What a huge question with many varying pathologies. Made more complex when verbal gospel proclamation doesn’t fall under your written job description.“

And my response:

In Short: All material beauty is a gift from God. All material things that are beautiful are beautiful because they reflect a beautiful Creator. (James 1:17 ; Psalm 27:4)

More meat: The Greek philosophers referred to three transcendentals: the good, the true, the beautiful. The idea is that these are the three things that are above all other things, and in a way they are one thing, yet distinct. If something is good, then it must also be true and beautiful. If something is true, then it must also be good and beautiful. If something is beautiful, then it must also be good and true. I think this is a rather fine way of looking at things. St. Augustine made the point that God is the good, the true, and the beautiful. St. Anselm argued that God is the greatest conceivable being. Combine the two ideas and we come to the idea that God is that being which is the most true, most good, and most beautiful.

It would take a whole slew of biblical texts to make this point, but I believe it is evident throughout Scripture. Perhaps, especially, in the Psalms. Read a couple of Psalms of praise and you certainly get the idea. Though, someone might also argue that it is most evident in redemption. For if redemption is true, then it is most certainly a good and beautiful thing.

So, God is beautiful. It is also evident that He delights making beautiful things. He has also made us in His image. This is why people are beautiful and also why we find delight in beautiful things. God did not make a world without beauty and He did not make us without the ability to appreciate it. The ability to appreciate beauty is a gift given to us. I have never once seen Abby pause during her rock-fetching escapades at canteen to take in and absorb the beauty of the setting sun. It is a gift given to man and a gift that ought to point us to God (Romans 1, Psalm 19).

We are meant to appreciate and make beautiful things. Yes, I agree that this is evident in the building of the Tabernacle. It is also evident in the building of the Temple. It is evident in the fact that David was a musician and a careful poet. Jeremiah’s Lamentations is 5 chapters of meticulous craftsmanship. Each line is carefully metered and the whole lamentation works through the Hebrew alphabet. It is beautiful. There are a number of beautiful things to which we could point.

Beauty is a gift. The ability to appreciate beauty is a gift. And the ability to craft beautiful things is a gift.

Significance for you:

“I really like beautiful things and find myself drawn to and inspired by beauty.”

I’m glad you recognize that. I think that everyone is drawn to beautiful things, but most people do not realize it and thus rarely take the time to appreciate beauty. Consequently, they can sometimes miss out on the inspiration of beauty. I say sometimes, because beauty often cuts through the intellect to the soul, so it does not always require contemplation.

“A job I’ve been semi-considering is Interior Design aka making a home more beautiful. Is this a worthwhile use of my gifts/talents/abilities for the Lord?”

I think it can be. As Christians, we ought to understand better than anyone else what beauty is. And we should also see the missiological significance of beauty. Beauty is a means of evangelism. And I don’t mean that we make beautiful tracts or ornate crosses. I mean that anything beautiful points to the fact that beauty is in the world and beauty in the world can only be explained by the presence of an active and good and true God.

Also, Colossians 3:17. Our lives are meant to be lives lived out as worship to God. All our actions ought to be done for God’s glory. I think that can be done in Interior Design by having an attitude of “Lord, thank you for beauty and the opportunity to bring beautiful things into this place and accent the beauty of this home/building. May it point those who see it to You.”

“Part of me feels like it is a frivolous pursuit yet beauty wouldn’t exist if God had not created it. So what is God’s intended design for beauty? How does God value beauty?”

I think the two questions here go away if you alter one thing in your view of beauty. God did not create beauty just like he did not create good. He is good. He is beauty. All things that are good are good because they come from Him, they flow from and reflect his goodness. Likewise, all beautiful things flow from Him. The question is like asking “What is God’s intended design for His nature? How does God value His nature?” His nature is what makes Him God. Being beautiful and the source of all beauty is an aspect of the essence of God.

“I’ve also been reading Os Guinness’ The Call. Side note: a really great book you should read if you haven’t already.”

I have not read it, but I’ll add it to the wishlist…

“There he talks about primary calling as followers of Christ (being by God, to God, for God) and secondary calling (“considering who God is as sovereign, is that everyone, everywhere and in everything should think, speak and act entirely for him”). These two taken equally (harder said than done) may make my above question somewhat unimportant. At the heart of the question I’m still trying to understand (though I believe it) that being a full-time, foreign missionary or a pastor are not the only two viable, nor even superior professions of a Christian.”

I do not think these things make the question less important. Instead, I think they emphasize why it is possible for Interior Design to be a calling that glorifies God. It is because anything that does not go against the nature of God can be done as an act of worship to God. In Luke 3, Jesus did not tell soldiers to quit being soldiers, he told them to be good soldiers. The high calling I see in Scripture is to love God with all your heart, soul and mind and love your neighbor as yourself. This means worship God with the whole of your life and love and care for others, which carries with it the implication of sharing the Gospel. But there is no statement that your life can only fulfill that if you are a missionary or pastor.

“What does it look like to daily live out the gospel as a ? (decorator, marketing /HR professional, associate camp director- that one’s for you, etc) What a huge question with many varying pathologies. Made more complex when verbal gospel proclamation doesn’t fall under your written job description.”

I think you daily live out the Gospel in whatever you do by:

- Thanking God for the opportunity to do it

- Thanking Him for the ability to do it

- Working hard to do it well

- Appreciating the good and beauty that is in it

- Using that good and beauty to point to the God who made a good and beautiful world

- Recognizing that the toil and frustrations that may occur in that work are a consequence of man’s rebellion causing turmoil in the created order and that things are not the way they are meant to be

- Thanking God that Christ came to bring redemption and “Make all things new again.”

- Looking for ways to carry forward that redemption in a world in which we are still waiting for Christ to make all things right

- Eagerly anticipating the day when there is a new creation in which we can work and play for eternity in perfect worship of the ever-present God without the effects of sin

- Looking for ways to share all of this with people that do not yet understand the Gospel

Significance for me: Summed up here – http://takeandreadtakeandread.blogspot.com/2010/03/beauty-or-bear-swamp-unique-pines.html

I hope this helps. Here are a few other things to consider and work through:

1) There has been the debate in the Church throughout the ages of whether or not it is right to spend money on making beautiful sanctuaries when that money could be given to the poor. One side says that beauty is a gift even to the poor and it points to the Gospel. The other side says that the money could be better spent on feeding the poor and funding ministry to the poor. To which can be countered that beauty feeds the soul and does minister to the poor. This debate has resulted in extravagant places of worship (consider the many beautiful cathedrals), but also in people instead choosing to send the money elsewhere. I think you could point to the rich, young ruler and make the case that we ought to sell all our possessions and give them to poor. But then again that command to sell everything was a specific command given to a specific person. One could also point to the extravagance of the Tabernacle and Temple. But again, the point could be made that those structures served a specific purpose. My thought on the debate is that if you feel the Lord has called you to use your money for beautiful things, then do that and do it with the intent of glorifying God and not man. If you feel God has called you to give your money away, then do that with the intent of glorifying God and not yourself for your sacrifice.

2) In a typical Interior Design role you would probably be working with a large number of people concerned only with the material. You would need to be prepared for that, but I think there is a real ministry opportunity there.

I’ll leave you with a quote from Augustine’s Confessions (one of my top three favorite books): “If the things of this world delight you, praise God for them but turn your love away from them and give it to their Maker, so that in the things that please you, you may not displease him… The good things which you love are all from God, but they are good and sweet only as long as they are used to do his will. They will rightly turn bitter if God is spurned and the things that come from him are wrongly loved.”

- Luke

Moved to takeandreadtakeandread.com

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As traffic to this site has increased, so have inquiries. Many readers have sent in questions that are actually covered in earlier posts. Blogger has been good to me, but as the readership has grown I feel that it is important that all posts be easily accessible. Thus, takeandreadtakeandread.com!

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Thanks for reading and for your support. Trust Christ!

- Luke

A Lesson from Philemon (or φιλεω)

I read Philemon today. What a short and awesome little book on brotherhood. Christ, our brother, defines our relationships.

In the letter you see:

1. Paul’s brotherhood with Philemon.

2. Paul’s brotherhood with Philemon’s former slave Onesimus.

3. Paul’s expectation for Philemon to receive Onesimus as a brother.

I knew that much about the letter to Philemon before reading it today, but I had always focused on Paul’s expectation that Philemon receive Onesimus back again. I had never really looked at what Paul said about his relationship to Philemon.

“I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you” (Philemon 1:7)

Joy and comfort from the love of a brother.

A little bit later he writes, “Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ.”

As brothers and sisters (see verse 2) in Christ we can bring joy and comfort to one another.

Perhaps this aspect of the Paul’s letter sticks out to me because this past week I received some good encouragement from a brother in Christ. I had been down and struggling about a number of things, but we talked and my heart was refreshed.

I do not think that is finding joy and peace from someone other than Christ. No, the joy and comfort I experienced from that conversation could only happen as a result of what Christ has already done in our lives. His redemption in our hearts has made it possible for His Spirit to work within us. The Spirit is making us more like Christ. And Christ is the brother of all brothers.

Christ changes everything.

"If you drain the blood out of the church, all you are left with is a corpse."
- Russell Moore

Responding to Ivan, pt. 6 (or Apology)

This post is a part of a series:

Rebellion

Responding to Ivan, pt. 1

Responding to Ivan, pt. 2

Responding to Ivan, pt. 3

Responding to Ivan, pt. 4

Responding to Ivan, pt. 5

**Please feel free to join the discussion. Your comments will help me as I continue the series**

The story must start at the beginning, as all stories do. I suspect that stories start at beginnings on account of this story starting at the beginning. But that’s another matter.

In the beginning, God made everything in this universe and world in which we live. Some may ask where God came from. That question, and all of the many answers, have no place in this story. They can come after it, but not during it. Remember, the story has to be heard under the presupposition that it might be true.

This God, was and is, the being that is the most supreme being. He is the most beautiful being. He is the most true being. The most good being. Since He is the One who is the good, the beautiful and the true, His work is work that is born out of goodness, beauty, and truth.

This world, as He made it, was marvelous. Were it not for the diminished image of the world, which still remains with us today, we would be unable to grasp what untold wonders it held. We can only imagine based off of the glimpses of its glory that we can still see.

It was a world of perfect peace and harmony and delight. Everything was good. Everything was beautiful. The sights and sounds of that world were pure pleasure. It was a world of beautiful lands, and waters, and gardens, and trees, and vegetation, and animals. Each element of the world was, in its own way, a reflection of the creativity of the one who brought it into being.

In this world God made a man and a woman. He made them in His image and told them to be fruitful and multiply in all the earth.

In the image of God. God, as Trinity, is perfect community and fellowship. God experiences perfect companionship. God experiences a full range of emotions. God appreciates beauty and pleasure and that which is good. He loves and treasures and delights. In His image man and woman were made.

Even today, we, at least in some degree, still bear this image. This is why we like pleasure. This is why joy and delight are desired. This is why people want to be happy. The quest for truth and answers is rooted in the fact that we are made for an existence defined by truth. We desire beautiful things and to be beautiful things because God is beautiful and loves beautifully all that is beautiful. We seek friends and companions because we are in the image of one who is perfect fellowship and perfect friend. It is why we do not like to be lonely. Because God is not lonely and when we are lonely we are something that we were not intended to be. Everything that we see as good and everything that we do that is good is connected to the fact that we were made by a good God to be in His image and were then placed in a good world.

To the man and the woman God gave dominion over this world. They were to rule as His vice-regents over a vast and glorious creation. This is why there is an impulse within us for power and authority. This is why we are creative and constructive. This is why we pursue order over chaos. This is the reason why we desire peace and harmony.

All was good.

But something went wrong.

The man and the woman rebelled against God. The woman was deceived by a crafty serpent. And together the man and the woman rebelled. Some question where the deceiver came from. However, the origin of the serpent is not relevant at this point, it can be addressed after the story.

They rebelled against the One who is perfect Good, perfect Truth, and perfect Beauty. When they turned from Him, they turned to find an evil darkness, accompanied by lies, and all that is ugly. Feeling the shame of their rebellion, they ran from Him and hid.

When they were found out God cursed them. It would seem that God had every right to annihilate them on the spot. He had already warned them that death would be the consequence of rejecting life since one cannot say no to life without having anything other than death.

He could have done that, but He did not. Instead He cursed the serpent. And then He cursed His creation: both the world and the man and woman. I am not sure if the curse is simply the removal of some of His blessing, or something more than that. But what is certain is that everything that is off or wrong in this world is off or wrong on account of man’s rebellion.

With the rebellion came pain and suffering. It also brought a strain to our relationships and a disharmony in the created order. Work became toil. Beasts and vegetation, and the whole of the creation began what has been a long history of lashing out against the traitorous and treacherous steward-rebels. All of creation is said to groan on account of the way it has been subjected to bondage and decay. Death would come at the end of a man’s days. And he would return to the dust from which he was formed. Everything was changed.

Paradise was lost.

The world is not how it is supposed to be. Everything that you see that is not right is wrong, in some way or another, because of man’s rebellion.

But when God spoke after man’s rebellion it was not just a curse. There was more. There was the promise of redemption. God would send a son through the woman who would make things right.

Man, or as the Hebrews said, Adam, believed the promise and turned to the woman and called her “Life-giver.”

They looked for the promised son who would deliver. They had two sons. But one was murdered and the other was a murderer. Both sons were testimony to the terrible effects of the rebellion.

A third son came, but he was not the one either. The earth continued to fill with people, and while many forgot the promise of redemption, all longed for it.

The serpent, sought to thwart the coming of the promised one. He continued to deceive men. Making them believe that there was no more happiness to be found beyond that which was around them. Men continued to find ways to pervert the goodness that still remained. Even worshiping created things. Every man that participated in the rebellion demonstrated that the rebellion permeated all things. It seemed impossible that a man would ever be born that would be able to escape the power of rebellion and the effects of the curse. All men everywhere were rebelling. And all men everywhere were dying.

But God’s promise remained. Through the years He revealed more and more about what sort of man the promised one would be. He would be the son of Abraham. He would belong to the tribe of Judah. He would come from the line of David. He would demonstrate perfect obedience. He would redeem man and reign forever. His kingdom would be an everlasting Kingdom. He would be full of wisdom and understanding and counsel and might. His eternal reign would be marked by righteousness and equity.

He would be murdered.

He would come.

And for years, people continued to rebel, but many continued to persistently cry out for the Redeemer. They looked with longing for the One who would change things. The One who would make things new again.

Then, at just the right time, He came. It turns out that He was God Himself: the Son of God. The Christ, meaning the Annointed One, was both God and Man. This God-Man, Jesus, came to bring the long awaited redemption. He declared to the people of His day that “the Kingdom of God is coming and is now here.” And then He set about reversing the curse. He restored relationships. He healed those who were sick. Gave sight to the blind. Restored the hearing of the deaf and gave a voice to the mute. He fed those who were hungry and he fed them in abundance.

He freed those who were possessed by the powers of darkness.

He even raised the dead.

He demonstrated a dominion over creation. He could fill the fishermen’s nets. He calmed the angry sea. Walked on water. An untrained donkey carried Him into the city of Jerusalem.

All the while He maintained a perfect obedience to the Father, something that no man before or since has been able to do.

He was ushering in the long-awaited redemption of men. He was establishing a new reign. It was the inauguration of the Kingdom of God on earth.

Just as He appeared to be entering the pinnacle of his influence and power He was betrayed, arrested, and unjustly sentenced to death.

The God-Man was murdered on a cross. The murder, shocking then and shocking now, had been foretold long ago and was all a part of the divine plan for bringing about redemption.

Christ, the Innocent One and the Righteous One, took the sins of the world upon Himself.

And in a great mystery, a person of the triune God, screamed out “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”

In taking on our sin He experienced that separation from God that we are due. And He took our death.

He was buried in a tomb in a garden.

Then, as He had promised beforehand, He was resurrected on the third day. Alive as the firstborn of a new, redeemed, and glorified race of men.

He appeared to many before ascending to the right hand of the Father in heaven. Before leaving, He charged His followers with the task of spreading the good news, or Gospel, of redemption to all the peoples of the world.

Through faith in the atoning work of Christ people of every nation, tribe, and tongue will be a part of the Kingdom. Redemption is for all people and the word about it must be spread to the ends of the earth.

You see, the Kingdom of God is coming. There is a day when Christ shall return to make all things right. Everything will be made new again. Heaven and earth shall be reborn and united together for a glorious eternity.

All pictures and visions of this eternal glory, of this new creation, indicate that it will far exceed the grandeur of this present world. The new creation will be even greater than it was in the days prior to man’s rebellion. This present world is to the new world what a seed is to the resulting plant. You would never guess that so grand an oak or so beautiful a lily could come from a seed. But the story of the miracle of the seed, is a story that all of creation will one day share.

Yes, the Kingdom is coming. There will be a day of no more pain and no more suffering. All darkness, all evil, all wickedness, all pain and hurt shall be no more. But that day is not yet.

The Kingdom is coming, and it is now already here. But for the time being, it only reigns in the hearts of men and women. At whatever time God makes things right, He will do away with everything that is in opposition to His goodness, beauty, and delight. In that day, all who live in rebellion against Him will be removed. How could it be any other way?

But He waits, that more may come in. That more may have faith in the sacrifice of the one who redeems. That more may be born again. That more may walk in the life of the Spirit and begin the transformation.

The age of the Kingdom has already been inaugurated in the lives of people and it will one day be consummated in the whole of the created order. But until that day, though we, and all of creation with us, may groan with longing for the glory that is to one day be revealed into us, we must carry forward the good news of the Savior who has come.

Redemption is here. So what will you do with it? Will you believe and be saved? Please, you must believe and be saved.

Listen to that voice within you that recognizes that this world is not the way that it is supposed to be. Listen to the part of you that cries out against a world in which a little baby could suffer. Listen to the part of you that refuses to accept a world in which evil thrives and pain and suffering seems to be inescapable.

You have a problem with such things because God has a problem with such things. There is still a diminished part of us that reflects His image. We do not want this world to be as it is, because God does not want this world to be as it is.

Turn to Christ. He will save you. He will save you from the coming judgment. But He will also begin the work of saving you from the wickedness and rebellion within you that causes you to contribute to the pain of this world each day.

Do not just look at the darkness around us, but also look at the darkness within. We hate the suffering that we see, but we cannot deny that we also choose dark things. We are impacted by evil, lies, and ugliness, but we also contribute to it when we choose to reject the ways of the One who is good, true, and beautiful.

Reject Him no more. He died that He may take the punishment we deserve. He was resurrected in vindication of His story and His claim that He is the Redeemer. He was resurrected as an indication of His power over death and His ability to establish a new created order.

Turn to Him and believe. You hope for a reason. We were not made for despair. We were made for glory. A glory that is only found in Him.

Believe this story and you will see in new ways each day how it explains the world better than anything else. You will see that all that is good finds its explanation in a Creator who is good.

You will see that all that is wicked and evil finds its explanation in a people who were charged to exercise a good dominion over a good world who instead rebelled against all life and happiness.

You will see more and more each day, how humanity longs for a redemption. Men seek to find a way to make things right. People want to place their hope in a savior. Some look to religion. Some look to politicians. Some look to science and technological advancements. But they all hope for things to be made right.

Things will be made right. Everything will not only be restored, but made new again. And in that day, all that stand opposed to the Righteous King will be removed. Do not be one of them.

Trust Him today. Believe the story of His Gospel. There is no other story that can better explain the world or the human experience. Every other story comes up short, because every other story lacks Christ. He is the key to it all.

I have no other explanation and no other answer. No argument that can be understood without first understanding the truth about the history of the world and its future. It is a history and a future centered around Christ.

Yes, there is no other answer to your question.

Christ is the answer.

Praise the Lord

...and still pray.

http://www.christianpost.com/news/watchdog-said-musa-released-from-afghan-prison-no-longer-on-death-row-49156/

...of whom the world was not worthy... (or ...the seed of the church)

Almost three months ago I wrote about Sayed Mossa and the persecution he is facing.

There is still time. But there is very little time left. He has been sentenced to be hanged within days.

Pray for justice. Pray for him. Pray for his family.

And pray that his faith in the light may pierce through the darkness.

Blank Street Premiere! (or Who is My Neighbor?)

The premiere is March 6th. If you can, be there.



For more information visit the blankstreetproject.com

Responding to Ivan, pt. 5 (or X is the Answer)

This post is a part of a series:

Rebellion

Responding to Ivan, pt. 1

Responding to Ivan, pt. 2

Responding to Ivan, pt. 3

Responding to Ivan, pt. 4

**Please feel free to join the discussion. Your comments will help me as I continue the series**

It is now time to turn to the second conversation in my series about responding to Dostoevsky’s Ivan Karamazov. Please note that the first italicized quotation is from The Brothers Karamazov. What follows is how I would like to respond.

"Rebellion? I am sorry you call it that… one can hardly live in rebellion, and I want to live. Tell me yourself, I challenge you - answer. Imagine that you are creating a fabric of human destiny with the object of making men happy in the end, giving them peace and rest at last, but that it was essential and inevitable to torture to death only one tiny creature - that baby beating its breast with its fist, for instance - and to found that edifice on its unavenged tears, would you consent to be the architect on those conditions? Tell me, and tell the truth."

Ivan, there are a lot of ways that people try to answer your question, but I have only ever found one answer that satisfies me. I do not know that you will believe me if I share the quick answer, but I will share it just the same and then, just perhaps, you will allow me to give a fuller version of the story.

In short, we can believe this world to be what it is, and we can believe in the God of the Bible to be who He claims that He is, because Jesus was resurrected on the third day after His death.

The resurrection of Jesus is your answer! That’s absurd and I can hardly imagine that your long answer could be worth my time.

I am not surprised that you feel that way. There are a lot of people that share your thoughts about it. But it is the truest answer that there is, and I have found none better. If you would allow me the time to explain, I would appreciate the opportunity. Imagine for a moment that I am right, then would not the time spent in hearing the answer be time well-spent?

I suppose.

Then I will continue. I ask that you hear out the story and tell me if there is really anything else, whether story, or syllogism, or argument, or experience, that can better explain the world in its entirety. But before I start, I have a question for you. Please, answer it honestly. Do you believe that there might be a good, loving, and all-powerful God who is capable of revealing himself to us?

No. I do not.

So, you do not even acknowledge the possibility?

No, based off of what I see in the world around me, I refuse to believe that such a being could exist.

Well, then I really have nothing else to say. If your heart keeps your mind from being open to the possibility, then how could your mind be possibly changed? There would be no point in continuing this conversation if you are unwilling to weigh it against that which you perceive to be true. Nothing that I could say would change your mind. I would be wasting our time.

I suppose I agree, but you have piqued my curiosity. Let me hear your answer anyways.

If I take the time to talk it out, then you are going to have to lay aside your presupposition that I am wrong. You will have to lay aside your preconceived notion that there is no good, loving, all-powerful God capable of revealing Himself. Because you see, there are some extraordinary things in the story. Extraordinary things that folks often disregard for the very reason that they are extraordinary. They are considered to be untrue, because if true, they would, as a result of their supernatural nature, point to the supernatural.

Such folks are the same ones that want you to prove the supernatural without using supernatural evidence. They immediately dismiss supernatural evidence as wrong. Thus, they never like the answer that I know this is true because Christ was resurrected from the dead. Their unstated reason for rejecting the Resurrection of Christ always comes back to the notion that since resurrections don’t naturally happen then Jesus must not have been resurrected, because if he was, that would mean something supernatural must have occurred. The trouble is that all evidence for the supernatural is always going to be supernatural and all natural evidence only ever evidences the natural. Pretty basic stuff, but it seems to be lost on a number of people. This isn’t really a surprise, my story actually explains why such things occur, but I’m getting off track. My point is, if we take the time to do this, you are going to have to suspend your disbelief for a bit. Parts of you will not like parts of the story, but the story is only sufficient if you accept it in its entirety. And I assure you that the story, when taken as a whole, satisfies.

So, here we go.

[to be continued]

Hebrews 10:39

"But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls."