February 2010 Archives

Marston: The Word "Science"

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Following is an interesting quote from Sir Charles Marston in his book The Bible is True, published in the late 1930's:

It will be observed that an indiscriminate use is made of the word "Science," and that witnesses for the correctness of Science are motorcars and bicycles, radios and aeroplanes and the like. But bicycles and motor-cars and the other inventions enumerated, did not spring fully fledged and mature from the intelligence of a body of scientists. They were slowly and painfully built up, the product of a multitude of brains, some of which knew nothing about Science or its laws. The correctness of each idea as it took shape, could be and was verified by experience, and at every step and every stage of the development of the model, experience was both the judge of its correctness, and the guide to further modifications and developments. So it is always with inventions. The shelves of the Patent Office are crowded with a hundred thousand, and more, specifications of inventions describing ingenious devices, which have been abandoned because they have not stood the test or trial of experience; and let us remember that these Patent Office failures were usually based on some recognized fact. So it is obvious that the Science which is credited with producing these witnesses to testify to its excellency, was moulded and shaped with the aid of concrete facts of experience from start to finish.

But there are other Sciences which have had so little contact with experience that their teachings do not possess the certainty of Mechanics or Electricity; and even the Sciences of Chemistry and Physics, which have had any amount of contact with experience, have both recently had to undergo considerable modification. For example, Einstein's Theory of Relativity has completely revolutionized the Science of Physics.

Again, the word "Science" is applied to highly speculative theories, which have little or no basis in fact, and whose verification is extremely difficult. So the identification of the word "Science" with Reality, in the present state of human knowledge is entirely erroneous; and the analogies of motor-cars and bicycles, radios, aeroplanes and electric inventions, completely fall to the ground. For the word "Science," although it represents much that is true, also shields much that is doubtful, and much that is altogether false. Analogies based on the Sciences of Mechanics or Engineering, or of Electricity, cannot yet be used by those who desire reality, to justify an assertion that Science has shown the Bible to be false. For it may well be that the particular kind of Science involved is itself at fault, and its conclusions of no account. Examples of this are given in the next chapter.

Polycarp: Eternal Fire

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From The Martyrdom of Polycarp:

Then said the Proconsul [threatening Polycarp] 'I have wild beasts; if thou repent not, I will throw thee to them.' But he said, 'Send for them. For repentance from better to worse is not a change permitted to us; but to change from cruelty to righteousness is a noble thing.' Then said the Proconsul again, 'If thou dost despise the wild beasts I will make thee to be consumed by fire, if thou repent not.' And Polycarp answered, 'Thou threatenest the fire that burns for an hour and in a little while is quenched; for thou knowest not of the fire of the judgement to come, and the fire of the eternal punishment, reserved for the ungodly. But why delayest thou? Bring what thou wilt.' [1]

The  significant part of the dialog is the latter half, in which Polycarp is threatened with being burned alive as a punishment for confessing to be a Christian. In response, Polycarp argues that it is better to be burned at the stake for a short period of excruciating pain, that to face the punishment of fire throughout all eternity. After this argument, the Proconsul gives up trying to convert Polycarp and has him burned alive at the stake.

This is, of course, evidence that the early Christians believed in eternal punishment by fire, contra the teaching of the heretical Jehovah's Witnesses.

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[1] Henry Bettenson, ed. Documents of the Christian Church. Oxford University Press, 1967.

Obama's Utopia

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In Obama's utopia...

  • Will making a profit be considered a good thing?
  • If I am allowed to make a profit, how much profit will I be allowed to make before I am punished?
  • Will I need to get permission from the government in order to be productive?
  • Will there be any private industries and businesses?
  • Will my paper money be worth more as currency or as fire-starter?
  • From whom will we borrow money when we cannot pay back the Communists?
  • Will I get any of my tax money back if the social security system falls apart?
  • What will we do if green energy cannot sustain our needs?
  • Will it be more advantageous to be unemployed than employed?
  • Will the government be able to make personal decisions for me, such as what I am allowed to eat and what medical treatments I am allowed to have?
  • Who will receive better treatment from politicians: our allies or our enemies?
  • Who will receive better treatment under the law: citizens or foreign terrorists?
  • Will white, male citizens need to start a civil-rights movement?
  • Will aborting children become more popular than giving birth to them?
  • Will protected free speech include speech that is offensive?
  • Will it be legal to criticize another person's religion or beliefs?
  • Will there be any class rooms left that teach a Biblical world view and fundamental American values?
  • Will there be anything special about being an American?
  • Will anyone care if a politician lies?
  • Will politicians live better than regular citizens?
  • Will anyone "trust in God"?
  • Will there be enough freedom left to be worth dying for it?

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This page is an archive of entries from February 2010 listed from newest to oldest.

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