Know Why You Believe Week 10 Course Conclusion Ken Petzinger & John Paine

Know Why You Believe Week 10 Course Conclusion Ken Petzinger & John Paine

Week 1 How Did We Get Here? Ken Petzinger & John Paine

Veracity http://sharedveracity.net Course Blog

Week 2 Is Christianity Reasonable? Ken Petzinger & John Paine

Proof Text 15But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 1 Peter 3:15 (NIV, 1984)

Anthony Flew Once upon a time two explorers came upon a clearing in the jungle. In the clearing were growing many flowers and many weeds. One explorer says, “Some gardener must tend this plot.” The other disagrees, “There is no gardener.” So they pitch their tents and set a watch. No gardener is ever seen. “But perhaps he is an invisible gardener.” So they set up a barbed wire fence. They electrify it. They patrol with bloodhounds. (For they remember how H. G. Wells’ The Invisible Man could be both smelt and touched though he could not be seen.) But no shrieks ever suggest that some intruder has received a shock. No movements of the wire ever betray an invisible climber. The blood hounds never give cry. Yet the believer is still not convinced. “But there is a gardener, invisible, insensible to electric shocks, a gardener who comes secretly to look after the garden which he loves.” At last the skeptic despairs. ”But what remains of your original assertion? Just how does what you call an invisible, intangible, eternally elusive gardener differ from an imaginary gardener or even from no gardener at all?” Anthony FlewTheology and Falsification, 1955

Let us begin with a parable. Imagine that a satellite phone is washed ashore on a remote island inhabited by a tribe that has never had contact with modern civilization. The natives play with the numbers on the dial pad and hear different voices upon hitting certain sequences. They assume first that it’s the device that makes these noises. Some of the cleverer natives, the scientists of the tribe, assemble an exact replica and hit the numbers again. They hear the voices again. The conclusion seems obvious to them. This particular combination of crystals and metals and chemicals produces what seems like human voices, and this means that the voices are simply properties of the device. But the tribal sage summons the scientists for a discussion. He has thought long and hard on the matter and has reached the following conclusion: the voices coming through the instrument must be coming from people like themselves, people who are living and conscious although speaking in another language. Instead of assuming that the voices are simply properties of the handset, they are “in touch” with other humans. Perhaps further study along these lines could lead to a greater understanding of the world beyond their island. But the scientists simply laugh at the sage and say: “Look, when we damage the instrument, the voices stop coming. So they’re obviously nothing more than sounds produced by a unique combination of lithium and printed circuit boards and light-emitting diodes.” Anthony FlewThere Is No A God, 2007

Let’s imagine it ending differently. The scientists adopt as a working hypothesis the sage’s suggestion that the phone is a medium of contact with other humans. After further study they confirm the conclusion that the phone is connected to a network that transmits the voices of real people. They now accept the theory that intelligent beings exist “out there.” They work to decipher the sounds they hear on the phone. Some of the more intrepid scientists go even farther. They work to decipher the sounds they hear on the phone. They recognize patterns and rhythms that enable them to understand what is being said. Their whole world changes. They know they are not alone. And at a certain point they make contact. The analogy is easy to apply. The discovery of phenomena like the laws of nature – the communications network of the parable – has led scientists, philosophers, and others to accept the existence of an infinitely intelligent Mind. Some claim to have made contact with this Mind. I have not – yet. But who knows what could happen next? Someday I might hear a Voice that says, “Can you hear me now?” Anthony FlewThere Is No A God, 2007

Week 3 Is There a God? Ken Petzinger & John Paine

Williamsburg Community Chapel Vine Life

The Existence of God With the exception of certain mathematicians and physicists, all the authors of the ‘Great Books’ are represented in this chapter. In sheer quantity of references, as well as in variety, it is the largest chapter. The reason is obvious. More consequences for thought and action follow the affirmation or denial of God than from answering any other basic question. The whole tenor of human life is affected by whether men regard themselves as supreme beings in the universe or acknowledge a super-human being whom they conceive of as an object of fear or love, a force to be defied or a Lord to be obeyed. Among those who acknowledge a divinity, it matters greatly whether the divine is represented merely by the concept of God – the object of philosophical speculation – or by the living God whom men worship in all the acts of piety which comprise the rituals of religion. Mortimer Adler, Great Books of the Western World, Volume 2, p.561 Mortimer Adler (1902-2001) Williamsburg Community Chapel Vine Life

Over time every human culture has had an innate God-consciousness. Ecclesiastes 3.11 (NIV 1984) He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. While we cannot “prove” Him, we can look at evidence for God in both of his books. Today we will focus on the book of creation – in future classes we look more closely at the Bible. Williamsburg Community Chapel Vine Life

Creation: General Relativity Space-Time TheoremsHawking, Ellis and Penrose • Any universe from a solution of general relativistic equations must begin with a singularity like the big bang. • For any such solution time and space originate in the same cosmic bang that originates matter and energy. “Time must have a beginning.” Stephen Hawking Williamsburg Community Chapel Vine Life

“… at this moment it seems as though science will never be able to raise the curtain on the mystery of creation. For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.” Robert Jastrow God and the Astronomers Williamsburg Community Chapel Vine Life

Design in the Universe “It is almost irresistible for humans to believe that we have some special relation to the universe, that human life is not just a farcical outcome of a chain of accidents … but that we were somehow built in from the beginning … It is very hard for us to realize that the entire earth is just a tiny part of an overwhelmingly hostile universe … The more the universe seems comprehensible, the more it also seems pointless.” Stephen Weinberg The First Three Minutes “ … the universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is at bottom no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but pointless indifference.” Richard Dawkins IS THIS REALLY SO? Williamsburg Community Chapel Vine Life

NOT AT ALL! In the 1970’s Brandon Carter and others began to investigate theoretical “other universes,” those with different values of physical constants like particle masses, force strengths, etc. It takes about two dozen such seemingly arbitrary parameters to create an “alternate universe.” What Carter and others found was that even small changes in these numbers gave rise to vastly different universes in which life was impossible! This result is called the Anthropic Principle. Williamsburg Community Chapel Vine Life

A famous example relates to how elements form in stars. • Carbon nucleus energy level “resonance” Williamsburg Community Chapel Vine Life

“Had the resonance level in the carbon been 4% lower, there would be essentially no carbon. Had that level in the oxygen nucleus been only half a percent higher, virtually all of the carbon would have been converted to oxygen. Without that carbon abundance, neither you nor I would be here right now.” Owen Gingerich Harvard Astrophysicist Williamsburg Community Chapel Vine Life

Would you not say to yourself, “Some super-calculating intellect must have designed the properties of the carbon atom, otherwise the chance of my finding such an atom through the blind forces of nature would be utterly minuscule.” Of course you would … A common sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a super-intellect has monkeyed with physics … The numbers one calculates from the facts seem to me so overwhelming as to put this conclusion almost beyond question. Fred Hoyle Engineering and Science, 1981 “The Universe: Past and Present Reflections,” pp. 8-12, November 1981 Owen Gingerich Harvard Astrophysicist Williamsburg Community Chapel Vine Life

Week 4 Who Is Jesus? Ken Petzinger & John Paine

Hebrews 1:1-3 (ESV) The Supremacy of God's Son 1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, Williamsburg Community Chapel Vine Life

2. John 14:6-11 (ESV) 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” 8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. Williamsburg Community Chapel Vine Life

Mark 2:5-12 (ESV) The Works 5 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— 11 “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” 12 And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!” Williamsburg Community Chapel Vine Life

Matthew 16:13-17 (ESV) 13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. Williamsburg Community Chapel Vine Life

5. C.S. Lewis “Trilemma” I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: "I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say. A man who said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic--on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg--or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity Williamsburg Community Chapel Vine Life

6. 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 (ESV) (The earliest reference to resurrection is not legendary.) The Resurrection of Christ 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. Williamsburg Community Chapel Vine Life

Week 5 What is the Significance of the Death of Christ? Ken Petzinger & John Paine

Romans 1 (NIV 1984) 1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— 2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3 regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, 4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. Williamsburg Community Chapel Vine Life

Romans 4:25 (NIV 1984) 25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. 1 Corinthians 15:17 (NIV 1984) 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Williamsburg Community Chapel Vine Life

1 Corinthians 15:3-8 (ESV) 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. Williamsburg Community Chapel Vine Life

Week 6 How Does God Reveal Himself? Ken Petzinger & John Paine

Week 7 Can We Trust the Biblical Documents? Ken Petzinger & John Paine

Chicago Declaration Article VI. WE AFFIRM that the whole of Scripture and all its parts, down to the very words of the original, were given by divine inspiration. WE DENY that the inspiration of Scripture can rightly be affirmed of the whole without the parts, or of some parts but not the whole. Williamsburg Community Chapel Vine Life

Chicago Declaration Article XII. WE AFFIRM that Scripture in its entirety is inerrant, being free from all falsehood, fraud, or deceit. WE DENY that Biblical infallibility and inerrancy are limited to spiritual, religious, or redemptive themes, exclusive of assertions in the fields of history and science. We further deny that scientific hypotheses about earth history may properly be used to overturn the teaching of Scripture on creation and the flood. Williamsburg Community Chapel Vine Life

How many stalls of horses did Solomon have? 1 Kings 4:26King James Version (KJV) 26And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. 2 Chronicles 9:25 King James Version (KJV) 25 And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen; whom he bestowed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem. Williamsburg Community Chapel Vine Life

The Canon: Gospel of Thomas, last verse. 114 Simon Peter said to them, "Make Mary leave us, for females don't deserve life." 2 Jesus said, "Look, I will guide her to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. 3For every female who makes herself male will enter the domain of heaven. Williamsburg Community Chapel Vine Life

Week 8 How Can a Good God Create a World of So Much Suffering and Evil? Ken Petzinger & John Paine

Know Why You Believe Week 10 Course Conclusion Ken Petzinger & John Paine