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Romans 1

Romans 1. An Introduction. An Overview. The significance of Romans The corpus of Christian thought. Martin Luther’s Conversion. John Wesley’s Conversion.

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Romans 1

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  1. Romans 1 An Introduction

  2. An Overview • The significance of Romans • The corpus of Christian thought. • Martin Luther’s Conversion. • John Wesley’s Conversion. “The whole of Scripture took on a new meaning, and whereas before ‘the righteousness of God’ had filled me with hate, now it became unto me inexpressively sweet in greater love. This passage of Paul became to me a gateway to heaven.” Martin Luther, Luther's Works (Weimar edition, 1926), 54:179-80

  3. Romans 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "But the righteous man shall live by faith."

  4. The “Good News” • “Gospel” was a common word euaggelion • The “Free Gift”: a relationship with God. • One condition: “The righteous man shall live by faith.” • Trust: not in my good works. • Rather: trust in Christ’s death on the Cross

  5. The “Bad News” The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. (Rom. 1:18-20)

  6. Considering God’s“Argument by Design” VersusInorganic Spontaneous Evolution

  7. An Inorganic Molecule: H20

  8. An Organic Molecule: Tryptophan (Amino Acid)

  9. A Common Protein:Hemoglobin Over 400 Amino Acids in precise sequence More than 7,000 atoms in this molecule!

  10. A Hemoglobin Problem:Sickle Cell Anemia Only one Amino Acid out of sequence

  11. A Living Single-Cell • Contains Millions of proteins organized into dozens of organelles. • True for every living cell. • Humans have billions of these cells.

  12. The Chances of Forming Just One Protein, assuming: • All earth’s available carbon atoms form amino acids. (10^41 molecules) • 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 • Re-forming at a rate of 10^65 per year • Billions of times per hour. • 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 • How long would it take to form one useful protein molecule?

  13. Years RequiredFor One Protein Molecule: • 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 10^161 Years(Rounded Down)

  14. Aren’t we exaggerating? • Of all possible combinations for 400 amino acids, only 1:10236 combinations are useful for life. 10236 1075 = 10161 • Chances of winning the Ohio Lottery: at best 1:1,000,000 for a very small pot. (1:106).

  15. “But we have time on our side.” • The universe is roughly 20 billion years old (that’s 2 x 109). • The earth is roughly 5 billion years old(that’s 5 x 108). • That’s a little short of the 10161 years needed for one useful protein molecule. • Generously assuming 1041 molecules re-forming at 1065 times per year.

  16. How long is 10^161 Years? • Consider an Amoeba. • It’s a s-l-o-o-w Amoeba, travelling 1 inch per year. • It carries just 1 atom on its back...

  17. How long is 10^161 Years? • Sliding along a string the length of the universe, at 1 inch per year… • Turning around, and carrying the atom back again on that string... • How much material could this Amoeba move in 10^161 years?

  18. How long is 10^161 Years? • The slow Amoeba could move 10^64 universes across that string and back. • There are an estimated at 5 x 10^78 atoms in the universe. • The universe is 15 billion light-years across (2 x 10^28 years at 1 inch /yr) • It takes 10^107 years to move the mass of just one universe at this rate.

  19. The Probability forSpontaneous Inorganic Evolution “If the probability of an event is infinitely slight, it is equivalent to the practical impossibility of happening within certain time limits.” Joseph Louis Comte Lagrange • An extreme faith position: believing in the impossible.

  20. Thus, Psalms 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. • This is a big God! • But He is also knowable!

  21. Questions? Comments?

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