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An Apologetic to the Existence of God & A Denunciation of Materialism. Mind over Matter!. Presented by: Methuselah Mjoli UP SDASM 24 March 2012. Summary. Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth Exodus 3:14
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An Apologetic to the Existence of God & A Denunciation of Materialism Mind over Matter! Presented by: Methuselah Mjoli UP SDASM 24 March 2012
Summary Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth Exodus 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
For the better half of six thousand years man has been trying to prove whether God exists… yet HE IS! • God most certainly does exist or God most certainly does not exist… C S Lewis (Mere Christianity)
"No man can survey himself without forthwith turning his thoughts towards the God in whom he lives and moves; because it is perfectly obvious, that the endowments which we possess cannot possibly be from ourselves; nay, that our very being is nothing else than subsistence in God alone." John Calvin
Ethos... “How detestable, I ask you, is this madness: that man, finding God in his body and soul a hundred times, on this very pretense of excellence denies that there is a God?” John Calvin, Institutes, I.5.iv.
The witness of this fact is in ourselves.... YOU ARE A SUPER NATURAL DESIGN....
What is Idolatry? Idolatry is usually defined as worship of any cult image, idea, or object, as opposed to the worship of a monotheisticGod Ascribing to objects the attributes of volition, consciousness and life.
“If reality is fundamentally physical, then the primary force binding it together is electromagnetic. If, however, reality is fundamentally social, then the most powerful constituting force is that which binds persons together namely, Love!” –Millard J Erickson
The fundamental constituting force is particles (matter in motion...) namely: Matter Or • The fundamental constituting force is Love(Social) namely: God!
Natural Or Super Natural
THE DIFFERENCE Theistic (Has God) Non-Theistic/ Atheistic (No God) Constituting forces Electromagnetism Fundamentally Material Electrons Neurons Atoms None abstract Protons Anatomic • Constituting force Love(Spiritual) • Consciousness • Prepositional Laws • Love , hope, Trust, Faith... • Numbers • Mind • Both physical and Spiritual • Laws of Logic
Brain Trivia The average number of neurons in the brain = 100 billion. The adult brain weighs about 3 pounds. A newborn baby’s brain is as soft and gooey as tapioca pudding! The average number of glial cells in the brain = 10-50 times the number of neurons.
Complexity of the Brain The brain contains approximately 100 billion nerve cells, or neurons, and 10 – 50 times more supporting cells, or glia.
Complexity of the Brain “…One of the most awe-inspiring mysteries of brain science is how neuronal activity within circuits gives rise to behavior, and even consciousness…” Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General
The mind... Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 1Pe 4:1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
Tit 1:15 Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled • Php 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Rom 7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: • Rom 7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. • Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? • Rom 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. • Breath: nesh-aw-maw' • intellect or (concretely) an animal: - blast, (that) breath (-eth), inspiration, soul, spirit. • Life: alive, appetite, (wild) beast, company, congregation, life (-time), live (-ly), living
There are many researchers trying to understand consciousness, including • Philosophers: since forever • Neurophysiologists: MRI studies! • Cognitive psychologists • Roboticists • No complexity theorists that I know of • Les Valiant comes closest • Leslie Lamport “How to Write a Proof”
Mind and brain: A scientific discussionleading to the existence of the soul by Marco BiaginiPh.D. in Solid State Physics
Science has in fact proved that all chemical, biological and cerebral processes consist only in some successions of elementary physical processes, determined in their turn only by the laws of quantum mechanics. Such a view of biological processes does not allow to account for the existence of consciousness, which existence implies then the presence in man of an unphysical element.Such element, being unphysical, can be identified as the soul.Marco Biagini - Ph. D. in Solid State Physics;
CONT... • Now we know that our brain is only a set of particles, such as electrons and protons, interacting through the electromagnetic field.
CONT... • …On the other hand, every materialistic attempt to explain the existence of consciousness implies that what suffers, loves, desires, feels etc. in us are objects such as electrons or electromagnetic fields. The point is that objects can feel nothing at all; objects cannot feel happiness, sadness, love, anger,self-awareness, etc. Science has proved that the equations of the electromagnetic field are universal; they describe the electromagnetic field within our brain as well as within a copper wire or an atom. There is no trace of consciousness, sensations, emotions, etc. in the equations of physics.
We have therefore a brain and a Mind… • And they work together…
Too busy with the things that matter… • Exterior • Man made boxes • Chasing waterfalls • Idols= Preachers, musicians, actors, etc.. • Wannabees and less bees
MATTER DOES NOT MATTER!! Luke 18:18-27
Why not Matter?? • Looks can be very deceiving • What you see is not what you get? • Intent is not physical • The battle is spiritual not physical • Character is heaven bound and not the body • The Knowledge of God keeps the mind sane • You are more than a brain and a body!!
Finally! GOD IS LOVE!! & GOD IS!! John 3:16