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The
Reflections Newsletter
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
**In This Issue**
- Is
Intelligent Design a Religion or a Scientific Theory?
-
What Does the Bible Say About...?
Welcome to the
Reflections Newsletter from Reflect His Glory. RHG is a co-ministry
with Creation Science Ministries. Feel free to send this to your relatives
and friends.
Is Intelligent Design a Religion or a
Scientific Theory?
Intelligent Design has been tossed out
of several
public schools
across the country,
and like a radio
active potato, nobody wants to touch it for fear
they will
be fatally burned.
It was not long ago that
the potato was in a
California school where Intelligent Design was being
analyzed in an elective philosophy class.
Not in a
mandatory biology class, but in a "Hey,
this
ID thing sounds
kind of
interesting" philosophy class.
And What Happened?
Frazier Mountain High in California's El Tajon school district had been offering
the class,
called Philosophy of Design to explain Intelligent Design concepts to interested
students. However,
the class appearently
included more Biblical Creation teachings than it did Intelligent Design theory.
In
early January of 2006,
a group of parents decided to sue the school district for violating the
separation of church and state by promoting religious ideas in a public school
classroom. In
order to avoid an expensive lawsuit, the school district settled out of court
and agreed to never teach a "course that promotes or endorses creationism,
creation science or intelligent design."
This incident came on the heals of a
landmark decision in Pennsylvania regarding Intelligent Design.
The Dover,
Pennsylvania area school district had mandated a brief statement to introduce
students to the alternative theory of Intelligent Design before starting biology
class sections on evolution. The
school district did not encourage teachers to actually teach about Intelligent
Design, but only to make students aware of the theory and to cite books where
the kids could find out more information on their own.
For that,
the school district got sued. As
a result, on December 20, 2005, US District Judge
John E. Jones III ruled the Dover school district's policy to be
unconstitutional.
Now, with Intelligent Design smacked down in the public science classroom, and
in even the public philosophy classroom, other school districts
are fearful of touching the subject.
Intelligent Design Is
Not a Religion
The absurd thing is that Intelligent Design theory itself has
absolutely nothing
to do with religion. It
does not depend on any
religion,
or refer to religion,
or hope to define its'
Intelligent Designer. It
simply puts forth the theory
that certain biological machines and processes are too interdependent and
complex to have formed by natural
processes over long periods of time, which is also known as
evolution.
The human eye is a good example. Remove
any one of the precise series of chemical reactions involved in sight, and the
eye does not
work. Every
part of the eye, every chemical and nerve connection needs to exist and work
precisely,
or the whole system fails. Intelligent
Design theorists argue that interdependent precision,
like that found to create eyesight - demonstrates evidence of purposeful
design rather than a step-by-step
natural
evolutionary formation over a long
period of time.
Both Have Implications
To be fair and honest here,
Intelligent Design theory does
have
religious implications. An
Intelligent Designer could easily be God.
But, then
again, it could be from an
intelligent alien life
form. Intelligent Design theory does
not worry about who the Designer
may be. It
simply concerns itself with the empirical evidence and what
evolution can and cannot satisfactorily explain.
For all the noise that secular scientists make about Intelligent Design, we need
to all remember that the General Theory of Evolution has religious
implications as well. The
implications are atheistic,
the denial of God's existence. But,
just as there are atheists who support Intelligent Design (they
believe aliens designed us), there are theistic evolutionists who argue God used
evolution to create today's array of life on earth.
The
religious conclusions people make have
nothing to do with whether scientists
are using solid reasoning, or
are justified in their interpretations of the evidence.
What
Can Be Done
Despite the these
setbacks, the fight for true science,
that is science that explores all the options,
is not over. The
US District Court is not the Supreme Court and the Tajon school district
apparently approached the issue in a lopsided
manner.
Other school
districts can still decide to address the Intelligent Design issue in
constitutional ways. A
school can
develop a balanced course that examines the scientific philosophies behind the
General Theory of Evolution and Intelligent Design, without promoting either
one. School
Districts can allow teachers to introduce the concept of Intelligent Design to
students without mandating that they do so.
Even if
teachers never mention Intelligent Design, they are free to explain to students
the various weaknesses some scientists have found in the General Theory of
Evolution.
But most
important, parents can educate their children about the controversy.
Hundreds of
books have been written to address Intelligent Design and to critique
evolutionary theory. These
include books written for the advanced scientist and
books written for children.
What Does the Bible Say About...?
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In this section of the
Reflections Newsletter we answer questions that have been asked.
If you have a question that you would like ask, and do not mind having
printed in the newsletter, (your name will not be mentioned), feel free to
send your question in an email to me at
biblequestions@reflecthisglory.org. Of course, you may call me
anytime by phone at 801.302-1111.
The question for this issue is,
"What is the concept of the 'Kinsman-Redeemer' taught in the Old
Testament, and why is Jesus Christ sometimes referred to by that name?" |
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The concept of the
kinsman-redeemer, known in Hebrew as a
goel, is related to the Law of the
Levirate Marriage, which is a procedure to
assure the continuity of a man's family line if
he should die prematurely without having any children.
In such an instance, the man's widow could request
that his closest male relative take her as a wife
and continue his line. This would also insure
the redemption of the land of the deceased man, so
that it would remain in his family.
There was no requirement for the
male relative to perform this function if he did not
desire to do so. There were three requirements
to be a goel. First, you had to be the nearest
relative to the deceased relative. Second, you
had to be able to perform all of
the obligations, and last, he had to be willing to
perform.
In the Book of Ruth, we learn
that there was a closer kinsman to Ruth than Boaz
(Ruth 3:12). However, for whatever reason,
while he was willing to perform some of the
obligations, he was not willing to take Ruth as his
wife (Ruth 4:6). It was the custom of the
nearer redeemer, who rejected the custom, to remove
one of his shoes as evidence that he surrendered his
right of redemption. So the role of
kinsman-redeemer fell to Boaz, who was not only
able, he was more than willing to marry Ruth and
redeem the property of her family. The
kinsman-redeemer is just one of many illustrations
in the Old Testament of what Christ Jesus has done
for each and every one of us.
Because of Adam's sin, the entire
line of mankind became dead, spiritually. In
order for us to be re-established as a true child of
God, mankind needed a kinsman-redeemer who was not
only able, but willing to meet all of God's
obligations for our redemption. And that
kinsman-redeemer is Christ Jesus. As a man, He
was qualified to pay our sin debt. As
the sinless Son of God, He was able to do
so. And because He loved us, he was
willing to perform the role of our goel.
Just as Boaz chose Ruth as his bride, Christ Jesus
chose the Church as his bride.
In closing, there is another
interesting aspect to the Book of Ruth. Ruth
herself had to make the first move by
requesting Boaz to be her kinsman-redeemer (Ruth
3:9). In this same manner, we must first ask
Christ Jesus to be our kinsman-redeemer. When
we do, He is more than willing and able to perform
this role, for anyone believing that He can save
them.
"But as many as received Him,
to them gave He power to become the sons of God,
even to them that believe on His name,"
John 1:12
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**MEMORY VERSE OF THE
MONTH**
Our Redeemer — the Lord Almighty is His
name — is the Holy One of Israel.
Isaiah 47:4
KJV ER
We solicit your prayers and support of this ministry. God Bless.
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