Jupiter, The Bringer of Jollity

At the recent CiRCE Conference, one of the presenters argued that classical music can capture a kind of grandeur that is impossible to attain in pop music. The example that he gave was Gustav Holst's "Jupiter: The Bringer of Jollity," and he played a recording of this composition. Regardless of whether one fully accepts the proposition put forth by the presenter, it is impossible to deny the majesty of this tune.
 

 A section from "Jupiter" was used in the British hymn, "I Vow to Thee My Country:"

Neither of the above compositions were written for the purpose of exalting Christ: the idea for "Jupiter" apparently came about through a discussion of astrology, and "I Vow to Thee My Country" is a patriotic tune. But somehow the effect of these compositions, executed so masterfully, seem to give the hearer a sense of awe, which the Christian realizes is properly directed to our Lord.

Actual NASA Photos of Jupiter and Saturn

I'm somewhat of a sci-fi geek (lately, I've been watching some of the Borg episodes from Star Trek: Voyager on Netflix), but no CGI image on a movie or TV show can compare with the actual beauty of God's creation.

[Thanks to my friend Tim Thompson for sharing this on Facebook.]

Images from the Hubble Telescope

Observe that the "deep field" pictures-- the final images-- are not showing stars, but galaxies.

A Brief Meditation on the Goodness of God

God is good.

In a time of moral relativism, and when men like Richard Dawkins are publicly and repeatedly asserting that God, as presented in the Bible, is evil- tyrannical, egocentric, and arbitrary- the above statement, often rendered by Christians as a heartfelt praise, becomes a necessary, foundational statement of faith. This is the starting point of Christianity; as the Holy Spirit convicts a person of his or her sin under God's Law, changes the heart of a sinner, and grants the gift of faith: the Holy Spirit, in all these activities, convinces a person that God is good.

God created a good world.

This too is an article of faith. Sometimes the order of the universe and the beauty of nature are obvious and it is easy to see how 'the heavens declare the glory of God.' At other times this world, groaning under the weight of sin, does not appear to be very good. Tsunamis appear to be more in line with the Big Bang Theory than with the idea of a loving Creator; plagues spread by viruses seem to be consistent with Darwinistic evolution. Christians must be sympathetic to the turmoil in which this world often leaves the people to whom we minister, and we must be ready to give a defense- with gentleness and respect- for the idea that God created everything good, and that the presence of apparent chaos in the world is due to sin.

God alone is good.

Humans, created in the image of God, seek after something that they can consider 'good,' though this search is constantly frustrated by our own evil desires, present in our hearts due to sin. People will inevitably spend their lives pursuing and trusting in what they consider to be the greatest good. For some people, the greatest good may be merely a comfortable life; for others, it may be a thrilling romantic relationship; others look to find the greatest good in a political party or political figure (this, BTW, occurs on all ends of the 'liberal-conservative' spectrum). All of these things fall short of the true good, which is found only in God.

It is God whom we are meant to seek, it is God whom we have failed to seek, and it is God who sought us out in Christ to bring us to Himself for our own good and for His glory.

Expelled movie opens today!

Expelled opens today in theaters across the nation. I encourage everyone reading this post to go see this thought-provoking movie sometime this weekend, as box office receipts from opening weekend are a major way that Hollywood determines whether a film is successful. If this film is a success, the producers of Expelled will be able to raise money to make the next film they are planning, which will view the abortion debate from a pro-life perspective.

For those reading this in Louisville, Expelled is opening today at Cinema de Lux 20: Stonybrook, Showcase Cinema de Lux 16 on Preston, and Cinema Tinseltown USA.

For friends and family back in GA, the movie is opening today at Movies 278 in Hiram, Regal 22 in Austell, Regal Town 16 (on Town Center Dr.) in Kennesaw, and Regal Arbor Place 18 in Douglasville.

Expelled movie critique

Expelled is a fine piece of artistic craftsmanship. The creators of this movie certainly understand the power of visual media and how to utilize this power to its fullest potential. The integration of interviews with historical footage, old movie clips, and animation is accomplished to great effect. When speaking of the connection, for example, between Darwinism and Nazism, footage from Hitler's Third Reich is shown. When speaking of academic oppression by neo-Darwinists against scientists who promote Intelligent Design, a clip from The Planet of the Apes is shown in which a highly evolved ape turns a high-pressure water hose on Charlton Heston's character and yells, "Shut up, freak!" When speaking of the bankruptcy of the neo-Darwinist position, the classic scene from The Wizard of Oz in which Dorothy discovers Oz to be a fraud is shown. Information is illustrated through the use of animation at 2 crucial moments: When a scientist in the film asserts that at least 250 proteins would need to evolve in order for the simplest form of life to occur, viewers see a cartoon made for the movie, which demonstrates this to be a statistical impossibility; When the complexity of cellular processes is discussed, a 3D computer model of the inner working of the cell is presented, which demonstrates the lunacy of asserting such processes could have arisen from non-organic material through natural selection. [An example of a similar, yet less intricate computer model can be seen below.]

Again, this is a high-quality production. The preview version of this film shown at Southern Seminary was not the final edit; the sound and lighting levels were not always perfectly consistent and viewers were told that some of the soundtrack would be changed. Even these minor flaws may not have been noticed if they had not been mentioned beforehand, and once they are corrected, this film will be on par with anything coming from Hollywood.

This film is propaganda. It strongly advocates a particular position, primarily through an emotional appeal. The film is highly successful as propaganda, but there are some inherent negative aspects to this kind of film: Information is, at times, subliminated to emotion, so that it is easy for viewers to lose track of who is being interviewed and some of the best arguments for Intelligent Design are either not mentioned or not explored in any great detail. Also (and this is my one negative critique of the film), this film may well be open to the charge of dishonesty in presentation. Not that the information concerning neo-Darwinism or Intelligent Design is in any way false, but Stein's narration tends to present the idea that what is being presented to the viewers is an open-minded exploration of academic freedom, whereas what is actually presented from the beginning is an argument in favor of Intelligent Design in education. It is easy to understand why Richard Dawkins and the other neo-Darwinists are upset by this film: They were apparently told that they were being interviewed for a film exploring the controversy between neo-Darwinism and Intelligent Design, and instead they appeared in a film in which Darwinism is ridiculed and vilified (though rightly so, in the opinion of this author) and Intelligent Design is promoted.

Overall, I highly recommend this film and would urge readers to see it on opening weekend, beginning on April 18 so that more movies like this will be made. (If this movie is successful, the producers plan to do a film on the abortion debate- Ben Stein has been known as a pro-life advocate.)

Expelled movie summary

Expelled begins with archive footage showing the construction of the Berlin Wall while an excellent violin rendition of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2" is being played. (Though no lyrics accompany the music, anyone familiar with the song will immediately begin to think, "We don't need no education– we don't need no thought control; No dark sarcasm in the classroom– teachers leave them kids alone. Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone! All in all it's just another brick in the wall.") The Berlin Wall becomes a metaphor in this film for the activities of the neo-Darwinist establishment in keeping discussion of Intelligent Design [ID] out of university classrooms and other academic settings.

The first words spoken in the film come from the neo-Darwinist proponent Richard Dawkins, who says, "The battle over evolution is one skirmish in a much larger war." (Dawkins has the interesting idiosyncrasy of pronouncing "evolution" as "evil-ution.") This becomes a theme that is developed in the film as connections are made between neo-Darwinism and questions concerning the larger world-view of materialism.

The first words spoken by Ben Stein are, "Freedom is the essence of America." These words form another theme in the film- that of protest against the loss of academic freedom to explore ID and how this loss signifies an imposition of a certain philosophy upon the American people.

Cases of scientists who have faced oppression for allowing discussion of ID are presented: The movie focuses on Richard Sternberg, who lost his position at the Smithsonian for publishing a peer-reviewed article in favor of ID, and Caroline Crocker, who lost her job at George Mason University for mentioning ID on 2 slides in a presentation. Following discussion of these 2 cases, a quick sketch in given of several scientists who have lost their jobs or have been denied tenure for allowing discussion of ID.

The question is posed concerning the question of whether these scientists deserved the treatment they received from academia: Are these scientists engaged in promoting religion? Is ID science at all? To answer these questions, Stein speaks with Bruce Chapman, president of the Discovery Institute, who makes the point that the ID movement includes Jews, Christians, Muslims and agnostics, so the promotion of a particular religious viewpoint is not a part of ID. Other interviews (including one of William Dembski of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) makes the point that many scientists question the assertion that naturalistic processes can account for the complexity apparent in the universe. This information is contrasted to a quote from Richard Dawkins: "Evolution is a fact."

The claims made by neo-Darwinist proponents for the origin of life are explored through examination of the video Cosmic Origins: From Big Bang to Humankind. Two evolutionary theories are mentioned: The crystal theory (that the intricate development of crystals led to development of life) and directed panspermia (that highly advanced extraterrestrials intervened to direct evolution on this planet). These are explored to demonstrate what outrageous theories are accepted by neo-Darwinists while ID is rejected.

The complexity of life is demonstrated by means such as a 3D computer model of cellular processes. That this complexity could have arisen through naturalistic processes is obviously false.

The film returns to the theme of oppression, this time focusing on oppression of journalists. The case of Pamela Winnick- a non-religious Jew who refused to take a position on ID when reporting the debate- is presented. Winnick has come under the scrutiny of neo-Darwinist watchdog groups.

Philosophical consequences of neo-Darwinism are then demonstrated through a presentation of William Provine, a professor at Cornell University, who argues that acceptance of Darwinism leads to a denial of any deity, the afterlife, morality, and free-will. These philosophical consequences lead to political and social consequences, as seen when the connection between radical Darwinism and Nazism is demonstrated. This prompts Ben Stein to ask, "What can I do?" The response comes from David Berlinski and another scientist, who tell Stein that he must make it apparent to the world that a wall exists to keep ID from being discussed in academia. This leads to a final interview with Richard Dawkins, in which the philosophical bankruptcy of neo-Darwinism is exposed.

The film ends with footage of the Berlin Wall coming down and with Stein lecturing an auditorium of college students on academic freedom.

[Tomorrow I hope to offer a critique of the film.]

Expelled movie trailer

I have just become aware of Expelled- a movie by Ben Stein set to open nationwide on April 18 that explores how scientists who have dared to question whether the facts of their disciplines support Darwinism have been persecuted or ostracized. Watch the trailer HERE.

Romans 1:20. Care of the Defenseless

From the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what He has made. As a result, people are without excuse. (Romans 1:20 HCSB)

Throughout God's Word, the observable creation we see around us is presented as bearing testimony to Him. This is especially evident in the Psalms (see, for example, Psalm 19), in the closing chapters of the Book of Job, and in the opening chapters of Romans.

Today, as a new category of articles on this blog, I am going to begin to occasionally post some interesting observations of nature, which I believe to demonstrate God's creativity and various other of His attributes.

I begin with the following, which is doubtlessly the coolest nature video I've ever seen:

HT:: James White