Exothermic

       Did Adam and Eve really exist just like what the Christian Bible have illustrated? Or were they just an allegory created so that it will be easy for the primitive human to comprehend? These two questions came into me out-of-the-blue on a cold winter morning. I am a Christian, a full-pledge Christian, and I have believed the story of the Bible from the moment I could differentiate Adam from Eve. But, lately I begin to question the way how it is being understood. It is not that I no longer believed; it is on how we should have interpreted the story that I am concerned with. To make everything straight, I am not going to prove the Bible wrong in fact I believe it to be divinely guided, I am just going to throw some doubts the way we handle the truth.

What allegedly happened in the Garden of Eden as told in the Bible is a widely accepted story by a vast majority of Christians prima facie. However, scientific evidence contradicts the logic of creation to be based on this story. There had been a number of scientific studies made to trace back our ancestry and the results won’t lead us back to the first couple. Although, the researchers conceded that we really have a Mitochondrial Eve or a common single lineage. But even then, it does not suggest that we originated from a single woman only, otherwise it is nearly impossible for us to flourish due to population bottle neck. Besides, the Bible also did tell that the first couple sons found their wives from other places (that if they did exist in the first place). [Note that Mitochondrial Eve is drawn from the same matrilineal tree forward in time by starting with all contemporary human females. I am not in the position to explain deeply how the theory works so, if needed to be understood clearly what it is all about; one can just “Google” the word “mitochondrial DNA”.]

Notwithstanding, radical Christians can always say God works in many mysterious ways and the story of the first couple could be one of it. But, we cannot just submit our logic to the literal interpretation of the story or else we are no better than those religious fanatics. Should we not consider that maybe the story is just an allegory? Think it this way: if it is difficult for a modern man to understand the natural phenomenon going around him, one cannot be too scientific in explaining to an ancient man his origin. It is good to note that even later it was difficult to believe that the Earth revolves around the Sun much more about evolution. I certainly do believe that human evolved from what we were before (not just apes) to what we are now; just like we evolve from a medieval man to a computer age superhuman. Evolution isn’t impossible for we all acknowledge that a day to God is a thousand years for us.

So how should we interpret the story? In my humble opinion, I believed that there is more to the story than what meets the eye. Basically, the story emphasizes human knowledge and the love of God. Firstly, the story illustrates how dangerous knowledge could be if taken beyond His approval and intended purpose. The serpent could just be a personification of what human will be when we misuse our knowledge and how it affects our relationship with God. More knowledge means more choices. More choices means more chances of sinning. Ironically, the wiser we are the more we become aware of our inequities to God. When we know that we have sinned against Him who made us, it is like going naked in front of Him because there is just nothing we can hide from Him. Now, we have the idea how Adam and Eve have felt when they gained the knowledge and was confronted by God. Secondly, the story also illustrates the unfathomable love of God. Note that in the story, God didn’t just simply replace the first couple with another more law abiding citizen. He could have just reprogram their mind or simply restart all over again just like what we will do when the much hyped Vista OS failed to perform what was advertised: reinstall. Eventually, they were punished but at the same time they were provided. And so the story goes on.

For now I have to conclude that Adam and Eve might be the ancestor of the Jews but they cannot be mine, it is just simply beyond my logic. It is easier for me to believe that the story sends a subtle message across the whole of Christianity rather than accept it literally. I also believe that there is always a point where science and religion can co-exist. It is foolishness when we close our minds to the indisputable facts science have produced and blindly accept what religion teaches; radicalism starts when we accept what we don’t understand. It is also a disaster when a person of science closes its mind from the virtues of religion; we could hasten the demise of our race when we go on unguided by the principles God had clearly laid.

To God be the glory.

“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.” (F. Scott Fitzgerald) 

     I had a great “chat-versation” with a friend of mine now living somewhere in the snow-covered landscape of Boston, Massachusetts. He is a good guy with a great mind, though not commensurate to his size (LOL! Peace brotha). Somewhere along the conversation we discussed about the frailty of man and the genius of satan. I said “…know what, satan is really clever”. He replied, “But God is wiser…” My reply was, “Sure He is, but we aren’t”.

Later, it dawn on me the things that are happening around that big country my friend is now calling home. Looking back at history, America was founded with strong foundation on Christian faith and the best example to that is printed on their money: In God we trust. Anyone familiar with the history of the United States would attest that this country was founded with God in mind. But look how things have changed. Being the leader of the democratic world, there strength is the freedom of its citizen. This is also where satan puts his penny in. Isn’t that freedom causes the fist man to sin against God? The freedom to choose what you want can be a double-edged sword. Satan is the master of deception and by encouraging us to take advantage of this free will has been his effective and most clandestine strategy to trap us once again. Notice what is happening to the US right now, there has been an increasing number of lawsuits just to get rid of anything that resembles Christianity may it be murals, monument, or even that word printed on their money. Parents have been suing schools because according to them their children were forced to say prayers or that something in the school has got to do with Christianity or God which is against the constitution. We’ve heard people protesting so that a very old monument of the 10 Commandments will be removed from a federal building because it is against their constitutional rights of religious freedom. Consequently, they won the legal battle, nothing can prevent them anyway, they are constitutionally right. Now, almost everything in the Government that can be related to Christianity and God is being challenged not just in the US but also in other free countries.

Man has really made his God given intelligence and freedom far beyond what is required of him and satan can’t be more ready to exploit it. We have achieved great intelligence and desired for utmost freedom and then declared this as our strength. Foolishness! Our greatest human strength is our perfect weakness; a total opposite to what was declared by Jesus in II Cor. 12:9 9 …, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” Of course we need to use this strengths because after all God gave it to us at our disposal. But when can we say enough is enough? I guess some of us will never know when to stop and will never know that they have been used by satan against his battle with God. Satan has been patiently waiting on the roadside watching as we follow Christ along the narrow and difficult road. But when we fall on the curb he is very quick and clever to lead us to a broader road that leads to destruction. Mind you he is a good leader and many follows him.

Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 1:16-18 “ I thought to myself, “Look, I have grown and increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge. Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind. For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.” If this was what the great King had concluded, what can we expect is for us?

The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.  ~Louis D. Brandeis

Humility is the greatest fallacy of all the worlds’ religions. I have not known a religion that  preaches humility and  heartily  practices it - Christianity is no exemption. Just when you hear religions preaching humility; think of the wars that have been fought for the sake of it. Countless hours have been consumed trying to prove each other wrong. A lot of words were crafted just to give the other side a name.

To have a concrete example, we don’t have to look beyond the corridors of the Christian faith to see shining examples of this ineptitude. Big Churches were built merely to flaunt the numbers. Popular gospel preachers travel in private jets and live in grossly expensive mansions. Priests and bishops dress elegantly and love the praises of men and the glare of the spotlight. If that doesn’t appear ridiculous enough, take a look at this perceived leader of the Roman Catholic faith- the pope always ride in a bullet-proofed car crowded by security men. I guess this is just in preparation in case God fails to protect him from harm, isn’t it? I believed it’s so easy to preach humility when you are not practicing it. I think it is difficult to be humble where you’re the most popular or the VIP.

This is probably the reason why Agur said this request to God before he dies in Proverbs 30:8-9 – “Keep falsehood and lies from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘”Who is the LORD?”, or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.

Indeed, it is so easy for me to criticize and judge the people I have mentioned above because I am not the one on the pedestal of power and fame. Ultimately, I have judged these people according to their appearance and practices. By doing so I have done something the Bible prohibited me to do: judging others. Oh I pity my soul. But on the second thought, how do you think we should react to the actions of these people without being haunted by our conscience for judging them? Who is going to be stopped: the one doing it or the one criticizing?

Now, the whole Christian community is celebrating the birth of Christ who albeit being God: was born, have lived, was persecuted, and died like a man. For him was the perfect example of humility.

“None are so empty as those who are full of themselves.” ~Benjamin Whichcote

 Where have all the classic Christian songs gone? This is a question that is like a tuning fork in my mind that always hum whenever I hear pop-culture Christian music being played or sung. Lately, gospel songs are so light or may I say shallow in meaning. Although I have nothing against it and to be fair the melodies are good. But that’s all that there is to these songs; the melody. Meaning wise, it lacks the depth and passion compared to the powerful songs of yesteryears. Songs compose by today’s pop-culture musicians seems to be cursorily made even those from popular groups like that from Hill songs.

I have yet to listen a pop-culture Christian music that has the same burning passion like the songs：What a friend we have in Jesus；And can it be; I need thee every hour; Blessed Assurance; and a whole lot more. Even the very old ones like; The Old Rugged Cross；How great thou Art; Onward Christian soldiers; All the way my savior leads me; have meanings that can melt even the hardest of hearts. Of course we can say that music is preferential and largely dependent of the generation. But still I believe that the art of making meaningful Christian music is slowly fading away. In my opinion today’s gospel music is more commercially driven than being a product of the heart. The classic Christian hymns are largely based from the scripture and blended with the experiences of the composer. Take the example of the classic hymn “Rock of Ages”, an overwhelming song from long ago. Do I have to mention the heart-crunching “Amazing Grace”? The classics reveal not just the jubilation of a changed heart but also manifest the challenges of following Christ. In comparison, today’s gospel music often only dwells on the lighter side of the Christian faith. There is nothing wrong with it but somehow it just lack the passion and or the solemnity that had once been the fundamentals of Christian hymns.

Indeed, a song reflects the culture of the generation that made it. I hope that the lack of profoundness of these pop-culture gospel songs does not reflect our relationship with God. Hopefully these cursorily made songs do not represent this generation’s superficial relationship with Christ. Ours is a time where being a Christian is as easy as taking a bath whereas before they were persecuted. It seems we want everything today to be fast and easy, including the powerful Christian hymns that have been lost in translation.

“Give us clear vision that we may know where to stand and what to stand for, because unless we stand for something, we shall fall for anything. (Peter Marshall)

On one bloody Sunday I unexpectedly happened to observed one of the extreme of Japanese culture; chauvinism. I overheard somebody requesting for somebody to move a car parked in front of a Jaguar XJ Series. After the sleazy car was evacuated out of the Jag’s way a couple marches towards their shiny Jag. But wait, it’s the lady who is holding the key and then seats at the driver’s side. Well, nothing is unusual until after the Jag is about to move and the man opened not the front passenger door but the rear door, thus, completely making his wife look like his chauffeur. I called it odd since I cannot find any reason why he cannot drive or sit beside his wife.

After the utter disbelief of what I had witnessed I began to have flash backs of encounters that showed me the oddity of this chauvinist culture. I concluded that women in my country, the Philippines, should always have something to cheer about; most of the time they were treated like a queen. Well, except to some unlucky few, chivalry is still alive and widely practiced though on different level. You will often see men open doors, offer seats, carries her things and all sorts of gentlemanly conducts. Albeit all of these I can still hear incessant complaints about their treatment in the society. I guess she’s one of the unlucky few or she just can’t get enough. And by the way, I believe we are the only country who has two woman presidents.

“Women are the most wonderful creature, until she opens her mouth more than her brain can process”

Another saga of political adventurism in the Philippines that involves these runaway trains had happened. I could understand if these former soldiers, this disgruntled senator and his cohorts in the political arena would do what they have done; they’re tuned to be that way anyway. I just wonder when they will be put in the firing squad. But these priest? Supposedly expected of them is to lead in peaceful and lawful actions but instead participated in an extra-judicial adventure. I am really fed up watching these priests trying to lead the populace to rise up against the government. Can we get over with these Roman Catholic priest and other occultist hallucinated by their perceived supremacy over the people?　Clearly they have already crossed the thin line that separates the state and religion. The line is so thin in the Philippines that maybe they think that they have done the right thing. Hell no! They just did a crime against the people and once again tainted the image the Christian faith. Isn’t it clearly stated that it is a sin to judge a person a sinner? Yet these “pious” lead the way in judging whoever president is sitting; talk about hypocrisy.

It’s Christmas once again, the celebration of the birthday of the only perfect man who said, “Let the one who have not sinned throw the first stone”. But sadly these words are but a faint echo in my beloved country. In a largely Christian Philippines harmony is a thing in the past; a virtue that is almost doomed to extinction. On the contrary, this virtue is so prevalent in Japan, a non-Christian country where I am currently an alien. “Tatemae” as the Japanese called it, is the culture of basically not throwing the first rock to somebody just to preserve the harmony of the group. In both extremes you can find something to criticize about but I would have loved my country to still be largely Christian yet has the “Tatemae” embedded in its culture.

I wonder where the problem started. However, in my opinion if these priest and their ancestors have done their job, my country should have right now and in the future to come, better and conscientious politicians. I just hope that their flocks will listen to what they preach but not do what they do. Oh Pharisees why can’t you just fade in history.

“To judge a man’s character, give him power”.

From Wikipedia: The Milky Way Galaxy

“The Milky Way is estimated to contain up to 400 billion stars. As a guide to the relative physical scale of the Milky Way, if it were reduced to 130 km (80 mi) in diameter, the Solar System would be a mere 2 mm (0.08 inches) in width. The Galactic Halo extends outward, but is limited in size by the orbits of the two Milky Way satellites, the Large and the Small Magellanic Clouds whose perigalacticon is at ~180,000 light-years. New discoveries indicate that the disk extends much farther than previously thought.

The Sun (and therefore the Earth and Solar System) may be found close to the inner rim of the Galaxy’z Orion Arm, in the Local Fluff, at a hypothesized distance of 7.62±0.32 kpc from the Galactic Center.The distance between the local arm and the next arm out, the Perseus Arm, is about 6,500 light-years.The Sun, and thus the Solar System, is found in what scientists call the galactic habitable zone. The Apex of the Sun’s Way, or the solar apex, is the direction that the Sun travels through space in the Milky Way. The general direction of the Sun’s galactic motion is towards the star Vega near the constellation of Hercules, at an angle of roughly 60 sky degrees to the direction of the Galactic Center. The Sun’s orbit around the Galaxy is expected to be roughly elliptical with the addition of perturbations due to the galactic spiral arms and non-uniform mass distributions. In addition the Sun oscillates up and down relative to the galactic plane approximately 2.7 times per orbit. This is very similar to how a simple harmonic oscillator works with no drag force (dampening) term. It takes the Solar System about 225 to 250 million years to complete one orbit (a galactic year), and so it is thought to have completed about 20 to 25 orbits during its lifetime or 0.0008 orbit since the origin of humans. The orbital speed of the solar system is 220 km/s, i.e., 1 light-year in ca. 1400 years, and 1 AU in 8 days.”

These are astronomically mind-boggling figures that one cannot fully comprehend it without being branded a nerd. And yet that’s only the Milky Way that my Physics instructor said is only one of the many. Now go figure the vastness of space while maintaining your sanity. From the figures above, it is easy to believe that we are not alone in this universe. There may not be another Earth but certainly there are other standing and walking think tanks somewhere out there. That is probably why Star Trek is one of the longest and most popular sci-fi stories ever created. The interest of knowing that there is somebody out there tickles our fancy.

As I come to gather my self after a few bewildered moments I couldn’t help but envisage the certain possibility that there is someone like me out there feeling helpless in the presence of this grandeur. Although this someone might not look like me but together with his kind might have been praising the same god. They may have the same intelligence like us or probably more advance. But in the same way they may have been a slave of sin just like us. Then they might have somebody like Jesus to save them from eternal damnation. But my question, would their savior die like our Jesus? Will they slay their Jesus in a crude way or by a super advance procedure? Anyhow, the meaning of His death will be the same so don’t dwell on it.

The story of their salvation should certainly be different. Consequently, the second coming of their Christ and the events that will follow will be different. During that time, will they witness and experience the same punishment like the one we will as it is written in the book of Revelation?  As I was pondering these possible events, it dawned on me a reason why in the final days the earth will not be totally destroyed. Just imagine what a scenario it will be if all the inhabitants of the universe will be gathered in one final place. How would you react if you meet somebody that looks like from one of the Star Trek episodes? Will you look at the likes Worf or Reman Viceroy and still feel the same? Oh, I remember, we haven’t figured it out yet if their Christ will look the same as our beloved Jesus. Alas! I didn’t expect these scenarios demands a lot of my minds graphic accelerator.

“Hey Master Yoda! You’ve actually made it! How about Obi-Wan Kenobi?

These ideas may seem too absurd but can be enjoyable to tackle sometimes. Anyhow, these immeasurable wonders are beyond comprehension. We can just marvel the power of the One who made all of these and be immense in the glory of His majesty.　And I wouldn’t have to wonder either about how and when my Christ will come.

These are the words of a song that defines it all:

“O Lord my God when I’m in awesome wonder,

consider all the worlds thy hands have made.

I see the star; I hear the rolling thunder,

thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul my savior God to thee,

How great thou art, how great thou art.

Then sings my soul my savior God to thee,

How great thou art, how great thou art”.

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,

and take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.

Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,

and then proclaim: “My God, how great thou art!”

Then sings my soul my savior God to thee,

How great thou art, how great thou art.

Then sings my soul my saviour God to thee,

How great thou art, how great thou art”.

GLORY BE TO GOD.

As defined in Merriam-Webster:

HYPOCRISY:  a feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not; especially : the false assumption of an appearance of virtue or religion.

The people in this country where am living right now has a lot of it to offer but not all in a way that what we might understood hypocrisy would be. Hypocrisy comes in a lot of forms in this strange culture. But honestly, I am in a dilemma if I will look at them as hypocrite or just being more considerate. It put a lot of strain on my mind trying to comprehend their actions; a situation where I don’t encounter everyday in  my country. Oh how I missed Cebu. Eventually, I found a better way to avoid this unnecessary mental and emotional strain by not trying to fit into their culture. I can always look like a Japanese but I can never be one, thus the cliche’ “turning Japanese” can only do me more harm than good. So the hard part of living in Japan comes not with the real Japanese but with Gaijin ”turning Japanese”.

But hypocrisy in the context of culture is nothing compared to hypocrisy applied to the Christian living. This I think is probably the best way for somebody claiming to be a good Christian to get in somebody’s nerves; and the best way of keeping people away from the faith. I have seen people and certainly knew people of this kind and I always dread the moment I’m with them. But here comes the trick. What am I also to other people? Am I as hypocrite to them as I would think other people are? These are just some of the few questions in Christian faith that I want to address ASAP.

Do you call it hypocrisy when you’re trying to hide your hate to somebody because the Bible says, “Love your enemies”? Do you call it hyprocrisy when you’re trying to put a smile on your face while holding your blood from boiling over in front of people who qualifies to be the best jerk in the world because the bible tells us “to live in harmony”? Mind you, these are questions not from somebody who doubted his faith in the words of God in the Bible. But these questions comes from somebody who is trying to be as close, if not emulate the life of a Christian as define in the Bible.  Our hypocrisy is magnified in the eyes of somebody with the same faith. It can make us transparent and that it is in vain for us to hide it  because we are measured with the same scale. Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin.

I am not a good man myself, not by many people’s standard, and certainly not by God’s standard. Thus, reading and understanding the bible exposes my short-comings. In effect, I can at least superficially be able to asses a person’s actions whether they are acting in love or just plain hypocrite. I will not claim that I’m good at reading people but it’s just because I’ve been there and have done that. I was once in this Bible study and at one point  a question was asked, “In what way Christians can bring unnecessary criticisms to themselves?”. For me Christians bring criticisms to themselves by not acting in sync. What I mean by this is that every Christians are claiming to have the right kind of faith or practices and so in the eyes of non-believers there are two sheeps in different clothing. Everybody thinks they are spreading the faith by telling stories about it changing their lives but at the expense of their Christian brothers. Did you get my point? I think not, so here’s another basic example. As clearly mentioned in the Bible in Romans 14:17  ”For the kingdom of God is not of food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit”. Now, I will rest my case with this verse. Some Christian drinks wine, liquor, beer, whatever you call it because it’s rooted to their culture or just plainly business. Of course everything in excess is a higway to sin thus drinking, short of being drunk, is clearly a bookable offense. In the bible, drinking wine is not prohibited (am sure about it) but being drunk is. Now then, when one Christian claims that a true Christian doesn’t drink wine in any form when the other Christian drinks because of the reason stated above, aren’t they bringing upon them unnecessary cristicism? One can consider this situation the other way around and still it will yield the same result in the eyes of non-believers. Can we call this hypocrisy? Clearly God judges the heart, men judges by sight. So why should each one claim in the presence of non-believers that they are correct in their own way. Why can’t we keep our mouth shut and walk the talk and let God be the judge of us all. Making ourselves as a measuring scale to the faith of our fellow Christian is hyprocrisy, and it can’t get any clearer than that.

Maybe my definition of  hypocrisy is far fetched or too shallow but it’s the closest word I can think of that defines some of the practices of the people adhering to the Christian faith.