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God knows pi, and other random thoughts.
awakeSo, Sarah and I were talking, and we somehow got on the subject of math and God. You often think, when someone says that God knows everything, that of course God knows what has happened in the past, what is happening now, and what will happen in the future. But how often do you think beyond that? God is infinite: he knows what pi is, as exactly as an infinite being can know an infinite number. He KNOWS pi. Not 3.14159 as most of us know it, or as 3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419
And then there's this guy. He's got a point, kind of a Pascal's wager sort of thing going on. But I don't know - Sarah mentioned that a lot of the things he predicts in the worst case scenario sound a lot like what you find in Revelations. Granted, he addresses the problem of "well it's just God's will and we can't do a thing about it" in one of his videos. His argument is that, if you noticed that the fish in a particular river were all dying and the water smelled funny, and you went upstream and found that it was some guy dumping toxic waste into the river that was a problem, you could get him to stop doing that and solve the problem. He proceeded to scale the argument up and finally asked where the line was drawn when you could say that it was God's problem, not ours, that something is happening on a global scale. He has a point, but my objection is not so much the defeatist objection of "well, it's God's will and therefore nothing we can do will stop it" and more of the "what IS God's will, and how can we be sure that what we do is fulfilling that?" As far as global warming - or climate change, as he calls it, to which I say "whatever" - is concerned, I don't know. It's pretty obvious that we're supposed to be stewards of the world in which we live. It is SO tempting to just say "If this is the end of the world, if this is (finally) the end that Revelations predicted, Come, Lord Jesus, come! Bring it on! Things have to get a whole lot worse before they get infinitely better, so bring on the bad stuff. Let's get it over with." Or like one of my favorite songs, "Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight/the clouds be rolled back like a scroll/the trump shall resound/and the Lord shall descend/even so, it is well with my soul!" And yet, that's not something we're supposed to decide. It's our job to take care of our home and our fellow human beings, and the end times aren't really under our control.
I dunno. I'll do the things that make sense, like recycling and going for better fuel options (hey, anything cheaper than fossil fuels right now has GOT to be a bonus - I'm sick of paying $50 every time I have to fill up my car...). And I won't do the things that don't make sense, like buying carbon offsets or whatever they call 'em. They're like environmental indulgences. But I certainly don't find it the most important matter in my whole life, like this guy seems to do. I would much rather spend my time and effort in defending God's kingdom than making sure that the earth doesn't succumb to global warming.
So anyway, there's that. And then there's this whole seminary thing, on which I really need to get the ball rolling but dangit, I just don't wanna. BOO. I know I want to go to seminary, I just don't want to do all the crap that goes along with applying and starting the process. Same goes for finding a job, of course, after graduation. I would rather not jump through all the hoops, but there's no other way. I hate our society, and how you have to play the game and waste your time and make every little thing into such a big production before you can go ANYWHERE. Lamest system ever. God, thank you SO much for not having an application process. At least there's one thing in my life where I can say, "Hey, I want in on that!" and the administration says "Wonderful! Come on in, we'd be delighted to have you!" and that's that.
And, lastly, there's this guy, who makes me happy. He's not necessarily arguing things I haven't heard before, but it's nice to hear it laid out in such a rational manner. I'm really tempted to get a YouTube account just so I can comment on his videos and tell him how much I appreciate his videos. My favorite so far is this video, especially the end when he pulls out the Star Wars ref. His sense of humor is awesome. And he constantly tells us to go where the evidence points, which I appreciate.
-Jaya-
And then there's this guy. He's got a point, kind of a Pascal's wager sort of thing going on. But I don't know - Sarah mentioned that a lot of the things he predicts in the worst case scenario sound a lot like what you find in Revelations. Granted, he addresses the problem of "well it's just God's will and we can't do a thing about it" in one of his videos. His argument is that, if you noticed that the fish in a particular river were all dying and the water smelled funny, and you went upstream and found that it was some guy dumping toxic waste into the river that was a problem, you could get him to stop doing that and solve the problem. He proceeded to scale the argument up and finally asked where the line was drawn when you could say that it was God's problem, not ours, that something is happening on a global scale. He has a point, but my objection is not so much the defeatist objection of "well, it's God's will and therefore nothing we can do will stop it" and more of the "what IS God's will, and how can we be sure that what we do is fulfilling that?" As far as global warming - or climate change, as he calls it, to which I say "whatever" - is concerned, I don't know. It's pretty obvious that we're supposed to be stewards of the world in which we live. It is SO tempting to just say "If this is the end of the world, if this is (finally) the end that Revelations predicted, Come, Lord Jesus, come! Bring it on! Things have to get a whole lot worse before they get infinitely better, so bring on the bad stuff. Let's get it over with." Or like one of my favorite songs, "Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight/the clouds be rolled back like a scroll/the trump shall resound/and the Lord shall descend/even so, it is well with my soul!" And yet, that's not something we're supposed to decide. It's our job to take care of our home and our fellow human beings, and the end times aren't really under our control.
I dunno. I'll do the things that make sense, like recycling and going for better fuel options (hey, anything cheaper than fossil fuels right now has GOT to be a bonus - I'm sick of paying $50 every time I have to fill up my car...). And I won't do the things that don't make sense, like buying carbon offsets or whatever they call 'em. They're like environmental indulgences. But I certainly don't find it the most important matter in my whole life, like this guy seems to do. I would much rather spend my time and effort in defending God's kingdom than making sure that the earth doesn't succumb to global warming.
So anyway, there's that. And then there's this whole seminary thing, on which I really need to get the ball rolling but dangit, I just don't wanna. BOO. I know I want to go to seminary, I just don't want to do all the crap that goes along with applying and starting the process. Same goes for finding a job, of course, after graduation. I would rather not jump through all the hoops, but there's no other way. I hate our society, and how you have to play the game and waste your time and make every little thing into such a big production before you can go ANYWHERE. Lamest system ever. God, thank you SO much for not having an application process. At least there's one thing in my life where I can say, "Hey, I want in on that!" and the administration says "Wonderful! Come on in, we'd be delighted to have you!" and that's that.
And, lastly, there's this guy, who makes me happy. He's not necessarily arguing things I haven't heard before, but it's nice to hear it laid out in such a rational manner. I'm really tempted to get a YouTube account just so I can comment on his videos and tell him how much I appreciate his videos. My favorite so far is this video, especially the end when he pulls out the Star Wars ref. His sense of humor is awesome. And he constantly tells us to go where the evidence points, which I appreciate.
-Jaya-
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