Was Satan Telling the Truth?

In the Old Testament book of Genesis the third chapter gives the events of the Devil (Satan, Lucifer, the Father of Lies so on and so forth) tempting our first mom, Eve. He is trying to get Eve to consume the one thing in a land of lush plenty which God told Eve and her husband, Adam, not to consume. Contrary to the bit in the movie Walk the Line by the character Jerry Lee Lewis, Adam and Eve could look and touch and think about touching this death-bringing fruit, but they were clearly and definitely not to eat it.

Satan tempted Eve with likeness: 'God knows that when you eat of [the fruit] your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.' The interesting part is when we turn all the way to the New Testament book of 1st John, the third chapter in verse 2 it reads, 'but we know that when [Jesus] appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.'

Satan's temptation of Eve with being like God was evil but in 1st John we are PROMISED to be like God. What is the deal? Was the Father of Lies saying a good thing for once? Is God changing his mind here--eh, maybe they will be like me? Is the Apostle John unfamiliar with the Old Testament? Does he not care about the Old Testament? What's going on?

Perhaps the point that slithers away from us in all this is that God told Adam and Eve not to eat of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. What is it that Adam and Eve lacked in their likeness of God? Were they unsatisfied or did they just want more? The couple, it seems, did not want to be merely human, but actually God. In 1st John the promise is for God to make us like Jesus. In Genesis humanity is abandoned for divinity; in 1st John humanity is completely fulfilled and echoes divinity; in Genesis disobedience brought shame and corruption; in 1st John perfect obedience in Jesus Christ brings redemption and perfection; in Genesis death is born; in 1st John death is forever dead because of Jesus' conquering of it.

In a way Satan was telling the truth in his temptation of Eve, but being the deceiver he is, it was a truth that was a lie: God gave Adam and Eve all he desired them to have and withheld all that they were unable to know. In god's image man was made and in his manor humanity is meant to live, but no where is the human race told to BE God. Man is to reflect God's image by mirroring God in ways, we are not to play or portray God by trying to be him.

The Resurrection and Nuclear Physics

N.T. Wright, is a pretty bright dude. Some people in the Evangelical word are suspicious of him for some of his Biblical views but who DOES have it all down and right? And besides, just because one thing, or even a few things, are off does not mean everything is; my favorite saying holds true: 'we must learn to chew the meat and throw away the bone.'

Well here is some meat. N.T. Wright, the Biblical scholar, is responding to some words that the nuclear physicist Stephen Hawking said about Heaven and Christianity. And be not afraid, though Wright may come across as rude or, more geographically appropriate cheeky, this is good, clear, helpful, appropriate tone for someone to take with the issue.

Read well. Enjoy.

Competing Sport: Can Sports Bring Peace?

The subject of world peace and setting aside differences seems more prevalent at the Olympic Games and similar events than any Miss (insert anything here) Competitions. One of the key focuses of the Games is solidarity—togetherness, unity. The idea being sports and competition can bring together otherwise distant countries and ways of thinking. Peace, world peace, at least for a few weeks.

The idea of setting aside of differences through sports is pervasive hope; the NBA sported Latino style jerseys during their season; today MLB clubs will be wearing Negro League Jerseys; then there are movies such as Remember the Titans—based on actual events—and myriads of others which hope to unveil that sports are the medicine for aching rivalries. We see in sports the similarities in one another; the desires of our enemy are found in us; sports unmask the façade we have been seeing and expose the humanity in the other . . . well, humans.

But then you have other worldwide competitions: FIFA World Cup of Soccer; World Cup of Rugby, Cricket, etcetera. These events are more of a containment of rivalry attitudes, long enough at least to crown a winner. The on the field controversies are apparent and sometimes volatile between countries that hate each other.

So is sporting the hope for the cause of world peace? Do sports derail persistent and consistent counter ideologies existing now for centuries? Sport itself, it seems, often fumigates peace.

I hope to play sports as long as I can. I think sports are fun and good and can teach a lot, but sports will never bring ultimate peace to humanity. As Rocky Balboa in the movie Rocky IV said after his bout with the Russian: ‘During this fight, I've seen a lot of changing, in the way you feel about me, and in the way I feel about you. In here, there were two guys killing each other, but I guess that's better than twenty million. I guess what I'm trying to say, is that if I can change, and you can change, everybody can change!’ Change we may, but not enough; never enough.

If we look to sports or literature or dialogue or anything for ultimate peace we will always be disappointed with the failing result. The Christian understands this deep issue of unceasing disaster and pain as sin; everyone is contaminated with it, this author, you the reader, the Pope and your grandma. Because of sin hatred, disdain, wars and hard times will always exist on this earth. But the Christian has a hope for ultimate peace and it is found in the person and work Jesus Christ. He is the one who died on behalf of all those who would follow and believe him. Our sin has not only damaging consequences now but has eternal consequences as well, but Jesus died in our place paying for the evil we let seep from us. Now while we seek for peace here on earth and desire to bring good to as many as possible the Christian knows that ultimate peace will never exist on this earth; but the hope of the Christian is that one day there will be a new earth which is void of all sin and therefore hatred and war and rivalry; this is only true because Jesus killed sin forever. The Christian is no great individual or group of people but the Christian follows one, the only one who will bring about true and lasting peace which will never be interrupted by spouts of selfishness, greed, or hate.