Religion, Science and Shakespeare

Posted on April 24, 2017 by A Bit Of Orange

I was thinking about the alleged fight between science and religion (or as it is presented to me on social media, the fight between Evolution and Christianity) and I realized that we all learned what we need to know about this issue in school. However, it was not in science class as you might expect, but in English class that the answers came. To understand the relationship between science and God, consider Shakespeare.

Shakespeare was the George Lucas of his day. He wrote a lot of popular entertainment (based heavily on pre-existing entertainment) in a wide variety of styles, many of which had people being killed via swordfight.

Let’s consider Halmet. The fountain of knowledge which is Wikipedia says this:

Hamlet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare … between 1599 and 1602. Set in the Kingdom of Denmark, the play dramatises the revenge Prince Hamlet is called to wreak upon his uncle, Claudius, by the ghost of Hamlet’s father, King Hamlet. Claudius had murdered his own brother and seized the throne, also marrying his deceased brother’s widow.

Just to be clear- William Shakespeare is not IN Hamlet. He wrote it. He is the author of the play. It is because of William’s will and pen that Prince Hamlet lives and moves and has his being. Shakespeare determined Hamlet’s appointed time in history and the boundaries of his story. In one poetic sense, Hamlet is Shakespeare’s offspring. He was made in the image of his author- a man with feelings and passions and a sense of justice.

What does all of this have to do with the conflict between God and science? It helps us define the terms of the conflict, and illuminates the actual matter.

Religion is the study of God- the author of life- the Shakespeare to our Hamlet. Science is the study of Hamlet and the world he inhabits. When Hamlet looks at his castle, or his family, or the horses and trees outside, he is doing science. When he considers the mind of Shakespeare, he is doing religion.

Religion is the study of what we can know about Shakespeare. Science is the study of what we can know about Hamlet. Atheism is when you realize Shakespeare is not one of the characters in Hamlet and therefore decide he didn’t exist.

And that is why there is no conflict between science and God. Without God, there would be no world to examine through science, just as without Shakespeare, there would be no Hamlet. And atheism once again fails the logic test by demanding that there is no Shakespeare, because-it asserts- a long, long story with LOTS of information can write itself. But science and common sense tell us that information, whether Hamlet of our DNA, needs an author. It cannot write itself.

Sorry Atheism, F-. See me after class.

For more from someone much smarter than I- check out CS Lewis on Finding God (Finding Shakespeare)

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The Image of God (Or, How Two Become One)

Posted on April 21, 2017 by A Bit Of Orange

Consider a few verses about God making the human race:

Genesis 1: 27 “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

Matthew 19:4&5 Jesus answered, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female’… and the two will become one flesh’?”

Genesis 5:1 (NIV) “When God created mankind, he made them in the likeness of God. 2 He created them male and female and blessed them. And he named them “Mankind” when they were created.”

The reference to being made in the image of God is always coupled with them being made male and female. I don’t think either was made in the image of God, but rather THEY were made in the image of God. This is why the two are meant to become one- we complete the image together.

Which is the image- the portrait or the profile? A front facing portrait and a side profile of the same person are very different. Think about this- if you were an alien life form from a distant world- say you were a plant- and you were given two pictures of the same person- one front facing and the other the profile- would you even know they were the same species?

One has two eyes, two ears, and a mouth and a nose in the middle of its face. The other has one eye, one ear, and a mouth and a nose on the side of its head.

Both together give a better sense of the real subject. Women are like men the way a portrait and a profile are alike. Neither gives a full impression of what the subject looks like. Together they give more of a full picture than either could alone.  This is why God made men and women very similar, and yet very different. Only together can we complete the picture. This is the foundation for marriage, and the equality of men and women.

#JesusLovesYou

Posted in The Creation SoapBox | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Does Adam Represent ALL Men? (Or, If Adam were Steve)

Posted on April 19, 2017 by A Bit Of Orange

Some people claim that Adam was a metaphor, because “Adam” just means “Man”. Thus, they argue, the Adam of Genesis isn’t intended to be a man, he is meant to represent all men, otherwise he would have a name like everyone else.

Is this a good critique? Nope.

God could call the first man Adam- or MAN- for the same reason those kids in the movie E.T. could call the alien “E.T.” Because when you have only one of something on the planet you don’t need to specify which one you’re talking about. God didn’t need to give Adam a different name anymore than those kids would’ve been all “We can’t just call him “E.T.”! How are we going to know which extraterrestrial we’re talking about? Let’s call him Steve. Steve is a pretty name…”

Had God called Adam “Steve,” then the human race would have been called “Steves,” or “Stevekind.” You name the collection that follows from the one which fathers them. This is why we have last names. At some point there was a first “Johnson,” who was the son of a man named John. We still do this today. Why would this make Adam mythological when the great-grandfather “John” of the Johnson family was a real man?

The reason we are all called “Mankind” and Adam was called simply “Man,” is because we are distinguishing our species. If he was Steve- we would all be “Stevekind”. Because he was Adam, we are Adamkind. Mankind. So when people try to argue that Genesis isn’t historical because Adam wasn’t Steve, you can know that they’ve failed to be down to earth and are really out of this world, if you catch my meaning.

#JesusLovesYou

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Noah’s Flood Assumes a Round Earth

Posted on April 17, 2017 by A Bit Of Orange

Genesis 7: 18 The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. 19 They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered. 20 The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than fifteen cubits.


The book of Genesis tells us that the flood of Noah’s day covered the entire earth, and the water rose above the highest mountain. Some people try to claim that the Bible teaches that the world is flat, but not only does it never say so, but it says much which disproves this theory. One such example is the flood.

A flood above the highest mountains can’t work on a flat earth. A global flood assumes a ball earth, because only on a globe can the waters continue to rise. If the earth were flat, the water could not rise above the highest mountains. The water would run over the edge of the disk before it could pile up a mile or more.

So this accusation that Genesis teaches a flat earth doesn’t hold any water.

Boom. That’s science, bro.

#JesusLovesYou

For more reasons why the Flood in Genesisis real history, check out our series on the flood.

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Radishes, Cats, and Human Suffering

Posted on April 14, 2017 by A Bit Of Orange

I have seen the light. Thanks to the many tireless commenters on social media, I have seen the error of my ways and I have begun to realize that the atheists are right. Morality doesn’t depend on God! We can figure out for ourselves what right and wrong are! We can create our own moral law using our reason and logic and science! And that is exactly what I am going to do.

First, I have been told over and over that human morality is based on empathy– the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. Once I began to understand this, the rest fell into place fairly quickly. I hate radishes. I think they taste awful. Whenever I eat them I experience great displeasure, and so I see that I need to protect others from this horrible experience. This is why I am banishing radishes. From now on, no one will be allowed to grow, sell, or buy radishes.

I also hate cats. I would not like to own a cat. I’m allergic, so beyond mere annoyance at their smug, holier than thou attitudes, I experience physical suffering in the presence of a cat. Thus, NO ONE should own cats, and they too are prohibited.
Continue reading →

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Objective Morals and the Speed Limit on the Moon

Posted on April 12, 2017 by A Bit Of Orange

One of the comments I see from atheists on social media all the time has to do with their views on morality. Christians who have studied some philosophy will tell them that, if God did not exist, then objective morals would not either. Since we all know there are real good and evil, then at some level we all acknowledge that God must exist.

Atheists will return with some annoyance, saying that they can determine right and wrong on their own without any god. Often they appeal to empathy. We don’t want to be killed, so we should not kill others. We don’t want to be robbed, so we should not rob others. In short, atheists reject Jesus and then appeal to the golden rule taught by Jesus.

Is that Irony?

I realized that the problem in this conversation has to do with the use of and misunderstanding of the word “morals.” We Christians tend to add the word “objective” to clarify the fact that they are real, outside of us and would continue to be true if no one on earth believed or obeyed them, just as laws of physics would be. If every person on earth rejected “though shall not steal” it would still be wrong to steal just as if everyone on earth rejected the law of gravity, they’d still fall if they jumped off of their roof in a cape and brightly colored underpants. Continue reading →

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Inwardly Fuel Efficient

Posted on April 10, 2017 by A Bit Of Orange

The library has parking spaces which are marked as being reserved for fuel efficient vehicles. The physical facts are that I drive an old, gas guzzling Buick, but I self identify as a person who drives a Tesla- a very classy electric car- and therefore I can park in the spots reserved for lower emitting and fuel-efficient vehicles.
The librarian got mad at me and told me I couldn’t park my car there. I told her she was being a close minded bigot. I reminded her that the make and model of the car can be fluid. My car is outwardly a gas guzzler, but inside it FEELS like an electric car.

She didn’t accept my explanation. She told me I couldn’t park there anymore. I was so upset that I ran into the women’s bathroom and cried. It just shows how all librarians are hateful and close minded.

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Fart, Sandwich, Fart

Posted on April 7, 2017 by A Bit Of Orange

I’ve had a few atheist on social media get angry at me for not taking their comments or questions more seriously. I have failed to reply in the manner they feel their comments deserve. But the reason many of them don’t get the reply they think they deserve is simple; many atheists’ comments and questions are couched in profanity and childish name calling. This is like someone offering you a sandwich but they won’t stop farting.

Continue reading →

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God and the Number Five

Posted on April 5, 2017 by A Bit Of Orange

When atheists ask a Christian “What would it take to convince you that God doesn’t exist?”, this is exactly the same as if we were to turn around and say “What would it take to convince you that the number five* doesn’t exist? What evidence or arguments would convince you that there is no number between four and six? What argument or evidence could persuade you that we have culturally inserted a fiction between the quantities of four and six just as we invented Santa Claus or flying unicorns?” santa on a unicorn_edited-1

Nothing? Nothing can convince you that there IS no number we call five? I knew it. You can’t be persuaded by reason or facts. You’re just a blind-faith fruit loop.

It is the same because we are asking what would it take to convince you that a necessary being doesn’t exist. There is no possible world where in the number five doesn’t exist. In no universe could you add four to one and get six. The number five HAS to exist. Similarly, God doesn’t just merely ALSO exist. God MUST exist. If God did not exist, nothing else would either. Accepting a universe without God is like accepting an ocean without water or Hamlet without Shakespeare. It is accepting that you could be persuaded by a clever argument that no argument is valid. It is giving a speech about your faith that words do not exist.

Not to get technical here, but it is “kookiedooks“.

Not only is the question absurd but it has nothing to do with the actual existence of God. This is a question about the psychology of the person being asked.  If it could be shown that convincing a Christian that God did not exist was impossible, or if it could be shown to be fairly easy, neither would say anything about the existence of God, but rather, would say something about the psychology of the person being asked. So, while an interesting question, the answer can never be used to defend atheism or attack theism. Food for thought.

#JesusLovesYou

Read our series on Proving God exits here: PROOF OF GOD

*to be clear, I am not referring to the word “five” or the symbol, “5”. I mean the quantity you get when you add one to four. Unless you went to a Chicago Public School, in which case I’m referring to the quantity you SHOULD have gotten when you added 1 to 4.

PS: I kid because I love.

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The Gospel- Part 5: Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Men

Posted on April 3, 2017 by A Bit Of Orange

The purpose of this series is to explain why I have been writing articles and making videos for almost ten years. I am trying to help people get free of the lies that stand between them and the Gospel. More specifically, I have spent this series explaining what the Gospel is, which should make it obvious why it is worth the effort to tear down the lies which keep people from the truth. The Gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ.

The bad news is, we are all sinners and we have earned death, but the good news, the Gospel, is the free gift of salvation through Jesus.

Romans 10: 9-13 says

“…if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Let that last verse sink in a little. EVERYONE who calls on the name of the Lord Jesus will be saved. John 3:16 says it this way:

 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

WHOEVER believes in him- whoever puts their trust in Jesus- will have eternal life.

Not, whoever is good more than bad and puts their trust in him. Not whoever is kinder and more generous than average. Not Whoever is more religious than their neighbor.

Not whoever believes and then does enough good for the rest of their lives or gives enough to the poor…

Just whoever. That’s you and me.

Being a Christian is described in a lot of ways in the bible. Jesus says you are born again and have eternal life. When you are born the first time, you are going to lose that life someday. When you are born of the spirit of God through Jesus, you are born into eternal life.

The New Testament says we are adopted into the family of God. Ephesians 1:5 says

“He predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.”

Galatians 4: 4-6 says

“God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, 5to redeem those under the Law, that we might receive our adoption as sons. 6And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”

Romans 8:15 says

“For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

A Christian is a child of God.

You may be asking, if the Bible says salvation is free- we can’t earn it and we can’t pay it back, then why do we need to do good? Why not just keep on sinning since it’s all getting paid for? The Bible sees this question coming and says this:

Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
–Romans 6:1-2

This is where the metaphor of marriage comes in handy.

The church is called the bride of Christ, and being a Christian is likened to being married.

When a husband does the dishes, it doesn’t earn his marriage. Or if he refuses to do the dishes, he isn’t less married than he was the day before. A man does the dishes for his wife because he loves her and wants to show his love by being helpful. Just as a man does good things for his wife to show his love because he is married to her, we do what is right to show our love for Jesus because he has saved us. We don’t do what is right to be saved, we do what is right because we have been saved.

We’ve been saved FROM sin, so why would we go back to it? That would be like being cured from a disease, and then going back to the pollution which made us sick in the first place. But even more so, we are saved from sin but also saved TO righteousness. We are saved from selfishness to love God and others. We are saved from greed to generosity.

In summary, the reason why I take the time to dismantle evolution, atheism and other lies is because they stand between people and Jesus, and Jesus is the only path to salvation. Without the gospel, people live and die in their sins. When they know and accept the gospel, they are given new life, cleaned of all of their sins, and adopted into the family of God.

So what are you waiting for? #JesusLovesYou

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