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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | "...these necessary things: ..."??? | Rev 17:5 | Hank | 64562 | ||
Pastor Glenn, warm greetings, and may I butt in? Not that I have all the answers, but your question interests me, and being from Arkansas, when the subject of pigs comes up, I perk up my ears because I'm an avid Razorback fan and don't want the genetic scientists monkeying around with 'them hogs' as we fondly call them! ..... Back to the serious topic addressed by your question. Some questions are easy, some pointless and trivial, while others -- the best kind, the kind Socrates posed -- are designed to make us think. Yours falls in this latter category, for it is indeed an excellent one. The fear of the unknown is common to man, and even Christian believers are not immune to this fear; but believers have access to mighty resources that are denied unbelievers, chief among which are faith in the absolute sovereignty of God and prayer..... Each milestone of change has been accompanied by dire predictions that this or that new invention, discovery, theory or philosophy signaled the beginning of the end of life as we know it. When the automobile was invented there were naysayers who were convinced that the human body would never be able to withstand sustained travel at the reckless speed of 25 miles an hour. When Charles Darwin published his "Origin of Species" the talking heads of that day predicted the death of the Christian faith because the book, so they said, put to the lie the Genesis story of creation. In the wake of the discovery of atomic energy and the manufacture of nuclear weapons came those who saw this event as the prelude to the utter annihiliation of mankind..... But people travel far in excess of 25 miles an hour; Darwin's theory is now viewed as bunkum by vast numbers in the scientific community and it has not wiped out Christianity by any means; and nuclear weaponry, while still posing a serious threat, has not done away with life on this planet..... Genetic engineering, even human cloning, looms ever nearer on the horizon, and I believe it (parts of it at least; I would exclude human cloning) like nuclear energy, has at least an equal potential for good as for evil. While I would never promote the idea that the Christian should take the ostrich approach to human problems, hiding his head in the sand and hoping a weak hope that somehow the problem will either solve itself or go away, neither would I promote the idea that Christians must become activists to the extent of taking matters into their own hands. We must surrender first and foremost to the sovereign Lord. It is He, not we, who is in charge. We can be instruments for change in the world, but we must be His instruments. We must seek His will through much prayer.... We know not what the future holds for us on this earth -- whether cloning or wars, whether plagues of terrorism or pain of persecution, whether sickness or health, whether fortune or famine.... This much we do know: If God is for us, who is against us? Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. Nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord..... Not genetic engineering. Not cloning. Nothing. [Scriptural extracts from Romans 8] --Hank | ||||||
2 | "...these necessary things: ..."??? | Rev 17:5 | Pastor Glenn | 64596 | ||
Hank, Thanks for your well rounded response. You said, "Genetic engineering, even human cloning, looms ever nearer on the horizon, and I believe it (parts of it at least; I would exclude human cloning) like nuclear energy, has at least an equal potential for good as for evil. While I would never promote the idea that the Christian should take the ostrich approach to human problems, hiding his head in the sand and hoping a weak hope that somehow the problem will either solve itself or go away, neither would I promote the idea that Christians must become activists to the extent of taking matters into their own hands. We must surrender first and foremost to the sovereign Lord. It is He, not we, who is in charge. We can be instruments for change in the world, but we must be His instruments. We must seek His will through much prayer.." I agree that genetic engineering has potential for good, as well as, for evil. Human cloning is not really new; as it is already, it is called identical twins. Identical twins have the exact same DNA, but their fingerprints are always slightly different. The "Tower of Babel" mentality is what I think that offends God, in that it says proudly that "We will go to heaven, whether God wants us to or not!". To build a great tower was not the problem, it was the disregard for the one true God. It is this disregard for God that is more dangerous than the atomic bomb because it is like daring God to stop them. I believe that God brings special judgement against nations, not just "The great Tribulation", but judgements of the order of what Jonah preached to against Ninevah: Total distruction of their entire city! It is not so much the technology of man that bothers me, as I work in high technology as an Electronics Engineer, but it is God's judgement against sin. By the way, Romans 8 is also one of my favorite scriptures. God Bless, Pastor Glenn |
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