Eric Metaxas on the unlikelihood of our existence

_{Denyse O'Leary

December 9, 2014

Fine tuning, News}

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Further to: Anything to get rid of fine tuning:

“Reason and science compels us to see what previous generations could not: that our existence is an outrageous and astonishing miracle, one so startlingly and perhaps so disturbingly miraculous that it makes any miracle like the parting of the Red Sea pale in such insignificance that it almost becomes unworthy of our consideration, as though it were something done easily by a child, half-asleep. It is something to which the most truly human response is some combination of terror and wonder, of ancient awe, and childhood joy.” Eric Metaxas – Miracles – pages 55-56

See also:Copernicus, you are not going to believe who is using your name. Or how.

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Hat tip: Philip Cunningham

Comments

Seversky, "Are we supposed to believe that God looks more favorably on a fabulously wealthy Hollywood movie star than an 11-year-old girl dying from diabetes?" Hmmm, God seems to look as favorably on me as he does on fabulously wealthy Hollywood movie stars. I see miracles in my life quite frequently. That said, I am also diabetic. God has not chosen to heal me. Rather, he provided a medical system that is rather good at helping me manage the disease. There is a joke about a fellow who was stuck on the roof of his house as flood waters rose. He beseeched God to rescue him. As he was doing so, a canoe went by, the canoeist asked if he could rescue the guy. The guy said, "No, God will rescue me." A bit later a larger boat made a similar offer, with the same response. Finally a helicopter came by offering to rescue the fellow as he clung to the chimney because the rest of his roof was under water. His response was the same. The next thing the guy new he ended up in heaven. He asked the Lord why he didn't rescue him. The Lord said, "I sent a canoe, a boat and a helicopter. What more do you want?" You can find all sorts of other tragedies where God could have, but didn't, intervene. So God sometimes intervenes, and sometimes doesn't. I really don't know His logic. I am rather sure that his sense of tragedy and ours are two very different things. (Assuming the 11 year old ended in heaven, for instance, it does put a different complexion on the story.)Moose Dr_{December 9, 2014
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of note: Since atheists have no experimental evidence of unguided Darwinian processes producing even trivial levels of the unfathomed levels of integrated functional complexity/information being found in life, it might not surprise many to find out that one of the main arguments for Darwinism is the argument from evil and/or imperfection. In fact Darwin's Origin of Species, as well as current Darwinists, rely heavily on the Theologically based argument from evil. See Paul Nelson's recent article on ENV for a few details.,,, But what I would like to point out is that atheists presuppose that there is no purpose as to why God should allow suffering. But that belief is clearly false since even right here on earth, we often endure hardships so as to reap a reward later on. Thus, God could very well have very good reasons for allowing suffering in this world so as to bring about a greater good. Along that line, At around the 15:00 - 17:00 minute mark of the following video, Dr. Neal spoke about how she, when in the presense of God and being able to see things from that much higher perspective, finally understood why God allows evil in the world and how our limited perspective severely clouds our judgments and our reactions to those tragedies in our lives. (The take home message is to trust God no matter what) Dr. Mary Neal's Near-Death Experience - (Life review portion starts at the 13:00 minute mark) - video https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=as6yslz-RDw#t=787 Verse: Hebrews 12:2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. The Mission / How Great Thou Art - ThePianoGuys (Wonder of The World 2 of 7) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHV6BjuQOZQbornagain77_{December 9, 2014
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We don't claim to fully understand the mind of God. Our faith, indeed, our world, is full of mystery. Your is full of absolute knowledge, underpinned by a truly pathetically absolute ignorance. You are good for the menial works of science, but sterile when it comes to discovering new paradigms. If mankind had had to rely on you, atheist scientists, we would still be waiting for you to discover quantum mechanics! You are a disgrace to the modern world.Axel_{December 9, 2014
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Seversky, Metaxas's book deals with issues such as the one you bring up. I'm enjoying reading his book very much.,, For what it's worth, I recommend his book. http://ericmetaxas.com/books/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-hot_28OCkbornagain77_{December 9, 2014
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From the Guardian, 2 August 2009:
Girl died after father turned to prayer instead of doctors Dale Neumann, 47, convicted of reckless homicide in US over death of 11-year-old diabetic daughter A man in the US accused of killing his 11-year-old diabetic daughter by praying instead of seeking medical care has been found guilty of second-degree reckless homicide. Dale Neumann, 47, was convicted over the death of his daughter, Madeline, from undiagnosed diabetes. Prosecutors contended he should have rushed the girl to a hospital because she couldn't walk, talk, eat or drink. Instead, Madeline died on the floor of the family's rural home as people surrounded her and prayed. Someone called an ambulance when she stopped breathing.
Are we supposed to believe that God looks more favorably on a fabulously wealthy Hollywood movie star than an 11-year-old girl dying from diabetes? Do you understand how much stories like that trivialize the notion of the Christian God?Seversky_{December 9, 2014
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BA77, Thanks for the link. I added newsbusters.org to my favorites. Lets see of this event will, well, stick in Angelina's life. Don't worry about it having too much effect though. Things like that happen by random chance all the time, right?Moose Dr_{December 9, 2014
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As to miracles: Hollywood Conversion? Angelina Jolie Drops to Knees in Prayer on ‘Unbroken’ Set By Katie Yoder | December 9, 2014 Excerpt: Opening in theaters on Christmas, “Unbroken” tells the story of Olympic runner and World War II prisoner of war Louis Zamperini. His story – and Christian faith – inspired Jolie to kneel and “pray for a miracle” as she ran into problems directing the war drama. During a Dec. 5 press conference in New York, Zamperini's daughter Cynthia Garris told the story of Jolie’s turn to prayer. While Jolie directed filming in New South Wales, Australia, she encountered severe weather. Garris explained: She was not a person of faith and had never prayed before but she found herself at the very last scene of the movie ... they needed sunlight to shoot this very important scene and there had been a storm that had been going for a while. In response, Jolie begged God for help: [Angelina] said 'I don't know what I'm going to do so I'll do what Louie would do.' She got on her knees and she prayed for a miracle … everybody saw it … It stopped raining. The sun came out, a rainbow came out, she said, 'let's get this take' [and] they shot the take. When she said 'cut,' it started to rain again. http://newsbusters.org/blogs/katie-yoder/2014/12/09/hollywood-conversion-angelina-jolie-drops-knees-prayer-unbroken-setbornagain77_{December 9, 2014
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