Faith Comes By Hearing

Romans 10:17 "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ."

Faith is sort of hard for me to describe as I don't really have a grasp on it. Even the explanations given by those I know who live most righteously fall short of a level of complete understandability. Still, I want more of it. To me, faith seems to be a sort of key to unlocking God's power within and through us. Or, maybe it's more like a tool that equips us for tasks that previously were impossible. I think it has something to do with the spiritual nature of mankind and our own God-given abilities to influence and control (See some of my earlier writing for a more complete description of what I mean).

The best description I've heard is this: the act of believing, having faith, is simply to sit back and rest on God. It's sort of like trust I think. And, I'm not talking about trust in the same way that you trust your neighbor, who is washing his car, to not spray you with the hose. I'm talking about the sort of trust you put in a parachute when base jumping. You might be able to make the slow climb to the bottom. Maybe not. But, at the top, it seems like a viable option. Still, there's more meaning in the jump. You fall. You pull the cord. Then, you have nothing to do but sit back and rest on your parachute.

I wish I had a way to explain faith that didn't rely on analogy or metaphor, but I don't yet.

I use such an extreme case as a parachute because, based on my experiences, it seems that faith is only called into question when a person wants or needs something that is outside of his or her immediate control. And, desires and needs don't just go away. There's a sort of immediacy to the human will that desperately demands an exhaustion of resources. People will do everything possible to ensure that the desired thing is acquired or action accomplished. In my own case, I have to admit that faith is one of the less frequently utilized resources. I'd like that to change; not just for me, but for everyone with a case similar to mine.

Romans 10: 17 says that faith comes by hearing the word of Christ. It struck me recently how largely unspoken my faith is. That needs to change. How can faith spread if I don't spread it? If I don't attribute those actions of mine that can be perceived as righteous to the glory of Jesus Christ, what is the difference between my actions and those of anyone else? If faith, if believing is the thing that sets me apart from those who aren't in love with Christ, then my hesitation to speak has made me a closet Christian. Well, everybody, tonight I'm coming out Christian. And, since the love of Christ isn't something that can be owned or otherwise privatized while retaining its meaning, I've got something to share. Be warned: the following may sound a little bit crazy to those whose experiences have differed from my own.

I love Jesus. I am totally dumbfounded, in awe at the mere thought of how great He is. I don't mean was. I mean is. Because, He's alive. About 2,000 years ago, He lived a perfect life. And, when I say perfect, I mean that not one of his friends could ever deny His perfection. Not even His mom could find fault with Him. That's amazing to me. I know for a fact that every one of my closest friends and most of my acquaintances would have little, if any, trouble pointing out how flawed my life has been. Jesus was perfect. As crazy as it sounds, I believe it fully. I believe it because I've experienced life in the presence of a loving God. The Holy Spirit has changed me into a man I couldn't have become if left to my own efforts. Every good thing inside of me, every kind word and tasteful joke, every merciful response and loving correction is because of Jesus. I'm totally and completely enthralled by His love for me. It rules my thoughts. He gives meaning to this vapor of a life I lead. I know that there's no way to repay Him for His sacrifice for me. All my shouting and clapping and jumping and singing and writing and thinking and speaking can never express how truly awesome He is. I could never adequately express just how He's changed my life into something worth living. Yet, there's a sort of victory in the futility of the expression. My God is infinitely great! He created life and defeated death. At His slightest mental twitch, He could decimate the entire universe with His awesome power. All of this, and still He loves me. And, I don't know why except that it is His way to love...

It occurs to me that disciples of Christ don't talk about Him enough. It's like a hidden agreement exists among us sometimes. "We all love Jesus, right? Okay, 'nuff said." But, that's the opposite of what it should be. Couples in love can't help but talk about their ever-so-significant other. So, why is the story different among Christians? It shouldn't be. We should be championing Jesus' name every chance we get. People need to know just how wonderful He is. This is me starting to do just that. I hope those who haven't will begin to do the same.

I didn't plan on writing all of this, but I guess there are some who do or soon will need to read [hear] it. And, when the Holy Spirit moves on me, I just start writing what is present on my thoughts and truth comes out. Praise God.

If you're feeling something unsettling inside of you, this was for you especially. Time to make changes. You're ready for them.

The Philosophy of Miracles and How It Relates to Jesus Christ

I had a new (to me) idea today while struggling with mentally digesting the PHL 301 lecture about freedom. I believe that Jesus used His entire brain. My thought requires some background information:

1. It is currently believed that humans do not use all of their brain. They use some X% where X < 100.
   
2. It is currently believed that the amount of brain a human can access directly relates to intelligence and any abilities requiring mental function.
   
3. Hume (and many of his readers) believed (/believe) that a cause is any 1st event which leads to an effect or 2nd event, the occurrence of which depends entirely on the 1st. Also, the energy of every natural cause dictates only one possible natural effect.  I paraphrase Hume's belief in this way: If a thing happens that doesn't follow our natural universal laws, then our natural universal laws are too general. They must be redefined in a more precise way such that the thing that happened follows from those laws.
4. 4. Miracles are events that do not follow current natural laws.
   

In the past, taking a "potion" or concoction of certain ingredients was thought to magically, miraculously lead to something else. In the case of that something else being a remedy to a known sickness, we now know that the potion ingestion did not cause a miracle. We understand the interactions of elements definded by their atomic structures (somewhat). And, through this understanding, we can now manufacture medicinal potions (solid, liquid, or gaseous) that naturally lead to cure.

So, the effect (the curing of a particular sickness) is understood to be caused by the administering of the specialized potion. We observe this remedy to happen regularly in the world, so we call this remedy the effect. Likewise, we believe that the administering of the medicinal potion is the cause. If, for a reason outside of our knowledge, the medicine didn't lead to remedy, we would say that the remedy based on the administering of this particular potion is not a law of nature. We would then, most likely, investigate the situation further in hopes of knowing all relevant aspects of the situation. If we knew all relevant aspects, we could eventually deduce what it was that stopped the potion from working or what it was the potion did if it didn't ever cause the remedy in the first place. Then, we'd revise our law based on our findings.

This is the scientific method. It operates under the premise that all events are caused. How does this all relate to Jesus?

The fact is clear that the physical body of Jesus is no longer testable for my hypothesis. So, until I ask Jesus in person or someone comes up with a provable explanation, it will remain hypothetical. Nevertheless, I believe the evidence (Biblical truth) suggests that Jesus used 100% of His brain.

I believe Jesus walked on water. I believe Jesus used 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes to feed 5000 men and many other women and children. I believe Jesus healed the sick, the maimed, the handicapped, the ill. Based on my current understanding of the interactions of atoms and natural laws, I'll try to explain what would be required to happen in any of the given situations.

For Jesus to walk on water, He would have had to have some amount of control over the positioning of the water molecules. I think that he excited the H2O in such a way that some area under each of his feet became less dense (more buoyant) and more solid. It would be like Him stepping on very carefully formed pieces of ice (or some mixture of ice and slush and liquid water) that would support His weight. I don't know which of many possible shapes of ice/slush/liquid he used, but I'm pretty sure no current technology allows their replication. So, that doesn't really matter. What does matter is Jesus' ability to initially fathom what shape would be condusive to walking on without sinking, then his ability to excite the atoms themselves, then his ability to control exactly how each atom was excited.

It is currently believed that atoms are excited into "energy states" and that the excitement can be achived using electricity. Example: solid water (ice) can be turned into liquid water by exciting the atoms with heat. The heat is generated with electricity.

It is also currently believed that muscle movements are caused by the excitement of the atoms in our muscles. That excitement is caused by the reception of electrical impulses which usually come from the brain. How exactly do we cause the brain to excite or "flex" a certain muscle? We just do it. We learn how in some currently indefinable way, then we remember what it felt like, then we just do it. By drawing on our memory, we are able to control the movements. Athletes are those who are more apt to physical control. Usually, the control has developed from practice. It is currently believed that practice of a certain movement tends to cement the memory of that movement in our mind by creating a neural pathway and thereby allowing access to more of the brain.

Based on these beliefs, it is my current belief that access to 100% of the brain would lead to perfect muscle control. What occurred to me is the possibility of the universe acting like a muscle to a person with total neural mastery. Is it possible that access to 100% of the brain would lead to a perception to that effect? No one can say for sure because no one with 100% access currently exists in a scientifically testable state.

However, I believe that Jesus had total neural mastery, and for Jesus to perform any of the many miracles He performed, He merely had to "flex" the universe in His immediate vicinity.

He flexes the water, and it supports Him much like our flexing our legs causes us to be supported.
He flexes the atoms near the loaves and fish. Then, when he breaks the loaves, the atoms nearby rearrange themselves into the elemental structure of bread. The same happens when he breaks the fish. He could do this without creating matter. ( Maybe he created matter to do it, but since matter creation hasn't happened enough in an observable environment to be the effect of a cause, I have no idea how it would work.)
He flexes the atoms in the bodies of the sick and causes them to reallign into healthy arrangements or change form into healthy types.

If Jesus thought of the universe as entirely in His control, if Jesus knew that He could merely flex the world to cause "miracles" to happen, then He'd have no problem telling His disciples that they are capable of and will do greater works than He. It makes sense. Jesus stayed on earth for a short time; His disciples have been around ever since and for much longer. He'd have no problem telling a mountain to move knowing that it could be flexed into movement. He'd have no problem telling a fig tree to produce no more fruit knowing that its cellular structure could be flexed into a position to accomidate that wish.

So, why didn't Jesus heal everyone everywhere if all He had to do was flex? I think that's where faith comes into play.

Not much is known about faith. I mean, I know much more about how oranges come into existance than I do about how faith does. Orange seeds are planted, then watered and sunned. Sooner or later, an orange tree sprouts. It continues to grow by drinking the water and eating the sunlight until it can produce oranges. I pretty sure there's no such thing as a physical "faith seed" that would grow into a "faith tree" to produce faith. I haven't experienced much growing of faith other than first hand. And, my faith is limited. Therefore, my knowledge is also limited. However, I believe that "Faith comes through hearing and hearing through the Word of God" (Romans 10:17). I don't know how it comes through hearing. But, I have a theory.

It is currently believed that paralysis of a muscle is caused by the lack of neural connections from the brain to the paralyzed muscular region. Nerves act as a sort of "influence determiner". Without the necessarry alignment of nerves, the muscle doesn't flex. The muscle can't flex. However, with the necessarry alignment, the nerves do flex. The nerves, in this sense, determine whether or not the muscle is flexible.

I think that faith is a collection of spiritual nerves. It doesn't seem like too grand a mental leap to assert either.

Example: If, during a trust-testing game, a person closes her eyes and, unsure of the outcome, drops off a presipice into the possibly outstretched arms of her peers, she is said to have "a lot of nerve" or "guts". Or, she is said to have taken "a leap/step of faith".

I believe that faith brings into the realm of possibility certain "currently unimmaginable acts" or "miracles". Believing this, I must claim the following: Faith is the determining factor in Jesus' ability to influence the universe.

If this were true, it would make sense that Peter could walk on the water only while he maintained his faith in Jesus' ability to support him. While he believed, Jesus' influence extended through Peter and to the water underneath his feet. When he doubted, his faith was limited. Because of which, Jesus' ability to manipulate (flex) the atoms near Peter was diminished. Parts of the structure of water failed, so Peter started slipping under the waves. Jesus would know that Peter doubted. Had Peter not doubted, Jesus' water structure would not have failed.

If this were true, it would make sense for Jesus to say "Your faith has made you whole." (Mark 5:34). For, Jesus wanted to heal, but the existence of free will (and causally faith) makes "supernatural healing" or "miracles" impossible when faith is absent. The only determining factor in healing would then be faith which would create the "spiritual nerve" connection to enable flexing.

If this were true, it would make sense that "It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9) We wouldn't be doing the flexing of soul. We just allow it to be done. When we have that faith, we create a connection for Christ to use. We give Jesus influence over the soul. And, He is then able to change it, able to flex it, into an acceptable state.

If this were true, it would make sense for Jesus to say "You of little faith" (Matt. 8:26) to the disciples scared of a storm. Jesus had the faith to flex the winds and waves. And, though it would require some effort that would, presumabley, eventually lead to the exhaustion of One Who Is Wholly God and Wholly Man, it would never be too great of an effort as to be impossible. It would merely require faith.

If this were true, it would make sense that Jesus (whose faith was ultimate) could survive for 40 days without eating food. He could just flex His body to survive off the atoms in the immediate vicinity without requiring nutrition through digestion. Although, it would also seem that such a great feat of mind would not be desireable while bread is present. So, He would most likely prefer to eat and would take pleasure in the easyness of it... which He did.

I am led to believe that this idea of faith is true and that Jesus Christ really did have and does have influence over those areas where faith is present. And, my belief and my faith are strengthened by the first-hand witnessing of supernatural healing. I know the man who touched those who were healed. I know that he was a man of great faith. He didn't know how to arrange the atoms so that the body they inhabited would be healthy again. He didn't do the flexing. He acted as a conduit for Jesus' influence. Jesus did the flexing. He was just a vessel of sorts.

Because of these beliefs that I now hold, I am forced to redefine my idea of natural law. I no longer believe that these things can be called miracles. They are absolutely amazing to witness or even just think about. But, I don't call them miracles in the sense that I once did. They are mere instances of an Absolute Capability being exercised through a faith conduit. And, this line of thought seems to be true, in line with all beliefs I currently hold as truths, and in line with the Holy Spirit. So, I will believe it is truth and live as though I do believe it. Hopefully, my faith will develop to a place where I can do "greater acts than these" (the ones Jesus did).