Wednesday, April 5, 2017

The principle of analogy

Since nonbeing cannot produce being (5) only being can product being. But a contingent being cannot produce another contingent being (6). And a necessary being cannot produce another necessary being (8).
So only Necessary Being can cause or produce only a contingent being. For to "cause" or "produce" being means to bring something into being. Something that comes into being, has being. A cause cannot bring nonbeing into being, since being is not nonbeing (4). The fact that Being produces being implies that there is an analogy between the cause of being and the being it causes (8). But a contingent being is both similar and different from a Necessary Being. It is similar in that both have being. It is different in that one is necessary and the other is contingent. But whatever is both similar and different is analogous. Hence, there is an analogy between Necessary Being and the being it produces.
Two things, then, are entailed in the principle that Necessary Being causes being: First, the effect must resemble the cause, since, both are being. The cause of being cannot produce what it does not posses. Second, while the effect must it must also be different from it in its potentiality. For the cause, by its very nature, has no potential not to be. But the effect by its very nature has the potential not to be. Hence, a contingent being must be different from its Cause. Since, the Cause of contingent beings must be both like and different from its effect, it is only similar. Hence, there is an analogical likeness between the Cause of a contingent being and the contingent being it causes to exist.
Such a Being is appropriately called "God" in the theistic sense, because he possesses all the essential characteristics of a theistic God; therefore, the theistic God exists.

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ot7vyu0CPxA

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

The topic of Evolution, Part One

Evolution: all life on earth has come about through descent with modification from a single common ancestor (a hypothetical, primitive, single-called organism).

Evolution is generally assumed to happen as a natural consequence of natural selection. However, no direct observational evidence supports the concepts of a fish turning, however gradually, into an amphibian. Evolutionists will argue that there has simply not been enough time to observe such changes. Man has only been recording information that would be useful for a short period of time relative to the immense amounts of time required by evolutionary theory. This raises the question, "Is evolution a valid scientific idea since it cannot be observed in experiments and repeated to show that the conclusions are valid?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcCsMxuAZAE    

Monday, April 3, 2017

All good things begin here

All good things past, present, and to come, were and are founded upon the priestly office of Christ, and come to us from thence. Our High Priest entered into heaven once for all, and has obtained eternal redemption. The Holy Spirit further signified and showed that the Old Testament sacrifices only freed the outward man from ceremonial uncleanness, and fitted him for some outward privileges. What gave such power to the blood of Christ? It was Christ's offering himself without any sinful stain in his nature or life. This cleanses the most guilty conscience from dead, or deadly, works to serve the living God; from sinful works, such as pollute the soul, as dead bodies did the persons of the Jews who touched them; while the grace that seals pardon, new-creates the polluted soul. Nothing more destroys the faith of the gospel, than by any means to weaken the direct power of the blood of Christ. The depth of the mystery of the sacrifice of Christ, we cannot dive into, the height we cannot comprehend. We cannot search out the greatness of it, or the wisdom, the love, the grace that is in it. But in considering the sacrifice of Christ, faith finds life, food, and refreshment.

Hebrews 9:11-14

 11 But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. 12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. 13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Bw9SgXQFUE