Is God Irrational?

"Come, let us reason together." Isaiah 1:18

God is very often counter-intuitive. He acts based on a much greater knowledge base than we do. But God is never irrational. He is the inventor of the physical laws on which all of our science is based. He is a God of order, rules, hierarchy, and reason. He is not the author of chaos and confusion.

Understanding that "equals" does not mean the same thing as "is," if God says a=b and b=c, then you can be certain that a=c. He does not reveal a truth in his written word and later flatly contradict that with a spiritual revelation.

I was told today that interpreting the Bible rationally instead of spiritually is the basis of heretical sects such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Mormons. That assertion is obviously false. The facts are exactly the opposite.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses didn’t come to their doctrines through a rational interpretation of the Bible. They were founded on prophetic revelations that were contradicted by the plain meaning of Scripture. Later, they had to change the Bible to justify their reasoning, rather than letting the Bible speak for itself. By the very plain testimony of Scripture, Russell and Rutherford were both false prophets.

The same is true of the Mormons. Joseph Smith didn’t acquire his doctrines through honest Bible study. They were given to him by looking into a hat with special goggles. If that’s relying on reason, then...well, I don’t even know what, because nothing in the universe can be known or understood.

The heart is deceitful above all things. If you ever receive a spiritual revelation that contradicts the written word, then you are hearing from demons or your own imagination. God cannot be discerned with reason, nor can all of his laws, but that which he has already told us can be relied on completely. God is not the author of lies or of confusion. He is a God of order and reason.

How Many Animals Did Moses Put on the Ark?

Maybe you've fell for this joke before. Now you'll have a know-it-all retort.

Zero is not the only correct answer. It depends on how you want to use the word "ark". Moses did oversee the construction of an ark, and there were at least the semblances of animals hammered into its cover. According to Ezekiel, cherubim have four faces, each resembling a different earthly creature: man, eagle, ox, and lion. The cover of the Ark of the Covenant held sculptures of two cherubim looking down at the Ark. So how many animals did Moses put on the Ark? Six. Two eagles, two oxen (or bulls), and two lions.

Nanny-State Busybodies

I’ve been reading Zig Ziglar’s autobiography this week. He was the tenth of a widow’s twelve children. His mother had no career, no job, no education, no welfare, but she still managed to feed and clothe and educate her children. She taught them to be hard-working, responsible people. She sold dairy products and home-grown produce. Her children worked at grocery stores, delivered newspapers, sold peanuts, and did other odd jobs to help.

She might not be able to do that today. She would probably have to move into a cinder-block cave (aka low-income housing project), get on the dole, let her kids run with gangs, and submit to periodic interference from social workers. All in the name of helping the poor, of course.

We have laws against self-reliance these days, against child labor, private enterprise, homeschooling, home maintenance, and just about everything else that allows the poor to live independent and responsible lives. Some of the worst things that have ever happened to this country were the New Deal, the War on Poverty, the War on Drugs, and all their relatives. Too many people think they have to solve every social problem there is, and they aren’t content just to lend a hand themselves. They have to start a government program, a tax, a bureaucracy, a task force, a committee.

I can’t even call these people well intentioned, because I don’t believe they are. They say they want to help the poor or the children or whomever, and they might even believe that, but what they really want is to help themselves. They want to feel as if they’ve done something without actually doing anything. If they really wanted to help the poor, they’d walk down the street and help some poor people, but they don’t want to get dirty. Instead, they extort (because that’s all government really does) from everyone else to pay for a scheme that delivers ten cents worth of services out of every dollar extracted. Then they pat themselves on the back for their bravery and compassion and wonder why crime, illiteracy, disease, and divorce rates go up.

Give us all a break. The next time you feel like helping, why don’t you go volunteer at the Rescue Mission, the Salvation Army, a church, hospital, or any number of other places where you will come face to face with the people who need you. Keep the government as far away from them as possible. If you can’t handle that, then mind your own business. You can’t save the world, so try not to ruin it for everyone else.