Creation in Seven Acts In my previous post “A Layman’s Interpretation of Genesis”, I made the point that the Days in Genesis 1 are defined, not by any physical entity, but by divine command. The Days, and time itself, are God’s creation. To give a further illustration, I’d liken the Creation account in Genesis 1 to a seven-act play, and the recurring phrase “there was evening and there was morning, […]
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Finding Adam: A Layman’s Interpretation of Genesis
Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” Genesis 3:9 Preface When I first read the Book of Genesis many years ago, I did it out of scientific curiosity. I was an atheist who believed all religions were superstitions. But, I was very curious why many otherwise highly intelligent human beings believed in the existence of God. So I attempted to examine faith on […]
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Creation: A Personal Perspective
When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him? Psalm 8:3-4 The Creation Debate All Christians believe that God designed and created the universe and all living things. However, there is a wide range of opinions on how the process unfolded, based on […]
Read more“The Cloud Of Unknowing” by Anonymous
Perspectives on the Contemplative Life It is written in the Talmud, “Whoever destroys a soul, it is considered as if he destroyed an entire world. And whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world.” Concerning the spirit, the only life that a man has the power to destroy or save is his own, then and only then is an entire world destroyed or saved […]
Read more“A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life” by William Law
William Law in this work reminds me of Leo Tolstoy in his late writings. Both of them write with a limpid style, both present moral arguments that are undeniably logical and rational, both make severe and incisive criticisms of Christendom, and not surprisingly, both were excommunicated. If a Christian reader tries to see things through Law’s eyes, he would find himself in a dream world, where people, himself included, live […]
Read moreInstitutes of the Christian Religion: The Origin and Purpose of Doctrine
There is an autobiographical story of how Lu Xun became a writer, which I read many years ago and cannot forget: Lu Xun studied medicine in Japan, and prepared to be a doctor, for he wanted to relieve human suffering. When he saw that patients who nearly died from opium overdose immediately went back to opium after their treatment, he decided to take up writing instead — realizing that healing must […]
Read moreInstitutes of the Christian Religion: Faith and Works
The End of Spiritual Man Aristotle writes that the end of man is to think and act. If a man doesn’t think or act, he is not actually living nor fulfilling his telos; If a newborn baby doesn’t eat, grow and play around, something is terribly wrong. From a Calvinist perspective, man in his fallen state is spiritually dead. It is impossible for him to seek God or do any […]
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