The Bible: Commentary and Controversy

To be scrupulously exact, the second law of thermodynamics deals with an entire system, which is what we were considering in Part I. However, the law does not prohibit subsystems from progressing toward order without a systemic positive energy source; there can be specific directional forces within the system that facilitate or dictate orderly growth. For example: snowflakes with their six-sided crystalline symmetry are formed spontaneously from randomly moving water vapor molecules. Salts with precise planes of crystalline symmetry form spontaneously when water evaporates from a solution. Seeds sprout into flowering plants and eggs develop into chicks. This subset of the law would, of course, be embraced by proponents of evolution. It could also account for isolated people, places, civilizations, and other things progressing toward order within our system (the earth) since the beginning of time.

But because this is my study, I don’t have to stay on subject. So… Here’s the deal. Bill Maher and a few million other people don’t believe in God, or as far as I can tell, any god except money, sadism, irresponsibility, and hypocrisy. And some of them are pretty aggressive about it. My point is if you don’t believe in some higher power you can never exceed your own limits. Everyone develops expectations of themselves over time. Kay, my wife, believes she’s not good with numbers — had a terrible time with algebra in school. She can’t exceed that limitation. At least she can’t exceed that limitation without the belief that she can. And as far as I can tell she can’t develop that belief without first believing in something else. Maybe something as un-ephemeral as a math tutor.

So if Bill Maher, for instance, only believes in himself, then he can never be more than that — can never exceed his own expectations of himself. That seems to be quite adequate for Mr. Maher, but some of us would like to grow beyond our own self-set limits.

Come to think of it, that hypothesis has been proven countless times, at countless levels. When, for example, a charismatic leader pops up in a group, or state, or country, and his/her followers/constituents begin to believe they can accomplish things they had never thought possible. Probably this also ties into some/most people’s desire to be a part of something greater than themselves. If I am on a quest, say to rid congress of liars, cheats, thieves, rascals, lechers, wastrels, and narcissicists, can that quest make me greater than I am? Can it help me to exceed my own expectations of myself? Well, yeah. Because then that quest becomes our god, right? And sometimes someone believes in him/herself so strongly he/she thinks she has superpowers. And so believing, he/she outgrows his/her self.

Whether you believe the Bible is apocryphal or the immutable word of God, the message is still there. David and Goliath. Samson. Joshua. And all the others. Could they have generated their extra-human powers on their own? Maybe. Did they? Maybe. but God spoke to them — a God they believed in as naturally and fully as you or I might believe in our next-door neighbor. Except that He was God, of course. There was NO doubt. Of course that was true with religions throughout history — the Egyptians, the Romans, the Greeks, most of the tribal cultures. Did everyone believe in their God(s) like Joshua, and Moses, and David believed in theirs? Probably not. But I digress.

The Bible tells us there will be a second coming of Christ, at a time when we (the inhabitants of earth) have degenerated into complete and utter chaos. Well, yeah. That would be the right time to bring in another external positive source. After everything’s gone irretrievably to hell, so to speak. Do I believe that will happen? That’s irrelevant. The fact is, it did happen a little over 2,000 years ago, when things were in a pretty sorry state. The world was a lot smaller then, the Roman Empire was the capitol of the world, and the Romans are the ones who crucified him. So his life, persecution, and death brought a new sense of order into pretty much the entire world as it existed then. Or maybe you’re one of those people who don’t believe Christ was a real person. Or a myth built around a real person, like John Henry or Johnny Appleseed. The effect he obviously had on the world keeps me from believing that. Do I believe he was the son of God, sent by God to save us? I don’t think I want to get into that right now.

As far as I can tell, the facts are: 1) he existed, and 2) he changed the world by bringing a new, positive force into it. Now, by my computation, we’re rapidly degenerating into irretrievable chaos again. For the same reason Adam and Eve lost paradise and their immortality: by choosing not to believe in His divinity, by becoming, in effect, pragmatists, thereby turning off their external source of positive power. Can the world be saved again? Only if such a powerful presence appears that it can’t be ignored. Like the second coming. Or aliens landing. And to be honest, right now I believe one is as likely as the other.