HIS PEACE UPON US » Truth

Muslims and Christians Together on Stephen Hawking

Dustin — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 16:34:27 +0000

Stephen Hawking’s new book, The Grand Design, makes the claim that we don’t need God to create the universe. Hawking writes, “Because there is a law such as gravity, the Universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the Universe exists, why we exist.”

This is a great example of where Muslims and Christians come together in agreement. The universe has a Creator.

Usama Hasan has a Muslim response to Hawking. Here is a notable quote and his conclusion.

Hawking’s “spontaneous creation” is God-by-another-name: our atheist friends, like theists, have many names for God!

In conclusion, it should be remembered that Hawking is a brilliant scientist. Science does an excellent job of describing Nature, or as a theist would say, how God creates. But science can say nothing essential about why we are here and how we should live our lives: only true and balanced faith and religion can answer those questions, with Messengers of God to show us the Way.

James Anderson has a Christian response. Here area a couple notable quotes:

If Hawking thinks there is some law or principle that explains the very existence of the universe, he must have in mind a metaphysical law rather than a physical law. Unless I’m much mistaken, the law of gravity is a physical law. It appears that Hawking intends to leave behind physics (a subject on which he is eminently qualified to speak) and enter the realm of metaphysics (a subject on which he has no particular expertise, so far as I know).

In any case, it’s unclear how a multiverse explanation could provide a satisfying answer to the question at hand, namely, why our universe exists at all. If the existence of our universe is explained by the existence of the multiverse, the problem (once again) is only put back a step. Why then does the multiverse exist at all?

Filed under: Christians, God, Muslims, Truth

Peace-loving Truth

Dustin — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 10:31:03 +0000

Tim Tebow and his mom are doing a pro-life commercial that will be aired during the Super Bow. Apparently many pro-choice groups are upset about this and want CBS to refuse to air it. There is much that can be said about the contradiction of those who are for choice, but don’t want people to hear both sides of the argument (in order to make a choice!). Zach Nielsen had some really helpful thoughts regarding this and the wider issue of “tolerance”. He writes:

Just as an aside, would you please please please join me in advocating for the complete stoppage of all the “tolerance” talk. Tolerance is not the issue and it never has been. If anyone tells you to stop being “intolerant”, or that you should be more tolerant because of a view that you hold, just suggest something like this:

“Why are you asking me to be more tolerant? That in itself is not very tolerant. If you were really consistent in your view of tolerance you would accept ALL views, including mine, as valuable. But we both know that is impossible. No one wants to be “tolerant” of Hitler and his views on the Jews. So we both know that real tolerance is an impossibility.

Let’s just get down to what really is going on here. We both disagree about something. I think I am right, and you think you are right. Most likely, we both can’t be right. Do you think we can give reasons for or against our beliefs and not kill each other? I do. So why don’t we cease with all the “tolerance” talk that really doesn’t get either of us anywhere and give reasons for why we believe what we believe. That way, maybe we can find out what is really true. Peace-loving truth is what matters here much more than tolerance.”

Posted in Life, Truth

The Importance of Truth in Peace

Dustin — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 19:51:38 +0000

If you’ve read my about page you know that I enjoy U.S. presidential history. Currently I am reading An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963 by Robert Dallek. Most of you probably know that the Cuban missile crisis in October, 1962 was the closest the US and the USSR ever came to actually engaging in a nuclear war. And it was really close.

The lack of truth was in large part to blame for this crisis becoming as serious as it was. Chairman Khrushchev repeatedly insisted to President Kennedy that the weapons they were bringing to Cuba were solely for defensive purposes. Kennedy had seen the aerial photos and knew that this was a bold faced lie. At one point Andrey Gromyko, the Soviet foreign minister, met with President Kennedy in the Oval Office and also insisted that they were only defensive, all the while the photos (which Moscow didn’t know Kennedy had) were sitting in the president’s desk drawer. This made it more difficult for Kennedy to trust Khrushchev when he committed to dismantling the missile sites inside Cuba.

As I read this I was struck by how necessary truth is for peace. There can be no real peace that is built on lies. Khrushchev’s lies made it impossible for Kennedy to trust him at his word. This is a big deal when you are trying to avoid a war that would catastrophically destroy the world.

But it isn’t just in international crisis where truth is so important. It is essential in all relationships. What happens when a son repeatedly lies to his parents? What happens when a wife can no longer trust her husband? What kind of peace will they have in their relationship? Trust is essential for peace. Truth is essential for trust. If we want to be effective peacemakers we must first be truth tellers.

Jesus Christ is the ultimate peacemaker, for God calls him the Prince of Peace (see Isaiah 9:6). It is no wonder, then, that he says this about himself in the Injil, “I am the truth” (John 14:6).

Posted in Jesus Christ, Peace, Truth