Bricks and Stones: Science and the Bible

I listen to Glenn Beck largely because he talks about God without sounding like a lunatic (unlike me). One thing I’ve learned from his many radio programs that I’ve found really interesting is his interpretation of bricks and stones in the Bible. According to Mr. Beck, stones are representative of individuals and bricks are representative of conformity—usually enforced by a political leader like Pharoah or whoever. The story of the Tower of Babel is all about this distinction. The leader wants to change the people from stones into bricks and build a tower into the sky to become like God. Basically, the leader wants the people to conform like bricks, to be yoked by his power, and sacrifice their individuality to serve him (for the record, I never would have understood that unless someone explained it to me). According to the Bible, God in His mercy, came down and confused the languages of the people, thus restoring individuality and bringing an end to the project.

Recently, a man was arrested for killing his wife after he took cough medicine (admittedly too much). The full story is here: http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/07/health/nc-murder-cough-medicine/index.html . It is a tragic story no matter how it resolves because a young woman lost her life. And, maybe, out of respect for the tragedy, I shouldn’t comment on it. But I want to make a point that needs to be made for the sake of the young man who, when he woke up, did the right thing and reported the event to the police. I want to note that the company that made the cough syrup said, “There is no evidence to suggest that Coricidin is associated with violent behavior.” I don’t want to imply that the company is “responsible” for the woman’s death, but it is still possible that the Coricidin is the “cause.”

I’ve never studied statistics and I’m not an expert in science (which means I will probably be ignored), but I think it is clear to me that science, when it is studying human beings, treats us all like bricks. It has no other method available to it. It needs to treat us like bricks in order to generalize and draw conclusions. And to be honest, this is a powerful method for it to use and it has been enormously successful; but as a result of human individuality, some of the detail of being a rock may be missed in such a process.

In the above cough syrup example, it is possible that the man who killed his wife may have been the one individual out of the seven billion or so individuals on this planet who might react that way. If such is the case, where does that leave us? Was the man responsible for killing his wife? Well, not without having mitigating factors—although he did err in taking too much cough syrup. Was the company? I don’t think they are either; they had no way of knowing what might happen as the man’s reaction was basically an outlier. Who is responsible? Maybe neither one; not the man, nor the company. Maybe it is a tragedy that will simply remain unexplained.

Anyway, I hope the point I made is useful. Science studies people as bricks not as stones and we are really stones. As a result, it (science) may miss important information.

Book Review: The American Miracle by Michael Medved (3 ½ *’s)

This book, The American Miracle: Divine Providence in the Rise of the Republic by Michael Medved, is an interesting read. Basically, as the subtitle states, it tries to look back on the history of the Republic of the United States and tries to discern the hand of God working for our (the U.S.’s) benefit. Like I said, an interesting read.

Do I buy the premise that, like Israel before it, the United States is a nation chosen by God? Those familiar with my blog can probably predict some of my answer, but I’m not as definitive as such people might think. Perhaps it is a sign of progress on my part, but I am confused. I think it is equally possible that the United States was chosen by Satan masquerading as God. Of course, I’m probably the only person on the planet who believes that. And to be honest, I am willing to consider any of the three basic options: God, Satan, or nothing. However, for lack of space, I will limit my discussion here to the author’s assumption: that it was God.

Were there coincidences that were kind of “spooky” in American history? Yes. Just as an example, two of the Founders died on the same day on the fifty year anniversary of the founding: which, of course, defines the jubilee year, from the Bible. There are other coincidences discussed, like the consecutive misfiring of two guns meant to assassinate one of our presidents before he became president. And there were others. Mr. Medved does a much better job of describing the incidents, so I won’t dwell on them—especially since I finished the book over a week ago and have forgotten some of the critical details.

I’m not a history buff, so this book wasn’t a ‘comfortable’ read for me. But the writing was clear and concise, and relatively easy to follow. It was just of a genre outside my normal literary appetite.

Ultimately, I would recommend the book for anyone interested in trying to descry the Divine in history. From that perspective, it was a very interesting read. Having completed the book, I’m not sure I believe its premise (that whole ‘chosen nation’ thing seems a bit iffy to me), but, like I said, I’m never sure what to attribute to God, and what to attribute to Satan masquerading as God. But those are my issues.

Anyway, I’ll give the book three and a half stars out of five.