The Proof of Christianity

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*this is actually done for an apologetic class I am taking, but it’s something that’s been lingering on my mind lately. If there is any interest in this I’ll write more later. yes, some gardening stuff coming soon – after finals are done next week!*

There is a trend of militant atheism going on.  You could almost call those involved in this trend, evangelical atheists (ok, not really).  They believe their worldview is the only way.  All others are wrong. Wrong not just in the facts but morally wrong and therefore, must be eradicated. Their good news is that there is no God. The truth is found in rationality and rationality based solely things we can observe. They’ve thrown down the gauntlet, Christianity is on the defense. Christianity cannot be accepted unless it can pass the rigors of science and be proven. I do not want to argue strictly against evangelical atheism but I want to deal with the burden of proof for Christianity.

As a Christian, I would like to offer you the proof of Christianity.  However, I cannot do so. Christianity has never been proven. Yes, even before Freud and Darwin, Christianity has always been accepted by faith. In fact, one of the core beliefs (note the word belief) is that “without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”  This is the world of faith. Without it man cannot approach God. No one has seen God.

Now this is not to say that faith and reason exist in parallel universes that do not intersect, nor am I advocating that we should have faith without reason, and that people of faith should go without the use of logic. The universe we live in is either (by logic) one with God or one without God. Though I cannot prove God, I see evidences for God as revealed through the Bible. I see historical evidences of the Easter event.  Though I cannot prove to you that Jesus – God incarnate- died for my sins and rose from the grave, I can supply you with evidences to that fact. Though I cannot justify all the actions of the Israelites in the Old Testament, I can see clearly the evidences of sin in this world and acknowledge the need for forgiveness.  Though I cannot prove to you God by taking a picture I can show you evidences of God’s love and God’s beauty through creation.

The burden for Christianity is not to prove God; the burden for approaching God is through faith. If upon seeing the evidences we chose not to have faith, no proof would be sufficient. Jesus said in a parable, that if someone does not accept the Scriptures, they will not “be convinced even if someone should rise from the dead.” Now many will argue against Jesus saying that if I see the dead arise I will believe in God.  But is this the case? Jesus rose from the dead and many did not believe. Instead they argued he did not rise from the dead.

I know, I know. Don’t quit reading just yet. Most atheists will argue that Jesus could not have possibly risen from the dead and thus my example is invalid.  But I ask, on what grounds do they argue that Jesus did not rise from the ground?  Sure there are psychological arguments among others, but the root problem is that people simply do not rise from the dead. It goes against the laws of nature. Therefore, we must by reason find a way to explain this event without breaking the laws of nature. You see, the problem with the atheist is that he seeks not only reason, but he seeks reason apart from the supernatural.  The premise of his arguments is that there is no supernatural. His conclusion will reflect his premise.

Now, the Christian can be blamed for the same circular reasoning. We accept that the Bible is God’s word and Jesus rose from the dead. Therefore, we look at evidences and say the supernatural must have happened. God must have intervened in history. Therefore, Christianity is true- and any discrepancies between the way the world appears and the way the world is described in the Bible must be explained away either by a renewed understanding of the world or a renewed understanding of the bible. I guess most Christians including myself would also agree that we simply cannot reconcile everything because we don’t know enough.

In either case, my argument is that we can see this world through faith and come to know God. Or we can accept the premise (as atheist do) that there is no supernatural and explain away all possible evidence for God. Christianity is not against reason and logic, it accepts reason with the premise of faith. Atheists accept reason with the premise that there is no supernatural.

Hopefully, this has been helpful for you to think about the relationship between faith and reason. There is much more that can be said about which circular reasoning  makes more sense – the Christian’s premise of faith, or the atheist’s premise of anti-supernaturalism. Perhaps more on that at a later time. I think you know which side I would argue for though.

End of Year and Brussels Sprouts

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Yup, the end of the gardening season. Harvested Brussels sprouts Tue night (11/15) before the deep freeze. And now, ground is frozen and covered in sleet and snow. For some reason the sprouts didn’t form tight balls. perhaps they were planted too closely or topped off at the wrong time, but still works well as cabbage. actually, the sprouts had a rather sweet flavor, perhaps due to leaving it outside until it was so cold.

are those Bussels sprouts?

As the gardening year ended, we also released the sunny that was living in our rain barrel -too sad to see it freeze to death since it was learning tricks. Next year I have to find a dumber fish that I can’t train.

p.s. so as a result of picking at 10pm, missed some sprouts. went out this morning (thanksgiving day) picked the rest. apparently the over night low of 15 didn’t damage the leaves. good to know for next year. happy thanksgiving!

p.p.s. here is Tiff setting the sunny free! freedom

Late Harvest / Compost Bonus

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JJ posing with some recent harvest. the plants in which these gourds grew from our “compost bonuses” that sprouted after JJ was born. The Acorn Squash and the “Hu Gua ” grew randomly from the garden. My guess is that they are discarded seeds in the compost pile that survived. The sweet dumpling squash grew directly in the compost bin.

the Acorn and sweet dumpling squash are great baked and used in soup.

the Hu Gua can be stir fried, and used broths. in addition,I will – if time permits make dumpling filling with them also… yum..

Dried Tomatoes

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Ok, way too many tomatoes this year, and I think most of my friends are sick of eating them also. So, it’s time to dry and preserve some for the winter.

3 simple steps. Wash, Slice and Dry for ~ 24 hours. Yup, each tomato becomes something like 3-4 chips.

then put away.

Or alternatively soak in Olive oil with some garlic, basil and salt in a jar.

beet harvest

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First few beets harvested to thin out crop. When I planted these after 4th of July, I wasn’t sure if there was going to be any harvest, now we look pretty solid. If only the weather will hold up for another 20 days or so before heavy frost we will have some pretty good sized beet harvest.

Stringbean Dish

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Here is a dish my dad made with the all the string beans. Maybe recipe is not a good word if I’m not giving measurements of each ingredient. but here are the basic concepts behind the dish.

This dish consists of:

  • julienned string beans
  • flavored meat – this case leftover bratwurst
  • frying oil
  • garlic
  • salt

The flavored meat is stir fried first with the garlic so that the meat is cooked. in general flavored meat such as brawts and bacon do not overcook too much if kept moist. the can also be replaced with fried pickled vegetables.

The string beans are julienned so that it would be more “tender.” cutting them into small pieces against the length of the bean splits the long fibers. this is the same principle as cutting brisket against the grain so that it is not too chewy. The increased surface area also allows for even distribution of heat to break down some tough parts without overcooking the outside. One problem with over cooking the beans is that it becomes mushy. Another problem is that the color changes from a bright green to a grayish green. Nutritionally, if the color changes that much, you could expect that some of the nutrients are also breaking down. (I always imagine that it takes about as much heat to break down color as it does to break down vitamins in vegetables. hmm… yum… large organic unstable molecules.) Also remove the dish from heat after cooking to prevent overcooking.

Harvest on top of a Full Freezer

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After a week of fishing with the family, we got home to a nice vegetable harvest. here is a picture of a particularly nice day of fishing. multiply this by 6 days of fishing and you get an idea of how full the freezer is! and, no i don’t practice torture and release when fishing.

So getting home, time to harvest the beans and tomatoes. Good problem, what to do with more food than I can eat? can’t just blanch and freeze since freezer is full. canning is too much work. well, fresh tastes better anyways. solution? share.

Earlier in the year I was wondering if the pole beans will be ready before winter, now i worry no more. Yes, a recipe for the beans is coming soon.

and more than a few handfuls of tomatoes

and more tomatoes

In addition, the fall crop of raspberries are coming in. yummy.

Despite the large harvest of some crops, summer is winding down (school started yesterday) and the temperatures are dropping. Here are the plants that may not make it. It is not that these plants can’t grow in the short Minnesota summers but in the case of the fuzzy squash, beets and carrot, it is that I planted them late in the season as a second crop after the lettuce and peas died out. As for the case of the Brussels sprouts, well, I was lazy and I sowed them directly into the garden rather starting them indoors for transplant.

I don’t think the carrots will make it, but I’m optimistic about the squash. Worst case, the beets can be harvested as miniatures today. Brussels sprouts? not sure. perhaps I need to start removing the tops to encourage the sprouts to grow bigger.

Garlic Chive Buns – 韮菜盒 (Jiǔcài hé)

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Mom is here to help with the baby, and do some cooking! first meal, is the 韮菜盒 to take advantage of the garlic chives growing in the backyard.

skin:
flour
yeast
milk
salt

activate yeast in warm water and mix flour with milk to form dough, same consistency as dumpling – think of bread dough. (Pillsbury croissant rolls). Let rise for ~1 hour. I used a food processor to aid in the mixing.

Filling #1: Almost vegetarian
garlic chives
eggs
cellophane noodles (粉絲)
dried shrimp
salt, pepper, soy sauce, sesame oil

soak the cellophane noodles. chop garlic chives and noodles; scramble the eggs; mix all ingredients. season to taste.

Filling #2:meat
ground beef (I think pork is more traditional and lamb is better)
garlic chives
salt, pepper, soy sauce, sesame oil

soak the cellophane noodles. chop garlic chives and noodles; mix all ingredients. season to taste.

Assembly:

1. cut the dough into plum sized pieces.
2. roll into flat circle
3. add filling
4. pull sides in and close ( can wrap as dumplings or as buns for steaming)
5. place seam side down on oiled pan. mark bun with fork if desired to separate filling #1 and filling #2

Cooking:
1. turn to med heat with cover off brown the buns
2. add water to cover ~1/3 of bun
3. place lid over pot
4. let steam until cooked. the flour should rise a bit.
5. let steam out if any and let pan dry from heat
6. serve and eat!