The Conceptual Nature of Salvation by the Cross

Salvation through Christ's death on the cross sounds wonderful. It sure beats fulfilling every OT commandment as a means to salvation. However, I am frequently mystified by the concept of being saved by Christ's death on the cross. It seems to be a conceptual reality similar to a thought experiment. One is basing an entire system of salvation and its related lifestyle and experience to an event that not one of us can empirically prove.

Additionally, it's odd, for want of a better word,  that the God who said thou shall not also died to solve the "problem " of his creatures violating the "thou shall nots". No wonder Paul says that to the Greeks the Gospel seemed like foolishness.
With science daily redefining what reality is or might be, thanks to the unfolding of String Theory, dark energy, the Multiverse and the hint of parallel worlds, all inferred by the mathematics itself, it sometimes befuddles the mind to speak of the historical act of redemption as the quintessential conceptual and theological Theory.
Nevertheless, for whatever psychological and philosophical comfort it provides, I cannot abandon my faith, however tenuous or conceptual it has become. I've seen the  practical and transformative value of  the Cross in my life and in that of  others.

Macrolife, Space Colonization & Adventist Futurism

Adventist Futurists and their supporters may soon be in a unique historical vantage point and, with planning, can continue to be at history's cutting edge for many years to come. Adventists are growing at a healthy rate and, within the foreseeable future, will be at a unique juncture in human history as a force to be reckoned with as trend setters. The following is one of the vehicles that Adventist Futurists can utilize to effectively shape history on a larger scale than they have previously impacted it.

First of all it's important to note that Macrolife is based on real science. Macrolife is the vision of Dandridge MacFarlan Cole who "saw the human race as being at a turning point, corresponding to the adolescence of an individual, in which humanity would either destroy itself or come to a collective state of maturity and relative stability." [1] Additionally, Cole "was known especially for promoting the idea of colonizing the asteroids, or 'planetoids' as he argued they should more properly be called. The planetoids could be hollowed out, or actually inflated to create a bubbleworld with habitable space on the inside. The resulting space arks could orbit within the solar system, or be sent out on interstellar expeditions." [2] For a significant update of Cole's prescient vision consult the link below titled Islands in Space: The Challenge of the Planetoids, the Pioneering Work of Dandridge M. Cole. [3]

Some may not see what Macrolife has to do with the gospel commission to preach the good news that Jesus Christ died, rose again, and is returning to rescue those he loves from a dying world. Traditionalists focus on Christ's immanent return which Adventists have been hoping for since 1844. If, and this is not meant disrespectfully, Christ does not return by 2044, the fact that 200 years will have elapsed since Adventists started looking for Christ's return should force another assessment as to his delay. If Christ's coming can be delayed 200 years, it is not inconceivable that it could also be delayed another 100 or 200 years. What am I getting at? Humanity is capable right now, on a limited scale, of beginning the move into other worlds. Humanity lives in space right now, on a limited scale, on the International Space station. With the proper resources and vision, it can be on its way to making Macrolife a reality by 2044.

Christians are very far geographically today from whence they originated. It would have been astounding for early Christians, who did not conceive of a round and far-flung world, to envision the full extent of the Earth and how far Christianity would travel in the next 2,000 years. Christianity has even transcended the Earth itself as there, no doubt, have been astronauts who believed, and continue to believe, in Christ Jesus as their savior. Who is to say that this Earth is the limit of where Christians and their supporters can live and still await Christ's return.

References:

1. "Extraterrestrial Colonies," Navigation, No. 7, Summer-Autumn 1960, p. 85.
2. Dandridge MacFarlan Cole
3. Islands in Space: The Challenge of the Planetoids, the Pioneering Work of Dandridge M. Cole

Related posts:

Noah's Interstellar Ark, Future Worlds, Creating an Ideal World, Christianity 3001 A.D. Adventist's New Horizons, Adventist Futurism

Creating an Ideal World: Adventist Futurism

What would an ideal world be like? How would you bring it about? Before anything can be achieved it has to be envisioned first.

Computers, spacecraft, the Internet--the list goes on and on--first had to be conceived before they could be invented and perfected. As unlikely as it seems, had Jules Verne never written From the Earth to the Moon (1865) which depicts a rocket launch from somewhere in Florida, no one would have gotten the idea to make that vision come to pass a hundred years later.

What is not being done now that could improve the world beyond recognition? There must be something that either has to be added or removed before a new reality could take place. We could wait for it to come into existence on its own. While not impossible, perhaps implementing a think tank of sorts to bring about an ideal reality might achieve more than simply waiting for something that may take millennia, or perhaps may never take place.

We should pool our best minds from every nation and work towards an approach to perfecting reality in as little time as possible.

I'm reminded of the vision of Isaac Asimov in his Foundation series (Foundation, Foundation and Empire, Second Foundation.) In order to avoid a long decay into barbarism, efforts were implemented to shorten the decay of the galactic empire to only 1,000 years. Why can't something similar be done to solve the major problems of our present reality?

What are some of the greatest challenges to an improved reality? Eliminating war, poverty and hunger are the first things that come to mind. Others might be providing education, medical care and a place to live to everyone on our planet. The third phase would be addressing environmental problems, managing natural phenomena such as hurricanes and earthquakes. Finally, the greatest gift we could give our world reality would be to take measures to move beyond our sometimes fragile planet and seed the known universe with our people, our technology and our dreams.

One possible approach might involve a little-known group of people. It's as if they had almost been kept a secret from the rest of the world for some grand vision of enhancing reality. Adventists are some of the most educated people in the world because they have higher education and progress as one of their cardinal principles. Adventists may very well be some of the most wealthy people in the world when you factor in of all their collective capital. Next to the Catholic church Adventism is the richest church in existence. This is not a widely-known reality. It would be easier for a future-oriented think tank to rise out of the Adventist Futurists than from any other traditional body.

Tap into the unknown power of your mind and literally create an ideal world.

We're here for a special God-given purpose: to better the world.

For a related post please consult Adventist Futurism.

Should You Believe in Evolution Against All Hope?

I've believed a bit in evolution through the years what with science being something I was taught to respect. I was smug in by belief until I realized that believing in evolution would mean that God uses death to accomplish ever-evolving life.

I guess I can't fully believe in six literal days of creation either although if God had wanted to he, no doubt, could very well have created our world in six days. He can certainly destroy it in less time if he wanted to.

So I don't know what to believe regarding how we all came to be, but I, nevertheless, hang onto my belief in God because it makes me a better person than a life without God. I don't know the mysteries of life and its beginnings, but somehow that's not so important to me.

I will continue searching for an answer, but will not despair if I never find one. I ask God to sustain me as I continue my search for an answer to this vexing question. Perhaps I'll find that the answer will be the simplest one of all.

Practical Evolution and a Benign God

Violence caused by animals to other animals, as well as their death, is necessary, as hard as it is to accept. Otherwise what would animals who are not vegetarians eat?

I'm still wrestling with the possibility of evolution being God's method of creating the world. I don't like the thought of death and violence being the vehicle by which God used to bring about the self-referential reality of homo sapiens. Nevertheless, the simplicity of the six day creation week, plus the Sabbath rest at the end, sometimes requires more faith than I have on a given day. The six day creation explanation, however, solves lots of problems, but I, at least, have to suspend some apparent evidences that perhaps life has been here for millennia, and, hopefully, will continue to be here for millennia, as well.

Minimal blog post: These are scraps of blogs that died before they could really live. Sometimes the title is the most significant aspect of the post. Other times, a lot is left to the reader's imagination. I include them as one would include unbaked loves of bread at the dinner table.

Genetic and Neuroscience Revolutions

The Neural Buddhists NYT by David Brooks, May 13, 2008:

In unexpected ways, science and mysticism are joining hands and reinforcing each other. That’s bound to lead to new movements that emphasize self-transcendence but put little stock in divine law or revelation. Orthodox believers are going to have to defend particular doctrines and particular biblical teachings. They’re going to have to defend the idea of a personal God, and explain why specific theologies are true guides for behavior day to day. I’m not qualified to take sides, believe me. I’m just trying to anticipate which way the debate is headed. We’re in the middle of a scientific revolution. It’s going to have big cultural effects.

He recommends reading the following: books by Andrew Newberg, Daniel J. Siegel, Michael S. Gazzaniga, Jonathan Haidt, Antonio Damasio and Marc D. Hauser

Traveling towards Orion's Belt

It's unsettling to see articles, which once were only Science Fiction dreams or nightmares at one time, appear in the science section of a major American newspaper.

To read what would have been considered Science Fiction even five years ago, and may still be considered such by most people. you can click on the A Survival Imperative for Space Colonization.