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ezrasarm · 4 years

Note

Ezra and Cee end up living together because Ezra is totally a cool uncle/willing to train her in prospecting (less dangerous jobs only now that he has a psuedo daughter ans one arm). But he also encourages her to complete her studies. Enter a private tutor who is going to help Cee complete the equivalant of Space!A levels/GED. Ezra can't help but be smitten and won't stop interrupting the lessons. Cee is irritated at Ezra's brainu flirting, tutor is mostly oblivious until she isn't. 😉

Electrostatic Attraction

Pairing: Ezra x Reader

Word count: 2.5K

Warnings: 10 ply super soft fluff, chemistry both literally and figuratively, a lack of proofreading

A/N: Sorry it took me a bit to get this out! I had to dig back deep into the traumatic memories of studying for IB chemistry for this one. Also it’s been a while (and I sucked at it then) so don’t quote me on any of this stuff 😂.

“I didn’t know we were expecting company.” Ezra said, a charming grin gracing his lips as he appeared in the doorway with a hefty bag slung over his shoulder. He’d been away on a job for the past week. Nothing too complicated. Just enough to keep the two of them afloat while Cee was finishing up her studies.

“I thought you weren’t supposed to be back until Thursday.” Cee said, glancing up from her textbook only slightly surprised to see him so soon.

“Finished up early.” He said, allowing the bag to slide off his arm onto the floor as he made his way inside. “Nice to see you too, Kid.” Ezra prompted her only to get an eye roll in response. “You gonna introduce me to your friend here or am I gonna have to make our acquaintance myself?” He asked with a charismatic chuckle as he nodded over at you. He’d swear he was being discreet but Cee didn’t miss the way his eyes dragged over you where you were sat in the seat next to her. She’d never seen Ezra’s interest peaked like this so the shift in behaviour caught her a little off guard.

“Right...” Cee squinted at him skeptically for a moment before shaking off the initial shock. “Ezra, this is (Y/n), my tutor. (Y/n), this is Ezra, my...” Cee scrunched up her face a little to consider her words for a moment before shrugging. “I don’t know, he’s just Ezra.” She finally decided.

“Pleasure to meet you.” You said with a polite smile as you got up, extending your hand to shake before realizing his wasn’t there and quickly switching hands. This earned you a hearty laugh and a wide smile as he accepted the gesture.

“The pleasure is all mine.” He responded, shaking your hand for a tad longer than customary only for Cee to cough and give him a chiding glare from over your shoulder which told him it was time to let go. “Right, don’t let me distract you two.” He nodded curtly with a smile, his hand raised in mock surrender before disappearing into the galley.

“Sorry about him. He’s not usually like that.” Cee said as the two of you got settled again.

You weren’t quite sure what she meant by that but you shrugged the comment off with a “He seems nice.” Before nodding back at the past paper the two of you had been going through. “Where were we again?” You asked, still slightly flustered by the interaction. You could feel a flush had risen to your cheeks and you weren’t entirely sure why.

“sp3d hybridization.” She reminded you. There she was. Always on the ball. Why did she need you here again? You thought before snapping back into it.

“Right. So you know what I’m gonna ask you.” You said and she peered back at you expectantly. “Bond angles?” The blank expression on her face persisted and despite knowing she knew what you were talking about you folded. It was your job to solidify this information in her head after all. “Okay, so say we’ve got a substance like phosphorus pentachloride. So that’s a single phosphorus atom and five chlorines bonded with polar covalent bonds. And they’re polar because...” You prompt her.

“Chlorine has greater electronegativity than phosphorus.” She finishes for you and you give her a subtle high-five and an approving nod as you go on.

“Right, and each of those chlorine atoms have equal partial negative charges which makes them want to get as far away from each other as possible while still clinging to that phosphorus.” You explain and she nods as though that’s obvious. “So how are those five chlorines going to configure themselves around that phosphorus so that they are all equidistant from one another?” You ask and she squints at you for a moment as she tries to work it out. “Sketch it out.” You remind her, tapping the pad of paper in front of her already filled with scribbles of chemical formulae, Lewis structures and ball and stick models, knowing she works better when she can visualize what she’s talking about. Unbeknownst to either of you Ezra had since appeared in the doorway a fond smile toying at his features as he watched the two of you giggle over the way you tripped up saying “trigonal bipyramidal symmetry” and you challenging her to try saying it five times fast if she was so keen to make you laughing stock for it.

“Okay, you win.” Cee laughed, hands raised in surrender when she blundered her first attempt. Cee liked you, Ezra noted. He noticed the way that she actually acted a bit like a kid around you. She treated you like a friend, not a teacher and he wondered how you did it. He could see you had invested a genuine care and concern in your work which was a rarity nowadays, one which gently tugged at his heartstrings as he took the scene in.

“Alright, review time!” You declare as you notice the time. You always liked to round back to some basics when you finished up your sessions so that she left things on a high note and you really cemented those foundational concepts in place. “So hydrogen bonds.” You cue her and she sighs.

“Haven’t we gone over this five times today?” She asked.

“Then you should be five times better at explaining them than you were when we started.” You say and she gives you a challenging stare for a moment before she nods in defeat and rattles off an unsurprisingly accurate definition of the intermolecular force.

“And London dispersion forces?” You ask and she astounds you once again.

“Last but not least, dipole-dipole interactions- and if you don’t get this I’ve completely failed you as a tutor.” You say.

“The electrostatic attraction between the positive and negative ends of molecules with permanent dipole moments.” Ezra speaks up from the doorframe and you jump slightly at the sound of the baritone in the room before a smile sets on your face. He couldn’t seem to rip his gaze off of that upwards quirk to your lips. Even after such little interaction there was something about you that drew him to you like a magnet. You were smart and quick witted. He could tell that already from watching you bicker with Cee, not unlike he usually did himself. Not to mention you were devilishly good looking, especially in that sage green wrap dress you were wearing that hugged you in all the right places and showed off just the right amount of skin. Few people wore dresses anymore, at least not in his circles, and the custom was striking to him. It made him nostalgic and reminded him of home.

“That’s... correct.” You say after turning to face him fully. You hadn’t had the time to notice how good looking he was when you were first introduced but now that he’d changed from the bulky suit he was wearing when he first came in and he’d cleaned himself up a little, you could actually take in his ruggedly handsome features. Soft warm eyes, a patch of platinum blonde just at the cowlick where his hair parted, a prominent nose, a faint scar on his cheek and a smattering of facial hair across his jawline and upper lip. Maybe it was the laugh lines around his eyes or the seemingly constant perk to the corner of his mouth but something about his demeanour commanded you to be completely enraptured by him.

“Please, make no mind of me, I didn’t mean to interrupt.” And it’s only now that you realized you must have been staring at the poor man. Your face burns bright red with embarrassment as you try to collect your thoughts again.

“No, not at all! I uh- we were just wrapping up.” You stammer out as you begin collecting your things into a neat pile in front of you.

“Cee,” Ezra says and her head flicks up immediately from where it had been buried in her palms the moment he started speaking. “I was about to order takeout, have you got any preferences- say, (y/n) was it?” He asked, even though he knew quite well what your name was. It hadn’t stopped playing on his phonological loop since the moment he’d heard it. God, his voice- the way he said your name almost made you swoon as you went to nod. “You should join us.” He says simply and Cee’s eyes widen like a deer in headlights before she just about snaps her neck turning to look at you.

“Oh, I shouldn’t-“ You begin but he’s waving the the excuse out of your head before you can even come up with it.

“That is if a bewitching woman such as yourself doesn’t have any prior arrangements.” He suggests and Cee is just about ready to hurl her textbook at him if that will get him to shut up any faster. Have you mentioned that you’re blushing yet?

“No, no plans. I-“ You start to say before glancing over at Cee who has a look of controlled horror adorned on her face. ‘She’ll forgive me’ you think to yourself before speaking. “I’d love to.” You say. Ezras pre-existing smirk widens into a broad grin.

“Ezra, come help me find the menus!” Cee declares almost immediately, before leaping up and dragging him by the wrist into the kitchen leaving you slightly dumbfounded in your place.

“You can’t just invite her over for dinner, she has a life of her own-“ She manages to simultaneously whisper and shout once their out of earshot. “Why is your hair wet? Did you shower?” Cee asked bringing her hand up to jostle his mop of damp hair. “For her?!” She just about hissed, pointing back out in the direction of the living/dining area where you were sat.

“What? I just got in from a dig! You expect me to sit around in that filth all day?” He questioned, attempting to deflect her accusation.

“Normally you just pass out on the couch the minute you get in- Ugh, Ezra! My tutor? Really?!” She scolds him and his face softens before he speaks again.

“Just humour me. It’s been...” He pauses a moment as he considers the last time he’s felt this way about someone. “Too long.” He finally decides and Cee scrunches up her face.

“Ew!” She exclaims remembering the way his eyes had traced down your body when you first introduced yourself.

“Not like that!” He reprimanded her, giving her a light swat on the shoulder. “Although, that too.” He shrugs after second thought. This time Cee is the one to whack his arm with the rolled up stack of takeaway menus, but far harder than he had her. “Ow! You pack quite the punch there little bird!” He winces through a soft chuckle before his face falls again and they enter an undeclared staring match, Ezra straightening up and squinting at her slightly when he realizes he’s being challenged.

“Fine! But you have to quit it with the ‘bewitching woman’s and the poorly veiled chemistry innuendo.” She points a finger at him.

“Chemistry innuendo? I gave a definition!” He exclaimed defensively.

“Really Ezra? Electrostatic attraction?” She drawled out like he had. “You don’t think we already know perfectly well where you want to put your lone pair of electrons?” She retorted, eyebrows raised accusingly.

“I don’t sound like that- What does that even mean?!” He squeaks out before he shakes the thought away and refocuses. “Cee,” he sighs. “I do not supplicate much of you often...” he drags out, eyes pleading down at her, who has her arms crossed on her chest.

“Don’t fuck this up.” She says after far too long and Ezra doesn’t even care to correct her language. “I have to see that woman on a daily basis and I will not have you coming in and screwing up my chances of passing chemistry.” She says, waving the menus threateningly at him once again.

“You have my word.” He nods diligently, raising his hand to lay against his chest before Cee storms back out of the kitchen with almost the same intensity as when she entered and Ezra takes a moment to collect himself before following.

It didn’t take too long for the three of you to decide on your order. There wasn’t all that much variety to choose from on the station, no matter how large it boasted itself to be. Your order was ready in a manner of minutes and Cee practically sprinted to the door claiming she would pick it up to escape what she swore was the most embarrassing interaction of her life, watching the back and forth between you and Ezra like the worlds most awkward ping pong match. She was surprised you hadn’t run screaming from the room at Ezra’s completely unsubtle and unpracticed flirting and his off the cuff, frivolous compliments to you but the truth was, you found them extremely endearing. His entire face lit up with pride when you commented on the book collection you’d noticed last time you were here. When you pointed out a favourite or yours that you’d noticed the spine of which was almost completely worn down on his eyes just about bugged out of his head as he pulled it off the shelf to show you that almost every single page had been filled with scribbles and annotations he’d added in the many times he’d reread it. By the time Cee got back, the two of you had managed to inch closer together from the opposite ends of the couch you’d occupied earlier. You were both keeled over in fits of hysterical laughter at some story you were telling about a misunderstanding that occurred with a pupil and their father when you first started private tutoring sessions. You hadn’t even realized your hand had come to grasp his knee as you tried to steady yourself. Just looking at the two of you Cee could have sworn you’d known each other forever. Something about the scene in front of her seemed so natural as she tried to remember why she was so horrified by the idea of you getting along so well in the first place. When you could finally breathe well enough to acknowledge her she set the bag of takeout on the table in front of you before jerking her thumb over her shoulder.

“I uh-“ she gaped for a moment. “I just ran into a friend outside the uh... place. I was gonna go hang out with her for a bit- but you two should eat without me while it’s still hot.” She suggests before either of you can even protest.

“Sure thing.” Ezra nods, still beaming from his most recent laughing fit, he almost misses the wink Cee shoots him before bouncing out the door. ‘That little minx’ he thinks to himself as she disappears from sight leaving just the two of you and the makings of what you would later refer to as your first date.

Masterlist

Taglist (let me know if you’d like to be added)

@ezraslittleblondestreak @agirllovespasta @chaoticspaceidiot @engineeredfiction @pedropascalito @dreamgirl-67 @wickedfrsgrl @hillarymurray4 @din-damn-djarin

#ezra x reader #prospect #pedro pascal #fanfiction #oneshot #request #prospect 2018 #ezra prospect #ezra fanfiction

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sardonicnihilism · 3 years

Text

A Biography of the Woman Who Never Was

Part 5 The Older Woman

Chapter 5

The rest of 2018 and 2019 passed in fairly unremarkable fashion. The kids kept seeing the counselor, Jerry's behavior and grades improved until he was one of his grades top students. Tabatha, likewise, did extremely well academically. Jerry joined the school soccer team and took up violin, and Tabatha took up piano, guitar, and drums. While life continued with its normal ups and downs, it really did seem like the worst was behind them.

Even when 2020 hit like a meteor, it still didn't affect Shannon and her family that much. Both Sam and Shannon were deemed essential workers, and therefore kept their jobs. The schools shut down, but Shannon did home lessons over the summer and the kids did remote learning in the fall. Jerry struggled, having a hard time staying focused, but Tabatha did exceptionally well.

It was November when things started to go to Hell for them personally. Shannon started noticing a pain in her right chest and shoulder. It would constantly ache, and if she moved too fast, bolts of sharp, white hot pain would shoot through her body. At first she thought it was just muscle strain from lifting too much (she had gotten back into weight training to lose weight), but when she had taken a week off and there was no improvement, she knew she had to see a doctor.

Here appointment was in December, the week after Christmas. The doctor checked her out and then chewed her out. She was 47 years old and had never had a mammogram. Shannon reluctantly agreed to have one and her doctor made the appointment.

Shannon got her mammogram the second week of January at 8:50 AM. By 3:30 PM, she had three messages saying she should contact them immediately. Shannon had breast cancer. More than that, it had already spread to other parts of her body. After a consultation with the entire family, they decided on an aggressive treatment plan. Unfortunately, it was too late.

Shannon's health declined rapidly. Most of her hair fell out and she shrank from 252 pounds to 110. She was week and tired all the time. She mostly laid in bed, only getting up to use the bathroom; usually to vomit. It was decided that she would enter the hospital for her final days.

Sam would visit everyday. At first he brought the kids with him every time, then every other day, and then they would only come once a week on Sundays. By the end of April, it was clear it was only a matter of days.

Sam's last visit was on a Sunday. It was a perfect spring day. It was so warm and sunny that it made Sam angry. It seemed like a cosmic insult to everything he and Shannon were going through. However, he had managed to purge himself of his bitterness by the time he had gotten to Shannon's room.

She was staring out the window, a contemplative smile gracing her gaunt face. Her hands were folded in her lap and she looked almost transcendent.

"How's the most beautiful woman in the world doing today?" he asked with forced happiness as he entered her room.

Shannon turned to him and smiled as happy a smile as she could. "I don't know. I haven't seen her today," she joked back in her weak, hoarse voice.

Sam grabbed a chair and sat beside her. "How're you sweetie?" he asked with a hushed sadness.

"I'm ok. Best as possible I suppose. I was just thinking I beat mom by a month. She passed in April, I made it all the way to May. Of course she beats me on years though." Shannon's sense of gallows humor was not only still there, but had become stronger than ever.

"I tried to get the kids to come out, but they just couldn't," Sam said apologetically.

Shannon just waved her hand. "It's ok, my family never did do death well."

She turned back to the window and started talking as much to herself as to Sam. "I was going to ask you to make a recording of me saying my farewells to the kids, but then I thought if I really wanted this to be the last and forever image of me; a sad, shriveled up husk of a human being - an image of sadness and loss? That just seems too cruel. I'd rather be forgotten if that is the case."

"You'll never be forgotten," Sam tried to reassure her.

She turned back to him, smiling even more. "We're all forgotten eventually darling." She then reached out and took his hand. "It's been a life, hasn't it?"

"It sure has," he said, trying to smile, but tears were already starting to run down his cheek. "And I thank you for being the love of mine."

"As you are with mine," she said in a peaceful voice.

"No, you don't have to say that. You don't have to pretend." He shook his head as he spoke. He didn't want their potentially last moments to be filled with lies.

"Who's pretending?" Shannon said, sounding almost happy, like he had just told her a joke. "What? You think because I'm not romantically or sexualy attracted to you, that means you're not the love of my life? People put so much emphasis on romantic love. Darling, you were far more than a lover. Being a lover is easy. You were a friend." She then brought his hand to her mouth and kissed it.

Sam was now weeping heavily. "The first time I met you in the library, I knew I loved you," he choked out.

"When I was a little girl, I asked my grandfather why he kept the dogs outside. He said because animals don't belong in the house. That night, my biological mother, left me in her car while she went into the bar. I was alone, freezing. I wondered if maybe I was an animal and that's why I was being left alone.

"My entire life I felt alone, unloved, unlovable. I was angry and bitter and I hurt anyone or thing I could so they would feel what I felt. I caused so much pain.

"Then I met Jen and I thought I found love. I loved her and I thought she loved me, but she only loved what she thought I was. When I turned out not to be that, she turned her back on me and I went off the deep end.

"And then there was you. You made me laugh. I could talk to you about anything. I felt safe around you; not physically, but emotionally. I became a better person because of you.

"Even when I came out to you, you didn't turn me away, throw me out, which I would have understood if you did. You never stopped being my rock, my shoulder to cry on, the clown to make me laugh when I was crying. You never stopped being my friend."

"And I never will," Sam barely choked out.

"And that is why you're the love of my life."

Sam got up and they embraced. He gave her a kiss on the forehead and she gave him one the cheek. They spent the next five hours just reminiscening and joking.

"I better get going, I suppose," Sam said reluctantly. "I can't leave the kids alone all day, but I don't want to leave you alone either. Not to die at least."

"We all die alone honey, even if we're surrounded by people," she said with a smile. "Go. You're a father and your kids need you. I'm already dead. The only thing the dead need is rest. Just, just tell the kids I love them."

"Always," he said tearfully.

A couple hours after he left, she began to feel really tired, her fingers and toes started going numb. She knew the time had come.

She started thinking about tombstones. A name, a dash, and another date. Everything she was, everything she had been, reduced to a small line, carved in a stone that would survive long after she had been forgotten. It seemed unfair, cruel even.

She then thought about something else, something she had learned back in college. She thought about quantum entanglement, how two atoms can become entangled, linked forever across time and space, eternal mirrors to each other.

Her mind then darted to the concept of the multiverse. How there might be infinite universes out, each with their own version of her. What if two versions could be linked somehow? Entangled? What if her mirror was out there? Could she reach her? Could her mind link across dimensions to one of her other selves to share her story?

*Please, please, if can hear me, please tell my story. Please don't let me be forgotten!*, she thought over and over to herself, trying to reach out to anyone who might hear until her brain ceased to function and she passed away.

**************************************

Shannon Brown was born on November 22, 1975 to a single, alcoholic mother. He was taken in by his grandparents and his aunt Mary who raised him as her own. It is Mary who he considers to be his real mother. His biological mother, Kathy, would have two other children, a girl named Tracy (1977) and Paul Jr. (1979).

By about 4 or 5, Shannon knew that he wasn't a he, but a she, but having no language to express this, she kept this to herself. Shannon grew up alone, morbidly obese for most of her life, she never really had any friends and was constantly bullied and picked on. This made her angry and she would often act out in horrible and usually, self destructive ways.

She did manage to lose weight and was thin from 19 to 24. It was at this time she met her future wife, Samantha Hopwood online. Samantha, an Australian citizen, eventually moved to the United States and they got married in 2001. In 2009, their first child, Joshua was born.

It was after that, Shannon came out to Samantha as transgender. It caused a lot of pain and anger in their marriage, but they were able to work through some of it so that they had their second child, Tara, in 2011. In 2020, after years of being partially closeted, Shannon came out to everyone on Facebook (much to the horror of her wife).

It was about this time that Shannon discovered an app called FaceApp. It could change your photo to look like a child, old person, even the opposite physical gender. Shannon took a picture of herself, femininized it, and then took that new picture and reaged it from a little girl to an old woman. As Shannon stared at the pictures, she couldn't help but marvel over how real they looked! These looked like real pictures of an actual person.

"Who are you?" she said to herself. "Who are you, what is your story?" The more she stared at the pictures, the more she could almost hear this stranger call out, "Please, please, tell my story." It was then Shannon knew what she had to do. She opened her Tumblr app, hit the write symbol, and began-

A Biography of the Woman Who Never Was

Part 1: The Girl

Chapter 1

*This story is dedicated to the memory of H.P. Lovecraft; a horrible man, but great world builder. This wouldn't exist without him.*

#fiction #dark #drama #queer stories #slice of life #sad #fantasy #lovecraft

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roswelldetails · 4 years

Text

RNM 2x13 - Mr. Jones

EPISODE SUMMARY:

SEASON FINALE — Having realized that a deadly threat has infiltrated CrashCon, the busiest event of the year, Liz (Jeanine Mason) realizes that she can’t save everyone she loves — and with Max (Nathan Dean) facing immediate danger, she and Isobel must make a heart-wrenching choice. Meanwhile, Michael (Michael Vlamis) finds himself caught up in the conflict between Jesse (Trevor St. John) and Alex (Tyler Blackburn) once again, even as Maria’s (Heather Hemmens) life hangs in the balance elsewhere, and Kyle (Michael Trevino) faces a moral dilemma when the enemy requires medical attention. Jeffrey Hunt directed the episode written by Christopher Hollier & Carina Adly MacKenzie (#213). Original airdate 6/15/2020.

DETAILS:

The episode opens with Isobel trying to hold back the fire. They don't actually show Rosa convincing Liz to go stop the explosion. But she runs up to Isobel and explains her science:

"I have to activate the ingredients first, but once I introduce my solution to the system it should kill the cellular matrix."

Liz literally squirts the console with her "solution".

Rosa is doing CPR on Max and praying. Max wakes up just as Kyle runs up. Immediately Max directs Kyle to Flint instead of himself. It's interesting. When Max previously killed with his hand, in 1x06, he instantly knew that he killed the drifter. This time he wasn't sure (and he didn't. We eventually learn). Rosa and Kyle take Flint to the hospital.

Meanwhile Helena is saving Charlie's life.

"Jesse Manes was the only one supposed to get hurt."

Which is...not what happened. Jesse, Flint, Max, Maria...even Liz got hurt. She burned her hand on the console.

Maria is being rolled into the hospital. She got there really really fast. Cam is by her side.

Liz is still squirting her solution onto the console. It turns red. Liz asks Isobel to get people away but Isobel refuses to leave Liz alone.

Jesse, Greg, Michael, and Alex are still mid-standoff.

"Gregory, listen. You and I have had our differences in the past, but you should stand with me now."

"You're not well, Dad."

Jesse hits Gregory with the atomizer and appears to knock him out. He tries to shoot Michael, but Alex tackles him.

"Guerin, get the atomizer! Get it away from my brother!"

"Alex, I can't."

Jesse gets the upper hand in the fistfight with Alex and steals Alex's gun. Turns to shoot Michael again.

Liz makes more solution and squirts more of it on the console. This time it starts to crack. Isobel pulls Liz to safety and the console shrivels and dies.

The dying console just doesn't work as well in still form, so @maxortecho giffed it for me! Thank you!! 😘

Max runs up to them.

"You disabled it. You saved everyone."

"Is Flint dead? Did you kill him?"

He looks at Liz with some heavy heart eyes for her being the hero. She looks at him with fear.

Back to the Maneses and Michael. Jesse has a gun on Michael. Michael has the atomizer.

"Drop it, Guerin. Drop it!"

There's a gunshot. Jesse Manes falls and Michael has blood on his face. Gregory shot Jesse from behind.

"I should have defended you from him a long time ago."

"There are no more Manes men left."

Jesse dies.

Indeterminant time jump. Liz is late for work.

"Sorry, Javi. I just...I haven't really been sleeping."

"You've said that every day since CrashCon. You still having nightmares? …Did you read the papers this morning."

"Oh, I've kind of been trying to avoid the papers."

"Did you hear about that veteran who died at the carnival? They're going to have a parade, build a statue. Did you know he was disabled?"

Customers at the counter are discussing CrashCon:

"The CrashCon discourse is saying aliens invaded and killed the guy."

"That should be good for tourism."

"Newspaper said it was smoke inhalation though."

"He was making sure all the kids got out safely and the smoke overwhelmed him."

"We need more people like him."

Soooo much to unpack here. And most of it is addressed by Helena and Rosa's exchange at the end of the episode. But the big question to me is… who is spreading the rumors and covering this up? Is it Flint? Is he even well enough to take the lead on that? Is it someone else with Project Shepherd that we haven't met? The mayor? I mean, Jesse was shot! There was a lot of blood! Plus, remember what happened in 1x11 and 1x12: it's a small town. People notice gunshots.

Liz goes to take a table's order and, surprise! It's Diego. Who had gone back to Denver after CrashCon. He brought Dr. Margot Meyerson to Roswell to meet Liz.

Michael is visiting Maria at the hospital:

"What are you doing?"

"Oh they cut your bracelet off during surgery. How are you? You look better."

"Liz has been dropping by every day to inject me with witch serum."

"Ooh the synthetic nucleotide excision repair genomogenate? We're lucky you're only part alien, otherwise there wouldn't have been enough left of you for her to save."

"Listen, do you think you could use your telekinesis to open this box? Mimi left it when she visited. It's a family heirloom, but she forgot the key."

"Mimi hasn't exactly been leading you in the right direction lately. Her psychic visions led you toward a bomb instead of away from it. Seeing you like that -- all sick and pale and quiet -- I started praying."

Max and Isobel are at Max's house. Isobel is studying the photos of the console and alien symbols.

"I wish I understood why Louise and Nora would spend a year building an alien weapon of mass destruction."

"I don't think it was a bomb. I think it's a communication device. It's like a remote, you know, it just happens to be combustible."

"Are you mad at me, Max? Did I do something wrong? Is it that we're not related, or are you upset about the abortion? Because I…"

"Whoa, hey, God no."

"Because you're not talking to me."

"You're not the only one. I didn't want everyone to worry, you know, 'cause I've been taking some of Liz's antidote. And things are coming back to me. Little flashes, sort of, mostly. Like vague memories."

"Michael said that you kind of zoned out when you touched that alien bomb...remote thing. Did it trigger a memory?"

"When I touched the console, I heard whispers that I could almost understand. All right, it's like the same with those symbols. I mean it's like their meaning is just beyond reach. Except for one word. I took this from Graham Green's display at CrashCon. See that? It's an aerial photo of some crop circles from Roswell in 1948. This farm belonged to a guy called Jones. Pretty sure it says savior... This is my name. Maybe that means you and Michael's parents weren't the only ones that survived the crash. Right, maybe I had a family too. You know, maybe my mom was just across town."

"Max. I really wish that you could just focus on the present. You know, I mean, as a recently deceased man, I really feel like you should be enjoying the simple pleasures in life, you know, like reading nerdy books, the smell of leather, and that feeling when you wake up before your alarm and the person you love is still asleep and they're kind of snoring a little bit. It's like the best thing that ever happened to you. Stuff like that."

"I want all those things too. But I feel like if I only know half of myself, I'm only half living. And I know you understand that, Iz, because I've watched you this year become your entire self. And it is so beautiful. Okay, I am not at all mad at you. Are you kidding me? I am so proud of you. I am so proud that you're my sister."

Michael and Alex in the shed. For all that the shed is such a key location in this show's canon this is the first time we've seen it since 1x06.

"Maria made me bring food over. I gave it to Gregory. Seems to be holding up okay."

"Everything my family touches turns to crap. My dad used to talk about how my Grandpa Harlan built this she'd with his bare hands when he was, like, seventy. For a long time it was my safest space. And the one night my dad destroyed it."

"You're right. This place sucks."

Michael and Alex start destroying the shed. In the next scene Michael breaks a floorboard revealing a skeleton. The skeleton is wearing dog tags, so Alex grabs them. In his shirt pocket Michael spots and grabs the key to Maria's box. The tags say Eugene Manes III. So this is Tripp's body. Which confirms for Alex that his grandfather killed Tripp.

Max and Liz are walking in the plaza.

"I don't understand the violence, Max. Flint could have had brain damage given how long he wasn't breathing. You risked your life to hurt him and he had already thrown the weapon away, Max, so why? I can't get that image out of my head. You trying to kill Alex's brother."

"I know. I snapped. Last year Noah told me that we were energized by killing and not by healing. Even then I knew he was right. I… Obviously I can usually fight that, but I guess this time my better angels just didn't show up."

"We have to stop keeping secrets from each other, Max. There's a scientist in town. She's a supervisor at Genoryx. She has a job for me in California. She's offered to sponsor my dad's citizenship. And it could put me in a position to help Rosa too. I mean, I'd be able to do a lot of good with the grant money they're offering, and I know that all sounds too good to be true, but…"

"It sounds like someone finally realizes how valuable your mind is."

"I think that a change of scenery will be so good for us. I mean, we could get a place by the beach and you could write."

"You want me to come with you?"

"Of course I do."

"Well, I mean, I just told you I have this killer instinct, and you want me to come to California with you."

"We'll figure it out. Okay? We'll figure all of it out together. Run away with me, Max Evans?"

"Anywhere."

Max goes to see Cam at work. She picks on him for getting arrested and has his mugshot as her desktop background because friends!

Max asks about Charlie.

"Yeah she texted me from a burner phone that she was all right and then she vanished again."

Max tells her that he has a doctor's appointment and then asks her to do some undercover work for him.

Michael visiting Maria at the hospital.

"So Alex thinks Harlan found out that Tripp was an alien sympathizer all that time and he offed him."

"So Mimi must have known that you would find it. That's why she left the box. Look, I know you don't trust my mom's visions, but I was the only one who could grab that atomizer and run with it. If it had been you, you'd be dead."

Maria takes off the bracelet.

"What are you doing? Maria, that prevents brain damage."

"I'm only part alien, but it is a part of me. Even if it's dangerous I can't just turn off a piece of myself."

"So I'm supposed to sit around helpless as you fade away? Maria, I cannot watch you disappear. I love you."

"I love you too."

"So can we just let this go?"

"You have it wrong. Mimi hasn't disappeared. Yes she can be inconvenient, she can make people uncomfortable, but maybe she's supposed to be an uncomfortable inconvenience that saves lives. And now I need to be inconvenient, and I don't want to be someone that hurts you. I think that we should find out what's next, apart from each other."

"Wait, so you think that if we break up, I'm gonna be able to stop caring about you?"

"I learned so much, being with you. You sacrificed yourself without hesitation when Alex needed you."

"I would have done the same for you."

"I know. I don't doubt your capacity for love, 'cause you made me so happy this year. And I loved being someone that made you happy. I just think that we should leave it be, before I wonder if someone else could make you happier. Open the box, Guerin. Let's see what comes next.

Skip forward to the Crashdown where Michael has the box in a booth with Alex and Isobel. He opens the box and pulled out a journal, which they in turn read aloud.

I did a separate post on the journal's content and the Tripp and Nora flashbacks here:

Kyle visits Steph in the hospital

"What do you think will happen?"

"What do you mean?"

"When I die, idiot."

"You know, Socrates thought that death was a blessing, because only one of two things could happen. Either consciousness ceases, and it's like falling into a dreamless sleep. Or you go to where all who have died before you have gone. Your loved ones, people you admire. If you lived a good and just life, you will be surrounded by goodness and justice, in a place without fear. Sorry. I thought a lot about this when my dad passed, so I…"

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry that I'm putting you through this again."

"No...I want to be here."

Liz interrupts them. She clearly wasn't expecting Kyle to be there and comments on Max's appointment. Kyle gets up to leave.

Diego and Margot are talking in the Wild Pony:

"I was very impressed with her work when we first pursued her, but when I met her today, not so much."

"Why? 'Cause she had a little ketchup on her uniform?"

Undercover!Jenna staggers up to them and spills her drink on them, tells Margot that she's beautiful, and plants a listening device.

"Anyway I think we should move on."

"Okay, wait a sec. Liz has been working on something recently, but she signed this NDA. Although I guess she can't be blamed if we took a peek, you know? Without permission."

The line that will haunt me for the next year. Kyle to Max while showing him what appears to be chest X-rays.

"You know what I'm saying here, right Max?"

Cameron calls:

"You were right. It is too good to be true. Diego just told some woman he can get her access to Liz's lab. He must have followed her there."

"Well, there's a security system."

"The way he's talking, it sounded like Diego's pretty certain he can get access. They just left here, Evans. You need to tell Liz to get anything incriminating out of there - now."

Max arrives at the lab and immediately sees that the security system was manufactured by Genoryx. He uses his powers to break the system and get into the lab. He quickly searches through all of Liz's records and then pours what appears to be gas or lighter fluid or some other flammable substance all over the place and then uses his powers to set a fire.

He listens to the notes on Liz's recorder, which by the way has 22 minutes of recording on it. Some of what we hear:

This is my record of the dissection of specimen NB.

... immunoglobulin harvested from alien DNA can be transferred to a human recipient.

Commence dissection of the dorsal side of the spinal nerve.

I hypothesize that the female specimen's plasma…

Bracken's seminal cells indicate a pH level double that of a human counterpart.

I'm now extracting the grey matter to measure alien voxel signals.

Note that Max doesn't seem to have any chest pain this time when he uses his powers.

Right as Diego and Margot show up the lab explodes.

Max comes home to find Michael and Isobel waiting for him. He's clearly exhausted and upset after the lab.

"Can whatever this is wait until tomorrow?"

"Jones? That's the guy who grew the crop circles in the shape of my name."

"Nope. We spent the day reading Tripp Manes' journal. Caffeinate, Max... Okay, so, when I asked Sanders about this photo of Nora, he said he didn't know whose hand this was. He was all, Mr. Bernhardt, Mr. Jones, Old Man Gibbons. Could've been anybody."

"Ten points to Hufflepuff."

"So in October '48, Nora decided not to finish building the ship with Louise. She decided to go to the reservation with Tripp."

"But then little Walt convinced her to go to the fall festival, where after successfully avoiding him for a year, she finally ran into the alien stowaway who had crashed the ship. He'd been masquerading as a farmer."

"Mr. Jones."

"Tripp saw Jones approach Nora, and he recognized him from the night of the crash, but he didn't have a chance to ask Nora about it before Harlan called for a raid on the farm."

"Yeah. And after the massacre, Jones was never heard from again. Crop circles were all that was left."

"If you were in hiding, why would you grow corn in the shape of an alien symbol?"

"Maybe they just grew that way. It's the same way that this symbol just shows up everywhere, you know?"

Michael reveals his tattoo and it's the first time Max has seen it.

"Wait, when did..?"

"Oh, I got it when we weren't sure if you were coming back. It didn't feel like it was ever gonna be the same again."

"All right. There. Now can we all cowboy up and focus, please? Let's feel our feelings after we've solved the mystery of the unknown alien. After the raid on the farm, Nora was held by Project Shepherd."

Note...not actually accurate. Michael didn't get the tattoo until Max was out of surgery.

See Journal and Flashbacks post for the flashback.

Jenna and Charlie reunite. Relevant quote to remember:

Liz and Rosa find the destroyed lab. Liz sees the fractal burn that indicates that Max is the one that destroyed it.

"I fought so hard to become who I am, and I just trade her in every time I get scared? No. I don't want to be on the run anymore."

Back to Max's house:

"Whatever happened to that thing that she and Louise were building out in the desert? I mean, did she ever tell him where it was or what it was?"

"Nope. And when Tripp asked Louise about it, she was silent."

Liz walks in and interrupts.

"Why'd you do it, Max?"

They go into the bedroom to fight.

"I'd been asking you for weeks to clear out that lab, okay? I knew it wasn't safe."

"Alex installed a military-grade security system."

"A system designed by Genoryx, okay? Diego could have hacked it. He could already know everything."

"And his nefarious plan is to what? Set us up with a condo in L.A.? Give my family a second chance?"

"Okay, I have a family to protect too."

"Yes, and you could have stopped Diego without destroying a year of my work!"

"I had to act fast."

"So your first instinct was to go with the one method that would break my heart?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking about your heart when I'm staring at jars with Noah's liver and his brain. I mean, what else did you harvest from us, Liz?"

"Those are just cells. I wasn't hurting anyone. I don't know what you thought love was gonna be like when we were 17, but it isn't just sunsets and horseback rides."

"You can't put this all on me. Okay you were sneaking around behind my back…"

"I apologized. I stopped. Max, you died this year. I was all alone because of a choice that you made, but still every single thing I did was for you and about you and with you. So when you were back, when I could finally touch you. When I could finally breathe. I needed to take just one moment to remember where I end and where you begin. To just be whole in who I am. I am a scientist. I am fighting for something that is bigger than me. I am trying to leave this world a better place. And I am in love with you. And right now, I hate it."

Liz leaves and Max takes another dose of the antidote.

Time jump. No idea how long or what has happened in between. Liz and Rosa on the Crashdown roof saying goodbyes.

"Dad is checking your oil and making sure you have enough chile...also you left this in our room. Mom's been texting."

"Trying to come up with a better response than, go duck yourself… You should come with me. The Ortecho sisters take California."

"I wish. But I can't. I'm going back to rehab tonight. I want to see the program through. Sorry."

"Don't be. It's the best possible thing you could have said."

"You know… Max should be your road trip buddy. You love him. You're gonna forgive him. Besides, we both know if you try to leave town without him again, he's just gonna show up with some big, grand romantic gesture to stop you."

Open mic night at the Pony. Alex and Kyle have a drink together.

"So how does it feel to have your father's murder officially avenged?."

"Feels like my dad's still dead. Flint should be okay. He'll live to become the new Jesse Manes."

"No he won't. I'm not gonna let it happen."

"After everything you still believe in redemption?"

"Well, I have a pretty good example of it right in front of me."

Alex sings his song. Michael, Isobel, Greg, and Forrest are all there listening.

Flash to Kyle going to Steph's hospital room. The bed is empty...because she's up doing her makeup, her hands steady.

"Your hands are better. Did they give you morphine?"

"I woke up this morning feeling incredible. Look at my chart. My numbers are up. It's a miracle."

"Or just really good science."

Liz is preparing to leave, her suitcase beside her in the empty Crashdown as she stands at the juke box one last time. Kyle runs in.

"What you did was reckless. And dangerous. And unethical, Liz. Thank you."

Back at the Wild Pony, Michael watches Forrest listening to Alex sing. He turns to leave. Isobel tries to stop him.

"It's a sad story, me and Alex. I have to walk away so we can start a new one someday. It's not our time right now."

"But it will be."

"I think so."

Rosa walks up to a bar. She hesitates before going in, her hands shaking.

Liz buckles into her car, ready to leave. She looks in the rearview window and waits. She's clearly expecting Max to come. But he's at home studying his alien symbols. She gives in and pulls away, leaving Roswell. Her season ends with her looking out over the ocean.

Alex finishes his song and Greg and Forrest are still there and are proud of him.

"Well, damn. How do you feel?"

"Like I just sang a song about a guy in front of a bunch of cowboys, and...I don't care."

"Oh, lucky guy, with a song like that."

"Yeah it was a long time ago…can I?"

Alex and Forrest kiss.

Rosa walks into the bar. Helena is there.

"If you came to tell me what I did wrong, your sister already texted."

"Did you get what you wanted, Mom? Is your score finally settled?"

"No. I wanted everyone to see Jesse Manes humiliated and weak. I wanted him to die knowing shame. But the papers say it was a tragedy. People like him - bad white men - they die heroes, no matter what they've done. People like us - we die villains."

"Yeah I know. I've done it. But I also got a second chance. So I get to leave a different legacy. The last time that I saw you, I said that I hated you. That's not true. I love you, Mom."

"I love you too, mija."

"I also told you to leave and I was right about that. Liz was free and it should have stayed that way. Manes is gone. There is no revenge to be had. No closure and no redemption. Don't come back, mom. Don't bother Liz again. I really hope you get better. Maybe you can have a second chance too."

Another possible time jump. Michael and Isobel pull up to where Max is out in the desert.

"How'd you guys find me?"

"Freaky twin thing. What's going on?"

"I took more of the antidote. Sorry, I should have called you guys."

"Save it. We are sick of being pissed at you for being so obnoxiously yourself. Why you look so scared?"

Pod Squad is investigating a cave. There's a door or opening covered by alien text with the alien symbol on it. It sorta looks like there's something behind it.

"Um, well, when I touched the alien console at the fair, something happened. I heard whispers that I couldn't understand...until now. I think when I touched it I unlocked something... Like a cage? The whispers led me here. I know it sounds crazy, but would you guys help me find a tunnel?"

"It's sealed up."

"I feel like we should learn more before we just busy that door open."

"Yeah, you're probably right."

There's a knocking sound and a voice calls out.

"Help! Is someone there?"

"If Max unlocked something at CrashCon, whoever that is has been down here for days without…"

"I need water. Please."

"There has to be three."

Note that we now know which symbol represents each of them.

The door shatters and they all react (Isobel's face is priceless).

We flash back to the mysterious stowaway/alien hoodie dude/Jones. Louise fighting him. Now we can see that it's Max. Nora kneeling after the crash with the hand on her shoulder. It's Max's face. He attacks/burns the military men/Hector Valenti.

The stowaway/Jones looks exactly like Max. Only with a really bad beard.

"Howdy partner."

MUSIC:

1. Hootie & The Blowfish "Time"

2. Tyler Rich "Leave Her Wild"

3. Clay Rigdon "That Kinda Kiss"

4. Marc Danziesen "See Yourself"

5. Gloria Hart and Art Kassel "Frankie And Johnny"

6. The Score "Legend"

7. Sarah May Byrom "Rhythm Of A Memory"

8. Tyler Blackburn "Would You Come Home"

9. The Well Pennies "The Echo And The Shadow"

10. Valerie Broussard "Dark Side"

#roswell new mexico #rnm season 2 #details #episode details #long post #rnm 213 #mr. jones

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skystonedclouds · 5 years

Note

So, I usually find comfort in God but I have this recurring problem where when I think about Hell and the fact that God sends people there to be tortured eternally I start to get this nagging doubt in the back of my mind about whether or not He is truly good and I'm worried this means I'm not really saved and I'm a false convert. Do you have any advice for overcoming this? I just can't wrap my head around the idea that sending ppl to hell could ever be just rather than cruel. Is this just me?

Dear anon,

A) Cruel or just.

“I just can't wrap my head around the idea that sending ppl to hell could ever be just rather than cruel. Is this just me?”

A lot of people feel this way usually it’s the unconverted who do not see the magnitude of the evil sin. A person is usually saved (not always) when they notice they are a totally depraved sinner that cannot stop sinning without divine intervention. The name “Jesus” was attributed to Christ because He promised to save His people from their sins not just from hell. In this life the freedom from sin comes gradually through sanctification. In an instant of the twinkling of an eye the saved will be made with new bodies that cannot sin. Not being able to see the reason for hell simply comes down to not being able to see the magnitude of evil in sin.

1. Who do we sin against?

Is it worse to curse a bug or a human? Is it worse to hate bugs or people? Is it worse to kill a bug or a human. In one way the reason sin is so bad is because God’s worth is far above our worth. The angels are before Him saying “Holy, Holy, Holy” every day with their eyes covered unable to even look upon Him. We are made in the image of God while God is Himself the one we are created to look like. How about this... Is it worse to burn a picture of someone or to burn that person? Maybe if we had a better grasp of the infinite worth and honor due of God we would see the magnitude of our evil. The extend of evil can be measured by the worth of the victim (be it picture, plant, bug, human or God).

Psalm 51:4 I have sinned against you—only against you— and done what you consider evil. So you are right in judging me; you are justified in condemning me.

1 Samuel 2:25 If anyone sins against someone else, God can defend the one who is wrong; but who can defend someone who sins against the Lord?” But they would not listen to their father, for the Lord had decided to kill them.

The devil likes to blind us to the worth and beauty of God. This has been his ploy since he cannot kill God. Instead it’s easier to destroy people’s perception of Him.

2. Is the punishment disproportionate?

It is normal for us to think it too severe if we have a man-centered worldview. Hell tears this humanistic down to see we are not the most important. Many have fancies the idea of aliens and the idea that we are insignificant and meaningless atomic arrangement. That drops to the opposite extreme of the supremacist of man. We are not worthless nor we are not most important. We view sin from the horizontal plane instead of both the horizontal and the vertical. In the bible Joseph did not ask “how can do do this sin against this man by sleeping with his wife?” instead he asked “how can I do this sin before God”. David was not sad he killed a man but that he sinned before God. I previously explained the way we sin against God.

Hell wakes us up to the fact it’s not all about us. We have made God into some man-centered image. So many people want to see God as a genie to see what God can do for them. They think God to be their servant who must come at their beckoning to answer prayers, make them rich, make them successful or so on. Some people literally say “pray for me I don’t think I have gotten all the blessings I can”. The mindset of so many people is how God can serve them. This is how people come up with the prosperity gospel where they think God just wants them successful, famous, rich, wealthy and healthy. The doctrine of hell it comes to the conscious to remind us that we cannot manipulate or minimize this Holy God. We can look to God for provisions but it must be done to His glory not our own.

3. What is the extend of evil?

The problem of sin goes much deeper than one might initially assume. Right now God is by His common grace restraining some of the evil in every one of us. In hell the restraints come off and people are their maximal possible evil without a conscious to keep them in check. God gave us our conscious to put a limit on human evil but once judgment day comes and we are at no risk of harming anyone all the evil will be demonstrated. In hell everything suppressed by our conscious will be unleashed and we will demonstrate the full extent of evil in our hearts. So much is the evil in the hearts of men that most people would never shown their face again if their thought life was projected from everyone to see. The sheer fact that we sin and have to battle not to think or do worse evil gives us just a taste of the evil within our hearts (and that is still restrained). The conscious is a gift from God to minimize evil on earth. This sin in the heart will only grow and last forever in hell.

2 Thessalonians 2:7 The Mysterious Wickedness is already at work, but what is going to happen will not happen until the one who holds it back is taken out of the way.

Proverbs 20:27 The Lord gave us mind and conscience; we cannot hide from ourselves.

Titus 3:11 You know that such people are corrupt, and their sins prove that they are wrong.

4. The cross.

We cannot even begin to comprehend “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”. On the cross Christ bore the wrath of God the Father against sin. Christ wasn’t sweating drops of blood and feeling like He may die because of the roman cross. He was overwhelmed by the wrath of His own Father crushing Him. He still suffered it all on our behalf to offer salvation for anyone who will allow Him to take their place.

B) Is God good?

“I start to get this nagging doubt in the back of my mind about whether or not He is truly good”.

What do you mean when you say good? Jonathan Edwards wrote on hell:

I shall use only one argument, viz. that sin is heinous enough to deserve such a punishment, and such a punishment is no more than proportionable to the evil or demerit of sin. If the evil of sin be infinite, as the punishment is, then it is manifest that the punishment is no more than proportionable to the sin punished, and is no more than sin deserves. And if the obligation to love, honor, and obey God be infinite, then sin which is the violation of this obligation, is a violation of infinite obligation, and so is an infinite evil. If God be infinitely worthy of love, honor, and obedience, then our obligation to love, and honor, and obey him is infinitely great. Our obligation to love, honor, and obey God being infinitely great, sin is the violation of infinite obligation, and so is an infinite evil. Once more, sin being an infinite evil, deserves an infinite punishment. An infinite punishment is no more than it deserves. Therefore such punishment is just, which was the thing to be proved. There is no evading the force of this reasoning, but by denying that God, the sovereign of the universe, is infinitely glorious.

I am to show that it is not inconsistent with the mercy of God, to inflict an eternal punishment on wicked men. It is an unreasonable and unscriptural notion of the mercy of God, that he is merciful in such a sense that he cannot bear that penal justice should be executed. This is to conceive of the mercy of God as a passion to which his nature is so subject that God is liable to be moved, and affected, and overcome by seeing a creature in misery, so that he cannot bear to see justice executed: which is a most unworthy and absurd notion of the mercy of God, and would, if true, argue great weakness. - It would be a great defect, and not a perfection, in the sovereign and supreme Judge of the world, to be merciful in such a sense that he could not bear to have penal justice executed. The Scriptures everywhere represent the mercy of God as free, and not that the exercises of it are necessary, as if that God cannot bear justice should take place. The Scriptures abundantly speak of it as the glory of the divine attribute of mercy, that it is free in its exercises, and not that God cannot but deliver sinners from misery.

It is most absurd also as it is contrary to plain fact. For if there be any meaning in the objection, this is supposed in it, that all misery of the creature, whether just or unjust, is in itself contrary to the nature of God. For if his mercy be of such a nature that a very great degree of misery, though just, is contrary to his nature... And then a less degree of misery is contrary to his nature, and a still less degree of misery is contrary to his nature. And so the mercy of God being infinite, all misery must be contrary to his nature, which we see to be contrary to fact. Mercy would be contrary to the nature of God if justice was contrary to the nature of God.

However strong such kind of objections against the eternal misery of the wicked, may seem to the carnal, senseless hearts of men, as though it were against God's justice and mercy, yet their seeming strength arises from a want of sense of the infinite evil, odiousness, and provocation there is in sin. Hence it seems to us not suitable that any poor creature should be the subject of such misery, because we have no sense of anything abominable and provoking in any creature answerable to it. If we had, then this infinite calamity would not seem unsuitable. For one thing would but appear answerable and proportionable to another, and so the mind would rest in it as fit and suitable, and no more than what is proper to be ordered by the just, holy, and good Governor of the world.

That this is so, we may be convinced by this consideration, viz. that when we hear or read of some horrid instances of cruelty, it may be to some poor innocent child or some holy martyr - and their cruel persecutors, having no regard to their shrieks and cries, only sported themselves with their misery - we have a sense of the evil of them, and they make a deep impression on our minds. Hence it seems just, every way fit and suitable, that God should inflict a very terrible punishment on persons who have perpetrated such wickedness. It seems no way disagreeable to any perfection of the Judge of the world. We can think of it without being at all shocked. The reason is that we have a sense of the evil of their conduct, and a sense of the proportion there is between the evil or demerit and the punishment.

Just so, if we saw a proportion between the evil of sin and eternal punishment, i.e. if we saw something in wicked men that should appear just as eternal misery appears dreadful (something that should as much stir up indignation and detestation, as eternal misery does terror), all objections against this doctrine would vanish at once. Though now it seem incredible, [and] though when we hear of such a degree and duration of torments as are held forth in this doctrine and think what eternity is, it is ready to seem impossible that such torments should be inflicted on poor feeble creatures by a Creator of infinite mercy. Yet this arises principally from these two causes: 1. It is so contrary to the depraved inclinations of mankind, that they hate to believe it and cannot bear it should be true. 2. They see not the suitableness of eternal punishment to the evil of sin. They see not that it is no more than proportionable to the demerit of sin.

It is reasonable that they should be sensible of their own guilt, and should remember their former opportunities and obligations, and should see their own folly and God's justice. - If the punishment threatened be eternal annihilation, they will never know that it is inflicted. They will never know that God is just in their punishment. And how is this agreeable to the Scriptures, in which God threatens, that he will repay the wicked to his face, Deu. 7:10. And to that in Job 21:19, 20.

By the end... If you mean good as in “He is unable execute justice if people suffer and must save everyone” then he does not fit your definition. God is however “unable to” look upon sin (by His nature).

Habakkuk 1:13 Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?

Meanwhile... if you mean God cannot sin, He cannot lie, He cannot break a promise, He is Holy, He is just, He delights to show mercy and He does love, He is wishing for reconciliation... Yes God is good.

C) False convert or not.

“I'm worried this means I'm not really saved and I'm a false convert”. Well let’s just start with a simple fact. Whether or not you are saved or not does not matter if you turn to God now in faith. God says “also now” and that today is the day of salvation (if you are not saved).

Joel 2:12-13 Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all you heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.

James 4:9-10 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

Ezekiel 33:11 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

2 Corinthians 6:2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)

Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.

Now I cannot tell you if you are a false convert or not since I do not know you. I can just say God made all the promises listed above and that He does not lie. I have never been disappointed by the promises of God. He is the one I trust the most above anyone. I have faith in Him and every time I stepped out in faith He came through.

The good news is you don’t need “Holy Spirit conviction” to be saved. That is you do not need to fully grasp your sin in order to be saved. One is saved by faith alone in the finished works of Christ not their level of faith or assurance. It’s who you trust not how much or how well you trust. A sturdy bridge is just as sturdy for the fearful person as the courageous one.

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You may be sad that you seem to either have little faith or assurance not knowing which one (at least right now). In that you doubted God’s trustworthiness. It’s called faith because you do not see His trustworthiness but you’re willing to “take a leap of faith”. Sometimes the assurance part comes after and you just have to step out and trust Him. My only advice can be to have faith.

It does help to develop a relationship with God to know Him. Prayer, sermons, testimonies and the bible can all help get to know God and his trustworthy promises. It’s easier to trust someone you know more. Feel free to see more on the gospel.

Let me know if you want anything else. Such as recommended sermons, more depths, good testimonies, parables or so on.

God bless!

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radical-revolution · 5 years

Text

There is a certain question that people ask me continuously. People from this group, people I've never saw before that call me on the phone, people I meet in the park, homeless people, aliens, wretched people, people of all nationalities. What they ask me is this: As I am practicing atma-vichara, self-inquiry in the process will my humanhood improve. In other words what they want to know is while they're doing this sadhana, whether it's the I am meditation or self-inquiry, it may take weeks, months, years, will my personal life improve. If I am sick will I become healthy, if I am poor will I become rich, if I am miserable will I become peaceful so forth and so on.

The way I answer this is, first tell me what you mean when you say, "Improve your humanhood?" What do you mean by that? And the answer is: I mean to make myself a better person. To get a better job. To be able to buy a new car. To be able to get rid of the cancer that is eating up me. To get a companion, a mate that is compatible with my way of thinking. Will all these things happen while I practice.

We'll discuss this for a while.

This question presupposes that you are a human being and you wish to improve your humanhood. What you are really doing is building up your ego making it more powerful. What is a human being to begin with?

If you looked at a human being under an electric microscope you would find something very interesting. You would see billions of molecules and if you look deeper you would find trillions of atoms, that make up the molecules. You would see space in between the atoms. If you were as small as an atom, the space between the molecules would be the equivalent distance between the planets, between the earth and mars, the earth and jupiter, the earth and the sun. There is space between the planets also. That space is consciousness. And the space out of the body is also consciousness.

What I am trying to say is that there is one space and you are that space. Your body is in a state of flux. Your body is not what you think it is. It only appears to us to be solid. Just like every other thing on this earth, the chair, the radio, the rug, the wall. These things appear to be solid but they are not. What determines your body as compared to the wall is the movement of the atoms. How fast they move or how slow they move. The atoms of the body are moving at a certain speed. They become a body.

But again if you see what I'm talking about you're really space. You are not the body because the space between the atoms is larger, more than the atoms themselves. And the space becomes expanded taking up all of space. What is behind space? What causes space? What is the substratum of the space? You are, your real nature, absolute reality. So you see you are not what you appear to be. By trying to improve something that does not exist brings upon itself suffering. For you are identifying with the appearance rather than with the reality. As long as you identify with the appearance you go through all sorts of living conditions, all sorts of experiences. And you try to improve your living condition, as it were.

You are wasting your time, for in this world you have to experience both sides of the coin. When you improve your human condition something happens sooner or later so that you may improve an experience the other side of the coin. For every up there is a down, for every forward there is a backward.

Then who are you? Who is it that wants to improve their condition? That is the first thing that you should ask yourself. Who wants to improve the human condition? And the answer is always I do. Then "Who am I? What is the source of the I that wishes to improve the human condition?"

As you begin to search for the source you will find that the I disappears. As you begin to realize the truth about yourself, that you are not the body-mind, you are not the doer, happiness ensues. This happiness comes all by itself as a result of your realization that you are not the body-mind. But you still ask, "If I'm not realized why can't I live a total harmonious life in my illusion?"

It's impossible. Everything that is born, so-to-speak, must die. You begin to die as soon as you're born. But what does happen to you, to the extent that you begin to know the truth, to that extent do you begin to transcend the so called human condition.

In other words your body may still have cancer and you're no longer trying to heal it of anything. You're simply identifying with the reality. To the extent that you identify with the reality, to that extent do you no longer feel a body with cancer.

So to other people you may appear to have cancer, you may appear to be deteriorating. Like Ramana Maharshi did before he left his body so-to-speak. Like Rama Krishna and many others. The people see a deteriorating body, but the Sage does not have a body to deteriorate. He just has no body. The body does not exist for him. This is the problem because when I speak of this I know a lot of you get lost.

How can there be nobody when I see? Ask yourself, "Who sees? What do you see?" You see poverty, you see man's inhumanity to man, you see this and you see that. The seer that sees has to be transcended. There has to be a seer to see these things. When you ask, "Who is the seer?" Both the seer and the object seen dissolve into the nothingness from whence they came. This means you should not accept what is seen.

Let the world spin, let people go through their karma, leave things alone. Let the higher power take care of the world and universe, but you identify with the real Self. The

Self that is the omnipresence. The Self that is the higher power. Know that you are that. You are no longer a limited personality. You no longer are a frail human that's dying of cancer or experiencing lack or limitation or experiencing happiness, human happiness, or experiencing vibrant health.

Even Arnold Schwarzenegger is going to waste away. He may believe in his body but he's getting weaker as he gets older. He's wasted all this time identifying with the weightlifting room. When he could've become free and identified with reality.

Nobody lives forever. No situation remains the same forever. Everything ends in this world so it appears. Everything has a beginning a middle and an end. But you are not that, you have nothing to do with that picture. You are immortal, you are nirvana.

You must begin today to stop judging by appearances. The more you begin to feel this the less you talk. For what is talking all about. Except to talk about the world and people and things. Think how long you've been talking since you were born. You started with dada, mama and you expanded your vocabulary. You thought you were doing something great, you've wasted your time. The more words you know the larger the ego. The less words you know the closer you are to the Self.

What has the Self to say, to whom shall it talk to, itself? The Self is self-contained consciousness. Aware of itself, itself is omnipresence. So to whom shall it talk to, itself? It is perfect bliss consciousness. There need be no words, just a look, a touch, a glance is all you have to do.

Yet you say, "How can I do this? I work for a living, I have to eat, I have to earn my bread and butter, I have to talk." Don't worry about details. If you dive within yourself and you spend most of your time thinking about the I am, practicing self-inquiry, the details will work themselves out. You must not believe that it is up to you to work out all the details of life.

There is a higher power that knows where the appearance of your body is supposed to be and what work it's supposed to do. Trust that power. You will find out one day that the power is none other...is you. That power is your Self. But until then trust the power. I like to call this power, "The current that knows the way." It's a beautiful power, it only knows love. It wants you to become a living embodiment of love. It wants you to merge with itself.

Yet as long as you identify with the world you can never know reality. As long as you identify with your personal I, by always voicing what I feel, I feel hurt, I feel angry, I feel sick, I feel depressed, I feel happy because somebody gave me something, I feel good because I'm getting my own way. That I has got to go. The whole world, the whole universe, people places and things are attached to the I. If you follow the I to the source the whole universe will disappear.

And the question arises, "Then what? If the universe disappears will I be in outer space? Will I be in a fog?" It's a paradox. The universe disappears, yet you exist in the universe. Your body will continue going about its business but you will not be identifying with your body any longer. You will not even feel that you are in the body. But you will feel the body is in you. You will feel like a gigantic screen. Where all the items of this earth, trees, plants, flowers, bugs, murderers, lovers are all superimposed on the screen. They are on the screen and you are the screen. The screen is not in them.

So it's a misnomer to say that, "God is in me." The body that you think you are is in God and consciousness. Just like the body you draw on the blackboard. But the body you draw on the blackboard is not the blackboard. The blackboard is self-contained and you may draw items on the blackboard and erase them and draw new items on the blackboard and erase those. That is like life going from one life to the next life, from one experience to the next experience.

The whole universe is superimposed on consciousness. When you change identities and identify with consciousness everything disappears. Yet you continue experiencing not as an ego but as the Self. And what do you experience? Pure awareness. You are aware of the truth, the reality. Your body will continue its sojourn through the world doing whatever it came here for, but you will not be your body.

Again this is paradoxical for you appear to be your body but you are not your body. You become a living embodiment of pure happiness, total joy and bliss. The world can no longer fool you or disturb you. You have a feeling of deep immortality. You know without words that nobody dies because nobody was born. You understand and realize without words that there is no causation for the universe. Nothing ever brought it into life.

It has no cause.

If it has no cause, again you ask, "Where did it come from?" And the answer is it didn't come from anywhere. It's like hypnosis. You are hypnotized into believing something is real that is not and to you it's real when you come out of the hypnotic trance, you are part of the waking world again and that something that appeared real is gone. So it is with this world, it appears real, yet it's like a dream. You wake up and the dream is finished. When you wake up out of your mortal dream the idea of body-mind, doer is also finished.

Now is this teaching practical? Is finding your real nature practical? Of course it's practical. Remember you do not become a burden on society by practicing self-inquiry and coming closer to the truth. Many people still think that they will stay home everyday and just meditate. I remind you again it doesn't work that way. If you were meant to be active you will be active. If you were not meant to be active no matter how much you try to be active you will not be able to do anything.

Again do not concern yourself with details. Simply practice everyday. Be aware everyday. See who becomes frustrated, see who feels slighted, who is hurtable, see who is trying to give a one upper-ship on somebody else, see who competes with others, see who you are. Find out the truth. Become free.

It's wonderful to realize that your real nature is parabrahman. Beyond consciousness, beyond words and thoughts, beyond human experiences of any kind. That is how you bring peace into the world. Not by trying to make up peace slogans or demonstrations, but by becoming self-realized, awakening. Then automatically your consciousness expands and people feel it and they too automatically begin to turn within. In the beginning do not concern yourself with these things whatsoever.

When you awaken then see if you want to bring peace to this world, because I kid you not, there is no world to bring peace to. We are looking at things from both sides. When you still believe in your humanity you want to do good deeds, you want to bring peace to the world, make this world a better world in which to live but the further into truth you go, the more you become self-realized the more you are able to see, "I am the world. All this is the Self and I am that." And you live a wonderful life.

Again it begins as soon as you wake up in the morning. Try your best to see the fourth state of consciousness beyond waking, sleeping and dreaming. The fourth state is between sleeping and awakening. Try to catch yourself there.

People tell me they try and just can't. If you keep trying you will. That place where there is no thoughts. A place where there is no thinking of any kind. That still place, that is bliss consciousness. Before the I comes out and starts to do it's dirty work. Just before the I wakes up ask yourself, "Where did the I come from? What was its source? Who am I?" And the last thing before you fall asleep, same situation. When all thoughts stop and you are about to sleep, catch yourself in that state and ask, "Where did the I go? The I seems to be disappearing as I fall asleep. Where is it gone? What is its source?" And yet as you sleep as you dream as you awake there appears to be another I that is the observer of you sleeping, awake and dreaming. That is the real I, that is consciousness.

Actually there is only one I but as long as you identify with the body it appears to be a personal I. As you begin to become aware of the higher I the personal I simply disappears, for it never really existed. And the large I comes into play, which is pure awareness.

(tape break)

You will find something very interesting happening to you. You are becoming happier and happier for no reason. Your fears just melt away. Your past dissolves. The new man is born. All the guilt dissipates. You have awakened. Try it, it works.

— Robert Adams

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kelanasstuff · 6 years

Text

The One with The Chat

🎶 Tonight, I'm gonna have myself a real good time

I feel alive and the world I'll turn it inside out, yeah

And floating around in ecstasy

So don't stop me now don't stop me

'Cause I'm having a good time, having a good time 🎶

You were singing the song out loud in the shower. It's Wednesday, the longest day of the week, you have an all day meeting at work, you need a kick ass song to start your day right.

9 a.m. you already arrived at your office, you have lots of work to do, but before you get your work done you took your phone and posted the song you've been listening to your insta story with part of the lyrics as the caption:

🎶 I'm a sex machine, ready to reload

Like an atom bomb about to

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh explode 🎶

Shared.

Ding.

A notification: Jungkook replied to your story

"sex machine. Lol"

"awesome lyrics, right?" You replied to his message

"are you really ready to explode, though?" You didn't expect Jungkook to replying back again cause you know him, he usually not like this.

"yes.." you continue, "explode from work 😩🤯" you looked at your reports in your computer, they need to be done by the end of the day.

Jungkook: haha. You should explode from something else then.

Jungkook: you know, like a sex machine.

Another reply from Jungkook, you look around and he was not in his desk, you read the message carefully and oh and you got the idea, or maybe his idea. You took some time to think how to respond to that,

You: pfffttt, I barely explode. Men and their big talk

You: the one with the big talk always the one with the fun size 🙄

Jungkook: is typing...

You keep staring at your phone and waiting for his reply.

Jungkook: you've been doing it with the wrong men then

You: yeah, maybe. Guess I'm just unlucky when it comes to sex

It's true though, you've been dating with few guys and none of them left the good satisfaction for your sex life. One time your now ex-boyfriend came when all he did was touched your breasts, over your T-shirt.

Jungkook: why is that? Is it maybe you just hard to pleased?

You: I just want my breasts to get the same amount of attention during foreplay

You: is that too much to ask?

You: and no hickey on my neck

You: why on the neck when you can do it on my breasts or on my inner thighs? It's not like I'm in a high school anyway 🙄

Jungkook: is typing...

You: AND WHY AM I TELLING YOU THIS I GOTTA WORK!!!

Jungkook: LOL

Jungkook: those are actually a quite simple request. I thought you were kinda into some bondage stuff

You: lmao do I looked that kinky?

You: of course NOT

You: it is really simple.

You: but then again, men and their ego. They're selfish 🙄

You: no offense

Jungkook: none taken

Jungkook: but there are guys who actually care and considerate of what a girl's wants

Jungkook: they're willing to go down even when the girl didn't give the man the bj

You: well, it usually "if you down, I'm down"

Jungkook: is typing...

Jungkook: not me though

Okay. You can't help but to laugh at his last message. "Am I really having this conversation with him? With Jeon Jungkook?" Your mind is screaming at the situation. It's not like you have a crush on him or anything, he's your junior at work and you never see him that way, because you know damn well he's out of your league, you already took a step back right from the start, so it's really weird when suddenly you have this talk with him.

Jungkook: it sounds like I'm bragging lol

Jungkook: but it's true. I have testimony.

Oh, it still on. Okay. Screw work, this chat is more interesting than your reports.

You: am I supposed to believe that..or?

Jungkook: I'm just saying

Jungkook: I have a pretty big hand, you should know what they can do

You: I have a pretty big boobs

Jungkook: my hands will fit

You: how will I know that?

Jungkook: I can show you

Jungkook: if you want it though

Jungkook: you know, consent

You: oh well, I'll think about it

You: how we ended up having this conversation is beyond me

Jungkook: yeah, thanks to your insta story lol

You: lol. Okay, gotta back to work

Jungkook: so, we have a deal?

You: I'm down if you down

Jungkook: wait.. I thought you hated that concept?

You: you'll show me what your hands can do, and I'll show you what my mouth is capable of.

Jungkook: shit. Nice.

You: it's not just you who great at stuff, you know ;)

And right after you sent that Jungkook came to your room, he's wearing a button up shirt and ripped jeans, he knocked your desk, "the deal is on" he said that with a smirk on his face, and then he left.

#lmao #this is based on my personal experience #jungkook #kinda smut #:))))))))))))))

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claudinei-de-jesus · 3 years

Text

The existence of God

1. Its declared existence.

Nowhere do the Scriptures attempt to prove the existence of God through formal evidence. It is recognized as a self-evident fact and as a natural belief of man. The Scriptures nowhere offer a series of proofs of the existence of God as a preliminary to faith; they declare the fact of God and call man to venture into the faith. "Whatever comes to God, believe that there is God", is the starting point in the relationship between man and God.

The Bible, in truth, speaks of men who say in their hearts that there is no God, but these are "fools", that is, the ungodly practitioners who would expel God from their thoughts because they have already expelled him from their lives. These belong to the large number of practicing atheists, that is, those who proceed and speak as if there were no God. Their number far exceeds the number of theoretical atheists, that is, those who claim to adhere to the intellectual belief that denies the existence of God. Note that the statement "there is no God" does not imply that God does not exist, but that God does not deal with the affairs of the world. Counting on his absence, men become corrupt and behave in an abominable way. (Sal. 14.)

Thus writes Dr. A. B. Davidson: (the Bible) does not attempt to demonstrate the existence of God, because in all parts of the Bible it is understood that he exists. There seems to be no passage in the Old Testament that represents men seeking to know the existence of God through nature or the events of providence, although there are some passages that imply that false ideas about the nature of God can be corrected by studying nature. and of life ... The Old Testament considers as little about the possibility of knowing God as it does about proving his existence. Why would men argue about the knowledge of God when they were already persuaded that they knew him, aware of being in communion with him, their thoughts being filled and enlightened by him, knowing that his Spirit moved in them, and guided them throughout your story?

The idea that man comes to knowledge or fellowship with God through his own efforts is totally foreign to the Old Testament. God speaks; it appears; the man hears and sees. God approaches men; establishes a concert or special relationship with them; and give them commandments. They receive him when he approaches: they accept his will and obey his precepts. Moses and the prophets are nowhere represented as thinkers reflecting on the Invisible, forming conclusions about it, or reaching high concepts of Divinity. The Invisible manifests itself to them, and they know him.

When a man says, "I know the president," he doesn't mean, "I know the president exists," because that is implied in his statement. In the same way, biblical writers tell us that they know God and these statements signify his existence.

2. Its proven existence.

If the Scriptures offer no rational demonstration of the existence of God, why are we going to make this attempt? For the following reasons: First, to convince those who genuinely seek God, that is, people whose faith has been overshadowed by some difficulty, and who say, "I want to believe in God; show me that it is reasonable to believe in him." But no evidence will convince the person, who, wishing to continue in sin and selfishness, says: "I challenge you to prove that God exists." After all, faith is a moral issue, not an intellectual one. If the person is not willing to accept, he will put aside any and all evidence. (Luke 6:31.) Second, to strengthen the faith of those who already believe. They study the evidence, not to believe, but because they already believe. This faith is so precious to them that they will gladly accept any fact that increases or enriches it.

Finally, to be able to enrich our knowledge about the nature of God. What greater object of thought and study is there than him? Where will we find evidence of the existence of God? In creation, in human nature and in human history. From these three spheres we deduce the five evidences of the existence of God:

1) The universe must have a First Cause or a Creator. (Cosmological argument, from the Greek word "cosmos", which means "world".)

2) The design evident in the universe points to a Supreme Mind. (Teleological argument, from "Teleos", which means "design or purpose".)

3) The nature of man, with his impulses and aspirations, points to the existence of a personal Governor. (Anthropological argument, from the Greek word "anthropos", which means "man".)

4) Human history gives evidence of a providence that rules over everything. (Historical argument.)

5) Belief is universal. (Common consensus argument.)

(a) The creation argument. Reason argues that the universe must have had a beginning. Every effect must have a sufficient cause. The universe, being the effect, must therefore have a cause. Consider the extent of the universe. In the words of Jorge W. Gray: "The universe, as we imagine it, is a system of thousands and millions of galaxies. Each of them is composed of thousands and millions of stars. Close to the circumference of one of these galaxies - the Milky Way - there is a medium-sized star with a moderate temperature, already yellowed by old age - which is our Sun. " And imagine that the Sun is millions of times bigger than our little Earth! The same writer continues: "The Sun is spinning in a dizzying orbit towards the circumference of the Milky Way at 19,300 meters per second, taking the Earth and all the planets with it, and at the same time the entire solar system is spinning in a gigantic circuit at speed an incredible 321 kilometers per second, while the galaxy itself spins, like a colossal giant ferris wheel. By photographing some sections of the sky, it is possible to count the stars.

At the Harvard College observatory I saw a photograph that includes images from more than 200 Milky Way - all recorded on a 35 x 42cm photographic plate. It is estimated that the number of galaxies that the universe is composed of is in the order of 500 trillion. "

Let us consider our small planet and on it the various forms of life that exist, which reveal divine intelligence and design. The question naturally arises: "How did all this originate?" The question is natural, as our minds are so constituted that they expect every effect to have a cause. Therefore, we conclude that the universe must have had a First Cause, or a Creator. "In the beginning - God" (Gen. 1: 1). In a simple way this argument is exposed in the following incident:

Said a skeptical young man to an elderly lady: - I once believed in God, but now, since I studied philosophy and mathematics, I am convinced that God is nothing more than a hollow word.

"Well," said the lady, "it is true that I have not learned these things, but since you have already learned, can you tell me where this egg came from?"

"Naturally from a chicken," was the reply.

- And where did the chicken come from?

- Of course an egg.

Then the lady asked: - Allow me to ask: which one existed first, the chicken or the egg?

"The chicken, for sure," replied the young man.

- Oh, so, the chicken existed before the egg?

- Oh, no, I should say that the egg existed first.

- So, I suppose you mean the egg existed before the chicken.

The boy hesitated: - Well, you see, that is, of course, well, the chicken existed first.

"Very well," she said, "who raised the first hen from which all successive eggs and hens came?"

- What do you mean by all this? He asked.

- Simply this - she replied: - I say that the one who created the first egg or the first chicken is the one who created the world. You can't even explain, without God, the existence of an egg or a chicken, and you still want me to believe that you can explain, without God, the existence of the whole world!

(b) The design argument. Design and beauty are evident in the universe; but design and beauty imply an architect; therefore, the universe is the work of an Architect endowed with sufficient intelligence to explain his work. The great Strasbourg clock has, in addition to the normal functions of a clock, a combination of moons and planets that move, showing days and months with the exactness of the celestial bodies, with their groups of figures that appear and disappear with equal regularity when the hours on the big timer. To declare that there was no engineer who built the watch, and that this object "happened", would be to insult intelligence and human reason. It is foolish to assume that the universe "happened", or, in scientific language, that it proceeded from "the random contest of atoms"!

Suppose that the book "The Pilgrim" was described as follows: the author took a wagon of press types and with a shovel threw them into the air. As they fell to the ground, they naturally and gradually came together to form the famous story of Bunyan. The most incredulous man would say: how absurd! And we say the same thing about the assumptions of atheism in relation to the creation of the universe.

Examination of a watch reveals that it bears the signs of design because the various pieces are brought together with a previous purpose. They are placed in such a way that they produce movements and these movements are regulated in such a way that they mark the hours. From this we infer two things: first, that the watch had someone who made it, and second, that its manufacturer understood its construction, and designed it for the purpose of marking the time. In the same way, we observe the design and operation of a plan in the world and, of course, we conclude that there was someone who did it and who wisely prepared it for the purpose it is serving.

The fact that we never observed the manufacture of a watch would not affect these conclusions, even if we never knew a watchmaker, or if we never had an idea of the process of this work. Likewise, our conviction that the universe had an architect, in no way changes due to the fact that we have never seen its construction, or that we have never seen the architect.

Likewise, our conclusion would not change if someone informed us that "the clock is the result of the operation of the laws of mechanics and is explained by the properties of matter". Even so, we will have to consider it as the work of a skilled watchmaker who knew how to take advantage of these laws of physics and their properties to make the clock work. Likewise, when someone informs us that the universe is simply the result of the operation of the laws of nature, we are embarrassed to ask, "Who designed, established and used these laws?" This, because the presence of a legislator is implicit since there are laws.

Take, to illustrate, the life of insects. There is a species of beetle called "Staghom" or "Horned". The male has magnificent horns, twice as long as his body; the female has no horns. In the larval stage, they bury themselves in the earth and, silently, wait in the darkness for their metamorphosis. They are naturally mere insects, with no apparent difference, yet one of them digs a hole twice as deep as the other. Because? So that there is room for the male's horns to develop perfectly. Why do these larvae, apparently the same, differ in their habits? Who taught the male to dig his hole twice as deep as the female does? is the result of a rational process? No, it was God, the Creator, who put in those creatures the instinctive perception that would be useful to them. Where did this insect get your wisdom from? Someone may think that he inherited it from his parents. But does a taught dog, for example, convey its cunning and agility to its offspring? Do not.

Even if we admit that instinct was inherited, we still encounter the fact that someone had instructed the first horned beetle. The explanation of the wonderful instinct of animals is found in the words of the first chapter of Genesis: "And God said" - that is, the will of God. Anyone who watches a watch know that intelligence is not in the watch but in the watchmaker. And whoever observes the wonderful instinct of the smallest creatures, will conclude that the first intelligence was not theirs, but that of their Creator, and that there is a Mind that controls the smallest details of life.

Dr. Whitney, a former president of the American Society and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, once said that "one day repels the other by the will of God and no one can give a better reason." "What do you mean by the expression: the will of God?" someone asked him. Dr. Whitney replied: "How do you define light? ... There is the corpuscular theory, the wave theory, and now the quantum theory; and none of the theories is more than an educated guess. With an explanation as good as these , we can say that the light walks by the will of God ... The will of God, this law that we discovered, without being able to explain it - is the only final word. "

Mr. A. J. Pace, designer for the evangelical periodical "Sunday School Times", talks about his interview with the late Wilson J. Bentley, expert in microphotography (photographing what you see under the microscope). For more than a third of a century, this man photographed snow crystals. After photographing thousands of these crystals, he observed three main facts: first, that no two flakes were the same; second: they were all of a beautiful pattern; third: all were invariably hexagonal. When asked how this hexagonal symmetry was explained, he replied: "Certainly, nobody knows but God, but my theory is this: As everyone knows, snow crystals are formed by water vapor at temperatures below zero, and water is made up of three molecules, two of hydrogen that combine with one of oxygen. Each molecule has a positive and negative charge of electricity, which has a tendency to polarize on the opposite sides. on the subject from the beginning. " "How can we explain these very interesting dots, the graceful turns and curves, and these beveled corners so delicately chiseled, all of them arranged with perfect symmetry around the central point?" asked Mr. Pace. He shrugged and said, "Only the Artist who designed and modeled them knows the process."

His statement about the "figure three in the subject" got me thinking. Is it not then that the triune God, who shapes all the beauty of creation, initials the trinity itself in these fragile ice crystal stars as if he signs his name in his masterpiece? When examining snowflakes under a microscope, it is instantly seen that the basic principle of the snowflake structure is the hexagon or the six-sided figure, the only example of this in the entire realm of geometry in this regard. The radius of the circumscribed circle is exactly equal to the length of each of the six sides of the hexagon.

Therefore, six equilateral triangles result in the central nucleus, all angles being sixty degrees, the third part of the entire area on one side of a straight line. What a suggestive symbol of the triune God is the triangle! Here we have unity: a triangle, formed of three lines, each part indispensable to the integrity of the whole. Curiosity now compelled me to examine the biblical references to the word "snow", and I discovered, with great pleasure, this same "triangle" inherent in the Bible. For example, there are 21 (3 x 7) references containing the noun "snow" in the Old Testament, and 3 in the New Testament, 24 in all. So I found references, which speak of "leprosy as white as snow". Three times the cleansing of sin is compared to snow. I found three more that talk about clothes "as white as snow". Three times the appearance of the Son of God is compared to snow. But the biggest surprise was to discover that the Hebrew word, "snow", is made up entirely of "three" figures! It is a fact, although it is not generally known that, having no figures, both the Hebrews and the Greeks used the letters of their alphabet as figures. A casual look from a Hebrew to the word SHELEG (Hebrew word meaning "snow") was enough to see that it means the number 333, as well as it means "snow". In Hebrew the first letter, which corresponds to our "SH", is worth 3OO; the second consonant "L" is worth 30; and the final consonant, our "G", is worth 3. Adding them together, we have 333, three digits of three. Curious, isn't it? But why not expect mathematical accuracy from a fully inspired book, as wonderful as the world that God created?

About God, Jo said, "Do great things that we cannot understand. For he says to the snow: Fall on the earth" (John 37: 5, 6). I have already spent two full days to copy the drawing of God with six snow crystals with pen and ink and I was very tired. And how easy it is for him to do it! "He says to the snow" - and with a word it is done.

Imagine how many millions of billions of snow crystals fall on a hectare of land for an hour, and imagine, if you can, the amazing fact that each crystal has its own individuality, a design and model without duplicate in this or any other storm. "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it" (Ps. 139: 6). How can a sensible person, in the face of such evidence of designs, multiplied by any number of varieties, doubt the existence and work of the Designer, whose capacity is immeasurable ?! A God capable of doing so many beauties is capable of everything, even of shaping our lives by giving them beauty and symmetry.

(c) The argument of man's nature. Man has a moral nature, that is, his life is regulated by concepts of good and evil. He recognizes that there is a right course of action that he must follow and a wrong path that he must avoid. This knowledge is called "conscience". When he does good, conscience approves him; when he does evil, she condemns him. Conscience, whether obeyed or not, speaks with authority. So Butier said of conscience: "If it had power in the same proportion as its manifest authority, it would rule the world, that is, if conscience had the strength to put into action what it commands, it would revolutionize the world." But it turns out that man is endowed with free will and, therefore, can disobey that intimate voice. Even if misguided, without clarification, the conscience still speaks with authority, and makes man feel his responsibility.

"Two things impress me," declared Kant, the great German philosopher, "the high starry sky and the moral law within me." What is the conclusion to be drawn from this universal knowledge of good and evil? That there is a Legislator who idealized a standard of conduct for man and made human nature capable of understanding this ideal. Consciousness does not create the ideal; it simply testifies about it, recording its compliance or non-compliance.

Who originally created these two powerful concepts of good and evil? God, the Just Lawgiver! Sin overshadowed the conscience and almost annulled the law of the human being; but on Mount Sinai God engraved this law on stones so that man would have the perfect law to direct his life. The fact that man understands this law, and feels his responsibility towards it, manifests the existence of a Lawgiver who created man with this ability.

What is the conclusion that we can draw from this feeling of responsibility? That the Lawgiver is also a Judge who rewards the good and punishes the bad. The one who enforced the law will finally defend that law.

Not only the moral nature of man, but also all aspects of his nature testify to the existence of God. Even the most degraded religions demonstrate the fact that man, as blind, groping, seeks something that his soul longs for. Physical hunger indicates the existence of something that can satisfy it. When a man is hungry, that hunger indicates that there is someone or something that can satisfy him. The exclamation, "My soul is thirsty for God" (Ps. 42: 2), is an argument for the existence of God, for the soul would not deceive man with thirst for what did not exist. So a scholar from the early church once said, "You made us for yourself, and our hearts will be restless until they find rest in you."

(d) The storyline. The march of events in universal history provides evidence of a dominant power and providence. The entire biblical story was written to reveal God in history, that is, to illustrate God's work in human affairs. "The principles of divine moral government are found in the history of nations as well as in the experience of men," writes D. S. Clarke. (Ps. 75: 7; Dan. 2:21; 5:21.) "English Protestantism sees the defeat of the Spanish Armada as a divine intervention. The colonization of the United States by Protestant immigrants saved them from the fate of South America. , and in this way he saved democracy. Who would deny that the hand of God was in these events? " The history of mankind, the rise and decline of nations, such as Babylon and Rome, show that progress accompanies the use of God-given faculties and obedience to his law, and that national decline and moral rot follow disobedience "( DL Pierson.) AT Pierson, in his book, "The New Acts of the Apostles," exposes the evidence of God's dominant providence in modern evangelical missions.

Especially God's way of dealing with individuals provides evidence of his active presence in human affairs. Charles Bradiaugh, who at one time was the most notable atheist in England, challenged Pastor Charles Hughá Price to a debate.

The challenge was accepted and the preacher, in turn, challenged the atheist in the following way: As we all know, Mr. Bradiaugh, "the man convinced against his own will always maintains his point of view", and, since the debate, as mental gymnastics that he is, he probably will not convert anyone, I propose that we present some concrete evidence of the validity of the claims of Christianity in the form of men and women redeemed from worldly and shameful life by the influence of Christianity and that of atheism. I will bring a hundred of these men and women, and I challenge you to do the same.

If Mr. Bradiaughá is unable to present a hundred, against my hundred, I will be satisfied if I bring fifty men and women to stand up and testify that they have been transformed from a shameful life by the influence of their atheistic teachings. If I am unable to present fifty, I challenge you to present twenty people who testify with radiant faces, as my hundred will do, who have a great new joy in their high life as a result of atheistic teachings. If I cannot present twenty, I will be pleased to present ten. No, Mr. Bradiaugh, I challenge you to bring in a single man or woman who gives such a testimony about the ennobling influence of his teachings. My redeemed people will bring irrefutable proof as to the saving power of Jesus Christ over their redeemed lives from the slavery of sin and shame.

Perhaps, Mr Bradiaugh, this will be the true demonstration of the validity of Christianity's claims. Mr. Bradiaughá withdrew his challenge!

(e) The universal belief argument. The belief in the existence of God is practically as widespread as the human race itself, although it is often manifested in a perverted or grotesque form and covered with superstitious ideas. This opinion has been contested by some who argue that there are races that have no conception of God at all. But Mr. Jevons, an authority on the subject of comparative races and religions, says that this opinion, "As is known to all anthropologists, has already gone to the limbo of dead controversies ... everyone agrees that there are no races, however primitive as they are, totally devoid of religious conception! Although someone cites exceptions, we know that the exception does not render the rule useless. man is essentially a creature without feelings. The presence of blind people in the world does not prove that all men are blind. " As William Evans said, "the fact that certain nations do not know the multiplication table does not affect arithmetic."

How did this universal belief originate? Most atheists seem to imagine that a group of theologians met in a secret session in which they invented the idea of God, which they then presented to the people. But theologians did not invent God, just as astronomers did not invent stars, nor did botanists invent flowers. It is true that the ancients held wrong ideas about celestial bodies, but this fact does not deny the existence of celestial bodies. And since mankind has already had faulty ideas about God, this implies that there is a God about which they could have erroneous notions.

This universal knowledge did not necessarily originate from reasoning, because there are men of great reasoning ability who also deny the existence of God. But it is evident that the same God who made nature, with its beauties and wonders, also made man endowed with the ability to observe, through nature, his Creator. "For what can be known of God is manifest in them; for God has made it manifest. His invisible perfections, his eternal power, and his divinity, are clearly seen since the creation of the world, being perceived by his works" (Rom. 1:19, 20). God did not make the world without leaving certain signs, suggestions and clear evidence, which speak of the works of his hands. "But men, knowing God, did not glorify him as God, nor did they give thanks, but rather became infatuated with his speculations and his foolish heart was in darkness" (Rom. 1:21). Sin blurred his vision; they lost sight of God and, instead of seeing God through the creature, they despised him for ignorance and worshiped the creature. It was in this way that idolatry began. But even this proves that man is an adoring creature and that he is necessarily looking for an object of worship.

This universal belief in God is proof of what? It is proof that the nature of man is so constituted that he is able to understand and appreciate this idea, as one writer put it: "Man is incurably religious", which in the broadest sense includes: (1) The acceptance of the fact of the existence of a being above the forces of nature. (2) A feeling of dependence on God as one who dominates man's destiny; this feeling is awakened by the thought of its own weakness and smallness and by the magnitude of the universe. (3) The conviction that a friendly union can be achieved and that in this union he, the man, will find security and happiness. In this way we see that man, by nature, is constituted to believe in the existence of God, to trust in his goodness, and to worship in his presence.

This "religious feeling" is not found in the lower creatures. For example, anyone who tried to teach religion to the highest of apes would lose their time. But the lowest of men can be instructed in the things of God. Because? The animal lacks the religious nature - it is not made in the image of God; man has a religious nature and seeks an object of worship.

3. Its existence is denied.

Atheism consists in the absolute negation of the idea of God. Some doubt that there are real atheists; but if there are, it is impossible to prove that they are sincerely seeking God or that they are logically consistent.

Since it is atheists who oppose the deepest and most fundamental convictions of the human race, the responsibility for proving the non-existence of God lies with them. they cannot sincerely and logically call themselves atheists until they present irrefutable evidence that in fact God does not exist. Undeniably, the evidence for the existence of God far exceeds the evidence against the existence of God. In this connection, D. S. Clarke writes: A small proof will demonstrate that there is a God, since no proof, however great it may be, can attest to his non-existence. A bird's footprints on a rock by the sea would prove that at some time a bird visited the lands adjacent to the Atlantic. But before it was declared that no bird had ever been there, it would be necessary to know the entire history of this coast since the beginning of life on the globe. A little bit of evidence will show that there is a God. Before it is said that there is no God, all the elements of the universe must be analyzed; all mechanical, electrical, biological, mental and spiritual forces must be investigated - all beings must be known and fully understood; one must be in all points of space at the same time, so that possibly God is not somewhere else and thus escapes your attention. That person must be omnipotent, omnipresent, eternal; in fact, that same person must be God before he dogmatically asserts that there is no God. As strange as it may seem, only God, whose existence the atheist denies, would have this ability to prove that there is no God! Furthermore, even the most remote possibility that there is a moral Sovereign puts immense responsibility on man, and the atheistic conclusion is unacceptable as long as the existence of God is not irrefutably demonstrated.

The contradictory atheist position is demonstrated by the fact that many atheists, when they are in danger or in difficulty, have prayed. How many times, life's storms and struggles have swept its theoretical refuge, revealing the spiritual foundations, and demonstrating human behavior. We say "human" because he who denies the existence of God shakes and suppresses the deepest and noblest instincts and impulses of the soul. As Pascal said, "Atheism is a disease." When man loses faith in God, it is not due to the arguments (no matter the apparent logic with which his denial is presented), but "to some intimate disaster, betrayal, or neglect, or some corrosive acid distilled in his soul that dissolved the pearl of great price ".

The following incident, told by a Russian nobleman, clarifies this matter:

It was in November 1917, when the Bolsheviks overcame Kerensky's government and began a reign of terror. The nobleman was at his mother's house, filled with constant fear of being arrested. The doorbell rang and the servant who answered brought a business card with the name of Prince Kropotkin - the very father of anarchism. He came in and asked for permission to examine the apartment. There was nothing else to do but allow him to enter, because he was evidently allowed to search and even requisition the house.

"My mother allowed it to pass," says the narrator. "He entered one room and then another, without stopping, as if he had lived there before and knew the order of the rooms. He entered the dining room; he looked around and suddenly went to the room occupied by my mother.

- Oh! forgive me - said my mother, when the Prince was going to open the. door - ; it's my bedroom.

He stopped for a moment in front of the door, looked at my mother then, as if he were ashamed, and in a shaky voice, said quickly:

- Yes yes I know. Forgive me, but I need to get into this room!

He put his hand on the doorknob and slowly started to open the door, and then suddenly closed it behind him after entering. "I was so agitated by the Prince's conduct that I found myself tempted to look. Prince Kropotkin was kneeling praying before the oratory in my mother's room. I saw him kneeling making the sign of the cross; I did not see his face or his eyes because he saw him from behind. His kneeling figure and his fervent prayer made him look so humble as he slowly whispered the prayer. He was so busy he didn't even notice me. " "Suddenly all my anger and hatred for this man had evaporated, like fog in the rays of the sun. I was so moved that I carefully closed the door." Prince Kropotkin remained in my mother's room for perhaps twenty minutes. He finally came out looking like a boy who had made a mistake, and he didn't even look up, as if recognizing his mistake. However, there was a smile on his face. He came close to my mother, took her hand, kissed her and then said in a very small voice: - I thank you very much for allowing me this visit to your home. Don't be nervous with me ... you see, it was in this room that my mother died. It was a great consolation for me to be in her room again. Thank you, thank you very much. "His voice trembled, and his eyes were moist. Then he said goodbye and disappeared." This man, despite being an anarchist, revolutionary, and atheist - still prayed!

Is it not evident that he became an atheist because he crushed the deepest feelings of his soul? Atheism is a crime against society, because it destroys the only foundation of morality and justice - a personal God who places on man the responsibility of keeping his laws. If there is no God, then there is no divine law, and all laws are man's. But why should we proceed legally? Why does a man, or a group of men, command him? It is possible that there are people with a relative nobility of spirit, and that they do good and are right, without, however, having belief in God, but for the great mass of humanity there is only one sanction to do what is right and that it is - "Thus saith the Lord", the Judge of the living and the dead, the mighty Governor of eternal destiny. To remove this is to destroy the foundations of human society.

James M. Gillis comments: The atheist is like a drunken drunken man who enters a research laboratory and begins to add certain chemicals that can destroy him, as well as everything around him. In fact, the atheist is facilitating with more mysterious and more powerful forces than anything in test tubes; more mysterious than the much talked about death ray. Nor can one imagine what the outcome would be if an atheist really extinguished faith in God; the entire tragic history of this planet does not register a single event that illustrates such a universal cataclysm that would occur.

Atheism is a crime against man. He seeks to pull from the heart of man the yearning for spiritual things, his hunger and thirst for the infinite. Atheists protest against crimes committed in the name of religion; we recognize that religion has been perverted by priestly and ecclesiasticism. But trying to erase the idea of God because there has been abuse is as absurd as trying to pull love out of the human heart because in some cases that love has become distorted. ... A existencia de Deus

1. Sua existência declarada.

Em parte alguma como Escrituras tratam de provar a existência de Deus mediante provas formais. Reconhece-se como fato autoevidente e como restaur natural do homem. As Escrituras em parte alguma propõem uma série de provas da existência de Deus como preliminar à fé; declaram o fato de Deus e chamam o homem a aventurar-se na fé. "O que se chega a Deus, creia que há Deus", é o ponto inicial na relação entre o homem e Deus.

A Bíblia, em verdade, fala de homens que dizem em seus corações que não há Deus, esses são "tolos", isto é, os ímpios praticantes que expulsariam a Deus dos seus pensamentos porque já o expulsaram das suas vidas. Esses pertencem ao grande número de ateus praticantes, isto é, esses que procedem e falam como se não existisse Deus. Seu número ultrapassa em muito o número de ateus teóricos, isto é, esses que pretendem aderir à religião intelectual que nega a existência de Deus. Note-se que uma declaração "não há Deus" não implica dizer que Deus não exista, mas sim que Deus não se ocupa com os negócios do mundo. Contando com a sua ausência, os homens corrompidosem-se e se comportam de maneira abominável. (Sal. 14.)

Assim, o Dr. A. B. Davidson: (a Bíblia) não tenta mostrar a existência de Deus, porque em todas as partes da Bíblia subentende-se a sua existência. Parece não haver nenhuma passagem no Antigo Testamento que represente os homens procurando conhecer a existência de Deus por meio da natureza ou pelos eventos da providência, embora haja algumas passagens que impliquem que idéias falsas sobre a natureza de Deus podem ser corrigidas pelo estudo da natureza e da vida ... O Antigo Testamento cogita tão pouco da possibilidade de conhecer a Deus quanto cogita de provar a sua existência. Por que os homens argumentariam sobre o conhecimento de Deus quando já estavam persuadidos de que o conheciam, cônscios de estarem em comunhão com ele, levando seus pensamentos cheios e iluminados por ele, sabendo que seu Espírito neles movia, e guiava-os em todo a sua história?

A idéia de que o homem chega ao conhecimento ou à comunidade com Deus por meio de seus esforços próprios é totalmente estranho ao Antigo Testamento. Deus fala; ele aparece; o homem ouve e vê. Deus aproxima-se dos homens; normal um concerto ou relação especial com eles; e dá-lhes mandamentos. Eles o apresentam quando ele se aproxima: aceitam a sua vontade e obedecem aos seus preceitos. Moisés e os profetas em parte alguma são representados como pensadores refletindo sobre o Invisível, formando clicando sobre dele, ou alcançando conceitos elevados da Divindade. O Invisível manifesta-se-lhes, e eles o conhecem.

Quando um homem diz: "Eu conheço o presidente", ele não quer dizer: "Eu sei que o presidente existe," porque isso se subentende na sua declaração. Da maneira mesma os escritores bíblicos nos dizem que conhecem a Deus e essas declarações significam a sua existência.

2. Sua existência provada.

Se as Escrituras não suportam nenhuma demonstração racional da existência de Deus, por que vamos nós fazer essa tentativa? Pelas seguintes razões: Primeiramente, para convencer os que genuinamente buscam a Deus, isto é, cuja fé tem sido ofuscada por alguma dificuldade, e que dizem: "Eu quero crer em Deus; mostrame que razoável seja crer nele." Mas evidência nenhuma convencerá a pessoa, que, por desejar continuar no pecado e no egoísmo, diz: "Desafio-te a provar que Deus existe." Afinal, a fé é questão moral e não intelectual. Se a pessoa não está disposta a aceitar, ela porá de lado todas as evidências e quaisquer evidências. (Luc. 6:31.) Segundo, para fortalecer a fé daqueles que já crêem. Eles estudam como provas, não para crer, mas sim porque já crêem. Esta fé lhes é tão preciosa que aceitarão com alegria qualquer fato que a faça aumentar ou enriquecer.

Finalmente, para poder enriquecer nosso conhecimento acerca da natureza de Deus. Que maior objeto de pensamento e estudo existe do que ele? Onde acharemos evidências da existência de Deus? Na criação, na natureza humana e na história humana. Dessas três esferas deduzimos como cinco evidências da existência de Deus:

1) O universo deve ter uma Primeira Causa ou um Criador. (Argumento cosmológico, da palavra grega "cosmos", que significa "mundo".)

2) O desígnio evidente no universo aponta para uma Mente Suprema. (Argumento teleológico, de "Teleos", que significa "desígnio ou propósito".)

3) A natureza do homem, com seus impulsos e aspirações, assinala a existência de um Governador pessoal. (Argumento antropológico, da palavra grega "anthropos", que significa "homem".)

4) A história humana dá evidências duma providência que governa sobre tudo. (Argumento histórico.)

5) A decoração é universal. (Argumento do consenso comum.)

(a) O argumento da criação. A razão argumenta que o universo deve ter um princípio. Todo efeito deve ter uma causa suficiente. O universo, sendo o efeito, por conseqüência deve ter uma causa. Consideremos a extensão do universo. Nas de Jorge W. Gray: "O universo, como o imaginamos, é um sistema de milhares e milhões de galáxias. Cada uma delas se compõe de milhares e milhões de estrelas. Perto da circunferência de uma dessas galáxias - a Via Láctea - existe uma estrela de tamanho médio e temperatura moderada, já amarelada pela velhice - que é o nosso Sol. " E imaginem que o Sol é milhão de vezes maior que a nossa pequena Terra! Prossegue o mesmo escritor: "O Sol está girando numa orbita vertiginosa em direção à circunferência da Via Láctea a 19.300 metros por segundo, levando consigo a Terra e todos os planetas, e ao mesmo tempo todo o sistema solar está girando num gigantesco circuito à velocidade incrível de 321 milhas por segundo, enquanto uma gira própria galáxia, qual colossal roda gigante estelar. Fotografando-se algumas fontes dos céus, é possível fazer uma contagem das estrelas.

No observatório de Harvard College eu vi uma fotografia que inclui como imagens de mais de 200 Vias Lácteas - todas as funções numa chapa fotográfica de 35 x 42cm. Calcule se o número de galáxias de que se compõe o universo é da ordem de 500 milhões de milhões. "

Consideremos nosso pequeno planeta e nele como várias formas de vida existentes, como quais revelam inteligência e desígnio divinos. Naturalmente surge a questão: "Como se originou tudo isso?" A pergunta é natural, pois as nossas mentes são constituídas de tal forma que origina que todo efeito tenha uma causa. Logo, concluímos que o universo deve ter tido uma Primeira Causa, ou um Criador. "No princípio - Deus" (Gên. 1: 1). Dum modo singelo este argumento é exposto no seguinte incidente:

Disse um jovem cético a uma idosa senhora: - Outrora eu cria em Deus, mas agora, desde que estudei filosofia e matemática, estou convencido de que Deus não é mais do que uma palavra oca.

- Bem - disse a senhora - é verdade que eu não aprendi essas coisas, mas desde que você já aprendeu, pode me dizer donde veio este ovo?

- Naturalmente duma galinha - foi a resposta.

- E veio a galinha?

- Naturalmente dum ovo.

Então indagou a senhora: - Permita-me pergunta: qual existiu primeiro, a galinha ou o ovo?

- A galinha, por certo - respondeu o jovem.

- Ah, então, a galinha existia antes do ovo?

- Oh, não, desvie dizer que o ovo existia primeiro.

- Então, eu suponho que você quer dizer que o ovo existia antes da galinha.

O moço vacilou: - Bem, a senhora vê, isto é, naturalmente, bem, a galinha existiu primeiro.

- Muito bem - disse ela -, quem criou a primeira galinha de que preencheu todos os sucessivos ovos e galinhas?

- Que é que a senhora quer dizer com tudo isto? - perguntou ele.

- Simplesmente isto - replicou ela: - Digo que aquele que criou o primeiro ovo ou a primeira galinha é aquele que criou o mundo. Você nem pode explicar, sem Deus, a existência dum ovo ou duma galinha, e ainda quer que eu creia que você pode explicar, sem Deus, a existência do mundo inteiro!

(b) O argumento do desígnio. O desígnio e a formosura evidenciam-se no universo; mas o desígnio e a formosura implicam um arquiteto; portanto, o universo é a obra dum Arquiteto dotado de inteligência suficiente para explicar sua obra. O grande relógio de Estrasburgo tem, além das funções normais dum relógio, uma combinação de luas e planetas que se movem, mostrando dias e meses com a exatidão dos corpos celestes, com seus grupos de figuras que aparecem e desaparecem com regularidade igual ao soarem como horas no grande cronômetro. Declarar não ter havido um engenheiro que construiu o relógio, e que este objeto "aconteceu", seria insultar a inteligência e a razão humana. É insensatez presumir que o universo "aconteceu", ou, em linguagem cientifica, que procedeu "do concurso fortuito dos átomos"!

Suponhamos que o livro "O Peregrino" foi descrito da seguinte maneira: o autor tomou um vagão de tipos de imprensa e com pá os atirou ao ar. Ao caírem no chão, natural e gradualmente se ajuntaram de maneira formar uma história famosa de Bunyan. O homem mais incrédulo diria: que absurdo! E a mesma coisa dizemos nós das suposições do ateísmo em relação à criação do universo.

O exame dum relógio revela que ele leva os sinais de desígnio porque diversas peças são reunidas com um propósito prévio. Elas são colocadas de tal modo que movimentos e esses movimentos são regulados de tal maneira que marcam as horas. Disso inferimos duas coisas: primeiro, que o relógio teve alguém que o fez, e em segundo lugar, que o seu fabricante compreendeu a sua construção, e o projetou com o propósito de marcar as horas. Da mesma maneira, observamos o desígnio e uma operação dum plano no mundo e, naturalmente, concluímos que houve alguém que o fez e que sabiamente o preparou para o propósito ao qual está servindo.

O fato de nunca termos observado a fabricação dum relógio não afetaria essas informações, mesmo que nunca conhecêssemos um relojoeiro, ou que jamais tivéssemos idéia do processo desse trabalho. Igualmente, a nossa convicção de que o universo teve um arquiteto, de forma nenhuma sofre alteração pelo fato de nunca termos observados a sua construção, ou de nunca termos visto o arquiteto.

Do mesmo modo a nossa conclusão não se alteraria se alguém nos informasse que "o relógio é resultado da operação das leis da mecânica e explica-se pelas propriedades da matéria". Ainda assim teremos que considerá-lo como obra dum hábil relojoeiro que soube aproveita essas leis da física e suas propriedades para fazer funcionar o relógio. Da forma mesma, quando alguém nos informa que o universo é simplesmente o resultado da operação das leis da natureza, nós nos vemos constrangidos a pergunta: "Quem projetou, estimou e consumiu leis?" Isso, em razão de ser implícita a presença de um legislador uma vez que existem leis.

Tomemos, para ilustrar, a vida dos insetos. Há uma espécie de escaravelho chamado "Staghom" ou "Chifrudo". O macho tem magníficos chifres, duas vezes mais compridos do que o seu corpo; a fêmea não tem chifres. No estágio larval, eles enterram-se os mesmos na terra e, silenciosamente, surgem na escuridão pela sua metamorfose. São naturalmente meros insetos, sem nenhuma diferença aparente e, no entanto, um deles escava para si um buraco duas vezes mais profundo do que o outro. Porque? Para que haja espaço para os chifres do macho se desenvolverem com perfeição. Por que essas larvas, aparentemente iguais, diferem assim em seus hábitos? Quem ensinou o macho a cavar seu buraco duas vezes mais profundo do que o faz a fêmea? é o resultado dum processo racional? Não, foi Deus, o Criador, quem pôs naquelas criaturas a percepção instintiva que lhes seria útil. De onde indicar esse inseto em sua sabedoria? Alguém talvez pense que a herdara de seus pais. Mas um cão ensinado, por exemplo, transmite à sua descida sua astúcia e agilidade? Não.

Mesmo que admitamos que o instinto fosse herdado, ainda deparamos com o fato de que alguém havia instruído o primeiro escaravelho chifrudo. A explicação do maravilhoso instinto dos animais acha-se nas palavras do primeiro capítulo de Gênesis: "E disse Deus" - isto é: a vontade de Deus. Quem observa o funcionamento dum relógio sabe que a inteligência não está no relógio mas sim no relojoeiro. E quem observa o instinto maravilhoso das menores criaturas, concluirá que a primeira inteligência não era a delas, mas sim do seu Criador, e que existe uma Mente controladora dos menores detalhes da vida.

O Dr. Whitney, ex-presidente da Sociedade Americana e membro da Academia Americana de Artes e Ciências, certa vez disse que "um dia repele o outro pela vontade de Deus e ninguém pode dar razão melhor." "Que quer o senhor dizer com a expressão: a vontade de Deus?" alguém lhe perguntou. O Dr. Whitney replicou: "Como o senhor define a luz? ... Existe uma teoria corpuscular, uma teoria de ondas, e agora a teoria do quantum; e nenhuma das teorias passa duma conjetura educada. Com uma explicação tão boa como essas , podemos dizer que a luz caminha pela vontade de Deus ... A vontade de Deus, essa lei que descobrimos, sem a podermos explicar - é a única palavra final. "

O Sr. A. J. Pace, desenhista do periódico evangélico "Sunday School Times", fala de sua entrevista com o finado Wilson J. Bentley, perito em microfotografia (fotografar o que se vê através do microscópio). Por mais de um terço de século esse senhor fotografou cristais de neve. Depois de haver filhotes de dois filhotes de cristais, ele observou três critérios principais: primeiro, que não existem dois padrões; segundo: todos eram de um padrão formoso; terceiro: todos eram invariavelmente de forma sextavada. Quando lhe perguntaram como se explicava essa simetria sextavada, ele respondeu: "Decerto, ninguém sabe senão Deus, mas a minha teoria é a seguinte: Como todos sabem, os cristais de neve são formados de vapor de água a uma temperatura abaixo de zero, ea água se compõe de três moléculas, duas de hidrogênio que se combinam com uma de oxigênio. Cada molécula tem uma carga de eletricidade positiva e negativa, a qual tem a tendência de polarizar-se nos lados opostos. assunto desde o começo. " "Como podemos explicar estes pontinhos tão interessantes, as voltas e as curvas graciosas, e estas quinas chanfradas tão delicadamenteeladas, todas elas dispostas com simetria perfeita ao redor do ponto central?" perguntou o Sr. Pace. Encolheu os ombros e disse: "Somente o Artista que os desenhou e os modelou conhece o processo."

Sua declaração acerca do "algarismo três que figura no assunto" me pôs a pensar. não seria então que o triúno Deus, que modela toda a formosura da criação, rubrica a própria trindade contendo estrelas de cristal de gelo como quem assina seu nome em sua obra-prima? Ao examinar os flocos de neve ao microscópio, vê-se instantaneamente que o princípio básico da estrutura do floco de neve é o hexágono ou a figura de seis lados, o único exemplo disso em todo o reino da geometria a este respeito. O raio do circulo circunscrevente é exatamente igual ao comprimento de cada um dos seis lados do hexágono.

Portanto, resultam seis triângulos eqüiláteros reunidos ao núcleo central, sendo todos os ângulos de sessenta graus, a terça parte de toda a área num lado duma linha reta. Que símbolo sugestivo do triúno Deus é o triângulo! Aqui temos unidade: um triângulo, formado de três linhas, cada parte indispensável à integridade do conjunto. A curiosidade agora me impeliu uma examinar as referências bíblicas sobre a palavra "neve", e descobri, com grande prazer, este mesmo "triângulo" inerente na Bíblia. Por exemplo, há 21 (3 x 7) referências contendo o substantivo "neve" no Antigo Testamento, e 3 no Novo Testamento, 24 ao todo. Então achei referencias, que falam da "lepra tão branca como a neve". Três vezes a purificação do pecado é comparada à neve. Achei mais três que falam de roupas "tão brancas como a neve". Três vezes a aparência do Filho de Deus compara-se à neve. Mas a maior surpresa foi ao descobrir que a palavra hebraica, "neve", é composta inteiramente de algarismos "três"! É fato, embora não seja geralmente conhecido que, não tendo algarismos, tanto os hebreus como os gregos usavam como letras do seu alfabeto como algarismos. Bastava um olhar casual de um hebreu à palavra SHELEG (palavra hebraica que quer dizer "neve") para ver que ela significa o algarismo 333, bem como significa "neve". No hebraico a primeira letra, que corresponde à nossa "SH", vale 3OO; uma segunda consoante "L" vale 30; e a consoante final, o nosso "G", vale 3. Somando-as, temos 333, três algarismos de três. Curioso, não é verdade? Mas por que não esperar exatidão matemática dum livro plenamente inspirado, tão maravilhoso quanto o mundo que Deus criou?

Acerca de Deus disse Jo: "Faz grandes coisas que não podemos compreender. Pois diz à neve: Cai sobre a terra" (Jo 37: 5, 6). Eu já gastei dois dias inteiros para copiar com pena e tinta o desenho de Deus de seis cristais de neve e fiquei muito fatigado. E como é fácil para ele fazê-lo! "Ele diz à neve" - e com uma palavra está feita.

Imaginem quantos milhões de bilhões de bilhões de cristais de neve caem sobre um hectare de terra durante uma hora, e imagine, se puderem, o fato surpreendente de que cada cristal tem sua individualidade própria, um desenho e modelo sem duplicata nesta ou em qualquer outra tempestade. "Tal conhecimento é maravilhoso demais para mim; elevado é, não o posso atingir" (Sal. 139: 6). Como pode uma pessoa ajuizada, diante de tal evidência de desígnios, multiplicados por um sem-número de variedades, duvidar da existência e da obra do Desenhista, cuja capacidade é imensurável ?! Um Deus capaz de fazer tantas belezas é capaz de tudo, até mesmo de moldar como nossas vidas dando-lhes beleza e simetria.

(c) O argumento da natureza do homem. O homem dispõe de natureza moral, isto é, a sua vida é regulada pelos conceitos do bem e do mal. Ele reconhece que há um caminho de ação que deve seguir e um caminho errado que deve evitar. Esse conhecimento chama-se "consciente". Ao fazer ele o bem, a consciência o aprova; ao fazer ele o mal, ela o condena. A consciência, seja obedecida ou não, fala com autoridade. Assim disse Butier aproximadamente da consciência: "Se ela possuir poder na mesma proporção de sua autoridade manifesta, governaria do mundo, isto é, se a tomada de consciência tiver a força de pôr em ação o que ordena, ela revolucionaria do mundo." Mas acontece que o homem é dotado de livre arbítrio e, portanto, pode desobedecer àquela voz íntima. Mesmo assim, mal orientada, sem esclarecimento, a consciência ainda fala com autoridade, e faz o homem sentir sua responsabilidade.

"Duas coisas me impressionam", verdadeiro Kant, o grande filosofo alemão, "o alto céu estrelado e a lei moral em meu interior." Qual a conclusão que se tira deste conhecimento universal do bem e do mal? Que há um Legislador que idealizou uma norma de conduta para o homem e fez a natureza humana capaz de compreender esse ideal. A consciência não cria o ideal; ela simplesmente testifica acerca dele, registrando a sua conformidade ou não-conformidade.

Quem somos criou esses dois poderosos conceitos do bem e do mal? Deus, o Justo Legislador! O pecado ofuscou a consciência e quase anulou a lei do ser humano; mas no Monte Sinai Deus gravou essa lei em pedras para que o homem tenha a lei perfeita para dirigir a sua vida. O fato de que o homem compreende esta lei, e sente sua responsabilidade para com ela, manifesta a existência dum Legislador que criou o homem com essa capacidade.

Qual é a conclusão que podemos tirar desse sentimento de responsabilidade? Que o Legislador é também um Juiz que recompensa os bons e castigar os maus. Aquele que impôs um lei finalmente defenderá essa lei.

Não somente a natureza moral do homem, como também todos os aspectos da sua natureza testificam da existência de Deus. Até as religiões mais degradadas demonstram o fato de que o homem, qual cego, tateando, procura algo que sua alma anela. A fome física indica a existência de algo que possa satisfazer. Quando o homem tem fome, essa fome indica que há alguém ou algo que deseja satisfazer. A exclamação, "a minha alma tem sede de Deus" (Sal. 42: 2), é um argumento a favor da existência de Deus, pois a alma não enganaria o homem com sede daquilo que não existisse. Assim disse certa vez um erudito da igreja primitiva: "Para ti nos fizeste, e nosso coração estará inquieto enquanto não encontrar descanso em ti."

(d) O argumento da história. A marcha dos eventos da história universal evidência de um poder e duma providência dominantes. Toda a história bíblica foi escrita para revelar Deus na história, isto é, para ilustrar a obra de Deus nos negócios humanos. "Os princípios do divino governo moral referência-se na história das nações tanto na experiência dos homens", disse D. S. Clarke. (Sal. 75: 7; Dan. 2:21; 5:21.) "O protestantismo inglês vê a derrota da Armada Espanhola como uma intervenção divina. A colonização dos Estados Unidos por imigrantes protestantes salvou-os da sorte da América do Sul , e desta maneira salvou uma democracia. Quem negaria que a mão de Deus ocorreu nesses acontecimentos? " A história da humanidade, o surgimento e declínio de nações, como Babilônia e Roma, mostra que o progresso acompanhado o uso das faculdades dadas por Deus e a obediência à sua lei, e que o declínio nacional e a podridão moral seguem a desobediência "(DL Pierson ). AT Pierson, em seu livro, "Os Novos Atos dos Apóstolos", expõe como evidências da providência dominante de Deus nas missões evangélicas modernas.

Especialmente o modo de Deus tratar com os principais competições de sua presença ativa nos negócios humanos. Charles Bradiaugh, que foi em certo tempo o ateu mais notável na Inglaterra, desafiou o pastor Charles Hughá Price, para um debate.

Foi aceito o desafio e o pregador, por sua vez, desafiou o ateu da seguinte maneira: Como todos sabemos, Sr. Bradiaugh, "o homem convencido contra a própria vontade mantém sempre seu ponto de vista", e, visto que o debate, como ginástica mental que é, provavelmente não converter a ninguém, proponho-lhe que apresentamos algumas evidências concretas da validação das especificações do cristianismo na forma de homens e mulheres redimidos da vida mundana e vergonhosa pela influência do cristianismo e pela do ateísmo. Eu trarei cem homens e mulheres, e o desafio-o a fazer o mesmo.

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