Social Networking

Something that’s brand new to our generation is the phenomenon of online social networking.  It is blossoming at a rate beyond comprehension.  Last year, I found a map made by an intern at Facebook that gives an idea of the magnitude and complexity of online connections. I found it fascinating, even mesmerizing, to see nearly every country in the world defined only by soft blue lines indicating a connection between two people.  Facebook is projected to have a billion users by the end of this year – that’s one in every seven people from every corner of the world.

What are people doing in that community? Are they mainly sharing baby photos, celebrity gossip (Beliebers, you know who you are), promoting some social or political cause? Well, as of February, the page with the most engagement in terms of shares, comments, and “likes” is a page called Jesus Daily, followed by Dios Es Bueno! (God is Good) and The Bible. While that’s not exactly as spiritually deep as circulating Paul’s letters or Luther’s 95 theses, it shows that at least in some ways the people in this community are using it to spread the message of Jesus Christ.

Pamphleteering

If the Reformers lived in this millennium, it’s likely they would have used these technologies to spread their message, too.   We always hear about Luther’s posting of the 95 theses on the door at Wittenberg but don’t always consider how that message got around after that.  Around the time I was asked to speak for communion at our church, I came across a story in The Economist talking about the parallels between how we use social networks compared to how the reformers shared their messages through pamphleteering.

As an illustration, think about how something today “goes viral.”  You share an idea and it resonates with a small group of people who saw your initial post.  Those people in turn share that post with people they know, then their friends re-share it, and so it multiplies.  The printing press was the 1500’s equivalent of social media.  What started as a “post” on one church door was copied, re-copied, commented on and translated until in just the first 10 years over 6 million pamphlets by Luther, Calvin,  and others were distributed.  This is the way they shared the truth of Christ’s words in that era.

House to House

Now go back even further, before the printing press, all the way back to the first century A.D. How did Jesus’ disciples who witnessed his life and teachings first-hand make their message go viral? How did they share this earth-shattering experience within their communities and beyond into the whole world?  In that time, they didn’t post messages on church doors or distribute pamphlets because any sort of writing was extremely hard to come by.

Instead, what they did probably looked a lot like what the Bible describes taking place at the Last Supper.  Acts 2:46 says “And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart.” Many met in the Temple, but more commonly they had fellowship in their home over a meal.  They participated in the first communion with Jesus in that same context.  He used that time for several purposes, one of which was to teach them a model of what it meant to partake of his saving blood and of his body.  The Gospel spread in a similar setting: in the homes of new followers of Christ who gathered together for fellowship, breaking bread, learning his doctrine, and praying with one another.

Communion within Families

All of these are ways we share life with the people in our own time. We do things with our peers, but we also do things with our family.  This, I think, is the most important way we build a Godly community.  Sure, it’s great to spend time with people our age but God’s truth perseveres through time by passing it from one generation to the next – from father to son and mother to daughter.  Want an easy way to do that?  Do what Jesus did!  Have dinner with them and make it a point to discuss how God is working in your life and the world around us.

The next time you share in communion, let me invite you to consider how you might use the connections you have to other people to express the love and joy that Jesus brings.  It may take a digital form. It may be written down on paper, spoken over a meal, or passed down from parent to child.  Whatever your community may look like, let it be a time of communion with the God who is everywhere in all things and all times.

The goal of biblical counseling is to teach that the believer’s purpose is to please God and glorify Him (2 Corinthians 5:9) in all areas of their life in the midst of all circumstances, whether hardship or blessing. (Job 2:10) Because sin is the greatest obstacle man faces, we have ordered our lives around the desire to please ourselves instead of God. It is important to note that “counsellor” is not an office one holds in the church; counseling is a function of the church. It is the responsibility of every believer to initiate loving confrontation directed towards bringing about change from conformity to sin to conformity to biblical standards, principles, and practices.

This is what the apostle Paul would define as “nouthesis” as in Romans 15:14 and Colossians 3:. Paul wrote, “And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.” (Romans 15:14) and “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs…” (Colossians 3:16) Paul is saying that all Christians are to confront and encourage one another with the Word of God as a regular activity. As believers we have the wisdom, knowledge, and goodness from the Holy Spirit that points us away from sin.

Paul explains that every Christian needs this to happen regularly in their lives in order to be mature in Christ. As a member of the Church, I do not see this consistently happening in one-on-one relationships or small settings. This is a big reason believers are struggling to be mature in their walk with God. Most regular attendees can tell you that they are saved and how Christ saved them, but when it comes to applying the Word through their daily broken and complicated lives, there is little lasting fruit.

There are a handful of biblical examples of men being confronted about their sin and admonished to repent. The first example we find is in Genesis 3:8-24. From the very beginning God gives us the model and standard through which we are to lovingly admonish one another. Jay Adams, a well-known author on the subject of nouthetic counseling, describes it this way:

“Adam tried to make a getaway into the woods. But God confronted him nouthetically, in order to change him by words. The relationship between God and Adam had been established on the basis of God’s Word, broken by Satan’s challenge to that Word, and had to be reestablished by God’s Word. God elicited a confession from him. He probed until he got satisfactory answers.”

The model is to use the Word as the tool through which sin is pointed out, which leads to repentance and brings them back into fellowship with God. To use any other resource to rescue them leads to greater destruction and is not love.

When Nathan confronted King David about his adultery and murder he used this same biblical model and the result was repentance. (2 Samuel 12:1-13) In John 21 after Jesus had died and been resurrected his disciple Peter was confused, discouraged, and felt purposeless so he returned to fishing when he should have been fishing men as Christ had directed him prior to his death. Because Peter had failed and denied Jesus three times, as was predicted, he had lost hope and felt he was unable to do what Jesus had commanded. Jesus loved Peter and one of the ways he demonstrated this intimate love was to confront him about his sin and restore him back into right fellowship with him. Jesus reminded Peter to feed Christ’s sheep. The intimate morning Peter spent with Jesus eating fish for breakfast led to Peter’s miraculous transformation into a powerful ministry, and then his ultimate martyrdom years later. Because Jesus confronted Peter nouthetically, God’s church was built and many souls saved. This is the lasting goal of biblical counseling: spiritual transformation and understanding so that sin can be avoided, leading to a fruitful life.

Why why have we strayed from this approach? Because it is hard and change happens in God’s way and time, not the way of the world that seeks quick, easy, temporary results. God’s model takes humility, authenticity, and a willingness to admit that I am no better than you. As I evaluate the church I do not see this nouthetic confrontation happening on a consistent basis, but I think believers are craving it. Believers want to grow, but sin blinds us from knowing how to apply God’s truth, which is why we need each other. Since I’m able to see your sin more clearly than you can, and you can see my sin more clearly than I can we must admonish one another in love using God’s truth as the guide. To use any other tool is not biblical and is not Godly love. This is exactly what God did in the garden. He called out Adam and Eve on what they could no longer see, and then restored them. If God does it and Jesus does it and the Holy Spirit does it, why not the church?

Right from the start, the 93% number is a little misleading. 72% disbelieve in God while 23% express doubt or agnosticism. Atheists routinely lump in agnostics in figures like this if it is to their advantage, but agnostics often describe themselves that way to separate their views from their understanding of atheism. But, this may be little more than semantics.

What if we looked at a different group of scientists? When surveyed in 2009, a slight majority (51%) expressed belief in God and 41% indicated disbelief. It turns out this survey matches rather closely with a survey done 100 years ago, even showing a slight increase in theism among the scientists polled.

Still a different group, university professors, end up somewhere in the middle of these figures. A 2010 survey found 34% were atheists, 30% agnostic, and 27% expressed some level of belief in God.

So far it’s clear that while scientists are far more likely than the general population to be atheist, the 93% figure is simply not an accurate representation of scientists as a whole. Now, let’s extend the data even further.

In academia, the consequences for your conclusion being wrong is a retraction from an academic journal, a scathing peer review, or wider public scrutiny. In other environments, the cost of being wrong are people’s very lives. Certainly few people think that doctors work with anything other than an evidence-based evaluation and decision-making process. If they were to do otherwise, they face severe civil or criminal penalties while their patient suffers physically to varying degrees. Physicians must rely on science when it really counts.

Are these rational-minded professionals also inclined to be atheists? Not quite. As of 2005, 76% expressed belief in God. . While this is still lower than the general population, it turns out that doctors are actually more likely to attend religious services – 90% of them vs. only 81% of Americans as a whole. If we were to accept that the majority opinion of an evidence-based profession proves that thinking people should accept their view, we may hold this up evil persuasive argument for converting to theism. I do not recommend that approach for the reasons explained throughout this article.

What might explain these differences in beliefs across a range of scientists? As an engineer who also relies heavily on facts to form conclusions, I prefer not to speculate too far without doing more extensive research. Allow me to offer two possible causes to consider: indoctrination and culture. American universities are now breeding grounds for anti-religious minds. Over time our culture has trended the same direction, and the sub-culture in academic circles is likely to influence the distribution of religious beliefs in that group.

In earlier times, higher institutes of learning we’re built by Christians and Western society was far more deeply committed to biblical truth. Indeed, the greatest scientific minds who pioneered most of the major branches of science were theists. This fact alone indicates that theistic belief is no detriment to the advancement of scientific inquiry, if not the very basis for science itself.

When we consider the full range of data and look at it objectively, we find every good reason to reject the “majority of scientists are atheists” argument so often presented. The wide disparity among different groups of scientists also shows that they are human like everyone else, subject to the same influences and pressures that shape our ideas about the world. This is why we must always look to a higher standard than ourselves. Let us trust instead in the words of an all-knowing being, not in the wisdom of men with limited knowledge or understanding (1 Cor 2:5).

Bible Contradiction Visualization

Several apologists’ responses have cropped up over time, but none are as complete and well-organized as Berend de Boer’s work.  In August 2011, Mr. De Boer completed a seven-year project to respond to every objection in the SAB.  Perhaps more importantly, he does so in a way that contrasts the scoffer’s flippancy with a kind, temperate, Christian attitude.  Consider the challenge and response to Genesis 2:2 about the seventh day of creation:

Skeptic:

 Even God gets tired sometimes.

de Boer:

Tired is not the right word, but God himself tells us he was refreshed by his rest, see Ex. 31:17. That is the purpose of the Sabbath for us as well, see Ex. 23:12.

His work draws a great deal from others who have come before.  The primary commentary he mentions is John Gill’s Exposition written in 1746, but also referenced an earlier work from 1621 by Johannes Polyander which goes deeper.  On the web, lookinguntojesus.net provided a similarly thorough (though poorly organized) reference as well.

Berend describes his motivation in part was to make these answers more accessible in our internet age:

Some skeptics appear to have grown up in new churches with no link to the past, no confessions, no well-known figures from the past, and they seem to invent the wheel every time. That might account for the fact that, according to them, no one was able to give them any answer to the questions they had. Even though these answers were available for 2,000 years… [to find answers] you have to know to search for “John Gill’s exposition”, so that’s still a barrier, but responses to skeptics like mine will make that less of an issue.

When I asked about his overall thought process, he had this to say:

My goal was to find the answers in readily available, very well-known commentaries, and preferably over centuries old. this way no one could accuse me of using “latest greatest research” or things no one could have known. All these skeptics think they come up with something new after 2,000 years, which on the face of it is already preposterous. But I wanted to demonstrate that as well.

The next time you see an angry skeptic on the internet and feel compelled to respond as commanded in 1 Peter 3:15 with meekness and fear.  And, if you’re having trouble finding that “ready answer,” a great place to start is with Berend de Boer’s excellent resource.

It is absolutely safe to say that if you meet somebody who claims not to believe in evolution, that person is ignorant, stupid or insane (or wicked, but I’d rather not consider that).

And it’s not limited to biology.  World-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking is on record as saying:

I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark

But, has it always been this way? Is it necessarily true that the Bible’s history of our origins is at odds with the practice of scientific inquiry?  To the contrary, many (if not most) of the scientists who either founded their field of study or at least are credited with its most important advancements routinely saw their work as seeking to better understand God through his Creation.  The quotes below are a sample of what these men who were profoundly influential in a wide array of fields said years ago.

 There are two books laid before us to study, to prevent our falling into error: first, the volume of the Scriptures, which reveal the will of God; then the volume of the Creatures, which express His power.

-Francis Bacon, Scientific Method

Atheism is so senseless. When I look at the solar system, I see the earth at the right distance from the sun to receive the proper amounts of heat and light. This did not happen by chance.

 -Isaac Newton, Physics, Mathematics

 Atheism is so senseless & odious to mankind that it never had many professors.

-Isaac Newton

O God, I am thinking Thy thoughts after Thee.

-Johannes Kepler, Astronomy

 The more I study nature, the more I stand amazed at the work of the Creator.

-Louis Pasteur, Medicine

Finite man cannot begin to comprehend an omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, and infinite God … I find it best to accept God through faith, as an intelligent will, perfect in goodness and wisdom, revealing Himself through His creation.

-Werner Von Braun, Rocket Science

The conduct of God, who disposes all things kindly, is to put religion into the mind by reason, and into the heart by grace. But to will to put it into the mind and heart by force and threats is not to put religion there, but terror.

-Blaise Pascal, Hydraulics

When with bold telescopes I survey the old and newly discovered stars and planets when with excellent microscopes I discern the unimitable subtility of nature’s curious workmanship; and when, in a word, by the help of anatomical knives, and the light of chemical furnaces, I study the book of nature I find myself oftentimes reduced to exclaim with the Psalmist, How manifold are Thy works, O Lord! In wisdom hast Thou made them all!

-Robert Boyle, Chemistry

The flowers’ leaves… serve as bridal beds which the Creator has so gloriously arranged, adorned with such noble bed curtains, and perfumed with so many soft scents that the bridegroom with his bride might there celebrate their nuptials with so much the greater solemnity.

-Carl Linnaeus, Taxonomy

It is His work,” he reminded them; “and He alone carried me thus far through all my trials and enabled me to triumph over the obstacles, physical and moral, which opposed me.  ‘Not unto us, not unto us, by to Thy name, O Lord, be all the praise.’

-Samuel Morse, Inventor

Click the image to download a high resolution version.

The Gospels tell the story of Jesus Christ, each one emphasizing different aspects of his time and teachings. A typical harmony of the Gospels lays out all the events and references the passages that describe them in each book. This chart takes a different approach by comparing the broader topics illuminated by those verses.

The sides of each cross are scaled according to how often a topic is dealt with in the corresponding book (as a percentage of the total number of verses in that book). The right side represents Matthew, the top is Luke, left for Mark, and the bottom line goes with John. The topics and verse references are from the topical index in MetaV which has a mashup of Nave’s Topical Bible Concordance and Torrey’s New Topical Textbook.

A Valid Approach?

It is common to hear a pastor tell how often a certain word appears in the Bible or in a particular book to support his point. But, is this an accurate representation? One can discuss the topic of faith, for instance, without ever mentioning the word directly. I could envision many ways in which the word-count approach would leave a false impression.

It may be more accurate to look at topics and to compare them against each other to see their relative prominence. But, even this approach can have its distortions. It relies on indexes produced by people in a particular culture and historical period. That could introduce some bias in assigning topics to each verse, thereby skewing the whole thing – consciously or not. Overall, however, the comparisons here line up well with what you would conclude after reading it all for yourself (by far the best approach).

About that one in the middle…

It should be no surprise that the lines representing Jesus Christ would be the longest. If it had turned out any other way, I would have begun looking for errors in my data. What is surprising, however, is that the lines form a nicely proportioned cross. According to the topical indexes I chose, John focuses more on Jesus, Mark slightly less, and the others hit close to the average. I’ll leave it to the reader to decide if this is a convenient coincidence or a divine design.

Due to space and readability limitations, only the highest-ranking topics (based on total verse count) made the list. Are you surprised to see any of them in the top 48? Which ones would you expect to be more prominent that aren’t shown on this chart? What stands out in terms of what different writers emphasize? Please leave your comments below – I’d love to hear some insights.

Order prints here.

Suddenly the Bible does not seem to be such an oppressive rule book after all, especially when considering this chart does not account for many federal regulations, state laws, city ordinances, etc.  Some point to the dietary laws penned by Moses as an example of invasive restrictions on personal freedom.  This seems to be a reasonable argument until you look at Title 21 of the U.S. Code which governs food and drugs.  It has 699,440 words.  Moses only managed to write 174,733 words in the Bible during his entire 120 years on Earth!  The FDA certainly has a lot more “thou shalt nots” limiting dietary freedom than God ever passed down to the Jews.

The same holds true for many other aspects of our lives from the time we brush our teeth to driving to and from work to watching TV at night.  All of these activities are regulated, monitored, and controlled to one degree or another by one or more federal agencies somewhere along the line.

The Source and Justification for Laws

Before going further, we would be wise to understand the reasons that we write laws to begin with.  Consider the words of Frederick Bastiat in his masterful book, The Law:

Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws.  On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place…Each of us has a natural right – from God – to defend his person, his liberty, and his property.

 Those things which we have a natural right to defend are those which originate from our Creator.  Therefore, the words God has spoken to us in the Bible should be the foundation of our laws which protect those gifts.  Then, how do we end up with so many statutes which extend far beyond this intent?  Paul writes in 1 Timothy 1:8, “But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully.”  When we step away from the biblical basis of natural law, we begin to use it improperly.  The law fails when we turn its intent toward what Bastiat describes as “stupid greed and false philanthropy.”

We have attempted to force “false philanthropy” upon our society through legal plunder – the use of force to deny a person’s right to their property.  As evidence, the longest section of the U.S. Code is the one dealing with health and welfare.  It is over 8 million words which makes it longer than the entire tax code and associated regulations combined.  Surely it is noble to take care of the needy and sickly, but it is unjust to forcibly confiscate someone else’s money to do so.  Religion accomplishes the same task through genuine charity which is not given out of duty, obligation, or force (2 Cor 9:7).  In this and many other ways, the Christian worldview is the antidote (not the source) of injustice or oppression.

Legalism and Grace

When preachers step forward to explain these principles and call us to adhere to God’s standards, some will object that it’s too legalistic.  But, the same folks will not cry “legalism!” when the IRS comes to enforce tax laws which are three and a half times the size of scripture.  It might be easy to jest at this hypocrisy, but it raises a useful point.  Is it reasonable to expect anyone to fully comply with a set of laws so voluminous we can’t even mange to read them let alone understand and follow them to the letter?  Certainly not, and here the faithful critic of legalism is correct to point out our utter inability to live a sinless life (Rom 3:12).

If we fail to follow every rule and regulation codified in U.S. law, we may experience little or no consequence.  Even if we are to commit the most heinous of crimes, our sentence may only be the death of our earthly bodies.  In contrast, God administers eternal and infinitely more severe consequences for breaking just one of his commandments.  This may be one reason that biblical guidelines are seen as less forgiving than federal laws.

While more and more people are beginning to fear our government, our deeper fear is of the one who can destroy both our body and soul in Hell (Matt 10:28).  The natural desire is to ignore or deny this existence of Hell, hoping it will squash our fear.  Why would God set up such severe punishment? Does he hate us? No. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son (John 3:16) to pay the debt we owe so we won’t have to suffer this awful fate.

This is how a righteous judge can also offer us the kind of liberty and peace that can be found nowhere else but in the salvation of Jesus Christ.  When we approach God in repentance and ask forgiveness, it is freely granted.  Ask the same of Homeland Security when you forget to leave a pocket knife in the car at the airport and you’ll find out just how “forgiving” our government can be.

It is time to recognize that when we look to God’s instructions we can be free; when we pile regulations on top of laws built on the wrong foundation, we are crushed under the weight of government power.  If we are to find freedom, let us heed the words in Galatians 5:1:

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

A Personal Connection

Snow connects with readers early on with his personal story about  serving as a Marine with a dream of becoming a pilot.  He ultimately washed out from causes out of his control, perhaps an answer to his prayer: “Lord, don’t let me get so caught up in flying that I forget about people.”  His descriptions of training echo my own from the Air Force Academy, most notably when describing the level of mistrust displayed toward soon-to-be decision-makers.

One stand-out event was the Kent State shooting which took place the year he graduated college and entered the military.  During pilot training, his commanding officer referred to the incident and made it clear to the class they may someday fly missions against similar “revolutionaries.”  Snow vividly illustrates other experiences which shaped his move toward pacifism, each of which were at odds with the Christian concept of a loving attitude toward fellow men and women.

From here, he sets the foundation for his basic argument: that God’s universal love is at odds with the dehumanizing effects of war.  Snow summarizes this beautifully in his counter-argument for “humanitarian” war:

Here, I believe, is a key to Christian discussion about warfare: abstractions take precedence over concern for individual human lives.  When such priorities govern us, a dreadful condition prevails.  We cry, “We will save you!”, sanctify ourselves, and commence a mission of destruction.

The abstractions he discusses include arguments very similar to Edmund Burke’s well-known quote:

The only thing necessary for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing.

Snow rightly points out that we are quick to turn to militaristic options for fighting said evil versus more loving means such as humanitarian aid, though he is not clear on how such aid could be carried out in countries ruled by oppressive dictators.

Theological Arguments Against Warmongering

The author does not limit his persuasion tactics to emotional appeal and anecdotes alone.  He tackles the ingrained yet mistaken assumption that God’s protection of Israel and battle directives in the Old Testament amount to an endorsement of war.  He points out facts from these stories that are often forgotten, such as when God prohibits David from building the temple due to his bloodshed (1 Chron 28:2-3).  Or, consider Deut 1:21-46 which recounts Israel’s disobedience to God’s command not to take up arms in possessing the land of Canaan. They were driven out, destined for 40 years in the wilderness and threats of war on their people from then on.

The New Testament lends itself more obviously to a “turn the other cheek” perspective.  Pro-war theologians do find some passages which appear to support their case which Snow dismisses perhaps too quickly.  Jesus’ praise for the Roman Centurion’s faith absent a rebuke of his profession, his command in Luke 22:36 to buy a sword, and his statement in Matthew 10:34 that the Messiah comes not to bring peace, but a sword are notable examples.  Still, Snow finds thorough support elsewhere for pacifist principles which more than balance out his relatively thin treatment of the above arguments.

A Brief History Lesson

Mr. Snow introduced me to his book by way of a blog post on the Anabaptist Schleitheim Confession, which reads (in part):

The worldlings are armed with steel and iron, but the Christians are armed with the armor of God, with truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation and the Word of God.

This shows that at least as far back as 1527 when the Swiss Brethren Conference adopted this confession that Christians took exception to serving in a military capacity.  Snow’s book adds to this history by surveying  The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, writings by church fathers Athenagorus and Tertullian, and A Short History of Christianity - all of which clearly indicate Christian resistance to taking up the sword.

Important Distinction: Defense vs. Offense

One distinction this book does not treat adequately is the difference between offensive and defensive war.  This might be excused  since prior to the initial publication in 1981 of Christian Pacifism, America was a stranger to the doctrine of preemptive military operations, better described as wars of aggression.  The 30th anniversary edition does not correct this inadequacy, however.

It is an important distinction to make since early Christian theological heavyweights find no conflict with waging war on a limited, well-justified basis.  Typical criteria include a measured response to provocation, reasonable chance of success, ensuring war is an absolute last resort, and guidance on the conduct and treatment of combatants.  Unlike the author, I am not fully convinced that all war is at odds with the Bible unless one can show from Scripture that Aquinas, et. al. are wrong on these points.

Even so, as every war which America has waged in recent history has clearly violated these criteria, it may make no difference whether we argue against all war (as this book does) or simply “unjust” war.  The final analysis puts proper theology at odds with our country’s actions either way.

The Ultimate Solution

The author is clearly influenced by Quakers but does not spend time on any doctrinal distinctions.  Snow frequently proposes we feed the hungry with the resources we put toward fighting battles, but does not expound the theological root of this thinking outside of loving our fellow humans.  Some Quakers preach that we are currently in the Millennium and have a responsibility toward social justice; others look toward a future fulfillment of prophecy through the bodily resurrection of Saints and the Second Coming of Christ.

It is this Second Coming which culminates the war to end all wars at the Battle of Armageddon.  Whether or not Christians choose serve in a military capacity or show support foreign wars between now and then, we will certainly fight alongside our Lord Jesus Christ to finally vanquish Satan and the forces of evil in this world.

Anyone with even a passing interest in history should take a look at Adam’s Synchronological Chart or Map of History.What appears at first to be a simple 21-page coffee table book actually folds out as an incredibly detailed chart that’s over 25 feet long!  It covers world history from the dawn of creation through the late 19th century when the book was first published by Sebastian Adams.

He based this detailed chart on the work of Archbishop James Ussher’s Annals of the World which itself is an icon of Christian historical research.  I am glad to see it has not faded into the darkness of an old, dusty library. Instead, New Leaf publishing has reproduced it and introduces the work in this video:

If you don’t already own a full timeline of history, this is the one to add to your library.  For the “try before you buy” folks, you can download a teeny-tiny version of it as a PDF to get a flavor for it. (Note: I’m not paid by any publisher, I just happen to really love this book!)

Now, OpenBible.info has gone one step further, this time apparently inspired by a cross-reference layout illustrated at the crossway blog back in 2006.  This new interactive visualization is a grid layout with books (or groups of books) along the top and left-hand side.  Each grid cell represents the cross references between those books.

Grid of Cross References from OpenBible.info

What makes this visualization much more interesting than previous graphics is the way each grid cell is colored.  Red is a link from a New Testament book, blue for the Old Testament, green for major divisions of the Bible, gray indicates a cross-reference from a verse in one chapter to another verse in the same chapter, and purple indicates references between chapters in the same book.

As soon as you start getting “interactive” with it, you discover how the color intensity is produced, forming the heat map effect in the grid above.  For instance, if you choose to show references from John to Isaiah, you see details of how the passages in those books connect to one another.  More lines between them result in more color displayed in the larger grid.

Cross References between John and Isaiah

Such an interactive visualization makes it far simpler to navigate and understand Torrey’s massive dataset.  Even if you are not especially interested in exploring these details, everyone should be able to appreciate the message that this and earlier cross-reference visualizations share in common: that the words given to us by God are deeply woven together throughout all the times and cultures in which they were transcribed.

Sunset over a bunker in Iraq, 2004

Our approach with Iran should be to remind them of why they should fear us far more often than we remind them why they hate us. A show of force is not the only way to show strength. Often a clear message of our unity and resolve as a nation can go a lot further. In America, the single message that unifies even the most diametrically opposed political elements is the idea of liberty. Radical jihadists need to only to incite enough fear that we will choose to sacrifice that liberty for the sake of security.

Two of the biggest reasons I agree with Republican Presidential Candidate Ron Paul’s foreign policy should also explain why he enjoys the financial support of more military members than all other Republican candidates combined. First, he will not risk losing the lives of some of our brightest, most skilled young men and women unless and until Americans display the resolve necessary to guarantee a swift and decisive victory through a declaration of war. Second, our Constitution and way of life face a greater threat from within than from any of our enemies abroad. Our President, Judiciary, and Legislature more routinely and effectively erode our freedoms than Iran’s nuclear programs or lack thereof.

But, this isn’t just some political position or a rally for my favorite candidate.  It goes far beyond any election.  This foreign policy is based in nothing less than the eternal words of God Almighty.  Congressman Ron Paul expanded on this biblical argument at the 2011 Values Voter Summit (and went on to win their straw poll):

Let us also not forget that conflicts in the Middle East are as much a spiritual battle as they are socioeconomic frustrations.  We can wage such a war much more effectively with the Sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17) than we can with bullets and bombs.  My prayer for our country, our world, and our leaders is the same as Paul’s prayer to the Romans:

Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen. -Rom. 15:33

via JERUSALEM: Israeli library uploads Newton’s theological texts | Health & Science | CentreDaily.com.

What is MetaV?

MetaV is the name given to the underlying database used to build the visual Bible explorer on this website and several other infographics on my blog. It contains the “Who, Where, and When” of every single passage in the Bible at word-level detail. This database is specially structured to simplify complex “big picture” analysis or visualizing biblical information.

What’s new in Version 2.0?

Version 1.0 simply contained the Biblical text and some readability statistics. People, Places, Topics, Years, Strong’s Concordance, and Writers are new in this version.

Can I trust this information?

Above all, the Bible represents absolute truth given from God. The electronic source text of the Bible has been checked for accuracy against multiple other electronic sources of the King James Version using modern text comparison software. The rest of the information in MetaV is nothing more than well-studied conclusions about the Bible formulated and trusted by faithful Christians over the centuries. For more details on original sources, reference the database documentation available in the readme file (included in the downloads below).

 How should I navigate the data?

This database is structured so that anyone familiar with spreadsheet applications such as Microsoft Excel can make good use of the information in a variety of ways. Those who have experience with data manipulation and queries will find it simple to perform more advanced analysis. The readme file and schema diagram included in these downloads give an overview of the tables and fields as well as how they are related to each other.

Can I share it with others?

Please do! Our goal is to get the Bible and helpful related information into the hands of as many people as possible. Therefore, MetaV is free to use and copy under a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license. Please see the details on individual source files (available at the links below) for more specific usage guidelines.

Click below to download all files.

Or, choose individual files from the table below.

7 Billion People: What Population Control Advocates Don’t Say | LifeNews.com.

That’s a Fact – Measuring Billions from Institute for Creation Research on Vimeo.

So, as is my tendency, I thought about what it might look like to do something similar based on the connections between people and places in the Bible. Once I set out to define these relationships, I quickly found it hard to get the data I would need. Unlike with Facebook, Moses and Aaron had no way to input their personal information in a database that makes it easy to do this kind of thing. The Semantic Bible project has come a long way in terms of explicitly defining relationships among New Testament figures, but nothing yet for the Old Testament which contains far more people and places. Chris Harrison managed a complex visualization of social networks, but it is based strictly on word proximity to generate connections.

Since MetaV contains genealogical information for everyone in the Bible and geolocation data, I was able to create a composite database of links using both definite relationships and textual proximity. Then, I mapped the data following a very handy tutorial by Nathan Yau at FlowingData. People are linked to places if that person’s name appears in the same sentence as a place name. “Sentence” connections are those which have two people mentioned by name in the same sentence. “Self” links are where one person is linked to multiple places due to travels, marriage, etc. “Spouse” and “Parent” relationships are defined according to available genealogy data.

Color variations are a function of how many times the connection appears and the distance between the places. Lines are drawn along great circle routes in keeping with the Facebook map inspiration.

What is immediately clear (though not at all surprising) is the centrality of Israel. The links within Israel and the ones going around the world are so dense that one can’t help but notice is is at the heart of all the interconnection in scripture, no matter how you slice the data. I would love to hear your thoughts on these patterns, so please leave a comment if you find something interesting!