MACARTHUR: If you don’t understand the doctrine of penal substitution, you don’t know why Christ died, and you would assume that if you’re Christian you would want to know why Christ died. If you took one verse, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Paul says, “You’re ambassadors,” right? In 18 to 21.
So, you know, we go into the world, we beg people to be reconciled to God. He’s given us the Word of reconciliation, right? That’s the message we preach, “You can be reconciled to God.” We have the ministry of reconciliation. We have the message of reconciliation. But how is that possible?
How is it possible for a sinner to be reconciled to a holy God? That is the most legitimate question that a sinner could ever ask. Ok, you’re telling me God’s holy, that God is righteous. that God is perfect.
How is it possible for me to be reconciled to a holy God without Him not tarnishing His holiness? Or to put it in the language of Paul, “How can God be just and the justifier of sinners?” That is the absolute apex question of all religion.
The primary question that religion attempts to answer is, “How can I go from being God’s enemy to being His friend? How can I make peace with God?” whatever god that religion espouses. So, all religion is designed to somehow come to terms with the deity.
In Christianity, the question is built around holiness and justice and righteousness. So, how can God forgive me and still be holy? And, the only thing that answers that question is penal substitution because penal substitution says God is so holy every sin will be punished.
Every single sin in the life of every Christian believer through all of human history will be punished, was punished. All sin must be punished. Either the sinner will bear that punishment eternally or Christ took that punishment on the cross.
The only thing that protects the pure, righteous holiness of God is that sin is punished. That’s penal substitution. If you remove that part of the cross, then how does God reconcile His holiness with just wishing sin away without a punishment? There has to be a punishment for God to maintain His justice.
That punishment falls on His Son. BINGHAM: I can remember before I became a Christian but had heard the gospel a number of times, sitting down with the woman that’s actually now my wife and asking her, “Explain to me John 3:16. Why did God have to send His Son?
Why did Jesus have to die? Why didn’t God bake brownies to save the world?” Like, “What’s was this whole ‘dying on the cross’ thing?” At that time, she couldn’t answer the question, and it was actually hard. We had to go into church and try and get information.
“Explain to me penal substitution,” because all the gospel presentations I’d heard was missing that phase. MACARTHUR: You see that is “the question.” That is not some kind of optional issue, penal substitution. You’ve got a massive problem if God just says, “Hey, you’re forgiven.”
Now, the character of God is called into question as to His integrity, His holiness, His virtue, His righteousness, His perfection. And so, God is so pure and holy that He will punish every single sin ever committed by every person either in that person or in the substitute for that person.
That is the purest heart of Christianity and soteriology.
Hello family this is pasta gideon if you are interested in the word of god you’re in the right place welcome to kfg know feed and grow on the world today we are going to do a little study on christ geologically it is known as christology is specifically the study of all things
Dealing with whom the person of christ is his divinity or godhood his humanity which has got a lot to do with his incarnation then his exaltation which has got to do with this resurrection and entrance some will include the works of christ which is also known as soteriology in theology
For the purpose of this discourse we shall only focus on his divinity and a bit of his exhortation also i have a video on trinity dealing with modalism so i will link it up up there or in the description or even at the end of the video so that if you want
To have a look at it you can go and look at it today’s focus is the divinity of the lord jesus but let me give you a summary of trinity trinity says there is one god and that one god exists eternally in three persons the father the son and the spirit
And each of the persons is god so the father is god the son is god and the spirit is god and together these three persons make up one god in perfect unity so in the christian concept of god jesus is god from eternity so someone asked me a question he said
If jesus is god and the same as the father why does the bible say that he is going to be exalted and everything is going to be put under his feet at the end of everything now let’s answer it the mistake in the question is that this person is thinking jesus is the
Same person as the father no jesus is not the father the father is not the spirit and the spirit is not the son these are three places that exist in their godhead each of them is fully god and yet they are one god in nature this is where man’s limitation in
Perceiving the concept of what comes in but that is why it is god it is a mystery to man man cannot oversimplify it or fully comprehend it now for more you can check the message on trinity that i’ve talked at the end of this video now to the divinity of jesus christ
Let’s look at the various names and tense and titles that is used to refer to the second person of the trinity the first one is christ now from an historic perspective christ is the term used specifically for the second person of the trinity when he became man and fulfilled the prophetic position of
The messiah in other words he was not a christ before incarnation christ is the transliteration from greek crystals to english christ after christ another name that is given to the second person of the trinity is the son of god it also refers to the specific time in
History when the second person of the trinity took on humanity both christ and the son of god refer to the same person in humanity and now continues on into eternity future because because it has now become parts of the natures of jesus christ if you got this you understand that the second
Person of the trinity was not always referred to as the christ or the son of god it was the incarnation that made it so when we say incarnation christianity it means that the second person of the trinity which is the word of god assumes human form in the person
Of jesus christ and he is fully divine and fully human now this is what you see in john chapter 1 1-3 when the bible says in the beginning was the word and the word was with god and the word was god it’s referring to the word of god that took on human nature
And became a man the bible said the same was in the beginning with god all things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the
Father full of grace and truth now the only term that specifically refers to christ in eternity past is the word of god the word of god is the person that is also referred to as the second person of the godhead that is the attempt that applies from
Eternity it wasn’t given when he came to the earth in heaven he was known as the word of god in history there’s been a lot of debates regarding the matter of the son of god and even today that is the reason why we are doing this
Video there is a lot of contention about who jesus christ is in this discourse we will use the terms interchangeably the son of god christ jesus christ the word of god it refers to the same person now these contentions have gone on and on and on in three hundred and eighteen
Eighty there was an elder in alexandria called ariels he thought that christ was created by the father and thus he is human rather than god this was rejected by atanasius um and in three to five india the council of nicearianism was rejected but there’s been a lot of debates regarding
Jesus christ the passing hood of jesus christ the nature of jesus christ in church history and this led to a number of heresies some of the heresies or heretical views that came up concerning jesus christ were even named after the people that propounded them the first one is tritaism when you
Preach tritaism you are preaching trigons that is a heresy the next heresy is modalism or civilianism named after sibelius 217-220 a.d it says god is only one person who appears in different moves or rules this is what dr damina is preaching today if you don’t learn from history
You end up in the same churches as others fail now arianism we’ve talked about it arianism denies that jesus is fully god and he said that he has a created status and he’s below god then we have the citizen he says christ was fully god but only appeared to be human
So he was god he only appeared to be human wasn’t really human then we have nestorianism he said that they are not just two natures for christ but two persons then we have sabor the nationalism which is being preached by pastor ober subordinationism says that christ was essential in essence
Less than the father but not just functionally so he’s both essentially and functionally less than the father then we have monokianism he says jesus was only a power or influence from god then we have adoptionism adoptionism says jesus was a man who was adopted by god because of his powers
This is the final orthodox doctrinal position this is what is widely established from the word of god christ was hundred percent god while being hundred percent man he had all of his divine abilities but subjected them in human submission to their god head he had two natures and two wheels but
One person without confusion or full melding the divine nature and the human nature were not being confused or mingled together in a confused way now let’s deal with the divinity of christ as referred to us in scripture now the first point i want you to know is that
Christ is eternal this is technically different from saying he’s everlasting everlasting means that once something is brought into being it will never cease to exist but it cannot mean that something has always existed and would always exist it has no beginning or end revelation 21 verse 13 it says i am the
Alpha and the omega the first and the last the beginning and the end have you seen it colossians 176 and is before all the things he has no eternal beginning and eternal ended and in him all things hold together john 1 1 in the beginning
Was the word and the word was with god and the word was god he was in the beginning with god so if there is such a thing like a beginning he was there with god the second thing about the godhood of christ is that christ was active in creation
Colossians 150 says he is the image of the invisible god the firstborn of all creation for by him all things were created in heaven and on earth visible and invisible whether truths or dominions or rulers or authorities all things were created through him and for him
And he is before all things and in him all things hold together then john 1 3 says all things were made through him and without him was not anything made that was made he was active in creation now this is where some are saying it was through him that the father made all
Things so basically he was the channel through which creation came but he didn’t create anything listen the greek word in john 1 3 is dia and by the tear definition it means through referring to a place with in during by and by the means of now dia in king james
English has been translated over 228 times us by and 86 times as through and 95 times as four think about it so it’s it’s been translated more as bi than three or four the other thing you should know is that the reason is being translated more as
By is because by and through are synonymous in their certain range of meanings and without going deep into the contextual use of the ways it may confus you may confuse them when you say bye it may have two basic meanings a personal thing that causes something to happen or that causes something and
By can also mean through as in a means by which a thing happens for example hebrews 13 verse 11 the bible says for the bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin are banned without the camp by here
By the high priest means the hype is actually that that bringing to the sanctuary do you get it he actually literally carries the animal to the sanctuary but in other usage it can also mean through like john chapter 10 verse one very very i see unto you he got entered not by the
Door into the sheep food but climb it up some other way they same is a teeth and a rubber so deer here by the door is through the door so you see by can be translated as by means of all through and it can also be translated as something that causes a
Thing to happen do you get it so to think that dire being using john 1 3 and john 10 can only mean through is erroneous if anything it shows that the second person of the trinity which is the word of god was active in creation
Now in colossians the word used is n in colossians 1 15 16 17 and is translated as in by or waste the problem is that many read the english bible thinking and is there exact equivalent in english in in english so anywhere you see and it should be in
Ua because you don’t understand that every word has a range of meanings and moving from one language to the other doesn’t mean the words correspond accordingly it is not like that it is not like that if you arrange i am a boy in english and translate it with corresponding greek
Words i for i am you may not get a valid sentence i hope you know that in greek e and n can be bi and that can also be by the context is what matters you learn this in ammunitics moving from one language to the other is
Not simply a word for word affair so learn that if you think that there’s an english and a greek weight equivalent it is not exactly like that let’s continue the third thing about the divinity of christ is that he also exercised divine authority to heal men and cast out demons like no other
The fourth thing is that he forgives him something that is the present of god christ also had a divine authority over nature i was telling water and when he was walking on water and christ also claimed to be god he said he was god in isaiah 42 verse 8 the bible said god
Said that he will give his glory to no one else yet jesus prayed in john 17 5. and now father glorify me in your own presence with the glory that i have with you before the world existed in exodus 3 14 god declares himself as jehovah when he says i am who
I am but when you come to john 8 58 crisis before abraham truly truly i said to you before abraham was i am he uses the words of god from the old testament now this resulted in the people picking up stones to true him but jesus hid himself
And went out of the temple they were ready to stone jesus for heresies you know why they recognized that christ was claiming to be god when he said before abraham was i am john 10 30. he said i and the father and one the jews picked up stones again to stone him
Jesus answered them i have shown you many good words from my father for which of them are you going to stone me the jews answered him it is not for a good way that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy because you being a man making yourself god so they
Understood when jesus said i am my father one he was making himself god do you get it now eight christ was the embodiment of the entire godhead in colossians it is recorded clearly for us 9 scripture refers to god and christ are the same person 10 their disciples
The apostles they recognized him as god john chapter 20 verse 28 thomas answered my lord and my god the disciples called he says they are gods they knew his claims and his actions confirmed that he was god romans 8 5 to them belonged their preachers and from their race according
To the flesh is christ who is god over all blessed forever amen paul clearly knew that christ was god titus 2 11 for the grace of god has appeared bringing salvation for all people training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled upright and godly
Life in the present age look at 13 waiting for our blessed hope the appearing of the glory of our great god and savior jesus so jesus is the great god that is going to be appearing 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify
Himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works so it is clear that christ is god the apostles knew they called him god he himself called himself and he claimed to be god and he did things like forgiveness and healing the sick and
Doing so many things that you cannot but think that this person is god why does he jesus christ being god still subordinate to the father equal and yet subordinates why is it like that it is because there is a divine order in the godhead divine order in the godhead
And it is led by the father so though all three persons of the godhead are of the same essence that is talking about their character and their quality in their interpersonal relationship the father is the head none of the persons is less than any in character or attribute but in roles and
Functions the father is heard and the son and the spirit placed subordinate rules to the father that is what you learn in their godhead as you study the scriptures if you say they are less than the father apart from their rules you are straining to one or more of the heresies we have
Mentioned earlier and it is contrary to scripture and if you should ask why should jesus be exalted at the end of everything and all his enemies kept under his feet and now he will be subject to the father it is because he took on actual human form and so was
Hundred percent goal and hundred percent man now this is not a gimmick it was real humility humbling oneself to be a man subject to all the freeties and weaknesses of men and yet was expected to obey god fully as the god man he had two natures
The god nature and the man nature and while on earth he was to humble himself to live as a man to fulfill all of the father’s dream which was leading to the saving of man now as a result he jesus christ was subject to things like bodily fatigue john chapter 4 verse
6 jesus christ was subject to their need for sleep matthew chapter 8 verse 24 jesus christ was subject to hunger he got angry jesus christ was subject to test john 19 28 jesus christ was subject to physical suffering and pain luke 22 44. jesus christ in his body life was
Capable of death first corinthians 15 yesterday now even had intellectual limitations jesus christ as a man was capable of increasing in knowledge luke chapter 2 verse 52 in his godhood which he had all together but subjected to his humanity so refused to put it into work he wouldn’t get angry wouldn’t get
Tested wouldn’t suffer he wouldn’t be able to die but as a man which is one of his nature now which is a part of him he could go through all of these weaknesses and phrases that all of us go through he was even capable of obtaining knowledge by observation
Mark chapter 11 verse 30 he looked and observed the tree now jesus christ was even capable of being restricted in knowledge mark chapter 13 verse 22 in fact he had more limitations living as a man not as god he even had spiritual limitations he was dependent upon prayer for power
If he was living as a man he didn’t need to pray to have power christ was dependent for power upon the anointing of the spirit acts after 10 38. all these were not necessary if he was just to live in his divinity do you get it philippians chapter 2 6-11 says who
Being in the form of god taught it not robbery to be equal with god but made himself of no reputation abuse so he he in his godhood subjected his god to his human nature and took upon him the form of a server and was made in the likeness of men
And being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the dead of the cross if he was walking in his divinity he wouldn’t be able to die wherefore god also has highly exhausted him and giving him a name which is above every name so you
See this in working in human nature he was subject to all the things that we are subject to and he could have gone astray but he didn’t bible says he was tempted in all points like we are yet he did not sin therefore he has been exhorted because
He has been there one man who has pleased the father in everything wherefore god also has highly exalted him and giving a name which is above every name that at the name of jesus every knee shall bow of peace in heaven this in earth and things under the earth
Hallelujah and that every tongue should confess that jesus christ is lord to the glory of god the father hallelujah do you get it i hope this makes a lot of sense to you so today jesus is the god man so today jesus is the god man
Exalted as god alone he already was the exhorted one but as the god man taking the human nature identifying with man he’s exhausted by going through all the rudiments that men go
Thomas: You know, what is secular? Music is music. So if there’s secular music, there’s something called Christian music? Music is math, it’s notes, it’s sounds and silences and rhythm and beat. One isn’t secular, one is Christian, so I’m not quite sure what people mean when
They talk about secular music versus — if you mean modern contemporary, the top 15, 20 songs — I was at an event recently and somebody read out the top 20 songs of today, of this past few weeks, and I’ve never heard of any of them or the singers.
I was completely in the dark. But what do you mean by secular music? Music is music. So, if we have a — Mike, you’re the theologian here. If we have a doctrine of common grace — this is a Dutch thing. You would know all about this. Godfrey: Yeah.
I suspect there are several things hiding in this question. One would be that the question’s probably not just about music, but about words. So that that adds a significant dimension. Then you don’t just have sounds but you have meanings.
And, then I think also the whole question, “Are there styles of music that are, in one way or another, inimicable to Christian piety or practice. That’s a question for you. But, you know, some of us like opera.
I won’t, you know, get into who that might be, but those of us who might like opera would not think that we ought to have opera in the church service. So you can think of a kind of music that you enjoy that you would still say is inappropriate for the worshiping community.
Horton: Yeah, I think, when it comes to style, one of the big questions is, “Is this helping the Word of Christ dwell in us richly? And is the music what we’re thinking about or is the Word of Christ what we’re thinking about?”
And music can be very powerful, as Calvin realized over Zwingli, very powerful in a good way for instilling the Word of Christ. But when it comes to common grace, I agree with you, Derek. There is no Christian music or secular music.
Some of the Christian music out there is just as bad as some of the secular music out there, so we just have to have discretion whatever we’re listening to. Thomas: This is, you know, this is a sensitive question for me.
So, my first memory, you know, it’s one of my first memories, is as a two-year-old sitting on my grandfather’s knee — he died when I was five — sitting on my grandfather’s knee, listening to Pacini’s ‘Laboum,’ and it’s a vivid memory in my head, and
It instilled in me from that moment onwards, just a passionate love for classical music and opera. So he died and he left all of his records, and he had about 500 LPs, and he was very discerning, and he only bought the sort of best, and so he left them to me.
So the week before he died, I’m five years old, he brings me into his bedroom, he died at home, he died of cancer, he was ill for a year or so. And, he told me, “I’m leaving you” — because there were four children.
He could already discern — and my younger brother was three, my older brother was seven, no, nine, and my sister was seven — but he could already discern which of these four would take care of his records.
And, he decided it was me, and I actually didn’t inherit them until I was 15, and when I did, I loved them. I treasured them. I played them on an old gramophone record that you had to lift up the lid, you know,
And it was wider than the player, so you couldn’t put the lid down while it was still playing and there was one little, tiny mono speaker, but it was the state of the art. It was cutting edge, and this was in the ‘60s. And then — Godfrey: Did you have to crank it?
Thomas (Continued): No. We had electricity, but, just about. But I’m saved when I’m 18 and within probably a couple of months of being saved, I meet this guy. He came into my life for maybe six months and then disappeared, and I don’t know what
Happened to him, but he mentored me for six months and he told me I needed to get rid of all my records. So, the next day, I took them to the market, and sold them all for like five dollars. And, it’s probably one of the decisions I most regret in life.
Now, what he should have said to me was, “Put them away for six months to a year and then come back, and maybe they won’t occupy quite the place in your life that they did at that time.”
Because it was a question of priority, but for him, it was a question of this is secular and this is Christian, and you need to get rid of this secular part. So that — I think that’s why I respond fairly emotionally to it. Now, the words issue, I think I’m with you.
When I heard the top 15 or 20 songs that are playing right now, and I heard some of the lyrics, because it was an address to college students, and he was making a point about how every single lyric was about sex in some form or another.
I think I’m with you from what you said this morning about not going to the movies. So we don’t listen to modern music either. That’s you and me. Godfrey: And if we listen to — the first opera I went to I was an 8th grader.
I’d never been to the opera, I didn’t know anything about classical music particularly. And I went to the opera with my mother, my father didn’t want to go in San Francisco, and heard Tosca sung by Richard Tucker, who was the reigning tenor of his day, and I fell
In love with the opera that night as an 8th grader, because it was so glorious and beautiful. But — Response, Thomas: Of course, the lyrics aren’t any better, but they’re in German or Italian so — Godfrey (Continued): That’s the point I was going to make. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I saw a cartoon in the New Yorker recently that said, you know, all of these opera plots really need to be sent to a therapist, and there’s a lot to be said for that. Thomas: Like country music. Godfrey: Like country music.
Nichols: You know, we’re spending a lot of time on this question but I think it’s an important one. As I think about this question, I think it’s the broader — maybe behind it is the broader question of the Christian’s relationship to culture.
We think of music as a particular way maybe to get at our entertainment or what we hear or listen to. We’re not left without a guide. Certainly, as we think about what it means to be a Christian, how we live in the world, we have certainly biblical principles to guide us.
We think about Paul speaking of whatever is excellent, whatever has virtue. We should be thinking on these things. But here’s something I think is especially true of us as Americans. We tend to think about these kind of decisions in ethical categories only without thinking in terms of aesthetic categories.
So, we think of truth and goodness and justice. We tend to do that pretty well. We don’t always think of the beautiful and how we spend our leisure time honoring God, honoring the Creator of beauty, in terms of thinking about aesthetics.
Whether it’s what we listen to or read or watch, to think of those categories, and maybe that can help us as Christians, and we think about these things that we devote our time and our energy to, and our leisure time.
This video is sponsored by Blinkist Until about 1900, all we had was classical mechanics. This is the mechanics of Isaac Newton and James Clerk Maxwell. But after 1900, Max Planck ushered in an era of quantum mechanics. And it explained the various anomalies in classical mechanics, such as why electrons
Do not radiate energy and fall into the nucleus, as they should according to Maxwell’s equations. Since that time, Quantum mechanics has become one the most proven and successful theories in all of science. But, while equations such as the Schrodinger equation are
Superb at making predictions and explaining behavior at quantum scales, when you start asking the question. “what is actually going on,” this is where the controversy starts. Caltech physicist Sean Carroll says quantum physicists are like people with iPhones.
They know how to use it, and can do some great things with it, but if you ask them what goes on inside their iPhones, they have no idea. Similarly, he says, physicists know how to use the equations of quantum mechanics to predict all kinds of things, but ask them
How quantum mechanics actually works, and if they are honest, they will say they really don’t know. But this hasn’t stopped physicists from speculating what the mechanism is. These various speculations are known as interpretations of quantum mechanics. The standard interpretation is called the Copenhagen interpretation because
If was devised in Copenhagen, Denmark by mainly Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg in the 1920s. This is the interpretation taught to most students in college. But even a majority of physicists do not agree that this is the correct interpretation. In fact, there is no single interpretation that has a consensus agreement.
So what is the Copenhagen interpretation? What are the best alternatives interpretations? Why do we even need an interpretation to begin with? Those are some great questions, which I will attempt to answer…coming up right now. The primary challenge of understanding quantum mechanics is that according to the equations,
All particles exist in a state of superposition. That is to say, that the properties of any quantum particle such as its position, momentum, spin etc. is not only unknown, but is unknowable until it is measured. In fact, before it is measured, the particle is said to be
In many states at once. It is not here OR there, it is here AND there at the same time. It is not spin up OR spin down, it is spin up AND spin down at the same time. This sounds crazy from our classical mechanics perspective
Because we never experience large objects being in super position. When you hold a tennis ball, you know exactly where it is and how fast it’s moving. So, the quantum mechanical behavior predicted by quantum mechanics does not seem to fit with our world view.
One of the biggest challenges of quantum mechanics is trying to explain this transition from what is thought to be the behavior of objects at quantum scales – superposition of multiple states vs. their classical behavior upon measurement. The various interpretations of quantum mechanics can be thought of as attempts to explain this transition.
Most interpretations of quantum mechanics focus on the Schrodinger equation and the wavefunction to explain quantum behavior. This equation was developed by Irish-Austrian physicist Erwin Schrodinger in 1926. It contains a wave function, represented by the Greek letter psi. German physicist Max Born formulated the interpretation of psi,
Which is that the square of the absolute value of psi represents the probability of finding a particle in any one particular state if we were to measure it. The concept of measurement was introduced to explain what we actually see when we make an observation.
The fact is that even if it were possible for us to directly observe quantum particles, we would never see them being in superposition, we would only observe them being in one state or another. We would only see the spin as up or down, not up and down.
Presumably, our observation acts like a measurement that destroys the super position. To give you an intuitive feel, let’s look at some of the interpretations in terms of the famous Schrodinger’s cat experiment. This is a thought experiment proposed by Erwin Schrodinger to illustrate,
Ironically, what he felt was the absurdity of assigning probabilities using his own equation. In this thought experiment, we have a box. There are 4 things in the box. There is a cat, a radioactive source – the emission of radiation is completely random according
To most theories of quantum mechanics, so this is the source of quantum mechanical randomness. There is a radiation detector attached to a hammer, and a vial of poison gas like cyanide. If the detector detects radiation, the hammer comes down and will smash the vial of gas and
The cat will die. If it doesn’t detect radiation, no gas is released and the cat will stay alive. If we look at this from the quantum mechanical point of view, there are two possibilities for the wave function of this system. If we presume that the quantum system consists of the just the cat,
Prior to measurement, the wavefunction of the cat will look something like this: Where the wave function describes the superposition of the cat being alive and dead. We have one over the square root of two because there are two probabilities and the square of each
Probability will be one half, and thus added together the total probabilities will be one. The wave function always shows that the sum of all probabilities will equal one. In the standard, or Copenhagen interpretation, as soon as you open the box and make an observation,
One of the probabilities comes true, and the other probability disappears. So let’s say you observe the cat being alive, that probability is now 100%. And the other probability of the cat being dead becomes zero, so that probability goes away. This is called wave function collapse,
Meaning the wave function has collapsed to one state – based on the 50/50 probability. The wave function collapses as the result of a measurement by an observer or apparatus external to the quantum system. A measurement is simply an interaction of the quantum system with a classical system. In this case
It is you the observer opening the box and measuring whether the cat is alive or dead. The problem with this interpretation is that it sets two set of rules for how particles behave – one for before measurement, and one after measurement. But it doesn’t explain
How this transition happens. This is often characterized as the measurement problem. Why did the other probability go away. What is the mechanism that collapsed the wave function? Bohr might have said, well, it just fits the data. The data is that we observe only one event,
So all the other events that we could have observed no longer exist. We are just interpreting quantum mechanics based on the data that we can plainly see. Don’t ask me how or why this happens. Or you can say what Richard Feynman said when asked the question, “Just shut up and calculate.”
This is just not very satisfying because we, and, I won’t speak for you, but at least I, need to know what’s really going on. A popular alternative, the many worlds interpretation of the same event would be
That no collapse occurs. The wave function is the only true nature of reality. It never goes away. This interpretation was formulated by Hugh Everett in 1957 as a graduate student at Princeton University. And the followers of this interpretation, sometimes referred to as
Everettians, say that this is the simplest and most basic interpretation of quantum mechanics because it introduces no other assumptions or equations, other than the Schrodinger equation. In our cat analogy, the distinction that the many worlds interpretation makes vs. the
Copenhagen interpretation is that it says, hey, you as the observer are also a quantum system, and you are entangled with the cat. So the wave function includes more than the cat. It also includes you, the observer. It would look more like this,
Where one part of the wave function is that the cat is alive, and you observe it as such, and the other part where the cat is dead and you observe it dead: That is one wave function. When you opened the box, the reality that you observed,
Where the cat is alive, is but one world. However, there is another world in which you would have found the cat to be dead. Both worlds where you found the cat alive and where you found the cat dead exist.
You just happen to find yourself in one of them. So the question is why do we find ourselves in the one branch where the cat is alive, and not the other one? Everettians argue that other versions of ourselves in the other worlds are asking the same question.
You just happen to be asking it in the world you find yourself in. Every universe is equally ‘real’ to those living in it. To embrace this interpretation, you have to accept that many, perhaps infinite, worlds exist, all with different quantum outcomes. The problem is that
This does not seem to fit with our experience, because we have no inkling of the other versions of ourselves. Where are the other ones? If we really are entangled with the cat, then shouldn’t some part of me feel like I saw the cat alive as well as dead?
But this never happens. There is never a world where I see the cat both dead and alive, where half of me saw the cat alive, and the other half saw the cat dead. So how does the split of the worlds occur? Everettians say it is due to decoherence.
So what the heck is decoherence? Quantum decoherence is the physical process that is used to describe how quantum states transition to the one state that we experience. The Copenhagen interpretation treats wave function collapse as a fundamental process without explaining the details of how it happens. Decoherence attempts to explain what appears to be
Like wave function collapse, but in MWI-speak, it is a splitting of worlds. No wave collapse actually occurs. If the universe was composed of only you and the cat and nothing else, then you and the cat would be in a coherent superposition. This would be represented by our original equation here:
The key realization is that in reality, you have more than just you and the cat entangled. Both you and the cat will also be entangled with your environment because THAT is also a quantum system. So, for example, the cat will be entangled with what’s inside the box,
Atoms of air, photons from black body radiation, etc. All these objects will be entangled with the cat. And you will also be entangled with your environment. The environment inside the box for a cat that is alive will be different than the environment for a cat that is dead.
Why? Because a dead cat’s interaction with the air molecules and photons will be different, not only because it’s position will likely be different, but also other factors such as heat produced etc. So Psi now looks like this, where there is an added component of the cat
And you being entangled with environment 1 in one case, and environment 2 in the other case: These two environments are completely different. Because the entanglement with the environment now enters the picture, the coherent superpositon between you and the cat is broken.
The Schrodinger equation says that the two parts of the wave function above are perpendicular to each other, that have no connection to each other. This can be interpreted as two separate worlds. It is as if the universe splits into two separate realities. This is decoherence.
Decoherence is another way of explaining how quantum superposition gets lost, by interaction with the environment. You can also think of this as the quantum nature of the original 2 component system leaking information into the environment due to it entanglement with the environment. I
Made a video about information leak using tennis balls, if you want to check it out here. The problem is that since there is no overlap between the branching wave functions, no communication or connection between the worlds exists. So it is unclear whether we
Could ever verify whether the other worlds exist. The only evidence is the mathematics of the Schrodinger equation. An experimental verification may not be possible. Now if the idea of quantum superposition and randomness makes you uncomfortable, I want you to relax because there are completely deterministic interpretations as well.
One is the de Broglie-Bohm, or pilot wave theory, also known as Bohmian mechanics. Another fascinating theory I like is an Objective collapse theory by Roger Penrose, who combines principles from general relativity with quantum mechanics. And these two, along with some other crazy interpretation will be the subject of my next
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– Well I was always told an explicit “no” on that, based in particular on 2 Corinthians 6, and in verse 14 Paul says to not be “unequally yoked with an unbeliever, for what partnership “does righteousness have with lawlessness?” So I grew up thinking that the apostle Paul
Was talking about dating when he used this metaphor of the yoke, being joined to someone, so that the direction one goes, the direction the other one goes. And so I only have since learned that Paul actually is not talking about dating and marriage relationships explicitly there;
He is rather talking about who the Corinthian believers were going to yoke themselves to, were going to join themselves to, between the false apostles and Paul himself. And so these false apostles, they came with a message that had a lot of Gospel elements to it,
But it wasn’t the full Gospel, it was some other message that appealed to the believers in various ways, by flattering them, by the apostles themselves acting like they were superior because of their more evident gifting. They tried to present that as evidence to these Corinthians
That God was with them, and then they pointed at Paul and said look how weak he is, look how nothing he is. Look at all the things he says that seem so impressive but actually when he shows up, he’s not that impressive. And so they used that as evidence
That God was not with Paul. Now, I think the answer to the question should a Christian date or marry an unbeliever, the answer’s no. And I think I would actually use this same verse. A verse that’s not explicitly about dating actually gives us a very important principle that we then
Apply to all of our relationships including dating. And that is, this principle that we all have this tendency to join ourselves to what appears to be the most impressive according to standards that may or may not line up with God’s. And so really, Paul’s instruction here
Is an appeal to the believers to be impressed with what God’s impressed with, to value what God values, and then to make your decisions relationally based upon those. So that has everything to do with dating. What we love, what we join ourselves to, we will be like.
And so when we apply that to dating and eventual marriage, what that person you’re dating loves will shape what you love. And if that person does not love God, it will absolutely shape and influence your ability to love God as well. So what they do positively love
You will be more compelled to love and so it’s a stewardship of your heart to assess the people around you that are options for marriage, to assess them according to God’s values, what God says is most important, what God says is most true, what God says is most life-giving,
And not to listen to what the world says is most valuable or most life-giving. And Paul knew this. And so Paul was trying to say to them their “love” for you is a self-serving version of love, where they’re using you in order to create a greater platform of influence for themselves, whereas,
And this is what the entire book of 2 Corinthians is about, whereas I have suffered for you, I have taken on loss in order for me to be able to build you up in Christ; that is the definition of love. So real love has at its purpose the building of that in someone.
And so what exists in a dating and moving towards marriage relationship between a believer and an unbeliever is that one of the core purposes of love just simply can’t be. And so, this is why I think Paul, we can construct a very compelling argument from a lot of what Paul says,
And a lot of what the rest of Scripture says, why a believer should not be dating an unbeliever. We haven’t made a distinction yet between dating and marriage, because I’m seeing dating as the purpose of moving towards marriage. The reason I do that, and I don’t just have
Dating as its own separate fun thing to do that doesn’t involve marriage, is I don’t think the Bible gives us a category for romantic connection, increasing self-disclosure and intimacy merely for the purpose of enjoyment or pleasure. It’s always for the establishment of this permanent relationship when it’s between a man and a woman.
So let’s get practical for a moment. What do you do if you’re currently in a dating relationship with an unbeliever? Well, I have heard many people justify that reality by calling it “missionary dating,” where they want to have a strong influence on them.
And honestly, I think people are sincere when they say this, so I’m not doubting the sincerity of that; you want their good in them coming to Jesus Christ. But I would simply challenge you with what I said earlier, actually is your stewardship for your life and what you love
And the direction of your soul. And you need to take seriously what God says about yoking yourself to someone else; they will in some sense be very influential in steering, that’s what the yoke is, in steering where you go. And so if you really want them to come to faith,
And you’re really willing to trust the Lord Jesus for their salvation, then I would challenge you to think long and hard about who you might suggest being placed in their life, who might invest in them with the Gospel that wouldn’t be in a dating relationship
And have alternate elements of the relationship going on. Because what you think might put that person in a better place to come to faith might actually be a hindrance to them coming to faith. And again, I know the stories of missionary dating “working” in the sense of people really coming to faith.
So I am not doubting that the Lord can do that, but your responsibility is not to think about what the Lord can do but what He tells you to do. And then also thinking practically maybe for a different set of people who might be watching this video,
Some people might already be married to an unbeliever, and they maybe have suffered in various ways because of it, and it causes them angst, I just want to say a word of comfort to you, that there’s a reason that 1 Corinthians 7 and 1 Peter 3 is in your Bible.
And both of those passages talk about the powerful effect that a believing spouse, particularly a wife actually, in those passages, but the powerful effect a believing spouse living out their faith can have on an unbelieving spouse. And God doesn’t make any explicit promises for your particular situation;
I realize that and I know you feel the pain of that fact, but don’t let the power of those words in any way be undermined. God is pleased as you serve your spouse and as you are faithful to your spouse, by faith in Jesus according to the strength that He provides,
God is pleased with that. And both Paul and Peter are acknowledging that there’s real power behind that. There’s a mysterious power behind that. So be encouraged that your labor is not in vain, and whatever tears you’ve shed about it, or whatever hardships you’ve endured because of it, they’re not in vain.
So let me just end by broadening our perspective to put this thing in its proper place. We need to remember that marriage is a picture of a greater reality. And it is not meant for ultimate life fulfillment. And so that takes the stakes down a bit,
Because marriage is a gift from the Lord; it’s meant to establish a covenant union between two people that displays Jesus’s love for His church, that’s what it’s meant for. And so when we keep that purpose in mind, it helps us put this whole thing in perspective,
Where we don’t get to use dating and marriage for our own purposes alone. So the general instruction that a Christian should not date and marry an unbeliever, it’s not prejudiced, it’s not tribalism. It’s a statement of the purpose of marriage being for something larger than our own earthly satisfaction.
It’s a larger picture; it’s helping each other learn to love God and to do what He says through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we use it for His purposes and not for our own. – [Narrator] Thanks for watching Honest Answers. Don’t forget to subscribe.
There is a war that is being waged between good and evil. Faith in God will lead us in one direction, the lack of faith will lead us in another. I have seen many manifestations of evil. Exorcism is the only cure for one who is truly demonically possessed.
The Catholic Church knows that most of these claims are baloney. They cling to this because they’re afraid to give up that last vestige of the supernatural. If there’s no demons, maybe there’s no devil . And if there is no devil, maybe there’s no God. I am Father Vincent Lampert.
I’ve been a Catholic priest for the past 25 years. I was appointed by my archbishop to be the exorcist for Indianapolis. It was not a position that I sought. But in 2005, the archbishop selected me for the role. He told me that he wanted a priest who believed in the reality of evil,
But not one who would be so gullible as to believe that everybody who came to him was actually up against the forces of evil. When I was appointed, I became 1 of only 12 officially appointed exorcists in the United States That number has now grown to around 50.
Some people will dabble in things of the occult. Believing that perhaps they’re just fun and entertaining But what they may not fully realize, is that they’re dabbling with evil. and they could be opening up an entry point for evil into their lives Take this, all of you, and eat of it
For this is my body, which will be given up for you I’m the pastor here at St. Malachi parish in Brownsburg, Indiana The parish has approximately 2500 families just around 9000 parishioners. There are many people who laugh at the notion of demonic possession. or even the reality itself.
But the Catholic Church does teach that evil is a reality and it is personified in the person of the Devil. Over the years, exorcism has undergone many different transformations. Exorcism goes back even before the time of Christ. But exorcisms became truly efficacious, or real, with the coming of Christ.
The oldest formalized version of the rite of excorcism would date back to 1614. It was revised in 1999. Some of the manifestations I’ve witnessed over the years seem kind of incredible, incredulous. I think that the manifestations that one sees in movies such as The Exorcist – all that truly is possible.
Eyes rolling in the back of the head, foaming at the mouth, growling and snarling like a wild animal, strong stenches, the temperature in the room will drop, bodily contortions. I remember a person who began to levitate during an exorcism. Now these manifestations are meant to distract the exorcist.
I learned quickly that the exorcist should not focus on the manifestations of evil, but focus on the power of God that is at work. There’s an international association of exorcists. Which received official Vatican approval about 2 years ago. I am a member of that organization.
And there’s a gathering in Rome every other year. Demonic possession is extremely rare. 1 out of every 5000 people who contact me is a genuine case of demonic possession. FATHER: Hello Mary. How are you? Obviously this is a ministry that I cannot do alone,
So there is a lady that works with me. I jokingly like to refer to her as my exorcis-tant. She’s really the first line of defense. The majority of people that she talks to just need a listening ear. I can help answer any questions that you have.
MARY: Well I got a revolving list right now of some people that are local because they would be in our diocese. I have that one guy from southern Indiana that keeps calling. I dont think he remembers all the times that we’ve talked because he always acts like
No one has ever talked to me or ever tried to help me. FATHER: And that’s what gives credence to the fact that this is truly something of a mental health issue as opposed to something that’s demonic. MARY: Of course it doesn’t help too because I also was talking to another priest.
He was telling me that he doesn’t believe any of this. FATHER: Some people will accept what the church believes and teaches about the reality of evil. Some people won’t. I am Dr. Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic magazine, and the head of the 55000 member strong Skeptic Society. I have two graduate degrees
One in Experimental Psychology and the other in the History of Science. My speciality really is understanding belief systems how the mind works related to why we believe anything that we believe in. The investigation of exorcisms has been popular since we started the magazine really because it kinda comes and goes
Depending on what’s hot in popular culture. You know the research says 1 in 10. Americans claim that they’ve seen an exorcism. I suspect most of those are people that have seen The Exorcist or watched a documentary on TV or something like that. If you go on YouTube and just type in demon possession
There’s thousands of videos. You could spend an hour and be an expert on what they’re supposed to look like. The church has a list of criteria for what would constitute a possession. Speaking in tongues, glossolalia, is one of them. Spouting off this sort of sequence of syllables It sounds nonsensical
And then somebody interprets it. Now we know because we’ve had linguists analyze recordings of what is being said and they say this is not a language. It’s just babble. It’s lliterally a psycho-drama The music, the chanting, the dancing, the singing. It gets you caught up into it. It’s like a rave.
You feel the emotions. You feel the brain chemistry changing. The hormones pumping through your body. Contorted body postures and the writhing on the ground, the utterances. It’s just imitation. I’ve actually gone up to one of these. I could almost feel like, “Okay, here I go.” I could almost feel it coming on.
I wasn’t even a believer. This is imitation. It’s roleplaying. In addition to these exorcisms being nonsensical, from a scientific perspective. They’re also dangerous. There have been people killed. Suffocated. Tortured. It’s not a harmless exercise in entertainment. It’s potentially very dangerous. Once you start to believe something, the confirmation bias kicks in.
In which you look for confirming evidence that it’s true, and you ignore the disconfirming evidence. Everybody does it. Unfortunately, this leads to great distortions of belief. There’s no such thing as the paranormal or the supernatural. There’s just the normal, the natural, and the things we haven’t explained yet
FATHER: This is where I performed my most intense case of exorcism. It took place 5 years ago here in this convent. The items I use for exorcism. In addition in my bag, I also have the holy water that I would use. We came into the space.
The spouse who was very strong and confident in his belief The woman who was afflicted sat down here. You could smell in the air the sense of perspiration just the anxiety of what was about to take place. No sooner did the drops of water hit the head of the lady,
Then the manifestations began immediately. She exhibited vocal outbursts. Speaking in languages that she didn’t otherwise know, exhibiting strength beyond the normal capacity of a person, and also an aversion to things of a sacred nature. All this was going on while I was praying *PRAYING IN LATIN*
I commanded the demon leviathan to depart immediately. Then the demon that had been speaking in this very strong, authoritative voice began to speak like a little baby. Then looked at me and said “Hail Mary, full of grace.” and there was a shriek and all the manifestations of evil ended.
Because the presence of evil was now completely gone. FATHER: People will believe what they will. It’s not really my task to try to convince people of something. Because if you are a person of faith, you began with the premise that believing is seeing.
People that may come from more of a scientific background may begin with the premise that I have to see in order to believe.
Because I think there’s a real problem here and the problem isn’t what you’ve said it’s can suffering and evil pose a problem to the atheist as well? Because I think this is the real problem, the problem is for the atheist. Can you perhaps explain why it’s a problem, the problem
Of evil and suffering. I think so too and I think it’s very important to turn the tables when we’re speaking about this issue too because thinking about suffering like I said I think it’s something that all people all around the world throughout history have been
Thinking about, theists, polytheists, monotheists, deists, these people are thinking about suffering, suffering is a part of this world so but i really think that it’s a big problem for the atheists from for three specific reasons. The first thing is when you speak about the problem of evil
You’re actually speaking about an objective standard for what is good and bad and evil and not even and i will speak about that the second thing is that when people are suffering uh it’s really something that goes through their nervous system that you can feel pain is something
That goes through your nervous system and the nervous system is incredibly designed and it really points to a designer. So it’s really an evidence for for God’s existence and the last thing is how to cope with suffering and evil in the world as an atheist. So
Let us speak about the first thing when we speak about the problem of evil let me say because this is … I’ve seen Stephen Fry he’s a very famous British comedian and and so on he’s an
Atheist he says he’s an atheist and he was going on about how evil suffering was he used the word evil repeatedly and many people found this very very ironic and contradictory just this is a real problem so real atheists are really saying it’s evil and you can see Stephen
Fry going on and on about this on youtube so why is that a problem for atheism i think that most most general atheists they have a sense inside of themselves it’s a part of the Fitrah, the natural instinct that there are some objective moral goods and evils that they think that this and
This and that are objectively good it’s not just my opinion and the opinion in my culture this is good to help children that are starving it is a good thing to do it’s not just my opinion that
It’s good it’s a good thing to do and holocaust and so on they are evil things it’s not just my opinion that it’s evil it’s evil but if you’re an atheist you don’t you can’t have these objective moral standards because everything just goes down to personal beliefs or feelings
And we can see that atheists that really take the atheism to this extent like you can see Alexander Rosenberg he’s a professor of philosophy as a book that is called Atheist Guide to Reality and when he speaks about these issues he said there are no such thing as good, bad,
Evil, and so on it’s just you should do good things because it makes you feel good but there are no objective moral standards for good and evil in ethics atheistic worldview you
Can even see like i don’t know if you read the books of Noah Harari: Sapiens A Brief History of Humankind, and Homo Deus, deals they’re quite interesting books when he’s speaking about these things because he’s a
Real darwinistic atheist and he takes all these things to it’s he’s a real nihilist so when he speaking about human rights he said there is no such thing as human rights because human rights are based on the belief that humans are created equal from a creator this is the
Declaration of the Independence of the United States people are not created in his view there have evolved evolved and they are not equal they are different people are different so how can you speak about human rights this is a metaphysical concept it’s like we don’t have any
Rights we’re animals we’re evolved animals so when atheists usually speak about these things i think they kind of go back to their Fitrah, their natural instinct, that there are some objective moral good and evil they’re using religious language yeah they’re illegitimately borrowing some religious language of good and evil as metaphysical objective concepts
Whereas in fact truly as their own philosophers have said there is no good or evil for atheists so actually it’s it’s a bit of a um a tricky argument because they’re borrowing religious language and saying oh but we’re not we don’t believe in religion they can’t really do that consistently
Yeah and the the second thing is the nervous system uh why do people suffer why do you feel pain when i do like this because i have a nervous system if i would not have a nervous system
I will not feel pain when i do this and this and that and i’m not a doctor so i can’t speak about how the whole nervous system is built up and so on but you can just go into youtube and write a human
Nervous system and you can when you see these things it’s just Allahu Akbar like Subhanallah how just in a microsecond when you do like this you can feel straight away in a microsecond pain
And if we would not feel pain we can lose our legs so we don’t know which is that someone cuts off our legs and we don’t know what’s happening with us so it’s really a signal for us that there’s
Something wrong here there’s something wrong in your body here you can feel pain here okay you should go to the doctor you should look it up and so on and this is pure design and the sign
Points to a designer so the whole thing the whole concept of suffering goes back to an incredibly designed nervous system and the third thing that i think it does not really disprove atheism but it’s if you really think about the atheist worldview
And you can see that they are suffering or people around them are suffering how can they find like uh consolidation or how can they find some kind of comfort i used to have a neighbor in sweden who was an atheist on a countryside when he was feeling pain
He was old and he had chronic pains or something like that and he used to find comfort in saying well it would all go away in the crematorium when i die and will cover that all of my pains will go
Away this was his way to find the hope that he will lose pain and he’s yeah in his worldview it’s right how can they find something if we look at the hadith that i mentioned the ayat of Allah
And hadith of the prophet upon whom be peace and you suffer you can really feel like ok okay i can take this because it will take away my sins and i’ll have a reward in the next life and so on and so on so you
Can feel comfort that God will reward us for all of these things but as an atheist what if you have chronic so you feel chronic pain chronic diseases suffering the only thing that will take it away is death and it’s like okay after death what’s there it’s nothing so i think that
This is really it’s really depressing if you really think about what atheism means it’s depressing because okay you strive today you study and you work you gain money and you gain fame but at the moment that you die everything inc in accordance to your worldview finish nothing there
And how can you you can see that people are suffering people oppressing others you could see that Hitler it took over like almost the whole of Europe he killed people by the millions and when the Russians came close killed himself and he’s finished we as muslims believe that
He will be responsible allah azzawajal will have him responsible for his needs and his actions at the same time all of these people that died and so on and people that die and wars and so on uh Allah azza will make justice in the next life so when you believe
In that it really gives you comfort and it makes you cope with the hard hardships of life and the sufferings of life but i can’t really see how an atheist can feel that it’s very hard for me so i think that the problem of suffering is really a problem for the atheist
Yeah and yeah this is the great great irony actually that this problem actually uh rebounds back on them with incredible force uh for the three reasons uh that you mentioned they can’t complain about evil evil doesn’t exist for them and then and in their and their
Exquisitely designed nervous system bears testimony to a designer anyway and anyway atheism is his hopeless nihilistic literally god forsaken ideology which offers no consolation or hope to humanity so it really rebounds back on atheism very painfully for them I think.
The devil the bane of human existence. The personification of evil, appearing in some from in almost every human religion and thought. The problem of evil is a touchstone of any religion. From our direct confrontation with evil results suffering, and thus endless questions about the meaning of life.
That is why all religions have to give a proper answer regarding the origin, nature and end of evil. The general pattern in Eastern religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism is to consider evil as the effect of spiritual ignorance. But in many ancient religions, pantheistic religions and Judaeo-Christian religions evil has a face.
Anthropologists say that the story of religion starts with animism – the concept that all people, animals, plants, water, air, the world and the heaviness are all spiritual beings. Anthropologists state that this was a means for man to interpret and understand the meaning of life and the world around them.
These Ancients also often believed in evil spirts, often people who could not find rest in the afterlife spirit and that disturbing the natural order of things brought pain and was the cause of evil and pain in the world.
This system of belief still exists in some parts of the world, notably Africa, and it led naturally to the pantheism found in ancient societies like Greece and Rome. And it also led naturally to the eastern spiritualist religions as well. In eastern religions the concepts of animism lead naturally to the concept that physical
Matter was bad and the spiritual was good. In these religions pain is caused by attachment to the harsh physical world and to truly gain power and perfection is to escape physical existence. Meanwhile this animistic thought lead to the concept that beings were the cause for all the pain and destruction in the world.
In many ancient religions such as the religions of the Aztecs, Egyptians, Greeks and Romans evil was explained through the imperfections of the gods and by gods of chaos and destruction who manifested evil. In many of these ancient religions good and evil were at war with each other and this
Led to dualistic religions such as Zoroastrianism where good (Ahura Mazda) and Evil (Angra Mainyu) oppose each other. Angra Mainyu – meaning evil spirit attempts to undermine god’s creation by creating death and tempting mankind to sin. Anthropologists often state that these religions owe Zoroastrianism for the concepts of heaven
And hell and Satan, but naturally Christians, Jews and Muslims would not accept this view. This brings us to the Judeo- Christian religions Jews, Chrisitans and Muslims explain evil entering the world through the creation account but all of them view the devil very differently.
Devil comes from the Greek word diabolos, “slanderer,” or “accuser” which is a translation of the Hebrew word Satan. Judism has an unclear view of the devil and view in judism vary from just being a metaphor to being an opposer to God.
Some Jews even think of satan as being an agent of Gods or even someone who acts as a courtroom prosecutor. The word satan appears numerous times in the Hebrew bible, but often it is unclear whether it is an evil spirit or an agent of god.
Forinstance in 2 Samuel 24:1 god tells David to have a census and 1 Chronicles 21:1 says that god did it. In the book of Job Satan speaks to god concerning Job and seems to be acting as ‘devils advocate’ no pun intended.
But it is clear that satan is an evil force in other passages like 1 king 22 and in the book of samual in the from of a evil spirt harassing saul. In Christianity satan is more clearly a fallen angel and an opposer to God.
The new testament interprets passages of the old and identifies the snake in the garden as being the devil. Romans (16:20) and revelation (Rev. 12:9; 20:2). Satan acts as an antagonist to Jesus, attempting to tempt him in the wilderness and unlimitly leading to Jesus death by insiting Judis to betray him.
But in this instance satan is acting according to Gods plan possibly without knowing it. The Devil in the end times will attempt one last rebellion but will usimitly fail. The devil is sometimes called Lucifer, particularly when describing him as an angel before his
Fall, although the reference in Isaiah 14:12 to Lucifer, or the Son of the Morning, is a reference to a Babylonian king. The new testament allows for this though, as it often adds second meanings to passages outside of their original context forinstace Psalm 22 which is originally about king David,
Is interpreted to be about Jesus in the new testament. In Islam the devil is often known as Iblis. Iblis also likely comes from the same root as the word devil, but Muslim scholars often link it to an Arabic word meaning ‘without hope’.
Iblis is mentioned in the Quranic narrative about the creation of humanity. When God created Adam, he ordered the angels to prostrate themselves before him. All did, but Iblis refused and claimed to be superior to Adam out of pride.[Quran 7:12] Therefore, pride but also envy became a sign of “unbelief” in Islam.
Thereafter Iblis was condemned to hell, but God granted him a request to lead humanity astray, knowing the righteous will resist Iblis’ attempts to misguide them. To summrise devils appear in many religions in the from of evil spirits or evil in general Some religions use the devil as a metaphor for evil
Some religions believe evil is caused by the physical world and our attachment to it Judaism has varied ideas about the devil, but usually identify him as an evil spirit or a metaphor Christianity and Islam both believe that Satan is a fallen angel or angelic creature who was guilty of pride.
In Christianity the angel wanted to be as great as God In Islam the angelic Jinn wanted to be greater than man What are your thinking on the topic of satan?
We come to the second lecture on Paradise Lost Book one. We will begin with Milton s grand style. We will see the features of Milton s grand style and then discuss lines 195 to 798. Of course, with reference to certain selected passages dealing with Satan s size,
Heaven and Hell, Catalogue of Warriors, Ecological strain, Building of pandemonium, Preparation for the debate in the second book. And then we will pay attention to specific poetic devices, particularly Epic similes. Matthew Arnold uses the expression grand style with reference to the use of blank verse in Milton s Paradise Lost.
He appreciated Milton for this achievement in English poetry. But this achievement fell into a controversy called Miltonic controversy, when F R Lewis and T S Eliot attacked Milton s use of language. However, we have spirited defense of Miltonic style by C S Lewis, William Empson,
Christopher Ricks and Stanley Fish. It s a whole debate we have this book by Christopher Ricks called Milton s Grand Style to understand all kinds of debates that have gone into this Miltonic controversy. According to Christopher Ricks, there are certain features. One: rhythm or music contributing the sound effects in the poem.
The second one is syntax, sentence construction following decorum demanding some long sentence constructions, inversions according to Latin style. This is different from the common language that we use. The next one is metaphor, all kinds of comparisons, extended comparisons,
Embedded comparisons, lots of with lots of allusions we have in Milton. That s a great source of difficulty for us, and similarly, word play or pun with words, play with words in different ways. Milton may use words in different forms with or archaic meanings or etymological sources
Or he may play with different words in different ways. So, these contribute to Milton s grand style. We have discussed his grand style in the beginning so that as we discuss the passages, we can pay attention to
These features, rhythm, syntax, metaphor and word play. And finally, when it comes to poetic devices and epic similes, we can further reinforce our understanding of grand style later. Let s look at Satan’s size; Satan s body was a monstrous size. How does Milton present the huge
Body of Satan to us? Prone on the flood, extended long and large, Lay floating many a rood, in bulk as huge As whom the fables are name of monstrous size,
Titaniun, or Earth – born that war d on Jove, Briareos or Typhon. whom the den By ancient Tarsus held or that sea-beast Leviathan, which God of all his works Created hugest that swim th ocean-stream: Him haply slumb ring on the Norway foam
The pilot of some small night- found d skiff, Deeming some island, oft, as seamen tell, With fixed anchor in his scaly rind, Moors by his side under the lee, while night Invests the sea, and wished morn delays. The body of Satan was so gigantic, so titanic
Something like a titan, warring with Jove. And the sea beast Leviathan is also brought in such a huge beast, is so huge that it it could be like an island for a sailor to anchor his ship. Such is the shape of Satan. Very crucial passage for us to understand
What is heaven and hell. Farewell happy fields Where joy forever dwell: Hail horrors, hail Infernal world, and thou profoundest Hell Receive thy new Possessor: One who brings A mind not to be chang d by Place or Time.
The mind is its own place and in it self Can make a heav n of Hell, a Hell of Heav n. What matter where, if I be still the same, And what I should be, all but less than he
Whom Thunder hath made greater? Here at least We shall be free; th Almighty hath not built Here for his envy, will not drive us hence: Here we may reign secure, and in my choice
This is a height of arrogance from Satan. To reign is worth ambition though in Hell: Better to reign in Hell, than serve in heav n. What is hell? The mind is its own place and
In itself can make a heaven or hell, a hell or of heaven. He may be pushed down from paradise that is heaven to hell but his mind doesn t change. He will remain with that ambition to fight with God to equal or to become superior to God
And his chief philosophy is better to reign in hell than serve in heaven. He doesn t want to be a servant; he wants to be a master. Master for, master for all things of the world,
Supreme Being of the world. How can, how can there be so many Gods with equal power? Satan does not think about that. Satan I do not care for God; I want to be better than, more than God. This is a typical individualistic Protestant philosophy, which has found excellent expression
Through Milton s character called Satan. That s why many critics have found that Milton is able to express his own independent spirit and mind through Satan much more than anything else. Satan has a shield which is compared to the moon in terms of size.
His scarce had ceas d when the superior fiend Was moving toward the shore; from the burning lake his ponderous shield, Ethereal timber, massy, large and round, Behind him cast; the broad circumference
Hung on his shoulders like the moon, whose orb Through optic glass the Tuscan artist views At ev ning from the top of Fesole, Or in Valdarno, to descry new lands,
Rivers or mountains in her spotty globe. His spear – to equal which the tallest pine Hewn on Norwegian hills, to be the mast Of some great ammiral, were but a wand. Very interestingly Milton brings in the Tuscan optic glass, the Tuscan artist that is Galileo.
It seems that Milton had a chance to visit Italy and at that time he also had the chance to meet Galileo. Through that uptick, that is telescope, Galileo used to see the sky, moon, planets from that place called Fesole or Valdarno. And this through this by seeing this here, Milton
Compares the shield that Satan has to the size of the moon, hung on his shoulders like the moon and also, he has a spear which our poet compares to a tall pine, the tallest pine,
And also it s like a magic wand. We have a simile here in the form of locust. As when the potent rod Of Amram s soAmram s son, in Egypt s evil day, Wav d round the coast up called a pitchy cloud
Of locusts warping on the eastern wind, That ov r the realm of impious Pharaoh hung Like night, and darken d all the land of Nile: So numberless were those bad Angels seen
Hovering on wing under the cope of Hell, Twixt upper, nether, and surrounding fires; In this case, we have locusts, all these angels were coming together like locusts in the sky, like a cloud, in the night and this is referred to in the form of
Amram s son that is Moses. When Moses came to Egypt and he wanted to cross Egypt to Israel, he was given this kind of situation. We have a list of warriors. I have brought them together in one slide without much description these are the names, the warriors. He tells,
Milton tells or request the muse, Say muse their names then who first who last. The rhetorical inputs are there: first, next, behind and all that; Moloch, Chemos, Baalim, Ashtaroth, Astoreth, Thammuz, Dagon, Osiris, Isis, Orus, Belial. These are the
Warriors. They have all negative qualities Gods and Gods with different kinds of sins from human sacrifice to lust, so many kinds of ills or evils that is Gods do, these warriors do. And these warriors are ready to fight with God and all of them are ready, they are in place; Satan
Views or looks at them and then takes pride. His pride, Satan’s pride: Distands with pride and, hard ning in his strength, Glories: for never, since created man, Met such embodied force as nam d with these,
Could merit more than that small infantry. That is actual passage we have to look at, but then how is that infantry great? We have further connections through all historical forces or armies described in other epics. So, we, this kind of description to understand better,
We need to refer to an annotated edition. All kinds of battles that were fought in the past or described in the past in various epics, Milton has brought in here to show, Satan was ready to fight
With God. We have to remember, again and again we have to remember that, Satan is not exactly the hero but there is a question about that. The, this whole epic is presented from the vantage point of
The defeated. God defeated Satan. So, we have a perspective of this war from the defeated Satan. We have strength and weakness analysis in in Satan here. But he who reigns Monarch in heav n till then as one secure
Sat on his throne, upheld by world repute. Consent or custom, and his regal state Put forth full, but still his strength conceal d; Which tempted our attempt and wrought our fall.
Henceforth is might we know and know our own, So as not either to provoke or dread New or provok d or better part remains To work, in closed design, by fraud or guile
What force effected not: that he no less At length from us may find who overcomes By force had to overcome but half his foe. It appears that Satan could, could not have revolted against God if he really understood, if he had really understood the real strength of God.
It was appearing like that he could overcome God but he understood the real power of God only when God used his power to push Satan and all other devils down into hell. So now he has to
Think about different ways, he knows the power of God so he has to defeat God in different ways. One of the aspects of this war and army and all that is about having lot of wealth, a lot of resources. We have Mammon also here in this hell
And there is something to do with ecology; something very interesting in the lines highlighted for you in the last three lines here. Mammon is considered to be the God of wealth or riches. Or cast a rampart. Mammon led them on,
Mammon, the least erected Spirit that fell From heav n for ev n in heav n his looks and thoughts Were always downward bent, admiring more The riches of heaven’s pavement, trod n gold, Than aught divine or holy else enjoy d
In vision beatific; by him first Men also and by his suggestion taught, Ransack d the centre, and with the impious hands Rifl d the bowels of their mother Earth For treasures better hid. Mammon, the God of riches,
He was in heaven along with the Satan and others but he was not happy with the celestial riches. He was happy with the golden riches or material riches which were found in below heaven. So, his eyes were always down, when he came here. Then along with others he ransacked the center of
The earth. He rifled the bowels of the earth. He explored and received or gathered more of wealth from the Mother Earth. And this is the, this is this has lot of meaning in the context of the
Ecological damage that we are doing today. We are exploring the earth for more and more wealth, for ourselves forgetting the health of Mother Earth. We have this pandemonium. Pandemonium is a word which Milton coined and gave to English vocabulary;
Demon from demon, where pandemonium is a place where demons live. All demons live, that is hell. Mulciber is the man who built this pandemonium. Mulciber in Greek mythologies Hephaestus and in Latin or Roman mythology is Vulcan. So here he is presented to us;
Men call him Mulciber; and how he fell From heav n they fabl d thrown by angry Jove Sheer o er the crystal battlements: from morn To noon he fell, from noon to dewy eve. A summer’s day, and with the setting sun
Dropt from the zenith, like a falling star, Of Lemnos, th Aegean isle. Thus they relate, Erring: for he with his rebellious rout For Fell long before; nor aught avail d him now To have built in heav n high tow rs; nor did he scape
By all his engines, but was headlong sent With his industrious crew to build in Hell. At pandemonium, the high capital Of Satan and his peers. The capital, a straw-built capital like that we have here in
Pandemonium, that is, hell. In this hall the devils will assemble to discuss their strategy. We have a simile. Which, this is a common simile used in other epics, bees coming together swarming together: As bees In spring-time, when the sun with the Taurus rides,
Pour Pour forth their populous youth about the hive In clusters; they among fresh dews and flowers Fly to and fro, or on the smoothed plank, The suburb of their straw-built citadel New rubb d with balm, expatiate and confer
Their state-affairs: So thick the aery crowds Swarm d were strait n d till, the signal giv n, – Behold a wonder! – they but now who seem d In bigness to surpass Earth s Giant sons Now less than the smallest dwarfs, in narrow room
Throng numberless, like the Pygmean race Beyond the Indian mount or faery elves, And it continues. Bees, like bees all of them have come together and they are reduced in size, the devils are reduced in size in smallest dwarfs. And once they are called, once they are given the
Instruction, they all move from the lake, burning lake. They, first they move from the lake to the nearby dry land and then the Pandemonium is built there and then they enter this Pandemonium for discussion. It s a wonderful site of their huge size, size becoming small and small. And also,
They become numberless. We don t know how many angels, I mean devils are there. Huge numbers. These are the closing lines of Book one. Thus incorporeal Spirits to smallest forms Reduc d their shapes immense, and were at at large,
Though without numbers still, amidst the hall Of that infernal court. But far within, And in their own dimensions like themselves. The great Seraphic lords and cherubim In close recess and secret conclave sat, A thousand demi-gods on golden seats,
Frequent and full. After a short silence then, And summons read, the great consult began. The great consult began. What is that consult is given to us in Book Two, the consultation regarding how to fight with God. So, the, these spirits, angels who turned into devils,
Incorporeal spirits, spirits without body, from huge size to small size, in some from some numbers to numberless and they have all come to this court, the assembly hall, infernal, because this is hellish. And there is a tautological expression in this and in their own
Dimensions like themselves, there is no other comparison. They are compared with themselves and in their own dimensions like themselves. What is this? We have no idea, this small size; frequent and full alliteration the different kinds of words that he uses, conclave,
Secret place of meeting and consultation. As we saw in the previous lecture some thematic contrast, all of them apply here, specifically with reference to the lines 195 to 798. We can see the comparison or the contrast between huge size and small size, heaven on the one hand hell
On the other hand, pride on the one hand humility on the other, fraud and also force, appearance and reality, particularly when it comes to the real strength of, the real power of God, which Satan and other devils understood after the fight, after the impious civil war, not before that.
Their own strengths and weaknesses they understand and then they think about their own way of coping with what to do next. There is a spirit up in heaven and there is a material down in hell
And we have this crowded or isolated people. All of them are now crowded, frequent and full in this infernal court. And one, on the one hand we have corporeal huge size body and on the other hand we have incorporeal spirits without much body or without occupying space.
So, this kind of thematic contrast we have especially with reference to this good and evil, design, the sign of design, the sign of design of good and evil in hell in Pandemonium we have with reference to Mulciber, Mammon and many other devils, list of warriors we have in this.
We have already looked at the some of the poetic devices. So, we can quickly look at them; epic similes we have in leviathan, shieldless moon, locusts, bees. We have alliteration, just some examples we have here: Heaved his head, stench and smoke, sole, hail, horrors hail. Chiasmus we have;
Greatest example of Chiasmus we can have in terms of defining hell and heaven: The mind can make its own hell or heaven, a heaven or hell, a hell of heaven. We have transferred epithet in terms of happy fields, his ponderous shield, shield, ponderous thinking, it is Satan who thinks. So,
It is attributed to the shield. We have these epigrammatic sentences better to reign in hell than serve in heaven, who overcomes by force hath overcome but half his foe. So, this using force to win an enemy is only half the victory but this full victory probably Satan
Implies through winning God by fraud. We have the image of ransacking and rifling the earth, Mother Earth for gold and other resources. We have the simile in like that Pygmean race and some other similes also we have. And then lastly, we have this tautology and in their own
Dimensions like themselves. There is no additional meaning we have, it is circumlocution. The poetic devices in terms of sound effects and all that we have; it is unrhymed words but we have noted some occasional rhymes; we have tend and defend in 183 and 187; repair and despair in 188,
191 nearby. And then we have pledge and edge in 274 and 276. And similarly, some kind of partial rhyme we can see in anon, discern, down in 325 to 327 lines. We have the wide variety of caesuras and enjambments the mind is its own place,
And in itself Can make a heav n of Hell, a Hell of heav n. The whole poem uses iambic pentameter in unrhymed form that s why it is called blank verse. Here we have a different passage for us to understand this iambic pentameter:
With dread of death to fight or foul retreat, Nor wanting power to mitigate and swage With solemn touches, troubled thoughts, and chase Anguish and doubt and fear and sorrow and pain From mortal to immortal minds.
This and addition of and, polysyndeton you can see, and this dread of death you can see in terms of alliteration or flight or foul you can see, it s a beautiful passage. And Matthew Arnold
Says take any passage from Paradise Lost from the poetry of Milton you can see grand style. We have a number of conventions for an epic poem. Here are some: invocation to the muse, statement of the theme, supernatural element, heroic characters, descent to hell, in medias res, list of warriors,
Epic similes. We have seen all of them in our first lecture and also in this second lecture. We will pay attention to some specific epic similes. Whale, that is, leviathan that is used to refer to the size of Satan. Similarly, we saw this shield size, the size of the shield used
By Satan, the broad circumferences Hung on his shoulders like the moon and further connected with Galileo and other things. Locusts, numerous angels that is, the devils actually, the innumerable angels that is fallen angels groveling in the lake of, of fire compared to a cloud of locusts.
We also have bees the diminished shape of the devils is presented to us in the shape of bees. As bees In springtime, when the sun with Taurus rides. Pour forth that populous youth above the hire In clusters
That s why we have this frequent and full crowded place. In sum, we can see Milton s Paradise Lost as an epic poem on the grand theme of the fall of man. Book one of Paradise Lost describes the background for the entire story.
It introduces Satan, it introduces theme, it introduces the preparation of Satan to fight with God for taking revenge on him by fraud or force. Most importantly this particular book presents the mind of the fallen angels in hell and their building of Pandemonium and their palace.
Milton displays his astute scholarship in language, literature, the Bible, philosophy, different forms of government, etc., throughout the poem. Satan’s speeches, as we have seen, may be examples of the freedom of speech that Milton argued for in his life.
There are any number of readings, critical readings possible. There are many references you can see on your own, these are some suggestive. We can attempt religious reading or secular reading, political reading or didactic reading that is moral reading, psychological reading or sociological reading even archaeological and geographical mapping is possible to do;
So much of information we have in Paradise Lost. We can also think of scientific approach to the poem because it is a poem in the context of growing, advancing science. We have ecological interpretation, we hinted at it in the context of Mammon and his attempt to
Ransack the whole earth. We have feminist readings of this poem, why do we have Eve being treated in the way in which Milton has? It is in the Bible of course. Milton follows the Bible but then he also includes his own perspectives on the Biblical theme.
We have a quotation from William Blake who admired Milton like nobody else did. Blake said, The reason Milton wrote it in fetters when he wrote of Angels and God, and at liberty when of Devils and Hell, is because he
Was a true poet and of the devil’s party without knowing it. When we read Shakespeare s Macbeth, we don t feel bad about Macbeth for killing Duncan. We sympathize with him and the same case happens here when we find Satan fighting against God
Tempting human beings to eat the fruit, forbidden fruit, and making them lose paradise. He does all evil things but then Milton by his poetic language, by his imaginative effort or endeavor, enables us to sympathize with Satan himself.
Finally, we have a summary here. We began this lecture with Milton s grand style focusing on sound effects, rhythm and music, syntax, metaphor and word play. We have seen some examples of all these characteristics in this poem. We have discussed some selected passages
From line number 195 to 798 focusing on Satan s size, heaven and hell, catalogue of warriors, ecological strain, building of Pandemonium and preparation for the debate. Our analysis of this rhyme, rhythm, poetic devices, epic similes, all tell us
About the greatness of Milton s poetry written in grand style, Miltonic grand style. We have some references which will help you further to understand this poem much more. These are the references. Allusion as a Mode of Thinking in Paradise Lost is very interesting
To see. How Milton deliberate, deliberately suppressed the name of Prometheus, Milton Milton s Satan is like Prometheus. Prometheus brought fire from heaven to the earth for human beings and similarly Satan enabled human beings to eat that fruit, forbidden fruit and get that knowledge,
Wisdom or knowledge of the difference between good and evil or innocence and experience. So that kind of understanding you can have better from in a study of Allusion as a Mode of Thinking in Paradise Lost and many you have; multiple sources, just a few we have mentioned. Thank you.
This is the story of how Jesus Christ the Saviour of the world was born the story begins in a place called Nazareth Nazareth was a quiet sleepy little town where most people were farmers and shepherds in this town there lived a young Jewish woman named Mary
She was a very obedient and God fearing woman she helped her parents in the field and did her chores in the house she was kind and helpful to everyone and people liked her very much Mary was going to get married soon to a good and honest man named Joseph
A few days before Mary’s engagement she had a visitor he was a very special guest an angel sent by God from heaven the holy angel Gabriel visited her in her room and called her in her sleep when Mary opened her eyes
She saw a heavenly figure bathed in a pool of white light floating beyond her window it wore bright white robes and had big silver wings fluttering behind him at first she thought she was dreaming but later when she heard the angels voice she realised this was no dream Mary do not be afraid
I am Gabriel God has sent me to you he loves you and you have been chosen for something very special your kind heart and pure soul is of great value to the Lord you are fortunate that God has chosen you above everyone else for this special task I’m not afraid
I’m honour to know that God has chosen me to carry out his wish I am lucky to be a favour to God bless you Mary God is pleased with you I have come to tell you that soon you will have a son
He will be a great King one day and he will be loved by everyone he will be called the son of God Mary was at first shocked at what Gabriel had to say however she remained calm and listened to everything that the angel had to say then she spoke to Gabriel
But how was this possible I’m not yet married do not be afraid Mary the Spirit of the Lord will take over you and you will be blessed with a son he will be called the Son of God he will do great things for the people
He will be hailed as the king of Jews and the Savior of mankind I’m grateful for whatever the Lord has done for me I’m happy to have as a wish come true through me the Lord is with you Mary you are blessed go in peace
Gabriel then left the house of Mary and returned to heaven in a few days Mary became pregnant in those days it was very unusual for a girl to become pregnant before marriage however Mary explained everything to Joseph about the angel and God’s wish and the son they were going to have
Joseph was a good man and he accepted everything he married Mary in a few days in those days the king of the land announced a census he wanted every citizen of his country to be counted and documented since Joseph was actually from Bethlehem he had to go there to be counted
Bethlehem was a long way from Nazareth Joseph and Mary had a long and difficult journey ahead to Bethlehem there were no cars or other means of transportation except for a donkey the whole journey had to be made by foot Mary sat on a donkey and Joseph walked behind them
It was even more difficult for Mary since she was going to give birth to her baby after many many days of walking through the desert Joseph and Mary finally reached Bethlehem it was getting very dark when they reached the town they desperately needed a place to rest and spend the night
But all the inns were full and nobody would give them space to spend the night Joseph walked all over the town knocking at the doors of houses and shops one after the other but nobody would allow them to come in Mary was about to give birth and it was important
That she had a safe and comfortable place for the baby and herself Joseph and Mary kept feeling hopeless after searching for a while Joseph found an empty barn built for cows there was plenty of fresh straw there Joseph used the straw and managed to make a bed for Mary
Later in the night something magical happened Mary gave birth to a beautiful baby boy Joseph made a small bed of fresh straw in the manger and laid him there it was warm and comfortable and the baby slept happily in the manger Mary was happy that the predictions of the Angels had come true
Jesus Christ the Savior of this world was born in a humble manger that same night while Joseph and Mary were looking for a place to stay the night not very far away two shepherds were out looking for their sheep on a hill
suddenly they were blinded by a bright light from the sky they opened their eyes to find a beautiful angel in front of them with long golden hair and silver wings she wore a shimmering white and gold dress which sparkled in the moonlight
The Shepherd’s did not know how to react and were amazed then the angel spoke to them do not be afraid I have come to give you good news tonight in the town of Bethlehem a baby boy has been born his name is Jesus
He will be known as a Savior of the world you will know it is Jesus when you see a baby boy wrapped in the clothes in the manger go to the world’s and just everybody know of this happy news let everybody know that Jesus the Savior of the Jews was born today
Go in peace now and spread the good news the shepherds were happy and shocked at the same time they were overjoyed at the fact that a Savior was born and they ran towards Bethlehem to find baby Jesus
The king of the Jews who had been born in a humble manger when they eventually found the baby in the manger in Bethlehem they praised him and bowed down in worship on the night that Jesus was born three wise men were travelling on their camels across the desert
Suddenly their felt a flash of light come down on them they looked up at the sky and they saw a bright star it was a kind of star that they had never seen before the three wise men were aware of the prophecy of Jesus
They were waiting for the Star of Bethlehem to appear and when they saw it they were overjoyed it meant that the Savior of the world and the king of the Jews was born at the time of Jesus birth the country was under the rule of King Herod
Who was a very selfish and evil king when the three wise men informed King Herod of the star they had seen in the sky in what it meant King Herod was worried that he would lose his kingdom to this baby boy
He told the Wise man to find the baby Jesus and let him know where the baby was although the king informed the wise men that he wanted to find the baby so he could go and worship Him Herod was actually plotting to kill the child
He feared that Jesus would grow up to overpower him someday the three wise men followed the star for several days and found baby Jesus in the manger they were surprised to find the future king of Jews lying in a barn
They found the barn in which Jesus was born a few days after he was born finally the star stopped right over the manger they smiled at Mary and bowed down in reverence to the new baby they had brought gifts of gold frankincense and myrrh for the baby
These were very valuable gifts and only given to Kings it was highly unusual for anybody to give these precious things to a newborn baby however this was no ordinary baby and the wise men fully understood the purpose of Jesus’s birth and so now you know the story of Christmas
And how the mighty Savior of the world started his journey on earth the story shows us that great things can have small and humble beginnings
