Making news headlines these days is James Cameron’s successful solo dive to the deepest known region of the ocean – the bottom of the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean. The National Geographic-Rolex Deepsea Challenge chronicles this amazing feat of exploration which has only been done once before.
Three reflections on this journey to the depths:
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Recently at the Aquila Report, my friend Bill Evans continued the lively discussion on Genesis and hermeneutics, noting a variety of thoughtful concerns. Yet, while doing so, he seems to indicate that proponents of the literal six day view, whether historic Southern Presbyterian, or other, fail to either grasp or fully engage with more sophisticated hermeneutic approaches such as the twentieth century framework theory as propounded by Kline, the day age, or the gap theory.
In his article Evans states, “he [VanDoodewaard] also asserts that the controversial work of Peter Enns represents a “consistent” application of a hermeneutic that finds a place for extra-biblical data in the interpretive process, and that this provides compelling reasons to eschew such a hermeneutic.”
My issue is not with having “a place” for extra-biblical data in the interpretive process. I, and the many capable theologians who hold to a literal six day view, believe that there is a place. To frame the argument in this manner tends to caricature, instead of providing clarity. The issue at heart is not whether there is “a place”, which most would certainly agree with, but rather what that place is in each instance, how it is discerned, defined, and delineated.
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Why is it that learning a second language seems easier for young children? Patricia Kuhl’s TED talk may leave those of you who’ve had to wrestle with learning other languages feeling a bit wistful about an early missed opportunity. For all it should make us very thankful for the loving nurture received from our mothers. It left me musing over what exactly occurred in man as God shattered linguistic unity at Babel. It made me reflect that, as gloriously displayed at Pentecost, by the sovereign grace and power of the Creator, Babel can, and will be undone.
As we continue by “baby steps” to discover more of the incredible complexity of the linguistic ability of the mind, praise God and marvel at how we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14). Anticipate the great day when everyone robed in Jesus’ righteousness joins in with the “great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes, and peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb…crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Revelation 7:8-10)
