We must pick up with the zero concept introduced on this date for the Sophomore page. One of the great, life changing concepts of mathematics was the discovery of the zero. For centuries addition and subtraction were skewed by the failure to know, to recognize, the zero. The discovery informs about life that was not deciphered before the order of the zero. Much has been learned about life and meaning from the accidents of attentive persons to the obvious – that a falling apple may indicate a law of gravity, that a melted chocolate bar in a shirt pocket may indicate microwave ovens, and a plus one, or minus one, may indicate a zero as a starting point. There was a zero point for mankind. At the next point, there was either a movement forward (toward adding which is plus one), or a movement backward (toward subtracting which is to diminish, or to have one less than nothing). Theism is on the plus side, atheism on the negative.
The plus is life, which if adopted and cultivated to the ultimate becomes immortal, free of spiritual minus. The beginning gave, from the source, the life that comprises Christian Hope, which is immortality. With positive (plus) forces pushing forward, and negative (minus) forces pulling backward the human being tries to find, sometimes through statistics (with zero the starting point), what the situation for man’s life is, what it has been, and what it may be. The evidence of the studies is revealing and persuasive. The secular physical scientist is by definition limited as to human pluses, so forges ahead in the search. As this is being written articles and news reports are reviewing the efforts of researchers to make life averages of 150 years of mortality. Some claim it will go to a thousand years. The researcher may not be interested in the context for so long life in a nature that offers no more than nature can offer. What addition occurs for the man or woman at fifty years of age? It is suggested that the person may do fairly well with artificial organs, joints, even blood, so to survive. Some corpses are being kept in frozen state so to be revived when adequate artificial forms may be available to make resuscitation feasible. Why bother with such a vision, when a new baby can be born to enjoy life as far as it ought to go, with less cost, greater energy and discovery than may be manufactured in the mechanical person – who must die again. I would like to ask Lazarus, who died twice, about alleged benefits of the dual event. Once is enough, and we move on.
The order of nature, in the evidence, is finite. To gain the pluses, mankind needs the divine. The two (infinite and finite) are made enemies of each other in the mind of the humanist. The plus for the finite is righteousness: the negative is sin. Those following affirmatives (righteousness) live longer, on the average, than those who follow negatives (sin). That which advances life is righteous, and that which threatens life is sin. One of the features of evidence (one of which is statistical study for status of a factor) helps determine right and wrong. A short cut is to find the story of human experience so to know and feel the direction of life on the plus side of zero. The greatest chronicle of human experience is found in Christian Scripture. The evangelical Christian is willing and eager to have that Word stand for the story of righteousness and sin, and their effect upon society and individuals. Holiness is heaven’s standard. The tension is great among forces that appear from the zero position, right or left. God offers assistance to those who choose his preference, the affirmatives, for their lives. He provides resources, in readily available context for life that includes Christ, prayer, Scripture and the Holy Spirit – and the human person recognizing need for resources to achieve affirmative and approved goals. The human male or female seizes upon a factor called faith that gains meaningful context to spiritual resources for expectations. The expectations come first from God, and need to be appropriated by the person so to become effective and determine the course of the mortal sojourn of the person, and some perception of status in the kingdom of God. The story is plausible, even if the why question is not easily addressed. That question belongs to the mind of God, but mystery does not prohibit application of the pluses of God. Under God there is balance. Life is made busy in choosing the plus factors given of God. It all begins sensibly with two factors: faith that God is, and parallel faith that he communicates. (Hebrews 11:6) He insists on being identified so to be differentiated from usurpers. Christian Scripture and Jesus Christ reveal him. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020