Some more mulling over science and religion

I was sent a video clip about how a man leaves scientists speechless when he answers the age old question 'Where did God come from?' Maybe you have had it land in your WhatsApp some time?

Geological time is calculated using radioactive carbon dating and such like - it seems to me as though the assumption is always that things have always been the same as they are now. I ask myself questions like: 

• How long was a day 6000 years ago?
• What Sun were we orbiting 6000 years ago?
• What were the levels of radioactivity 6000 years ago, and what impact would significantly higher levels of radioactivity have on genetic mutation and on rates of decay?

If our daylength is determined by the orbit of the Earth around the Sun, and that orbit is governed by the masses of the Earth and Sun, and the distance between them (a principle taught me in 1^st year Physics at Wits), then with the Sun losing billions of candlepower every second of every millennium, and the Earth absorbing energy, and energy is converted to and from mass (another principle taught me in 1^st year Physics) then the distance and orbit must have changed.

When I burn a gas lamp the gas bottle gets lighter and I have to refill it. Who keeps on refilling the gas cylinder of the Sun to keep it all stable?

If many biological clocks, such as many flowers blossoming and other biological processes, are dependant on daylength, what would a daylength have been 6000 years ago?

I use 6000 years because that is the ballpark figure given in the Bible – so what if the levels of radioactivity or daylength are to be determined for 600 million or 200 billion years ago???

Ja well, no fine… What does this ignorant Les Powrie know anyway??? 

Read more in my blog The faith of this scientist and thoughts about a question someone asked me on a beach near Kwelera a few years ago.

When the prophet speaks, the dabate is over

I am a scientist. I have heard several people say the very same thing recently. They have said it in order to convince you and me that we can believe what they are saying about very serious things, the most notable at present being COVID-19 and our approach to it as people, governments, families and communities.

You know, I never thought about the fact that I am a scientist until I heard a colleague say to someone on the phone 'Ek is 'n wetenskaplike by Kirstenbosch'. That was in 1985. Both he and I were working on our Master of Science degrees. That meant that each of us had a Bachelor of science degree - that we were scientists. That was not the destination of our journey, but we were on the journey. I still am on the journey. I am now retired after working in scientific research at Kirstenbosch for more than a third of a century. 

I am a scientist. I love being able to say that, but, as such, one of the most important things that I know is how much I do not know about the great and grand scope of science!  There is so very much to know in science, medicine, chemistry, physics, ecology, genetics, biochemistry, botany, zoology, microbiology, evolution, statistics, data analysis, simulations, engineering, astronomy, geography, population studies, and so many other disciplines in science, that I do not pretend to be an expert in very much. But this admission does not negate my statement that I am a scientist.

I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I hope that you can also say this of yourself. I have come to know Him through many small and great experiences and observations over my years of studying His words and His ways. Far more important than how much I know is how much my being a disciple of Jesus Christ has changed me on the inside, my desires, my motives, my devotion, my testimony, and so much more. Far more important than knowing about or believing in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost, I have come to know God. And so can you as a disciple of Jesus Christ.

I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I know that He is at the head of the Church of Jesus Christ. I know that He has a living prophet in 2021. I cannot emphasise adequately how happy I am to know that the Lord made sure that Russell M Nelson was called in 1984, and was the senior apostle when Thomas S Monson passed away, just months before we would be blessed to be guided by this world renowned heart surgeon. It is not by accident that this 94 year old had not died due to old age, some accident, not even a snow skiing accident! He was and is the Lord's anointed at this time in the history of the world. I thank thee, O god, for a prophet to guide us in these latter days.

I recently wrote an article in my blog about the many kinds of voices that sound around us. I am amazed at how many voices there are telling us so many confusing and conflicting things about racism, politics, theology, crime, corruption, secret combinations, signs of the times, economics, COVID, vaccines, lockdown, and so many disciplines. How can you and I ever hope to navigate these troubled and troubling waters in this world of strong debate? How can the street sweeper, the domestic servant, the goat herd, the carpenter, the architect, the medical doctor, the lawyer, the politician, the scientist, know what is truth? How can we possibly know everything that we need in order to successfully reach our eternal destination that Heavenly Father wants us to reach? 

Being familiar with the Word of God to all of His children as contained in the holy scriptures is really important. Being familiar with His word to us individually in our patriarchal blessings is important. But as important as it might be knowing about Him and having information about Him, it is far better to know Him, His grace and mercy, and to strive to become like Him. 

My personal experience is that He does speak to me as I prayerfully and humbly study His word. I am confident that He is not likely to come and deliver some personal message to me about the restoration of the fullness of the Gospel to Abraham, Moses, John the Baptist or Joseph Smith if I neglect to read about their testimonies in the scriptures that are available to me. The same applies to any question that I may have if I neglect to study what He 'has already revealed', before expecting that 'He will yet reveal many great and important things' to me that I have neglected to read about in what He has already revealed to prophets and apostles in the past. 

I have thought a lot about the statement that I heard years ago. In 1978, Elaine Cannon said "When the prophet speaks, sisters, the debate is over." (Elaine Cannon, “If We Want to Go Up, We Have to Get On,” Ensign, Nov. 1978, 108). 

I know that Heavenly Father loves me enough, and He loves that goatherd on the hills of Transkei, Israel or Chile, or the carpenter in Nazareth, Canada or Australia that He will not expect each of us to figure out which of the conflicting voices to follow when He has called and anointed a living prophet to lead us in 2021. Let us examine the fruits of the prophet of our day and follow his example and give our devoted effort to knowing the truths that He has revealed rather than spending countless hours studying the many conflicting voices that contradict what His prophet says and does. The prophet has spoken, so I have full faith that the debate is over.

We are all equal in the sight of God. Yes, you and I are unique, we are individuals, we are not all the same. There may be one or two things in which our needs are different to the 'average population' in a statistical trial. But I would be very surprised if I am the exception in a lot of things that make my path to Heavenly blessings the 'exception to the rule'. I may need to use a different herb to you to heal myself, or I may need a different food that does not have an allergen, but if I follow the Lord's standards then I am confident that I can safely cross the Red Sea that He has parted despite the voices that say, truthfully, that it is not safe to walk across the bottom of the Red Sea as this deluded man thinks just because he managed to survive being in a basket in the Nile. Many might also have said that Moses was irrational when saying that they simply needed to look upon a brazen serpent if bitten by the deadly serpents in the wilderness in order to be healed. What about those who were sure that the manna in the wilderness had not been tested by sufficient double blind trials and been proven safe for human consumption? 

Following the prophet does not necessarily mean that what the politician, doctor, scientist or lawyer is saying is wrong, false, or misleading. It is simply saying that it is less important to our eternal destiny the following the Lord's prophet.  

The Lord has said through His anointed prophet that social distancing, masks, sanitizing, avoiding gatherings are good for us now, and I follow the example of the prophet. I shared with my family after viewing yet another person speaking against the way that their government is handling the COVID pandemic.

I find it interesting that an apparently prominent 'scientist', medical doctor and attorney, says that COVID is just a flu. She remarks that there is much less flu being reported since COVID hit.

I am a scientist. One of the greatest things that I know as a scientist is how little I know!

I look at the flu and consider how much less flu I have had since retiring more than two years ago. Less exposure, less flu. So - does less flu because COVID is here mean that COVID is just flu? Are the flu and COVID mutually exclusive? Or - has the lockdown reduced the transmission of flu because of social distancing, masks, isolation, sanitizing and avoiding gatherings? I suggest that the reduction of flu might give an indication of how much more COVID there might have been without the lockdown. If flu is half with lockdown, then it might follow that COVID might have been about double without the lockdown.

Just some random ramblings from this old bloke 😉

I am grateful for the restored Church of Jesus Christ in these latter days, for the restored priesthood, for the restored prophetic leadership in these days, and for the restored fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am a scientist and I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I am not perfect. I do not know everything, but I know enough about God, and I have come to know God. I pray that each of you will hear Him and know Him, and know that He lives and loves you enough to lead you through His anointed prophet in 2021.

Miracles performed by the Artist and by His chisels

The unknown artist planned what the family with five children would look like and used a chisel and other tools to achieve the planned result. My son Richard Powrie planned the carving of the two wooden rings and set about using chisels to achieve the result. 

Without the artist, those chisels would not have achieved as good a result - if they achieved anything! 

I have also often thought that it can become quite uncomfortable being a chisel - hammered on one end against something hard on the other. But the results are wonderful...

 I suspect that we consider a lot of things to mean quite different things now to 2000 years ago. I would not be surprised if a number of conditions that people have for which man has developed interventions such as spectacles, hearing aids, wheelchairs, walkers, crutches, leg braces, laser treatment, surgery, transplants, prosthetic limbs, medication and any number of corrective practices enable us to consider those that would have been classified as 'lame, or blind, or halt, or maimed, or leprous, or that are withered, or that are deaf, or that are afflicted in any manner' to be relatively capable now. 

Those that have developed these interventions have been instruments in the Creator's hands enabling many to be healed to varying degrees of their afflictions. Do we give the credit to the Master or to the instrument? Do we praise the chisel or the artist for the sculpture?

A consequence of our interventions quite probably has resulted in an increased frequency of these conditions in the population. In previous millennia many of those that are genetically inherited would have been less likely to have been passed on to future generations because individuals with these conditions would not have survived to an age of having children. Some conditions would have caused mates to not have been selected. So, we have enabled those conditions to proliferate. And we enable non inherited conditions to have less impact and afflicted people can have greater ability to function. In a way this increases our personal responsibility to do and be more than we might have been capable of doing hundreds of years ago. 

The road to Emmaus and me

I have done several two or more hour walks recently in various settings, including karoo, succulent karoo and fynbos. My most recent walk was a 5¾ hour, 14 km walk on the front of Table Mountain and Devil's Peak, marvelling at seeing probably about 250 plant, fungus and lichen species. I love living in this part of the world where I am able to walk in these wonderful ecosystems.

I am touched by the story told of two men who lived about 1990 years ago. They were walking and conversing in a landscape very similar to the karoo. They were joined by a stranger at some stage of their journey of about two hours, and were guided by this stranger in their thinking and interpreting of an amazing experience that they had just witnessed in their country. I hope that I may help others to have wonderful experiences as I walk with them and share some of my thoughts with them.

A couple walking in the Karoo Desert National Botanical Garden

These two men were walking in an area not vastly different to the semi arid winter-rainfall succulent karoo vegetation. They had just witnessed a dramatic event in their city and were discussing it as they walked. They had had close affiliation with a really impressive character that they thought was going to lead them to victory against a foreign oppressive colonialist regime that ruled their land. At the very least, they anticipated some dramatic outcome for their people following all that they had seen their wonderful hero doing on a day to day basis in their country. 

Even with all of their wonderful expectations, their hero had just been killed by the foreign imperialist regime that they despised. It is true that a lot of their own people had hated their hero and had called for his execution, despite their own antagonism towards their foreign rulers. Their own leaders did not want to be ruled by these oppressive foreigners, but they hated this upstart commoner who had such popularity with some of their people. They just wanted him out of the way!

These two people were presenting the thoughts and anticipations that they and some others had about their hero, and the sudden and unexpected anticlimax to the story that they had to share. 

They were about to be guided by this stranger in reinterpreting their observations. 

The stranger initially reprimanded them for being slow of heart to believe in their hero that had been killed. But - he was dead! What good could he do now for their cause? What good would his death do for their cause? This stranger then recounted things that had been said hundreds of years before about this hero and that his death was not a defeat, but actually a victory. This was the very way that the enemy would be defeated - by their hero being killed. This left them with much to ponder. They were not entirely sure what to think!

They had walked for a long time and it was approaching the end of the day so they invited the stranger to dine and spend the night with them. He did accept their invitation and as they were about to eat, he blessed the food and gave them each some bread, then he vanished out of their sight!

These two rather startled men reflected on this remarkable and unreal experience and recognised that their hearts had burned within them as the stranger had been talking with them during their walk. They felt comfortable with these strange things that they had heard, even if they could not comprehend them! 

I am always impressed that if these guys had just got on with their meal and chatted about the weather or the latest triumph of their favourite sports team, and had not reflected on the experience that they had with this stranger, they might have missed their precious feelings. 

They had evidently just walked about two hours. It was possibly already dark, or nearly dark. They immediately set off again to repeat the two hour journey to share their experience with their friends who were also distressed by the death of their hero. 

As they were once again with their friends, they tried as best as they could to explain what had just happened to them - what they had heard the stranger say, what they had felt, and about the stranger disappearing!

Even after being told of the experience that two of them had on the Emmaus road, the people of the assembled group were terrified and affrighted when their hero Jesus appeared to the group as they were trying to come to grips with their feelings and confusion. 

It appears that, as part of His way of making it absolutely clear that He was not a spirit, that He was not dead, but had risen from the dead, Jesus Christ gave a clear demonstration that the resurrection is the reuniting of body and spirit by asking if they had some meat for him. He would surely not have needed to eat, but the disciples would have needed to witness His ability to eat and participate in this regular social activity - that he was not a spook. 

I enjoyed watching the two videos portraying some of the events of the 24th chapter of Luke - the stranger joining the two disciples on the road, and then Jesus appearing to the gathered disciples in the room that was shut for fear of the Jews.

I am grateful for the insights that I have gained as I have pondered the stories of long ago in the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Book Of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, and the Pearl of Great Price. I am grateful that there are enough times that I have not simply chatted about the weather or sports and have been able to have the Spirit teach me things that no man has taught me. I have realised that my heart has burned within me as I have come to feel the complete harmony of truth in so many of the things that I have studied. I am grateful that this harmony of truth has extended to include some things that I was taught in my science and biology classes at university - helping me to see how things that are scientifically possible but absolutely unlikely without God can have occurred because I know that God is there with His divine oversight. 

How can I doubt when I know enough about genetics, ecology, physics, probability and other things that were taught to me at university to know that these things that are possible are almost certainly absolutely improbable without divine design? Beyond that, though, I do not only know about God - I know that God has made Himself known to me in undeniable ways. 

I have felt my heart burn within me on my road to Emmaus, and I hope that some of the insights that I have shared with others on their roads to Emmaus have caused their hearts to burn within them. I hope that I can be that kind of tour guide that does not only share information, but helps guests to learn things from the Spirit that no man could teach them.