Dr Paul Allen

Today, more than nine years after its launch, the New Horizons spacecraft is scheduled to make its closest approach to the dwarf planet Pluto.1 This will make New Horizons the first space probe to closely examine Pluto and its moons during this flyby. A NASA press release states, "A close-up look at these worlds from a spacecraft promises to tell an incredible story about the origins and outskirts of our solar system. New Horizons also will explore—for the first time—how ice dwarf planets like Pluto and Kuiper Belt bodies have evolved over time."2 But scientific data do not tell stories—people do—and this Pluto tale will result from people's interpretation of the data. For this reason, it would be more accurate to state that secular scientists are hoping that data collected by New Horizons will enable them to tell a story about how the solar system came into existence. And although they do not say so explicitly (perhaps they don't wish to offend the American taxp

Luke 14:25–33 “Which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?” (v. 28). While most of the philosophies that have shaped western culture are European in origin, pragmatism is at least one worldview that was born in the west. Its assumptions lie at the heart of postmodernism, that catch-all term used to describe the views that dominate Western thinking in the first part of the twenty-first century. Pragmatic philosophers are generally agnostic as to whether ultimate, transcendent truth even exists. Even if objective truth exists, they say, it cannot be known, nor is it even worth pursuing. Truth is therefore radically redefined. Traditionally, truth is regarded as that which corresponds to reality. However, truth in pragmatism is what “works.” This leads to relativism. What “works” for you is not necessarily what “works” for me. Christianity may make me a happier person; thus, it is true for me. Muslims find tha

Image via Wikipedia "My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding: That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge." ( Proverbs 5:1-2 )   The entire fifth chapter of Proverbs concerns the use or misuse of the highest function of our physical bodies .  Under the sovereign control of Almighty God , a man and woman have been granted the ability, through their union, to make an eternal human being with the ability to accept or reject God, eternal life , and forgiveness. The contrast in this chapter is between the usage of this God-given function in lust or love, adultery or fidelity.   Verses 3 through 6 provide insight into the character of promiscuity, which includes deception ( v. 3 ) and sorrow ( v. 4 ). Psychologists have long recognized that many prostitutes ply their trade out of a hatred for men, purposefully and conscientiously destroying their companions ( v. 5 ).  The solution, of course, is to stay away. Don'

Image via Wikipedia “But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you—see that you excel in this act of grace also. I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine.” (2 Corinthians 8:7–8) Words and their meanings have lexical, not to mention historical significance. In every culture and with every language, we must be mindful to use words carefully and not to allow the meanings of words to get lost in the relativistic vocabularies of those who could care less about the next generation and their understanding of words, their meanings, and the truths they represent. Sometimes, words themselves don’t necessarily lose their meanings but die the death of one, two, or a thousand qualifiers. We often qualify those words that we care about simply because we care about the concepts those words represent. Throughout history, our faithful forefathers have fought and have sometim