Against Ex Nihilo

Rodney Stark, in The Rise of Christianity, tries to explain the incredible spread of the Christian Church during its first few centuries, using only natural phenomena. He claims it was because of its unique historical setting, or because the Christians made a special effort to convert the widely-distributed Jews, or because women were more privileged in the Church, or because it happened to arise in the midst of Greek/Roman culture, etc. etc. In short, the rise of Christianity was a perfectly natural thing; we should have expected it. It was the right ideology, in the right place at the right time.

I believe the rise of Christianity was miraculous. But that doesn't mean I deny Stark's thesis. On the contrary, I embrace many of his secular explanations. They don't make the rise of Christianity any less miraculous; they only increase my awe! God made Greece, and he made Rome the master of Greece. He spread out the Jews in every city of the empire, and taught everybody to speak Greek. A host of natural phenomena came together and formed the symphony that brought about the rise of Christianity. And God made all of it.

Digestion is a miracle. Yes, it involves plenty of digestive enzymes and hydrochloric acid and bacteria and millions of intestinal villi. That's why it's a miracle. God made all that amazing stuff.

I'm the type of person who likes to find a "natural explanation" for miracles. For example, when Constantine saw his vision of the cross in the sky, it was probably a sundog. I believe most of God's miracles are pieces of his original one: creation. God made the world Ex Nihilo, and He doesn't need to do it again. He's already got all this stuff lying around, waiting to be turned into something better.

5 Coolest Scientific Things

To celebrate Keith Woodford's new book, here are what I consider to be the 4 other most exciting scientific things I've learned in the past few years. All of these are worth doing cartwheels over:

1. Heart attacks are caused by the failure of blood capillaries, not clogged arteries. (2007, Tom Cowan)

2. AIDS is probably caused by an HIV infection combined with selenium deficiency. (Harold Foster summarizes many researchers)

3. The mysterious "x-factor," unidentified for over 60 years, was finally discovered to be Vitamin K2. (2006, Christ Masterjohn)

4. Low-dose naltrexone stimulates endorphin production and thereby promotes healing of all kinds, especially of the immune system. (Bernard Bihari)

A1 beta-casein BCM 7 mutation!

Fantastic news! This has got to be one of the 5 coolest scientific things I've learned in the past few years. Keith Woodford has just published a book, Devil in the Milk, explaining why some organic grass-fed raw milk is good and some is bad. Modern breeds of cow have a BCM 7 promoting beta-casein mutation! Consequently, their milk contains opiates that can contribute to diabetes, congestion, heart disease, lethargy, autism, infection, cancer, etc. Traditional breeds of cow do not have this mutation. Therefore, Holstein milk is bad and Jersey milk is good! This explains why some people respond so well to raw milk and some don't. They're not drinking the same thing!