In the year 1209 at Oxford, England one of the Clerks (now known as students) of the college was involved in an accident which caused the death of a local townswomen. He fled the scene of the accident which caused folks in the town to discover her. They assumed foulplay and began a hunt for her "murderer". They searched for the clerk at the home where he rented a room. When they didn't find him they arrested and jailed the three other Clerks (students) they found in the home figuring they were accomplices somehow. A few days later they were hanged for the crime.
These acts angered the Masters and the Clerks at the university (teachers and students) and they promptly left Oxford...most of them ending up in Cambridge, England where they set up shop again. These were the middle ages. This is the exact time in history where the stories of Robin Hood were given life.
A couple of hundred years later King James VI believed that the decisions in government greatly affected universities and ruled that universities such as Cambridge should have a say in Parliament...so he created positions in Parliament to be filled by scholars from the universities. Such positions were only given to the unique intellects of each age. They are considered as the most prestigious academic posts in the world.
One of those highly esteemed men was the Reverend Henry Lucas who dedicated his life to government service and to the service of the poor and sick. Over his life he amassed a personal wealth and donated over 4000 books to Cambridge University which in the middle ages was huge. The reason that the middle ages are also called the Dark Ages is because no one owned books and no one could read them anyway...so no one could read a Bible...and there was no reason to own what you couldn't read. Reverend Lucas was unmarried and had no children so in his will he said that property should be purchased and the rents from that property should pay the salary of a Professor in Mathematics at Cambridge...it is called the Lucasian Chair..and is highly regarded as the single most respected teaching position in the world.
Some gentlemen whose names you might be familiar with that have held that Chair over time are Sir Isaac Newton and Professor Stephen Hawking. A name you might not be familiar with is Paul Dirac. He did some of the early work in Quantum Mechanics and Atomic Theory and shared a Nobel Prize in 1933 with Erwin Schrödinger who didn't seem to like cats very much. Paul Dirac was a man of whom Albert Einstein said..., "This balancing on the dizzying path between genius and madness is awful!"
Albert Einstein together with a Mathematical Physicist named
Satyendra Nath Bose created the theories and the math that defined Quantum Mechanics. It is Paul Dirac that took their work farther. Have you heard of the "God Particle"?...or the Higgs-Boson? Paul Dirac is credited for it's theory of existence which was recently just proven at CERN in Switzerland.
I felt it was important to give you some insight into the brains that have discovered and derived some of the knowledge that I am about to push in your direction. As a teacher of mine said...It might leave you blinking your eyes at me like an east Texas toad in a west Texas hailstorm!
The scriptures say this:
Romans 1:20 (NASB)
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
I have often said that science and the scriptures agree. I have also said that if you take a close look at the natural world...you will be able to understand the spiritual. Which is exactly what this scripture written 2000 years ago says.
Over time, scientists have tried to understand how things work...and when they discover an undeniable proof of how nature works they call it a Law. One portion of these very basic laws are called the Laws of Thermodynamics. There are four of them in all but they are labeled as Zeroth, First, Second and Third. The First and Second laws were actually discovered first and a few years later someone discovered an even more basic law so it was called Zeroth. The Person who discovered the first two laws of thermodynamics was Lord Kelvin of Scotland. In his papers he proved that "cold" as a specific thing did not exist. That cold was in fact the absence of heat. In his papers he repeatedly stated the need for some type of measuring system to define the absence of heat....something better suited than our thermometers.
Later on that system of measurement was named the "Kelvin Scale". On that scale at the bottom is what is called Absolute Zero. It is the point at which everything stops. Even the movement of electrons, protons and neutrons in an atom stop.....and when that happens they condense and form something new....a new state of matter called a Bose-Einstein Condensate.
My point here is that we can learn spiritual things from what these scientists have discovered. The question has been asked: If God created Lucifer...and Lucifer became evil....doesn't it mean that God created evil? Doesn't it mean that God is responsible for the evil in the world? Doesn't it mean that God just created Lucifer to fail and become evil so he could be punished? And what about Adam and Eve?...God created them also and they became evil and full of sin...isn't God responsible for the evil in them?
So let me state these facts first....much like basic laws:
God is Uncreate (Has always existed, no begninning, no end)
God is All Powerful (Omnipotent)
God is All Knowing (Omniscient)
God is Everywhere (Omnipresent)
God is Love
God is Righteousness
God is Light
God is Trinity
Please notice that I am not describing Him by what He is not....but by what He is. There have been Catholic priests that over time have tried to put in words a description of the belief in God. Over time they have come up with a couple of Creeds but the one I find more truth in is this one written by Athanasius of Alexandria (Ath-an-az-e-ous) it is called the Athanasian Creed. I am going to print part of it here simply because it cyrstallizes the thoughts:
Romans 1:20 (NASB)
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
I have often said that science and the scriptures agree. I have also said that if you take a close look at the natural world...you will be able to understand the spiritual. Which is exactly what this scripture written 2000 years ago says.
Over time, scientists have tried to understand how things work...and when they discover an undeniable proof of how nature works they call it a Law. One portion of these very basic laws are called the Laws of Thermodynamics. There are four of them in all but they are labeled as Zeroth, First, Second and Third. The First and Second laws were actually discovered first and a few years later someone discovered an even more basic law so it was called Zeroth. The Person who discovered the first two laws of thermodynamics was Lord Kelvin of Scotland. In his papers he proved that "cold" as a specific thing did not exist. That cold was in fact the absence of heat. In his papers he repeatedly stated the need for some type of measuring system to define the absence of heat....something better suited than our thermometers.
Later on that system of measurement was named the "Kelvin Scale". On that scale at the bottom is what is called Absolute Zero. It is the point at which everything stops. Even the movement of electrons, protons and neutrons in an atom stop.....and when that happens they condense and form something new....a new state of matter called a Bose-Einstein Condensate.
My point here is that we can learn spiritual things from what these scientists have discovered. The question has been asked: If God created Lucifer...and Lucifer became evil....doesn't it mean that God created evil? Doesn't it mean that God is responsible for the evil in the world? Doesn't it mean that God just created Lucifer to fail and become evil so he could be punished? And what about Adam and Eve?...God created them also and they became evil and full of sin...isn't God responsible for the evil in them?
So let me state these facts first....much like basic laws:
God is Uncreate (Has always existed, no begninning, no end)
God is All Powerful (Omnipotent)
God is All Knowing (Omniscient)
God is Everywhere (Omnipresent)
God is Love
God is Righteousness
God is Light
God is Trinity
Please notice that I am not describing Him by what He is not....but by what He is. There have been Catholic priests that over time have tried to put in words a description of the belief in God. Over time they have come up with a couple of Creeds but the one I find more truth in is this one written by Athanasius of Alexandria (Ath-an-az-e-ous) it is called the Athanasian Creed. I am going to print part of it here simply because it cyrstallizes the thoughts:
The Athanasian Creed (edited)
We worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; Neither confounding the Persons; nor dividing the Essence.
For there is one Person of the Father; another of the Son; and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is all one; the Glory equal, the Majesty coeternal.
Such as the Father is; such is the Son; and such is the Holy Ghost.
The Father uncreated; the Son uncreated; and the Holy Ghost uncreated. The Father unlimited; the Son unlimited; and the Holy Ghost unlimited. The Father eternal; the Son eternal; and the Holy Ghost eternal. And yet they are not three eternals; but one eternal.
As also there are not three uncreated; nor three infinites, but one uncreated; and one infinite.
So likewise the Father is Almighty; the Son Almighty; and the Holy Ghost Almighty. And yet they are not three Almighties; but one Almighty. So the Father is God; the Son is God; and the Holy Ghost is God. And yet they are not three Gods; but one God.
So likewise the Father is Lord; the Son Lord; and the Holy Ghost Lord. And yet not three Lords; but one Lord.
The Father is made of none; neither created, nor begotten. The Son is of the Father alone; not made, nor created; but begotten. The Holy Ghost is of the Father and of the Son; neither made, nor created, nor begotten; but proceeding.
So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Ghost, not three Holy Ghosts. And in this Trinity none is before, or after another; none is greater, or less than another. But the whole three Persons are coeternal, and coequal. So that in all things, as aforesaid; the Unity in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity, is to be worshipped. He therefore that will be saved, let him thus think of the Trinity.
Again, I have felt that I needed to take the long way around to get to this point so that your brain was prepared for what was to come. So now, let me be specific and to the point: Evil is the absence of Righteousness. Evil does not exist in and of itself...it is not a thing...just like cold is not a thing. But the absence of Righteousness can be perceived and we call that Evil. God did not create Lucifer or Man to become evil. But when they chose unrighteousness they became evil.
Understanding why God allowed free will and gave the power to choose is a valid question and will take some time to explain....but it is outside the parameters of this discussion of the History of Lucifer (Satan)...So we can take it up another time!
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