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What deserves to be called “miraculous?”

Not just any old event.

Watch our Truth in Two to find out what a miracle is and why the cultural appropriation of Hebraic-Christian words does not come close to explaining the reality of a miracle.

Subscribe to MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).

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When my children were young, I would retell Bible stories. Among their favorites was the account of the man born blind in John 9. Jesus, seeing a blind beggar, anoints the man’s eyes with spit and dirt, telling him to wash in the pool of Siloam. Miraculously, the man could then see. Townspeople take notice. Asked how he could now see, the former blind man recounts the event. When asked for details, the now seeing man replies, “I don’t know.” The account reaches the ears of the religious leaders of the day. The Pharisees have the sighted man brought before them. The same story is told. Instead of focusing on the fact that the man could now see, the Pharisees argue about the One who did the miracle, Jesus.

So, the Pharisees move on in their interrogation of Jesus’ miracle to the former blind man’s parents. Afraid of losing their standing in the religious community – fearful of the Pharisees kicking them out, being ostracized by their neighbors – the parents say, “Sure, he is our son who once was blind. But don’t ask us, ask him; he’s a man who can speak for himself.”

So, the religious leaders, consumed by their hatred of Jesus, try to get leverage against the Son of God by bringing the former blind man in for questioning a second time. The Pharisees berate the man, ordering him to tell his story again. The now seeing man repeats the line, “I don’t know.” But this time, he offers the punch line that my children waited for, the line that any blind or sighted person would know, if they cared to know. “Once I was blind, but now, I see.”

Now our culture likes to appropriate the word “miraculous” to something simply out of the ordinary. A miracle is not some, “Oh I don’t understand it but isn’t it cool” kind of event. Jesus reordering creation as it should be – literally changing a man’s sightedness – now that’s a miracle.

There is much I don’t know in this life. But I know this. Once I was blind, but now I see. And Jesus did that. For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, president of the Comenius Institute, personally seeking truth with new eyes.

If I don’t believe what God says,

Why should I believe what you say?

Watch our Truth in Two to find out why (full text below). This entry is #6 in our summer series on the cultural appropriation of Hebraic-Christian words.

Subscribe to MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).

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The fact that God has disclosed Himself to humanity is automatically questioned by unbelievers. What fascinates me about unbelief is not unbelief. What makes me shake my head is that the same folks who question God’s revelation, want me to believe their revelation.

Think of my skepticism this way. No one is perfect. Even unbelievers acknowledge they do “wrong.” The imperfection causes humans to speak falsehoods. The same people who refuse to acknowledge Truth from God are folks who have also lied, shaded the truth, hidden facts, or ignored other points of view. And these same people want me to join them in unbelief?! As one of my favorite comedians once stated, “I don’t think so!”

In fact, my suspicion of unbelief resides in the word itself. The word “unbelief” suggests that a “belief” exists. I think the same thing about words like “untruth.” If folks are suggesting something is “untrue” I have to ask, “Doesn’t truth have to exist before we doubt what is true?”

I think there is a simpler explanation for God’s revealed Truth. What if we take the Bible at face value? What if we simply hold open the idea that God has communicated Who He is to humans through The Book? How would I prove it?

Again, I’m going for the simple explanation. If I – I’m speaking humanly, now – went about disclosing myself to humanity, I would want to make myself look good and everyone who believed in me, look good. If I wanted Bible writers like Moses or David or Paul or Peter, I would whitewash all the bad stuff they had done. And then, I would make sure all the people on my side were righteous and did no wrong.

Honestly, I think the Bible being honest about a God who has made Himself known, but who I do not fully understand, has the ring of Truth to it. And God showing us who we really are as humans, people who sin, that is a Book I would consider as True. When I look at myself, when I look at all of human history, the Bible’s statement, “All have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory” will make me take a second look at God’s revelation.

You want me to join your unbelief? Then, be honest about your human condition, your sin. I believe the Bible for many reasons; not the least of which is its honesty about what we humans are like. For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, personally seeking what is true because I already known what is false.

HGTV and The Bible.

The “reveal” starts “the show.”

Watch our Truth in Two to find how God discloses Himself.

Subscribe to MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).

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HGTV – or “Home and Garden Television” – has taken watching TV to a whole, ‘nother dimension. HGTV is known for showing the transformation of houses. Sometimes a house is a wreck. The home is in serious need of repair. Other times, the home simply needs what is called a “facelift” giving new life to old bones, making the house “fresh.”

Moving from “old” to “new” on any of the home renovation shows comes down to what is referred to as “the big reveal.” The clients, the homeowners, are brought to their renovated home, eyes are uncovered, or a curtain is removed. The facial expressions tell the story. The homeowners are amazed, they cannot believe what they’re seeing.

If I’ve missed the first 35 minutes of an HGTV show I can always tune in for the last five minutes to witness the “reveal.” I haven’t missed anything because I can see the before and after. What was, and what is now. Like everyone else watching the show, I am truly amazed.

God’s revelation is His big “reveal.” The word means to disclose or uncover. What was hidden is now out in the open. But in the case of The Bible, God’s revelation, God wants humans to know from the outset of the show, from the beginning, Who He is. “In the beginning God” are the opening words of God’s reveal, His Scriptures. In the case of God’s Word, He begins His show with the big reveal, the disclosure of Himself to humans. He hides nothing. The house, God’s world, begins as the jaw-dropping, wow-factor of an HGTV show. In fact, the reveal is still all around us. The created world itself speaks of God. All we have to do is look. His attributes, power, and divine nature, says Paul in Romans one, are clear, “ever since the creation of the world, in the things that were made.”

God’s revelation, the big reveal about Himself, begins with looking around us. If you want the first HGTV show, step outside, look at the creation around you, and ask one simple question, “How did all this, get here?” You want to know who God is?” Start with creation; His first big reveal. For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, president of the Comenius Institute, personally seeking truth by first, just looking around.

What do you need to start a religion?

Perhaps the better question is, why your religion?

Watch our Truth in Two to discover everyone has a religion, subscribes to a theology.

Subscribe to MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).

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“What would you have to have to start a religion?” It was a question I asked sophomores when I taught high school. A cascade of answers was shouted out. “Priests! Holy book! A savior! Heaven!” The responses poured in. I dutifully wrote down each one on the chalk board.

Once they exhausted their ideas I encouraged, “These are all great ideas and certainly should be included.” They knew the “But” was coming as a smile crept across my face. “But, what makes your religion different than all the other religions?” And then I added for good measure, “And, what would it matter if your religion didn’t exist at all?”

Teaching in a Christian context, I wanted the class to carefully consider what it would mean if Christianity were not true. You see, I knew then, and I know now, that competing truth claims are all around us. There was a reason why I entitled the unit I was teaching, “Christ IS Christianity.” All believers depend on the historic space-time event of God becoming human in the person and work of Jesus. All of Christian theology depends on the real, perfect person who lived on earth, died a physical death, and rose again historically from the grave.

For years, a sign that read “Everything is Theological” hung on my office door. Everyone everywhere has a theology, a belief system, a way of life, a mindset or lifestyle that guides their beliefs. In our current culture, people’s theology, their religion, could be politics, the environment, or social justice. If you are a Christian, however, your theology begins with the Christ who IS Christianity. The truth of Christianity is different than all other religions, all other explanations of Truth.

When Pilate asked the about-to-be-crucified Jesus, “What is truth?” our Lord gave no response. He didn’t have to speak Truth. The Truth stood right in front of Pilate. All religions are not the same. The differences matter more than the similarities. So, do you know what makes Christianity different than other religions?

For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, president of the Comenius Institute, personally seeking the truth of important theological words for the Christian.

Do you want “truth” or “lies”?

And how will you tell the difference?

Watch our Truth in Two to find out. We continue our summer examination of Hebraic-Christian words appropriated by the dominant American culture.

Subscribe to MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).

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The New York Times commented on Facebook’s decision in early May to maintain President Trump’s suspension on its famed website. In an early morning headline, The Times declared, in part, “The issue here isn’t the question of what constitutes truth but whether Facebook will tolerate lies.”

Huh?! Isn’t the opposite of “truth,” a lie? Set aside for a moment Facebook’s decision about President Trump. Consider the two words: truth and lie. I had to read and reread the sentence multiple times. I wanted to make sure I was fair in my analysis. What are we to conclude? Do the writers of The New York Times *not* understand that “truth” and “lie” are opposites? I doubt that very much.

What seems to be clear is that The Times, Facebook, Big Tech, perhaps journalism all together, wants to be the arbiter of what constitutes, makes up, “truth” and “lie.” My biblical analysis begins with the Hebraic understanding of “truth.” When First Testament people spoke of truth they began with God, since God’s person is the standard for truth. Truth is not “what,” Truth is “who.” Deuteronomy 32:4 “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.” Notice that the God who is truth acts on it with justice based on righteousness. The Hebrew word for truth gives us our word “amen,” meaning, God is faithful to do what He says. We can count on it.

Truth is not about sincerity or authenticity; nor is truth about the arbitrary decision of social media or media elites to declare something “true” or “false.” Media overlords want to be the “who” of truth, substituting themselves as the final arbiter of what should be said, accepted, or perceived as truth.

Pravda was the Soviet Union’s propaganda mouthpiece. In Russian, “Pravda” means “truth.” Citizens of Russia, indeed, anyone around the world, knew: “Pravda” really stood for “lies.” The difference between cultural and Christian truth is that any objective truth must have a source of truth. The New York Times  or Facebook has a view of justice based on their own moveable standards. Christians, indeed all people, depend on an immovable source, especially if they want justice. For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, president of the Comenius Institute, personally seeking truth based on The Rock of Truth.

The power of words.

The power of our interpretation of words.

If words can be made to mean anything we want them to mean, words can bludgeon or bless.

Find out why cultural appropriation of words by the dominant “secular” American culture strips the original meaning of words, upending both its historic intention and future expectation. Watch the first Truth in Two in the summer of 2021 and our concern for words at the Comenius Institute.

Subscribe to MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).

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Humpty Dumpty sneers at Alice for her use of a word. “When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty says, “It means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less.” Lewis Carroll, author of Alice in Wonderland, summarizes the problem with words. We ask good questions such as “Can I trust what you say?” or “How do you know that my words are true?” We have been arguing about words ever since the snake uttered the famous line about God’s Word, “Did God really say . . .?”

Near the beginning of one class I teach at public university, students use their phones to discover the etymology – the origin of a word – that we are studying that day. Why? I am anxious that my students understand that every term has a past which informs how the word might be used in the present.

Take, for example, the word “think.” When students discover the origin of “think,” they find that the word meant “how something appears to oneself.” Whatever we think about is how we see things.

Do you see?! Even the word “think” suggests that our focus is on ourselves. We form our thoughts. We define our words. We originate meaning. And therein lies the problem. We become the final arbiter; the ultimate judge of what words mean.

Some will argue that words have a long human history and are not owed a Christian source. Surprising, perhaps to some, I agree. The origins, instead, are Hebraic, indeed from the origin of human history in Eden. The first twisting of words was appropriated by our adversary, the devil. And if horror movies are any indication, satan is not going away.

This summer I will concern myself with the appropriation of words. Cultural usages of Hebraic-Christian terms will be investigated; words such as redemption, guilt, salvation, and forgiveness. If ever someone wanted to call out cultural appropriation – which is the adoption of certain elements of another culture by the dominant culture – it should begin with the use (and abuse) of biblical words in American culture.

Both the snake and Humpty Dumpty have a point. As I’ve told my students for years, “Whoever controls the definition, controls the conversation.” Appropriate and reinterpret to your heart’s content. My job is to have you pick up your phone and look up the etymology, the history of words. Acknowledging the source of a word will display the intention of a word and the power that is lost when the dominant culture of the day uses and misuses the word.

For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, president of the Comenius Institute, personally calling out cultural appropriation of Christian words.

Developing habits . . .

. . . of the heart.

Find out why internal discipline is essential by watching our Truth in Two (full text below).

Subscribe to MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).

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Alexis de Tocqueville the French sociologist, visited America at the beginning of the 19^th century to see what made the country distinctive.  Tocqueville discovered a population which lived life based on unwavering, religious principles.  He referred to these internal barometers as “habits of the heart.”

Like Tocqueville, I believe “habits of the heart” are built on universal, transcendent, and biblical principles. I believe that people build these habits from the inside, out. The inside-out habit-renewal creates a transformed life. A transformed life is a self-disciplined life.

But what is the basis for our discipline?  Knowledge that produces personal discipline has its best origin from revelation. Biblical “discipline” from Proverbs gives instruction, supervision, and correction. Discipline has a verbal rather than physical persuasion—an appeal to reason. Discipline beckons; she never coerces or drags the person in, kicking and screaming.  The wise person applies discipline to herself, having learned a lesson.  Discipline must not be taken lightly, nor does it come easily.

Reading stories is the best way to foster self-discipline. Aesop’s story about the frogs and the well tells us it’s best to look before we leap. The story about the fisherman and his wife explains that our greeds can displace our needs. From France comes the story of “The Magic Thread” about a boy that discovers that it is not a good thing to wish time would go faster. King Midas’s lust for more in the Greek tale of The Golden Touch may come at a terrible cost.

For years I have taught students that the twin pillars that uphold all the rest of life are gratitude and discipline. Without thankfulness, we acknowledge no authority outside of ourselves.  Without discipline, we exercise no authority over ourselves. Tocqueville was right: the best change comes from inside-out, building habits of the heart.

For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, President of the Comenius Institute, personally seeking Truth wherever it’s found.

Look up. Bow down. Give out.

Thanks. Gratefulness. Appreciation.

Our Truth in Two explains why gratitude is imperative (full text below).

Subscribe to MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).

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Androcles, a young Roman slave, sought escape in the wilderness from his unhappy life. Finding respite in a cave, he found himself face to face with a lion. The beast was anxious only for the removal of a thorn from his paw. Upon its extraction by Androcles, the lion submitted to the man, caring for him. After being captured as a runaway some time later, Androcles was sentenced to death-by-mauling within the coliseum. However, the lion let loose upon Androcles was one and the same who had benefited from the slave’s earlier kindness.  Instead of attacking the defenseless man, the lion lay at his feet, whereupon both were released by an astounded Roman governor.

The story of Androcles and the lion prompts this question, “How does gratitude change us?” I believe that gratitude is one of the chief pillars of life. Gratitude says that we give acclaim to Someone outside ourselves. Our response to this outside gift giver is the basis for ethics: doing right by how we live. Doing right is proper response to gratitude. Doing right is based on remembering we live because of the gift given by Another. Doing right is a small response to a large endowment. Gratitude caused the apostle Paul to exclaim about Jesus, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” To acknowledge life as a gift of God, one’s whole focus and concentration is moved from ourselves to One outside ourselves.

Disciples of Jesus as Lord bow the knee to their Sovereign Savior both in response to Who He is as well as what He has done. Following His instructions is the least we can do to show our gratitude. “Androcles and The Lion” teaches the lesson that doing what is right is first motivated by someone doing right by us. Gratitude is the basis for ethics.

For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, President of the Comenius Institute, personally seeking Truth wherever it’s found.

We encountered one problem over and over:

The Humanist superstition.

I had great respect for Isaac Asimov’s views.

My students watched his American Humanist videos with me.

Watch the problem my students discovered in our Truth in Two video (full text follows).

It is a superstition to believe humans can bring Heaven to Earth.

Subscribe to MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).

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FULL TEXT: [NOTE – This posting originally ran at WarpAndWoof.org 6 August 2019]

His hair was pure white, a mop sitting atop his brilliant brain. He had written hundreds of books on philosophy, science, and science fiction. Isaac Asimov was a secular humanist, a man who believed that there was no need for God. He belonged to the American Humanist Association and wrote for the humanist periodical Free Inquiry. In my first years of teaching in the 1980s, my students and I engaged Asimov’s articles and documentaries in class.

We had great respect for Asimov even though we disagreed with his viewpoints. Asimov and secular humanists believe in three basic doctrines. One, humans are basically good. Two, humans can become infallible. Three, human infallibility will lead to utopia, a humanist’s creation of heaven on earth.

The famed American author Nathaniel Hawthorne entered a utopian experiment, Brook Farm, in 1841 at Roxbury Massachusetts. The George Ripley farm was a socialist community – all possessions equally held by all participants. The farm was based on the idea that humans are basically good and that goodness can lead to an infallible utopia: heaven on earth. Hawthorne was one of the first to arrive on the farm in the spring of 1841, and the first to leave that same fall.

Why did Hawthorne leave? Ten years later, Hawthorne wrote The Blithedale Romance a semi-autobiographical, fictional account of his time on Brook Farm. Hawthorne explains why the utopian dream would not hold. The problem was one of the human person. He said our nature is “crooked,” what literary critics have called “the human condition.” In theology, we simply call this “sin.”

Utopias fail for one reason: people are inherently corrupt. The reason I disagree with Isaac Asimov and other secular humanists is because I know what Hawthorne knew: humans, by themselves, will never be perfectible.

For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, President of the Comenius Institute, personally seeking truth wherever it’s found.