Sometimes we're just too smart for our own good, but others...

The notion of an omnibenevolent, omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent God is one of the most common in philosophy and religion. Many people have brought the following challenge: how can God be all-good and all-knowing and still have created Lucifer (with the knowledge that he would fall)?

That argument is intriguing. To add to it, take a look at Leibniz. He says, more or less, that all of the things that happen to us and others during our lives is a part of our essence. That means it was a part of Judas' very nature, his very existence, to betray Jesus. Now, some say that the death of Jesus was necessary, but that only adds to the point. How can an all-good and all-knowing being set in motion events that are going to end in betrayal and violent death?

Once again Amy learns to *swallow* the water and not breathe it in...

Science is to us what the myths were to the Ancient Greeks and the Bible was to early (and some contemporary) Christians. It is simply our way of explaining the world around us. Originally, all of the separate fields that make up the genera "science" belonged to philosophy. As we progressed and became more technical, refined, and observant (the last of which we could really stand to have back), the physical sciences branched out. They became our precious biology and chemistry and physics. All, however, serve the exact same purpose as Zeus and Athena and Jesus and Mohamed.

That is not to say that science is just as much an attempt at validation as its predecessors. Certainly, or so it seems, we've found a much more accurate way to interpret our world than ever before. I believe in evolution and understand why and how the world functions (as much as anyone with a comparable education). Science, however, is simply a product of the real power of the world. Science explains how the moon affects the tides and what makes meteors into shooting stars. I even know why the sky is blue and what makes the sunset change colors. All of these things, however, possess a certain level of beauty, eloquence, and emotion - a level of power - that we will never explain away. This power comes not from God or an intelligent designer but from the mere function of the world and the puzzle-like fit of everything in its place.

This belief is why I appreciate art, music, and good writing. When those things are truly good, they possess a certain amount of the natural beauty of the world. They simply are. Sometimes we just need to be.