Gardens are designed—by definition. Consider the Jansen butterfly peony garden at the Henry Ford Estate in Dearborn, Michigan where June is peony season. On the 10th I was riding my bike past it and stopped to admire it and snap some pics. Its visual features immediately tell us that that this is not just a natural flower patch. Wild flower patches usually have no recognizable features of planning or design. But this one certainly does. 

       

This is a garden, designed and cultivated by an intelligent being—a human.  It was designed deliberately, not by chance, to resemble the contours of a butterfly to be immediately recognized as such by other humans, not animals.  That is to say, humans design most things for other humans, especially things with aesthetic qualities. When we do design and create something we usually have the full expectation that it will be intelligible to other intelligent beings that can recognize, appreciate, and understand them as such. Therefore, when we see something with obvious design (especially with aspects of beauty) we know with near certainty that it is the product of an intelligent mind with an artistic flare for the pleasure of human beholders that can recognize and appreciate the beauty and forethought of its design. 

“Come now, let us reason together…”   

 Isaiah, in his book named after him, chapter 1:18

Reason exists and is self-evident.  Here is my reasoning: First, all humans use reason. It is part of what it means to be human.  Indeed, we must use reason, for it is a necessary attribute of the human mind and it is largely by reason that we function in a complex world.  It is also how we self-identify.  You probably have heard the well-known statement by Rene’ Descartes, “Cogito ergo sum”, if not in Latin then in English—“I think, therefore I am”.   A good paraphrase would be, “I reason, therefore I am.”

Moses was an extraordinary prophet and a paragon among the shapers of world culture. As the instrument of exodus, he was a kind of Messiah figure who foreshadowed the true and only Messiah two millenia later. The Exodus of the Hebrew slaves from ancient Egypt was unquestionably a one-of-a-kind event in the world history. What other example is there of a whole distinct people group having lived over 400 years within a powerful nation and having been entirely delivered to freedom, and that without a violent revolt by the people? None. 

This article is being added to periodically as we progress through the chapters of Exodus.  Upon opening it, the most recent post appears at the top from 11/17, and older posts follow starting from 10/28.

Like many people I enjoy the Christmas season, often called Christmastime, or Advent. I especially gravitate toward the more "enchanted" components that inspire a sense of wonder. God designed people with the capacity to perceive and experience wonder, with a yearning for it even. This is why a sense of wonder is essential to certain kinds of movies, and why they are popular.  There are wonderous and wonderful aspects of Christmastime, and people can feel it without knowing why.  For me and many others there is a sense of wonder that accompanies the whole season.