Comments at the Hjelle Jar
I thought you were doing a Master's? Did you finish that already?
Also, I don't understand what buying a car has to do with God?
Re evolution, there is a third option. Read the book Ishmael by Daniel Quinn to get some idea of it. Of course, seeing bacteria evolve or evolutionary algorithms work is still far removed from the claim that all life evolved from a single source, naturally.
Hi, Adam!
In order...
1) No, I'm not done with a Master's yet. Cornell prefers to have Ph.D. students, so they accept people directly from undergrad to start the Ph.D. program, getting a Master's along the way. I basically get a Master's either by passing the Q exam or by spending two years here and probably doing a thesis or something.
2) I think we've had discussions like this before. I think the simplest answer is that Jesus said He does. Ok, not directly, but He did say to not be anxious about anything, as He will provide for our needs and take care of us, as He takes care of the birds of the fields. (Matthew 6.) There's far too much unknown information in buying a used car to ever really make a completely good decision, so we need to trust God that He will provide for our needs and not let us waste a lot of money--or if He does, that He'll take care of our needs in the future in some other way.
3) Yeah, I know there is a far cry from evolutionary algorithms or bacteria adapting to speciation. In fact, in some ways, the amount of design work that an evolutionary algorithm requires for success is almost proof for some idea of intelligent design in and of itself--but there is too much I don't know about the details to really say that.
Thanks for the book recommendation. I've already checked it out from the library. It's a novel--I like! I really enjoy reading fiction with a good lesson to learn from it. Thanks! I'll probably write more once I've finished it.
David
2) I don't think we've had discussions like that before. But anyway, might I suggest that your argument that you should rely on God to provide is an argument that you /don't/ need to seriously pray about the car?
3) The point of the book isn't evolution, by the way. It's saying something grander that includes evolution as a side effect. It's also one of my favorite books, especially because outwardly it appears non-Christian or anti-Christian, but (perhaps accidentally) ends up being pro-Christian.
Adam,
2) So--I'd like to hear your thoughts. I can certainly admit that we probably *aren't* praying enough about buying a car--but I'm not sure I follow your reasoning. Is it something to the effect of "I'm trusting God, therefore I don't have to pray?" I can certainly see that we might *do* that easily, but I'm not sure that it is a *necessary* result of my argument. Fill me in.
3) Yeah, I've finished maybe half the book already. 
So far I agree with many of the ideas, and I agree that there are many pro-Christian arguments. I do have some questions--but it might take some more time to really work my way through this thoughtfully. I think I'm just getting into the stuff that more directly applies to evolution. Anyhow, thanks again.
"Is it something to the effect of "I'm trusting God, therefore I don't have to pray?""
Something like that, but only for the specific instance of material possessions. Jesus told us not to worry about material possessions, to seek the kingdom and all these things would be added unto us. In other words, that stuff isn't important and will work itself out.
But if something's not important, why pray about it? Of the N things we could be spending time praying about, why a major purchasing decision, instead of forgiveness or strength to do the right thing or ...?
Ironically, once you finish Ishmael, you might have a better idea of what I'm saying.
"Give us this day our daily bread"
"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?...Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."
You might think that Jesus is saying food is not important and will work itself out, yet he commands us to pray for food, even in the same passage. So I think prayer prevents worry rather than perpetuates it.
Evolution. hummm...
I don't think its as cut and dry as evolution or creation/intellegent design (let me lump those together for the moment). Mostly because there is a continum of evolution: micro/macro etc... For instance, people are generally taller, live shorter lives, genes have evolved etc... And some people may attribute that to adapting to our environment and all, but that is still evolution because that is what evolutionists claim as we evolved from monkeys: that species evolve and survive because they are the fittest, strongest, fastest, etc... I think God allows this for many reasons all adding up to his glory.
As for that car... Pray about it because it at least shows that we not only know but we're admitting that we are subject of God and not just taking the freedom that he's giving us for granted. It reveals to us our heart: we give up our freedom and seek to do what you would do. God definitely honors that and sometimes will give us what we want the way we want it but in other cases his way is different and we sometimes are blind to that. Check out Deuteronomy 23:9-14, God even cares about where we pee and poo and what happens to the hairs on our head (Luke 21:1
. And if he cares about where our pee and poo go and decides when our hair falls out of our head, then I'm sure he's concerned about what kind of car we buy and if we buy one at all. God has given us gifts: monetary and otherwise, we are called to be stewards of it (Gen 28-30).
I wasn't saying to not pray for food. "Give us this day our daily bread" basically means "give us what we need to sustain ourselves". I also find it noteworthy that it's such a short part of the Lord's prayer.
A Buddhist told me that you should never pray for yourself, only for others. His claim made me think, because I do pray for myself, and don't see that as wrong (necessarily). Still, I would think our prayer attitude and direction should be focused toward the needs of others and in particular the important, abstract, eternal concerns. If you use prayer as just a way to list all the things you want God to give you, I think it's a problem.
I used to not ever pray for myself. Now I pray for myself because I'm in a position of ministry and I pray for myself more for the benefit of others...that God would use me to reach them.
The buddhist says some wise words.
Adam,
My point was that the command to not worry about something does not mean we shouldn't pray about that thing, and I backed up by the example of prayer for food (which is a subset of the material possessions you mentioned). The concept can be expanded to all prayer in general.
Off subject: Who does a Buddist pray to anyway?
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