Is God the Author of Sin?

I had a question from a friend over the weekends: "I've always wondered & do not understand if God is in control of everything & basically is what we call sovereign how can he not be the author of sin?"

This post will mainly be based on articles I have read and put together, because I feel that they expressed the point better than I would have done. For a start, this article Is God the Author of Sin? provides a sort of “running list” of theologians who have commented and written about the relationship between the Scriptural account of God and the existence of evil.

1. God does not author sin

To quote from The Westminster Confession of Faith, a 'book' which I studied before my reaffirmation of faith (aka 'adult' baptism) back in 2007:

Chapter V Of Providence, Point IV:
The almighty power, unsearchable wisdom, and infinite goodness of God so far manifest themselves in His providence, that it extends itself even to the first fall, and all other sins of angels and men; and that not by a bare permission, but such as has joined with it a most wise and powerful bounding, and otherwise ordering, and governing of them, in a manifold dispensation, to His own holy ends; yet so, as the sinfulness thereof proceeds only from the creature, and not from God, who, being most holy and righteous, neither is nor can be the author or approver of sin.

I understand from some sources that the KJV version of Isaiah 45:7 says that: "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things." However, a little bit of history, the Bible was translated mainly from Hebrew. If you look at another version of the same verse,

ESV:
I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord, who does all these things.
NIV 2011:
I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things.

In other words, God devises calamity as a judgment for the wicked. But in no sense is He the author of evil. Just to quote from Grace to You:

It is helpful, I think, to understand that sin is not itself a thing created. Sin is neither substance, being, spirit, nor matter. So it is technically not proper to think of sin as something that was created. Sin is simply alack of moral perfection in a fallen creature. Fallen creatures themselves bear full responsibility for their sin. And all evil in the universe emanates from the sins of fallen creatures.

2. God does not commit sin in willing that there be sin

To quote from an article I just read (Is God the Author of Sin? Jonathan Edwards’ Answer):

He uses the analogy of the way the sun brings about light and warmth by its essential nature, but brings about dark and cold by dropping below the horizon. “If the sun were the proper cause of cold and darkness,” he says, “it would be the fountain of these things, as it is the fountain of light and heat: and then something might be argued from the nature of cold and darkness, to a likeness of nature in the sun.” In other words, “sin is not the fruit of any positive agency or influence of the most High, but on the contrary, arises from the withholding of his action and energy, and under certain circumstances, necessarily follows on the want of his influence.”

God wills that there is sin though he hates it. God wills that what he hate shall come to pass. To continue quoting: 

God may hate a thing as it is in itself, and considered simply as evil, and yet . . . it may be his will it should come to pass, considering all consequences. . . . God doesn’t will sin as sin or for the sake of anything evil; though it be his pleasure so to order things, that he permitting, sin will come to pass; for the sake of the great good that by his disposal shall be the consequence. His willing to order things so that evil should come to pass, for the sake of the contrary good, is no argument that he doesn’t hate evil, as evil: and if so, then it is no reason why he may not reasonably forbid evil as evil, and punish it as such.

(Click on the article to read about some examples on perplexing issues in the Bible in which God expresses his will to be in one way but acts in another.)


3. God does everything for a purpose

Finally, like I've mentioned in my blog post two weeks ago titled An encouragement to Christians in suffering, God does everything for a purpose, even though we may not know what is his purpose. He may allow certain things to happen, even though we might be suffering in the midst of it. So all we can do is to trust God that things will turn out as he planned (which will be the case).


God bless!

Lactose Intolerance

I am lactose intolerant and there are many misconception about people with lactose intolerant not being able to drink milk. Well technically yes we can't consume lactose, but depending on each individual, we can consume a little bit of lactose every day (and thus enjoy ice cream, yogurt, cheese, etc.).

What is lactose intolerance?

From WordNet Search, lactose intolerance is a "congenital disorder consisting of an inability to digest milk and milk products; absence or deficiency of lactase results in an inability to hydrolyze lactose."

Lactose intolerance affects a large population of people from all over the world. In the Caucasian population, approximately 1 in 20 people is lactose intolerant. This figure increases when you move from to South America to Africa and then to Asia. In Asia, some 50-100% of the people in Asian countries are lactose intolerant, as shown in the lactase hotspots map below (I know it's missing America):

picture credit: Archaeology: The milk revolution

What causes lactose intolerance?

People who do not produce enough lactase enzyme or do not product it at all, problems such as diarrhea, abdominal pain, etc. can occur if too much lactose is consumed. When there is insufficient lactase to break down the lactose ingested, the lactose remains undigested undergoes fermentation, which means that it is broken down by other bacteria in out body for their nutrition. This process will causes the symptoms commonly experience by those who are lactose intolerant.

You can become lactose intolerant as you grow older

Young children almost universally produce lactase and can digest the lactose in their mother's milk as well as cow's milk. But as they mature, most switch off the lactase gene. Only 35% of the human population can digest lactose beyond the age of about seven or eight. Especially if you consume lesser milk as you grow older, your body might determine that you no longer need lactase and hence produce less lactase.

A number of people who are lactose intolerance actually are able to consume small amounts of lactose and still not have symptoms.

Depending on the person, often they are able to take about 1/3 to one cup of milk per day spread throughout the day (and not at one shot).  They can usually also take cheese and yogurt. By fermenting milk to cheese and yogurt, the lactose level is actually reduced.

Full-fat milk is better tolerated than skim milk because the fat in the milk slows down the travel time of the lactose, allowing any lactase enzymes more time to break down the lactose. It is also recommended to spread consumption of milk products evenly throughout the day and consume them with other non-dairy products to improve tolerance.

Sources:
Archaeology: The milk revolution (I find this a very good read)
RX For Readers: Lactose intolerant?
The evolution of lactase persistence in Europe. A synthesis of archaeological and genetic evidence

Right Brainer or Left Brainer?

picture credit: http://scaryideas.com/

The picture is from a series of Mercedes Benz ads. The text says:

Left brain:
I am the left brain. I am a scientist. A mathematician. I love the familiar. I categorize. I am accurate. Linear. Analytical. Strategic. I am practical. Always in control. A master of words and language. Realistic. I calculate equations and play with numbers. I am order. I am logic. I know exactly who I am. 

Right brain:
I am the right brain. I am creativity. A free spirit. I am passion. Yearning. Sensuality. I am the sound of roaring laughter. I am taste. The feeling of sand beneath bare feat. I am movement. Vivid colors. I am the urge to paint on an empty canvas. I am boundless imagination. Art. Poetry. I sense. I feel. I am everything I wanted to be.

Accordingly, studies have shown that your brain type have an effect on how you work/study. For example some people may struggle with specific assignments that are more structured. To quote from a source I found:

Typically, dominant left brain students will be more organized, they'll watch the clock, and they'll analyze information and process it sequentially.

They are often cautious, and they follow rules and schedules. Left brain students are strong in math and science, and can answer questions quickly. Left brain students would make great Jeopardy contestants.

On the other hand, right-brain students are the dreamers. They can be very intelligent and very deep thinkers—so much so that they can get lost in their own little worlds. They make great students of the social sciences and the arts. They are more spontaneous than the cautious left-brainers, and they are likely to follow their own gut feelings.

Right brainers are very intuitive and have great skill when it comes to seeing through lies or tricks. They would make great Survivor contestants.

What about people who are right in the middle? Everyone is different, and everyone has characteristics from both types. Some people are very equal when it comes to characteristics. Those students are middle brain oriented, and they might do well on The Apprentice. Why?

Students who are middle brain oriented can have strong qualities from either hemisphere. Those students can benefit from logic from the left and intuition from the right. That sounds like a great recipe for success in business, doesn't it?

To take the test to see if you are more right brain dominated or left brain dominated, click here to take a 54 question quiz.

After taking the test, it will give you a breakdown on how you use your brain. Here are the categories that it will show you:

Left Brain Categories

• Symbolic Processing
• Sequential Processing
• Linear Processing
• Logical Processing
• Verbal Processing
• Reality-based Processing

Right Brain Categories

• Concrete Processing
• Holistic Processing
• Intuitive Processing
• Fantasy-oriented Processing
• Nonverbal Processing
• Random  Processing

Do note that however, there is a disclaimer:

Disclaimer: The information in the Test (the Test) is published for the sole purpose of intellectual stimulation, education and general knowledge. In no way is the Test to be considered a complete or fully accurate psychological portrait. The Art Institutes and EDMC do not hold any responsibility or liability for your use of the Test or its results.

Have fun! And remember not to take the results too seriously as I doubt there is an accurate way of telling which side of the brain do you use more.

Leadership

I just read a very interesting online article that I thought I should share:

Most People Don’t Under-Perform, They’re Under-Led – 5 Ways Leaders Sabotage Performance



My thoughts:

Everyone is unique - some can work with more supervision, some require less supervision (and some stress out under over-supervision). In today's hectic world where you always hear that "time is money", people don't have the time to figure out each person as an individual, preferring to regard everyone as a group. That's when the problem arise.

I think the solution sounds simple, but is tough to do - Analyse your employees (or those working under you) and see which style of management/leadership you should be using with him/her. There is no one size fits all leadership, and for any team to work you have to tailor your style to suit each individual.

Giving feedback to those you lead is also important. Giving feedback leads to a double-loop learning:

picture credit: AFS (click on the link to learn more about single-loop learning and double-loop learning.)

Double-loop learning has been deemed to be more effective. Giving feedback about getting what is obtained helped the person to identify where he/she went wrong and what he/she can do to improve his/her performance. Otherwise, all he/she know is the end product (which can be either good or bad) and not learn whether what he/she did was right/wrong or beneficial/harmful.

So my thoughts are that leaders need to modify their leadership style when dealing with different individuals and give timely feedback, even though this may take up more time and effort.

Response to an online article

I think I have never done a response to any online articles on this blog, so here's a first. So my friend showed me an article yesterday and it appeared on my facebook newsfeed again today, so I decided I should blog it.

The article in question: Youths are holding back Singapore’s startup scene

(The original author (Qin En)'s main point are in bold)

1. Our youths do not have market-relevant skills and experiences to do their job.

If you read the details under this point, you'll realise that Qin En is talking about interns. The point is a bit misleading considering the youths here are interns (only, at least from what I gathered), and do no include school dropouts (either those who dropout to start a business or for some other reason). My main argument: Isn't that what an internship is for. An internship pays you lesser than a regular job, not because you do not have the skills but because you are learning as you work and might not be as qualified as another person, say a graduate, YET. That's why you intern. Plus, in school you are learning about theoretical knowledge and an internship is the only place you can put this knowledge into practice. How would you know that s/he cannot do it if you don't give him/her a chance and purely dismissing the fact that he has no relevant experience as being not suitable for the job? Plus if you don't give others a chance, how on earth are you going to have youths with the relevant background.

2. Youths are stuck in the academic-oriented mindset and are not ready for the jump to the working world.

I'm assuming the youths here means youths in school. Else how would you have an academic-oriented mindset. But the main reason for us having this mindset is because our first job is going to be based on our academic results. Too much emphasis is on results in the working world. Candidates are selected based on CAP/GPA to be called down for interviews. If you have a lousy CAP/GPA, chances are, you might not get your dream job (especially if your dream job is very popular). So who is to be blamed for this, the youths?

Yes I admit, grades are not everything. However, the sad fact is that the better your grades are, the chances of you getting a highly paid job is higher. In today's society where the inflation is crazy, money is literally (almost) everything. The prices of owning a car, house is so high. The price of transport is going up. Of course people would want to earn more.

Actually not only jobs. In NUS, students with higher CAP are given priority in choosing their final year projects. And I think the following will be true for many other universities that those with better grades will get the chance to go on the exchange programme.

3. Schools and universities are ineffectively promoting the entrepreneurial attitude.

Yes I agree with this. Then again, as per point 1, if you don't give students an opportunity to intern at a start up, where's the action? Or rather, how to learn which action to take?

4. Internships are the gateway to action-oriented entrepreneurship.

There you go. Give people an opportunity even if you don't already have relevant skills.



My opinion is that most youths are money-minded, or to put it in another way, concerned about their salary. Start-ups offer youths little salary and hence many shy away from them. Those with higher CAPs join bigger companies that can pay then more. Who doesn't want a stable and comfortable life right? Unless you are really passionate and business and all, I doubt you'll be able to survive in a start-up, especially when the future is uncertain for you. I don't think it's the lack of skills that is holding back the startup scene in Singapore, but instead because our generation wants comfort.