Who was St. Valentine?

On February 14, couples all over exchange gifts, send cards, and celebrate their love for each other. Few of them stop to consider why they practice the tradition. If asked why, many people might answer that Valentine's Day was invented by Hallmark to sell more cards. Like many other holidays celebrated in the US, Valentine's Day is also a Christian tradition.

Very little is now known about the patron saint of this day. Its unanimously agreed that he was a Christian martyr but the exact circumstances of his sufferings are shrouded in mystery. There are at least two competing traditions that are enduring:

One legend holds that he was a priest during the reign of the Roman emperor Claudius II. At that time, Claudius, believing that single men made better soldiers than married men, had outlawed marriage for all young men. In defiance of the law, Valentine continued to perform marriages for young couples in secret. He was eventually found out and executed for his crimes.

Another tradition is that he was arrested for giving aid to Christians who were being persecuted under Claudius. In jail, he was tortured and told to recant his faith which he refused to do. Finally, he was sentenced to death. During his time in prison, he met and fell in love with the jailer's daughter. Before his execution, he sent her a farewell letter which he signed, “From your Valentine.”

On February 14, c. 269, St. Valentine was beheaded. In 496, Pope Gelasius marked the date as a celebration of his martyrdom.

Marriage is an institution founded by God (Genesis 2:19,21-24). It is the earthly symbol of the Christ's relationship with His church (Revelation 19:7-9). Love is the first fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). So, as we celebrate this day, let us remember the Author of love.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

What is "Presuppositional Apologetics"?

Answers in Genesis has a brief and precise article that wonderfully explains presuppositional apologetics. You can read the original article by clicking here but I have reprinted it below:

When explaining their beliefs, Christians often feel they must first prove the Bible or prove the existence of God. This approach reveals that they do not yet understand the Bible’s approach, known as presuppositional apologetics.

Presuppositions are simply beliefs that everyone has that affect how they think, view the world, interpret evidence, and read the Bible. Apologetics is a reasoned defense of beliefs. So presuppositional apologetics is a reasoned defense of Christian beliefs based on recognizing our presuppositions.

For instance, my presupposition is that God exists and He has given us His Word (the Bible) that is absolute truth. So I use the Bible as the basis for how to think, interpret evidence, explain the world around me, and read the Bible. An atheist’s presupposition will most likely be that there is no God and that truth is relative. An atheist believes that man decides truth, and so he thinks, interprets evidence, and views the world and Bible accordingly.

If we start off believing the Bible is the Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16; Psalm 18:30; Proverbs 30:5), then we use it as our axiom. An axiom (often used in logic) is a proposition that is not susceptible to proof or disproof; its truth is assumed. The Bible takes this stance, assuming God’s existence to be true and not something to be proven (Genesis 1:1; Exodus 3:14; Revelation 1:8).

The battle is not over evidence but over philosophical starting points: presuppositions. As Christians, we should never put away our axiom—the Bible—when discussing truth with others. This would be like a soldier going into battle without any armor or weapons. Asking a Christian to abandon the Bible for the sake of discussion is like asking an atheist to prove there is no God by using only the Bible. You would be asking the atheist to give up his axiom.

The prophets and the apostles never tried to prove God’s existence. They started by assuming God’s existence, and they always reasoned from Scripture (Acts 17:2, 17; 18:4, 19). By using the Word of God, we are actually pitting the unbeliever against God and not our own fallible thinking.

Mark 1:40-45: Spreading the Word

“And a leper came to Jesus, beseeching Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying, "If You are willing, You can make me clean." Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, "I am willing; be cleansed." Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. And He sternly warned him and immediately sent him away, and He said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them." But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news around, to such an extent that Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but stayed out in unpopulated areas; and they were coming to Him from everywhere.” Mark 1:40-45, NASB

Jesus often admonished those who received the benefit of His miracles that they should not say anything to anyone about it. I’ve noticed, though, that many of those people disregarded His request and, instead, told everyone what Jesus had done for them.

The leper discussed in Mark 1 was especially zealous about spreading the news. The KJV says he “blazed abroad” what Jesus had done for him. The effect of his witness was such that people flocked to see Jesus – so much so that Jesus could no longer enter any city. Now that is getting the word out!

There are many accounts in the gospels similar to this. The man named Legion (Mark 5), after being delivered from demon possession, begged Jesus that he might stay with Him. Instead, Jesus told him to return home and tell his people about the mercy Jesus had shown him. The man certainly did that – the Bible says he spread the news in the Decapolis (a region of 10 cities) so much so that EVERYONE in the area marveled (Mark 5:20).

Sometimes I’m disappointed with many Christians of today compared to the Christians of Jesus' day. When Jesus touched the lives of the first century saints, it seems they couldn’t wait to tell everyone about what Jesus did for them. Christians today don’t seem interested in telling anyone. Why is that?

I think sometimes we make light of what Jesus has done for us. While it’s true that we might not have been cured of leprosy or delivered from demons, does that mean Jesus hasn’t done a great miracle in our lives? When we accepted Christ, did He not forgive us for a lifetime of sin and give each one of us eternal life? Aren’t we joint heirs with Him (Romans 8:17)?

It is my prayer that every Christian (myself included) would be like the leper in Mark 1. Jesus has done a marvelous thing for us. Let’s tell everyone about the great things that Jesus has done for us so that people might come to Him from everywhere!

What I know about Ptolemy I learned in School

Claudius Ptolemaeus was a Greek astronomer from the 2^nd century AD. He was extremely influential and created a geocentric model of the universe that endured for centuries. The model was named for him – the Ptolemaic model. It was not until time of Galileo that scientific consensus finally turned away from his earth-centered model of the universe replaced it with a heliocentric model. How do I know this? I learned about Ptolemy in school.

For years there has been a controversy around teaching special creation in school. A majority of people favor presenting creation along side evolution in science classrooms (as seen here). Critics scoff saying any discussion of creation belongs in a religion class and not in a science class. Of course, they are being disingenuous because they really don’t want creation – or anything religious – discussed in public schools at all.

But something occurred to me recently: if the Ptolemaic model is still being discussed in public classrooms (as something people once believed), what is really the harm of discussing the creation model as something ½ of the US population still believe? If the publishers of the textbooks believe there is value in including a debunked, geocentric cosmology in their texts, then why can’t there be any discussion at all about a creation cosmology?

I’m asking in earnest: what is the difference? The Ptolemaic model has been discarded centuries ago yet it is still included in science books. The only reason it’s given any press is because it was such a popular model and it endured for 1,000 years. Well, creation cosmology is still believed by approximately ½ of the US population and it has endured far longer than Ptolemy. Doesn’t it deserve at least as much attention as Ptolemy?

There is one obvious difference between teaching about Ptolemy and teaching about creation: it’s not likely that anyone will ever take an earth-centered model of the universe seriously. However, in a recent study, it was learned that when students are taught about creation AND evolution, they tend to choose creation. From the article:

“University students whose high school biology class covered creationism – in some cases alongside evolution – were more likely to accept creationist views upon entering college, the study found. Those whose high school biology teachers taught evolution but not creationism were more likely to accept evolution in college.”

Isn't that interesting? When students are presented both views in high school, they tend to believe creation. When students are presented only evolution in high school, they tend to believe evolution.

I see what's going on: teach kids evolution - don't let them hear anything to the contrary - and they're more likely to believe evolution. There's a word for this phenomenon - it's called "brainwashing."

It’s OK to talk about Ptolemy – it’s not OK to talk about God.