Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Some Interested In Reading the Other BookYou might be interested to read this article in the Washington Post. It seems some other people in the world are also concerned about children in particular reading the "other book". Sadly "ministers" or "Christian leaders" are not on the list of concerned people. One wonders if most of the people mentioned in the Post article are concerned because they think children - from the pagan point of view - will miss that they are one with the world if they never get into the world. Obviously as Christians we ought to be concerned to not only enjoy God's world but also to "get behind" Creation to the Creator who is to be worshipped.

Friday, June 15, 2007

Pi As A Scrap of GloryImagine an odd scenario with me. I come home from work and find the gray carpet under my dining room table littered with scraps of colored paper. Fascinated, I pick up a piece and stare at it. Between my fingers I grasp a red scrap in the rough shape of an elongated triangle. Suddenly Im assaulted from behind by a scrappy, sandy blonde, outrageously curly 4½ year old named Jesse yelling, Daddys home. I scold him for breaking my concentration and return my focus to the crimson shred in my hand. Hows that for being rude?

This is precisely what happens each March 14th as math devotees celebrate Pi Day (3/14 or close the simple 3.14 that is used to express Pi when most of us it). This article chronicles the fascination with a shred ignoring the Person behind the shred.

Pi is an interesting feature of Creation. You remember the crucial function this little number serves dont you? It represents the ratio between a circles circumference and diameter. Moreover Pi is (Encarta 2002 reminded me) an irrational number meaning it has infinite number of decimal places. Now this is interesting ... is there something an infinite number of decimal places is supposed to reveal to us?

To its devotees, Pi is more than interesting. As the above linked article indicates it is an object of worship for some. This is foolishness of the Biblical manner. In the Bible, a fool is someone who is morally off. Am I a math hating Bible teacher hammering on people who like numbers? No, except if those people who love numbers also worship them.

This is in the language of Romans 1 exchanging worship of the Creator for something in Creation. Using my above imaginary scenario (I am regularly assaulted by Jesse, that part is real!) folks who exalt Pi are fascinated with a scrap of glory instead of the One who is infinite in His being. It makes sense that an infinite being would create a shape like the circle. Pi with its infinite decimal places makes sense because of whom God is. But He is the One deserving worship not a mere scrap of His glory.