PerryDox – BeJustAChristian

Star Trek, The Next Generation. I enjoy science fiction, and that is a great show. However, in the first season there is a questionable episode – “Justice”. The Enterprise discovers an M-Class planet, suitable for human life. The away team discovers a beautiful oasis, one character likens it to Eden. There are few rules, and one punishment. Death. Does that sound familiar?

A crew member, Wesley, accidentally crushed some flowery plants in a restricted area. Some plants are trees. Violation equals death. Sound familiar

There is a Being, or as they find out, more accurately a plurality of beings, who watches over this world. This “god” is able to be both part of this reality and while simultaneously in a different reality. He even visited their world, once. Think all this is a coincidence?

Simple rules. A world like Eden. A punishing god who visited once. Violation means death. Is this how skeptics view the God of the Bible?

Wesley, the crew member who violated a law involving a plant, did not die. Captain Picard merely whisks him away using the Enterprise’s power. If there is a redeeming scene, it is when Will Ryker pleads, “Maybe justice isn’t as simple as a rule book.”

The Bible’s story is not about a God who just destroys, although it includes that. God cannot allow us to escape through use of power and reasoning – except for when it is God being the force and his “foolish” reasoning (1 Cor.1). The Jesus Narrative is what makes Christianity unique. God became flesh (John 1:14) and takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29) as a lamb sacrificed. Such a plan was and is against human reason. Such a “foolish” idea allowed the power of evil to destroy the Son of God. That is until the power of God resurrected Jesus as was the plan all along. This allows us to reenter Eden. This is what makes the God of the Bible, our God, greater than all the gods of fiction.

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This entry was posted by PHall on Tuesday, November 2nd, 2021 at 8:22 am and is filed under Bible. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.