Spiritual Thermodynamics and Overcoming Entropy

111. SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CYCLES: ENERGY AND ENTROPY; THE SPIRIT AND THE FLESH

Cycles ‘r us. There are many cycles in nature, without which there couldn’t be any life – water cycle, weather cycles, oxygen/carbon dioxide cycle, nitrogen cycle, etc. These cycles are related to the flow of gases or liquids, changes of state, or transfer of heat. They are types of thermodynamic cycles. There are many anatomical structures in plants and animals that have the design of a circle, sphere, or coil. Rotation of planets and moons in their orbits are cyclic. Seasons are cyclic. Moon phases are cyclic. Many insect and other animal life patterns are cyclic. Hormones go up and down in cyclic fashion. Atomic structure is made up of electrons traveling in space in special areas of probability that are cyclic in shape – sphere, ellipse, dumbbell, etc. The smallest cycle on record comes from string theory. All these cycles operate according to natural law.

The same principles operate both in relatively simple cycles as well as more complex ones. That is why the observations of the life cycle of a bacterial colony isolated from an outside source of energy is relevant in principle to larger, more involved cycles. Cycles of smaller frequencies make up cycles of larger frequencies which make up still larger and larger cycles. It difficult to conceive that a cycle of seasons in a year would be composed of millions upon millions of smaller cycles that all add up in a very precise way and in an integrated pattern, all under the same laws of nature. Heat transfer – thermodynamics. We get our outside energy from the sun – heat transfer. There are solar cycles, also.

Thermodynamics. The concept of cycles takes on a metaphysical character in considering economic cycles, business cycles, political cycles, social cycles, cycles of dress style, cycles of moral ethics – all of which are based on human behavior and attitudes – mainly from brain and mind functions of humans. But all these go back to the thermodynamics of neurotransmitter chemistry and how humans think about the environmental cycles they find themselves in. Cycles do not dictate or control human behavior; humans are in control of their behavior by the choices they make based on their reaction and thinking about the physical cycles.

Perhaps there should be a book written, The Effect of Thermodynamics on the Sociopolitical Cycle Named “The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire.” The Rise and Fall of Capitalism. The Rise and Fall of Organized Institutional Religion. But social cycles involve the thermodynamic principle of entropy and energy just the same as prevailed over the bacterial culture. Niall Ferguson has written books on the rise and fall of empires with special emphasis on the West and present America – Civilization (The West and the Rest), Colossus (The Price of America’s Empire), and The War of the World (Twentieth-Century Conflict and the Descent of the West).

Social cycles seem long compared to our life time but not in the span of civilization .

Some social cycles were mentioned as examples in previous posts – a life cycle, a church cycle, a business cycle, a population cycle, and the cycle of Noah and the Great Flood.

In this post we will consider two more sociopolitical cycles – a historical one from the period of the Judges of Israel described in the Old Testament and a second one under current public circulation.

[1] The Period of Judges

Joshua led the Israelites into an organized and systematic conquest of the Promised Land (Judges 1). The people were faithful to God throughout the lifetime of Joshua and the first generation of elders how outlived him, because they had seen the great things God had done for Israel (Jdg. 2:7). But then another generation grew up that did not know God or what He had done for them, and they began to disobey and to follow idols. Some of the tribes had not completely driven out all of the inhabitants of Canaan as God had commanded, and God said because of this disobedience these people and their false gods would be a constant problem for the Israelites.

After this declaration, the Israelites went through almost 300 years of sociopolitical cycles with the same repeating pattern – things go well, Israel gets complacent, Israel disobeys and worships idols, God withdraws protection, Israelites get overrun by Canaanites, Israel gets oppressed, Israel recognizes and repents, Israel turns and cries out to God, God hears and raises a judge who fights the oppressors and delivers Israel, Israel enjoys period of peace, judge dies, Israel gets disobedient. Leaders between Joshua and Saul (King) were Othniel (Jdg. 3:9), Ehud (Jdg. 3:15), Shamgar (Jdg. 3:31), Deborah (Jdg. 4:5), Gideon (Jdg. 6:36), Abimelech (Jdg. 9:1), Tola (Jdg. 10.1), Jair (Jdg. 10:3), Jephthah (Jdg. 11:11), Isban (Jdg. 12:8), Elon (Jdg. 12:11)), Abdon (Jdg. 12:13), Samson (Jdg. 16:30), Eli (1 Sam. 4:18), and Samuel (1 Sam. 7:15).

Typical phrases during these cycles were “the Israelites once again did evil in the eyes of the Lord;” “the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, so He ………. ;” “…and they were subject to ….. for …. Years;” “and Israel cried out to the Lord who raised another deliverer…..;” “and there was peace in the land for …. years;” “again Israel did evil in the eyes of the Lord.”

Since 2000, the cycle diagram and the editorialized Tytler “quotes” have been posted and emailed in criticism of the person who happened to be President at that particular time. Although the cycle diagram and the quotes do not seem to be of genuine verbatim Tytler authorship, the more recent creations do capture the gist of Tytler’s view of the eventual fate of a democracy being related to the moral failings of a human society. Humans begin to impose their basic competitive, selfish, and greedy nature on the structure of the government, and they devise methods of control and corruption to get their way and to get an advantage of power over others. Tytler’s reference to the “law of nature” that a nation’s opulence and prosperity is inversely related to its moral and ethical structure is a description identical with what we are calling social, political, or ethical entropy. That which is isolated (left to itself) will degenerate and decay. If Tytler’s statement that "It is a law of nature to which no experience has ever furnished an exception” applies to social entropy, then an eventual corruption and decay within society is inevitable, if the society is left to itself without any spiritual or moral power source outside the isolated system. Things left to themselves naturally run down.

The purpose of showing Tytler’s cycle is not to discuss the politics of a democracy. There are several points that can be made from the cycles representing changes in society – (1) relationship between cycle characteristics and an energy/entropy cycle, (2) comparison of the progression of behavior in the cycle with the works of the flesh and the works of the Spirit listed in scripture, and (3) comparison between the sociopolitical cycle and the life cycle of a bacterial colony.

Effects of energy vs. entropy on a society.

As a generalization, society behaviors that are on the right side of the cycle diagram resemble those described as “fruit of the Spirit” (Gal. 5) or characteristics of the “new self controlled by the Spirit” (Eph. 4). Those behaviors on the left side of the cycle resemble descriptions of the “works of the flesh” or the deeds of “the old man of sin.” Works of the flesh are associated with increasing social entropy, while fruit of the Spirit is associated with a supply of energy from outside the system.

In addition, there are similarities between the progression of the Tytler (or a similar) cycle and the life cycle of a bacterial colony. Both situations have essentially the same cycle characteristics when operating in a system isolated from an outside energy source. To survive, the bacterial colony needs the intervention of an outside source of superior intelligence and supernatural energy; and the colony of human society needs the same. Otherwise they both develop into the death phase of accumulation of entropy – one is chemical entropy and the other more of a social or spiritual entropy.

But the need for an outside energy source is one of the parallels from the laws operating in physical realm and the spiritual realm. God has revealed how He operates in both realms, but it takes both physical and spiritual discernment to see the relationship.

1 Cor, 2:12 We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. 14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

If any should be able to see these relationships between the physical and spiritual realms it would be Christians. How are we doing with that? Are we too busy protecting our private interpretation from scientific contamination to see the truth? Are people too busy trying to find fault with those people who believe in something supernatural? What about if the truth is in both and incomplete in either one by itself? Both sides of the argument are blinded to their view and cannot see the value of the other side. If a blind man leads himself, he may fall into a pit. “If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” Matt 15:14)

What about a society that became so successful and resource-rich that it began to credit itself for the accomplishments rather than an “outside source of energy” -- God? What if this “great society” even began to redefine the past to make history in education more consistent with present human self-glorification? What if this society began to reinterpret not only history, but also the law, so that the separation of church and state should become not a protection of religion but a separation and isolation of religion as a clearer target for discrimination? What, if through political, academic, and legal means, the role or meaning of God were removed from public places -- such as in courthouses, parks, and schools -- and this action was favorably portrayed by the media as smart and good? If the outside source of energy for society is removed, what is left to take over? Entropy. The snowball gets larger as society continues to do it to itself.

1 Cor. 1:17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. 18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.

Some observations from the above verses – God’s wisdom and ways are not the same as what humans considered wisdom in their own eyes. Power is represented in the cross of Christ, which is nonsense to those whose understanding is limited by thermodynamic. These people have chosen to not avail themselves of the power of God that transcends the laws of the physical universe. They ridicule it. Yet, because of their chosen isolation, they are perishing. But they are not aware of it, because they are too “wise.” “Perishing” is in the present tense, not future, as in eternal judgment. Why do natural things “perish” in a system of thermodynamic isolation? They are subject to the destiny of natural entropy. The cycle of human effort, wisdom, and entropy will continue to play out over and over, just as in the past.

One might ask, “If we have the sun as an outside energy source for the earth, then we are not thermodynamically isolated. We have the sun; why do we need the Son? In the following passages Jesus differentiates between those things that are of this earth, and subject to entropy, and those things which are outside of the physical reaches of natural law.

Matt 4:4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Deut. 8:3 …man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Matt. 6:19 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Show me the sermon. All of this discussion about isolated physical system subject to entropy and supernatural spiritual power which is not subject to natural law are based on the scripture and include examples of sociopolitical cycles that seemed to follow these rules. Everything fits into a nice package of presentation, but by itself it doesn’t mean anything. It’s all theoretical until somebody or some group demonstrates that it is true. “Let’s see your power. Let’s see you be different and have different outcomes than everyone else. Let’s see you rise above entropy. Let’s see you make this real by living it out in front of everyone to see. Let’s see if you believe your own message.”

Who are we talking to? The church. When the church lives in Holy Spirit power and demonstrates the outside energy of God to overcome entropy in the world as Jesus did and when the world can see the difference between the physical and the spiritual, all of these scriptures and interpretations fall into place. If there is little/no difference between the church and the world, if the values of the world invade the church with postmodern humanism, if the church shows nothing more than what the world can see in itself, then all these scriptures and interpretations about supernatural power can RIP. “If they don’t make any difference in your life, why should I think it would make a dime’s worth of difference in mine?”

Any signs of entropy?

The “I’m against that” theology. Christians have established a greater reputation in the world for what they are “against” than for demonstrating the love of Jesus Christ and what difference that makes in overcoming entropy. Christians are known more for being against science, against genetic research, against environmental protection, against discovery, against abortion, against “alternate lifestyles,” against miracles today, against, against, against. “Well, Jesus was against some things.” Yes, but that wasn’t what He was known for and that is not what He prayed for in John 17 --that His followers would be known for their love, peace and unity in the body of Christ. If the church were known are for something that is working so well that it is obvious to everyone (like righteousness, truth, love, peace, unity, and joy), we wouldn’t have to be “against” so many things. In fact, we would be so busy doing what glorifies Jesus that we wouldn’t have time to concentrate on the “Ministry of What We Are Against.” Instead of wearing the letters “WWAA,” Christians could place more meaning behind “WWJD.”

There are a number of sinful behaviors that are contrary to scripture that the church is (or has been) “against.” But, instead of “speaking the truth in love” (a sign of maturity of the church Eph 4:15), the church comes out “against” certain things, and the church opens itself up to attacks of hypocrisy and intolerance. These are not true but are responses back to the rather judgmental approach that the church has taken. So, what is the church doing? Instead of renewing its approach to conform to the love of Jesus, the church begins to tolerate the sin -- and not only tolerate the sin in the church, but adopt it as such in their doctrine and appoint those with that behavior to the ministry and “clergy.”

Instead of changing from preaching to the world in an unloving way to a more Christ-like approach, the church just adopts what the world does. That’s not the reason to leave behind a condemning attitude – the reason is that Jesus didn’t condemn(John ), and not because the church negotiates the scripture and takes on the world’s behavioral standard.

Postmodern humanism has been seeping into the church. Now much of the institutionalized church is opening the door and asking the human value system to come in so it can be made the standard operating procedure instead of the scripture. What was considered bad behavior becomes more acceptable. More people do it; it becomes the norm. This is like replacing the power of the Holy Spirit with natural entropy.

Irresponsible use of freedom. Freedom is based on responsible behavior and use of the freedom. A small fraction of those with bad behavior take advantage of the freedom everyone with selfish immorality. This corruption gets laws passed that place restrictions on the entire group, or sometimes the freedom may be cancelled altogether. The old law pointed out sin, and that may everyone want to sin or see how close they could get to it. More laws define the limit of behavior, so people push to see what they can get away with, whether it is the athlete trying to get an illegal move past a referee, a person buying booze and cigarettes with food stamps, or a misrepresentation of a product to get more sales. More bad behavior gives more laws gives more bad behavior of a higher sophistication and technology. This is moral entropy. As bad behavior continues, its effects accumulate. It is not self-correcting. The effects of bad behavior in a society build up like DDT in the liver.

Prov. 14:34 Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.

112. WILL WE FIND ENERGY OR ENTROPY ON OUR “ROAD TO EMMAUS?”

Physical entropy and spiritual energy -

The interface. There seems to have been a lot of activity across the interface between the physical and spiritual realms associated with the resurrection of Jesus -- perhaps activity involving material transfers between parallel universes.

Some see angels and some do not. In the account of the discovery of the empty tomb in John 20, when Mary Magdalene reported to the disciples that the stone covering the tomb entrance had been removed, Peter and John ran to the tomb to see for themselves. They entered the tomb and found it empty, with only the physical evidence of Jesus’ grave clothes. The disciples left, but Mary Magdalene stayed outside the tomb and cried. When Mary Magdalene looked inside the tomb, she saw two angels sitting where Jesus’ body once was, and she even conversed with them.

The account in Luke has a slightly different order of events, with Mary Magdalene together with other women discovering the tomb, talking to angels, and reporting these events to the disciples. Peter examined the tomb of himself, but found only the physical grave clothes.

It’s interesting to speculate why Mary Magdalene saw and verbally interacted with angels when Peter and John apparently never knew they existed. Was any physical recognition of the angels hidden from the disciples but not to Mary Magdalene? Did the angels appear and disappear? Were they present all the time but were just not perceived by Peter or John? What does is this mean – when something from the spiritual realm is perceptible to one person but not to another? Was the doubt of the disciples greater than that of Mary? Are women intrinsically more spiritually discerning than men? Angels were seen by the disciples at the ascension of Jesus (Acts 1:10-11).

Physical appearance of Jesus. Something must have been physically different about Jesus after His resurrection; people consistently had trouble identifying Him. When they did recognize Him, it was after He had provided sensory information other than just visual – something that “spoke to them” on their level. Perhaps they were so not expecting Him that they blotted out even the possibility. Mary Magdalene did not recognize Jesus outside the tomb until He spoke her name (John 20:14-16). Jesus appeared to his disciples to His disciples in a locked room, and they recognized Him when he showed them His hands and feet (John 20:19-20) and ate a fish while they watched (Luke 24:40-42). On one occasion, Jesus was on the shore while the disciples were out in the lake fishing, but no one recognized Him until He provided a massive catch of fish, like He had done before (John 21:6-7, 12).

Another of these instances involving the physical presence of Jesus occurred on the road to Emmaus, as experienced by two men who apparently knew all about the current events and were also close acquaintances with the 11 disciples.

On the Road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-36)

13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him.

17 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”

They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?”

19“What things?” he asked.

“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.”

25 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. 29But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.

30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them.31Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.

32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34 and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” 35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

36 While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

There are many interesting lessons that can be drawn from this account of the interaction with Jesus. We will concentrate more on those observations that can illustrate opportunities for generating entropy within an isolated physical system or energy from outside.

Twelve steps from entropy to energy. Notice the progression of 12 steps during the development of the account of this interaction with Jesus.

[1] The men discussed the information they had from an entirely human perspective.

[2] The men were so involved in human thinking that they didn’t even recognize Jesus, except as another human.

[3] They were willing to include Jesus (as a human) in their discussion.

[4] Since, in their own minds, they were obviously knowledgeable and Jesus was not, the men began to lecture Jesus.

[5] They included all the details in an accurate description of events to Jesus, but their analysis of their information reflected only humanistic thinking.

[6] The men revealed that they were viewing current events though a traditional doctrine that had been locally accepted – taught and endorsed by both Jewish leaders and followers.

[7] Jesus took the same information that they had incorrectly interpreted from their human viewpoint and taught them a new interpretation – one from the perspective of God.

[8] Even though the two men must have been pretty impressed by the insights and wisdom of this person who just “randomly” appeared on their walk to Emmaus, they still did not recognize the person of Jesus – they remained on the knowledge/data/reason level.

[9] However, to their credit, they were impressed enough to want to continue the conversation when they stopped for the night.

[10] The light dawned on them at the point when the information went from cognitive reasoning to cognitive intuition – they recognized the example, the action of Jesus breaking the bread and praying – something that they had experienced before – they recognized the person of Jesus when they had fellowship with Him– when they had personally experienced the power of His presence.

[11] They realized in retrospect that their hearts were burning because of the presence of Jesus, but they didn’t recognize it, perhaps because they were still too caught up in their humanistic interpretations.

[12] Because of the power of this experience with the person of Jesus, they were motivated to share the news with others.

This was a process of Gather, Grow, Go. They gathered information and heard the words of Jesus; they spiritually grew when they had fellowship with the person of Jesus; they went and told others about their encounter with Jesus.

Just a little more discussion. These two men knew their facts – they were knowledgeable about all the details of current events. There was no shortage of information – they just couldn’t understand the data; they couldn’t see the plan. It was confusing; it just didn’t make any sense. It was confusing because they were bound by their traditional doctrinal interpretations – by the established and accepted hermeneutic of the day – proven and taught and passed down by the experts at the academic institutions and by the synagogue editors and the gurus at central headquarters. The Messiah was to come to free Israel from the bondage of Rome and establish it as its own kingdom. Things were going great, with miracles of healing and feeding of multitudes – until He got himself killed – now everything was in a tailspin. And now they said He’s missing? All this information did not fit with their preconceived ideas. But they had their facts straight, and they “knew” how things were supposed to be. Then walked up this person who knew nothing. “What? Do we have to explain it to you? What zone are you from, anyway? Oh, okay. Good thing we’re patient people.”

Jesus set them straight on how to interpret the events in the light of scripture – information that obviously they had never heard before. The text doesn’t say that they understood what Jesus said, that they were convinced by it, or that they got sensory overload and couldn’t comprehend it. But it does say they had a heart reaction to the power of the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus had dealt with both their cognitive intuition as well as their cognitive reasoning. Their hearts had burned within them. Still, by continuing to operate in their intellectual, humanistic, traditionally interpretive mode, they did not recognize Jesus, even though He was standing and walking with them.

They had plenty of head knowledge. They had had it explained to them by an expert – an off-line personal tutorial and remedial instruction by God, Himself. But, at that time, they were still in the entropy of their brain-locked human thinking, and, if given a final exam of what they had retained, they would have failed.

The power of the energy of God wasn’t received until there was a personal knowledge and recognition of Jesus, Himself. They had to recognize who He was, not just what He was about.

They did not receive power until they had established a fellowship relationship with the body of Jesus Christ.

What they did not do. The men did not argue about who was sitting closest to Jesus. They did not divide over an argument about who was the greatest. They didn’t fight about who had a doctrine that was closer to the truth. They didn’t argue over a church name, a church doctrine, how often the bread should be broken, or whether or not women could be invited. They did not go get their ecclesiastical robes or which one had been dunked the further under the water when baptized. They didn’t compete for approval or argue about who God liked better.

How could they have done these things? They had been in the presence of Jesus; they had had fellowship with Jesus – the actual body of Christ. How could they even think about competition between themselves or division? They thought of the impact the presence of Jesus had made on them, and they hurried back to Jerusalem, even though it was probably dark by that time and travel was risky.

They recognized the body of Jesus Christ when He broke bread and prayed.

The source of power for the church today is the body of Christ -- the same as on the road to Emmaus. Unity brings the power of the Holy Spirit – the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Eph. 4:24). This is what the church did when it was first established.

Acts 2:42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

The men on the road to Emmaus would have been mired in entropy if they had never recognized

Jesus. What if they had let Jesus go on His way; what if they had not invited him to stay? What if they had been too busy thinking about their own private human interpretations and had only been hearing Jesus intellectually? What if they had been thinking about their business in Emmaus? What if they never had fellowship with the body of Christ? What if they wanted to have a church split and meet with Jesus privately, because the other person wasn’t worthy? They would have gone down the path of destruction to entropy.

What about the church today? What sort of fellowship goes on within the body of Christ? Does the church today recognize the body of Christ or does the church split it up? Are there parts of the body of Christ that would not observe the fellowship of communion with another part? Are there parts of the body that do not recognize other parts as even being of the body?

1 Cor. 11:27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31 But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. 32 When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.

The men on the road to Emmaus could have kept thinking about their doctrine and their hermeneutic and their traditional way of interpreting the scripture concerning the coming of the Messiah. They could have stayed in their preconceived ideas handed down to them from their religious leaders. Jesus could have given them an interesting intellectual lesson on scriptural interpretation. Jesus could have then gone on His way and the men on their way to Emmaus. They knew the scriptures; they had the head knowledge. But they had not transitioned head knowledge to the heart until their eyes were opened to see Jesus.

What do the eyes of the institutionalized church see today? Can the church see past the walls of its own buildings? Can the church see past the name of a particular group or denomination? Can the organized groups who call themselves the body of Christ see past their own doctrinal beliefs, past their own traditions, past their own hermeneutic to recognize the true body of Christ? Can the various groups within the body of Christ maintain the fellowship of Jesus and receive the power of God by the Holy Spirit dwelling within the church? Or, will the parts of the body of Christ divide and compete and not accept one another as even being in the body?

Do our hearts burn within us, or do our hearts only burn when in the church building on Sundays during “praise and worship?” Then do we head for Emmaus, and Jesus is free to go about His other business?

Humanistic thinking produces the works of the flesh, adversarial relations, selfishness, competitiveness, conflict, and division and entropy, which yields destruction.

Order is the opposite or disorder or confusion; peace is the opposite of chaos and conflict; unity is the opposite of division. Things in the natural realm obey the laws of thermodynamics. As things increase in entropy, things become less ordered and more chaotic.

Fellowship within the body of Christ produces the power of the Holy Spirit undiluted by division. The power within church comes from the cycle of love, peace, and unity.

How is this one working for us? Is the church reaping energy or entropy unto itself?

113. SOME BLOGS DESCRIBING ENTROPY IN THE CHURCH (WITHOUT USING THE WORD)

RossDouthat published an article in the New York Times Sunday Review about the reduced membership in those churches considered practitioners of liberal Christianity and uses the Episcopal church as an example.

Douthat says -- …the Episcopal Church looks … [as if it] … adopted every reform ever urged … by liberal pundits and theologians. It still has priests and bishops, altars and stained-glass windows. But it is flexible to the point of indifference on dogma, friendly to sexual liberation in almost every form, willing to blend Christianity with other faiths, and eager to downplay theology entirely in favor of secular political causes.

Paraphrasing Douthat somewhat --Liberal churches have adopted worldly standards so as to be seeker friendly, but that has failed because membership has declined, anyway.

The comments following this post are also interesting. The comments of some admit this is a problem. Some defend the liberal position and say they would not go to church otherwise. One, who went through membership in such liberal Christian groups into atheism, asked why he should go to a church to get the same thing he could get without church. One justified the liberal church by asking where else could one get such up-to-date discussions about social concerns and great classical music.

Atheists can sometimes ask the most relevant questions about the church. When the church changes to be like the world, why should the world bother with the church? The church just represents another building in which to have a concert or provide a pretty background for some wedding pictures. Listen to the concert over your iPod and get married while skydiving.

Jay Guin then takes this article to another step in a post saying that conservative churches shouldn’t think they are any better off. A decline and a little slower decline are still both in the same direction.

Our standard is not negotiable and flexible relative to comparisons to one another; our standard is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jay says:

While liberal churches offer little more than secular wisdom, the more conservative churches offer little more than a free pass to heaven conditioned on regular attendance and tithing. Some will even throw in cappuccinos and Pilates in case the promise of heaven isn’t enough to get you there on time. Attendance is the number one goal, you see.

Let’s be honest. Most churches have been highly secularized, even those that teach inerrancy from the pulpit every Sunday. If the motivator for Christianity is to form relationships, or to get to heaven, or to keep a book of rules to earn our way into heaven, or to look down on others who are less perfect in their biblical understanding, or to feel superior because we paint houses for the poor, then we’re selfish people acting selfishly, hoping to be rewarded for our superiority. It’s not going to happen.

None of this remotely resembles the Christianity taught by Jesus.

The above posts and the comments are worth reading, because, even though the word is not used, they both describe a process of increasing entropy. The church that sows to the flesh shall from the flesh reap entropy. Changes in internal attitudes and thinking precede changes that are more obvious externally. A decreasing attendance in churches isn’t because all the people made the decision last week to do something else other than go to church. This has been coming and developing for many years as more and more churches decided to pattern their doctrinal gospel after the world.

We have said that God is the only definition of righteousness. God is righteous, and He is the definition. He alone is righteous, so He alone is truly holy. We have said that one of the characteristics of righteous is “perfect balance.” When churches concentrate on one fragment of the doctrine and circle and defend that doctrine instead of continuing to be led into all the truth (John 16:13), these churches are not reflecting the righteousness (perfect balance) of God. Unity in the body of Christ is when all parts of the body put their fragmentary viewpoints together. The power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in the church is revealed through unity of the body, which is what Jesus prayed for (John 17). That is power; that is energy; that is a power source outside our isolated system. What about parts of the body defending their view and castigating others for not agreeing with them? What about parts of the body that would not accept other parts as legitimate members of the universal church? What about division that produces confusion and chaos and selfish ambition and idolatry of doctrine?

Imbalance and competition and the chaos it produces reflect increasing entropy. It is the work of the flesh. The scripture calls it sin, and the scripture says what direction sin is travelling.

Some parts of the body emphasize compassion and a “social gospel.” Other parts emphasize prayer and external manifestations of God’s power. Other parts emphasize eternal salvation and a relationship with Christ. Other parts emphasize obedience and a careful exegesis of the word. Other parts emphasize scholarly investigations into the scripture as it was written and understood by the people who received the message. Some emphasize grace, some emphasize works. Are all of these topics in the scripture? Didn’t Jesus give a command to do these things and didn’t He give examples of doing them Himself? It’s all important, but none of these things are important in and of themselves – they are products and fruit of the Spirit when we put Jesus Christ as Lord. Centralizing on Jesus is spiritual energy; centralizing on our different doctrinal approaches to Jesus produces entropy.

The posts referenced here give a description of what the force of entropy looks like when it plays out in the church.

Different groups may have different rates of entropy production. But let’s not have anyone going around with an “entropy meter” pointing at other groups to compare ourselves. Tube city is tube city no matter how steep the slant of the tube is.

People arguing over who has less membership loss is like arguing over who has more entropy. Both are like two guys about to die of dehydration in the desert arguing over who has the better tan.

114. A BRIEF EXPLANATION OF PHYSICAL THERMODYNAMICS TO APPLY TO PRINCIPLES IN THE SPIRITUAL REALM

In order to understand the significance of the immeasurable energy that God has given to us (Acts 1:8; Eph. 1:19; 3:20) discussed in the next section, we need to cover some basics about the laws of thermodynamics operating in the physical realm. We have introduced entropy and its significance in the life cycle of a bacterial culture, which was used as a simple representation of the much more complicated social cycles of human cultures. The principles are the same. We’ve talked about the destructive results of entropy accumulation in individuals, groups, churches, or societies who operate out of the fleshly desires instead from out of the control of the Holy Spirit. We have talked about how energy and entropy can wax and wane in a reciprocal fashion as people cycle in their attitudes of either obedience or rebellion in their chosen responses to God.

But we need to set the thermodynamic stage just a bit more before discussing an absolutely incredible intervention of the power of God from the spiritual to the physical realm that is given to those who believe. This is another example of a correlation between the laws of the natural and the spiritual realms being better understood when considered together. Admittedly, there is not a “one size fits all” discussion of thermodynamics. The following may be a challenge for some to understand while for others it may be offensively oversimplified.

The technical detail of this discussion is aimed at particular level and intended mainly for people who already have a certain presupposition – that the physical world (science) and the spiritual world (the scriptures) are both true and valid expressions of the divine nature of God. The person may know more about science than theology, or vice versa. They probably haven’t thought about the new ideas that could open up about how God works by expanding our consideration of all the things that God has done. They may have training in science and/or theology, or not. Hopefully, the discussion here might open up some new insights for further thinking. A person who thinks that science is everything and the Bible is myth will probably not find much here except things to criticize. There will be plenty of opportunities. A person who thinks science is for atheists might approach these ideas similarly, but just maybe they will at least see some rationale for considering God's natural creation and God's spiritual word together. This is not the brainstorm of Dr. A. Steineisen, and this is not the “Theory of Relaspiritivity.” These are just some possible ways of considering and understanding more of God’s revelation to us.

The concepts of thermodynamics can be described verbally using pictures or with mathematics about as complicated as one can handle. Fortunately, concepts from words and pictures will be enough to compare to the scripture.

Some definitions

Thermodynamics deals with the transfer of energy and is measured in terms of heat which is in proportion to energy. When energy is absorbed by a mass, the molecules of that mass have a higher motion, which generates measurable radiation called heat. Heat can be transferred from one mass to another, such as water from a reservoir heated by a flame that transfers heat from combustible materials to the water which transfers the heat to your skin when taking a shower.

A system is what is defined as the limits of energy flow. A system may be literal and physical or it may be conceptual; it is what is being studied or analyzed. A physical system may be an air conditioner, or a turbine, or a bacterial colony growing in a culture dish. A conceptual system might be a person, a group of people, a nation of people, or a world of people. It may be past, present, or future. A process describes how a system changes from one state to another; a state describes the properties of a system at the beginning and end of the process. This process of change in a system is done in an environment called the surroundings. A system into which no outside mass or energy can pass is an isolated system. One into which energy can pass, but no mass, is aclosed system, and one into which both mass and energy can pass is an open system. (Sometimes, “closed” is used for both “closed” and “isolated” – i.e., neither mass nor energy can enter).

Comparison of the measures of properties requires dimensions and units. Dimensions are spatial (length, width, breadth), mass, temperature, and time and, secondarily, volume and pressure. The physical realm is defined by what can be observed, measured, and described within time and three-dimensional space which are properties of our universe. The spiritual realm, and perhaps universes other than the one in which we exist, do not have such limitations.

Entropy is a measure of a decline in the usefulness of energy. Entropy is a measure of disorder and generally is directly related to temperature. The higher the temperature, the higher the disorder, the higher the entropy. Quantum mechanics involves a measure of description of the probability of order within disorder. Since one doesn’t know exactly where an electron is in space around an atomic nucleus at any point in time, molecular orbital theory predicts the spatial dimensions with a certain probability that an electron would be found in this particular shape of space at any time. It is a prediction of order in an otherwise random system. Sometimes at high enough temperatures of certain molecules, entropy, randomness, and disorder get so far beyond predictable order that something like an explosion occurs. (The “big bang” occurred at extremely high energy and temperature).

Enthalpy involves a fluid flowing through a device into a system and performing work on the system and producing changes in the internal energy within that system. Water, for instance, can flow as a vapor, or gas, as a liquid, and as a solid, ice – a mist, a stream, or a glacier. Enthalpy represents a flow of energy into a system.

It is interesting to consider all the references in the New Testament about the Holy Spirit being poured out(Acts 2:33) and God’s love being poured into (Rom. 5:5). In some verses, a preposition is used (dia) that means to flow through a conduit, such as a pipe. Jesus talked about the flow of living water and the baptismwithin the Holy Spirit. [This little tidbit is just to let you know that there will be some scriptural relevance to all this science stuff.]

A cycle is a repeating process that ends up at the essentially the same state at which it started. Two thermodynamic processes may be combined, one involving transfer of heat in one direction and the other transfer of heat in the opposite direction so that a repeating process, or cycle, is produced. We will later use an air conditioner as an example. In a more conceptual cycle, such as an economic cycle, time passes between repetitive phases so that the different surrounding may be a factor. Certain stocks cycling in and out of favor may be affected by technological changes over time, for instance.

We can pause at this point and match some of the above terms with the cycles of the judges of Israel. Thesystem could be the Israelites, the people of God. The states were oppression and peace, and the processwas the change from oppression to victory and peace to oppression again. The dimensions were within the promised land of Canaan, and the surroundings were the neighboring Canaanite people and tribes who attacked and oppressed them. Energy (enthalpy) was high during times of obedience, peace, and blessing and entropy was high during times of oppression and confusion and disorder. Peace is the opposite of chaos. Entropy is the enemy of peace. The people of Israel cut off their own energy by disobedience to God, and they were an isolated system with no outside energy source. Entropy increased with disorder and chaos. They were overcome by enemies and oppressed. When they cried out to the Lord, He opened their system andenergy flowed back in through a judge that God raised up. “Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon him [Samson] in power” (Jud. 14:19; also 15:14).

Laws of Thermodynamics

The three laws of thermodynamics are actually four. These laws form the basis for natural cycles.

After the three laws of thermodynamics had been developed, the laws were associated in the literature and textbooks as 1, 2, and 3. That made perfect sense until it was recognized that mathematically there needed to be another law that was actually more fundamental than the three that already existed. Well, so much for naming it number 4, so it is called the “zeroth” law. But, the “three laws” term has been used so long that it still sticks, and the “zeroth” law is sort of assumed.

All the laws are pretty intuitive; the second law (entropy) needs more explanation than the others.

The “Zeroth” Law makes a thermometer a valid instrument to measure temperature. Two objects in thermal equilibrium with a third object are in thermal equilibrium with each other. That statement is like an axiom of analytical geometry.

The First Law concerns the flow of energy. Energy within a system cannot be created or destroyed; it can only change form. If energy enters into a system from the outside, it must either leave the system so that a balance remains or it must change the energy of the system by performing work, producing heat, or adding or removing mass (mass contains energy.) The First Law presumes that the universe is a closed system.

The Second law can’t be described by a short statement, but a number of statements that are based on the same mathematics. There is no such thing as a perpetual motion machine. No cyclic process can be 100% efficient. All the energy used in a process cannot be regenerated and recovered -- some will be lost to entropy. Entropy is a measure of disorder or chaos in a system. Energy is consumed to create order or to organize chaos. Things left to themselves without new energy tend to run down with increasing entropy. Energy can be drawn from larger cyclic processes until the all universe is involved. The universe is running down.

The change in entropy (magnitude and direction) in a thermodynamic process is more important than a static value.

The Third Law states that at a temperature of absolute zero (zero degrees Kelvin), all molecular motion stops; material is perfectly ordered; and entropy is zero.

An assumption from classical thermodynamics is that the universe is a closed system (First Law) and with no outside source of energy; therefore, over time, the energy within the universe is decreasing (Second Law). What was introduced (from wherever) by the “big bang” was all the energy this universe will get. This assumption may be right, partly right, right under some (or most) conditions, or wrong. It’s difficult to prove that there is no source of new energy in a universe when the limit of the universe is also an assumption. Experiments designed to answer these questions have only discovered more data that raised more questions. While the questions about the universe are interesting, they don’t affect most things in our lives or the corresponding application of scripture.

Generally, application to spiritual principles will come from Laws 1 and 2 -- the conservation of total energy within a closed system, and all natural processes are inefficient and without an outside energy source will run down producing more and more entropy. Entropy results in processes coming to a stop with death and decomposition.

A simple example of “every-day entropy” in action

If anyone would like to see an active production of entropy (confusion, disorder, chaos, bedlam, and mayhem), all they have to do is watch the dynamics within a class of 2-year olds. Surely, the reason that God created 2-year olds is to help us understand entropy and destruction. I used to occasionally help my wife teach a class of 2’s. As a generalization, it seemed that boys felt more compulsion to generate entropy than girls. There were several boys in one class who couldn't tolerate seeing any toy on a shelf or on a table. They would even extend their arm out like a snowplow and scrape everything off the table with one fell swoop. A toy on at a table elevation has more potential energy for possible work than a toy on the floor, and a toy stacked on another on the floor has more potential energy than just resting directly on the floor. A toy positioned in contact with the floor has the least potential energy and highest entropy possible under these conditions, save demolition of the building. Understanding this law of nature, the budding engineers would reposition with force of foot any toy not in direct contact with the floor. Not only were objects reduced to their lowest energy level, but everything needed to be in maximum randomness and chaos – meaning toys has to be dispersed as widely as possible all over the floor of the room to keep order and toy density low. The goal was to produce as high an entropy level as possible. Satisfaction with one’s work was directly proportional to the magnitude of entropy produced. All this, of course, involved an expenditure of their energy to produce chaos, but this usage was insignificant compared to the energy reservoir they naturally maintained. Energy efficiency was considered, however, when it came time to clean up. Any energy that might be devoted to picking up toys and repositioning them in their proper place was very transient and difficult to observe, like dark matter.

I once tried a little experiment. While the class was next door watching a Boz video for the “nth time,” I picked up the random scattering of toys and put them all in their orderly places. My effort was the outside energy source overcoming the effects of entropy. I wanted to see their reaction when they came back into the room. Well, El Destructo and his snowplow friend were the first ones to run into the room, and when they saw the orderly state of the room, they actually froze in their tracks (for 175 milliseconds – brief, but measurable compared to the Higgs Boson). They immediately ran over to the table and shelves and began raking all the toys off onto the floor and performing the kick trick until all the toys were at maximum entropy – no useful energy and maximum chaos. One boy looked around at the chaos he had created as if to say, “This is very good.”

Entropy – maximize chaos, disorder, disorganization, confusion, and randomness and minimize any remaining useful energy from the material. The above illustration is only slightly exaggerated.

The above describes an “early two.” There is an observable behavioral evolution with age. By “late two” (or almost three), kids distinguish between general chaos and something on which they are spending their time and effort. An “early two” may with reckless abandon knock down everything, including something that a “late two” is building. That’s not good, and a new form of entropy called “conflict” usually results.

This is a side note worth making because we will come to this point later. Production of entropy is a sign of immaturity, no matter the age of the person. There are some general stages of a social maturing process that can be seen as the brain grows and more neuronal connections are made. [1] I can do whatever I want to, anywhere, anytime, to anybody; [2] you do whatever, just don’t mess with me; [3] we’re both doing something, but mine’s better; [4] you do your thing and I’ll do mine; [5] we can work together; [6] I’ll help you build yours, as long as I can build mine; [7] I help you instead of building mine; [8] I’ll build one and give it to you.

Entropy and the works of the flesh go together. Both come from pleasing the sinful nature and rebellion to God. Both reflect spiritual immaturity. In the church, division, quarreling, chaos, unresolved conflict, disorder, uncharitable judgments, and such-like are expression of spiritual immaturity. Sometimes the worst immature behavior can come from people who have been Christians for a long time, from congregational members since Noah was a little boy, from people who contribute more than average, who have a sense of entitlement to importance and control.

Some examples of the laws of thermodynamics at work in systems

Example 1: Shut that refrigerator door!