hughbiquitous

A while back I “quoted” J. P. Moreland very casually that he went back-and-forth on the age of the earth. I came up with the proper quote:

It is unproductive to try to believe something beyond your grounds for believing it and dishonest to act as if you believe something more strongly than you do. Overbelief is not a virtue. For example, I am far from certain on many Christian beliefs I hold. I lean toward the view that the days of Genesis are vast periods of time and not literal twenty-four-hour periods. But about two days of the week I flip-flop and accept the literal view. Based on my study, I cannot convince myself either way, and I’m about sixty-forty in favor of the old-earth position. Other beliefs of mine have grown in certainty over the years—that God really exists, for example. We should be honest with ourselves about the strength of our various beliefs and work on strengthening them by considering the issues relevant to their acceptance.

– J. P. Moreland, Love Your God With All Your Mind, p. 107

This bears a distant resemblance to something I found by D. A. Carson (author’s emphasis):

Francis Schaeffer wrote a little book that I have often found useful in helping some Christians move beyond entrenched positions. That book was called Genesis in Space and Time. He asked, in effect, a simple question: What is the least that Genesis 1-11 must be saying for the rest of the Bible to cohere, for the rest of the Bible to make sense and be true? That is not the same as asking what is the most that one can reasonably infer from these chapters. Rather it is one particular application of the old analogia fidei argument: the appeal to “the analogy of the faith” as established by the rest of the Scriptures is one crucial way to let Scripture interpret Scripture.

Taken together, the wisdom of these sages heightens my interest in boundaries over answers. Here are some candidates off the top of my head:

1. Any explanation of the age of the universe must affirm the authority of Scripture.

2. Any explanation of the age of the universe must account for the fact that physical evidence exists that suggests an old universe.

3. Any explanation of the age of the universe must reconcile the testimony of Scripture with the physical evidence; neither fideistic nor naturalistic solutions will suffice.

That’s a start, but what I’m increasingly struck by is this: If both J. P. Moreland and D. A. Carson are slow to make ambitious, definitive claims about answers to the age of the universe, then who am I to do so?

I don’t even go by my initials!

Filming for Indiana Jones 4 is underway. Look for it in theaters a year from now.

Sadly, Sean Connery could not be enticed out of retirement to join the cast.

I usually offer food for thought, but this time it’s just food. And a confession: I’m a Food Network fan. And it’s all Alton Brown’s fault.

Who is Alton Brown, you ask? He’s the host of Good Eats, a show that follows a great recipe:

• 1 part Food
• 1 part Monty Python
• 1 part Spinal Tap
• 1 part Bill Nye the Science Guy
• 1 part MacGyver

That’s me! A little personal history: When I was in college, I got shamed into cooking by my two roommates. One was the son of a restaurant supply shop owner, and the other had been on his own a while. Both knew their way around the kitchen. Meanwhile, there I was, tossing store-brand fish sticks into the microwave. Then I remembered that I had made aspirin in my chemistry class. I figured, if I can make aspirin, surely I can make dinner! I started looking at cooking as just science in disguise, and I’ve been at home in the kitchen ever since. So maybe it’s natural I should end up a Good Eats fan.

Having said all that, Alton Brown is a really interesting guy with lots of hooks for me to grab on to. Besides the fact that the recipe for Good Eats is right up my alley, it turns out that Mr. Brown lives right here in metro Atlanta. In fact, if you watch his show, you’ll see him on location at some places I know well — places like Whole Foods (a/k/a Harry’s Farmers Market) in Marietta and the Alpharetta and Crabapple Kroger stores.

I’ve also just learned that, according to Atlanta Magazine’s April 2007 issue (as cited in Wikipedia), AB is a professing born-again Christian who attends Johnson Ferry Baptist Church. That’s right — Alton Brown and William Lane Craig attend the same church. Kinda blows my mind.

On top of that, my Dawg-fan friends will appreciate that AB is a UGA alum.

Good Eats Roadmap

You’ve got your Spinal Tap humor…

AB: There are a lot of features in today’s toasters. But if you’re really shopping for one, there are a few things you definitely want to look for… most of all, you want to have at least 6 to 7 browning settings.
PM: I made this one. It goes to 11.
BM: Why not just make 10 higher?
PM: But, it goes to 11.

…Monty Python…

MOM: How about chicken?
POP: Had chicken last night.
MOM: Game hen?
POP: Yeah, last Thursday.
MOM: Turkey breast?
POP: A week ago, Friday.
MOM: That was fish.
POP: Tasted like turkey.
MOM: Fine.
POP: How about a …
AB: A duck.
POP: Heh! She’ll only burn it.
MOM: Will not.
POP: Joan of Arc had less char than the last duck you cooked.
AB: Heh, heh, heh.
MOM: Why, I oughta …
AB: Alright, alright, kids. Come on. It doesn’t have to be this way.
MOM: It doesn’t?
AB: Nah, of course not. Look. What do ducks do?
MOM: Quack.
AB: Besides that.
CUSTOMER #1: Tastes gamy.
AB: Well, if you go out and shoot one out of the …
CUSTOMER #2: Fly?
AB: Fly. Very good. That’s why ducks have a very high percentage of “slow-twitch” dark musculature (which is not to say that they taste like dark meat). Okay, what else do they do?
MOM: Float.
AB: Float. Ah. What else floats?
C1: Apples?
C2: Empty beer cans?
C3: Very small rocks?
AB: Small rocks. This isn’t going exactly where I thought.

…and really cool science (pun intended):

Look, the sugar in frozen desserts is more than just a sweetener. See, once dissolved in the liquid, the sugar molecules actually get in the way of ice crystals forming. Now, as more water does freeze, the remaining liquid becomes more and more concentrated with sugar–which continually lowers the freezing point. That means that an ice or sorbet is little more than tiny ice crystals suspended in a supersaturated sugar solution that’s basically never really going to freeze…

Adding preserves to frozen desserts is good science for three reasons. One, you can count it as you would an equal amount of sugar in the recipe. Two, it’s a great way to introduce flavor. And three, pectin, the substance that thickens preserves make ices smoother. Not only do the large pectin molecules prevent crystals from getting big, just by getting in the way, but when smaller crystals melt on the plate, the pectin holds them in a gel state, which means a slower melting dessert. Ain’t science cool?

And let’s not forget his mad MacGyver-like skills… in this first video, he demonstrates the dangers of frying turkeys. Fast-forward to 3:00 remaining on this one.

Then, he shows his solution to the problem: The Turkey Derrick!

When to Watch

So if you’re not interminably bored by all this, and if you should find yourself surfing the channels at 7:00 or 11:00 some evening, find the Food Network and give Good Eats a shot.

Bonus! AB is also the host of Iron Chef America, and the way he does play-by-play on dueling 5-star chefs is impressive — the boy knows his stuff. Check that one out too!

See Also

Wired magazine on Alton Brown: The Thermochemical Joy of Cooking

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