Page 141 - Apologetics Student Textbook (3 Credits)
P. 141

In grade school you learned about protons, electrons, and
                                                 neutrons, the particles in an atom.  You learned that electrons are
                                                 negatively charged particles, protons are positively charged, and
                                                 neutrons are neutral in charge.  The nucleus of the atom consists
                                                 of protons and neutrons all bundled together into a ball.  Electrons
                                                 spin about the nucleus at tremendous speeds in shells or levels,
                                                 much like a satellite circles the earth.

               One of the fun things we used to play with was magnets.  A magnet has one end that is positively
               charged and one end that is negatively charged.  The earth is actually on big magnet.  One thing we
               observed is that if you try to put the positive ends together of two magnets, you cannot get them to
               stick together.   In fact they repel one another. We learned that with magnetic forces, like charges repel
               and opposite charges attract one another.  This is called the Law of Magnetism.

               Let’s go back to the atom.  Bundled in the nucleus, depending on the element,
               are several protons all stuck together in a ball.  But they should not be able to
               do that.  They should repel each other and fly away.  Outside the atom, the
               electrons spin around the nucleus, but should never be able to be stable as they
               repel one another.  Every atom defies the law of magnetism.

               Our verse above tells us how every atom in the universe is held together.  The hand of God holds them
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               together.  Scientists tell us there are 10  to 10  atoms in the known, observable universe.  In layman's
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               terms, that works out to between ten quadrillion vigintillion and one-hundred thousand quadrillion
               vigintillion atoms.  We have a pretty amazing God!


               Everyone has presuppositions.  Everyone is biased.  No one is objective!
               (some information from https://www.cs.uni-potsdam.de/ti/kreitz/Christian/Apologetics/all.pdf)


                                           Every person, no matter how objective they claim to be, has
                                           presuppositions or beliefs that influence how he views things.  A
                                           presupposition is an opinion assumed in advance and established in the
                                           mind of every person about what he feels is true.  We cannot reason
                                           without prior information established in our minds. Quite often, we base
                                           our observations on what we presume to know is already true, whether it
                                           is or not.  One thing God put into man is the ability to reason and seek for
               truth.  And the Law of Contradictions states that when we make one statement that we believe is true,
               we cannot accept an opposite statement and also accept it as true.  If A = B, then B must equal A.  If B
               does not equal A, then we have a contradiction and we must question one statement or the other.
               Most people will question a new statement rather than one already established in their mind.

               There are also presuppositions that are nothing but prejudices.  What we learn as we grow and develop
               makes us believe that certain assumptions are ``facts of nature'' but they are actually in conflict with
               reality.  A very common example is the assumption that certain types of people are inferior to us
               because of race, national origin, wealth, intelligence, beauty, etc. Presuppositions that fall into this
               category keep a person from living in reality.




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