Daniel vs. The World

I just read Daniel 1-8. Awesome.

I only recently became aware of the chiastic structure of these chapters (well, 2-7). the pairs 2 and 7, 3 and 6, and 4 and 5 have striking parallels. The very centre of these doublets is the end of chapter 4 when Nebuchadnezzar is finally humbled, and glorifies God. I found the account of Nebuchadnezzar quite exciting. He is an interesting character - vicious and terrifying, yet at times kind of soft and ... likeable? His astrologers etc. are all fairly comical. I think the repetition of the language regarding these guys is intended to be quite funny. They seem to bumble about as a group, incompetent and generally useless.

In contrast to chapter 4, where Nebuchadnezzar is eventually found praising God, chapter 5 gives the very short but parallel account of Belshazzar, Neb's son. Just like his dad he glorifies himself, but unlike his dad he is struck down dead that very day. The end. This contrast really hit me.

Chapters 3 and 6 are the fiery furnace and the lion's den, respectively. Again, the parallels are unmissable. A king's decree, advisor's dobbing, the suggestion of salvation from death, and then the salvation from death. I noticed that in the former it is the three Hebrews who declare they can be saved from the king's hand, but in the latter it is the king himself who is hopeful of the Hebrew's deliverance. In the latter the advisors are finally put to death - something you've been waiting for since ch. 3.

Finally, chapters 2 and 7 are about dreams of kingdoms. Chapter 2 is Neb's dream about the statue of gold, silver, iron, and iron/clay which is then destroyed by a stone which becomes a great kingdom. Chapter 7 is Daniel's first kingdom dream, which is a similar story with an identical ending - an everlasting kingdom is established.

I liked reading this in one sitting. Something that really came through clearly was that Daniel and his housemates were put up against a kingdom, and, through the sovereign providence of God, won. They survived three kings, and made them all look like fools. Great stuff.

People's Thoughts on an article about God and Science

I just read this article about some of the comments Steven Hawking makes about God in his new book. It's an interesting read by a sensible Christian.

Even more interesting, I thought, were the comments people made afterwards. You should have a flick through them. It's a sad read, unfortunately; a worrying mix of irrationality, violent response, vague delusion, and most noticeably (for me anyway) hugely misguided truth claims.