"Why do Christians think humans are a superior species?"

This post is actually not to quote tons of Scripture as to why humans are superior above other animals, etc. The reason being that when I get asked this question, people don't want to hear "because in the Bible it says XYZ". The Bible provides plenty of information if you are interested in why humans are superior from a biblical perspective. In a nutshell, we were created superior: we are made in God's image or likeness, we have free will, we have a conscience, we have rationality, we were made intentionally and with a purpose.

Today I will instead explain how we can see, Bible aside, why scripture is correct in teaching that humans are superior to other beings. Here is a list of what we are capable of in comparison to animals:

• Self-awareness: before you start thinking about Cyberdyne and Skynet and claim that machines can be self-aware, hear me out on what I mean by this. We understand that we exist. We know that we used to exist before this moment in time and we can remember the past and how we existed then. We also understand that we will continue to exist in the future. Think of Dory in Finding Nemo. Although she can remember aspects of the past, this seems coincidental in relation to how we remember the past. The fact that she can remember things like 'P. Sherman, 4 Wallaby Way, Sydney' doesn't mean she is mindful of the fact that she used to exist and will exist in the future. We can, which is the key difference. Our self-awareness is on a higher level, more complex and thus superior in comparison.
• Empathy: humans have the ability to empathise, to feel what it is like for another person to be in a certain situation, without being in that position ourselves
• Mind-reading: not literally knowing exactly what someone's thinking all the time, Edward Cullen style mind-reading. What I mean is we can know what other people are thinking and how they are feeling sometimes without them needing to say anything. For example, you see your friend thinking about something when she hears her favourite song, you might know that she's thinking about the first time she heard it. You see your boyfriend staring into the fridge, you might know he's thinking about what to have for lunch. By knowing a person, we can to an extent read their minds.
• Emotion: we can recognise and know how a person's feeling by looking at them. We both express emotion more vividly and clearly than animals and we can recognise and identify emotions from people's body language, facial expressions and tone of voice. (Well, most of us).
• Language: we have developed thousands of complex, well-developed languages that are completely different from the communication animals use. We can use to talk to each other using these languages to express ourselves specifically, understand one another and respond.
• Predictability: by knowing people, we can predict their behaviour, emotions and responses. Unlike animals, we can weigh up scenarios and compare outcomes (using complex thought-processes and consciousness too for the record) to know how someone will feel about something, react to something and what they'll say to something else. What they'll like or dislike, how they'll react, etc.
• Monogamy: we seem to be one of few, if not the only, species that is capable of and often desires a monogamous relationship. Most animals don't care about the 'personality' of other animals, or even the way the other animal looks. They simply follow basic instinct to find a mate. They may have more than one at a time, or even move from one to the other. Humans have personal interaction with each other, we wouldn't want to end up with just anyone for life. We desire a specific person and want to hold on to them and no other. (Again, 98% of the time)

It's these factors that we can observe everday that go hand-in-hand with biblical teaching that humans are superior. These things I have just listed, show how God made us differently and touch on why He did so. Christians believe humans are superior and stewards of the Earth for these reasons and many others, not just because we want to give ourselves authority to do what we want, feel big and mistreat other creatures.

I hope to the people who've asked me that question, that I have answered it!

Thought of the Day: Why Do We Die?

Today in class, my tutor raised an interesting issue. I'm not sure how it came about, other than we were studying the philosophy of mind. The conversation went like this:

Tutor: "did you know that scientists don't know why we die?"
Boy in class: "well if a truck hits you, that's how you die"
Tutor: "we don't know how we naturally die"

My tutor meant that if a person dies of 'natural causes', we don't know what that means or what that 'cause' was. It's something I had never thought of before, but it was an interesting point, especially coming from a person who doesn't think we have a soul and doesn't think that God exists. He admitted that there's something his 'all-knowing science' couldn't answer.

So why do we die of natural causes? What is that? What does it mean? Why are we mortal?

Well here's the answer, it's because we sin. Romans 6:23 'For the wages of sin is death' tells us that it is our sin that causes us to die. Death is the inevitable punishment for our sin. The second part of the verse gives us hope 'but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord'. Sin is the reason we die and we all sin. Science will never be able to tell us that. Christians still die because Christians still sin, but the difference is, with repentence and faith in the Saviour, Christians inherit everlasting life.

Did you know that Moses lived to be 120? Did you know that Abraham lived to be 175? It is believed Noah lived to be 950. Why? Because these were all righteous men of God. Remove the sin, as God does, and death can be postponed. All things are possible with God. Science would be inclined to disagree with the above statements about the ages of the prophets, but since science cannot find reasons for death, how could science prove these men did not live to be that long?

How great it is that God gives us the answers where science can't. We should always put our trust in Him.

"Why can't I have sex before marriage when I know I'll marry him/her?"

This is a question I was asked recently and a good in-depth answer to this question can be found here at GotQuestions?

I'm going to summarise the answer in 2 parts, starting with why sex before marriage (or outside of marriage e.g. adultery, or if you're divorced and already had sex) is wrong in the first place.

God designed sex to be for a married couple, it is the only safe place where sex can be practiced in the way God intended. It is only a good thing when used in its correct context, like a fire. If you start a fire it can do damage, but a fire in the proper context of a fireplace for example is a good thing. 1 Thessalonians 4:3 says 'For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality'. It is sexually immoral to have sex with more than one person at a time, to have sex with anyone you are not married to, to have sex with someone you are related to and to have sex with someone of the same gender as yourself (see verses in Leviticus).

Why did God intend sex to be only within marriage?

• Whether you choose to acknowledge it or not, sex is emotionally bonding as well as physically bonding. The temporary emotional attachment during sex can still cause damage afterwards. Feelings of being used, self-worth only existing when you have intimate involvement with another person, etc. God does not want this emotional damage to occur
• Health issues can arise - your chances of picking up an STD increases with the number of partners you have, but can still be picked up from having sex with only one person and that includes oral sex
• Pregnancy risks - children should not be raised outside of marriage, especially with only one parent or by parents who are not emotionally or financially prepared for a child
• Your body is God's temple, because he created you, this is even more the case if you are already a Christian since the Holy Spirit lives inside you. 1 Corinthians 6:18-19 'Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?'

So now we understand why sex is forbidden outside of marriage, we can address the issue of why it is still wrong to have sex outside of marriage if you intend to marry the person. Again, I'll say that this is explained very well on the website I have mentioned at the start of this post, the link to the page is also there. But here's a short summary:

• You're still not married for a start, so the rules I just explained about why sex outside marriage is wrong, still apply. There's health risks, emotional risks and pregnancy risks. You're also still abusing your body which is a temple of God
• The emotional risks could become even worse if you say you'll get married and break up
• It shows a complete lack of respect for yourself and for the other person. If you love each other enough to get married, it shouldn't be hard to wait until then to have sex. If you can't, you're showing either you don't want to (so you don't respect the other person enough to wait) or you have no self-control over yourself which is a very slippery slope. How will you deal with other sexual temptations such as adultery and pornography?
• Think to yourself, will you actually get married if you're already having sex? Is that what the other person is sticking around for? Would you still be together if you removed sex from the relationship?

Remember that God made these rules with ultimate power and knowledge. He knows how these rules will pan out and work for us, He can see all the other possible options and where they'll lead and he chose these rules. That means He knows it's the best thing for us. We might think we know better, but we don't and God doesn't want us to learn that we don't the hard way. He wants us to trust Him and what He asks. So trust Him. We're not animals, so we should treat ourselves and our partners with dignity and respect.