Richard Swenson - More Than Meets the Eye: Fascinating Glimpses of Gods Power and Design

Dedicated to

all those who find themselves drawn into

the mysterious depths of God

Lets go there together

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More than Meets the Eye: Fascinating Glimpses of God's Power and Design

Copyright 2000 by Richard A. Swenson. All rights reserved.

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Cover design by David Carlson Design

Cover photos by Digital Stock

Creative Team: Jacqueline Eaton Blakley, Lisa Sheltra, Lori Mitchell, and Tim Howard

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Scripture quotations marked RSV are taken from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture verses marked NEB are taken from The New English Bible, copyright 1970, Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press. Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the Holy Bible, King James Version.

Some of the anecdotal illustrations in this book are true to life and are included with the permission of the persons involved. All other illustrations are composites of real situations, and any resemblance to people living or dead is coincidental.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Swenson, Richard A.

More than meets the eye : fascinating glimpses of Gods power and design / Richard A. Swenson.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 1-57683-069-1

1. GodOmnipotence. I. Title.

BT133 .S94 2000

231'.4dc2100-056255

ISBN 978-1-57683-069-7

Build: 2021-04-21 22:31:55 EPUB 3.0

Any such book effort represents the convergence of many influences that ought to be appropriately acknowledged. Carter and Curtis Folkestad permitted the extended use of important resource materials. Bill and Gail Thedinga, Dr. Roger and Joanne Natwick, Sue Harrison, and Helen Olechno contributed books and articles. Over years of presenting this content to varied audiences, many people have offered resources and ideas that further stimulated my thinking.

Don Steffen, David and Debbie Bochman, Jack and Diana Stimmel reviewed portions of the text at my request and offered helpful advice. Diana Stimmel, in particular, gave a thoughtful reading of the first seven chapters and offered important scriptural insights.

The physics faculty at Denison University stimulated me in this direction years ago, and Dr. Rod Grant has continued to do so with his important book on medical physics. In addition, Dr. Fuz Rana kindly gave assistance on an uncertain physics question.

Dr. Charles and Becky Folkestad provided medical resources, as did Dr. Scott Wright of the Mayo Clinic. Both my head and my heart thank you.

Darlene Bochman provided her exceptional secretarial skills. Many others contributed practical encouragement: among them Opal Harstad, Paul and Comfort Attah, and Hazel Bent. Our extended families, as always, have given continuous support.

I wish to thank NavPress for their dedicated attention to this text. Once again, heartfelt gratitude to editor Don Simpson for his wise expertise and gentle guidance.

My wife Lindawho has both English and R.N. degreescontinues to function as an invaluable researcher, scholarly advisor, and copy editor. I cant even begin to imagine doing this kind of research and writing without her assistance, which extends into many thousands of hours of work. In writing as in life, it is an honor to work side-by-side with such a gifted person. To our sons Matt and Adam (and now Maureen!)thanks for listening to the ideas, enhancing the discussions, understanding the deadlines... and thanks simply for patiently being our beloved children.

Week after week we witness the same miracle: that God is so mighty he can stifle his own laughter....Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke?

A NNIE D ILLARD is right. And she is right in a way that should stop us all in our tracks. In every square millimeter of her thought there is a ton of implication.

Gods power is undeniable; His precision is impressive; His sovereignty is on display. Why then do we live in such a metaphysical stupor? How can such power fail to dominate our every thought and action?

It is not that God has failed to clearly demonstrate His nature, or that He has been lax in instructing us. It is just that we are slow to understand. Our eyesight is dim. This world is too much with us.

What we need is a new vision of God. The real God. Not some vague image we fold up and stuff in the back drawer of life, but the kind of God who parts the Red Sea and shakes Mount Sinai. The kind of God who stuns the physicists with symmetry, the mathematicians with precision, the engineers with design, the politicians with power, and the poets with beauty.

I often try to imagine what it would be like to cross into eternity for just ten minutes and sit in the presence of God. If we could do that and then return to live out our lives, what would change? Everything. And the change would be complete.

What might such a visit be like?

Dick: Do you really know everything, God?

God: Do you doubt it?

Dick: Well, no. But how do you do it? Doesnt it get kind of mixed up in your head?

God: I think you are getting the two of us confused. Let me put it this way. Things often get mixed up and chaotic in your head, but not in mine. Dick, my car never runs out of gas. Ive never been late for a plane. And when you try to balance your checkbook...I cant even bear to watch. So I distract myself by counting backwards to infinity.

Dick: Well, tell me something you know about me that I dont know about myself.

God: You have forty-two thousand fewer neurons in the right side of your brain than the left. You have 18.755 billion trillion air molecules in your lungs right now. You have a sixth cousin who is a plumber in Sundsvall, Sweden. And the rear passenger-side tire of your Chevy is a little low. Want me to keep going?

Dick: Youve got to be kidding! You keep track of things like that?

God: Of course. I dont even try. It is all a part of omniscience. I know absolutely everything about you.