Postmillennialism Thu, 23 Aug 2007 05:12:01 -0500 In Christian eschatology, postmillennialism is an interpretation of chapter 20 of the Book of Revelation which sees Christ's second coming as occurring after (Latin post-) the millennium, the Golden Age or era of Christian prosperity and dominance. The term subsumes several similar views of the end times, and it stands in contrast to premillennialism and amillennialism.
Although some postmillennialists hold to a literal millennium of 1,000 years, most postmillennialists see the thousand years more as a figurative term for a long period of time (similar in that respect to amillennialism). Among those holding to a non-literal "millennium" it is usually understood to have already begun, which implies a less obvious and less dramatic kind of millennium than that typically envisioned by premillennialists, as well as a more unexpected return of Christ.
Postmillennialism also teaches that the forces of Satan will gradually be defeated by the expansion of the Kingdom of God throughout history up until the second coming of Christ. This belief that good will gradually triumph over evil has led proponents of postmillennialism to label themselves "optimillennialists" in contrast to "pessimillennial" premillennialists and amillennialists.
Dispensationalism Wed, 22 Aug 2007 05:23:32 -0500 Dispensationalism is a branch of Christian theology that
teaches Biblical history as best understood in light of a number of successive economies or administrations under God, which it calls "dispensations," and
emphasizes prophecy of the end-times and the pre-tribulation rapture view of Christ's second coming.
Dispensation is an English term excogitated from the Latin dispensatio, frequently used to translate the Greek oikonomia. The Greek word denotes the law or management of a household (to manage, administer, regulate, or plan).
Some consider Dispensationalism to be a nineteenth century distortion of Biblical history. Dispensationalists teach that there are seven distinct "dispensations" within biblical history. The seventh being the 1000 year reign of Christ or the millennium. According to some, the primary error is the "two covenant" teaching. Dispensationalists believe that God's covenant with Israel continues even through the present "church age." Many Protestants believe that the new covenant in Christ replaces the old covenant with Israel.
Olivet discourse Tue, 21 Aug 2007 05:14:13 -0500 The Olivet discourse or Little Apocalypse is a passage found in the Synoptic Gospels of Matthew 24 Mark 13 and Luke 21, occurring just before the narrative of Jesus's passion beginning with the Anointing of Jesus. In the narrative is a discourse or sermon given by Jesus on the Mount of Olives, hence the name. According to most textual scholars, the versions of the discourse in Matthew and Luke are based on the version in Mark.
The discourse contains a number of statements which at face value appear to refer to future events, and most modern Christians interpret as having been intended as prophecy.
The topics involved are:
The future destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem
Tribulation in Israel and the nations of the world
Premillennialism Mon, 20 Aug 2007 08:21:26 -0500 Premillennialism in Christian eschatology is the belief that Christ will literally reign on the earth for 1,000 years at his second coming. The doctrine is called premillennialism because it views the current age as prior to Christ's kingdom. It is distinct from other forms of eschatology such as amillennialism, postmillennialism, and preterism which view the kingdom as figurative and non-temporal, or as currently occurring in history before Christ's coming. Premillennialism is largely based upon a literal interpretation of Revelation 20:1-6 in the New Testament which describes Christ's coming to the earth and subsequent reign at the end of an apocalyptic period of tribulation. It views this future age as a time of fulfillment for the prophetic hope of God's people as given in the Old Testament.
Origin of the Term Historically Christian premillennialism has also been referred to as "chiliasm" or "millenarianism". The theological term "premillennialism" did not come into general use until the mid-nineteenth century, a period when modern premillennialism was revived. Coining the word was "almost entirely the work of British and American Protestants and was prompted by their belief that the French and American Revolution (the French, especially) realized prophecies made in the books of Daniel and Revelation.'
Louis Pasteur Sat, 18 Aug 2007 06:23:23 -0500 Louis Pasteur (December 27, 1822 '" September 28, 1895) was a French chemist best known for his remarkable breakthroughs in microbiology. His experiments confirmed the germ theory of disease, also reducing mortality from puerperal fever (childbed), and he created the first vaccine for rabies. He is best known to the general public for showing how to stop milk and wine from going sour - this process came to be called pasteurization. He is regarded as one of the three main founders of bacteriology, together with Ferdinand Cohn and Robert Koch. He also made many discoveries in the field of chemistry, most notably the asymmetry of crystals.
'He believed that the Genesis account that created life reproduces its own kind. He worked to deomonstrate the fallacy of spontaneous generation, which many continued to believe despite the work of Leeuwenhoek in the previous century'
Gregor Mendel Fri, 17 Aug 2007 04:16:04 -0500 Gregor Johann Mendel (July 20, 1822 '" January 6, 1884) was a German-Czech Augustinian priest and scientist often called the "father of modern genetics" for his study of the inheritance of traits in pea plants. Mendel showed that the inheritance of traits follows particular laws, which were later named after him. The significance of Mendel's work was not recognized until the turn of the 20th century. Its rediscovery prompted the foundation of genetics.
As an Augustinian monk, Gregor Mendel was a Christian who belived in creationism.
Mendel was born into a German-speaking family in Heinzendorf, Silesia, then part of the Austrian Empire (now Hyn�ice in the Czech Republic), and was baptized two days later. During his childhood Mendel worked as a gardener, and as a young man attended the Philosophical Institute in Olomouc (Olm tz). In 1843 he entered the Augustinian Abbey of St. Thomas in Brno, (Br nn). Born Johann Mendel, he took the name Gregor upon entering monastic life. In 1851 he was sent to the University of Vienna to study, returning to his abbey in 1853 as a teacher, principally of physics.
Gregor Mendel, who is known as the "father of modern genetics", was inspired by both his professors at university and his colleagues at the monastery to study variation in plants. He commenced his study his monastery's experimental garden. Between 1856 and 1863 Mendel cultivated and tested some 29,000 pea plants. His experiments brought forth two generalizations which later became known as Mendel's Laws of Inheritance.
James Clerk Maxwell Thu, 16 Aug 2007 05:24:44 -0500 James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 '" 5 November 1879) was a Scottish mathematician and theoretical physicist. His most significant achievement was formulating a set of equations '- eponymically named Maxwell's equations '- that for the first time expressed the basic laws of electricity and magnetism in a unified fashion. He also developed the Maxwell distribution, a statistical means to describe aspects of the kinetic theory of gases. These two discoveries helped usher in the era of modern physics, laying the foundation for future work in such fields as special relativity and quantum mechanics. He is also known for creating the first true colour photograph in 1861.
'(The work of Maxwell) ... the most profound and the most fruitful that physics has experienced since the time of Newton.' '-Albert Einstein, The Sunday Post
The majority of Maxwell's illustrious career took place at the University of Cambridge, where his investigations often made use of his mathematical aptitude, drawing on elements of geometry and algebra. With these skills, Maxwell was able to demonstrate that electric and magnetic fields travel through space, in the form of waves, and at the constant speed of light. Finally, in 1861 Maxwell wrote a four-part publication in the Philosophical Magazine called On Physical Lines of Force where he first proposed that light was in fact undulations in the same medium that is the cause of electric and magnetic phenomena.
William Thompson Wed, 15 Aug 2007 05:33:42 -0500 William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, OM, GCVO, PC, PRS, FRSE, (26 June 1824 '" 17 December 1907) was a mathematical physicist, engineer, and outstanding leader in the physical sciences of the 19th century. He did important work in the mathematical analysis of electricity and thermodynamics, and did much to unify the emerging discipline of physics in its modern form. He is widely known for developing the Kelvin scale of absolute temperature measurement. The title Baron Kelvin was given in honour of his achievements, and named after the River Kelvin, which flowed past his university in Glasgow, Scotland.
He also enjoyed a second career as a telegraph engineer and inventor, a career that propelled him into the public eye and ensured his wealth, fame and honour.
Thomson was a defender of Christian education, and he studied the Bible, its history, and the geography of the ancient world.
Thomson remained a devout believer in Christianity throughout his life: attendance at chapel was part of his daily routine, though he might not identify with fundamentalism if he were alive today. He saw his Christian faith as supporting and informing his scientific work, as is evident from his address to the annual meeting of the Christian Evidence Society, 23 May 1889.
James Prescott Joule Tue, 14 Aug 2007 04:50:07 -0500 James Prescott Joule, FRS (December 24, 1818 '" October 11, 1889) was an English physicist, born in Sale, near Manchester. Joule studied the nature of heat, and discovered its relationship to mechanical work (see energy). This led to the theory of conservation of energy, which led to the development of the first law of thermodynamics. The SI unit of work, the joule, is named after him. He worked with Lord Kelvin to develop the absolute scale of temperature, made observations on magnetostriction, and found the relationship between the flow of current through a resistance and the heat dissipated, now called Joule's law.
"I shall lose no time in repeating and extending these experiments, being satisfied that the grand agents of nature are by the Creator's fiat, indestructible; and that wherever mechanical force is expended, and exact equivalent of heat is always obtained."
"After knowledge of, and obedience to, the will of God, the next aim must be to know something of His attributes of wisdom power and goodness as evidenced by His handiwork. It is evident that an acquaintance with natural laws means no less than an acquaintance with the mind of God therein expressed." -James Prescott Joule
Michael Faraday Mon, 13 Aug 2007 05:18:51 -0500 Michael Faraday, FRS (September 22, 1791 '" August 25, 1867) was an English chemist and physicist (or natural philosopher, in the terminology of that time) who contributed significantly to the fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry.
Faraday studied the magnetic field around a conductor carrying a DC electric current, and established the basis for the magnetic field concept in physics. He discovered electromagnetic induction, diamagnetism and electrolysis. He established that magnetism could affect rays of light and that there was an underlying relationship between the two phenomena.
His inventions of electromagnetic rotary devices formed the foundation of electric motor technology.
As a chemist, Faraday discovered chemical substances such as benzene, invented an early form of the bunsen burner and the system of oxidation numbers, and popularized terminology such as anode, cathode, electrode, and ion.
