Episode 200 – Eternal Information – Part 8 – Supernatural Information
Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God.
Script:
Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.
Ecclesiastes, chapter 11, verse 6, New International Version

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VK: Hello! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. Thank you for joining us here today on Anchored by Truth. For several episodes we have been working on a series we call “Eternal Information.” We’ve covered a lot of ground so far in this series. For those listening today who may have missed some of the earlier episodes we encourage you to go to our website crystalseabooks.com where you can hear them. And, of course, anyone who just wants to review an episode even if they heard it before can always go to crystalseabooks.com for a review. This series in particular has been one of those series where each episode builds on the material from previous episodes. In the studio we have RD Fierro. RD is an author and the founder of Crystal Sea Books. RD, thus far in this series we have covered definitions for the term “information,” the attributes of information, and the laws that govern information. And in our last couple of episodes we saw that information is present in all the biological structures on earth. But what is the big point that we are making by such a thorough treatment of information?
RD: Well, before I answer your question I would also like to extend my greetings to everyone who is joining us here today. We are doing this series on information for the same reason that we do everything on Anchored by Truth – to help our listeners increase their confidence that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. But we can’t be sure that the Bible is the word of God if we aren’t sure that God exists in the first place. So, one of the things we like to do is ensure that our listeners have an abundance of … well, information so they can reassure themselves that the faith they place in God is more than just a leap into a dark abyss. Too often in our contemporary culture we are told that we must choose between logic, reason, and faith. But nothing could be further from the truth. We do not set aside logic and reason in favor of placing our truth in faith. To the contrary, we use logic, reason, and evidence to determine that the most sensible and practical thing we can possibly do is to place our trust in the God of the Bible and the revelation that He has made.
VK: And as we have been discussing in this series, the presence of information always point us to the presence of intelligence. You cannot have meaningful information without that information arising from an intelligent point of origin. The cat walking across a keyboard may produce letters on a computer screen but the cat isn’t going to produce an email telling people where to meet us for dinner. But even a young child can do an email. The transmission, reception, and use of information requires intelligence. So, if we see information present in biological structures – which we do – we can be absolutely sure that those biological structures had an intelligent point of origin.
RD: Yes. Our universe would not appear as it does without information, and therefore intelligence, being present. And that is one of the basic concepts that we have been working our way through during the first several episodes of this series. But today I want to introduce a new thought into our discussion.
VK: Which is ...
RD: Well, if the presence of information requires the presence of intelligence – which, as you said, it does – then we might say this. The presence of natural information demonstrates the presence of natural intelligence. So, a simple extension of that thought is that the presence of supernatural information would, of necessity, indicate the presence of supernatural intelligence.
VK: Oh, my goodness. I see where you are going. As human beings we can see that information surrounds us in the natural order – in the created order that we can perceive with our five senses. But you are now going to take us into an entirely different realm – the realm of the supernatural. So, I imagine that today you want to begin a discussion of the information that is contained in the Bible. Right?
RD: Exactly right. In our last couple of episodes we’ve talked about the fact that all living cells on the planet contain information. And even sources like the Merriam-Webster online dictionary acknowledges this fact. The nucleotide sequence of DNA clearly provides instructions and directions to the protein machinery of a cell and the performance of DNA is not tied to its chemistry any more than the chemistry of ink and paper determine the contents of printed pages. So, even if we restrict our awareness of the information present in nature to just what we see in living cells it is unavoidable to recognize that intelligence was necessary to create those cells.
VK: Which, of course, is a direct refutation of the foundational premise of the General Theory of Evolution. The General Theory of Evolution says that all life arose through the random and undirected interaction of inanimate particles. But the specified complexity of even the simplest one-celled creature is a huge challenge to that idea. We covered some of the problems with the idea that life could have arisen spontaneously from non-living element is episode 5 of this series.
RD: Yes. We can perceive quite readily that chemistry plus physics will not produce biology. Nor does the addition of time, even unlimited quantities of it, solve the problem. Life requires that certain select elements be organized in very specific sequences and patterns and then supported by very specific energy sources. Said simply, life requires information. Chemistry plus physics doesn’t equal biology. Chemistry plus physics plus information equals biology. So, let’s just label the information component of that equation “natural information” because we can see its operation and effects within the natural order. But when we turn to the Bible we start to perceive that its information component goes well beyond anything that can operate within the natural realm.
VK: Can you give us an example of what you’re thinking about?
RD: Sure. The Bible is, of course, a book and all books are information sources. But the Bible contains information that transcends the kind of information that is available from natural sources. For instance, in Isaiah, chapter 45, verse 1 the prophet names a conqueror who won’t arrive on the world scene for more than 150 years.
VK: Isaiah, chapter 45, verses 1 and 2 say, “The LORD said to Cyrus, his chosen one: I have taken hold of your right hand to help you capture nations and remove kings from power. City gates will open for you; not one will stay closed. As I lead you, I will level mountains and break the iron bars on bronze gates of cities.” Biblical scholars date Isaiah’s ministry to a roughly 40 year period that lasted from 740 BC until approximately 701 BC. Isaiah’s prophetic ministry can be dated accurately because Isaiah told us the Judean kings who ruled while he was conducting his ministry.
RD: Yes. So, Isaiah was prophesying in the latter half of the 8th century BC. A little over 100 years later the nation of Judah was conquered by the Babylonians and the Jews went into a 70 year period of exile.
VK: And that 70 year period of captivity had been foretold by a different prophet, Jeremiah. ” In Jeremiah, chapter 25, verses 10 and 11 Jeremiah reported that the Lord said, “I will put an end to your parties and wedding celebrations; no one will grind grain or be here to light the lamps at night. This country will be as empty as a desert, because I will make all of you the slaves of the king of Babylonia for 70 years.”
RD: Right. And just as Jeremiah prophesied around the year 605 BC the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar attacked Jerusalem, conquered it, and deported many of the Jewish elite and nobles. Most Bible scholars believe the prophet Daniel was part of this first group of deportees. Nebuchadnezzar made Judah a vassal state of Babylon, appointed his own governor, and went back to Babylon. But it wasn’t long before the Jews who remained started fomenting rebellion. So, about 14 years later the Babylonians returned and completed the destruction of Jerusalem and sent all but the poorest people into exile. That period of exile ended shortly after 539 BC when a Medo-Persian emperor, named Cyrus, conquered Babylon and shortly thereafter permitted the Jews to return their homeland. So, here we have two examples of very specific prophesies made decades before they were fulfilled. Isaiah gave us the name of the pagan king who would conquer a city that did indeed have “gates of bronze.” Jeremiah had told the Jews ahead of time how long their period of exile and captivity would last.
VK: The point is that there is no way, humanly speaking, that Isaiah prophesying in the latter half of the 8th century BC could have known the name of a single person who would be the person that would be a conqueror who would appropriately be called God’s “chosen one.” And there was no way, humanly speaking, Jeremiah could know how long the Babylonians would keep the Jews in captivity before the period of exile even began. So, both of these are examples of information that the Bible contains but where the source of the information could not have come from the natural realm – the realm we can perceive with our five senses.
RD: Exactly. Well, that’s just a quick example of the subject that I want to cover in today’s episode of Anchored by Truth and that will probably wrap into the next episode as well. The Bible gives us very clear evidence that it doesn’t just contain information in a single dimension or on a single level. The Bible actually is a multi-level source of information and that strongly points toward a source for the information that is beyond the natural realm.
VK: As is the two examples of fulfilled prophecy that we were just discussing. In those cases there’s no way the human authors who recorded the prophecies could have possessed the information. For them to have the information it had to have been revealed to them by a supernatural source.
RD: Right. And those are just examples of the Bible’s multi-layered informational attribute. So, I want to start pointing out some of these various levels of information that illustrate the remarkable character of the Bible.
VK: Where do you want to start?
RD: Well, let’s start with the fact that, like all books, the Bible possesses and provides information in what we might call a linear fashion. In other words, we can, and should, read the Bible like any other book. The Bible contains valuable information about human and natural history. The Bible contains practical guidance for how to manage money, build successful businesses, improve interpersonal relations, and create better families and raise happier children. The Bible contains instructions for how to avoid conflicts, build prosperous communities and nations, and live fulfilled and meaningful lives. All that is available just by reading the Bible the way you would read any other book – left to right, starting on page 1 and going through to the end.
VK: But even in that sense the Bible does display a marked difference from other books, doesn’t it. And, in particular, it is different from other books that claim to be the word of God.
RD: That’s true. One of the amazing things about the Bible is that as it is conveying its information it displays a remarkable unity. It contains many different kinds of literature yet all parts of the Bible serve a single purpose. The Bible tells a single story about a single plan that revolves around a single people and a single person. But as the Bible tells that story it always displays a cognizance of the needs of the people who will be reading the story. So, when the Bible tells us about creation and the subsequent fall of our first parents while it is telling us how sin entered the world it does so while calling to our attention the need for us to be obedient to the Lord. It continues to make that same point when it describes the exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt.
VK: If the Hebrews had obeyed God after they left Egypt there would have been no need for them to wander in the desert for 40 years. God told them to go up to Palestine and displace the wicked people who were living there. And God told the Hebrews He would go with them and before them to ensure that they were successful. But rather than obeying God, the Hebrews made their own estimate of the situation and refused to go up right away. So, in the Bible God relates the history but ensures that the history reinforces its larger lessons and purposes as well as giving details about particular historical events. Is this also true of other parts of the Bible?
RD: Yes. There are parts of the Bible, such as Proverbs, that are specifically dedicated to teaching people how to live better and more successful lives. And people who take the Bible’s teaching seriously and apply it to their lives know that the Bible’s instructions help them live lives that are joyful and successful even from a human perspective. People are often surprised that the Bible has quite a bit to say about managing and investing money.
VK: For instance, Ecclesiastes, chapter 11, verses 1 and 2 say, “Ship your grain across the sea; after many days you may receive a return. Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight; you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.” That’s from the New International Version. And we heard something similar in our opening scripture. This is the same advice many financial planners give today. It’s pretty much standard investment guidance to diversify your investments and to never put too much of your savings into a single investment category or single company. We may use terms like “asset allocation” or “avoiding single security risk” but those are really just different words saying the same thing. Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes almost 3,000 years ago but he’s giving the same advice we hear today. Why do you think the Bible addresses subjects many people would think have little to do with “spirituality?” How does the Bible’s money management advice reinforce the idea that sinners need a Savior?
RD: The easiest way of explaining the wide variety of subjects that the Bible covers – those areas in which it supplies information – is that the Bible concerns itself with anything and everything with which God knew we would be concerned. God knows that human beings are going to be concerned about the daily necessities of life and also with the uncertainty of the future while living in a fallen creation. So, God provided us help to deal with those things. In other words, God didn’t want to leave his children without firm guidance to help confront the challenges of daily living.
VK: Said slightly differently if God had not given us instruction about how to manage money successfully we would have been left on our own. Some people might have made wise decisions but many, maybe most, would not. That would create tension in our lives. Frankly, for many of us concerns about money or how we are going to provide for ourselves or our families would have become the primary focus of our lives. An idol is anything we value more than God. And God does not want us to create idols in our lives even over things that can have a good purpose.
RD: Right. It’s not too strong a statement to say that when the Bible gives us instruction for how to manage our money and investments it’s one way the Bible helps us avoid idolatry. If the Bible didn’t give us advice about money, managing money could easily take over our time, attention, and, sadly, our affection. It does anyway for many people. The same thing is true about the instruction the Bible gives us about families, relationships, sex, food and drink. There is much in this life that is good and enjoyable when it is kept within the boundaries that God gave us. But when we forget God’s admonitions those areas cannot only become problems they can become deadly idols.
VK: We don’t talk much today about the sin of gluttony but our society deals with the negative effects of obesity constantly. Every day people suffer from poor health, impaired relationships, and sometimes job loss because they struggle with their weight. Yet, Proverbs, chapter 23, verses 20 and 21 have said this for almost 3,000 years. “Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.” That’s from the New International Version. So, the big point is that the reason the Bible tells us information about the practical aspects of living good lives is that such advice helps us avoid the pitfalls that will pull our attention and affection away from God.
RD: That’s a good way to say it. The most obvious form of information that the Bible contains and provides is the kind of information that we derive just by reading it as we would any other book. But I think it’s fair to say that even that within this first level of information the Bible is extraordinary. The Bible has inspired untold millions of people who are from cultures all around the world and throughout time periods that stretch back thousands of years. It’s an extraordinary book that can communicate so widely, so successfully, for so long. Its record for doing so is really unique in that regard.
VK: Well, as you say reading the Bible left to right from the first to last page is really just the first level of information that the Bible offers. And we are going to get into other levels of the information that the Bible contains as we move into our next couple of episodes of Anchored by Truth. But as you have said the Bible is amazing just at this first level. One of the things that so many people don’t realize is the wide variety of practical and beneficial advice that the Bible gives.
RD: We don’t recognize this much today but for hundreds, really thousands, of years all someone had to say was “the Bible says ...” and that would end discussions or settle questions. Millions, tens of millions of people down through history have lived much better lives just because of the information that they got from the Bible. This used to be accepted wisdom in our culture but obviously it has fallen out of favor.
VK: And as it has fallen out of favor our society has paid the price hasn’t it?
RD: Absolutely. It’s beating a dead horse to say that when we taught the Bible in school we didn’t have school shootings, obese kids, and drug epidemics. But I don’t want to veer off the topic of this series. We started out reminding everybody that it is impossible to have information without intelligence. And it would be impossible to have supernatural information without supernatural intelligence. When you look at this first level of information that we see in the Bible it would be possible, a little silly, but possible to think that human beings produced the information it contains. After all, lots of human beings write books that can be read in the ordinary fashion. But as we move forward we are going to see that the Bible supplies us with information that could not possibly come from a natural source and thereby demonstrates that it has a supernatural point of origin.
VK: Well, we will have to get into that in our next episode of Anchored by Truth. We’re all familiar with single dimension information systems because that’s what we experience in our daily lives from books and other sources. But just as we saw when we looked at DNA and biological information there are sophisticated information systems within the universe that elude us even now. The only reasonable explanation for their existence is that they were created by the Ultimate, Infinite Designer. It’s just a little bit silly to believe that unintelligent and undirected matter and energy could produce the kind of information that we deal with every day of our lives. And we don’t have to surrender to that belief. God has given us ample evidence of His presence and He is more than willing to help us live productive, joyful lives if we will just acknowledge that simple fact. This sounds like a time to go to God in prayer. There are many places around the world where Christians are persecuted just for acknowledging and proclaiming their belief in the God of the Bible. Let’s remember them in prayer today.
---- PRAYER FOR PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS
VK: We’d like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.”
If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not perfect but our Boss is!”
(Bible Quote from the New International Version)
Ecclesiastes, chapter 11, verse 6, New International Version

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