Why Does God Harden Hearts?

I mean, other than the obvious? God did say "I will harden his heart so that he won't let the people go," and "I may multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt."
Exodus 4:21 and 7:3

But why would He make it harder for someone to obey Him, just to show off?
From a certain point of view, it seems almost as if Pharaoh was given an option, but was forced to choose wrong, just so he could suffer the consequences.

However, if I answer the question now, this blog post will be too short, and you will walk away feeling dissatisfied, so let me first give you some food for thought:

I was researching light awhile back, and found it interesting that according to the theory of relativity, light doesn't seem to exist within time. As in, it doesn't have a time value. Apparently, when you accelerate toward the speed of light, time slows down. That is, until you reach the speed of light, where time can't slow down any further, so the consensus is, time stops. That means, from the perspective of light, the instant it is released from its source is the same instant it hits its final destination, no matter the distance.

From light's perspective, no matter how far you are from this picture of fireworks over a lamp in Disney World, it will be in your eye the same instant it was emitted from your phone or monitor.

Now, from an outsider's perspective, light travels at a rate of one light year per year. That means it'll take light billions of years to cross the entire universe, because the universe--as far as we can see--is billions of light years across.

So, if you were travelling at the speed of light from one end of the universe on the day of its creation, toward the other end of the universe without hitting an obstacle, you would witness billions of years passing--the entirety of eternity--all compressed into one instant.

The reason I find this interesting is because in the bible, the book of John repeatedly referred to Jesus as the light of the world, and even opens with this:

"In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning.
All things were created through Him,
and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created.
Life was in Him,
and that life was the light of men.
That light shines in the darkness,
yet the darkness did not overcome it."
John 1:1-5, HCSB

Here, Jesus is referred to as both the Word that created, and the light. Now, if you go back to Genesis, you'll find the first words God is recorded to ever say are, "Let there be light."
Genesis 1:3

So, essentially, Jesus is the Word of God, and the first words of God are intended to create light, and so Jesus is the light, as confirmed by John. This means that (if taken literally) Jesus, being light, has been travelling the Universe at light speed since the beginning of creation, overseeing all of eternity, every instant.

What's more is that even in the deepest darkness, humans have been discovered to produce trace amounts of light, invisible to the naked eye. So, just remember next time you feel all alone, Jesus is practically pouring out of your face.

Photo Credit: Kyoto University; Tohoku Institute of Technology; PLoS ONE

But, of course, I didn't really need to explain all that, because I already established in my last post that God most likely exists outside of time. I just thought that this rant would be intriguing and edifying.

So, how does this tie in with the question?

My point is merely that God, existing outside of time and knowing beginning and end, can see where each of us will end up at any point in time. So God likely knew that Pharaoh would never be in a position where he could accept just one God. Pharaoh likely would have had to abandon his throne to do so, as Egyptian culture believed the pharaohs to be gods. If the pharaoh admitted there were only one God, then that means his reign wasn't divine. He was just a man on a chair, easily usurped.

God knew Pharaoh couldn't be won. So, He took advantage of the situation.

If God had instead softened Pharaoh's heart, then the Israelites would have been free as soon as Moses asked. Nothing extraordinary would have happened. Nothing would have changed for Pharaoh, other than the lack of laborers. And the Israelites wouldn't have any stories to tell of the wonders they had witnessed, and of how powerful their God was.

They would simply take their freedom for granted. Which they still often did, but could you imagine how much worse it could have been?

"We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose. For those He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers. And those He predestined, He also called; and those He called, He also justified; and those He justified, He also glorified."
Romans 8:28-30 HCSB

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"Chronolism" - Can Creationism and Big Bang or Darwinism Co-exist?

More importantly, can the universe be both 6,000 years old, and 14,000,000,000 years old? My new theory may surprise you: I think it is plausible.

Opening disclaimer: This may seem controversial at first glance, as the subjects (Young Earth or 6-day Creationism and Big Bang or Darwinism) have always seemed to contradict one another, but I think I have imagined a theory that could support both sides without disproving either. The keyword here is "could." Just because it is possible, does not mean that belief in this theory means one must accept both sides whole-heartedly. The purpose is rather to remove any fear of evidences present for either side.

Glaciers, like these we saw on our trip to Alaska, are believed to have helped sculpt much of North America from an ice age that began roughly 2,600,000 years ago, but according to the bible, earth was "formless and void" roughly 6,000 years ago. How can they both be correct?

Allow me to explain my theory. As I had articulated in my previous post, "Should Christians Study Sciences?," a creator cannot be disproven by his creation. "It would be like reading a book to find evidence that the author doesn't exist." If God created this story, then He would exist outside of it. Unbound by it. To say that He is limited by the rules of this universe would be to put God inside a box--one that He created.

So, If God created the universe and the physics that bind it all together, one can also surmise that He invented the concept of time and chronology, as time can (theoretically) be altered by mass and speed, part of the universe's physics. If He did create the concept of time and a sequential order of events, then He would not be limited by it. He would exist outside of its limitations. logically, He would remain eternal, unaffected by age or the effects of time's passing.

We took this photo at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. Although these sights would seem very real for her characters, J.K. Rowling would likely not be affected by magic.

So, what happens when someone creates something from outside of time? Lets look at the creation of a story for an example. When J.R.R. Tolkien wrote "The Hobbit," the setting of Middle Earth didn't just spring into existence on the first page. From the perspective of the characters, it had already existed for thousands of years. The world was full and rich with history, despite the fact that J.R.R. Tolkien only spent roughly 38 years creating it. One couldn't read the "Silmarillion" and deduce that since Middle Earth is thousands of years old, but created by Tolkien only 100 years ago, that Tolkien can't exist. He created it from outside of the story's timeline.

What if the same is true of Earth's creation? Perhaps God spoke it into existence over the course of six days, some 6,000 years ago. But imagine, as He spoke each thing into existence, He placed the backstory into the universe as well. The result would be a universe that seems much older. One where light could reach us from places billions of light years away, where rock formations could appear to be millions of years old and creatures could appear to have strange origins, from our perspective, existing as characters within the story.

This rocky coast we visited in Oahu, Hawaii was formed by volcanoes, estimated to have erupted tens of thousands of years ago.

This thought still leaves the universe, and its creator, very wondrous. Tolkien created a wonderful world with thousands of years of history in 38 years. God created an entire universe with billions of years worth of history in less than a week. By learning and studying more about how the universe was formed, we find we can't disprove His existence. Instead, we find little bits of His character and creativity to ponder on and awe at for all of our lives, for as far as the eye can see.

Now, I have not yet found this theory published anywhere else, so I am assuming it is my own original idea. I have dubbed the idea, "Chronolism" for the time being, as it is a theory relating to chronology, and if I am the originator, "Hanrahanism" doesn't quite roll off the tongue. If you find that this theory has been established already, or that the name is already taken, please let me know, and I will make the necessary updates.

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Should Christians Study Sciences?

Whole-heartedly, I believe yes, we should.

I feel like there has long been this affiliation with Atheism or Agnosticism and science. And, as a result, there's become this unspoken fear that if Christians were to study sciences, such as astrophysics and biology, they'll learn something that will completely disprove God, and then turn away from their faith. This has resulted in parents who'd prefer their children don't learn about certain topics, so they don't become 'too smart' to believe in Christianity. In the end, this suppression of knowledge only leads to seemingly 'dumber' and 'dumber' generations of believers.

But the fear itself is a fallacy. If you truly believe that studying sciences will result in becoming an Atheist or Agnostic, then you are admitting there is something in the created universe that disproves the creator. We should not be so ignorant and afraid.

^{These are cuttlefish, their ability to control their bioluminescence makes them very interesting.
Yes, I did just insert a random photo to make things look more interesting.}

The truth is that if God really did create the universe, the physics and all the living creatures that fill it, then what are we afraid we'll find out there? If we are looking for evidence to say God isn't real, science is the wrong place to look. It would be like reading a book to find evidence that the author doesn't exist. You can't disprove an artist by studying his creation.

However, if we were merely learning, and adding that knowledge to what we already believe, we would find that the creator of the universe is truly wonderful. For instance, without a concept of astrophysics, we couldn't conceive just how vast the universe really is. Without biology, we wouldn't know how detailed and intricate each living creature is. Learning to comprehend the world around us gives us but a hint at how artistic, intelligent, creative and amazing our creator is. So, why should we not desire to study the hell out of it?

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