A Bible-based classification system for human knowledge

Introduction

As an avid library user and a trained librarian, I am a BIG fan of Dewey and his Decimal Classification System. From boyhood, I learned to master this numerical way of finding stuff around the library. Numbers are definitely a great way to organize the universe of information. However, on reading The Library at Night, I came across Manguel (2006) in discussing library classification. Manguel (2006) states that on "[e]ntering a library, I am always struck by the way in which a certain vision of the world is imposed upon the reader through its categories and its order" (p. 47). Indeed, Manguel (2006) points out that classification systems reflect how human beings conceptualize the universe. As such, after reflecting on this, I have come up with a faith-based or creation based system for classifying human knowledge.

The classification system

000 - God and time (theology, mathematics, branches of physics that deal with time)
100 - The heavens (Astronomy, Astrology?, Weather and climate sciences, meteorology, Space)
200 - Earth and Oceans (Earth sciences including geology, oceanography) (+ Chemistry, minerals)
300 - Animals and plants (Ecology, Biology and Life sciences)
400 - Humanity - The social sciences (studies of humanity including psychology, government and politics, society and economics, education, religion, and law)
500 - Humanity's representation 1 - (information science, information studies, libraries, media studies, communication studies)
600 - Humanity representation 2 - Languages and Literature
700 - Humanity's occupations - The arts and technology
800 - History and genealogy

The logic behind the system

000
This classification system or scheme is a way of organizing all that mankind knows and all branches of human knowledge according to a Biblical worldview.  It begins with the knowledge of God as the head of the classification system. According to Proverbs 1:7, the fear of God is the beginning of knowledge. Hence all knowledge but begin with the knowledge of the Creator.

The inclusion of time and mathematics with God follows the idea in Genesis 1:1 that in the beginning, God is the creator. As such, time began with acts of God. Time itself was a product of God establishing order in the universe. Following that order and time is organized and measured by numbers, I include mathematics and branches of physics that deal with numbers, time and the study of order in the universe.

100
Genesis 1:1 specifies that God created the heavens. In Nehemiah 9:6, the scripture states that the Lord alone is the creator of the heavens and stars. Here I assign two meanings to heavens - 1) the atmosphere surrounding the earth and 2) the galaxies and space.

200 -300
Nehemiah 9:6 also specifies that the earth was created by God as well as the oceans, followed by the creatures. God created habitats to support and sustain life. Everything to support and sustain human beings were made before humankind entered the world scene.

400
In Genesis 1:26-29, God expresses the purpose behind the creation of human beings. As such, we see that human groups and interaction were planned before their existence. The plan of God for human beings is to establish families, societies and government structures and to sustain themselves from what was in their habitation. The planning for human life and living and the allocation of resources to support their life is therefore placed in this section of the classification scheme.

500
Humanity's representation sciences and studies is put in this section.

God gave instructions not only for humanity's existence and mission, but also creates or plants a tree of knowledge of good and evil and warns human beings to avoid eating from the tree (Genesis 2:16-17). Later on, the serpent came as a medium to discredit God's monopoly on communication providing an alternative reading of God and the information he provided. Here enters concepts of deception and truth and the representation of knowledge. Here I put the information sciences, information studies, libraries, encyclopedias, media and communication studies.

600
Language and literature is also used in human representation and communication. Language was used by the first human beings to attribute blame after their disobedience. Yet it is until Babel (Genesis 11:19) that human beings began to develop varied language systems scattered over the earth.

Literature has also been important in humanity's expression. In fact, one could argue that Adam was the first poet, as in Genesis 2:23, we are introduced to his poetic expression of love for Eve on his wedding day.

700
The development of musical instruments are attributed to Jubal, a descendant of Cain (Genesis 4:21).
Other technologies and tools, farming raising livestock, and knowledge applied to helping man better cope with life after the fall from Paradise are also developed (Genesis 4:20-22).

800
History too is another representation of man's life. However this need to preserve our common history comes after human beings discover death and mortality and need to transmit life stories and history from one generation to the next.

Concluding remarks

My proposed creation-based classification schemes is a way of organizing all human knowledge according to a Biblical worldview. It imposes a Biblical worldview on all branches of human knowledge and subjugates knowledge to a hierarchy that is based on a Biblical view of life, the universe and everything in it.

While church libraries that I am aware of use Dewey's Decimal Classification Scheme, I propose that peoples of faith should develop their own systems and schemes for representing knowledge that reflect their theological worldview. Nothing is wrong with good old Dewey, but Dewey's scheme in fact, does not reflect a Bible-based representation system for knowledge, though it can be used as a point of departure and comparison in developing a Biblically-based classification system (let us call it BBCS).

Reference:

Manguel, A. (2007). The library at night. Toronto: Vintage Canada.

God's message to me for the last Sabbath of 2014

On December 26, 2014, I celebrated my eighth anniversary with my wife, Fiona. It was in the spring of 2011 that our marriage was put to a test with my having to migrate to study in Canada. Thankfully, we passed that test and are both celebrating today in Canada more committed to each other. However, I have sought from God the vision for our family for 2015 and beyond. And he has begun to answer.

On the last Sabbath of December 27, 2014 or of the Gregorian calendar, I got the same message from God that I received during my 2014 Feast of Trumpets season. From Sabbath school, to the songs sung by the singers for special music, to the sermon from the appointed speaker. The message was consistent, in that God is calling me to plunge deeper into my spiritual life with him and move beyond just believing the testimonies of others to becoming one with testimonies to give to others.

You see, God makes himself invisible unto us a human beings and cannot be accessed through our scientific empirical methods. However, he makes himself available to us via the route of faith. While he has left evidence in nature to reveal himself, he has always chosen to reveal himself after our sin in Eden to a few persons, who serve as witnesses that testify of his existence. These witnesses are sent to help us interpret the visible evidence in nature and in life. So, for example, God called Noah to be his witness to tell persons that God was about to act and send a flood.

However, God leaves human beings only with the physical evidence and the testimony of his witnesses to make a decision. However, for those who are willing to believe the testimony of his witnesses, God takes them to another step, revealing more of himself to them personally and awarding them for their faith in the testimonies or witnesses. This is what happened in the early church in Acts, when the apostles testified of Christ, and the Lord gave the Holy Spirit to those who believed their testimony, so that they too could experience God for themselves.

The New Testament evangelists basically provide two verses that help to define what faith is. First of all, faith comes by hearing (Romans 10: 16-18). It is listening carefully and attentively to a testimony. Secondly, faith is the evidence of things unseen (Hebrews 11:1). Basically, witnesses are people who have heard or seen things, that they tell about or report on in order to help persons interpret evidence and make judgments. This is what Peter and John declared when a Jewish Council sought to forbid them from preaching Jesus (Acts 4:19-20). According to Peter and John stated "we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard" (Acts 4:20, English Standard Version/ESV).

In fact, in Acts 1:8 Jesus proclaimed to his disciples that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit arrived and shall be his witnesses"both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (NASB95). Further, in Acts, Jesus mirrors a prophetic passage in Isaiah 43: 8-11 (King James Version /KJV):

⁸ Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears.
⁹ Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled: who among them can declare this, and shew us former things? let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them hear, and say, It is truth.
¹⁰ Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.
¹¹ I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no saviour.

Further, God also prophesied to the Hebrew people that he would raise up someone to speak in his name rather than to speak to human beings directly. According to Deuteronomy 18:15-19 in the English Standard Version (ESV) it is reported that Moses said:

¹⁵ “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— ¹⁶ just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ ¹⁷ And the Lord said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. ¹⁸ I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. ¹⁹ And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.

However, listening to the testimony from God's witness is just the first part of the process. The next is for us to have our own testimony. Even in Moses' time, God did not confine his Spirit and prophetic utterances to Moses alone, but gave it unto other Hebrew men. One event was so significant that it is recorded in Numbers 11:26-29 in the New International Version (NIV):

²⁶ However, two men, whose names were Eldad and Medad, had remained in the camp. They were listed among the elders, but did not go out to the tent. Yet the Spirit also rested on them, and they prophesied in the camp. ²⁷ A young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”
²⁸ Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses’ aide since youth, spoke up and said, “Moses, my lord, stop them!”
²⁹ But Moses replied, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!”

 Apostle Paul related a similar idea in his letter to the Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians 14:5 Paul states:

I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy.(New International Version/NIV)

Thus, part of God's message to me was that he no longer wants me to be content in believing in the Bible and the experiences of those recorded in the Bible, but he wants me to go deeper and the next level, that he can take my faith and turn me into someone who his Spirit can rest on and use as a mouthpiece to speak in his name. And the same is God's desire for you, whoever you are that reads this post.

He answers me before I call

"And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear." (Isaiah 65:24 KJV)


I am so loving G-d now. He answers my prayers right on time. Sometimes, I just identify the unmet need and have not yet translated it into a petition, and that unmet need is satisfied. 


Today is such a case in point. When I considered the cost of the Canadian study permit processing fee and the state of my finances for the month, I was beginning to really wonder about the situation. Since the end of March, I was concerned about the family's expenditure knowing fully well that as of this year, we have never finished the month without spending more than our income. Money during this year has always been finished before pay-day, to the point where I have to be using credit card to fill the gap and purchase the necessities. 


Well, today, as I saw that I had remaining in the bank versus what I needed for the Canadian visa processing fee, I really began to contemplate that I could not pay for the visa processing fee until pay-day. I even posted a comment on this regard on Facebook.


Then, later that day, got an email to sign for some money owed to me. Money  owed would certainly be enough to cover the visa amount. Though I have not yet received the cheque, my faith, confidence and hope is now strengthened. I know G-d is watching over me and working things out in my favour, especially as it relates to meeting those unmet needs that I verbally (or in writing) express.



"But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew [their] strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; [and] they shall walk, and not faint." (Isaiah 40:31 King James Bible).

Christian milieu and why people believe?

As the L-rd would have it, I received an offer to study in Canada from the University of Western Ontario. The whole news received on March 4, 2011, but confirmed officially March 25, 2011, has got me wondering about how I will cope in the country, spiritually, economically and socially.

I was born a Christian and have lived Christianity for most of my life. Having gone to Christian (albeit Anglican) education at the primary and secondary level, my entire world view has been shaped by Christian beliefs. I have seen that those who excel in Jamaican society are affiliated with either Jewish or Christian background and have come from Christian milieu.

I myself have benefited from an experience of G-d and how church and spiritual disciplines have contributed to my own successes. The discipline of reading came from exposure to reading in the communal and family setting of reading spiritual literature, including Bible. My discipline in studying comes from learning to study the Bible. Opportunities for public speaking and developing confidence in addressing a group of persons came from opportunities as a child to speak and minister before church congregation. Values, virtues and courtesy instilled in me came from the benefit of either Christian education or being taught about loving my neighbour as myself, and respecting the rights of others from either my church community and my own family.Furthermore, I benefited opportunities to sit down in structured programmes of church, learn to be quiet for 2 or more hours of the programme, listen and take notes. This has indeed been transferable to so many areas in my social world, from listening to an educational lecture or  talk, or deriving meaning in cultural and other social programmes/ceremonies.

In terms of my experience of G-d, I have benefited from moments of revelation from him that helped shape what I believe today and even decisions that I have taken. His revelation has helped me develop meaning and a particular interpretation of life events and situations that I have encountered. I remember many situations when I prayed and poured my heart out to G-d and received answers the same day. I have seen a difference and improved results in my life that resulted after praying, that helped to strengthen my faith and confidence that there is a G-d, who answers prayers, though I cannot predict when he will answer. I have felt burdens and emotions lift from me after praying. I have experienced the L-rd using me to bless others as well as being blessed by others who ministered to me. All these sum of experiences have settled in me the confidence that there is a G-d that I have access to through Jesus, the Bible and the spirit within me, that sometimes lead me in prayer.

Having all the sum of experiences that I have had, visiting Canada, I perceive a difference in the social milieu. For one, I see that atheists and non-religious persons excel and do well in their society, (seemingly) without the benefits of Christian education or background in the church (can't say the same for the Jew - who would have benefited from his G-d given culture as well as G-d's perpetual spiritual blessings upon Jews, even if he does not believe in it). Further, these non-religious persons and atheists seem moral, having an interest and respect in the rights and freedoms of others. 

I find though in the following excerpts from an article by Asma some interesting thoughts on why people have faith and believe:

In that world, where life is particularly ca­pri­cious and more out of individuals' con­trol than it is in the developed world, an­i­mism seems quite rea­son­a­ble. It makes more sense to say that a spite­ful spir­it is bring­ing one mis­ery, or that a be­nev­o­lent ghost is grant­ing fa­vor, than to say that seam­less neu­tral and pre­dict­a­ble laws of na­ture are un­fold­ing ac­cord­ing to some in­visi­ble log­ic. Un­less you could dem­on­strate the real ad­van­tages of an im­per­son­al, law­ful view of na­ture (e.g., by hav­ing a long-term, well-financ­ed med­i­cal fa­cil­i­ty in the vil­lage), you will nev­er have the ex­pe­ri­en­tial data to over­come an­i­mism. Our first-world claim a­bout neu­tral, pre­dict­a­ble laws will be an in­fe­ri­or caus­al the­o­ry for ex­plain­ing the cha­os of ev­ery­day third-world life. In the de­vel­op­ing world, an­i­mism lit­er­al­ly makes more sense. The new atheists, like Hitch­ens, Har­ris, Daw­kins, and Dennett have failed to no­tice that their me­chan­istic view of nature is in part a prod­uct (as well as a cause) of pros­per­i­ty and sta­bil­ity.

 Religion, even the wacky, su­per­sti­tious stuff, is an an­al­ge­sic sur­viv­al mech­a­nism and sanc­tuary in the de­vel­op­ing world. Religion pro­vides some or­der, co­her­ence, re­spite, peace, and trac­tion against the fates. Per­haps most im­por­tant­, it quells the emo­tion­al dis­tress of hu­man vulnerabil­i­ty. I'm an ag­nos­tic and a cit­i­zen of a wealthy na­tion, but when my own son was in the emer­gen­cy room with an ill­ness, I prayed spon­ta­ne­ous­ly. I'm not naïve—I don't think it did a damn thing to heal him. But when peo­ple have their backs against the wall, when they are tru­ly help­less and hope­less, then grov­el­ing and ne­go­ti­at­ing with any­thing more pow­er­ful than themselves is a very hu­man re­sponse. It is a re­sponse that will not go away, and that should not go away if it pro­vides some gen­u­ine re­lief for anx­i­ety and ag­o­ny. As Rog­er Scruton says, "The consolation of imag­i­nary things is not imag­i­nary con­so­la­tion."

Religion is not real­ly a path to mo­ral­ity, nor can it sub­sti­tute for a sci­en­tif­ic un­der­stand­ing of na­ture. Its chief vir­tue is as a "cop­ing mech­a­nism" for our trou­bles. Pow­er­less peo­ple turn to religion and find a sense of re­lief, which helps them psy­cho­log­i­cal­ly to stay afloat. Those who wish to a­bol­ish religion seek to pull away the life pre­serv­er, mis­tak­en­ly blam­ing the de­vice for the drown­ing.

Like Sam Har­ris, I know a fair share of neu­ro­sci­ence, but that didn't al­le­vi­ate my an­guish and des­per­a­tion in the emer­gen­cy room with my son. The old saw "there are no athe­ists in fox­holes" ob­vi­ous­ly doesn't prove that there is a God. It just proves that high­ly emo­tion­al be­ings (i.e., hu­mans) are also high­ly vul­ner­a­ble be­ings. Our emotional limbic system seeks homeostasis—it tries to reset to calmer functional defaults when it's been riled up. I suspect there are aspects of religion (and art) that go straight into the limbic system and quell the adrenalin-based metabolic overdrive of stress.

Asma, Stephen T. "The New Atheists' Narrow Worldview" The Chronicle Review (The Chronicle of Higher Education) January 21, 2011 http://chronicle.com/article/The-New-Atheists-Narrow/126027/

Faith, Story-telling and Folk proverbs

When I go to church there is story-telling: Biblical and personal story-telling. I like the idea of going to church on Saturdays or Sundays to hear stories. Stories help to give me inspiration and the mindset and mechanisms with which to cope with and adjust to my world with all its chaos, disorder, oppression and injustice.

I like seeing the Bible as a collection of stories from the past as well as stories about the future. As a collection of stories from the past it details the lives, struggles and challenges of real people in different times, with different resources and opportunities available to them but with struggles and challenges that are common to all human beings. I love to use their own histories and stories for interpretations of the challenges and struggles in my own life.

I love to use the scriptures as a looking glass and viewing lens through which to observe my present reality and get new perspective. I love to use the scriptures to interpret what's happening around me. I do not believe figuratively in the Bible, but I genuinely believe that people experienced G-d and miracles in the way that is reported. Thus the scriptures and the stories in them give me comfort in that there is order in the chaos and that things are not out of control, but that G-d is in control and directing all events to the final destination and end of history.

On March 27, 2011, I recorded a saying, a Jamaican proverb from the preacher at Mona Baptist Church at the 7AM service. The preacher, who happened to be Courtney Stewart, stated "when trouble tek yuh, pickney shut fit yuh" (Translation: 'when you are in trouble, a child's clothing will fit'). There is wisdom in this proverb for the agnostic and even for the atheist. In my interpretation of the proverb, when calamities strike, what may be considered foolish or childish may become your only hope. The same Bible and G-d that people may consider to be a figment of humanity's imagination may become the only source of comfort, encouragement and hope in a difficult time.

On another matter, I am just awakening to the fact that folklore interacts with religious faiths, even in the church. Preachers in order to bring across their message to their audience sometimes draw on proverbial sayings that they know their audience understands and perhaps also agree or even believe in. These proverbs perhaps serve as a codifying system for storing collective wisdom in a nugget for people to organise, classify, assimilate and even retrieve for practical application.

Faith and pleasing the Father

As I have received the opportunity to be a parent and father to a girl of seventeen months, each week, G-d instructs me through her. Last week and this week G-d impressed upon me how eager my daughter is to please me. She trusts me a lot and, when I encourage her to do new things, she is eager to do it, fighting against her own fears of failure and the unknown.

For instance, I remember when I took her to the park and allowed her to climb on the slide. When she was seated at the top, I went to the bottom of the slide and encouraged her to push off. She was fearful. Even though she saw other children sliding, she had fear. However, my daughter closed her eyes and pushed off after my encouragement and came sliding down to me. This was her first time, and she did enjoy it.

Thus I learnt more about the statement in Hebrews that state that without faith it is impossible to please G-d (Heb 11:6). My daughter could only do what I expect her to do if she trusted me. So it is with G-d. He knows exactly what our capacity is. He knows for what purpose he created us, what he has designed us to do and what we can bear. We fail to live up to his expectations because we doubt his word and what we can do despite what G-d tells us.

My daughter does new things because she trusts her daddy. She believes in my expectations for her. She believes that if Daddy says she can do it, then she can.

Oh that we would have such a trusting faith in our Heavenly Father. No wonder Jesus said "Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3 King James Version).