Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
A score of 0.5 or higher indicates the tone is likely present.
Emotion Tone
Anger
0.17UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.09UNLIKELY
Fear
0.16UNLIKELY
Joy
0.57LIKELY
Sadness
0.49UNLIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.65LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.45UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.91LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.61LIKELY
Extraversion
0.12UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.35UNLIKELY
Emotional Range
0.52LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
Sustenance, Natural Law, and Miracle
(Week 4 of SBTS 28960)
A.
Biblically, God is /directly and actively/ responsible for the regular course of the physical world – sustaining the creation (Col.
1:17; Heb.
1:3), apparently according to the ‘ordinances of heaven and earth’ (Jer.
33:25).
God is (directly) responsible for
1. astronomical motions (/e.g./ the rising, setting, and motion of the sun, moon, and stars) (Gen.
1:14-18; 8:22; Psa.
104:19-20), including their ‘ordinances’ (Job 38:33; Jer.
31:35-6)
2. weather, including
a. water for springs (Psa.
104:10-13)
b. rain (Job 5:10; 36:27-8; 37:6; 38:26-8; Psa.
135:7; 147:8; Jer.
10:13; 51:16) ‘in due season’ (Lev.
26:3-4: Deu.
11:14; 28:12; Jer.
5:24) by decree (Job 28:26)
c. dew (Job 38:16-8, 28; Psa.
135:7; Jer.
10:13; 51:16)
d. lightning and thunder (Job 37:3; 38:25; Psa.
97:4; Jer.
10:13; 51:16) by decree (Job 28:26)
e. wind (Psa.
135:7; Jer.
10:13; 51:16)
f. clouds (Psa.
147:8)
g. snow (Job 37:6; 38:22)
h. hail (Job 38:22)
i. frost (Job 37:10; 38:29)
j. the seasons (Gen.
8:22)
3. plant growth, such as
a. grass (Psa.
104:14; 147:8)
b. herbs (Psa.
104:14)
c. trees (Psa.
104:16-17)
4. animal traits, such as
a. the feathers and wings of birds (Job 39:13)
b. the power of the horse (Job 39:19)
c. the birthing times of wild goats (Job 39:1-4)
5. animal behavior (Job 39)
6. feeding animals, such as
a. wild beasts (Psa.
147:9), including the lions (Job 38:39-40; Psa.
104:21)
b. birds (Mat.
6:26), including the ravens (Job 38:41; Psa.
147:9)
7. creatures of the sea (Psa.
104:25-8)
8. conception and growth in the womb (Job 31:15; Psa.
139:13-16; Isa.
44:2, 24; 49:5; Jer.
1:5), and birth itself (Psa.
22:9; 71:6).
!! B. Biblically, God is directly responsible for non-regular events in the physical world.
1.
That God is a prayer-answering God would seem to make sense only if God (at least sometimes) acts differently than the regular course of the creation (at least as we humans perceive it)
2. God generates wonders, signs, and miracles (unexpected events in the regular course of the creation):
a. *Wonders* are explicitly indicated in Scripture to have been performed by Jesus (Acts 2:22), the apostles (Acts 2:43; 5:12; Heb.
2:4), the deacon Stephen (Acts 6:8), believers (Acts 14:3), Paul & Barnabus (Acts 15:12), Paul (Rom.
15:19; II Cor.
12:12), and Satan and his own (II Thess.
2:19; Rev. 13:13).
For example, the plagues on Egypt were called *wonders* (Exo.
3:20; 4:21; 7:3; 11:9-10; 15:11; Deu.
4:34; 6:22; 7:19; 26:8; 34:11; I Sam.
6:6; Neh.
9:10, 17; Psa.
78:11-12, 32; 105:27; 106:7; 135:9; Jer.
32:20-21; Acts 7:36)
b. *Signs* are explicitly indicated in Scripture to have been performed by Moses for the people of Israel and Egypt to see (Exo.
7:3; 10:1-2; Num.
14:11; Deu.
4:32; 6:22; 7:19; 26:8; 29:3; 34:11; Josh.
24:17; Neh.
9:10; Psa.
78:43f; 105:27f; Jer.
32:20-21; Acts 7:36), as well as by Jesus (John 20:30; Acts 2:22; Heb.
2:4), the apostles (Acts 2:43; 4:30; 5:12), including Paul (Acts 14:3; Rom.
15:19; II Cor.
12:12), believers (Mark 16:17-20), including Philip (Acts 8:13), and Satan and his followers (Mat.
24:24; Mark 13:22; II Thess.
2:9).
For example,
A) detailed prophecies, as in the case of (king) Saul’s post-anointing encounters, are called *signs* (I Sam.
10:1-9)
B) some future events on the earth – including blood, fire and smoke – will be *signs* (Acts 2:19)
c. *Miracles* are explicitly indicated in Scripture to have been performed by Moses before the Pharoah and in the wilderness (Num.
14:22; Deu.
11:3; 29:3; Jud.
6:13), Jesus (John 2:23; 3:2; 7:31; 11:47; 12:37; Acts 2:22), by Stephen (Acts 6:8), Philip (Acts 8:6, 13), the apostles (Heb.
2:4), including Paul & Barnabus (Acts 15:12) and Paul (Acts 19:11), and Satan and his own (Rev.
13:14; 16:14; 19:20)
3. The creation involved process quite unlike processes observed in the present
a. Present processes cannot be used to properly infer the nature of the creation (II Pet.
3:3-7)
b.
Even though His sustaining work must have continued (or the creation wouldn’t have survived the first Sabbath), God /ended/ His creation work at the end of the six days of creation (Gen.
2:1-3), suggesting God used different processes in the creation than He has used since.
c.
Even though God sustains His creation by ‘the word of His power’ (Heb.
1:3), this seems distinct from speaking the universe into being (‘God said’ in Genesis One; Psa.
33:6-9; Rom.
4:17; II Cor.
4:6; Heb.
11:3).
4. The curse (Gen.
3:14-19) would seem to have involved a change in the usual course of the creation – a change from
a. a world without carnivores (Gen.
1:30) to a world with carnivores
b. a world with no death among animals to a world where all animals die
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9