Dear Atheist,
There is a growing number of websites on the Internet which looks to be pouring ridicule on intelligent people like myself who have a firm belief on a Young-Earth Creationism, along with the conviction that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God. Websites such as Atheists Against Pseudoscientific Nonsense, which at present has 78,283 Facebook likes, is just one of several sites of the same theme which in between them have hundreds of thousands of views, likes, and subscribers. Another Facebook website is Going to Hell in every Religion, with currently 120,368 likes. Then there is also Atheists Republic, with 1,556,910 likes. On You-Tube, one example of atheism is a seventeen-year-old rising video star, Cosmic Skeptic, whose real name is Alexander O'Connor. With currently 80,000 subscribers, one of his videos, Flat Earth Debunked, is at present credited with 333,230 views, and rising. The video is specifically aimed at Creationists who are seen as taking the Bible word-for-word in a literal sense, and in turn advocate a flat Earth, covered by a solid glass-like dome which the Bible refers to as the Firmament, and within this dome both the Sun and Moon hover at a fixed plane several thousand miles above the Earth's flat surface. In turn, other videos supporting the flat-Earth view includes Death to the Globe - 238,842 views; Flat Water - 439,336 views; and V Sauce: Is Earth Actually Flat? - 13,223,252 views - and all constantly rising, and most if not all of flat-Earth supporters are in favour of Biblical Creationism.
All this, any many more, has provided me with quite a fascinating research on how atheists, agnostics, and Christians feel about Creationism and Darwinism, a flat Earth or a spherical Earth. And within this line of thought, may I write what could be classed as an apologetic defence of the faith, which included Creationism and the historicity of Holy Scripture.
Certainly, the book of Genesis opens with the six literal days of Creation. But I have never had a problem with applying the concept of a spherical Earth to the Biblical narration. Over forty years as a Christian believer, never once had I ever doubted that our home planet is round like a ball, which itself is orbiting a much larger fiery ball we call the Sun, which is our nearest star. In turn, our Sun is orbiting the nucleus of our Galaxy, which is itself one of many specks in a vast Universe. The narration of a six literal days of Creation, with the seventh day taken as a day of rest and inactivity does tell me something, and it's this: The forces of Creationism at work throughout those six days are not in operation now. In other words, there is no form of positive creation taking place at the present day. Rather all I can see is the opposite effect of entropy at work - the decline from highly organised to disorganised, a downward spiral. But do you want proof of Divine Creationism above Evolution without the existence of any superior intelligence? Then all you need to do is look at the mirror!
The Book of Genesis endorsing the truth of entropy? As seen from the lifespans of the early patriarchs, which averaged 912 years of age (with Methuselah living up to 969 years), what I can see is the shortening of longevity down to Joseph son of Jacob, the last character whose death is recorded in Genesis, as reaching only 110 years of age. Such a testimony does not bode well for Charles Darwin, who advocated an upward evolutionary spiral from apes to Homo Sapiens with an increasing lifespan. Rather, the narration found in the fifth chapter of Genesis seems to give credit to the scientific principle of entropy.
Yet as I look in the mirror every morning, there is something incredibly unique - life. To be alive, to be conscious, and have the ability to make decisions. Considering that everything I see and touch is made up of molecules, itself an arrangement of atoms, with each atom consisting of a twofold nucleus of protons and neutrons, with the electron orbiting the nucleus, rather like a microscopic Solar System. The type of matter discerned by how many protons, neutrons and electrons in each atom, and how the molecule is made up on what these atoms are and how they are arranged, whether the matter at hand is a solid, a liquid, or gas. Yet as I perceive living things, including myself, what is it between lifeless bedrock, a boulder, sand on a beach, or for that matter, the metal of which a rotating cog of a functioning engine consists. And these have no life in themselves, yet I perceive three kinds of solid matter under the Sun - inanimate objects, plants - including trees, and all fauna. The type of thinking which I find rather striking. I feel pain, I am concious of the world around me - as with most, if not all other animals. Yet all Homo Sapiens like myself, I have emotions which is stimulated by both my thoughts and by my environment - what I can see, hear, touch, taste, and smell - these can all have an effect on my feelings. On top of this, I can read, write, and solve difficult mathematical problems. These three seem to be unique to us humans alone, with not even our "closest relatives" of the Primate can achieve.
Yet what about the wooden trunk and branches of a tree? It is inanimate, the wood can be cut and from it, items such as furniture can be made. When cut, the wood feels no pain, it does not protest like I would if and when threatened. It cannot see, hear, touch, taste, or smell, neither does it feel any emotion. The wood of the tree looks to be just as inanimate as a stone or a lump of iron. Yet at just the right time of the year the tree buds and puts out leaves and flowers, has the knowledge of pollination, and able to reproduce. And so the sapling, like a baby, puppy, or kitten, starts small and grows on its own accord. Although the baby, kitten, and puppy all need feeding by the mother, the sapling grows into a tree without any assistance, as if a higher I.Q. is credited to the tree through total and complete independence.
Yet everything consist of atoms. Everything! From the simple atom of the hydrogen gas to the fiendishly complexity of the DNA molecule found within every living cell - all consisting of atoms - a nucleus orbited by electrons with quite a volume of empty space between the orbiting electrons and the nucleus. If all the atoms making up my body were to collapse within themselves, with every electron actually touching the nucleus, then I would be reduced to the size of a grain of table salt! I, like everything else in the entire Universe, consist mostly of empty space!
Yet I have life. Every animal are lifeforms of its own kind, whether on land, in the water or in the air, all having an awareness of its own environment. So how can it be that one group of atoms can cause a lump of rock or metal to exist in its lifeless form, whilst another group of atoms makes up a living organism? What is life anyway? What is the real difference between me, who can express myself to others through writing, and that of the computer which will publish my work with a single click of the mouse? No matter how sophisticated robots of a future age might be, artificial intelligence will never match real intelligence, as robots don't have a soul as we all do, both human and animal alike. And what is the soul anyway? How can one mass of atoms possess a soul, whilst another doesn't? And when an animal dies, the rapid decay which follows - what would be the actual change of the atoms taking place within the corpse?
I am fully aware how much you dislike the Bible anyway. And there are parts which even I at first have found rather disturbing. Take the stoning of a man to death for collecting sticks on the Sabbath. It is found in Numbers 15:32-36. For many years I took in this situation as someone who simply placed his needs above the law of the land. Or to someone who has forgotten what day it was. Now I realise neither were the case. It was the final fruit of years of willing rebellion. This man hated God and hated his laws, maybe because he knew that he was unable to keep them. Throughout his life he must have been warned over and over again. First by his parents, then later by his colleagues. Then one day he decided to put God to the test. And he faced the consequences. But why such a harsh punishment? And I have to admit to myself that the penalty was harsh.
If he had gotten away with it, the rebellion would have rapidly spread across the whole nation, and the Sabbath would have been eventually forgotten throughout Israel. What I find amazing is that because the Sabbath was instituted in Israel by God himself, we enjoy the weekend to this present day. After the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Sunday began to be observed as the day of worship. But Sunday was never the Sabbath. The Sabbath was for Israel only, who were told to stay at home to rest, and not to go out to worship. But as our Saturdays were meant to prepare us for Sunday, by the time Jesus was around, the Jews had the Day of Preparation which always preceded their Sabbaths. It was on a Day of Preparation when Jesus was crucified, but this preparation day was to precede the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Jewish Passover was also eaten. It was a special Sabbath, or "a high day" - John 19:31.
Which brings us why God gave the Sabbath to the Israelites in the first place. To commemorate the rest from six days of Creation. Since God himself rested and so to speak, was refreshed, so he wanted his own people to rest and be refreshed from their daily work. So each weekend, most of us are actually acknowledging God's Creation week. Then again, are you married? If so, then you are acknowledging the truthfulness of the Bible and its historicity, when God created Eve to be a helpmate and companion to Adam, both whom God declared as husband and wife. This event was endorsed as history by Jesus Christ himself, from whom salvation comes (Matthew 19:6, Genesis 2:21-25). Also Paul the Apostle acknowledged Adam as a historic figure (Romans 5:14) - and he was later imprisoned and executed for his faith in Jesus Christ, who he called, "the Second Adam" - Romans 5:12:21. One very important fact emerges here. If Adam and Eve had never existed, then the whole of the Christian faith can be discredited, because without Adam's fall into sin, the crucifixion of Christ could not have happened. The same fallacy applies to Theistic Evolution. If death existed among Adam's parents and throughout all of his ancestry, then the Resurrection of Christ would have been meaningless, and leading to the reason that it couldn't have ever happened.
The same as with the Fall itself. Adam and Eve made aprons out of fig leaves sawn together, a way of reconciling themselves to God by self effort, that is, by religion. God had totally disregarded their aprons and had an innocent beast slain in order to clothe them with its skin. Our need for clothing is not due to an inadequacy in human evolution, but a verification of the need of an innocent substitute to atone for our fall from innocence. Even animistic African and jungle tribes who go about topless in the tropics always wore some form of belt to cover their groin. Does it look as though our unwillingness to go out absolutely naked, even on a hot summer's day, is an exact parallel to the shame our first parents had immediately after their Fall, and had to hide behind a bush when God appeared, apparently physically? (Genesis 3:6-10).
These are the three issues we take for granted each day of our present lives: Weekends, Marriage, and Clothing - all three had their origins in Genesis, the first book of the Bible. And wary or not, we acknowledge the truthfulness and historicity of Holy Scripture every day in our lives through these three issues. Yet you insist that the Bible is nothing more than a book of myths.
I am aware how repulsive the Old Testament can look to be. Here a nation is led by God to invade Canaan and slaughter all the indigenous inhabitants. Dreadful, isn't it? Until I came to understand that the Canaanites were sacrificing their babies and toddlers to their pagan idols every day. Just imagine for a moment. A newborn is taken from its mother's breast by the priest, who is standing in front of a statue of a beast, probably a cow or some other animal, or some demon-like entity. In front of the image is a brazier of burning coals. He places the child, completely naked, onto the glowing embers. For a few moments, perhaps up to twenty or thirty seconds, the baby screams. Then it falls unconscious and dies, and the flames chars its body. And then imagine this taking place up and down the land every day. Then I begin to understand what an abomination to God such a practice really was, and had to be stopped. There was also the grave danger of the Israelites adopting such a practice, and during the days of Elijah, for example, child sacrifices were made to Baal by the Israelites, a sin which led to their exile to Assyria and to Babylon. On top of such abominations, many of the Canaanites were giants by comparison to the Israelites, and posed a threat of eliminating the Jewish nation from the Earth altogether. If that had happened, then Jesus Christ wouldn't have been able to come, for he could only come after the Covenant made by God himself to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Then finally, the bit which frustrates a great many church-goes, especially Roman Catholics, is how a sinner can be saved. If the word could be so misunderstood, it has to be the word Repent. In the original Greek, with which the whole of the New Testament is written, the word is Metaneo - to change your mind. What the Bible is asking you to do is to change your mind from thinking that this Jesus of Nazareth was an imposter, a mere good man or moral teacher - to a heart-belief that this Jesus is the Christ, the Jewish Messiah, risen physically from the dead, and by his death on the cross, atoned for all our sins, and by his Resurrection, had defeated death, and eternal life is given to everyone who believes. It is that simple. But around 386 AD St. Jerome, when translating the Bible into the Latin Vulgate, instead inserted another word for Repent, which means Do Penance. This changes everything, turning simple faith into religion - a system of infused grace through human merit and good works, and such grace being lost by committing a mortal sin - unless an act of penance is carried out by the believer.
I can understand what a sheer frustration all this is, and believe me, I was an atheist myself during my teenage years. I have found out by experience that any works added to faith is soul-destroying heresy. And that included the need to turn from sin in order to be saved instead of just believing that this Jesus from Nazareth is the risen Christ.
We may say that we have sinned against God, which is true of course, but very few realise that we, through Adam, were also sinned against. The serpent lied to Eve, and she was deceived. And Adam was taken in by the deception. I guess that's why God has made every effort to redeem us, but made no attempt to redeem the Devil or his hordes. The Old Testament is a demonstration of a fierce battle taking place between God and the invisible evil forces in the air. These forces had tried to do everything in their attempt to thwart the coming of Christ to make atonement for us. And these forces were defeated by his Resurrection. But they are still blinding everyone who refuse to believe, and trying to convince them, through Science or otherwise, that the Atonement made by Jesus Christ had never occurred.
But Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who was born of a virgin, and was crucified, died, was buried, and three days later rose physically from the dead. And since God has done it all, all that remains is for you to believe in your heart.
Yours Faithfully,
Frank E. Blasi.
All this, any many more, has provided me with quite a fascinating research on how atheists, agnostics, and Christians feel about Creationism and Darwinism, a flat Earth or a spherical Earth. And within this line of thought, may I write what could be classed as an apologetic defence of the faith, which included Creationism and the historicity of Holy Scripture.
 |
| Photo from a Facebook Website. |
Certainly, the book of Genesis opens with the six literal days of Creation. But I have never had a problem with applying the concept of a spherical Earth to the Biblical narration. Over forty years as a Christian believer, never once had I ever doubted that our home planet is round like a ball, which itself is orbiting a much larger fiery ball we call the Sun, which is our nearest star. In turn, our Sun is orbiting the nucleus of our Galaxy, which is itself one of many specks in a vast Universe. The narration of a six literal days of Creation, with the seventh day taken as a day of rest and inactivity does tell me something, and it's this: The forces of Creationism at work throughout those six days are not in operation now. In other words, there is no form of positive creation taking place at the present day. Rather all I can see is the opposite effect of entropy at work - the decline from highly organised to disorganised, a downward spiral. But do you want proof of Divine Creationism above Evolution without the existence of any superior intelligence? Then all you need to do is look at the mirror!
The Book of Genesis endorsing the truth of entropy? As seen from the lifespans of the early patriarchs, which averaged 912 years of age (with Methuselah living up to 969 years), what I can see is the shortening of longevity down to Joseph son of Jacob, the last character whose death is recorded in Genesis, as reaching only 110 years of age. Such a testimony does not bode well for Charles Darwin, who advocated an upward evolutionary spiral from apes to Homo Sapiens with an increasing lifespan. Rather, the narration found in the fifth chapter of Genesis seems to give credit to the scientific principle of entropy.
Yet as I look in the mirror every morning, there is something incredibly unique - life. To be alive, to be conscious, and have the ability to make decisions. Considering that everything I see and touch is made up of molecules, itself an arrangement of atoms, with each atom consisting of a twofold nucleus of protons and neutrons, with the electron orbiting the nucleus, rather like a microscopic Solar System. The type of matter discerned by how many protons, neutrons and electrons in each atom, and how the molecule is made up on what these atoms are and how they are arranged, whether the matter at hand is a solid, a liquid, or gas. Yet as I perceive living things, including myself, what is it between lifeless bedrock, a boulder, sand on a beach, or for that matter, the metal of which a rotating cog of a functioning engine consists. And these have no life in themselves, yet I perceive three kinds of solid matter under the Sun - inanimate objects, plants - including trees, and all fauna. The type of thinking which I find rather striking. I feel pain, I am concious of the world around me - as with most, if not all other animals. Yet all Homo Sapiens like myself, I have emotions which is stimulated by both my thoughts and by my environment - what I can see, hear, touch, taste, and smell - these can all have an effect on my feelings. On top of this, I can read, write, and solve difficult mathematical problems. These three seem to be unique to us humans alone, with not even our "closest relatives" of the Primate can achieve.
Yet what about the wooden trunk and branches of a tree? It is inanimate, the wood can be cut and from it, items such as furniture can be made. When cut, the wood feels no pain, it does not protest like I would if and when threatened. It cannot see, hear, touch, taste, or smell, neither does it feel any emotion. The wood of the tree looks to be just as inanimate as a stone or a lump of iron. Yet at just the right time of the year the tree buds and puts out leaves and flowers, has the knowledge of pollination, and able to reproduce. And so the sapling, like a baby, puppy, or kitten, starts small and grows on its own accord. Although the baby, kitten, and puppy all need feeding by the mother, the sapling grows into a tree without any assistance, as if a higher I.Q. is credited to the tree through total and complete independence.
Yet everything consist of atoms. Everything! From the simple atom of the hydrogen gas to the fiendishly complexity of the DNA molecule found within every living cell - all consisting of atoms - a nucleus orbited by electrons with quite a volume of empty space between the orbiting electrons and the nucleus. If all the atoms making up my body were to collapse within themselves, with every electron actually touching the nucleus, then I would be reduced to the size of a grain of table salt! I, like everything else in the entire Universe, consist mostly of empty space!
Yet I have life. Every animal are lifeforms of its own kind, whether on land, in the water or in the air, all having an awareness of its own environment. So how can it be that one group of atoms can cause a lump of rock or metal to exist in its lifeless form, whilst another group of atoms makes up a living organism? What is life anyway? What is the real difference between me, who can express myself to others through writing, and that of the computer which will publish my work with a single click of the mouse? No matter how sophisticated robots of a future age might be, artificial intelligence will never match real intelligence, as robots don't have a soul as we all do, both human and animal alike. And what is the soul anyway? How can one mass of atoms possess a soul, whilst another doesn't? And when an animal dies, the rapid decay which follows - what would be the actual change of the atoms taking place within the corpse?
I am fully aware how much you dislike the Bible anyway. And there are parts which even I at first have found rather disturbing. Take the stoning of a man to death for collecting sticks on the Sabbath. It is found in Numbers 15:32-36. For many years I took in this situation as someone who simply placed his needs above the law of the land. Or to someone who has forgotten what day it was. Now I realise neither were the case. It was the final fruit of years of willing rebellion. This man hated God and hated his laws, maybe because he knew that he was unable to keep them. Throughout his life he must have been warned over and over again. First by his parents, then later by his colleagues. Then one day he decided to put God to the test. And he faced the consequences. But why such a harsh punishment? And I have to admit to myself that the penalty was harsh.
If he had gotten away with it, the rebellion would have rapidly spread across the whole nation, and the Sabbath would have been eventually forgotten throughout Israel. What I find amazing is that because the Sabbath was instituted in Israel by God himself, we enjoy the weekend to this present day. After the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Sunday began to be observed as the day of worship. But Sunday was never the Sabbath. The Sabbath was for Israel only, who were told to stay at home to rest, and not to go out to worship. But as our Saturdays were meant to prepare us for Sunday, by the time Jesus was around, the Jews had the Day of Preparation which always preceded their Sabbaths. It was on a Day of Preparation when Jesus was crucified, but this preparation day was to precede the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Jewish Passover was also eaten. It was a special Sabbath, or "a high day" - John 19:31.
Which brings us why God gave the Sabbath to the Israelites in the first place. To commemorate the rest from six days of Creation. Since God himself rested and so to speak, was refreshed, so he wanted his own people to rest and be refreshed from their daily work. So each weekend, most of us are actually acknowledging God's Creation week. Then again, are you married? If so, then you are acknowledging the truthfulness of the Bible and its historicity, when God created Eve to be a helpmate and companion to Adam, both whom God declared as husband and wife. This event was endorsed as history by Jesus Christ himself, from whom salvation comes (Matthew 19:6, Genesis 2:21-25). Also Paul the Apostle acknowledged Adam as a historic figure (Romans 5:14) - and he was later imprisoned and executed for his faith in Jesus Christ, who he called, "the Second Adam" - Romans 5:12:21. One very important fact emerges here. If Adam and Eve had never existed, then the whole of the Christian faith can be discredited, because without Adam's fall into sin, the crucifixion of Christ could not have happened. The same fallacy applies to Theistic Evolution. If death existed among Adam's parents and throughout all of his ancestry, then the Resurrection of Christ would have been meaningless, and leading to the reason that it couldn't have ever happened.
The same as with the Fall itself. Adam and Eve made aprons out of fig leaves sawn together, a way of reconciling themselves to God by self effort, that is, by religion. God had totally disregarded their aprons and had an innocent beast slain in order to clothe them with its skin. Our need for clothing is not due to an inadequacy in human evolution, but a verification of the need of an innocent substitute to atone for our fall from innocence. Even animistic African and jungle tribes who go about topless in the tropics always wore some form of belt to cover their groin. Does it look as though our unwillingness to go out absolutely naked, even on a hot summer's day, is an exact parallel to the shame our first parents had immediately after their Fall, and had to hide behind a bush when God appeared, apparently physically? (Genesis 3:6-10).
These are the three issues we take for granted each day of our present lives: Weekends, Marriage, and Clothing - all three had their origins in Genesis, the first book of the Bible. And wary or not, we acknowledge the truthfulness and historicity of Holy Scripture every day in our lives through these three issues. Yet you insist that the Bible is nothing more than a book of myths.
I am aware how repulsive the Old Testament can look to be. Here a nation is led by God to invade Canaan and slaughter all the indigenous inhabitants. Dreadful, isn't it? Until I came to understand that the Canaanites were sacrificing their babies and toddlers to their pagan idols every day. Just imagine for a moment. A newborn is taken from its mother's breast by the priest, who is standing in front of a statue of a beast, probably a cow or some other animal, or some demon-like entity. In front of the image is a brazier of burning coals. He places the child, completely naked, onto the glowing embers. For a few moments, perhaps up to twenty or thirty seconds, the baby screams. Then it falls unconscious and dies, and the flames chars its body. And then imagine this taking place up and down the land every day. Then I begin to understand what an abomination to God such a practice really was, and had to be stopped. There was also the grave danger of the Israelites adopting such a practice, and during the days of Elijah, for example, child sacrifices were made to Baal by the Israelites, a sin which led to their exile to Assyria and to Babylon. On top of such abominations, many of the Canaanites were giants by comparison to the Israelites, and posed a threat of eliminating the Jewish nation from the Earth altogether. If that had happened, then Jesus Christ wouldn't have been able to come, for he could only come after the Covenant made by God himself to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Then finally, the bit which frustrates a great many church-goes, especially Roman Catholics, is how a sinner can be saved. If the word could be so misunderstood, it has to be the word Repent. In the original Greek, with which the whole of the New Testament is written, the word is Metaneo - to change your mind. What the Bible is asking you to do is to change your mind from thinking that this Jesus of Nazareth was an imposter, a mere good man or moral teacher - to a heart-belief that this Jesus is the Christ, the Jewish Messiah, risen physically from the dead, and by his death on the cross, atoned for all our sins, and by his Resurrection, had defeated death, and eternal life is given to everyone who believes. It is that simple. But around 386 AD St. Jerome, when translating the Bible into the Latin Vulgate, instead inserted another word for Repent, which means Do Penance. This changes everything, turning simple faith into religion - a system of infused grace through human merit and good works, and such grace being lost by committing a mortal sin - unless an act of penance is carried out by the believer.
I can understand what a sheer frustration all this is, and believe me, I was an atheist myself during my teenage years. I have found out by experience that any works added to faith is soul-destroying heresy. And that included the need to turn from sin in order to be saved instead of just believing that this Jesus from Nazareth is the risen Christ.
We may say that we have sinned against God, which is true of course, but very few realise that we, through Adam, were also sinned against. The serpent lied to Eve, and she was deceived. And Adam was taken in by the deception. I guess that's why God has made every effort to redeem us, but made no attempt to redeem the Devil or his hordes. The Old Testament is a demonstration of a fierce battle taking place between God and the invisible evil forces in the air. These forces had tried to do everything in their attempt to thwart the coming of Christ to make atonement for us. And these forces were defeated by his Resurrection. But they are still blinding everyone who refuse to believe, and trying to convince them, through Science or otherwise, that the Atonement made by Jesus Christ had never occurred.
But Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who was born of a virgin, and was crucified, died, was buried, and three days later rose physically from the dead. And since God has done it all, all that remains is for you to believe in your heart.
Yours Faithfully,
Frank E. Blasi.
Dear Frank,
ReplyDeleteI sincerely hope atheists read your letter, for it presents highly cogent arguments that are rational, unavoidable, and true. Far from evolving into something higher, man is deteriorating, with lesser lifespan and weaker gene pool. We know this is because of the curse of sin, and even scientifically trained atheists must acknowledge the second law of thermodynamics, namely that entropy increases. A filing cabinet full of papers flung into the air never comes down in a more ordered arrangement than they had originally; ink molecules poured on a page do not by chance order themselves into meaningful prose; and humans could not have by chance and time evolved from less complex beings. Thanks as always for the excellent and thought-provoking post.
God bless,
Laurie
Excellent post, Frank.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I am convinced there is nothing in scripture that contradicts true science. Unfortunately much that people believe to be biblical is in fact nothing more than human tradition that is contradicted by scripture. Similarly, some of what is passed off as science is in fact just human opinion, and is contradicted by true science. Neither changes the validity of God's word.