Before I came to know God, I knew little about the Jewish race except for some modern events: the Nazi's Holocaust and for Jewish achievements in finance and in science (relatively high concentration of Nobel Prize Laureates).
I had always attributed their exceptional achievements to their simply being "the smartest race." Yeah. It's smarts (exceptional braininess...), plus discipline, and hard work. That's it!
Well, now that I have come to know the Bible a tiny bit better, I am beginning to see that it's God's grace, not man's brain, that 造就了(produced/created/brought forth/made way for) these outstandingly brilliant men who have so enormously contributed to mankind's intellectual development. It is really God's grace.
Why? Because you don't just invent something or discover something by "being the smartest". You don't just add leaps and bounds to man's knowledge base by "being the smartest". [On a side note, you don't just create something like the Bible and keep it true to its origin over thousands of years under tumultuous cultural apocalyptic phases with some disciplined "system." There's providence at work.] Even if you add hardworking and disciplined on top of that. Those are only a TINY part of it. An essential part of it, but by no means the only factor(s) for success. There are lots more "things" that impact outcome and achievement that are well beyond mastermind-like human control: various events, timing, finances, facilities, the people we meet, the people we work with, how we get along with them, how they support us, all the different types of obstacles in the way and how each is resolved at each step of the way.... All of these require something bigger at work behind the scenes. It's man's work under God's care. In many ways, the Jews have been and are still being richly, richly blessed, though we don't always see it and take for granted their contribution to the world, thinking "oh they're smarter".
Even if God blesses someone with smarts, without God's watch and blessings in all other aspects it will be hard for merely "smarts" (and hardwork, etc.) to become fruitful.
But, that's just my experiences and observations. PRAISE GOD for blessing us in so many ways, even in ways well beyond our conscious acknowledgement.
I had always attributed their exceptional achievements to their simply being "the smartest race." Yeah. It's smarts (exceptional braininess...), plus discipline, and hard work. That's it!
Well, now that I have come to know the Bible a tiny bit better, I am beginning to see that it's God's grace, not man's brain, that 造就了(produced/created/brought forth/made way for) these outstandingly brilliant men who have so enormously contributed to mankind's intellectual development. It is really God's grace.
Why? Because you don't just invent something or discover something by "being the smartest". You don't just add leaps and bounds to man's knowledge base by "being the smartest". [On a side note, you don't just create something like the Bible and keep it true to its origin over thousands of years under tumultuous cultural apocalyptic phases with some disciplined "system." There's providence at work.] Even if you add hardworking and disciplined on top of that. Those are only a TINY part of it. An essential part of it, but by no means the only factor(s) for success. There are lots more "things" that impact outcome and achievement that are well beyond mastermind-like human control: various events, timing, finances, facilities, the people we meet, the people we work with, how we get along with them, how they support us, all the different types of obstacles in the way and how each is resolved at each step of the way.... All of these require something bigger at work behind the scenes. It's man's work under God's care. In many ways, the Jews have been and are still being richly, richly blessed, though we don't always see it and take for granted their contribution to the world, thinking "oh they're smarter".
Even if God blesses someone with smarts, without God's watch and blessings in all other aspects it will be hard for merely "smarts" (and hardwork, etc.) to become fruitful.
But, that's just my experiences and observations. PRAISE GOD for blessing us in so many ways, even in ways well beyond our conscious acknowledgement.