Blink of an Eye by Ted Dekker Read Free Book Online Page B

wouldn’t go that far, but it does have a ring to it, don’t you think?” Seth leaned forward and took a sheet of paper from Harland’s desk. “May I?”
    â€œBe my guest. You’re going to show me the equation?”
    â€œNo. I’m going to translate it into a hypothetical syllogism of sorts.” He spoke his argument as he wrote it out in longhand.
    (A) If an all-knowing God exists, then he knows precisely what THE future is. (He knows whether I’m going to cough in ten seconds.)
    (B) If God knows what THE future is, then that future WILL occur, unless God is mistaken. (I WILL cough in ten seconds.)
    (C) Because God cannot be mistaken, there is NO possibility that any other future, other than the one future that God knows, will happen. (There’s NO possibility I won’t cough in ten seconds.)
    (D) THEREFORE, if God exists, there is only ONE future, which is THE future he knows. (I cough in ten seconds.)
    Seth set the pencil down. “Basically, if God exists, the probability of there being more than one possible future is zero. And vice versa. To believe God exists also requires you to believe that the future is unalterable. By definition. There can only be one future, and no amount of willing can change it.”
    â€œAnd the ramifications of this theory?”
    â€œReligion has no purpose.”
    â€œKnowledge of fact doesn’t necessarily prove singularity of future.”
    â€œYou’re only splitting hairs between knowledge of fact and probabilities.”
    Harland nodded slowly. They’d argued the subject on several occasions, and he didn’t seem eager to dive in again.
    Seth looked out the window. “You should reconsider deism—”
    A pigeon slammed into the window with a loud thunk .
    Seth blinked. “Ouch. You’d think that would break the window.”
    â€œWhat would?”
    Seth looked at him. “The force of the bird slamming into the window.”
    Harland looked at the window. “What bird?”
    â€œWhat do you mean, what bird? You didn’t just see that?”
    â€œNo.”
    Seth looked at the window. “You didn’t hear a loud thunk just now?”
    â€œNo. I didn’t hear—”
    A pigeon slammed into the window with a loud thunk . It fell away in a flurry of feathers.
    â€œLike that?” Harland asked.
    Seth stared at the clear pane of glass. Yes, exactly like that.
    â€œHuh. I could’ve sworn I just saw that ten seconds ago. Like a déjà vu.” He shook his head.
    â€œYou okay?”
    â€œYeah.” Odd. Very odd.
    â€œAnother year here and you’ll be out,” Harland said. “Stay with it.”
    Seth sat back. “Now you’re sounding like Clive Masters.”
    â€œAnyone with half a brain would say you should finish.”
    â€œSo you’re saying . . . ?”
    â€œPlay ball at the reception Thursday. Smile, be nice. Try to keep your foot out of your mouth. Maybe even offer some kind of apology to Baaron—”
    â€œSuck up.”
    â€œIn the vernacular.”
    â€œBe reasonable and do what’s best for everybody.”
    â€œYes.”
    Seth stood and walked to the window. His fingers slipped into his pocket and toyed with the Super Ball. The pigeon was hobbling along the grass, dazed.
    â€œI wouldn’t dream of anything else, Professor.”

chapter 6
    t he bruise on her face was hidden from Samir, but he had to know something terrible had happened by the tremble in her voice. The tragedy was too large in her mind to discuss at first—they rode in silence.
    Miriam had awakened in the car and wept for her friend. At home, her father, Salman, refused to hear anything of it, insisting that if it had happened as she said, the matter was beyond his influence. She went to her room and fell asleep on a pillow soaked with tears. She’d heard of stonings and even drownings before, of course, but only in stories