Our society is a high context society that loves sophistication and difficult expressions. Watch our movies, listen to speeches or attend a play. Ten sentences can be said in one word, three scenes can be described in one scene. Guys, great movies that made millions of dollars if not billions were based on a simple story, one or two thoughts the most per excellent commercial movies. The days of sophistication are gone. Difficult words are vanishing, spiced expressions are outdated, over dramatic gestures are not even funny anymore. Why are we still stuck in this high context culture? Is it because we are not used to say things directly? Is it because we lack critical thinking so we try to fill our sentences with words waiting for the brain to continue the right thought? Is it because we repeat what we hear and we think plagiarism is a smart tool? Is it a culture of memorizing rather than thinking? Is it all what I mentioned?
It is all what you mentioned before and add to it " our culture tends to charm with it's outer shape with inner vagueness" it is a fake society with fake Identity...
ReplyDeleteDOES GOD EXIST?
ReplyDeleteIf a person opposes even the possibility of there being a God, then any evidence can be rationalized or explained away. It is like if someone refuses to believe that people have walked on the moon, and then no amount of information is going to change their thinking. Photographs of astronauts walking on the moon, interviews with the astronauts, moon rocks - all the evidence would be worthless because the person has already concluded that people cannot go to the moon.
When it comes to the possibility of God's existence, the Bible says that there are people who have seen sufficient evidence, but they have suppressed the truth about God. (Romans 1:19-21). On the other hand, for those who want to know God if he is there, he says, "You will seek me and find me; when you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you" (Jeremiah 29:13-14). Before you look at the facts surrounding God's existence, ask yourself, If God does exist, would I want to know him? Here, then, are some reasons to consider...
Does God exist? The complexity of our planet points to a deliberate Designer who not only created our universe, but sustains it today.
Many examples showing God's design could be given, possibly with no end. But here are a few:
The Earth...its size is perfect. The Earth's size and corresponding gravity holds a thin layer of mostly nitrogen and oxygen gases, only extending about 50 miles above the Earth's surface. If Earth were smaller, an atmosphere would be impossible, like the planet Mercury. If Earth were larger, its atmosphere would contain free hydrogen, like Jupiter (R.E.D. Clark, Creation (London: Tyndale Press, 1946), p. 20). Earth is the only known planet equipped with an atmosphere of the right mixture of gases to sustain plant, animal and human life.
The Earth is located the right distance from the sun. Consider the temperature swings we encounter, roughly -30 degrees to +120 degrees. If the Earth were any further away from the sun, we would all freeze. If it were any closer, we would burn up. Even a fractional variance in the Earth's position to the sun would make life on Earth impossible. The Earth remains this perfect distance from the sun while it rotates around the sun at a speed of nearly 67,000 mph. It is also rotating on its axis, allowing the entire surface of the Earth to be properly warmed and cooled every day.
And our moon is the perfect size and distance from the Earth for its gravitational pull. The moon creates important ocean tides and movement so ocean waters do not stagnate, and yet our massive oceans are restrained from spilling over across the continents (The Wonders of God's Creation, Moody Institute of Science, Chicago, IL).
ReplyDeleteDoes God exist? The universe had a start - what caused it?
Scientists are convinced that our universe began with one enormous explosion of energy and light, which we now call the Big Bang. This was the singular start to everything that exists: the beginning of the universe, the start of space, and even the initial start of time itself.
Astrophysicist Robert Jastrow, a self-described agnostic, stated, "The seed of everything that has happened in the Universe was planted in that first instant; every star, every planet and every living creature in the Universe came into being as a result of events that were set in motion at the moment of the cosmic explosion... The Universe flashed into being, and we cannot find out what caused that to happen."
Robert Jastrow; "Message from Professor Robert Jastrow"; LeaderU.com; 2002.
Steven Weinberg, a Nobel laureate in Physics, said at the moment of this explosion, "the universe was about a hundred thousand million degrees Centigrade...and the universe was filled with light" [Steven Weinberg; The First Three Minutes: A Modern View of the Origin of the Universe; (Basic Books,1988); p 5.].
The universe has not always existed. It had a start...and what caused that? Scientists have no explanation for the sudden explosion of light and matter.
If I told you that the watch on my wrist was designed by a team of engineers, skillfully crafted by a team of highly trained technicians, sent to a jobber, and from there to the store where my wife bought it as a gift for me, would you believe me?
Well, let me tell you what really happened: Millions and millions of years ago, there were atoms freely floating through the universe. Cosmic winds drew them together, clustering them into various materials: silicon, crystals, metals, and other various parts. Through the random effects of chance, over millions of years, of course, these various elements were thrown together into his interesting device that now adorns my wrist, and it has been keeping accurate time ever since!
Ridiculous, isn’t it. The notion that this complex little device “happened” by the caprice of chance alone is, of course, absurd. It is obviously the object of careful and skillful design. Strange that we reject the notion that this watch happened by accident, yet it is vastly simpler than the wrist upon which it resides.
ReplyDeleteThe watch is a simple “open loop” design. The wrist is a “closed loop” servo system, which is vastly more sophisticated. It adjusts to ambient conditions, fights off invaders, even repairs itself and involves design elements we are only just now beginning to understand! Why is it that we require a designer to explain the origin of the watch, yet are willing to ascribe the biological systems which it adorns chance?
Does God exist? Design parameters of the universe.
The limits and parameters of the universe have come within the measuring capacity of astronomers and physicists, the design characteristics of the universe are being examined and acknowledged. Astronomers have discovered that the characteristics and parameters of the universe, and our solar system are so finely tuned to support life that nothing less than a personal, intelligent Creator can explain the degree of the universe being fine-tuned It requires power and purpose.
Approximately two dozen parameters of the universe have been identified that must be carefully fixed in order for any kind of conceivable life to exist at any time in the history of the universe. Here are a few examples of these given below.
1. Gravitational coupling constant. If larger: no stars less than 1.4 solar masses, hence short stellar life spans. If smaller: no stars more than 0.8 solar masses, hence no heavy element production.
2. Strong nuclear force coupling constant. If larger: no hydrogen; nuclei essential for life are unstable. If smaller: no elements other than hydrogen
3. Electromagnetic coupling constant. If larger: no chemical bonding; elements more massive than boron are unstable to fission. If smaller: no chemical bonding.
4. Ratio of protons to electrons. If larger: electromagnetism dominates gravity preventing galaxy, star and planet formation. If smaller: electromagnetism dominates gravity preventing galaxy, star, and planet formation.
5. Ratio of electron to proton mass. If larger: no chemical bonding. If smaller: no chemical bonding.
6. Expansion rate of the universe. If larger: no galaxy formation. If smaller: universe collapse prior to star formation.
7. Entropy level of the universe. If larger: no star condensation within the proto-galaxies. If smaller: no proto-galaxy formation.
8. Mass density of the universe. If larger: too much deuterium from big bang, hence stars burn too rapidly. If smaller: no helium from big bang, hence not enough heavy elements.
9. Average distance between stars. If larger: heavy elements density too thin for rocky planet production. If smaller: planetary orbits become destabilized.
10. Solar luminosity. If increases too soon: runaway green house effect. If increases too late: frozen oceans.
11. Fine structure constant (a function of three other fundamental constants, Planck’s constant, the velocity of light, and the electron charge each which, therefore, must be fine-tuned) If larger: no stars more than 0.7 solar masses, if smaller: not stars less than 1.8 solar masses.
12. Carbon to Oxygen energy level ratio. If larger: insufficient oxygen. If smaller: insufficient carbon.
13. Decay rate of proton. If greater: life would be exterminated by the release of radiation. If smaller: insufficient matter in the universe for life.
ReplyDeleteThe degree of the universe being fine-tuned for many of these parameters is utterly amazing. For example, if the strong nuclear force were even two percent stronger or two percent weaker, the universe would never be able to support life. More astounding yet, the ground state energies for He, Be, C, and O cannot be higher or lower with respect to each other by more than four percent without yielding a universe with insufficient oxygen and/or carbon for any kind of life. The expansion rate of the universe is even more sensitive, it must be fine-tuned to an accuracy of one part in 1055! Clearly some ingenious Designer must be involved in the physics of the universe.
Does God exist? Origin of life
Life. What is it? Where did it come from? What makes it different from dust, the air and the water on earth? From the time we humans achieve self awareness there develops a fascination with the things that crawl, slither, walk, swim and fly. This fascination with the “living protoplasm” on earth is basic to our constitution. This fascination with living things leads us all to the point when we ask “where did they come from?” The question of the origin of life has been debated by philosophers, theologians, scientists for thousands of years and is at the very core of the debate between the atheists and the creationists. Creationists see the creation of life as powerful, visible, manifestation of an awesome designer, creator, God. To the creationist, life is the product of the greatest chemist, biologists, mathematician and engineer in or out of the universe! To the atheist, life is viewed as incredibly lucky result of billions of years and countless violations of the laws of nature acting on non-living matter. As some have put it, life is “The fortuitous occurrence of accidental circumstances.”
Atheists assume that 3 to 4 billion years ago, non-living, inanimate, inorganic matter developed into highly complex living organism, by random chance. No one knows where it happened, but it generally assumed to have occurred somewhere on earth, in a “primordial ooze”, near hot oceanic vents or some shallow tidal pool. No designer, no blue prints, no instructions, no concept or purpose are allowed in the evolutionary scenario of the origin of life. Only the laws of nature, random chance and long periods of time are allowed to act on the raw materials of life.
Does God exist? The DNA code informs, programs a cell's behavior.
All instruction, all teaching, all training comes with intent. Someone who writes an instruction manual does so with purpose. Did you know that in every cell of our bodies there exists a very detailed instruction code, much like a miniature computer program? As you may know, a computer program is made up of ones and zeros, like this: 110010101011000. The way they are arranged tell the computer program what to do. The DNA code in each of our cells is very similar. It's made up of four chemicals that scientists abbreviate as A, T, G, and C. These are arranged in the human cell like this: CGTGTGACTCGCTCCTGAT and so on. There are three billion of these letters in every human cell!
Well, just like you can program your phone to beep for specific reasons, DNA instructs the cell. DNA is a three-billion-lettered program telling the cell to act in a certain way. It is a full instruction manual.
Why is this so amazing? One has to ask....how did this information program wind up in each human cell? These are not just chemicals. These are chemicals that instruct, that code in a very detailed way exactly how the person's body should develop.
Natural, biological causes are completely lacking as an explanation when programmed information is involved. You cannot find instruction, precise information like this, without someone intentionally constructing it.
Does God exist? Encyclopedia on a Pinhead: Chance or design?
ReplyDeleteAt the moment of conception, a fertilized human egg is about the size of a pin head. Yet, it contains information equivalent to about six billion “chemical letters.” This is enough information to fill 1000 books, 500 pages thick with print so small you would need a microscope to read it! If all the DNA chemical “letters” in the human body were printed in books, it is estimated they would will the Grand Canyon 50 times!
The information on the DNA molecule is transferred to RNA and ultimately to proteins in the form of structural and functional proteins. A fundamental dilemma for the evolution theory is that the duplication and translation of the information on the DNA molecule requires the employment of proteins. However, living cells cannot make proteins until the DNA replication and translation machinery is in place! The only rational explanation for this dilemma is that the protein production and DNA replication and translation machinery system arose simultaneously! This could only happen by design.
Question: Would a DNA molecule that arose by chance possess any information, codes, programs, or instructions? According to the basic principles of information theory the answer is clearly NO!
Does God exist? A Complex Engineering Puzzle
Suppose you were asked to take two long strands of fisherman’s monofilament line, 125 miles long, then form it into a double helix structure and neatly fold and pack this line so it would fit into a basketball.
Furthermore, you would need to ensure that the double helix could be unzipped and duplicated along the length of this line, and the duplicate copy removed, all without tangling the line. Possible? This is directly analogous to what happens in the billions of cells in your body every day. Scale the basketball down to the size of a human cell and the line scales down to six feet of DNA.
All of this DNA must be packed so the regulatory proteins that control making copies of the DNA have access to it. The DNA packing process is both complex and elegant and is so efficient that it achieves a reduction in length of DNA by a factor of one million. When the cell needs to divide, the entire length of DNA must be split apart, duplicated and repackaged for each daughter cell. No one knows exactly how cells solve this topological nightmare, but the solution clearly starts with the special spools on which the DNA is wound.
Each spool carries two “turns” of DNA, and the spools themselves are stacked together in groups of six or eight. The human cell uses about 25 million of them to keep its DNA under control. DNA is wound around histones to form nucleosomes. These are organized into solenoids, which in turn compose chromatin loops. Each element in this complex, yet highly organized arrangement is carefully designed to play a key role in the cell replication process.
Does God exist? Unlike any other revelation of God, Jesus Christ is the clearest, most specific picture of God revealing himself to us.
Why Jesus? Look throughout the major world religions and you'll find that Buddha, Muhammad, Confucius and Moses all identified themselves as teachers or prophets. None of them ever claimed to be equal to God. Surprisingly, Jesus did. That is what sets Jesus apart from all the others. He said God exists and you're looking at him. Though he talked about his Father in heaven, it was not from the position of separation, but of very close union, unique to all humankind. Jesus said that anyone who had seen Him had seen the Father, anyone who believed in him, believed in the Father.
He said, "I am the light of the world, he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (John 8:12). He claimed attributes belonging only to God: to be able to forgive people of their sin, free them from habits of sin, give people a more abundant life and give them eternal life in heaven. Unlike other teachers who focused people on their words, Jesus pointed people to himself. He did not say, "follow my words and you will find truth." He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but through me" (John 14:6).
ReplyDeleteWhat proof did Jesus give for claiming to be divine? He did what people can't do. Jesus performed miracles. He healed people... the blind, crippled, deaf, even raised a couple of people from the dead. He had power over objects, and created food out of thin air, enough to feed crowds of several thousand people. He performed miracles over nature, walked on top of a lake, commanding a raging storm to stop for some friends. People everywhere followed Jesus because he constantly met their needs, doing the miraculous. He said if you do not want to believe what I'm telling you, you should at least believe in me based on the miracles you're seeing (John 14:11).
Jesus Christ showed God to be gentle, loving, aware of our self-centeredness and shortcomings, yet deeply wanting a relationship with us. Jesus revealed that although God views us as sinners, worthy of his punishment, his love for us ruled and God came up with a different plan. God himself took on the form of man and accepted the punishment for our sin on our behalf. Sounds ludicrous? Perhaps, but many loving fathers would gladly trade places with their child in a cancer ward if they could. The Bible says that the reason we would love God is because he first loved us.
Jesus died in our place so we could be forgiven. Of all the religions known to humanity, only through Jesus will you see God reaching toward humanity, providing a way for us to have a relationship with him. Jesus proves a divine heart of love, meeting our needs, drawing us to himself. Because of Jesus' death and resurrection, he offers us a new life today. We can be forgiven, fully accepted by God and genuinely loved by God. He says, "I have loved you with an everlasting love, therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you" (Jeremiah 31:3). This is God, in action.
Does God exist? If you want to know, investigate Jesus Christ. We're told that "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).
ReplyDeleteGod does not force us to believe in him, though he could. Instead, he has provided sufficient proof of his existence for us to willingly respond to him. The earth's perfect distance from the sun, the unique chemical properties of water, the human brain, DNA, the number of people who attest to knowing God, the gnawing in our hearts and minds to determine if God is there, the willingness for God to be known through Jesus Christ.
If you want to begin a relationship with God now, you can.
This is your decision, but if you want to be forgiven by God and come into a relationship with him, you can do so right now by asking him to forgive you and come into your life. Jesus said, "Behold, I stand at the door [of your heart] and knock. He who hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him [or her]" (Revelation 3:20). If you want to do this, but aren't sure how to put it into words, this may help: "Jesus, thank you for dying for my sins. You know my life and that I need to be forgiven. I ask you to forgive me right now and come into my life. I want to know you in a real way. Come into my life now. Thank you that you wanted a relationship with me. Amen."
God views your relationship with him as permanent. Referring to all those who believe in him, Jesus Christ said of us, "I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand" (John 10:27-29).
So, does God exist? Looking at all these facts, one can conclude that a loving God does exist and can be known in an intimate, personal way.
Subject: Questions about Evolution
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the few message board rooms where there’s not a bunch of fighting and bickering. Here are some questions I would like to ask, and in no way are they hateful.
Something from nothing? The “Big Bang”, the most widely accepted theory of the beginning of the universe, states that everything developed from a small, dense cloud of subatomic particles and radiation which exploded, forming hydrogen (and some helium) gas. Where did this energy/matter come from? How reasonable is it to assume it came into being from nothing? And even if it did come into being, what would cause it to explode? We know from common experience that explosions are destructive and lead to disorder. How reasonable is it to assume that a “big bang” explosion produced the opposite effect: increasing “information”, order and the formation of useful structures, such as stars and planets, and eventually people?
Physical laws an accident? We know the universe is governed by several fundamental physical laws, such as electromagnetic forces, gravity, conservation of mass and energy, etc. The activities of our universe depend upon these principles like computer program depends upon the existence hardware with an instruction set. How reasonable is it to say that these great controlling principles developed by accident?
Order from disorder? The Second Law of Thermodynamics may be the most verified law of science. It states that systems become more disordered over time, unless energy is supplied and directed to create order. Evolutionists say that the opposite has taken place, that order increased over time, without any directed energy. How can this be? Aside, evolutionists commonly object that the Second Law applies to closed, or isolated systems, and that the Earth is certainly not a closed system (it gets lots of ray energy from the Sun, for example). However, all systems, whether open or closed, tend to deteriorate. For example, living organisms are open systems, but they all decay and die. Also, the universe in total is a closed system. To say that the chaos of the “big bang” has transformed itself into the human brain with its 120 billion connections is a clear violation of the Second Law.
We should also point out that the availability of raw energy to a system is a necessary but far from sufficient condition for a local decrease in entropy to occur. Certainly the application of a blowtorch to bicycle parts will not result in a bicycle assembled, only the careful application of directed energy will, such as from the hands of a person following a plan. The presence of energy from the sun does NOT solve the evolutionist’s problem of how increasing order could occur on the Earth, contrary to the Second Law.
Information from randomness? Information theory states that “information” never arises out of randomness or chance events. Our human experience verifies this every day. How can the origin of the tremendous increase in information from simple organisms up to man be accounted for? Information is always introduced from the outside. It is impossible for natural processes to produce their own actual information, or meaning, which is what evolutionists claim has happened. Random typing might produce the string “dog”, but it only means something to an intelligent observer who has applied a definition to this sequence of letters. The generation of information always requires intelligence, yet evolution claims no intelligence was involved in the ultimate formation of a human being whose many systems contain vast amounts of information.
Life from dead chemicals? Evolutionists claim that life formed from non-life (dead chemicals), so called “abiogenesis”, even though it is a biological law (“biogenesis”) that life only comes from life. The probability of the simplest imaginable replicating system forming by itself from non-living chemicals as been calculated to be so very small as to be essentially zero, much less than one chance in the number of electron-sized particles that could fit in the entire visible universe! Given these odds, is it reasonable to believe that life formed itself?
ReplyDeleteComplex DNA and RNA by chance? The continued existence (the reproduction) of a cell requires both DNA (the “plan”) ad RNA (the “copy mechanism”), both of which are tremendously complex. How reasonable is it to believe that these two co-dependent necessities came into existence by chance at exactly the same time?
Life is complex. We know and appreciate the tremendous amount of intelligent design and planning that went into landing a man on the moon. Yet the complexity of this task pales in comparison to the complexity of even the simplest life form. How reasonable is it to believe that purely natural processes, with no designer, no intelligence, and no plan, produced a human being.
Where are the transitional fossils? If evolution as taken place our museums should be overflowing with the skeletons of countless transitional forms. Yet after over one hundred years of intense searching only a small number of transitional candidates re touted as proof of evolution. If evolution has really taken place, where are the transitional forms? And why does the fossil record actually show all species first appearing fully formed, with most nearly identical to current instances of the species? Aside, most of the examples, touted by evolutionists concentrate on just one feature of the anatomy, like a particular bone or the skull. A true transitional fossil should be intermediate in many, if not all aspects. The next time someone shows you how this bone change over time, ask them about the rest of the creature too! Many evolutionists still like to believe in the “scarcity” of the fossil record. Yet simple statistics will show that given you have found a number of fossils instances of a creature, the chances that you have missed every one of its imagined predecessors is very small. Consider the trilobites for example, these fossils are so common you can buy one for under $20, yet no fossils of a predecessor have been found.
Could an intermediate even survive? Evolution requires the transition from one kind to another to be gradual. And don’t forget that “natural selection” is supposed to retain those individuals which have developed an advantage of some sort. How could an animal intermediate between one kind and another even survive (and why would it ever be selected for), when it would not be well-suited to either its old environment or its new environment? Can you even imagine a possible sequence of small changes which takes a creature from one kind to another, all the while keeping it not only alive, but improved? Aside, certainly a “light-sensitive spot” is better than no vision at all. But why would such a spot even develop? (Evolutionists like to take that for granted). And even if it did develop, to believe that mutations of such a spot eventually brought about the tremendous complexities of the human eye stains all common sense and experience.
Reproduction without reproduction? A main tenet of evolution is the idea that things develop by a (unguided) series of small changes, caused by mutations, which are “selected” for, keeping the “better” changes over a very long period of time. How could the ability to reproduce evolve, without the ability to reproduce? Can you even imagine a theoretical scenario which would allow this to happen? And why would evolution produce two sexes, many times over? Asexual reproduction would seem to be more likely and efficient! Aside, to regulate the question of reproduction to “abiogenesis” does NOT address the problem. To assume existing, reproducing life for the principles of evolution to work on is a HUGE assumption which is seldom focused on in popular discussions.
ReplyDeletePlants without photosynthesis? The process of photosynthesis in plants is very complex. How could the first plant survive unless it already possessed this remarkable capability?
How do you explain symbiotic relationships? There are many examples of plants and animals which have a “symbiotic” relationship (they need each other to survive). How can evolution explain this?
It’s not good unless it’s complete. We know from everyday experience that an item is not generally useful until it is complete, whether it be a car, a cake, or a computer program. Why would natural selection start to make an eye, or an ear, or a wing (or anything else) when this item would not benefit the animal until it was completed?
Explain metamorphosis. How can evolution explain the metamorphosis of the butterfly? Once the caterpillar evolves into the “mass of jelly” (out of which the butterfly comes), wouldn’t it appear to be “stuck”?
It should be easy to show evolution. If evolution is the grand mechanism that has produced all natural things from a simple gas, surely this mechanism must be easily seen. It should be possible to prove its existence in a matter of weeks, or days, if not hours. Yet scientists have been bombarding countless generations of fruit flies with radiation for several decades in order to show evolution in action and still have only produced…more (deformed) fruit flies. How reasonable is it to believe that evolution is a fact when even the simplest of experiments has not been able to document it? Aside, the artificial creation of a new species is far too small of a change to prove that true “macro-evolution” is possible. A higher order change, where the information content of the organism has been increased should be showable and is not. Developing a new species changes the existing information, but does not add new information, such as would be needed for a new organ, for example.
Complex things require intelligent design folks? People are intelligent. If a team of engineers were to one day design a robot which could cross all types of terrain, could dig large holes, could carry several times its weight, found its own energy sources, make some more robots like itself, and was only 1/8 of an inch tall, we would marvel at this achievement. All of our life’s experiences lead us to know that such a robot could never come about by accident, or assemble itself by chance, even if all the parts were available laying next to each other. And we are certain beyond doubt that a canister of hydrogen gas, no matter how long we left it there or what type of raw energy we might apply to it, would never result in such a robot being produced. But we already have such a “robot”, it is called an “ant”, and we squash them because they are “nothing” compared to people. And God made them, and he made us. Can there be any other explanation?
Those are just a few questions. Here are some personal thoughts and some answers to some questions I’ve read in some posts.
ReplyDeleteThe Law of Reproduction states that any two species of the same kind (humans) with the fertilization of egg and sperm will produce the same. It doesn’t state hat two humans coming together will produce something different. But what about mutation? Millions upon millions of successful (or not so successful) mutations bring about humans? Why the need for mutation? A tiny, simple, one-celled organism thought that it wanted to be better than it was. Evolution by definition states: A gradual process in which something changes into a different and usually more complex or better form. Better form, how? What species rapes other members, has crack addictions, and murders for the sake of murdering? You might say that we have the mind to do that, and they don’t. Think about this, if there is no God, then almost all species are species are better form than us, they just do what they need to do to survive and reproduce. Why would evolution bring about a free will and a sense of feelings, when it would be destructive? That just show that we were created for companionship and didn’t evolve just for survival and reproduction. Also, if modern man was better than the last, how much longer would the earth last if we didn’t evolve. Why would an animal evolve into modern man? Did evolution make a mistake?
Also, in Biology we don’t hear about the old modern day human skull that was put together with an orangutan jaw and called a Neanderthal. Or about the “Neanderthal” that was found to be 3 million years old, then later a lady said it was her great grandfather which was only 120 yrs. Old. The Neanderthal in Irleland later was later discovered to be all plaster except one tooth from a pig. Most people look to scientists (like I did) as though everything they say is right. If the newspaper in your town had the headline: “Evolution: A “Scientific Fact!”, do you know how many people would believe that just because it came from a scientists? Scientists know this and thought they could buy this idea right into the public easily, but when you start to mess with the Almighty, it don’t work. Now they have to cover their butts and “produce” information to make these claims true. That’s where the transitional phonies come in. The evolutionists thought (until very recently) that birds came from dinosaurs. Now they say they can’t because of embryonic development. It’s just like some evolutionists think, “Well, in time we will be able to explain it when we have more sufficient fossil evidence and technological advances” I say that it’s completely the opposite, just like what happened with the birds-from-dinosaurs theory. In time science will prove that evolution is just what it is, a theory.
If you claim there is no God, then you’re saying that we are all an accident. If there is no force working behind something, or no reason for something being done, then it’s an accident. But science says there is a “force” of nature at work. Nature is defined as: The forces and processes that produce and control all the phenomena of the material world. I want to see this force. If you believe that nature cause evolution, then what caused nature, and can nature think? The force of nature causes change in the environment. Okay, then the force of nature must have been around in the beginning of the “big bang”. The force of nature seems pretty complex to me. Where is nature’s development? How could it have been around first? The force of nature was created by God for “micro-evolution” through natural selection, like the peppered moth in England.
True science rejects the idea of evolution. If you can believe in evolution, then you have more faith in your idea than I have in mine.
ReplyDeleteAnother story I read from a post was that God is just passed down from parents to kids and so on, just like Santa Clause. Some say people only know about God because their parents told them. That is somewhat true. That just tells you that yes, God did talk to Adam and Eve in the beginning and they passed it on. However, even if someone isn’t “told” about God, they will still come to the perception of God. Perception is the recognition and interpretation of sensory stimuli based chiefly on memory. Without ever being told about God, how would you come up with the perception of God being that you would have no memory of him? I think that God put that perception into us just like some birds know to fly south for the winter. I guess you call it “inherited.” The verse for that is Romans 1:20: “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. So yes, either it will be passed on to you, or you will come to the perception of God by His “inherited” quality.
Someone might say, “I just gotta have hard core physical proof, or I need to see him or talk to him before I believe.” We all live by truths, whether it be the right or the wrong truth. If it works for you, then you have the desire to call it truth. Someone may have the truth that there is no God, others could say they don’t know, and still others say there is a God. Whose truth is right and whose truth is wrong? The truth is only what we want it to be, or how far we wanna take it. Some people say they're searching for the truth, but actually don’t have the desire to change for the truth, because the present situation “works” for them. If everyone is honest with himself or herself, then God will make the truth known.
Now, how did God get here? Who made God? Well, that’s something I always wondered when I was agnostic or atheist (actually I didn’t care if there was a God or not). But after accepting Christ as Lord and Savior, the answer seems quite clear to me; He has always been here. That makes perfect sense to me when I think about it. God says, “I am.” Why would some people have a hard time with that? Corinthians 2:14 says: “The man without the Spirit does not accept things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
God and his angels were up in heaven hangin out. Satan, like many people on earth today, got big-headed got kicked out. Then, God made man for companionship. God told Adam and Eve not to eat from the Tree o Knowledge. Satan deceived them and the first sin took place. Now who made the world like it is, God or man? Yeah, but God’s perfect, how could we sing? Sorry, but Satan’s not perfect and his own free will got the best of him.
Now, about people saying that God should make the world right. How come he doesn’t come down here and fix things? He did!!! That’s why you’ll be opening presents on December 25, and that’s why you’ll be eating a Cadbury Crème Egg in March or April. His name is Jesus Christ.
John 14:6 says: “I am the Way and the Truth the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Jesus is the only way to experience life. What about all the other religions? How can they all be wrong? Let's see: Buddha, he died stayed dead, do they know where his bones are (they also have a fat statue that they worship). Muhammad, he died stayed dead, and they know where his bones are, plus they think that killing Christians will give them an automatic pass to heaven. Now that’s a mean God. Plus, in the Koran, the Divine Decree holds that every action or deed (good or bad) is controlled by Allah. Now, how in the heck can you be accountable for something when you die, when you had no control over it, and why would Allah punish you if he did it in the first place?
ReplyDeleteJoseph Smith, he died stayed dead, and they know where his bones are. Jesus, he died, rose from the dead, and so can you, if you believe in the name of Jesus. The reason Christianity is the right one, is that it has a living God. Romans 10:13 says: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. It’s not hard. What about people saying they have experienced God or talked to God. Can you talk to someone who isn’t there? Do all Christians have an imaginary friend, or are some suffering from multiple personality disorder, or does our brain make us to have a conversation with “something?” Are Christians being deceived? Or are we being the deceivers? Who is this God that they speak to? His name is Jesus Christ. Like said earlier, I was an evolutionist/agnostic, plus a halfway alcoholic. My mom went to the doctor and he found several lumps in her breasts and she also had blood in her urine. Three of the five things it could have been was cancer. I decided to give this God “thing”a try. What could I lose? She went to a healing service at a church one Sunday. She went back to the doctor the following week and he couldn’t explain it, but they were gone. Yeah your right, he didn’t say that it was God either. Can everything that is happening be explained? And If it can’t be explained are we right to assume that it’s God? I know that, yes, there are lots of stuff we still need to discover about ourselves, but on some things God is your answer. After mom was healed, I thought I owed God so I stayed in church, but there was no way I was gonna give up my alcohol. Well, time went on and God was working on me. I got saved a quit drinking in 3 ½ weeks.
Besides the alcohol, my whole attitude toward life and people changed. Now that I look back on my last 20 years, I wish I could take it back. I wish I could have lived it for God. But, I’m also grateful that I’ve been on both sides of the curtain. With God, each day is an adventure of its own. Why all this change? Did my body release some chemical when I got saved that told me that I needed to stop drinking and start living for an unknown force? Well, actually it did, the “chemical” is called the Holy Spirit. I hope God will bless you all and that you come to the understanding Jesus is Lord. Remember, Satan can’t kill ya, but what he can do is pre-occupy your life with things, that in the end, don’t really matter.
In Christ’s love,
Shawn
Evolution Is Assumed to Be True
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, we live in a society where evolution is assumed to be fact. Research of literature written by evolutionists indicates that conclusions were drawn based on the starting assumption that evolution is fact. Various theories were then considered to see which one best fit the “fact” of evolution. In such cases, evolution itself was never questioned. It was never suggested that intelligent, supernatural design might actually be a more reasonable theory and have more evidence to support it. The assumption that evolution is fact has held sway for decades, and it will only change as scientists choose to promote the facts that are now abounding from hard science.
Analyzing the Fossil Record
The reason why so many biologists, whether they believe in evolution or not, don’t
think that the fossil record provides evidence for evolution is because all the organisms that make up the fossil record are fully formed and fully functional. We don’t find lizards with small pieces of feathers starting to form on their scales. Fossilized life-forms either have feathers or they don’t. We don’t find organisms with only retina casings. They either have eyeballs or they don’t. We don’t find any with stubs for legs. They either have legs or they don’t.
What Sort of Change Does the Fossil Record Show?
The fossil record actually shows that ancient specimens have forms virtually identical to life-forms in existence today. Below are some examples:
“The oldest fossils of land-dwelling animals are millipedes, dating to more than 425 million years ago. Incredibly, the archaic forms are nearly indistinguishable from certain groups living today.”[William A. Shear, “Millipedes,” American Scientists, vol. 87 (May/June 1999), p. 234]
“The Florissant Fossil Beds in Colorado are internationally renowned for the variety and quantity (over 60,000 specimens) of fossils discovered. These fossils date to about 35 million years ago, roughly the halfway mark between the age of the dinosaurs and the first humans. The finds include over 1100 different species of insects. According the National Park Service’s Geological Resources Division, ‘the fossils indicate that insects 35 million years ago were much like those today.’” [National Park Service, Geologic Resources Division, “Geology Fieldnotes, Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, Colorado,” www.aqd.nps.gov/grd/parks/fifo/
“A fossil dealer found fossilized jellyfish encased in about 12 vertical feet of rock, which scientists say, represents a span of time of up to 1 million years, according to a Reuters article, ‘The fossilized jellyfish appear similar in size and characteristics to their modern brethren.’” [Andrew Bridges, “Rare Fossilized Jellyfish Found,” January 25, 2002, http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/
20020125/sc/fossiljellyfish1.html
If the fossil record confirms anything, it confirms the reality of little change. Plants and animals that existed millions of years ago are much like plants and animals today.
Is the Fossil Record Complete?
ReplyDeleteCharles Darwin wrote in On the Origin of Species that
Natural selection can act only by the preservation and accumulation
of infinitesimally small inherited modifications, each profitable to the
preserved being. [Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species (Cambridge,
MA: Harvard University Press, 2000), p. 95]
He went on to ask,
Why, if species have descended from other species by insensibly find graduations, do we not everywhere see innumerable transitional forms?
Why, is not all nature in confusion [he is talking about today’s plants and
animals] instead of the species being as we see them, well defined?
(Darwin, p. 171)
Finally, he wondered,
But, as by this theory innumerable transitional forms must have existed,
by do we not find them embedded in countless numbers in the crust of
the earth? (Darwin, p. 172)
At Darwin’s time, we had unearthed relatively few fossils compared to the countless millions we have to analyze today. But the validity of his point hasn’t changed. If the fossil record actually demonstrated evolution, we would have found “innumerable” transitional species showing infinitesimally small variations.
The Numbers Just Don’t Add Up
Today, tens of millions of fossils have been unearthed and categorized. We have defined 250,000 distinct fossilized species. If true transitional forms existed, we should have at least the same number of transitional species, perhaps far more, given that many small changes would have taken place over time.
Even if we consider punctuated equilibrium, which theorizes sudden, abrupt evolutionary change and is a suggested alternative to the gradual neo-Darwinian model, an abundance of true transitional fossils should still be present. And in line with neo-Darwinian theory, we would also expect the gaps between developing, diverging species to be small.
The numbers just aren’t there, though.
First, there are no true transitional species in the fossil record at all. (Only fully formed fossils with similar appearances are thought by some biologists to be transitions.)
Second, the rapid appearance of many separate, fully formed species, in the Cambrian explosion contradicts the gradualism proposed by neo-Darwinists. (It also confounds the molecular biologists who have to confront the questions of irreducible complexity and mutation through vast DNA change.
In the intelligent-design paradigm, however, we would expect fully formed, fully functional creatures to suddenly appear. And naturally, there would be differences, gaps, between the various species. This is exactly what the fossil record indicates.
The Mystery of the Cell
ReplyDeleteDr. Richard Swenson has brought together research by well-known scientists that gives even more evidence of the intricacy of the cell. He notes, “The mystery of the cell is both stunning and inspiring”:
Each cell is unimaginably complex. Each must live in community with its surrounding neighbors, doing its own specialized part in the whole.
Each cell is surrounded by a membrane thinner than a spider’s web that must function precisely, or the cell will die.
Each cell generates its own electric field, which at times is larger than the electric field near a high voltage power line.
Each cell contains specialized energy factories that synthesize adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is the body’s main energy source at the cellular level. Every cell contains hundreds of these factories, called ATP motors, embedded in the surfaces of the mitochondria. Each motor is 200,000 times smaller than a pinhead. At the center of each ATP motor is a tiny wheel that turns at about a hundred revolutions per second and produces three ATP molecules per rotation.
Cells don’t stockpile ATP. Instead they make it as needed from food consumed. Active people can produce their body weight in ATP every day.
Each cell has its own internal clock, switching on and off in cycles from 2 to 26 hours, never varying.
Dr. Swenson goes on to say, “If after glimpsing the activity, intricacy, balance, and precision of life at this level you do not suspect a God [or intelligent designer] standing behind it all, then my best diagnostic guess is that you are in a metaphysical coma.” [Richard A. Swenson, More Than Meets the Eye: Fascinating Glimpses of God’s Power and Design (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2000), p. 21
Swenson’s comment urges us to really think. How likely is it that such vast complexity and precision could have come about by chance? Those who support naturalistic evolution have a real problem here. The problem is to explain how such intricate cellular machines, far beyond what humans could design, could randomly come together. What mechanism could have caused it? What is the mathematical probability that it could have happened in the time frame of a 4.6 billion year old earth? Or even a 1.5 billion year old universe?
The obvious problems include the following:
How would any individual component “know” when to arrive?
How would all the components randomly “know” how to assemble properly?
How would the cytoskeleton, the amazing protective “shell” “know” to cover the cell to allow it to work?
How would all this complexity happen at once? (For instance, just having a mitochondrion by itself would do nothing, without DNA, RNA, and protein.)
How would a mitochondrion with its numerous minute ATP motors, each producing 300 ATP molecules per second, come about?
Where would the information for cells to work individually or as a system come from in the first place?
Lastly, what would initially energize life?
Functions
ReplyDeleteThe average human adult’s body, every second of every day, is organizing about 150 quintillion (150 x 10exp18) amino acids into carefully constructed chains. What do these chains of proteins do? They carry out a vast array of bodily functions, most of which the average person never thinks about:
In a lifetime, a heart beats 2.5 billion times, never stopping to rest.
A red blood cell runs around your body 200,000 times over 120 days, only to be destroyed in the spleen on the 200,001st trip.
Your body has 60,000 miles of blood vessels, the equivalent of two-and–a-half times around the earth.
Billions of white blood cells die every time you get a fever, so that you may live.
The lung cilia that sweep mucus up the trachea vibrate at a rate of about 1000 times per minute.
The eye is so intricate and complex that there is only one chance in 1078 that any two humans would have the same characteristics.
It would take a minimum of 2 years of the World’s Top Supercomputer time to simulate what takes place in your eye every second.
In the retina there are 120 million rods (for dim, night, and peripheral vision) and about 7 million cones (for color and detail vision).
The ear has a million moving parts.
In addition to its complex hearing system, the ear has over a hundred thousand motion-detecting hair cells that allow us to maintain balance and motion.
The nose can determine 10,000 different smells.
Your body has 450 “touch” cells per square inch.
There are estimated to be 100 billion neurons in the brain.
The brain has the capacity to store the amount of information contained in 25 million books (8 million more than are now in the Library of Congress).
The brain make about a thousand trillion computations per second.
All of the above, and much, much more, just from one tiny DNA molecule that somehow “knew” exactly how to build and what to do for a particular person. Your body is vastly more complex than all manufacturing facilities in the entire world together. The idea that the body’s vast microbiological complexity could have evolved from a simple bacterium exceeds belief. Where did all the information come from?
The more we learn about molecular biology, from the complexity of cellular structure to the vast complexity of our own human bodies, the more obvious it is that all living things are designed. However, basic understanding of molecular biology only sets the stage for a more rigorous analysis of the origin of life. And with origin of life, we can determine that evolution is beyond reason and that the only alternative is intelligent design of life itself, or God.
The Atomic Glue
ReplyDeleteApostle Paul goes on to describe the work of Jesus.
"For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him."
(Colossians 1:16)
Apostle Paul is proclaiming here when he says that Jesus is the "creator of all things...things were made by him." Now, as this verse goes on to say, that includes more than merely the material universe around us: more than stars, galaxies, superstars, planets, and solar systems, or even trees, grass, mountains and seas. It includes the earth, Paul says, but also heaven. Both the visible and the invisible. It would also include all forces. Electricity was invented by Jesus (not as a man, but as the Eternal Son) before the creation of the world. It would include radiation, magnetism, and the peculiar and mysterious dance of electrons from one level of energy to another within the atom that makes light. All this was the design of the Eternal Son.
But not only forces, but concepts and attitudes as well: grace, mercy, truth, love, and life itself. Jesus is the originator of all life. And, as Paul specifies here, a whole pantheon of invisible beings (and their visible counterparts in earthly government): "thrones and rulers and powers and authorities"---all were created by him. The Colossian heresy here becomes visible in our modern experience as well. The Colossians began to believe, because of the Greek teachers among them, that the universe consisted of a "hierarchy of angels." One must begin down at the bottom, with raunchy, unpleasant angels, and work one's way up through the whole hierarchy to the good angels and, finally, to God. From that idea has come the eastern concept of reincarnation for that too was part of the Colossian heresy.
We find a counterpart today, not only in the theory of reincarnation, but also in horoscopes and astrology---the idea of stars influencing and governing our lives.
The claim that Transcendental Meditation is the means of getting in touch with invisible beings is another example. We are told that there are Astral Teachers and Divine Masters who appear from time to time to impart degrees of knowledge to the human race. Gradually, we are told, this is to result, after centuries and centuries of progress, in our being lost in the Divine presence. All this is nothing new. It is very old, but it is also new, appearing again and again in history. This is what the apostle labors to correct. He is telling the Colossians, "Jesus is above all angels. You are freed from bondage to these lesser beings when you see the true authority and power of your risen Lord."
ReplyDeleteJesus controls space and history:
"He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." (Colossians 1:17)
"He is before all things," means he is outside his own creation; he was there first.
When Paul uses the phrase, "all things by him hold together," he is speaking of our Lord's power to sustain and to prevent breakdown. The scientists who work on the great linear accelerator (a relatively small instrument) at Stanford University, trying to smash the atom apart, know that it takes incredible power.
A Stanford University Professor said: "The power to operate this instrument is equivalent to all the electricity it takes to run the city of San Francisco."
Something holds the atom together with enormous, incredible power. That power, according to the Word of God (both here in Colossians and in the letter to the Hebrews is vested in Jesus. He has the authority to rule as Sovereign. He has the power to sustain, because he is the Eternal Son.
If you have a magnet in your right hand, a magnet in your left hand, and you push the positive ends towards each other, they push away. Opposite charges attract; like charges repel. But here’s a great mystery: in the nucleus of the atom, protons are packed together which are all positive-charged particles.
What keeps these positive-charged protons from repelling like the magnets? What holds them together? Science doesn’t know. You can study quantum physics and learn lots of hypotheses and theories, yet to this day, it’s a mystery to scientists, but not to Christians, for Scriptures tells us the real answers. It is Jesus Christ who holds all things together. And the day is coming when, suddenly, He will let go…
“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in
ReplyDeletewhich the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and
the elements shall melt with intense heat, the earth and its
works will be burned up.” (II Peter 3:10)
This was written before man knew anything about nuclear physics or about an atomic reaction that could actually melt the basic building blocks of matter itself. God was prophesying how the world would end.
But now we know if the “atomic glue” which holds the atom together were to suddenly disappear, everything would dissolve in zillion degree “intense heat” accompanied by a “great noise” so powerful and quick it wouldn’t even be heard.
The most astonishing phenomenon today is to see men who work with this physical universe, who intimately observe the beauty, order, and power inherent in the natural world as well as in the world of humanity, yet who fail to see the Power behind it all; the ordered Intelligence that possesses and originates all these things. It is difficult to understand a man like Carl Sagan can work in the field of astronomy, knowing of the great secrets that are now coming to light in the universe, and yet go on breathing air which God has supplied, eating the food with which God has stocked this earth, and relying moment by moment on a heartbeat whose continuation rests in the will of Someone other than himself, yet can busy himself telling us that only man matters!
SCIENTIFIC FACTS & FOREKNOWLEDGE OF THE BIBLE
ReplyDeleteScience means knowledge, and true science always agrees with the observable evidence. Scientific research continues to unfold the wonders and mysteries of our universe. Interestingly, there is one book that has anticipated many of these scientific facts. That book is the Bible.
The following are several scientific facts found in the Scriptures. Many of these facts were penned centuries before they were discovered. Scientific foreknowledge found only in the Bible offers one more piece of the collective proof that the Bible is truly the inspired Word of the Creator.
The earth free-floats in space (Job 26:7), affected only by gravity. While other sources declared the earth sat on the back of an elephant or turtle, or was held up by Atlas, the Bible alone states what we now know to be true: “He hangs the earth on nothing.”
Creation is made of particles, indiscernible to our eyes (Hebrews 11:3). Not until 19th century was it discovered that all visible matter consists of invisible elements.
Oceans contain springs (Job 38:16). The ocean is very deep, almost all the ocean floor is in total darkness and the pressure there is enormous. It would been impossible for Job to have explored the “springs of the sea.” Until recently, it was thought that the oceans were fed only by rivers and rain. Yet in the 1970’s, with the help of deep diving research submarines that were constructed to withstand 6,000 pounds-per-square-inch pressure, oceanographers discovered springs on the ocean floors!
Joy and gladness understood (Acts 14:17). Evolution cannot explain emotions. Matter and energy do not feel. Scripture explains that God places gladness in our hearts (Psalm 4:7), and ultimate joy is found in our Creator’s presence, “in Your presence is fullness of joy” (Psalm 16:11).
The bible states that God created life according to kinds (Genesis 1:24). The fact that God distinguishes kinds, agrees with what scientists observe, namely that there are horizontal genetic boundaries beyond which life cannot vary. Life produces after its own kind. Dogs produce dogs, cats produce cats, roses produce roses. Never have we witnessed one kind changing into another kind as evolution supposes. There are truly natural limits biological change.
Chicken or egg dilemma solved (Genesis 1:20-22). Which came first, the chicken or the egg? This question has plagued philosophers for centuries. The Bible states that God created birds with the ability to reproduce after their kind. Therefore the chicken was created first with the ability to make eggs! Yet, evolution has no solution for this dilemma.
ReplyDeleteWhich came first, proteins or DNA (Revelation 4:11)? For evolutionists, the chicken or egg dilemma goes even deeper. Chicken consist of proteins. The code for each protein is contained in the DNA/RNA system. However, proteins are required in order to manufacture DNA. So which came first: proteins or DNA? The ONLY explanation is that they were created together.
The First Law of Thermodynamics established (Genesis 2:1-2). The First Law states that the total quantity of energy and matter in the universe is a constant. One form of energy or matter may be converted into another, but the total quantity always remains the same. Therefore the creation is finished, exactly as God said way back in Genesis.
The first three verses of Genesis accurately express all known aspects of the creation (Genesis 1:1-3). Science expresses the universe in terms of time, space, matter and energy. In Genesis chapter one we read: “In the beginning (time) God created the heavens (space) and the earth (matter)…Then God said, Let there be light (energy).” No other creation account agrees with the observable evidence.
The universe had a beginning (Genesis 1:1, Hebrews 1:10-12). Starting with the studies of Albert Einstein in the early 1900s and continuing today, science has confirmed the biblical view that the universe had a beginning. When the Bible was written most people believed the universe was eternal. Science has proven them wrong, but the Bible correct.
The Second Law of Thermodynamics (Enthropy) explained (Psalm 102:25-26). This law states that everything in the universe is running down, deteriorating, constantly becoming less and less orderly. Enthropy (disorder) entered when mankind rebelled against God, resulting in the curse (Genesis 3:17). Historically, most people believed the universe was unchangeable. Yet modern science verifies that the universe is “grow old like a garment” (Hebrews 1:11). Evolution directly contradicts this law.
Rejecting the Creator results in moral depravity (Romans 1:20-32). The Bible warns that when mankind rejects the overwhelming evidence for a Creator, lawlessness will result. Since the theory of evolution has swept the globe, abortion, pornography, genocide, etc., have all risen sharply.
The fact that God once flooded the earth (the Noahic Flood) would be denied (2 Peter 3:5-6). There is a mass of fossil evidence to prove this fact, yet it is flatly ignored by most of the scientific world because it was God’s judgment on man’s wickedness.
Vast fossil deposits anticipated (Genesis 7). When plants and animals die they decompose rapidly. Yet billions of life forms around the globe have been preserved as fossils. Geologist now know that fossils only form if there is rapid deposition of life buried away from scavengers and bacteria. This agrees exactly with what the Bible says occurred during the global Flood.
The earth was designed for biological life (Isaiah 45:18). Scientists have discovered that the most fundamental characteristics of our earth and cosmos are so finely tuned that if just one of them were even slightly different, life as we know it couldn’t exist. This is called the Anthropic Principle and it agrees with the Bible which states that God formed the earth to be inhabited.
ReplyDeleteOur ancestors were not primitive (Genesis 4:20-22; Job 8:8-10; 12:12). Archeologists have discovered that our ancestors mined, had metallurgical factories, created air-conditioned buildings, designed musical instruments, studied the stars, and much more. This evidence directly contradicts the theory of evolution, but agrees completely with God’s Word.
The order of creation agrees with science (Genesis 1). Plants require sunlight, water, and minerals in order to survive. In the first chapter of Genesis we read that God created light first (v.3), then water (v.6), then soil (v.9), and then He created life (v.11).
Strong and weak nuclear force explained (Colossians 1:17) Physicists do not understand what binds the atom’s nucleus together. Yet, the Bible states that “all things consist”, or are held together by the Creator, Jesus Christ
Atomic fission anticipated (2 Peter 3:10-12). Scripture states that “the elements will melt with fervent heat” when the earth and the heavens are “dissolved” by fire. Today we understand that if the elements of the atom are loosed, there would be an enormous release of heat and energy (radiation).
Animal instincts understood (Job 39; Proverbs 30:24-28). A newly hatched spider weaves an intricate web without being taught. A recently emerged butterfly somehow knows to navigate a 2,500 mile migration route without a guide. God explains that He has endowed each creature with specific knowledge. Scripture, not evolution, explains animal instincts.
Pseudo-science anticipated (1 Timothy 6:20). The theory of evolution contradicts the observable evidence. The Bible warned us in advance that there would be those who would profess: “profane and idle babblings, and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge (science).” True science agrees with the Creator’s Word.
Science confirms the Bible (Colossians 2:3). These insights place the Bible far above every man-made theory and all other so called inspired books. In contrast, the Koran states that the sun sets in a muddy pond (Surah 18:86). The Hadith contains many myths. The Book of Mormon declares that Native Americans descended from Jews, which has been disproven by DNA research. The Eastern writings also contradict true science.
God desires a loving, eternal relationship with each person, free from sin, fear, and pain. Therefore, He sent His Son to die as our substitute on the cross. “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Jesus never sinned, therefore He alone qualified to pay the penalty for our sins on the cross. He died in our place. He then rose from the grave defeating death. All who turn from their sins and trust Him will be saved. To repent and place your trust in Jesus Christ, make Psalm 51 your prayer. Then read your Bible daily, obeying what you read. God will never let you down.
ReplyDeleteThe solution to suffering (Revelation 21). Neither evolution nor religion offers a solution to suffering. But God offers heaven as a gift to all who trust in His Son. In heaven. “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4).
The Bible offers the only remedy for sin, suffering, and death. God’s Word presents the only perfect, sinless Savior, one who died for our sins and rose from the dead. Jesus is the Creator (John 1: Colossians 1). He said, “I and My Father are one” (John 10:30). He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). And He promises His followers: “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish” (John 10:28). Your eternal destiny will be determined by your choice. There is only one provision for sin. Jesus died in your place. Only faith in Christ’s finished work will you be saved. This is God’s free gift offered to all.
Please do not let pride, religion, opinions, or love for sin separate you from God. No sin is worth an eternity in hell. Please heed Jesus’ words, “Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). If you do, you will live in heaven with our awesome Creator forever!
Please check out these very interesting and informative videos on:
ReplyDeleteThe Secret Code
Chinese Pictographs
The Ice Age
Cambrian Explosion
Carbon-14 Dating
Dino Tracks
Chimp DNA
Echolocation
http://www.icr.org/thatsafact
The existence of the treasurer of the city of Corinth, Erastus (Romans 16:23), was incorrect.
ReplyDeleteWhat Ramsay Discovered: A city pavement in Corinth bearing the inscription “Erastus, curator of public buildings, laid this pavement at his own expense.”
Luke’s reference to Gallio as proconsul of Achaia was wrong (Acts 18:12).
What Ramsay Discovered: The Delphi inscription that reads, “As Lucius Junius Gallio, my friend and proconsul of Achaia.”
Time and time again Ramsay’s search to find evidence that Luke’s writing was in error turned up evidence that it was, in fact, accurate. As a result, Sir William Ramsay eventually converted to Christianity proclaimed Luke as “one of the greatest historians” of all time.
Simon Greenleaf (1783-1853) Greenleaf, (former Atheist), one of the principal founders of the Harvard Law School, and a world-renowned expert on evidence, originally set out to disprove the biblical testimony concerning the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He was certain that a careful examination of the internal witness of the Gospels would dispel all the myths at the heart of Christianity. But this legal scholar came to the conclusion that the witnesses were reliable, and that the resurrection did in fact happen. Being a man of conviction and reason, and in accordance with his conclusions, Greenleaf converted from Agnosticism to Christianity.
Ralph Muncaster, (former atheist) in his book: Examine the Evidence, presents extensive evidence to validate the truth-claims of Christianity. He provides compelling arguments from science, biblical prophecy, history, and archaeology. This former skeptic points out that of all religions and philosophies on earth, only one, Christianity is verifiable and testable.
1,456 hours of Sunday school and church turned Ralph Muncaster into a hard-core atheist. Then he was challenged to honestly investigate the Bible and the facts of modern science. He was stunned. Fact after fact, from biology, history, archaeology, physics, lined up with the Bible’s account!
The Bible Itself Argues Against the Possibility of Its Corruption
The charge that the Bible has been corrupted, contradicts what the Bible itself teaches. After all, in Isaiah 40:8 we read, “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands for ever.” In the New Testament Jesus says, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Matthew 24:35).
The Almighty God who had the power and sovereign control to inspire the Scriptures in the first place is surely going to continue to exercise His power and sovereign control in the preservation of Scripture.
The Systems Inside Living Things
ReplyDeleteImagine that you’ve landed on another planet. You encounter a robot-like creature with multiple parts. Perhaps it has headlight-like “eyes.” Maybe it has numerous steel lever “arms.” And you notice that it rolls around on a complex set of wheels that can be raised and lowered to fit the terrain. You would intuitively know that the robot had been created. In fact, you would recognize that human beings have been able to create such things.
Yet, for instance, the same type of motors that would be used in such a robot are found by the trillions in the human body. They have the same basic parts, but they’re 200,000 times smaller than a pinhead. Every cell in our body has hundreds of these motors. And in terms of efficiency, at the center of the motor is a wheel that turns at about 100 revolutions per second. [David Rosevear, “The Myth of Chemical Evolution,” Impact, July 1999, p. iv; as cited in Richard A. Swenson, More Than Meets the Eye (Colorado Springs, CO: Nav Press, 2000), p. 188.]
Today’s molecular biology has made it even easier for us to understand we have been created by some incredibly intelligent designer, now that we can investigate the amazing biological machinery we can’t even see.
All this is nothing new. Even in ancient times people would notice the intricate details of a flower, all the minute, complex components. Or they would observe a centipede, so small, yet so complex. Looking at more complex creatures, they would ask, how did all the body parts seem to “know” how to form themselves together? How did they “know” where to go? How did they “know” how to diagnose and repair themselves? How did they “know” how to grow? How did these creatures “know” how to reproduce? The questions go on and on. Even on the “macroscale” of complete plants and animals, their complexity and design has been obvious for millennia.
Let’s look at one more example gained from the recent major advances in molecular biology: the amazing harmony of the “factory systems” of a human cell. Gerald Schroeder, who holds a PhD from MIT, describes it this way:
Other than sex and blood cells, every cell in your body is making approximately
two thousand proteins every second. A protein is a combination of three
hundred to over a thousand amino acids. An adult human body is made of
approximately seventy five trillion cells. Every second of every minute of
every day, your body and every body is organizing on the order of 150
thousand, thousand, thousand, thousand, thousand, thousand amino acids
into carefully constructed chains of proteins. Every second; every minute;
every day. The fabric from which we, and all life is built, is being continuously
rewoven at a most astoundingly rapid rate.
[Gerald L. Schroeder, The Hidden Face of God (New York: The Free Press, 2001),pg. 188.]
It defies logic to pretend that such complex systems, systems that work together in such a precise and harmonious way, came about randomly. It is plainly absurd.
The evidence that God exists is all around us and inside us. You have been given the ability to observe the phenomena around you and reason whether it is a product of blind forces or an intelligent Creator.
THE EYE
ReplyDeleteMing Wang: A Chinese Atheist at Harvard
The existence of God is demonstrated powerfully in the amazing journey of Ming Wang, MD, PhD, one of the world’s foremost laser eye surgeons. He is a Harvard and MIT honors graduate and one of a small number of cataract and LASIK surgeons in the world who holds a doctorate in laser physics. He has performed well over fifty-five thousand cataract and LASIK procedures, including over four thousand on fellow doctors. Dr. Wang performed the world’s first 3-D LASIK and was one of the first surgeons in the United States to perform laser cataract surgery.
He came to America from China and was led to Christ by a professor at Harvard. He flatly stated, “As a medical doctor and a scientist I can firmly attest to the fact that it is impossible for natural selection to explain the amazing intricacies of the eye.” The eye contains countless components that focus images, adjust for brightness, and process information to create a picture in the mind. In addition, the visual system is coordinated with locomotion and balance. Such a system clearly requires numerous parts to function together properly to be of any use.
While Ming was at Harvard Medical School and MIT, a Christian pediatric professor sensed the opportunity to influence then-atheist Ming and took him out for lunch. “What is across the street?” he asked.
“A car,” Ming responded.
“What is the difference between a car and human brain?”
Ming answered confidently, “A brain is much more complex.”
The professor then made this critical point: “Can you imagine a random pile of scrap metals assembling themselves into a car?”
“No!”
“Then, how about a human brain? Could it assemble itself?”
To this day, Ming feels deeply indebted to the professor, whom he admired scientifically and who cared enough about young Ming, sensed his struggle with science, and pointed out the way to Jesus Christ. Ming says now that he has found the Lord for himself, he needs to do what the professors did years ago in helping him, namely, use his scientific influence and medical reputation to encourage the next generation of young doctors to search for truth and find answers in Christianity. “As a Christian and a scientist, I do believe that faith and science are compatible and can work together. Actually it is through uniting rather than separating them and through perseverance and believing that God has created this world, and it is without contradictions, that we can actually find new, unexpected, and more powerful solutions to the problems in our lives.”
Fascinating Facts about the Eye
• The eye is so intricate and complex that there is only one chance in 10 exp. 78 that any two humans would have the same characteristics.
• It would take a minimum of 2 years of the World’s Top Supercomputer time to simulate what takes place in your eye every second.
• In the retina there are 120 million rods (for dim, night, and peripheral vision) and about 7 million cones (for color and detail vision).
The Moon Rules
ReplyDeleteby James J. S. Johnson, J.D., Th.D. *
Evidence for Creation
Earth is ruled, in part, by lunar rhythms. It is “tuned” to the moon’s periodic rhythms in its daily and monthly cycles as well as annual seasons. This illustrates Genesis 1:16, which states God purposefully programmed the moon to “rule” the night.
Animistic and polytheistic religions personify the moon, but what does Genesis teach about its effects on the earth and creatures living here? In other words, how can the moon, which is inanimate, rule anything?
God programmed the moon to rule in at least two ways: 1) by gravitational attraction—which is physically quite forceful; and 2) by providing a recurring pattern of reflected light to Earth, which rotates daily as the moon orbits the earth.
The moon’s physical regulation, by gravity and by moonlight photoperiodicity (periodic light exposure), can be analytically compared to the inanimate governor device (also called a “speed limiter”) that can be installed to regulate the top speed of a commercial truck. The truck’s governor is inanimate, yet it implements the purposeful intention of the intelligent engineer who devised it to limit how fast a truck can go on the highways.1 Likewise, the moon mechanically implements the intelligent design that God selected for its fine-tuned movements and regulatory functions.
Moonlight Photoperiodicity Rules the Earth
How important to life on Earth is moonlight and its periodic rhythms?
No physical factor is of greater interest to the ecologist than light. It is, first, a source of energy; second, a limiting factor (since too little or too much kills); and third, an extremely important regulator of daily and seasonal activities for a great many organisms, both plant and animal.…One of the most dependable environmental cues by which organisms time their [developmental and periodic] activities in temperate zones is the day-length period, or photoperiod....Photoperiod [can regulate] a physiological sequence that brings about molting, fat deposition, migration, and breeding in temperate-zone birds.…However, one can produce out-of-season fat deposition, migratory restlessness, and an increase in size of reproductive organs in midwinter in the laboratory by an artificial increase in the light period.2
Moonlight affects Earth by each diurnal (day/night) cycle, by each lunar-month cycle (i.e., new moon, second quarter, full moon, fourth quarter phases), and by the annual cycle of recurring seasons. The equinox-to-equinox year varies the ratio of daylight to moonlight, so days get “shorter” and “longer” depending on the time of year.3
Lunar light regulates Pacific salmon smolt migratory movements.4 Moonlight intensity and daylight/moonlight ratios, which vary with the seasons, regulate salmon migration, growth, and development.5 Even some plant chlorophyll activity depends in part on moonlight.6
Lunar Gravity Rules the Earth
ReplyDeleteLunar gravity forcefully regulates Earth’s tides worldwide.7 Christmas Island red crabs depend on tidal rhythms to time their migrations to beaches to mate and deposit the next generation of baby crabs into high-tide waters.8 Likewise, barnacles, as anchored filter-feeders, depend on the tides to wash up planktonic nutrients, providing ready meals on tidal waves.9 Many more examples of tide-dependent animal behaviors could be given.
Even plants depend on the rhythmic pull of the moon’s gravity. The moon’s monthly cycle regulates water in cultivated soil, triggering seed swelling, seed bursting, seed germination, leaf growth, root growth—which is why the lunar cycle-timed Jewish feasts of Leviticus 23 coincide with spring and autumn harvest cycles.6
Bottom line: Genesis 1:16 teaches that God made the moon to rule the night. Creation provides a host of witnesses—crabs, barnacles, salmon, crops, and more—that corroborate that truth.
References
The usage of speed-limiting “governors” was tested by this author, years ago, when he was a Class B truck-driver.
Odum, E. P. 1975. Ecology: The Link Between the Natural and the Social Sciences, 2nd ed. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 113-114.
Genesis 8:22.
“The 29.5-day cycle of moonlight does have a timing function in some fish behavior.” Smith, R. J. F. 2012. The Control of Fish Migration. New York: Springer-Verlag.
Ditlefsen, A., translation by C. Stultz and C. B. Eckmann. Salmon Thrive on Electric Lighting. The Research Council of Norway. Posted on forskningsradet.no August 20, 2007, accessed July 2, 2015.
Norten, M. 2015. Unlocking the Secrets of the Feasts: The Prophecies in the Feasts of Leviticus. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 38-39.
“The part of the earth that is closest to the moon at any given moment will feel the moon’s gravitational pull most strongly…this pull is experienced as high tide.” Amos, W. H. and S. H. Amos. 1985. Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 27-28. For analysis, see James J. S. Johnson’s An Oceanographer’s Insight, for Researching and Analyzing Oceanic and Littoral Ecosystem Dynamics, Guided by ‘High-Definition’ Biblical Philology, Creation Research Society Conference, Dallas, Texas, July 31, 2015, 67 pages.
See Johnson, J. J. S. 2011. A Christmas Carol in Four-Part Harmony. Acts & Facts. 40 (12): 8-10 describing tide-governed phenology of red crabs.
Regarding filter-feeding barnacles, dependent upon moon-ruled tidewaters for planktonic food, see Amos, Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, 454-455.
10. * Dr. Johnson is Associate Professor of Apologetics and Chief Academic Officer at the Institute for Creation Research.
Cite this article: James J. S. Johnson, J.D., Th.D. 2015. The Moon Rules. Acts & Facts. 44 (9).