Journey from the Center of a Young Earth

BY GUEST WRITER – APRIL 26, 2019

Kenny Rhodes

We’ve all had journeys of various kinds. Sometimes the conceptual ones are the toughest. They’re fraught with uncertainty, fear, even peril—but the rewards of a satisfying destination make the upheaval more than worthwhile. Such was my case as I sought to understand the truth on the issue of the earth’s age.

As the title suggests, my journey from young-earth creationism (YEC) was indeed “a journey,” a portentous one filled with all the anxiety and expectation of an unforeseen expedition. I imagined myself as the audacious Professor Otto Lidenbrock, from the Jules Verne classic, Journey to the Centre of the Earth, with his indefatigable determination to discover the truth behind the coded note found in his newly purchased runic text. But, in my case it was the original text of Genesis 1, along with other relevant creation passages, which I was determined to understand. While I did not lock my family up without food until I was able to interpret the texts, I did spend countless hours in solitude. I wanted to analyze and understand all the biblical and scientific evidence thoroughly, without presumption or prejudice. I was determined to learn without allowing fear, criticism, relationships, or ministry concerns to influence the outcome of my investigation.1 I was pursuing the truth, and I knew that calling on “the Spirit of truth” (John 14:17) was the answer. I also knew that he who was “the way and the truth” (John 14:6) would give me the proper understanding of his Word and works.

My Starting Point

Before this fortuitous trek, I was a devoted and ardent defender of YEC. I taught its tenets from the pulpit of my church and on TV and radio, and I produced YEC-related material. My feet were firmly planted in young-earth soil, and I was convinced through the work of others that science supported, and even proved, the earth and universe were only six to ten thousand years old. Further, and more importantly, I was convinced that the only option for a Bible-believing, Southern Baptist inerrantist and thoroughgoing biblicist (who was also a classic dispensationalist by birth right and conviction) was to interpret the days of Genesis as normal 24-hour days, which necessarily implied such an age.

My commitment to YEC was a matter of honoring God’s Word; thus, my championing of this position was a matter of orthodoxy and biblical infallibility. Therefore, to deny YEC was akin to calling God a liar and allowing science to tell us that the Bible was errant and Genesis 1 was myth. I was committed to defending YEC and I considered myself a creation science apologist with ambitions to serve the Lord and evangelize through that message.

A Turning Point

But, a noonday signaling shadow caught my attention, and a journey from the center of a young earth became inevitable. The caverns of my mind were enlightened and the light exposed the epistemological blind spots of my thinking. The shadows of my untested presuppositions were revealed, and I could not remain idle. What were these crucial insights that necessitated the journey from young earth creationism?

After finishing my doctoral studies in 2006, I took the opportunity to further explore the philosophical issues that caught my attention during my study and research. The two most intriguing and relevant matters were in the realm of epistemology and metaphysics. Later these two fundamental themes would serve as (two of three) main divisions in my book, The One Who Is: The Doctrine and Existence of God.

Epistemological Help along the Way

The first and most important factor for any person who desires to know truth and the nature of reality is to acquire the understanding of “how we know what we know.” This is epistemology, and to have “blind spots” here is to be subject to forming premature or erroneous conclusions in a matter. To be more specific, as a pastor and theologian, I have discovered that many Christians will allow unknown and untested presuppositions or preunderstandings to drive their interpretation of a given text of Scripture. And, most of the time they are unaware that they have “packed bags” or “mental luggage” that contributes to their understanding of Scripture and of the nature of reality. Other times, these preunderstandings are not only known, but also are deemed proper due to some otherunknown or untested presumption. In our day, it is not uncommon for someone to come to Scripture with the thought that God can speak to them in such a way that nothing else is needed in the acquisition of knowledge. Further, this view is blind to the fact that reality and reason have contributed to their understanding already, and yet those components are discarded as a source of knowing the truth and/or interpreting Scripture.

This mindset appears to be an honorable, spiritual approach to epistemology but it is beset with problems. A thorough treatment of epistemology is impossible in this short article, but a few important points should be mentioned by way of analogy. Our knowing starts with an input device called “sense perception” and our biosystem comes with a very large preformatted “mind-drive” that is ready to be written on by the experience of reality. The first principle written on our mind is the law of noncontradiction, which is followed by the law of identity and supplemented by the law of the excluded middle (called the laws of thought2). From there, our minds engage in the act of apprehension and judgment. The first act of the mind is simple apprehension (conceptus) where a noun or verb is conceptually understood. The second act of the mind is judgment (judicium), where composite understanding takes place and where the mind composes and/or divides subject and predicate. Here subject and predicate are composed into a sentence and knowledge is obtained. Throughout one’s life and experiences the mind apprehends and judges. That’s how things become known. Correct judgments will keep a person from developing erroneous preunderstandings and/or conclusions, and the simple awareness and intentional application of reason will serve in their discovery of truth.

Metaphysical Help

Now, imagine that a person has not considered “how we know what we know,” and comes to Scripture presupposing the ability to properly interpret a text apart from the input of reality and reason3 (or proper hermeneutics). Moreover, this person does not further investigate issues of metaphysics (nature of reality), and fails to understand how, for example, predications (production of meaningful statements) should be applied to God. As finite creatures with finite words and concepts, should we assume that our words and concepts apply to the infinite (God) in a univocal (one-to-one) manner?4 I would say no. Such an approach runs the danger of misinterpreting Scripture through wrong assumptions and epistemological blind spots.

Getting There

God is as much the author of reason as he is of Scripture, and the two must harmonize or we have interpreted either one or both incorrectly. God has designed his creation such that all people will be subject to the nature of reality as he has created it. (Therefore, the related issue of the relationship of faith and reason must be addressed—see part 2). Once I understood that God was the author of creation and the Bible then I knew that they must agree, and that reason could be helpful in understanding Scripture. I was well on my way out of the center of the YEC paradigm and into a better place of understanding.

Endnotes
  1. As Aquinas noted, “A small mistake in the beginning is a big one in the end, according to the Philosopher in the first book of On the Heavens and the Earth,” Thomas Aquinas, “De Ente et Essentia” (On Being and Essence), 1, adapted and html-edited by Joseph Kenny, O.P., https://dhspriory.org/thomas/english/DeEnte&Essentia.htm.
  2. See chapter six in Kenny Rhodes, The One Who Is: The Doctrine and Existence of God, 2nd ed. (Bloomington, IN: WestBow Press, 2015), 93–97.
  3. “The light of natural reason itself is a participation of the divine light; as likewise we are said to see and judge of sensible things in the sun, that is, by the sun’s light.” Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiæ, I q.12 a.11 ad.3 (New York: Cosimo, Inc., 2007), 58. 4. For a further explanation of this topic, see The One Who Is, 28–32.

Category
Tags

About Reasons to Believe

RTB’s mission is to spread the Christian Gospel by demonstrating that sound reason and scientific research—including the very latest discoveries—consistently support, rather than erode, confidence in the truth of the Bible and faith in the personal, transcendent God revealed in both Scripture and nature. Learn More »

Support Reasons to Believe

Your support helps more people find Christ through sharing how the latest scientific discoveries affirm our faith in the God of the Bible.

DONATE NOW


U.S. Mailing Address
818 S. Oak Park Rd.
Covina, CA 91724
  • P (855) 732-7667
  • P (626) 335-1480
  • Fax (626) 852-0178

Reasons to Believe logo

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

    SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS WHO DESIRE TO MANAGE OUR LIVES

By Will Myers

We have forces in America that work to undermine our constitutional rights and to move our nation toward an authoritarian government. Our political base where the most power exists is being infested with special interest groups (SIG) snakes who are invading our privacy in a very adverse manner that is devastating to the targeted citizen. The SIG organization is developing a hyper-communistic government in our nation that works to own the virtual mind mapped on computers for each citizen. They are undermining our individual rights as expressed in our Declaration of Independence.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Further, Supreme Court cases reflect that the citizen is to be “let alone.” SIG’s snake activity is anti-America because they place adversity into the life of the targeted citizen, blocking the targeted individual from successfully seeking a fulfilling life. The first thing that SIG snakes do is steal your happiness.

We are engaging special interest groups (SIG) who intervene in our lives and for the targeted citizens, engaging in a very adverse manner. These SIG snakes desire to be our god and establish a hyper-communistic government in order to control one’s thoughts and movements using the virtual minds mapped on computers. The servers of the snake steps onto every part of the targeted individual’s life.

The SIG snakes have been pushing God and His Son, Jesus, out of public schools; thereby, stigmatizing the Lord in the minds of our youth because SIG makes Jesus seem to be undesired and not welcome.

There are SIG organizations that do good for our citizens as a group, but SIG snakes are working to mold each citizen’s mind to the desires of SIG snakes and change our democracy into hyper-communism.

The collection of sensitive and private info about each citizen; the formulating (Taylor made for each private citizen); the distribution of such info that targets a private citizen in an adverse manner. The SIG snakes always hurt the targeted citizen when he has future interaction with servers of the snake; place a burden, a tax, on the targeted individual so that the servers can successfully ride the targeted individual into the ground. The SIG snakes rape the targeted individual of their human worth and dignity.

I now know why during my life I have heard in the media many times how terrible the Joe McCarthy committee on un-American activity was in our society. The SIG snakes were insuring that their heads were not decapitated.

To be connected to these special groups can be rewarding at first but soon they are going to turn on you because their nature is that of the devil. SIG snakes began at the top 1% economic class to facilitate the training of new VP’s and owner-to-owner relationships. The subjects always receive a reward, but at the political base SIG can not reward materially, only undesired intangibles of verbal encounters; it’s ass in-game only at the economic bottom. The targeted individual does not have the support of a father owning a corporation. The SIG snakes destroy the targeted individual by channeling riff-raff into the targeted citizen’s life. The SIG snakes cause violence, suicides, and horrific acts.

The Sandy Hook and Aurora Theater were acts of retaliation against the SIG snakes who intensifies the humiliation, degradation, and disgrace, and infuriate the targeted subject ten times over. Without the acts of the snakes, the subject would not have performed such a retaliation. They were trying to match the opposing forces as evil as they both are.

SIG collects data from manufacturers about their probable defections’ timetable and uses it to establish respect by fear in the targeted citizen. The same with health records and prognosis.

If a targeted citizen complains then SIG defines them as being paranoid in order to maintain that SIG snakes don’t exist; once again, to save their heads in America because SIG snakes are illegal in America. There are not enough rewards at the political base to reward those that serve the snake. It becomes bare ass and ranks over verbal encounters. The SIG snakes at such disposition shall be revealed as the devil. If one accepts SIG snakes as their American connection then they are headed to hell or pushing others into hell with them to follow later.

DECAPITATE THE SNAKES.  

                                                                             MY OP-ED

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Answering Questions about Gene Editing Technologies

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of interacting with apologists from the RZIM (Ravi Zacharias International Ministries) Connect online community in a forum called “Ask RZIM.” The questions I encountered there are similar to ones I often think about and am asked when I’m out and about. I thought I’d share some of the questions and my responses here on Theorems & Theology.

Jimmy posted the following thoughts and questions:

Hi, AJ. I watched a 60-minute segment on a technology called CRISPR. They interviewed Jennifer Doudna, who they credited with being the coinventor of this process. What struck me about the interview was her dream. The host asked her if she had any misgivings about her inventions and she described the dream. In it, she saw a silhouetted man who asked (from memory something to this effect) “Did you invent this technology?” She said that as she answered the man moved out of the light and it was Adolf Hitler.

I know that every new technology brings with it challenges—both moral and ethical—but this technology seems to have the power to change our very beings. Could you share your thoughts on this? How powerful is this technology? Is the genie out of the bottle?

My Response

I think CRISPR technology will revolutionize the future, and like all technologies it has immense potential for good and for evil. I think the potential it holds is on the same scale as nuclear power and the potentially destructive scope is no less for CRISPR than for nukes. I don’t mean to sound like an alarmist (or the narrator that left me terrified of killer bees for most of my childhood)—but the potential of CRISPR technology to be used to alter organisms throughout various ecosystems, as well as possibly one day humans—is real, and currently, the former is much more frightening.

Jennifer Doudna is, or at least has been, very concerned about using CRISPR with caution. In December 2016 a group of scientists from the US, Canada, UK, and China met and discussed what self-imposed restrictions should be placed on CRISPR. Currently, in vitro research in human embryos takes place in some labs in the UK, US, and China. The embryos are not taken beyond 14 days post-fertilization and are never intended to be implanted or taken to full term. This, in and of itself, is an ethical issue for many people—creating embryos to study them up through 14 days and then terminating them. The 14-day cutoff was carefully set as this is the time during embryogenesis when cells are just beginning to differentiate and form the primitive streak which precedes neurulation by a few days.1 But due to CRISPR technology and other advances, there is some growing debate as to whether or not to extend this date beyond 14 days so more can be learned about early human development. This remains an area of concern.

The best (least controversial) human applications for CRISPR technology are in somatic cells, and in individuals after birth. The DNA in somatic cells is not passed on to offspring, so changes remain limited to a particular individual. In this application CRISPR affects targeted cells only in that individual and may bring an end to many diseases associated with mutations in single genes.

There are still many challenges associated with using CRISPR this way, including how to target the CRISPR to the right cells, whether there are enough cells, and to have it work efficiently in those targeted cells at the specific site targeted and not at any other off-target site of the DNA. There are a lot more challenges and I’ve written a few blogs and talked about them in some of our podcasts at RTB. (See Resources below.) In these resources, I and others describe the technology, discuss many of its potential applications and challenges, raise some ethical considerations, and debunk some rather sensational speculations.

I’ve spoken on the CRISPR challenge a couple of different times (with RZIM in Peru and at the annual ASA meeting in 2016). And it’s something I care about quite a lot. So, thanks for asking this question.

Apologetic Considerations

I believe that a robust Christian apologetic includes not just answering questions about our faith but unpacking the breadth, depth, and beauty of the Christian worldview. As we show the coherence of the Christian worldview and its correspondence to reality—including the reality of our deepest desires for meaning and purpose—we present a more attractive and robust (and defensible and reasonable) faith. In light of this, I think Christians need to be informed about CRISPR technology and engaged in conversations and in shaping policy that determines how CRISPR will be used in the US (and everywhere else) and what our government should allow and regulate in the agricultural industry as well as in the pharmaceutical industries and areas potentially impacting human health. We are meant to be good stewards of God’s creation. How we manage technologies like CRISPR is directly related to how well we will care for God’s creation and live out God’s plan as those made in his image.

Resources

Endnotes
  1. This is a correction from my answer to Jimmy, where I mistakenly said the 14-day cutoff was due to the timing of differentiation of neural crest cells. Neural crest cells form a little later at embryonic days 19–20.

About Reasons to Believe

RTB’s mission is to spread the Christian Gospel by demonstrating that sound reason and scientific research—including the very latest discoveries—consistently support, rather than erode, confidence in the truth of the Bible and faith in the personal, transcendent God revealed in both Scripture and nature. Learn More »

Support Reasons to Believe

Your support helps more people find Christ through sharing how the latest scientific discoveries affirm our faith in the God of the Bible.

DONATE NOW


U.S. Mailing Address
818 S. Oak Park Rd.
Covina, CA 91724
  • P (855) 732-7667
  • P (626) 335-1480
  • Fax (626) 852-0178

Reasons to Believe logo

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Apologetics Wisdom

What can past defenders of the faith teach us today? As it turns out, historic Christianity’s preeminent voices have passed on a treasure trove of wisdom. In parts 123, and 4 (of six) in this series, we highlighted the term apologia sophia (Gk: ἀπολογία σοφία), which transliterates the Greek word endings and roughly translates to “apologetics wisdom.” In that spirit, I offer some more practical advice (hopefully even genuine wisdom) for engaging in the apologetics enterprise (the art and science of giving a reasoned defense of Christianity: see 1 Peter 3:15).

One of my chief objectives for students of apologetics is that they ground their defense of the faith in the biblical, orthodox theology of historic Christianity. Apologetics needs to be tightly connected to theology. After all, throughout church history apologetics was viewed as a branch of theology.

Thus, I highly recommend that students of apologetics read classic apologetics works that have a strong theological emphasis. Fortunately, there are three such works that stand out for their excellence—and they also happen to be some of my favorites.

Three Theologically Oriented Apologetics Classics

Here is my brief introduction to these classics that every Christian apologist, both professional and lay, should read and carefully study.

1. Confessions by St. Augustine

After the apostle Paul, Augustine of Hippo (354–430) is very likely the most influential Christian thinker ever. History knows him as a theologian, philosopher, church bishop, and as a gifted and tenacious apologist of catholic (universal) Christianity. The most prolific of all classical authors, Augustine wrote more than five million words, with three of his books becoming both Christian and literary classics of Western civilization. Confessions is his best known and most popular work and is widely considered one of the greatest Christian books ever written.

One of the very first autobiographies in Western culture, Confessions chronicles Augustine’s intellectual, moral, and spiritual pilgrimage from paganism to Christianity. The book’s title can be understood in a triple sense: Augustine’s candid and contrite confession of sin, his sincere confession of newfound faith, and his thankful confession of the greatness of God.

Written in the form of a prayer to God (like the Psalms), Confessions also serves as thought-provoking devotional literature. Augustine quotes and expounds the Scriptures throughout and suffuses the text with profound theological, philosophical, and apologetic insights. A final appealing aspect is that the book may really be about every human soul’s search for God and salvation.

I recommend this version: Augustine, Confessions, Pine-Coffin trans. (NY: Penguin, 1961).

2. Pensées by Blaise Pascal

In his short life of only 39 years, French thinker Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) accomplished great things as a mathematician, physicist, inventor, and as an intuitive Christian thinker and apologist. Pascal had been preparing a book on Christian apologetics when he died prematurely of possible stomach cancer.

His unfinished apologetics work (consisting mainly of a series of organized notes, outlines, and fragments) was published subsequently under the French title Pensées (pronounced “Pon-sayz” and roughly translated “Reflections”). While Pensées is more of a collection of Pascal’s thoughts on various subjects than a complete and integrated book, the content is so compelling that it remains a perennial bestseller.

Here is a brief sampling of Pascalian theologically oriented apologetic themes contained in the Pensées:

  • Pascal speaks of “reasons of the heart,” meaning that while religious belief is not contrary to reason, nevertheless there are limits to human reason and that the human heart plays a critical role in intuitively forming one’s most basic beliefs.
  • He argues that historic Christianity uniquely explains the enigma of human beings as a paradox of “greatness” and “wretchedness” (great because humans are created in God’s image, but wretched because humans are fallen).
  • Pascal introduces his famous “Wager” argument in which he attempts to shake people of their indifference to ultimate issues (God, death, immortality) by appealing to the ultimate cost-benefit analysis of belief.

I recommend this version: Blaise Pascal, Pensées, A. J. Krailsheimer trans. (NY: Penguin, 1995).

3. Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis

A lay Anglican theologian and versatile Christian apologist and author, literary scholar C. S. Lewis (1898–1963) is perhaps the most important conservative Christian thinker of his time period. Lewis’s work Mere Christianity, first published in 1952, was selected by Christianity Today magazine as the most important Christian book of the twentieth century.

With lucid style and single-minded focus, Lewis explains and defends Christianity’s central truth claims, the very essence of the faith. The book contains a careful discussion of such issues as the triune nature of God, the incarnation of Christ, and the moral argument for God’s existence. Knowing the core elements of historic Christianity and being able to articulate them with clarity to believers and nonbelievers is essential for students of apologetics.

I recommend this version: C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (NY: HarperCollins, 2001).

Reading and studying these classics will definitely help apologists ground their efforts in the richness of historic Christian theology. For as Scripture exhorts: “. . . contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people” (Jude 3).

Reflections: Your Turn

Have you read these three works? If so, which was your favorite? Visit Reflections on WordPress to comment with your response.

Resources

About Reasons to Believe

RTB’s mission is to spread the Christian Gospel by demonstrating that sound reason and scientific research—including the very latest discoveries—consistently support, rather than erode, confidence in the truth of the Bible and faith in the personal, transcendent God revealed in both Scripture and nature. Learn More »

Support Reasons to Believe

Your support helps more people find Christ through sharing how the latest scientific discoveries affirm our faith in the God of the Bible.

DONATE NOW


U.S. Mailing Address
818 S. Oak Park Rd.
Covina, CA 91724
  • P (855) 732-7667
  • P (626) 335-1480
  • Fax (626) 852-0178

Reasons to Believe logo

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

THE WORD OF GOD FRAMES THE WORLDS

By Will Myers

As God created the human in the universe that God had created with invariant laws of physics, the human must survive by acquiring nourishments and surviving the environment and with blessings perpetrate its offspring. Earthy, hard people believe that God established some physical laws and departed leaving us to survive or die. Spiritual people believe that God breaths inspiration into the open minds seeking Him. I believe the latter. The Word of God was breathed into the mind of authors, Prophets, giving eternal knowledge from our infinite Creator who knows everything. This giving of inspiration applies to others that are not religious such as Albert Einstein receiving of inspiration from which he developed the theory of relativity. Einstein always said that he wanted to know the thoughts of God that are encoded in the physical universe.

Through faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
 
The message tells us that the natural, material world, and the spiritual world are governed by the word of God; whatsoever is spiritual has physical manifestations. Our precepts and concepts are based on the Word of God. The sciences and philosophies along with all other disciplines are based on the word of God. Humanity merely develops the details. The governing factors are not infinite, but very finite. The governing physical laws of the universe are very finite. With the undertaking of any discipline always results in a finite number of laws. This is because the laws of any discipline are based on even a lesser number of general laws. 
 
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
 
Romans 1:20 lets us know that we can look back from the physical and look into the spiritual, but one must have an open mind to hear God and keep God to be alpha and omega, first and last. 
 
As Authoritarians successfully work to push religion out of the world, they are going to copy from the word of God because there is nothing applicable in the universe other than what God has created and “IS” expressing at all times. God IS. 
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

ASCERTIONS OPPOSING RELIGION

Will Myers

Does atheism have a true monopoly on reason? In my conversations with nonbelievers, I’ve found that probing deeper into the atheistic worldview exposes a key weakness in that perspective and provides an opportunity to demonstrate Christianity’s solid footing in reason. **** The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing. — Blaise Pascal, Pensées, 423/277. When I ask my unbelieving friends “Why are you an atheist?” they generally respond with something like “Because there is no God.” I ask them to dig a little deeper to answer my original question. Generally, a diatribe against religion emerges. Believers are accused of being a bunch of hypocrites who oppress people with their rules while religions are painted in broad strokes as ridiculous superstitions and crutches for weak-minded people. Many claim that belief in God is irrational. From my experience, the atheist asserts that humanity has evolved beyond these irrational impulses and structures, now seeing religion for the garbage it is. Why Atheism? My next question is, “Okay, but why choose atheism?” After all, a lack of faith comes with distinct disadvantages. For example, studies show that people with no faith are more likely than their religious counterparts to suffer from depression and to commit suicide.1 Besides that (or perhaps at the root of that), atheism doesn’t provide any sense of meaning or purpose for life because everything will end with total annihilation. Even if atheists argue that we can assign meaning to our lives, once the Sun burns out and the universe goes to heat death what is left? What will be the purpose of striving to not believe in superstition? What will be the purpose of helping other people? Why not just spend all your time throwing pebbles into the sea instead? In the end, such an activity will mean as much as the greatest acts of philanthropy. Pragmatically, wouldn’t it be better to be deluded and happy for this brief, meaningless time? Nonbelievers often answer that they choose atheism because it’s true. Further, pragmatism is not a good test for truth, which I concede. But is truth really worth possibly sacrificing health, happiness, and meaning? Here some opinions diverge, but most atheists would say that truth is of the utmost importance in dictating their worldview. “Alright,” I reply, “if truth is so important, why is it that only a small sliver of people ever find it?” My familiarity with scientists may bias this response, but I think most atheists would say that people believe in God because humanity has evolved to believe in God. In the past, religion served a useful function in promoting survival by bringing order to communities and existential motivation to mankind. Thus, over 90 percent of the world population today suffers from the effects of this grand evolutionary delusion. Only the free-thinkers, the “brights,” have figured out how to get beyond the rubbish of mysticism programmed into our genes through the evolutionary process. But if it’s true that the human brain is wired to believe in something that is false, then the brain is demonstrably unreliable for discerning truth. How then can atheists trust that their brain has found the truth? Why are they free from the mental subroutines programmed via evolution? How can they be certain that their brain finds truth, not just in this case, but ever? As recently highlighted by Kenneth Samples, atheism’s very assumptions about the world guarantee that we cannot know truth. We have become prisoners of our brain and the evolutionary processes that built it. Reason has been reduced to a molecular pool game with proteins and chemicals whacking about through neural circuitry, generating pictures, colors, and sensations. While having a molecular pool game governing your decisions may sound fun for a bit, it precludes any master-of-my-own-destiny claims to independence or ownership of achievements, capacities, or ideas. After all, you don’t own your ideas, choices, achievements or fate; that’s just the way the balls bounce. The Christian Alternative Bereft of the certainty of reason and truth that results from a godless worldview, it seems better for the atheist to seek an alternative. In his book C. S. Lewis’ Case for the Christian Faith, Richard Purtill offers the biblical perspective on reason and its origins (emphasis added): One way of getting a preliminary insight into Lewis’ argument [from reason] is to ask whether nature is a product of mind or mind is a product of nature. If God created nature, as Christians believe, then nature is understandable by reason because it is a product of reason.2 Christianity offers that man is made in the image of God and from this we gather that our mind is formed in likeness to God’s mind. Thus, we have a reason for our reason which is Jesus Christ, the creator of the universe, Earth, and our mind. Indeed the apostle John describes how “the Word” (logos, which can also be translated as “reason”) was with God in the beginning, how reason formed all of nature, and how the incarnate Word came to Earth. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.…The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1–4, 14) The idea of Christ as the Word is further refined in John 14:6 where Jesus describes Himself as “the way and the truth and the life.” Here Jesus, reason incarnate, properly claims primacy over truth and life, highlighting how truth and life flow from reason. Conversely, atheism fails to provide hope, a reason for living, a reason for meaning, or a reason for reason at all. With such a hopeless doctrine for life or truth, I hope atheists will consider reclaiming their reason by exploring the rich doctrines of Christianity that celebrate reason and hope.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

God and Man; The Inner Sanctuary of the Mind

By Will Myers

Just as the ancient Jewish temples were built with the inner room being the place where God dwelt, and only the high priest could enter once a year to commune with God. Needless to say, this was the ultimate sacred place; the holiest place in the nation. This concept emanated from the inner mind and continued to resonate in the minds of the people. There is a sacred, inner place in each of our minds that no one is allowed except God, our Creator. It is our inner spirit that is God’s subconscious and who we truly are.

Within 30 years the lie detector shall be obsolete and replaced by the mind reader. This gives the state the capability to enslave the minds of the people. Whether or not most know what is happening, we are in a battle for our minds in the burgeoning superfreudian state (deception experts), the police state, that can deprive civilians (s) of their civil rights at will. Within 50 years the special interest groups that target private citizens (SIG) of Ephesians 6:12 shall be reaching their full fruition.

There is going to be a One World Government with new ordering. The losers are going to be the common citizens which would constitute the majority of citizens. The state shall have power over us as never before experienced. Returning to the present, SIG snakes of Eph 6:12; “12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” is targeting private citizens increasingly. This is increasingly causing people to become hopelessly angry and seek revenge by acting out a mass shooting and killings as a statement about the SIG snakes destroying their lives from their inside psyche that should not be invaded. Associates innocently believed that they were doing the will of the people, but the targeted person(s) were being denied their democratic rights (right to be let alone) and were experiencing true Anti-Americanism.

Ride the same horse into the ground, my friends? Don’t. They may rebel in detrimental ways. My rebellion is that I make myself a bond slave to the Son of God, and shall do His Will always while enjoying the thought of God burning a lot of asses in the future.

The devil is alive and prosperous as ever. SIG of Eph 6:12 is making a clear path to the inner mind of people. In addition, it is now popular to believe that the devil doesn’t exist (It might be too late for those people). People are serving the devil and don’t know it. What is popular in the world is usually not always right.

Our freedoms are at stake. Our happiness is at stake. The first thing SIG of Eph 6:12 does is to steal your joy alone by creating the happenstances that prevent any happiness in the targeted person’s life.

I am not an anarchist; I am not against cameras posted in public places nor am I opposed to a helicopter being above, but leave my inner mind alone.

The Superfreudian state is a fraud in progress undermining individual civil rights, keeping the commoners down and marginalized.

Thank God! We have the Word of God and the Living Word of God, Jesus Who is the Son of God. A personal relationship with Christ Jesus, the Anointed One. God has a plan for each person that is the opposite of SIG of Eph 6:12.

The voice of God says:

(1)Do unto others as you want them to do unto you. “Let persons alone” unless it is to exalt them or just plain offering your help for something.

(2)Listen not to what persons say about your associate; learn the associate for yourself.

(3)Don’t be part of a conspiracy that is detrimental to the targeted person’s well-being and outlook on life. Only uplift persons.

The right to be left alone is much more freedom than a superior source force-feeding you what you must know, determined by the superior source unless it is the voice of Christ Jesus speaking softly and privately to you. Your privacy is much more important than exposure to a superior source who has a wealth of knowledge and information. Stick with the formal classroom education. Remaining incognito is much more important to your freedom of mind than 15 minutes of fame promoted by the new age; supported by SIG of Ephesians 6:12 who is the devilish one.

As stated by formal president Bush, we are now in the new world order. A national domestic spy agency was established by his administration under the guise of finding terrorists. No info stays in one place; it shall be back channeled to special interest groups (SIG) snakes who target private citizens in order to control their thoughts and movement; an invasion into their inner minds. We are in a battle to keep our mind – a peaceful, satisfying mind. The SIG snakes create and live on the controversy, and cause mass shootings and suicides.

MY OP-ED

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Summary of Reasons to Believe’s Testable Creation Model

by Hugh Ross

February 6, 2000

Updated March 2022

The frame of reference in Genesis 1:1 is the cosmos, all of physical reality. God declares that he brought into existence the entire universe—matter, energy, and all the associated space-time dimensions. Einstein’s theory of general relativity tells us that the cause of the universe acts independently (i.e., from outside) of matter, energy, and the space-time dimensions along which matter and energy are distributed to bring it into existence. Observations now securely establish the reliability of general relativity.

Genesis 1:2 explicitly shifts the frame of reference, the narrator’s vantage point, to the surface of Earth, above the waters but below the clouds. This verse describes the initial conditions of primordial Earth: dark on its surface, covered with water, empty of life, and unfit for life. With the frame of reference and the initial conditions for the six creation days thus established, a straightforward chronology of creation events unfolds:

  • Planet Earth is singled out for a sequence of divine interventions. At its beginning, Earth is empty of life and unfit for life, and light cannot penetrate its thick atmosphere.
  • As interplanetary debris cleared and early life began to transform Earth’s atmosphere, light from the heavenly bodies could penetrate to the surface.
  • As water vapor formed in the troposphere, a stable water cycle formed.
  • Continental landmasses arose and ocean basins took shape.
  • Plants began to grow on the continental landmasses.
  • The atmosphere transitioned from translucent to occasionally transparent so that the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars could be seen from the vantage point of Earth’s surface.
  • Swarms of small sea animals filled the oceans.
  • Sea mammals and birds were created and became abundant.
  • Three specialized kinds of animals came onto the scene: short-legged land mammals, long-legged, easy-to-tame land mammals, and long-legged, difficult-to-tame land mammals—all three appropriate in specific ways to help meet humanity’s needs.
  • Human beings appeared.

Multiple factors limit large animals’ capacity for natural-process change and make them especially vulnerable to rapid extinction. The seven most significant factors are these:

  • Relatively small populations
  • Long generation times (interval between birth and the ability to reproduce)
  • Low numbers of offspring per reproduction cycle
  • Highly complex morphology and biochemistry
  • Relatively large body sizes
  • Specialized food supplies
  • Complex social structures

These factors limit the capacity of animals to not only survive natural selection and mutations but also to adapt to environmental changes. Biologists observe an even more fundamental problem: deleterious mutations vastly outnumber beneficial mutations by the tens of thousands, at least. In order to survive long enough to benefit from mutations, any species needs an enormous population, a short generation time, and a small body size. Otherwise, mutations (especially in the face of environmental stresses) are prone to drive animal species to extinction.

Crude mathematical models indicate that for a species to advance rather than die out, it must have a population of a quadrillion individuals, a generation time of three months, and a body size of about one centimeter. These models have been confirmed by numerous field observations.

Genesis offers an explanation for the survival of large animals: God intervened to replace extinct species with new ones. In most cases, the new species were different from the previous ones because of step-by-step changes in Earth’s geology, biodeposits, and biology—changes that prepared the planet for the survival and flourishing of humans.

The many “transitional” forms seen in the fossil record suggest that God intervened more than just a few times, here and there, while natural process did the rest. Rather, it appears God was involved and active in the development of new species.

We can reasonably deduce from these and other findings that God created humanity at the precise moment in Earth’s history when the maximum possible resources would be available and accessible to us. These rich resources allow humanity to fulfill God’s purpose for us before the time window for our survivability closes. Thanks to this divine provision, humans need spend only a relatively brief time preparing for life in the vastly superior creation to come.

The unique beauty of this biblical creation model resides in its ability to anticipate advancing scientific discovery. The ability to anticipate, or “predict,” is the hallmark of a reliable theory. By contrast, naturalistic evolution, chaos theory, and some creationist views not only fail to predict the growing body of data but, instead, contradict it.

Here is a small sampling of some of the most significant predictions that flow from RTB’s biblical creation model, predictions thoroughly tested and confirmed as transcendent creation events . . .

One reason we evangelicals have had so little impact on secular society with our creation teachings is that we try to teach Genesis without presenting a testable creation model. We either focus all of our guns on what is wrong with naturalism or we duck the issue by claiming that Genesis presents no specific creation model. Thus, we are perceived by society as either negative or cowardly.

This situation stems from Christians’ failure to apply the scientific method to their interpretation of Genesis. A great irony, here, is that the scientific method comes from the Bible and from biblical theology. The core of this method is an appeal to the interpreter to delay drawing conclusions until both the frame of reference and the initial conditions have been established. If we approach Genesis in this way, we discover that we can, indeed, discern there a scientifically plausible, objectively defensible account of creation.

Creation Model Overview

The frame of reference in Genesis 1:1 is the cosmos. God declares that He brought into existence the entire physical universe—matter, energy, and all the space-time dimensions associated with matter and energy. Einstein’s theory of general relativity tells us that the cause of the universe creates it independently (i.e. from outside) of matter, energy, and the space-time dimensions along which matter and energy are distributed. (Observations now securely establish the reliability of general relativity.)

Genesis 1:2 explicitly shifts the frame of reference, the narrator’s vantage point, to the surface of Earth above the water but below the cloud layer. That verse describes the initial conditions of primordial Earth: its surface was dark, covered with water, empty of life, and unfit for life. With the frame of reference and the initial conditions for the six creation days thus established, a straightforward chronology for the creation days’ events unfolds. That chronology is as follows:

  1. Creation, by fiat miracle, of the entire physical universe (space-time dimensions, matter, energy, galaxies, stars, planets, etc.)
  2. planet Earth singled out for a sequence of creation miracles. At its beginning, Earth is empty of life and unfit for life; interplanetary debris and Earth’s primordial atmosphere prevent the light of the sun, moon, and stars from reaching the planet’s surface
  3. clearing of the interplanetary debris and partial transformation of the earth’s atmosphere so that light from the heavenly bodies now penetrates to the surface of Earth’s ocean
  4. formation of water vapor in the troposphere under conditions that establish a stable water cycle
  5. formation of continental land masses and ocean basins
  6. production of plants on the continental land masses
  7. transformation of the atmosphere from translucent to occasionally transparent. Sun, Moon, planets, and stars now can be seen from the vantage point of Earth’s surface
  8. production of swarms of small sea animals.
  9. creation of sea mammals and birds
  10. creation of three specialized kinds of land mammals: a) short-legged land mammals, b) long-legged land mammals that are easy to tame, and c) long-legged land mammals that are difficult to tame—all three specifically designed to cohabit with humans
  11. creation of the human species

Many factors work to limit large animals’ capacity for natural-process change. These same factors make large animals especially vulnerable to rapid extinction. The seven most significant factors are these:

  1. their relatively small population levels
  2. their long generation spans (the time between birth and the ability to give birth)
  3. their low numbers of progeny produced per adult
  4. their high complexity of morphology and biochemistry
  5. their enormous body sizes
  6. their specialized food supplies
  7. their relatively advanced cultural and social structures

These factors limit the capacity of animals not only to change through natural selection and mutations but also to adapt to environmental changes. A fundamental problem biologists observe is that deleterious mutations vastly outnumber beneficial mutations (by anywhere from 10,000 to 1 up to 10,000,000 to 1). Thus, a species needs an enormous population, a short generation time, and a small body size if it’s to survive long enough to benefit from mutations. Deleterious mutations and environmental stresses drive most animal species to extinction.

Crude mathematical models indicate that a species capable of significant evolutionary advance rather than doomed to eventual extinction, must have a population of one quadrillion individuals, a generation time of three months, and a body size of one centimeter. These conclusions are confirmed by field observations.

Genesis offers this explanation for the survival of large animals: God repeatedly replaced extinct species with new ones. In most cases, the new species were different from the previous ones because God was changing Earth’s geology, biodeposits, and biology, step by step, in preparation for His ultimate creation on Earth—the human race.

The many “transitional” forms seen in the fossil record suggest that God performed more than just a few creative acts here and there, letting natural evolution fill in the rest. Rather, God was involved and active in creation of new species.

What we can deduce from these and other findings is that God created humanity at the precise moment in Earth’s history that would provide for us the maximum possible resources. He has told us to use these rich resources wisely so as to fulfill His purpose before the window of life’s survival time closes. Because of His provision, humans need spend only the briefest possible time in this creation preparing for eternity in the far superior new creation to come.

We can reflect on many more reasons than these few for God’s step-by-step creation. Some are discussed below. Others may be found in my book, The Genesis Question.

Testing the Creation Model

    The unique beauty of this biblical creation model is its ability to predict with accuracy advancing scientific discovery. This ability to predict is the hallmark of any reliable theory. By contrast, Darwinian evolution, chaos theory, and six-consecutive-24-hour-creation-day creationism fail to predict and instead contradict the growing body of data. This summary lists just 20 of the numerous successful predictions made by the Reasons To Believe model.

  1. transcendent creation event
  2. cosmic fine-tuning
  3. fine-tuning of the earth’s, solar system’s, and Milky Way Galaxy’s characteristics
  4. rapidity of life’s origin
  5. lack of inorganic kerogen
  6. extreme biomolecular complexity
  7. Cambrian explosion
  8. missing horizontal branches in the fossil record
  9. placement and frequency of “transitional forms” in the fossil record
  10. fossil record reversal
  11. frequency and extent of mass extinctions
  12. recovery from mass extinctions
  13. duration of time windows for different species
  14. frequency, extent, and repetition of symbiosis
  15. frequency, extent, and repetition of altruism
  16. speciation and extinction rates
  17. recent origin of humanity
  18. huge biodeposits
  19. Genesis’ perfect fit with the fossil record
  20. molecular clock rates

Astronomy

SOCIALICON
Light Echoes—Another Window to the Past
Light Echoes—Another Window to the Past

A team of international astronomers has discovered a new tool for studying past supernovae which, in turn, offers a glimpse of a Creator’s work….

Astronomy

Once in a Blue Moon
Once in a Blue Moon

On July 20, 1969, the world watched as the first human stepped onto the surface of the moon. Today, we scroll online news reports…

Geology & Earth

Why We Need to Return to the Moon
Why We Need to Return to the Moon

I vividly recall sitting up all night with a dozen other astronomy students as we watched live on television the first men walk on…

Chemistry

Support Our Mission

Your support helps more people find Christ through sharing how the latest scientific discoveries affirm our faith in the God of the Bible.

Donate Now


facebooktwitter

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

One-of-a-Kind: Three Discoveries Affirm Human Uniqueness

Robert Ripley, the originator of the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! franchise, traveled the world in search of all manner of oddities; yet he once quipped, “I have traveled in 201 countries and the strangest thing I saw was man.”

Human beings can be odd, but are we unique? Since Darwin’s time, most biologists have maintained that humans and animals differ in degree, but not kind. Darwin wrote, “In a series of forms graduating insensibly from some ape-like creature to man as he now exists, it would be impossible to fix on any definite point when the term ‘man’ ought to be used.”1

Of course, this evolutionary view undermines the biblical concept of humanity being uniquely made in God’s image (Genesis 1:26–27). However, discoveries highlighting human uniqueness have begun to erode the scientific support for the standard evolutionary claims. Three such discoveries were made recently.

1. Human Language Was Complex at Inception

Evolutionary biologists have long contended that human language emerged gradually and that the hominids (such as Homo erectus and Neanderthals) possessed the physical and mental antecedents to modern humanity’s complex language characteristics. Some anthropologists and linguists have challenged this scenario. They argue that language is uniquely associated with modern humans and originated rapidly as a singular event.

In a recent perspectives article, linguists from the University of São Paulo (in Brazil) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology added support to this new scenario by arguing that language was intrinsically complex, rather than simplistic, from the get-go.2 In other words, there was no proto-language that evolved into complex language capabilities. One author commented, “The hierarchical complexity found in present-day language is likely to have been present in human language since its emergence.”3

The rapid emergence of complex language poses a problem for the theory of evolution, but it fits nicely with a biblical understanding of humanity’s origin. If human beings were uniquely made in God’s image through the Creator’s direct action, then it would be reasonable to think that complex language would appear suddenly and be uniquely associated with modern humans.

2. Neanderthals Did Not Make Musical Instruments

Many anthropologists consider symbolism—the ability to express ideas symbolically through language and artistic and musical expression—a defining feature of modern humans. A number of Christian scholars (myself included) consider symbolism a reflection of the image of God in people. But if Neanderthals (or other hominids) possessed the same capacity, then the idea of human uniqueness—and the scientific credibility the Bible’s view of humanity—would face serious questions. A number of anthropologists claim that Neanderthals expressed symbolism, however limited, through language, making art, and body ornamentation. Yet each claim fails to withstand careful scrutiny.4

Based on the discovery of “flutes” made out of cave bear leg bones, some anthropologists believe Neanderthals crafted musical instruments. One of the most well-known examples was recovered in 1995 from a Slovenian cave. This artifact dated to 43,000 years in age; thus anthropologists maintained that modern humans could not have manufactured this flute and, therefore, attributed it to Neanderthals. However, other studies have indicated that Neanderthals might have been extinct by 43,000 years ago and also that modern humans entered Europe around 43,500 years ago, earlier than previously thought.5 It is important to note that all the other recovered bone flutes date closer to 25,000 years ago and are clearly associated with modern human archeological sites.6

On this basis alone, it appears we can’t attribute the bone flutes to Neanderthal artisans, but recent research provided unequivocal evidence that these bone flutes aren’t even musical instruments. Careful analysis of the perforations in the leg bones indicated that the gnawing of spotted hyenas, not humans or hominids using tools, generated them.7

3. Neanderthals Did Not Master Fire

There is good evidence that Neanderthals controlled and used fire.8 However, the latest research indicates that they didn’t master fire, but only used it opportunistically and sporadically. Researchers from Boston University and the University of Sheffield (in England) presented results supporting this conclusion at the 80th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.9

As a case in point, Neanderthals occupied two sites in southwest France (Roc de Marsal and Pech de l’Azé IV) for tens of thousands of years. Thousands of stone tools and animal remains have been recovered from these locales, yet there is limited evidence for fire use at these sites. In contrast, modern human sites are replete with evidence for consistent, continual fire use.

Failure to use fire consistently might explain Neanderthal extinction. Fire provides warmth, kills bacteria in food, and alters the chemical structure of meat to make calories and nutrients more accessible. If modern humans made consistent use of fire, but Neanderthals didn’t, then modern humans would have outcompeted these hominids.

Regardless of whether or not this scenario explains Neanderthal extinction, it does highlight significant cognitive differences that line up with the notion that modern humans possessed God’s image and Neanderthals didn’t. As all three studies attest, it’s becoming less and less difficult to believe that human beings are as unique as the Bible teaches.

Subjects: Adam and Eve

Dr. Fazale Rana

In 1999, I left my position in R&D at a Fortune 500 company to join Reasons to Believe because I felt the most important thing I could do as a scientist is to communicate to skeptics and believers alike the powerful scientific evidence—evidence that is being uncovered day after day—for God’s existence and the reliability of Scripture. Read more about Dr. Fazale Rana

References

  1. Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, 2nd ed., Great Minds Series (1874; repr., Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1998), 188.
  2. Vitor A. Nóbrega and Shigeru Miyagawa, “The Precedence of Syntax in the Rapid Emergence of Human Language in Evolution as Defined by the Integration Hypothesis,” Frontiers in Psychology 6 (March 2015): 271.
  3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, “The Rapid Rise of Human Language,” ScienceDaily, posted March 31, 2015, http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150331131324.htm.
  4. For example see: “Speaking about a Controversy, Part 2 of 2”; “Neanderthals Wore Eagle Talons as Jewelry 130,000 Years Ago”; and “Did Neanderthals Make Art?
  5. Philip R. Nigst et al., “Early Modern Human Settlement of Europe North of the Alps Occurred 43,500 Years Ago in a Cold Steppe-Type Environment,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 111 (October 2014): 14394–99.
  6. Cajus G. Diedrich, “‘Neanderthal Bone Flutes’: Simply Products of Ice Age Spotted Hyena Scavenging Activities on Cave Bear Cubs in European Cave Bear Dens,” Royal Society Open Science 2 (April 2015): 140022.
  7. Ibid.
  8. For a discussion of what fire use among the hominids means for the RTB human origins model, listen to the December 17, 2014 episode of Ex Libris (podcast).
  9. Tia Ghose, “Did Neanderthals Die Off Because They Couldn’t Harness Fire?” Live Science, posted April 20, 2015, http://www.livescience.com/50532-neanderthals-died-no-fire.html.
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Water Does Not Equal Habitability

“The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters” (Genesis 1:2). This verse often gets overshadowed by the preceding verse, which declares, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” I know I overlooked the second verse’s apologetics significance in the past. However, recent studies of Mars highlight the importance of remembering the Bible’s description of Earth’s early conditions.

Usually, the mention of an ocean conjures images of vast cobalt blue expanses, waves begging to be surfed, or shallow reefs ripe for exploring. Those pictures reflect the vibrant biological, atmospheric, and geological systems that characterize Earth today. Yet the geological record paints a different picture of the past. Earth’s early oceans contained no free oxygen and likely appeared murky green from all the dissolved iron. Roughly 3 billion years ago, a growing cache of continental landmass provided relief from the previously vast expanse of water broken by the occasional volcanic island. These continents provided the setting for the explosion of complex life onto Earth’s scene 550 million years ago. These discoveries, along with Earth’s first life, atmospheric clearing, and humanity’s origin, demonstrate the remarkable parallel between the biblical and scientific description of Earth’s history.

The parallel is more striking when compared to the history of Mars. A quick Internet search reveals many recent discoveries indicating liquid water in Mars’ past. River and stream networks, silica deposits, sedimentary rocks, and ancient shorelines all point to a watery past. Yet that same evidence accentuates the differences between the two planets.

Hydrogen comes in two forms: normal hydrogen (H) with no neutrons and deuterium (D) with one neutron. Water can contain either form of hydrogen, but the heavier mass of D gives scientists a way to uncover more details about the history of water on Mars. The heavier mass of D, compared to H, means that it escapes from the atmosphere more slowly. Consequently, over time the ratio of D/H will increase. Data acquired from powerful telescopes in Chile and Hawaii show that the global D/H ratio on Mars today is six times larger than the value measured for Earth. The Mars rover Curiosity found that the D/H ratio on Mars grew by a factor of two in the last 3.2 billion years. Furthermore, ancient Mars meteorites have a D/H ratio roughly 20 percent of the current Martian value. This means that Mars started with at least five times the amount of water present today!1 While Earth experienced a progression from inhospitable to an environment teeming with a diverse array of life, Mars devolved from a water-rich world to a desiccated, barren landscape.

Finding liquid water on a distant planet often carries the implication that life must occupy that watery environment. The Bible paints a different picture. Even though Earth started with a covering of water, it was hostile to life. Only through God’s transformative work was Earth prepared for the introduction of humanity and then declared “very good.” The remarkable thing about Earth is that 4.5 billion years after it formed, it retains an abundant supply of liquid water that hosts a stunning diversity of life.

Subjects: Mars

Dr. Jeff Zweerink

While many Christians and non-Christians see faith and science as in perpetual conflict, I find they integrate well. They operate by the same principles and are committed to discovering foundational truths. Read more about Dr. Jeff Zweerink.

Endnotes:

  1. R. Mark Wilson, “New Hydrogen-Isotope Measurements Refine the Picture of Water on Mars,” Physics Today 68 (May 2015): 12–14, doi:10.1063/PT.3.2764.
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment