EVOLUTION: A STUDENT CAR
Romans 1:20
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:
When I was a university student in the late 70s and early 80s, few students had cars. One of the young men that I shared accommodation with was one of the lucky few. Student cars of that era were infamous! My friend’s car fit into this category. When the fender fell off, he tied it back on with string. When the window winder became stuck in the open position (because no student car had motor driven windows), he tied it closed with string. When the exhaust became loose, he tied it back with string – or maybe it was wire to stop it from burning. Before long, there seemed to be more string and duct tape on the car than metal!
I have often described both the Theory of Evolution and the Big Bang Theory as theories held together with string. The scientific method suggests that theories are developed to explain observations. However, when one observation is in clear violation of the theory, then the theory should be discarded. But too many scientists have too much invested in evolutionary ideas, be they biological or astronomical. So, in practice, a new imaginative amendment is made to Darwinian or Big Bang Evolution, and the basic theory remains. You can spot this in science articles, when they report that “this new finding is making us rethink everything we know about the evolution of [insert topic here!]”. This is why Paul wrote that “Claiming to be wise, they became fools” (Romans 1:22)
Lord God, please give us honesty and integrity in the way we carry out science, remembering that everything we see is here, because You caused it to be so. Amen.
Image: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic, no credit required
Romans 1:20
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:
When I was a university student in the late 70s and early 80s, few students had cars. One of the young men that I shared accommodation with was one of the lucky few. Student cars of that era were infamous! My friend’s car fit into this category. When the fender fell off, he tied it back on with string. When the window winder became stuck in the open position (because no student car had motor driven windows), he tied it closed with string. When the exhaust became loose, he tied it back with string – or maybe it was wire to stop it from burning. Before long, there seemed to be more string and duct tape on the car than metal!
I have often described both the Theory of Evolution and the Big Bang Theory as theories held together with string. The scientific method suggests that theories are developed to explain observations. However, when one observation is in clear violation of the theory, then the theory should be discarded. But too many scientists have too much invested in evolutionary ideas, be they biological or astronomical. So, in practice, a new imaginative amendment is made to Darwinian or Big Bang Evolution, and the basic theory remains. You can spot this in science articles, when they report that “this new finding is making us rethink everything we know about the evolution of [insert topic here!]”. This is why Paul wrote that “Claiming to be wise, they became fools” (Romans 1:22)
Lord God, please give us honesty and integrity in the way we carry out science, remembering that everything we see is here, because You caused it to be so. Amen.
Image: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic, no credit required
VISITORS FROM MARS
Job 19:23-24
Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book! That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever!
It must have been pretty disconcerting for many people, who heard the famous Orson Welles 1938 radio adaptation of HG Wells� The War of the Worlds. The radio play was made to sound like an actual news broadcast. Apparently, there was widespread panic among the listening audience, who were sure that they were learning about invaders from Mars.
Few people expect Martian invaders today. Yet, some scientists are sure that they are studying visitors from Mars. These visitors are the so-called Martian meteorites. Some scientists believe that these pieces of rock were ejected from the surface of Mars, when the red planet was struck by another object.
The advantage of this idea is that such objects can be studied here on Earth, and, allegedly, give us information about our near neighbor in space. For example, recently one meteorite was reported to have yielded information about past eruptions. Back in 1996, one infamous episode led to the claim, later contradicted, that micro-fossils had come from Mars.
How likely is it that a cosmic game of billiards could have resulted in a piece of Mars flying off into space, and then, coincidentally, being able to land on the Earth? Of the 61,000 meteorites discovered, 132 have been identified as Martian, according to the Meteoritical Bulletin Database. This gives a 0.2% chance that a piece of rock from Mars could land on Earth, which seems unreasonably high, given the enormous set of coincidences required for a piece of Martian rock to make such a journey. Martian meteorites simply underline the credulousness required by evolutionary scientists, in order to bolster their beliefs.
Thank You, Father, that so many scientific ideas make so much more sense, when interpreted according to Your inerrant word. Amen.
Job 19:23-24
Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book! That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever!
It must have been pretty disconcerting for many people, who heard the famous Orson Welles 1938 radio adaptation of HG Wells� The War of the Worlds. The radio play was made to sound like an actual news broadcast. Apparently, there was widespread panic among the listening audience, who were sure that they were learning about invaders from Mars.
Few people expect Martian invaders today. Yet, some scientists are sure that they are studying visitors from Mars. These visitors are the so-called Martian meteorites. Some scientists believe that these pieces of rock were ejected from the surface of Mars, when the red planet was struck by another object.
The advantage of this idea is that such objects can be studied here on Earth, and, allegedly, give us information about our near neighbor in space. For example, recently one meteorite was reported to have yielded information about past eruptions. Back in 1996, one infamous episode led to the claim, later contradicted, that micro-fossils had come from Mars.
How likely is it that a cosmic game of billiards could have resulted in a piece of Mars flying off into space, and then, coincidentally, being able to land on the Earth? Of the 61,000 meteorites discovered, 132 have been identified as Martian, according to the Meteoritical Bulletin Database. This gives a 0.2% chance that a piece of rock from Mars could land on Earth, which seems unreasonably high, given the enormous set of coincidences required for a piece of Martian rock to make such a journey. Martian meteorites simply underline the credulousness required by evolutionary scientists, in order to bolster their beliefs.
Thank You, Father, that so many scientific ideas make so much more sense, when interpreted according to Your inerrant word. Amen.
DARK MATTER: DOES IT MATTER?
Psalms 19:1
The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
In the Big Bang scenario, the supposed expansion of the universe, from the original singularity, can be calculated, based on the strength of the gravitational fields of the matter in the universe. But there is a problem with the calculation. The universe has nowhere near enough matter to cause a strong-enough gravitational field to explain how we view the universe today.
I have remarked before that the Big Bang Theory is like a student car � largely held together with string, which represents all the extra ideas tied on to the theory, to make it work. In order to explain the anomalous expansion of the universe, scientists have suggested that there must be a huge amount of stuff in the universe, which we cannot detect. They call this hidden stuff dark matter. To make the sums work properly, astrophysicists have to suppose that 84.5% of the total mass of the universe is dark matter, while only 15.5% is normal matter. But we cannot see it, or detect it � so how do we know it is there? To the Big Bang Theorist, dark matter is a necessary add-on, to make their Big Bang math work. It is not only creationists who do not see the necessity for believing in dark matter. Even some secular scientists, such as the Israeli astrophysicist Moshe Carmeli, have proposed cosmogonies, which do not require dark matter. Yet again, we see that the literal reading of Genesis is a much more logical explanation of origins, than the student car theories, like the Big Bang.
We give You Glory, Heavenly Father, that You made the heavens and all that is in them. While we know that there are things out there still to discover, we know that all of it was made, by the power of Your hand. Amen.
Carmeli, M. (2006), Cosmological Relativity, (Israel: World Scientific Publishing Company)
Image: NASA, Public Domain
Psalms 19:1
The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
In the Big Bang scenario, the supposed expansion of the universe, from the original singularity, can be calculated, based on the strength of the gravitational fields of the matter in the universe. But there is a problem with the calculation. The universe has nowhere near enough matter to cause a strong-enough gravitational field to explain how we view the universe today.
I have remarked before that the Big Bang Theory is like a student car � largely held together with string, which represents all the extra ideas tied on to the theory, to make it work. In order to explain the anomalous expansion of the universe, scientists have suggested that there must be a huge amount of stuff in the universe, which we cannot detect. They call this hidden stuff dark matter. To make the sums work properly, astrophysicists have to suppose that 84.5% of the total mass of the universe is dark matter, while only 15.5% is normal matter. But we cannot see it, or detect it � so how do we know it is there? To the Big Bang Theorist, dark matter is a necessary add-on, to make their Big Bang math work. It is not only creationists who do not see the necessity for believing in dark matter. Even some secular scientists, such as the Israeli astrophysicist Moshe Carmeli, have proposed cosmogonies, which do not require dark matter. Yet again, we see that the literal reading of Genesis is a much more logical explanation of origins, than the student car theories, like the Big Bang.
We give You Glory, Heavenly Father, that You made the heavens and all that is in them. While we know that there are things out there still to discover, we know that all of it was made, by the power of Your hand. Amen.
Carmeli, M. (2006), Cosmological Relativity, (Israel: World Scientific Publishing Company)
Image: NASA, Public Domain
HOW YOUNG IS THE EARTH?
Psalm 119:42
So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me: for I trust in thy word.
You have probably heard of Young Earth Creationists and Old Earth Creationists. Wikipedia defines Young Earth Creationism as a belief that the world was made by �direct acts of God less than 10,000 years ago�. Where does the figure of 10,000 years come from? There are a number of scientific calculations and principles that suggest that the world could be no older than 10,000 years � for example, the aging and gradual destruction of comets. Yet other people give different ages. Certain creationists have suggested ages of 30,000, or even a million years.
The problem appears to stem from the use of the word �young�. If 10,000 years is to be described as �young�, then it is apparently being used in a comparative sense. 10,000 years is considered young, compared to the 4.5 billion years claimed by evolutionary scientists. Yet, I see no reason to define my position, in terms of evolution. Instead, it makes sense for the Christian to define their position with respect to the Bible. However, the Bible does not allow for 10,000 years, let alone a million years. As I have shown in my book, The Biblical Age of the Earth, the Bible gives us an age of just over 6,000 years, with human beings created at the end of the creation week. I submit that 6,000 years is not young � it is very, very old, compared to our experience. Therefore, it often seems preferable to refer to our position not as Young Earth Creationism, but as Biblical Creationism.
We declare that Your Word is true, Lord God, in everything You say. Help us to submit to Your Word, and to interpret everything in the world around us by Your Word. Amen.
Psalm 119:42
So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me: for I trust in thy word.
You have probably heard of Young Earth Creationists and Old Earth Creationists. Wikipedia defines Young Earth Creationism as a belief that the world was made by �direct acts of God less than 10,000 years ago�. Where does the figure of 10,000 years come from? There are a number of scientific calculations and principles that suggest that the world could be no older than 10,000 years � for example, the aging and gradual destruction of comets. Yet other people give different ages. Certain creationists have suggested ages of 30,000, or even a million years.
The problem appears to stem from the use of the word �young�. If 10,000 years is to be described as �young�, then it is apparently being used in a comparative sense. 10,000 years is considered young, compared to the 4.5 billion years claimed by evolutionary scientists. Yet, I see no reason to define my position, in terms of evolution. Instead, it makes sense for the Christian to define their position with respect to the Bible. However, the Bible does not allow for 10,000 years, let alone a million years. As I have shown in my book, The Biblical Age of the Earth, the Bible gives us an age of just over 6,000 years, with human beings created at the end of the creation week. I submit that 6,000 years is not young � it is very, very old, compared to our experience. Therefore, it often seems preferable to refer to our position not as Young Earth Creationism, but as Biblical Creationism.
We declare that Your Word is true, Lord God, in everything You say. Help us to submit to Your Word, and to interpret everything in the world around us by Your Word. Amen.
HOW ANCIENT IS THE EARTH?
Psalms 68:32-33
Sing unto God, ye kingdoms of the earth; O sing praises unto the Lord; Selah: To him that rideth upon the heavens of heavens, which wereof old; lo, he doth send out his voice, and that a mighty voice.
A few months after I was saved, I came across people who did not believe in the theory of evolution. I appreciated their position, and was soon convinced, because I wanted to believe that the whole Bible was true. Nevertheless, not all of these creationists believed that the Creation Week comprised of six literal days. Some pointed to verses in the Bible describing God as the �Ancient of Days�, or referring to �ancient heavens�, as biblical evidence that the world had not necessarily been created to the so-called literal timescale.
I never accepted this �old-earth� position, though, for a while, I did believe that the issue did not matter. The important issue was to oppose evolution.
Today, I believe that opposition to evolution, while important, is not the most important issue. The actual issue is the authority of Scripture. If we are prepared to find permissive interpretations of the first chapter of Genesis, how can we determine when we have made a compromise too far?
Seen from a biblical rather than an evolutionary perspective, the 6,000 years from Scripture does indeed seem ancient. It only becomes less than ancient, when we measure it against timescales produced outside of Scripture. Therefore, a better way forward is to start by submitting to Scriptural authority, and allowing it to be our guide, as we seek to read and understand it.
You, O Lord, are the Ancient of Days. In Your presence, we bow before You and worship You, acknowledging You to be the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe. Amen.
Psalms 68:32-33
Sing unto God, ye kingdoms of the earth; O sing praises unto the Lord; Selah: To him that rideth upon the heavens of heavens, which wereof old; lo, he doth send out his voice, and that a mighty voice.
A few months after I was saved, I came across people who did not believe in the theory of evolution. I appreciated their position, and was soon convinced, because I wanted to believe that the whole Bible was true. Nevertheless, not all of these creationists believed that the Creation Week comprised of six literal days. Some pointed to verses in the Bible describing God as the �Ancient of Days�, or referring to �ancient heavens�, as biblical evidence that the world had not necessarily been created to the so-called literal timescale.
I never accepted this �old-earth� position, though, for a while, I did believe that the issue did not matter. The important issue was to oppose evolution.
Today, I believe that opposition to evolution, while important, is not the most important issue. The actual issue is the authority of Scripture. If we are prepared to find permissive interpretations of the first chapter of Genesis, how can we determine when we have made a compromise too far?
Seen from a biblical rather than an evolutionary perspective, the 6,000 years from Scripture does indeed seem ancient. It only becomes less than ancient, when we measure it against timescales produced outside of Scripture. Therefore, a better way forward is to start by submitting to Scriptural authority, and allowing it to be our guide, as we seek to read and understand it.
You, O Lord, are the Ancient of Days. In Your presence, we bow before You and worship You, acknowledging You to be the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe. Amen.
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