WHALES ON LAND
Genesis 1:21
"And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good."
A small boy was asked in class “What family does the whale belong to?” Nervously, he replied”I don’t know sir. No family on our street has one!”
What the teacher was getting at was the evolutionary idea that whales have evolved from land mammals. In London’s Natural History Museum, one display cabinet shows a mesonychid, thought to be a land dwelling ancestor, on the left, a fossil of a modern-type dolphin on the right, and, in the middle there is a supposed intermediate form—an ambulocetus.
The display is clearly meant to show the evolution of the whale from the wolf-like mesonychid, through the ambulocetus, to the modern whale. One would confidently expect, therefore, that the oldest fossil on display would be the mesonychid. And one would be wrong!
The oldest of the three fossils is actually the ambulocetus. This is a huge problem, because the NHM has to justify why it has arranged these three fossils that way. Their justification is this; the ambulocetus is one of the first of its kind, so they draw an error bar accordingly. On the other hand, they have decided that the mesonychid is one of the last of its kind, so its error bar shows that the fossil displayed in the NHM is from just before the species became extinct. The reason for producing such asymmetric error bars? Well, the fossils must be in that order, because that is the order in which they have evolved. In other words, they have been arranged, according to an evolutionary worldview, then the arrangement is offered as a proof for that worldview. This is circular reasoning.
In Your word, Lord, You were clear about how everything happened. Thank You for your great wisdom, displayed throughout creation. Amen.
Genesis 1:21
"And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good."
A small boy was asked in class “What family does the whale belong to?” Nervously, he replied”I don’t know sir. No family on our street has one!”
What the teacher was getting at was the evolutionary idea that whales have evolved from land mammals. In London’s Natural History Museum, one display cabinet shows a mesonychid, thought to be a land dwelling ancestor, on the left, a fossil of a modern-type dolphin on the right, and, in the middle there is a supposed intermediate form—an ambulocetus.
The display is clearly meant to show the evolution of the whale from the wolf-like mesonychid, through the ambulocetus, to the modern whale. One would confidently expect, therefore, that the oldest fossil on display would be the mesonychid. And one would be wrong!
The oldest of the three fossils is actually the ambulocetus. This is a huge problem, because the NHM has to justify why it has arranged these three fossils that way. Their justification is this; the ambulocetus is one of the first of its kind, so they draw an error bar accordingly. On the other hand, they have decided that the mesonychid is one of the last of its kind, so its error bar shows that the fossil displayed in the NHM is from just before the species became extinct. The reason for producing such asymmetric error bars? Well, the fossils must be in that order, because that is the order in which they have evolved. In other words, they have been arranged, according to an evolutionary worldview, then the arrangement is offered as a proof for that worldview. This is circular reasoning.
In Your word, Lord, You were clear about how everything happened. Thank You for your great wisdom, displayed throughout creation. Amen.
PLUTO
Psalm 8:3-4
"When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?"
Do you feel sorry for Pluto? It isn’t a planet anymore.
Of course, you might want to point out to me that this is old news. Pluto was reclassified in 2006, being downgraded to the new category of dwarf planet. Thus, the Solar System went back to being a collection of eight planets, just as it had been before the discovery of Pluto in 1930.
Many people my age were brought up being taught that there were nine planets. Those of us who enjoyed astronomy as children sometimes feel that the International Astronomical Union (IAU) has taken away a good chunk of our childhood.
Because of the discovery of other large Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNO), the IAU devised a new set of criteria to determine whether or not a body was a planet. Pluto (and, indeed, that other well-known TNO, Eris) fulfill all the criteria for planethood except one. It is this:
It must have cleared the neighborhood around its orbit.
When did Pluto fail, and Neptune succeed, in clearing their orbits of debris? Surely this process has not been observed. If the IAU’s criteria suggested merely that the body’s orbit had to be clear of debris to be described as a planet is one thing. To be able to show that the planet has actually done this is a bigger problem which requires one to know what has actually happened in the past. But no one has seen this process occur. It is a supposition, based on an old-earth framework. To be a planet or a dwarf planet requires knowledge of an evolutionary process that never actually happened.
Along with the hymnwriter, when we consider all the works Your hand has made, Lord God, we declare “How Great Thou Art!” Amen.
Psalm 8:3-4
"When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?"
Do you feel sorry for Pluto? It isn’t a planet anymore.
Of course, you might want to point out to me that this is old news. Pluto was reclassified in 2006, being downgraded to the new category of dwarf planet. Thus, the Solar System went back to being a collection of eight planets, just as it had been before the discovery of Pluto in 1930.
Many people my age were brought up being taught that there were nine planets. Those of us who enjoyed astronomy as children sometimes feel that the International Astronomical Union (IAU) has taken away a good chunk of our childhood.
Because of the discovery of other large Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNO), the IAU devised a new set of criteria to determine whether or not a body was a planet. Pluto (and, indeed, that other well-known TNO, Eris) fulfill all the criteria for planethood except one. It is this:
It must have cleared the neighborhood around its orbit.
When did Pluto fail, and Neptune succeed, in clearing their orbits of debris? Surely this process has not been observed. If the IAU’s criteria suggested merely that the body’s orbit had to be clear of debris to be described as a planet is one thing. To be able to show that the planet has actually done this is a bigger problem which requires one to know what has actually happened in the past. But no one has seen this process occur. It is a supposition, based on an old-earth framework. To be a planet or a dwarf planet requires knowledge of an evolutionary process that never actually happened.
Along with the hymnwriter, when we consider all the works Your hand has made, Lord God, we declare “How Great Thou Art!” Amen.
PLANET NINE
Psalm 8:3-4
"When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?"
When I was a boy, there were nine planets. I remember reports in 1982 about the discovery of a tenth planet. Nobody actually saw the alleged tenth planet through a telescope. However, measurements were made of the orbits of other planets, and perturbations from where they thought the orbits should be were noted. It was assumed that these perturbations were caused by a large planet beyond the orbit of Pluto. Of course, the discovery of Pluto, being such a small planet, did not fully explain the motion of Neptune and Uranus, so further calculations in 1982 suggested the existence of Planet Ten.
Pluto was demoted from planetary status in 2006, but this did not stop speculation that there might be a ninth planet similar to the newly defined eight. In 2016, scientists once again thought that the discovery of Planet Nine was inevitable. They now had the evidence of orbits of other Pluto-size objects beyond the orbit of Neptune � the so-called Trans-Neptunian Objects, or TNOs. In 2017, all these ideas are on hold again as other scientists think that the perturbations of the orbits of Pluto, Eris and other TNOs can be explained by other TNOs.
As Bible-believing Christians, we are encouraged to stand in awe at the universe because it declares the glory of God. That so much interesting speculation can be made about small movements in the orbits of bodies within this Solar System reminds us again of the greatness of God, who made this entire universe.
Lord, You have said that the making of objects in the universe was just the work of Your fingers. Thank You, our Great God and Creator, for being mindful of such a one as me. Amen.
Psalm 8:3-4
"When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?"
When I was a boy, there were nine planets. I remember reports in 1982 about the discovery of a tenth planet. Nobody actually saw the alleged tenth planet through a telescope. However, measurements were made of the orbits of other planets, and perturbations from where they thought the orbits should be were noted. It was assumed that these perturbations were caused by a large planet beyond the orbit of Pluto. Of course, the discovery of Pluto, being such a small planet, did not fully explain the motion of Neptune and Uranus, so further calculations in 1982 suggested the existence of Planet Ten.
Pluto was demoted from planetary status in 2006, but this did not stop speculation that there might be a ninth planet similar to the newly defined eight. In 2016, scientists once again thought that the discovery of Planet Nine was inevitable. They now had the evidence of orbits of other Pluto-size objects beyond the orbit of Neptune � the so-called Trans-Neptunian Objects, or TNOs. In 2017, all these ideas are on hold again as other scientists think that the perturbations of the orbits of Pluto, Eris and other TNOs can be explained by other TNOs.
As Bible-believing Christians, we are encouraged to stand in awe at the universe because it declares the glory of God. That so much interesting speculation can be made about small movements in the orbits of bodies within this Solar System reminds us again of the greatness of God, who made this entire universe.
Lord, You have said that the making of objects in the universe was just the work of Your fingers. Thank You, our Great God and Creator, for being mindful of such a one as me. Amen.
BEARS AND ARCTIC ICE
Genesis 8:22
"While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease."
Think of the Arctic and you probably think about polar bears. Those magnificent, big, white carnivores are probably pictured in your mind standing on snow and ice, where they can be difficult to see. The Arctic is the realm of the bear, and this is reflected in its name. The word �Arctic� is derived from the Greek word arktos, meaning bear. There are layers of meaning here. Certainly, the Arctic is home to the polar bear, but also the constellation Ursa Minor, the Little Bear, contains the star Polaris, which is the Pole Star, being directly above the North Pole, so if you were traveling �towards the Bear�, or Bearwards, you would be traveling North.
Perhaps the most iconic pictures of polar bears published have been those showing one or two bears clinging precariously to tiny icebergs barely able to support them. The implication of such images is that the habitat of the bears is disappearing. What would be the culprit that is melting the ice? Presumably, it would be our old friend Climate Change.
So what would a bear do if the ice under its feet melted away? I guess it would have to swim! Fortunately, polar bears are strong swimmers. Some bears have been tracked swimming up to ten days.
Contrary to popular opinion, recent research has shown that many polar bear populations increased during times of receding ice. In the last couple of years, ice sheets have expanded again. Climate Change Alarmists notwithstanding, conditions continue to underline that �while the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.�
Father God, we thank You that You have populated this planet with interesting animals, and You have given human beings the responsibility and privilege of stewarding this world. Help us to fulfill these obligations in places that we live. Amen.
Ref: Crockford, S. (2015), The Arctic Fallacy, (London: Global Warming Policy Foundation). Image: Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 3.0 Unported.
Genesis 8:22
"While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease."
Think of the Arctic and you probably think about polar bears. Those magnificent, big, white carnivores are probably pictured in your mind standing on snow and ice, where they can be difficult to see. The Arctic is the realm of the bear, and this is reflected in its name. The word �Arctic� is derived from the Greek word arktos, meaning bear. There are layers of meaning here. Certainly, the Arctic is home to the polar bear, but also the constellation Ursa Minor, the Little Bear, contains the star Polaris, which is the Pole Star, being directly above the North Pole, so if you were traveling �towards the Bear�, or Bearwards, you would be traveling North.
Perhaps the most iconic pictures of polar bears published have been those showing one or two bears clinging precariously to tiny icebergs barely able to support them. The implication of such images is that the habitat of the bears is disappearing. What would be the culprit that is melting the ice? Presumably, it would be our old friend Climate Change.
So what would a bear do if the ice under its feet melted away? I guess it would have to swim! Fortunately, polar bears are strong swimmers. Some bears have been tracked swimming up to ten days.
Contrary to popular opinion, recent research has shown that many polar bear populations increased during times of receding ice. In the last couple of years, ice sheets have expanded again. Climate Change Alarmists notwithstanding, conditions continue to underline that �while the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.�
Father God, we thank You that You have populated this planet with interesting animals, and You have given human beings the responsibility and privilege of stewarding this world. Help us to fulfill these obligations in places that we live. Amen.
Ref: Crockford, S. (2015), The Arctic Fallacy, (London: Global Warming Policy Foundation). Image: Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 3.0 Unported.
EVOLUTION BY EUPHEMISM
Ephesians 5:6
"Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience."
In my book Where Birds Eat Horses, I talk about the way that evolutionists use, or rather misuse, language in order to make their case. One type of language much loved by evolutionists is what we call �fuzzy words�.
Recently, I discovered a subset of fuzzy words known as weasel words � an idea that seems to have been invented on Wikipedia! Weasel words are designed to convey an element of authority which does not really exist. One such phrase, quoted and criticized on the Wikipedia site, is �a growing body of evidence.� Wikipedia�s weasel word page editor suggests that the phrase should make us ask for the raw data for this growing body of evidence. The implication is that the �growing body of evidence� does not exist and an author using this phrase is trying to shut down discussion.
One popular science website containing a lot of evolutionary articles has an abundant supply of pages using this phrase. Consider these:
Growing body of evidence supports use of mind-body therapies in breast cancer treatment.
A growing body of evidence has hinted at this connection [between global cooling and the evolution of homo sapiens].
Although there is a growing body of evidence that there was once water on Mars, it does not rain there today.
Biblical creationists should not be intimidated by such comments. It would appear that there is a growing body of evidence that many evolutionists are leaving logic behind! The Bible, in contrast, uses phrases which are full of meaning and truth.
Thank You, Lord God, that Your words are always true and always reliable. Amen.
Ephesians 5:6
"Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience."
In my book Where Birds Eat Horses, I talk about the way that evolutionists use, or rather misuse, language in order to make their case. One type of language much loved by evolutionists is what we call �fuzzy words�.
Recently, I discovered a subset of fuzzy words known as weasel words � an idea that seems to have been invented on Wikipedia! Weasel words are designed to convey an element of authority which does not really exist. One such phrase, quoted and criticized on the Wikipedia site, is �a growing body of evidence.� Wikipedia�s weasel word page editor suggests that the phrase should make us ask for the raw data for this growing body of evidence. The implication is that the �growing body of evidence� does not exist and an author using this phrase is trying to shut down discussion.
One popular science website containing a lot of evolutionary articles has an abundant supply of pages using this phrase. Consider these:
Growing body of evidence supports use of mind-body therapies in breast cancer treatment.
A growing body of evidence has hinted at this connection [between global cooling and the evolution of homo sapiens].
Although there is a growing body of evidence that there was once water on Mars, it does not rain there today.
Biblical creationists should not be intimidated by such comments. It would appear that there is a growing body of evidence that many evolutionists are leaving logic behind! The Bible, in contrast, uses phrases which are full of meaning and truth.
Thank You, Lord God, that Your words are always true and always reliable. Amen.
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