The Apostasy 09/04/2010
 
391223 04: A 42-year-old Ten Commandments sculpture is on display in front of city hall June 27, 2001 in Grand Junction, CO. The sculpture became a target of controversy betweem the ACLU and the Christian Coalition''s American Center for Law and Justice when the ACLU began a legal offensive aimed at removing displays of the Ten Commandments from city halls and other civic buildings throughout the United States. (Photo by Michael Smith/Getty Images)


The Church is being attacked right now like no other period in history. The last 300 years have brought unique direct and indirect attacks against the Bible's authority and authenticity that the first 1700 years could never had imagined. In this guest article, "Attacks on the Biblical world view and the time of the 'Apostasy'", Mark Hodges (Notmanynoble Blog) examines the shift from a biblical to a skeptical and hostile culture and the events in history that has led to the apostasy of the Christian church today. Keep reading for an excerpt of the excellent article.
 
 

Dr. Jason Lisle of Answers in Genesis takes a look at why only the biblical Christian worldview can make sense of anything at all. Filmed at Creation College 3 in Kentucky, Summer 2009, we had the pleasure of being there live for this segment and others. Though this is a copy of the video I found on YouTube, you can view the original for free at Answers in Genesis by clicking here. The summary over at the Answers in Genesis website states:

"In this companion DVD to his book by the same name, Dr. Lisle presents an ultimate proof for the existence of God and the truth of creation. He goes beyond the battle over “evidence,” and demonstrates why and how we are to defend the faith. Dr. Lisle shows why secular worldviews cannot stand up to logical scrutiny, and how only the Christian worldview can account for the world we live in."
(Transcript Source: http://www.answersingenesis.org/media/video/ondemand/ultimate-proof-of-creation/ultimate-proof)
 
 
MAGELANG, CENTRAL JAVA, INDONESIA - MAY 28: Buddhist monks walk around Borobudur temple during Vesak Day, commonly known as 'Buddha's birthday', at the Borobudur Mahayana Buddhist monument on May 28, 2010 in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. Annually, Buddhists in Indonesia celebrate Vesak at the monument, which makes it the most visited tourist attraction in Indonesia. It is observed during the full moon in May or June, with the ceremony centered at three Buddhist temples by walking from Mendut to Pawon and ending at Borobudur. The stages of life of Buddhism's founder, Gautama Buddha, which are celebrated at Vesak are his birth, enlightenment to Nirvana, and his passing (Parinirvana). (Photo by Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

In our age of "tolerance" and moral relativism, one of the most common questions presented to Christians is: "Aren't all religions equally the same? Isn't Christianity no different than any other religion?" It is an honest and seemingly complicated question, and one that the Christian should not shy away from nor compromise with. With a little research, the differences between Christianity and all other religions becomes strikingly clear and the more important question of, "Can't anybody go to the same 'heaven' by just worshiping their own gods in their own way?" can be answered effectively and truthfully.
 
 
Illustration of Neanderthal man in a cave; circa 30,000 BC. (Photo by Time Life Pictures/Mansell/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)

It's a conclusion that biblical Creationists have had for years, but their evolutionary colleagues are only recently arriving at the same: Neandertals are human. Evolutionist Michael Shermer writes, "we must reclassify Homo neanderthalensis as Homo sapiens neanderthalensis, a subspecies of Homo sapiens" (1) citing a intensive study published in the May 7 issue of Science. Shermer elaborates by saying, "our anatomically hirsute cousins are actually our genetic brothers" (1).

Unlike biblical Creationists, Shermer and many of his fellow evolutionary scientists deny that Neandertals are fellow descendants of Adam and Eve, as all humans are. Instead, the evolutionary perspective still insists that Neanderthal are hundreds of thousands of years old and are our human ancestors due to evolutionary processes. (1)

There is much evidence of the high intelligence and technological advancement of the supposed barbaric, ancient Neanderthals - including the discovery of Neanderthal jewelry and the revelation that Neanderthals were ancient sailors.

Though evolutionists are only now coming to the same conclusions about the Neanderthals as biblical Creationists, such details come as tremendous support that we can trust the Bible and its authority - like when it tells us that man was fully formed and fully human right from the beginning.


Read the full article "Our Neandertal Brethren" by Michael Shermer on Scientific American by clicking here

For further information on Neanderthals from the biblical perspective, read "Neanderthals Are Still Human!" by Dave Phillips on the Institute for Creation Research.


Source:
1) Shermer, Michael. "Our Neandertal Brethren". Scientific American. 2010 August Issue. Online. Accessed 25 July 2010.
 
Around the Web 07/21/2010
 
ITAR-TASS 240: MOSCOW, RUSSIA. APRIL 25, 2010. A participant of the Rubik's Cube competition solving a Rubik's Cube. The Rubik's Cube is a 3-D mechanical puzzle invented in 1974 by Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Erno Rubik. Originally called the Magic Cube the puzzle was licensed by Rubik to be sold by Ideal Toys in 1980. (Photo ITAR-TASS/ Vladimir Astapkovich) Photo via Newscom

If the God of the Bible doesn't exist, what does being a "good person" mean, anyway? Such is the question presented by Victor E. Pearson in "Whose Definition of 'Good' do You Use?" The guest blog examines the worldview issue through a biblical perspective and is highly recommended.

Religious Tolerance is an emotionally contemporary issue in our culture today. The idea stems from the popular belief that all religions are the same. But does this popular notion accurately portray the reality of religion? Is a religion that refuses to be tolerant in the sense that all others are equal make it a bad one? Join David Messieh as he takes a closer look in "Tolerance And Religion" over at the Sydney Morning Herald.

What is truth? In an increasingly relativistic culture and society, the notion of absolute truth feels out of place. Not so for the Christian, however. Jeremy Ham tackles the nature of truth and what it means for the Christian in his devotional, "How Do We Learn Truth?"

Charges of the Bible's inconsistency are common, but not legitimate. Dissecting and refuting such accusations against the Bible's authority is like piecing together a jigsaw puzzle, according to James J.S. Johnson, J.D., Th.D. We can trust the authority and authenticity of the entire biblical account, and can defend it honestly and intellectually with poise. Read Johnson's "Tackling Charges of Biblical Inconsistency: Putting the Pieces Together to Form the Big Picture" here.

Science and Faith in the Bible are not contradictory to eachother. The website "Creation vs Evolution" looks at the details of the controversy from each perspective: atheist, evolutionist, theist, Christian, and more. It provides a unique apologetic with useful resources to further engage in the debate and understand the nature of the evidence thereof.
 
 
Amber discovered in Cape York, Australia is making headlines and also presents itself as remarkable evidence for a Young Earth. According to the Institute for Creation Research, "Plant and mammal parts, as well as insects and other arthropods, are trapped inside the gems, which formed from tree resin" (1).

Though evolutionists typically claim that amber originates over millions of years, it can often form quickly. This Australian Amber is one of example of such. The article states, "If it took very long for the resin to harden, then the insects would probably not have been preserved, since over time they would have worked themselves free, been scavenged, or died and decayed" (1).

Read the entire article, "Fantastic Australian Amber Supports Young World"


1) Thomas, Brian. "Fantastic Australian Amber Supports Young World". Institute for Creation Research. 7 Jul. 2010. Online. Accessed 12 Jul. 2010.
 
 
According to Physorg.com, Geologists from the California Institute of Technology and Texas State University have recently examined the cavern that was carved in just three days during a series of floods in Central Texas the summer of 2002 that became Canyon Lake. The canyon measures 7 meters deep and 2.2 kilometers long straight through bedrock.

The article states that the "traditional view of deep river canyons, such as the Grand Canyon, is that they are carved slowly, as the regular flow and occasionally moderate rushing of rivers erodes rock over periods of millions of years". However, Michael Lamb, assistant professor of Geology from the California Institute of Technology and participated in recent analysis of Canyon lake, adds, "We know that some big canyons have been cut by large catastrophic flood events during Earth's history." (1)

The rapid "carving" of this canyon baffles many evolutionary geologists, but is consistent with a biblically literal view of Genesis. Noah's Flood (Genesis 6) was a global, catastrophic event that would have dramatically altered the face of the earth. Catastrophic events, like this flood in 2002 that carved Canyon Lake in Texas, are evidence such events can cause radically different and sharp changes of the earth's surface.

Read the full article at Physorg by clicking here.

For more information about Geology from a Biblical perspective, visit Tas Walker's Biblical Geology and Answers in Genesis' Geology 'Get Answers' section.


Source:
1) "Geologist investigates canyon carved in just three days in Texas flood". Physorg. 20 Jun. 2010. Online. Accessed 7 Jul. 2010.
 
 
A healthy pelican glides over the water at Queen Bess Island, Louisiana, May 26, 2010. Protective booms have been placed around the island, where the Louisiana state bird nests, but some oil has washed up in places. UPI/A.J. Sisco.. Photo via Newscom

According to an article posted on the New Scientist web-journal, a fossilized Pelican, supposedly 30-million years old, presents a serious problem for evolutionists. The remarkably preserved fossil of the beak is causing a stir because it is nearly identical to the beaks of modern-day pelicans. The fossil should look much different from its present-day counterpart if it truly had been subject to 30-million years of evolution.

New Scientist explains from the evolutionary standpoint: "Pelicans that closely resembled those living today were scooping fish from the water while our ancestors were still swinging from the trees, a fossil discovery suggests." (1)

Antoine Louchart (University of Lyon, France) claims that the pelican fossil is so similar to that of the modern pelican that it can still be classified under the genus Pelecanus.

Though the find is leaving evolutionists scratching their head, the fossil presents no problem for the biblical worldview. The remarkable preservation suggests both recent and rapid burial, and its nearly identical resemblance with that of the modern pelican supports the biblical account that the pelican kind, like the rest of Creation, was created just as they are by God roughly six thousand years ago - not by billions of years of evolution.


Source:
1) Hecht, Jeff. "Pelican fossil poses evolutionary puzzle". New Scientist. 22 Jun. 2010. Online. Accessed 24 Jun. 2010.
 
 
Picture
Photo Credit: Ruthann Brown

The Bible tells us that, after Cain slew his brother, Abel, God punished and cursed him, sending him east of Eden to the land of Nod (Genesis 4:15-16). Yet curiously, in verse 17, it says that, "Cain knew his wife; and she conceived". Since Cain's parents were Adam and Eve, the first humans God created, where did Cain get his wife? And further, if it were his sister, isn't that incest - something the Bible explicitly forbids?
 
 
406024 19: (FEATURE STORY- SALVATION MOUNTAIN- 19 OF 23) Sunset silhouettes a cross on top of Salvation Mountain May 30, 2002 near Niland, CA, east of the Salton Sea. 70-year-old Leonard Knight has been painting and repainting Biblical messages on his spiritual hill for 17 years, using an estimated 100,000 gallons of donated paint. The state once tried to declare it a hazardous waste site and have it destroyed but Knight prevailed and it now attracts the attention of journalists and folk art lovers worldwide. The Folk Art Society of America has declared 100 foot-wide, three-story tall painted hill a national folk art shrine and a leading folk arts scholar is petitioning Congress to recognize Salvation Mountain as a national treasure for permanent protection. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

Can we trust the canon of the Bible? How do we truly know that the books that were meant to be there (like the sixty-six present today), are the right ones? It is a volume that has spanned over 1,500 years and 40 authors. It is a topic answered with clarity and completeness in Brian H. Edwards' "Why 66?".

Edwards proves the reliability of the Old Testament canon by first examining the Jewish history surrounding the Torah. The Torah was made up of the first five books of our modern Old Testament, and was known as "the Law". The Jews then considered the next set of books as The Prophets, which included Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the other prophetic books like Lamentations. All else were gathered under The Writings. For the Jews, the canon was never seriously disputed, because each of the books were written very near to the time they cover. Edwards quotes the Jewish historian Josephus of A.D 90.: "For we have not an innumerable multitude of books among us, disagreeing from and contradicting one another [as the Greeks have] but only twenty-two books, which contain the records of all the past times; which are justly believed to be divine."

In "Why 66?", Edwards also describes the importance of the Dead Sea Scrolls, since they included all of the current Old Testament canon (excluding Esther), and none of the "Apocrypha", or other non-canonical books that critics attempt to charge were part of the original.

After examining other evidences for the authenticity of the Old Testament, Edwards then turns towards the New. According to Edwards, the Muratorian Canon of A.D. 150 represents the first known list of the New Testament canon. This canon included all four gospels, thirteen Pauline epistles, Jude, two of John's letters, and Revelation. The list claims that these books at the time were accepted by the "universal church". Omitted from this Canon, yet present in our modern bibles, was Hebrews, 1 and 2 Peter, and James. Origen from Alexandria in A.D. 240 was using all the 27 books of our present-day canon - no others - and calling it the "New Testament". Considering how near these "lists" were compiled to the original dates of each book's composition, the reliability of our New Testament today is remarkable, particularly when one considers that the books were most likely considered "scripture" before being subject to a list.

Edwards then answers the natural objection: Even though the dates are close to the originals, why did it take so long to compile a list? He provides six reasons:
  1. "The originals were scattered across the whole empire."
  2. "No scroll could easily contain more than one or two books."
  3. "The first-century Christians expected the immediate return of Christ."
  4. "No one church or leader bossed all the others."
  5. "The early leaders assumed the authority of the Gospels and the apostles."
  6. "Only when the heretics attacked the truth was the importance of a canon appreciated."
Each reason is expressed and defended in detail by Edwards in "Why 66?"

Finally, Edwards examines the criteria which determined whether a writing would be considered "scripture" or not. These five test points were employed to decide whether the writing in question was: Apostolic, Authentic, Ancient, Accepted, and/or Accurate. Like his "six reasons", each is elaborated on in the article.

Brian H. Edwards' research provides compelling evidence for the authenticity and reliability of the Bible's canon. By examining the history of the volume, Edwards has shown that we can trust that the "right books" of the Bible are found in our modern texts, and their acceptance can be found right from the beginning.

Read Brian H. Edwards' full article "Why 66?" by clicking here.