Evidence for God from Science Newsletter June, 2003
Greetings in the name of the Lord! This is the latest edition of the update for the Evidence for God website. Here is the news and recent additions to the site.
Contents
- News
- Creation Conference - Who is the Designer?
- Abortion
- Design vs. Evolution
- Aberrant theology
- Christian Life Issues
- New Hubble Pictures of the Universe
News
Our family still needs your prayers regarding my wife Carole's driving privileges. We managed to get an additional review of our case, and found, to our surprise that the original reviewer (who admitted knowing nothing about brain tumors and seizures) made up information that he had later found about seizures (none of which applied to Carole) and put false statements in the report. Unfortunately, the latest reviewer was not concerned about any of the statements in the first review and would not listen to anything we had to say about it. So, pending a miraculous change of attitude by latest reviewer, it looks like we will have to go to court, the deadline for which is June 14.
Last newsletter, I mentioned that Bridget, a friend of ours, had suffered a serious seizure at work. Since then, she has had several brain scans that turned up no pathology in the brain. Praise God for that! However, in scanning her brain, doctors found a tumor in one of her salivary glands! Without the seizure, Bridget wouldn't have known about the tumor until it had grown much larger. Although Bridget cannot drive for 6 months, at least she got an early diagnosis on a potentially serious problem. "All things work for good..." Thank you for your prayers on these issues.
Creation Conference - Who is the Designer?
Building on their 2000 creation conference, which produced a testable creation model, Reasons To Believe (for whom I am a volunteer apologist) is doing another conference this June entitled, "Who is the Designer." The conference will examine the following questions (plus more)
- "Does the created realm adequately support a search for the Designer?"
- "If so, does the evidence point to the personal God of the Bible, or to the god(s) of other world religions, or somewhere else altogether?"
- "How can I gain the wisdom to examine the evidence and draw sound conclusions?"
- "How can I most effectively discuss and defend my conclusions among those who disagree?"
If you can't attend in person, you can register to receive the conference through the Internet. For more information, see the Reasons To Believe website:
http://www.reasons.org/events/2003_conference/index.shtml?conference
Abortion
Thank you for your prayers on the abortion lecture given in April. The lecture went well, and there weren't too many questions. The lecture has been converted to an online slideshow, which is already one of the more popular referrals from the search engines. The slideshow examines secular arguments against abortion. Most opponents of the prolife message claim that abortion is a personal, religious issue. From my own experience, I was anti-abortion in the 1970's, even though I was an agnostic at the time. In fact, I believe that the best arguments against unrestricted abortion are secular ones. This slideshow examines the issues related to biology, law, and morality using secular arguments. In addition, several secular groups and websites are listed that oppose abortion. For the Christian who wants to change attitudes about abortion in the secular arena, knowledge of these arguments is imperative.
Abortion - Life, Right, Choice?- Secular Arguments Against Abortion
http://www.GodAndScience.org/abortion/index.html
Design vs. Evolution
Some really striking studies have been published within the last month that
strongly bolster intelligent design theory and the biblical creation model. The
first destroys one of the primary arguments used by evolutionists to argue
against intelligent creation. Sequence of DNA that are very similar to normal genes but that has been altered so they are not expressed.Pseudogenes are regions of DNA that does not carry the information necessary to make a protein.non-coding Deoxyribonucleic acid: the chemical inside the nucleus of a cell that carries the genetic instructions for making living organisms.DNA ( Deoxyribonucleic acid: the chemical inside the nucleus of a cell that carries the genetic instructions for making living organisms.DNA that does not code for
functional An organic compound made of amino acids arranged in a linear chain, joined together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of the adjacent amino acid residues.protein) that have been apparently duplicated from functional Functional and physical units of heredity passed from parent to offspring. Genes are pieces of DNA, and most genes contain the information for making a specific protein.genes.
In an article on this site, I had speculated a couple years ago that Sequence of DNA that are very similar to normal genes but that has been altered so they are not expressed.pseudogenesmight be involved in some kind of The functional and physical unit of heredity passed from parent to offspring. Genes are pieces of DNA, and most genes contain the information for making a specific protein.gene regulatory function. However, until last
month, no function had been found for any A sequence of DNA that is very similar to a normal gene but that has been altered so it is not expressed.pseudogene. But, in an extreme case of
serendipity, investigators had inadvertently inserted their target The functional and physical unit of heredity passed from parent to offspring. Genes are pieces of DNA, and most genes contain the information for making a specific protein.gene into a
mouse A sequence of DNA that is very similar to a normal gene but that has been altered so it is not expressed.pseudogene. They wouldn't have known that they had done this except that
80% of the mice from that one line died of multi-organ failure. Instead of
discarding the "bad" line of mice, the scientists investigated to find
out why the mice had died. What they found was that the mouse A sequence of DNA that is very similar to a normal gene but that has been altered so it is not expressed.pseudogene was
regulating the expression of its corresponding functional The functional and physical unit of heredity passed from parent to offspring. Genes are pieces of DNA, and most genes contain the information for making a specific protein.gene. Not only did the
A sequence of DNA that is very similar to a normal gene but that has been altered so it is not expressed.pseudogene serve a function - it was required for the survival of the mice!
Alas, the last the of the evolutionists' "junk"
Deoxyribonucleic acid: the chemical inside the nucleus of a cell that carries the genetic instructions for making living organisms.DNA has been shown to be functional.
Pseudogenes- Argument for Evolution and Against Design?
http://www.GodAndScience.org/evolution/pseudogenes.html
A new study has been done on ancient, anatomically modern human specimens. These two Cro-Magnon specimens, dating to 23,000 and 25,000 years old had no The order of nucleotides in a DNA or RNA molecule, or the order of amino acids in a protein molecule.sequence differences and one The order of nucleotides in a DNA or RNA molecule, or the order of amino acids in a protein molecule.sequence difference from the modern reference The order of nucleotides in a DNA or RNA molecule, or the order of amino acids in a protein molecule.sequence. It is remarkable that so little change in the The order of nucleotides in a DNA or RNA molecule, or the order of amino acids in a protein molecule.sequence had occurred over the last 23,000 years. In contrast, these ancient modern humans differed from nearly contemporary Neandertals by an average of 24 Two nucleotides on opposite complementary DNA or RNA strands that are connected via hydrogen bonds.base pairs. This study destroys the multiregional evolutionary hypothesis and presents a scenario consistent with the biblical creation model.
Descent of Man Theory- Disproven by Molecular Biology
http://www.GodAndScience.org/evolution/descent.html
Aberrant Theology
We even have molecular genetics in our cults department this month! The Book of Mormon (along with other Mormon "scripture") claims that the native populations of North and South America are descended from Israelites who sailed across the Atlantic 2,600 years ago. However, molecular genetics shows that Native Americans are descended from Asian populations who migrated from Siberia 20,000-50,0000 years ago. Not a trace of Jewish markers can be found in any native population from the Americas. In contrast, the black Lemba tribe of South Africa, who claim to be descended from Jewish tribes has been proven to harbor Jewish predominant Functional and physical units of heredity passed from parent to offspring. Genes are pieces of DNA, and most genes contain the information for making a specific protein.genes. In addition, the Lemba tribes who claimed to be descended from the priestly line were, in fact, show to posses those markers found in Jews who descended from the temple priests. A link to a 50 minute video (produced by Living Hope Ministries) that discusses some of this evidence with Mormon and non-Mormon scientists, who are doing the research, is available from the page. The video is available from Living Hope Ministries in VHS format to share with your Mormon friends and coworkers.
DNA Evidence and Molecular Genetics Disprove the Book of Mormon
http://www.GodAndScience.org/cults/dna.html
Christian Life Issues
Michael Klein has written a rebuttal to an article published by Free Inquiry about why Christians are wrong about their views on homosexuality entitled "Why the Christian Right is Wrong About Homosexuality," by Jerry Drosman. Michael examines the logical fallacies and misinformation often used to demonize Christian views on homosexuality and homosexual behavior. Michael also confronts Drosman's "unique" interpretation of scripture, which claims that such behavior is not a sin according to the Bible.
Rebuttal to Why the Christian Right is Wrong About Homosexuality
http://www.GodAndScience.org/doctrine/drosman.html
New Hubble Pictures of the Universe
There are more new Hubble Space Telescope pictures on the site. The new pictures (along with the great old ones) are available as a JavaScript slideshow, a thumbnail page, and PowerPoint presentations. The PowerPoint version has been redone as a 1024 x 768 resolution onscreen slideshow. The file is smaller (14 MB vs. 20 MB), and includes all the new images (for a total of 99 pictures). The old (35 mm format) PowerPoint files is also available.
Tour the Universe Slideshow
(JavaScript version)
http://www.GodAndScience.org/love/tourjs.html
Tour the Universe
(Thumbnail version)
http://www.GodAndScience.org/love/tour.html
All GodAndScience.org slideshows:
Slideshows from Evidence for God from Science
http://www.GodAndScience.org/slideshows.html
Newsletter Info
This and previous newsletters are available online. Go to the URL below to read the current and past e-mail newsletters:
http://www.GodAndScience.org/newsletter.html
Those are the most recent updates and changes since the last e-mail update. If you would like to see anything in particular at Evidence for God from Science, let me know. "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28)
In Christ,
Rich Deem
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Evidence for God from Science
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http://www.godandscience.org/newsletters/2003-06.html
Last Modified June 7, 2003
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