Evidence for God from Science Newsletter August, 2006
Greetings in the name of the Lord! This is the latest update for the Evidence for God website. Welcome to our new subscribers.
Contents (scroll down for descriptions)
- Book Reviews
- Answers for Atheists
- Design vs. Evolution
- Christian Theology
- Miscellaneous Science
Book Reviews
Francis Collins, the former head of the Human Genome Project, has written a
book presenting his case for belief in theism. Although Collins presents much of the evidence
supporting a Christian worldview, he discounts nearly all of it, rejecting
the origin of life as requiring any input from God.
Collins goes on to reject creationism, relegating virtually all of
Genesis (other than
Genesis 1:1) to being "poetic" and "allegorical." Another chapter is devoted to
criticizing intelligent design, indicating that it is a "God of the gaps"
approach "ironically on a path toward doing considerable damage to faith."
Collins proposes that God designed the universe with
such precision that humans would be the end result. Thus, although Collins
believes in "theistic evolution," the only part he accepts as being theistic was
the original design of the universe. Although Collins calls
it "spiritually satisfying" and "intellectually rigorous", I think most
believers would find it biblically troublesome and scientifically
irrelevant. More...
Book Review:
The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief
http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/language_god.html
Earth
Turns Heaven: The End and Beyond by Maria Vatsa is written from an
interesting perspective. Although it was submitted to me as scientific
examination of creation and beyond, it might more aptly be called A Brief
History of God's Time. Although Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time
was mentioned in the introduction, I didn't really get how that applied to the
book until I read to the end of the book. Earth Turns Heaven is a
sweeping examination of God's plan for the creation - from the beginning of time
until the end of time, and beyond. As such, it is not really an examination of
the science, but an examination of the Bible from beginning to end, since
scripture is quoted extensively. More...
Book Review:
Earth Turns Heaven: The End and Beyond
http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/earth_turns_heaven.html
Answers for Atheists
Slavery and the Bible
The claim is often made that the God of the Bible approves of slavery, since rules governing slavery can be found in the both the Old and New Testament. Since virtually everyone agrees that forced, involuntary servitude is morally wrong, how can Christians justify the Bible's apparent support of slavery? What the skeptics won't tell you is that selling a person into slavery was grounds for the death penalty, according to the Old Testament. Slavery in the Old Testament was vastly different than the form practiced in the 19th century Americas, primarily being a temporary, voluntary means of survival for unfortunate individuals...
Does God Approve of Slavery According to the Bible?
http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/slavery_bible.html
Design vs. Evolution
Homo floresiensis revisted
A new study, published this month, reexamined the only skeletal remains of
Hobbit man, discovered in 2004. The new study claims that H. floresiensis is not
really a new species, but a microencephalic dwarf with multiple congenital
abnormalities. More...
Hobbit Human-Like Species Found on Flores
Island in Indonesia
http://www.godandscience.org/evolution/hobbit.html
Christian Theology
Premarital Sex?
Many Christians seem to have bought into the secular idea that as long as one is "in love" it doesn't matter if couples live together (and engage in premarital sex). The problem is that many times "love" fails, and Christians end up moving from one relationship to another. This paper examines what the Bible says about living together before marriage, for those who claim to be Christians...
Is it Okay for Christians to Engage in Premarital Sexual Relations Before Marriage?
http://www.godandscience.org/doctrine/fornication.html
Battle Hymn
The Battle Hymn of the Republic was a very popular patriotic song, beginning when it was first written in 1862. Recently, it has fallen out of use (except in churches during Independence Day, Fourth of July, celebrations), probably because of its Christian religious content. However, its lyrics provide rich Christian symbolism of the triumph of Jesus over His enemies...
Battle Hymn of the Republic: What do Those Words Mean?
http://www.godandscience.org/doctrine/battle_hymn_of_the_republic.html
Miscellaneous science
Global warming
On Sunday, June 25, 2006, the Los Angeles Times published an article entitled "Greenland's Ice Sheet Is Slip-Sliding Away." The subtitle said, "The massive glaciers are deteriorating twice as fast as they were five years ago. If the ice thaws entirely, sea level would rise 21 feet." It is true that sea levels would rise a lot if all the ice melted. However, what the article does not tell you is that overall, ice on Greenland is accumulating - not melting! I couldn't believe that the L.A. Times would published such a deceptive article, so I wrote the editor (and the author, Mr. Robert Hotz), but received no reply...
Global Warming: Deceptive Article in Los Angeles Times
http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/global_warming_deception.html
Global warming PowerPoint presentations
Two PowerPoint versions of the global warming paper have been prepared. Although the
companion paper is somewhat technical, the new PowerPoint presentations cover
more of the background information with many more graphics and animations. So,
if you want to get caught up on global warming issues without spending a lot of
time reading long articles, these PowerPoint presentations are for you. The
standard presentation allows you to browse the slides manually. A larger,
narrated version is available below.
Global Warming PowerPoint Presentation
(3.5 MB)
http://www.godandscience.org/ppt/global_warming.ppt
In addition to a standard PowerPoint presentation, a fast-moving, auto-play presentation with narration has been prepared. Total run time is 25 minutes. Sit back and enjoy the show!
Global Warming PowerPoint
Presentation with Narration
(20.4 MB)
http://www.godandscience.org/ppt/global_warming_narration.ppt
Don't have Microsoft PowerPoint? Get the free PowerPoint Viewer
In Preparation
I am preparing a new page that argues that the candor and negative aspects of people of faith presented in the Bible ensures that the accounts are true. If the writers had just made up the stories, then the negative aspects of their lives would have probably been left out. If you have ideas about including certain Bible heroes in the new page, please e-mail me. Here are the people I am currently considering:
- Noah - drunkenness
- Abraham - lack of trust in God
- Lot - drunkenness
- Moses - avoiding God's call
- Isaac and Rebekah - favoritism
- Jacob - stealing the birthright
- Joseph - deceiving his brothers
- David - adultery and murder
- Job - justified himself
- Jonah - ran from God
- Disciples - Peter, John, Matthew, Thomas, Paul, John Mark
Newsletter Info
New Pages
http://www.GodAndScience.org/new.html
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In Christ,
Rich Deem
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Evidence for God from Science
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http://www.godandscience.org/newsletters/2006-08.html
Last Modified August 24, 2006
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