Remembering David Wilkerson: A Godly Preacher Has Passed Away

David Wilkerson (1931-2011). Image courtesy of Wikipedia.




Joel Kontinen


“David served the purposes of God in his generation, then he died” (Acts 13:36). This is how Gary Wilkerson introduced the death of his father David Wilkerson in a blog post.

On Wednesday, April 27th, David Wilkerson’s earthly life came to an end in a traffic accident. He died instantly in a head-on collision with a truck in Texas. His wife Gwen, who was with him in the car, was injured but is expected to recover fully from her injuries.

David Wilkerson (1931-2011) hardly needs an introduction. Millions of people have read his books, especially The Cross and the Switchblade that has become a Christian classic.

Rev. Wilkerson passed away just a month before his 80th birthday.

Wilkerson emphasised God’s love and holiness both in his personal life and his preaching. Love for the lost caused him as a young preacher to venture among drug addicts and gangsters in New York to live out the gospel.

Nicky Cruz, a gang leader seething with hate and anger, threatened to kill him, but as the book Run Baby Run shows, the cross overcame the switchblade.

David Wilkerson’s Teen Challenge ministry became the most effective way of reaching and rehabilitating drug addicts and alcoholics due to its “Jesus factor”.

God’s holiness made him speak against the excesses of what came to be known as the prosperity gospel and against some weird manifestations of the charismatic movement. He for instance warned his church members not to attend meetings in which Rodney Howard-Browne of the “holy laughter” fame was speaking.

In 1987 David Wilkerson founded Times Square Church in New York and served as its pastor until 2002. The over 8000-member Manhattan church also gives aid to the poorest of the poor both in America and elsewhere, for instance to orphans in South Africa and street children in Russia.

Wilkerson’s preaching focused on Christ and the cross.

In 1973 he saw a vision that was later published in book form. While Wilkerson repeatedly pointed out that he was not a prophet, he predicted many things, most of which have already been fulfilled:

· The Iron Curtain would fall
· Weird weather phenomena would become commonplace
· The global economy would crumble
· Homosexuality would gain popularity and acceptance to the degree that many denominations would begin to ordain homosexual priests
· Christians would be persecuted in the western world

Some of these predictions sounded too improbable in 1973, when people knew that the weather was getting cooler globally and the Iron Curtain would never come down.

In his last blog post David Wilkerson exhorted his readers: ”Hold fast to your faith. Stand fast in his Word. There is no other hope in this world.”


Sources:

Pulliam Bailey, Sarah. 2011. David Wilkerson Killed in Car Crash Christianity Today (27 April).

Wilkerson, David. 1974. The Vision. New York: Pyramid Communications.

Ants Build Living Rafts to Stay Alive

Fire ants. Image courtesy of Stephen Ausmus, Wikipedia.



Joel Kontinen

Fire ants (Solenopsis invicta) are surprisingly innovative animals. Working as a team, they can build living rafts in order to survive floods.

They construct their ark from ants, i.e. themselves and others. What is even more remarkable is that they don’t get wet although they would have to be long in the water – not even those that are at the bottom of the raft.

Recently, the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published research examining the raft-building capacity of these ants.

Promoters of Darwinian evolution have often failed to notice that many other animals are cleverer than chimpanzees.

The Bible describes ants as very industrious animals: “Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!” Proverbs 6:6 exhorts us.


Source:

Buchen, Lizzie. 2011. Ants team up to stay dry. Nature News. (26 April).

Helium Leaks Too Fast - Problems for Millions of Years

Joel Kontinen

Are radiometric dating methods reliable? Andrew Snelling, who has a PhD in geology, explains that recent research has caused insurmountable problems for some methods.

An 8-year research project known as Rate (Radioisotopes and the Age of the Earth), funded mostly by the Institute for Creation Research, showed that helium leaks too fast out of rocks. This calls for a more critical approach to the view that Earth is billions of years old.

Dr. Snelling discusses his research in this brief video clip:

Robbing Jesus’ Body – The Mother of All Conspiracy Theories?

El Greco: Christ Carrying His Cross (1580). Image courtesy of Wikipedia. Surprisingly many people think that the first Christian Easter was a result of a huge conspiracy theory.




Joel Kontinen

Conspiracy theories are popular in our time. Even science publications can subscribe to these "theories", especially when they comment on legislation that allows critical thinking in biology classes. Darwinists are afraid that evil creationists will replace evolution by their own version of origins.

These theories do not have anything to do with reality, however.

How do conspiracy theories come about? The Gospel of Matthew describes an ancient conspiracy that still has some adherents, especially among skeptics.

Jesus’ tomb was empty but the body was nowhere to be seen. The authorities had to invent an explanation that would convince the people.

”Some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, ‘You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.’ So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day. ” (Matt. 28:11-15, NIV.)

The explanation was absurd. The Romans who ruled Palestine at the time would have punished sentries who slept while on duty with death. But if the resurrection of the body was too frightful an idea, they had to explain it in some way.

Robbing Jesus’ body is not the earliest conspiracy theory, however. Genesis tells us about the mother of all conspiracy theories. The serpent asks Eve, ”Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” causing her to doubt the goodness of God.

This conspiracy theory that the devil concocted has many adherents even today, but it does not have anything to do with reality. God is still good and He only wants to do good to us humans.

We should nevertheless remember that God is also holy and we can only approach Him on His conditions.

Swedish Pastor Ulla Karlsson: Humans Do Not Need to be Atoned

A Swedish pastor does not need the cross or the atonement. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.




Joel Kontinen

Each year, Easter time is heralded by skeptical writings that attempt to deny some aspects of the historicity of Jesus’ death and resurrection. This year we heard from Ulla Karlsson, a Swedish Lutheran pastor. She wrote two brief articles in Kyrkans tidning, a church publication, trying to convince her readers that Christians ought to cease from talking about ”sin, guilt, blood and other abominable things. They are not appropriate for today’s enlightened people.”

We have heard all this before. People are offended by the message of the cross. Two thousand years ago the apostle Paul wrote: ”We preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength". (1 Corinthians 1:23-25, NIV.)

Instead of sin and judgment, Karlsson only wants to preach about love as she does not believe that the Fall described in Genesis was a real historical event.

It is not difficult to guess that this scepticism is due to theistic evolution.

Ms. Karlsson thinks that Jesus was a great spiritual man who was killed for his radical views but she does not accept the biblical view that regards Him as the Saviour who came to atone for our sins and iniquities.

However, time and again Jesus said clearly that His way would take Him to the cross. The apostles explained that this was because of our sins.

Sources:

Karlsson, Ulla. 2011. Webbdebatt: Plocka bort talet om synd, skuld och slaktade lamm. Kyrkans tidning (24 March).

Karlsson, Ulla. 2011. Kyrkan har ett ärende utan försoningsoffer. Kyrkans tidning (31 March).

Amateur Archaeologist Says He Has Found the Nails Used in Jesus’ Cross

Giotto di Bondone: Jesus Before Caiphas. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.


Joel Kontinen

Simcha Jacobovici is an Israeli Canadian journalist, TV producer and amateur archaeologist, who is not averse to facing challenges – or being in the news. Four years ago, for instance, he promoted the controversial “discovery” of the Lost Tomb of Jesus with James Cameron.

This time he says he has found the nails that were used in Jesus’ crucifixion.

In 1990 Israeli archaeologists found two ossuaries or bone boxes in Jerusalem that had the inscriptions Caiphas and Joseph son of Caiphas. Skeptics had previously claimed that a high priest named Caiphas had never existed but time and again archaeological discoveries have shown that the skeptics were wrong.

According to the Gospels, Caiphas was the high priest when Jesus was crucified.

The nails were also discovered in Caiphas’ tomb. Jacobovici says that one of them was inside the ossuary and the other was beside it. Archaeologists do not necessarily share this view, however.

Jacobovici says that finding nails in a tomb is very exceptional. He thinks that the nails are as significant as if one were to find boxing gloves in Muhammed Ali’s tomb.

Associating the nails with Jesus’ cross seems a bit far-fetched. We should not forget that Caiphas was not crucified but our sins took Jesus to the cross.

Israeli archaeologists are more skeptical of the nails than Jacobovici. Although nails were used in crucifixions, they were also used for many other purposes.

Jesus’ empty tomb speaks of the atonement. The nails may be an interesting detail, but archaeologists would need more evidence before they are willing to accept Jacobovici’s claim.

Source:

Chabin, Michele. 2011. Archaeologist thinks he might have found nails from Jesus’s cross. The Washington Post (15 April).

New Science Book Shows Junk DNA Does Not Exist

Joel Kontinen

In 2000 Jonathan Wells, who has a PhD in molecular and cell biology, showed in his book Icons of Evolution that the best and most widely promoted proofs of Darwinian evolution either did not support evolution or were misleading.

In his new book The Myth of Junk DNA (Discovery Institute Press, 2011) Dr. Wells criticises one of the few remaining “proofs” of Darwinism – junk DNA.



Many well-known Darwinists, for instance Richard Dawkins, Kenneth Miller and Francis Collins, have claimed that much of the human genome is junk left over from evolution. However, recent discoveries have shown that they erred – and very badly, to boot.

Wells shows that junk DNA is a myth that does not even exist.

A Grizzly – Polar Bear Hybrid Is Evidence of What Genesis Says of After Its Kind

This polar bear is mostly white. Image courtesy of Ansgar Walk, Wikipedia.





Joel Kontinen


In 2006 hunters shot a white bear that had brown patches in its fur. DNA tests indicated that the animal that had lived in the Arctic region was a hybrid, a descendant of a grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) and a polar bear (Ursus maritimus). Known as pizzly, prizzly or grolar bears, they are increasingly being spotted in the wild. Four years later, for instance, a hunter in Canada killed another of these hybrids.

Conservationists are afraid that polar bears might eventually die off as a distinct species if they keep on mating with grizzlies.

Although evolutionists are worried, we should not be surprised at the behaviour of bears and the ability of some species to get offspring with animals of another (although closely related) species. The existence of hybrids shows that the Genesis concept ‘kind’ differs considerably from, and is a wider concept than, the term species used in modern biology.

While the grizzly bear and the polar bear are distinct species, they belong to the same Genesis kind. Likewise, lions and tigers belong to the same biblical kind.

Source:


Kelly, Brendan, Andrew Whiteley and David Tallmon. 2010. The Artic Melting Pot. Nature 468 (7336): 891.

No Place for God in the Humanist Bible

We won’t find atonement in this bible.



Joel Kontinen


A.C. Grayling, who is a leading atheist philosopher, has written The Good Book: A Humanist Bible (Walter Publishing 2011). Unlike all other Bibles, it lacks the spiritual dimension entirely. Grayling has divided his work into relatively short chapters like the real Bible and even drawn up his own version of the Ten Commandments.

Grayling, a professor at Birkbeck College, University of London, chose to quote the views of leading thinkers in his 600-page book. However, instead of apostles and prophets, he decided to use the ideas of secular philosophers and other thinkers.

Ancient thinkers often had wise ideas. Many philosophers and poets discussed fundamental questions.

When speaking with Greek philosophers at Athens, the apostle Paul for instance quoted two philosophers, Epimenides and Aratus. Both writers dealt with man’s relationship to God. Epimenides, (ca. 600 B.C.), a poet from Crete, said: “For in him [God] we live and move and have our being.” Aratus (ca. 315-240 B.C. ) from Cilicia wrote: ”We are his [God’s] offspring.”

Paul nonetheless understood that thinking about God was not enough. Man has to acknowledge that God is the Creator, Redeemer and Judge, who has left clear marks of his handwriting everywhere in nature.

Grayling arranged his work in roughly the same way as the Bible, to the extent that the name of the first chapter is Genesis. However, the chapter does not describe the early days of Adam and Eve, but a major scientific breakthrough featuring Sir Isaac Newton, who noticed that an apple falls downward from a tree.

Appealing to Newton in a humanistic work is somewhat ironic, since he believed sincerely that the Bible is a true account of mankind’s history and he also defended its credibility.

The fall of the apple is in any case Grayling’s version of the Fall of man. Humanists deny the sinfulness of man and believe that people are basically good.

If history teaches us anything, it teaches us that they have not learnt much from history.

Professor Grayling probably wants to show that even humanists are capable of living the good life, as long as they heed his ten commandments:

1 Love well.
2 Seek the good in all things.
3 Harm no others.
4 Think for yourself.
5 Take responsibility.
6 Respect nature.
7 Do your utmost.
8 Be informed.
9 Be kind.
10 Be courageous: at least, sincerely try.

The list of commandments suggests that Grayling owes most of his ideas to the real Bible, although in his world man and nature replace God. The work reflects man’s desire to be independent of his Creator, to the extent that he even denies His existence – for ideological reasons.

For Grayling, the crucified Christ is, to use the apostle Paul’s words, foolishness (1 Cor. 1:24). Paul pointed out that God’s wisdom is hidden from those who do not believe: “The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.” (1 Cor. 2:14, NIV).

”But to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”

By denying the revelation God has given, man robs himself of that what God has in store for him.

Source:

Ravitz, Jessica. 2011. Leading atheist publishes secular Bible.
CNN Belief blog (11 April).

Lawyer Wants to Get Human Rights for Animals

"I want full rights (and a few bananas)!" Image courtesy of Wikipedia.



Joel Kontinen

At the beginning of April, the journal Science published two short articles on animal rights. Steven Wise, an American lawyer, has for several years campaigned for at least some kind of personal rights for chimpanzees and dolphins.

Wise is not the only one who tries to explain away the enormous differences between humans and animals. Biology textbooks and natural history museums have been doing it for several decades.

Thomas White, who is a professor of ethics, has previously suggested that we should think of dolphins as “non-human persons”.

Wise says that he draws inspiration from the writings of Peter Singer. Like other activists, Singer is reluctant to give full human rights to unborn babies.

Although causing cruelty to animals is an un-Christian thing to do, animal rights activists are hardly worried about even more un-Christian issues, for instance, laws that give doctors and nursing staff the right to kill unborn babies or the reluctance to truly respect old and infirm people.

Ideas have consequences. One of the consequences of Darwinism is that while its adherents wish to promote and defend animal rights, they are often indifferent to the plight of humans.

Source:

Miller, Greg. 2011. A Road Map for Animal Rights. Science 332 (6025): 30-31. (1 April).

50 Years Ago: Comrade Gagarin Did Not See God in Outer Space

Yuri Gagarin in 1964. Image courtesy of Sydsvenskan.se.



Joel Kontinen

For Soviet Union, its space programme was an ideological competition against the United States. When Yuri Gagarin orbited the earth 50 years ago, the Soviets interpreted it as evidence for the superiority of the communist system.

Having returned from his 108- minute long space flight, comrade Gagarin said that he had not seen God in outer space.

C. S. Lewis, who was a former atheist, commented on the incident in his essay Seeing Eye that was later published in Christian Reflections. He suggested that many had claimed that they had not seen Shakespeare in Shakespeare’s dramas. According to Lewis, it would be foolish to try to discover God as something He Himself had made.

On the other side of the Atlantic, space travellers took an approach that differed diametrically from that of the first cosmonaut. The Apollo 8 astronauts, for instance, read the first ten verses of Genesis in a direct broadcast to all the people “on the good earth”. For them, space proclaimed the glory of God.


Sources:

Lewis, C. S. 1968. Entisen ateistin kristillisiä esseitä. (Christian Reflections).Translated by Olavi Aula. Porvoo: WSOY.

Virkkula, Simopekka. 2011. Toveri G. nuuhkaisi tähtiä. Aamulehti 12 April, B15.

Journal Wants to Banish the Word Design from Biology

The father of newspeak. Image courtesy of Wikipedia. An evolution journal wants scientists to use Orwellian language.



Joel Kontinen

Darwinians are obviously frustrated with their inability to make both scientists and laypeople understand evolution in the way they wish. The editorial of a recent issue of the journal BioEssays encourages scientists to embrace a method made popular by George Orwell: one should use words that mean something very different from what one might assume.

Andrew Moore, the journal’s editor-in-chief, wants scientists to present biological phenomena by using “Evolution new-speak”. (Whereas Orwell used the term newspeak, Moore prefers the form new-speak.)

The problem has to do with teleology. Science journals often use words that indicate a purpose or goal. Moore says that even our old friend Richard Dawkins erred in suggesting that the watchmaker is blind. According to Moore, even a blind watchmaker is a watchmaker, so Dawkins actually promoted the view that biological systems have been designed.

Moore suggests that scientists should avoid giving their readers this impression. Whereas ”Evolution old-speak” says: ” Structure X is designed to perform…”, "Evolution new-speak" uses the form: ”Structure X performs Y.”

Expressions such as ”how nature solved this problem (X)” are also banned in Darwinian orthodoxy. The proper way to say it is: ”How evolution resulted in.”

The basic problem evolutionists are facing is that practically all biological systems look as though they are designed. Denying this obvious fact has been a hard nut to crack for Darwinists.

Writing to the church in Rome, the apostle Paul said: ” For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”

Source:

Moore, Andrew. 2011. We need a new language
for evolution. . . everywhere. BioEssays 33 (4): 237.

The Name Jesus Is Too Controversial for Californian Movie Theatres

Marco Palmezzano: Crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth (ca. 1490). Image courtesy of Wikipedia. The cross is still a stumbling block and foolishness for those who do not believe.



Joel Kontinen

Mentioning the name Jesus is too controversial – at least for movie theatres in California.

Compass Bible Church in Aliso Viejo, California, paid over 5,000 dollars for the right to play a 30- second advertisement of its Easter sermon in 45 movie theatres in Orange County for three weeks, beginning on April 1.

The advertisement discusses the resurrection of Jesus. It mentions some of the most common excuses skeptics use for not believing that Jesus rose from the dead, for instance, that the disciples stole the body or that Jesus merely feinted and did not die.

The film clip then states that the church believes in Jesus’ literal resurrection.

This was too much for the National CineMedia that supervises advertisements shown in movie theatres. The organisation was afraid that some in the audience would be offended because the advertisement mentions the words Jesus Christ.

NCM returned the money to the church and denied it the right to present the film.

It seems that nothing has changed in 2,000 years. As the apostle Paul said: ”The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Cor. 1:18, NIV).

You can see the banned advertisement here.

Source:

Sun, Eryn. 2011. Church Easter Service Ad Pulled for Mention of Jesus. The Christian Post. (30 March).

Jesus and the Repentant Robber

Marco Palmezzano: Crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth (ca. 1490). Image courtesy of Wikipedia.



Joel Kontinen

Luke narrates a dialogue between Jesus and the repentant robber on the cross. After one of the two robbers who were crucified with Jesus mocked Him, the other condemned man pleaded: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23: 42-43, NIV).

According to an old unorthodox doctrine, after His death Jesus went to hell where He was tormented for three days by Satan. This “Jesus died spiritually” (JDS) doctrine obviously stems from the writings of E. W. Kenyon, who introduced the idea to Kenneth Hagin. After Hagin, the JDS doctrine has been taught by Kenneth Copeland and Joyce Meyer, for instance.

Now, if Jesus went to paradise, He obviously could not have been tormented in hell at the same time. Although as God Jesus can be omnipresent, the JDS doctrine sounds like the Schrödinger's cat paradox with a cat being dead and alive simultaneously.

The JDS doctrine claims that Jesus died twice, first as a human being and then as a spirit being. This view has a basic problem: it is not supported by the Bible. Several New Testament passages say that Jesus atoned for the sins of the world on the cross.

“It is finished,” Jesus said as He was dying. There was no need for Him to die a second time.

While some New Testament verses, such as 1 Peter 3:19 and Ephesians 4:9-10, seem to indicate that Jesus did indeed descend into hell, Scripture never says that Satan had the power to torment Jesus there. In contrast, it states that Jesus preached to spirits, not that He was tormented by them. Furthermore, a spirit being cannot die, so the JDS doctrine is totally without scriptural support. It adds something to the Bible that is not there. When measured by biblical standards, it falls apart completely.

The apostle Paul points out in Colossians 2: 15 that Jesus defeated the forces of the evil one on the cross: “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”

Jesus’ victory was completed on the cross. There was no need for Him to suffer any more after that.

Critical Thinking Allowed in the Classroom in Tennessee

Teachers and students will be allowed to take a critical look at Darwin. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

Joel Kontinen


With a vote of 70 –23, the Tennessee State Legislature passed an academic freedom bill. Teachers will be able to encourage their students to “understand, analyze, critique, and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of existing scientific theories covered in the course being taught, such as evolution and global warming.”

A similar bill was passed in Texas in 2009. The Texas Board of Education also allowed critical thinking in science classes.


Source:

Tennessee General Assembly. Bill Summary.
*HB 0368 by *Dunn, White, Hensley, Faison, Lollar, Evans, McCormick, Shipley, Weaver, Eldridge, Rich, Maggart, Carr, Alexander, Floyd, Miller D, Hill, Holt, Butt, Sparks, Powers, Cobb , Roach, Parkinson. (SB 0893 by *Watson.)

Teachers, Principals and School Personnel - As introduced, protects a teacher from discipline for teaching scientific subjects in an objective manner. - Amends TCA Title 49, Chapter 6, Part 10.

Nobelist Richard Smalley, Discoverer of Fullerine: Evolution Is Bad Science

Fullerene. Image courtesy of Michael Ströck, Wikipedia.




Joel Kontinen



The latest issue of Creation magazine has an excellent article on professor Richard Errett Smalley, the co-discoverer of fullerene.

For most of his life Smalley (1943 – 2005) was a skeptic. He accepted Darwinian evolution at an early age and was critical of religion.

Smalley obtained a PhD at Princeton University in 1973 and was a professor of chemistry, physics and astronomy at Rice University. In 1996 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (together with Harold Kroto and Robert Curl) for discovering fullerene.

Fullerene, commonly called a buckyball, is a soccer-ball shaped allotrope of carbon that is nowadays used in nanotechnology.

Professor Smalley is known as the grandfather of nanotechnology.

Having heard a lecture on intelligent design, professor Smalley decided to examine evolution in depth. In an e-mail to Dr. Jerry Bergman, his widow Debbie Smalley Wainerdi wrote: “He said that if he conducted his research the way that they [i.e. those who did research on evolution] did, he would never be respected in the scientific community”.

According to professor Smalley, recent discoveries in genetics and cell biology had put an end to the credibility of Darwinian evolution. He thought that biological evolution was not even possible.

Later Smalley gave up skepticism and turned to Christianity. For a while he believed in theistic evolution but after examining the issue in more depth, he became convinced that God could not have used evolution. He was sure that Genesis was right and evolution was wrong.

During his final years, Smalley began to criticise evolution in public. He planned to challenge the scientific community but died of leukaemia before he could do so.



Source:

Bergman, Jerry. 2011. From skepticism to faith in Christ: A Nobel laureate’s journey. Creation 33 (2): 42-43.

An Ancient Sabre-toothed Animal Preyed On – Plants

Fruit bat. Image courtesy of Gustav Mützel, Brehms Tierleben (1927).




Joel Kontinen


Many people assume that an animal with sharp teeth kills and eats other animals.

Skeptics often use this argument against the very good world of Genesis where there were no predators.

There is a major problem in this view– it is not always true. Even today there are sharp-toothed animals that eat plants. Pandas prey on bamboo and fruit bats drink nectar and eat tropical fruit.

Recently, National Geographic had an article on a dog-sized, sabre-toothed animal discovered in Brazil. Named Tiarajudens eccentricus, the fossil is assumed to be 260 million years old. Its discoverer, palaeontologist Juan Carlos Cisneros, and other experts assume that it was a herbivore or a plant-eater.

What do we learn from this find? We should at least remember that sharp teeth or even tusks are not a good argument against the very good world of Genesis.

Source:

Handwerk, Brian. 2011. Odd Saber-Toothed Beast Discovered—Preyed on ... Plants? National Geographic News 24 March.

The Bible – A Collection of Old Nomadic Tales?

Joel Kontinen


I have often stumbled upon the view that the Bible cannot be a reliable source of faith and conduct since it consists of old nomadic tales. Many people assume that nowadays we know a lot more about things than the ancient Israelites did.

In reality, the Bible has little to do with nomadic tales. The author list of the Old Testament will reveal surprising insights for those who assume the Israelites were uneducated pastoralists. Moses was educated among the pyramid-building Egyptians. David and Solomon were kings, and Daniel had a high political office in Babylonia.

The view that the ancient Israelites were ignorant peasants has become an urban legend that has continued to live a life of its own despite the evidence.

Moreover, none of the New Testament authors was a nomad. Paul was a learned theologian and Luke a doctor. Doctors were not simpletons even in Bible days.

The old writings in the Bible include surprisingly timely teachings. The Bible was ahead of the times even in many small details: ”Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!” Proverbs 6:6 exhorts us. This is no empty plea: Some ants are capable of building anthills that are over 9 metres (30 feet) high.

Taking their size into account, humans would have to erect buildings that are over 2 kilometres (1.25 miles) high to be able to compete with these clever builders.

Jesus exhorted us to look at the birds of the air. Researchers have only recently begun to comprehend how intelligently small birds are designed. Robins, for instance, use so advanced quantum technology in navigating with the help of Earth’s magnetic field that in spite of decades of research humans have been unable to catch up with these tiny birds.

The Bible’s spiritual teachings are not outdated, either. The apostle Paul wrote in Romans that the gospel is "the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes”. It is not merely theory but the gospel also works in practice in our time. There is plenty of empirical evidence for this.

The gospel changes the person who accepts the salvation that God offers.

Source:

Doyle, Shaun. 2011. Termite mounds: cities in miniature. Creation 33 (2): 36-38.