UK Media Blast Richard Dawkins for Refusing to Debate William Lane Craig

Richard Dawkins refuses to debate theists. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.




Joel Kontinen

Richard Dawkins likes to get his voice heard. But there is one thing that he is not so fond of, and that is appearing in forums where his view might be subject to critical analysis.

Recently, Dawkins turned down an invitation to debate Christian apologist Dr. William Lane Craig. He said that he would not share a platform with someone who was "an apologist for genocide.” Dawkins was referring to God's instructions to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 20 concerning their war against the Canaanites.

Dawkins quoted a text Craig had written on the commandment to wipe out the Canaanites, who had a habit of sacrificing their children to idols. Craig pointed out that the account “offend[s] our moral sensibilities. Ironically, however, our moral sensibilities in the West have been largely, and for many people unconsciously, shaped by our Judaeo-Christian heritage, which has taught us the intrinsic value of human beings, the importance of dealing justly rather than capriciously, and the necessity of the punishment’s fitting the crime.”

Dawkins, of course, did not quote this part of Craig’s article.

The UK media have interpreted Dawkins’ decision as cowardice. They see the appeal to genocide as a very poor excuse. Daniel Came writes in The Guardian:

"Given that there isn't much in the way of serious argumentation in the New Atheists' dialectical arsenal, it should perhaps come as no surprise that Dawkins and Grayling [another humanist who refused to debate Craig] aren't exactly queuing up to enter a public forum with an intellectually rigorous theist like Craig to have their views dissected and the inadequacy of their arguments exposed."

Came concludes, “it is quite obvious that Dawkins is opportunistically using these remarks as a smokescreen to hide the real reasons for his refusal to debate with Craig.”

There is, in other words, the chance that the audience might actually be able to see what the atheistic emperor’s new clothes are like.

Writing in The Telegraph, historian Tim Stanley ends his article with the words, “In Craig, Dawkins met his match. Like Jonah, he was confronted by the truth and he ran away.”


Sources:

Came, Daniel. 2011. Richard Dawkins's refusal to debate is cynical and anti-intellectualist. The Guardian (22 October).

Stanley, Tim. 2011. Richard Dawkins is either a fool or a coward for refusing to debate William Lane Craig. The Telegraph. (21 October).

Why Do Darwinists Believe in Conspiracy Theories?

Dr. Eugenie Scott. Image courtesy of Carrie Sager, Wikipedia.




Joel Kontinen

A just-released film “examines the hijacking of science education by religious fundamentalists.”

The claim is a rather interesting one, as evolutionists have a monopoly on science education in the USA and elsewhere. The film No Dinosaurs in Heaven features Dr. Eugenie Scott, the executive director of the National Center for Science Education, an organisation that exists for the sole purpose of promoting the teaching of Darwinian evolution.

It seems that at least some prominent evolutionists believe in conspiracy theories. There is actually not a whim of truth in their pretentious claim.

The film was released by Jezebel Productions. Jezebel was the queen who persecuted the prophet Elijah and tried to put an end to the worship of Yahweh in Israel.

Microevolution and Macroevolution

The polar bear and the grizzly bear belong to the same Genesis kind. Image courtesy of Ansgar Walk, Wikipedia.



Joel Kontinen

Microevolution and macroevolution are concepts that one often bumps into in discussions on the Darwinian view of the development and biodiversity of life. Many people assume that microevolution refers to changes within an existing species and macroevolution has to do with changes that give rise to new species.

Evolutionists believe that given enough time, say a few million years, microevolution will lead to macroevolution.

These concepts are misleading. The Genesis concept of kind has a much wider meaning than the term species used in modern biology. We cannot thus regard dog breeds as evidence of microevolution.

Speciation or the origin of a new species does not have to do with ”macroevolution”, but it speaks of the ability of living beings to adapt to their environment.

The polar bear and the grizzly bear seem to belong to the same Genesis kind. The same applies to the lion and the tiger. Their offspring are known as ligers.

Creation Ministries International and Answers in Genesis, for instance, recommend against using the concept microevolution.

Paedophilia and Polygamy Challenge the Traditional View of Marriage

The biblical model of marriage is based on Genesis: an exclusive and permanent union of one man and one woman.



Joel Kontinen

In August 2011 a group of American psychologists held an academic conference aimed at changing current views on paedophilia, making it into an acceptable sexual orientation.

Their organisation, known as B4U-ACT, consisting of psychologists and health care professionals, attempts to get the American Psychological Association (APA) to re-classify paedophilia, so that it would no longer be regarded as a mental disorder.

According to the B4U-ACT’s webpages, one should take a similar approach to paedophilia as to homosexuality, because (as they claim) individuals are unable to change their sexual orientation.

At the same time the American TV series Sister Wives presents polygamy in a positive light.

Accepting homosexuality and re-defining marriage are only one step in the desire some liberals have of destroying marriage as an institution. There is more to come.

When people reject God’s revelation, the consequences are disastrous, going from bad to worse.

Sources:


Colson, Chuck and Timothy George. 2011. The 'Big Love' Strategy. Christianity Today. (18 October).

Kryn, Jeremy. 2011. Academic conference seeks to normalize pedophilia. LifeSiteNews (16 August).

Harold Camping Errs on Prediction of the End of the World – Once Again

Harold Camping predicted that the world would end on October 21st. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.




Joel Kontinen

Harold Camping made headlines with his prediction that Jesus would return on May 21st and that the world would end five months after that or on October 21st.

Mr. Camping used his date for Noah’s Flood to calculate the rapture. He said that one day in the Bible corresponds to a thousand years in human history. He dated the Flood at 4990 B.C. or over 2,500 years earlier than archbishop James Ussher’s traditional computation. According to Camping, May 21st marked the 7,000th year (or the seventh day) after the beginning of the Flood.

Camping appealed to the apostle Peter’s statement: “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day” (2 Peter 3:8, NIV).

However, the apostle did not mean that a day is a thousand years. Instead, he emphasised that God would fulfil His promise and return – in due time:

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. “

Nothing in Peter’s teaching suggests that we can calculate Jesus’ return from the year of the Flood.

Jesus said of His return, “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.” (Mark 13:32-33).

While cults like the Jehovah’s Witnesses have predicted erroneous dates for Jesus’ return, Christians have not been called to speculate on dates that they cannot know.

New Difficulty for Darwinian Evolution: The Earliest Whale Is Almost as Old as Its Assumed Land-Loving Ancestor

Pakicetus inachus. Image courtesy of Arthur Weasley, Wikipedia.


Joel Kontinen


It is becoming increasingly difficult to believe in the Darwinian story of how whales became marine animals.

Recently, a team of Argentinean and Swedish researchers found a whale jawbone in Antarctica. The bone is assumed to be 49 million years old.

In the early 1980s, evolutionists announced the discovery of Pakicetus, the grandmother of all marine whales, with great fanfare. They believe that it lived ”52 million years” ago.

Later, after they found more bones, they had to acknowledge that Pakicetus was a land animal. Now evolution is left with too little time to change a land animal into a marine creature.

Source:

Warren, Michael. 2011. Ancient whale jawbone found in Antarctica. Science on msnbc.com (11 October).

Biblical Genealogies Are Not Symmetrical

Joel Kontinen

Many Bible scholars assume that since some genealogies (such as Genesis 5 and 11) appear to be symmetrical, one can extrapolate tens if not hundreds of gaps from them.

This widespread belief stems from an essay William Green wrote in 1890. He attempted to reconcile millions of years with Genesis. Scholars have since then basically repeated this view without counting the generations in Genesis.

Some progressive creationists, for instance, think that the symmetry allows them to date Adam and Eve at 100,000 years before our time.

However, in 1980 professor Gerhard Hasel showed that this belief was erroneous. This becomes evident if we list the names mentioned in Genesis 5 and 11 side by side, as in the figure above.




Sources:

Hasel, Gerhard F. 1980. 1980b. The Meaning of the Chronogenealogies of Genesis 5 and 11. Origins 7, no. 2:53-70.

Freeman, Travis R. 2004. A New Look at the Genesis 5 and 11 Fluidity Problem. Andrews University Seminary Studies 42, no. 2, 259-286.

New Research: Early Humans Had a Paint Factory

This family tree is based on the erroneous idea of continuous development.





Joel Kontinen

It seems that it is time to discard the idea of grunting cavemen with fingers that were all thumbs.

Last week the journal Science published a report on an ancient workshop where the early inhabitants of South Africa prepared a mixture based on ochre and stored it in abalone shells.

The workshop was found in 2008 in a cave. The find is assumed to be 100, 000 years old.

Christopher Henshilwood of the universities of Bergen in Norway and Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, who led the work, says the discovery reveals an interesting characteristic of early humans: "This isn't just a chance mixture, it is early chemistry. It suggests conceptual and probably cognitive abilities which are the equivalent of modern humans," Nature news quoted him as saying.

In addition to ochre, bone, charcoal, grindstones and hammerstones were also found in the cave.

According to Genesis, humans have always been clever and innovative. Already in the fourth chapter, Moses mentions the harp and the flute as well as bronze and iron tools.

Sources:

Corbyn, Zoë. 2011. African cave's ancient ochre lab. Nature news (13 October).

Henshilwood, Christopher S. el. A 100,000-Year-Old Ochre-Processing Workshop at Blombos Cave, South Africa. Science 334 (6053), 219-222. (14 October).

Jonathan Sarfati: Evolution is Based on Blind Faith

Joel Kontinen

Jonathan Sarfati, who has a PhD in chemistry, is one of the best-known defenders of the Bible. He works as a CMI scientist, speaker and writer. He has written several bestsellers, including Refuting Evolution 1 and 2, Refuting Compromise and The Greatest Hoax on Earth?

Dr. Sarfati contributes regularly to Creation magazine and the Creation.com website. He is also featured in several videos.

On a recently released CMI video, Dr. Sarfati, a former New Zealand chess champion, talks about playing chess blindfolded, his books Refuting Evolution and The Greatest Hoax on Earth?, Richard Dawkins and the tactics evolutionists use, such as equivocation, as seen in the use of different meanings of evolution in the same context, and his own research in chemistry.

Dr. Sarfati says that whereas the Bible is based on evidence, the evolution view is based on blind faith. There is no way everything could have formed from nothing or life could have arisen from non-life.

Research: Reading the Bible frequently increases one’s will to resist abortions and defend the traditional view of marriage

Reading this book can be an effective means of reducing the number of abortions.




Joel Kontinen

Politicians should encourage people to read the Bible. It could have very beneficial results – especially for unborn babies.

According to an American study conducted in 2007, frequent Bible reading is an effective way to get one to resist abortions and defend the traditional view of marriage.

In a questionnaire survey conducted by the Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion, 1648 over 18-year-old Americans responded to questions about religion.

The results should not surprise us. The Bible is not an ordinary book. The text, inspired by the Holy Spirit, will change those who read it, provided they are willing to change.

”All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness”, the apostle Paul writes in his second letter to Timothy. (2 Tim. 3:16, NIV).


Sources:

Baylor Religion Survey, Wave II (2007). ARDA: The Association of Religion Data Archives.

The Values and Beliefs of the American Public: A National Study.

Richard Dawkins: ”Theistic Evolutionists Are Deluded”

Joel Kontinen

Richard Dawkins is not exactly known for mincing his words. In an interview on Revelation TV in March 2011 he says that evangelical Christians who see evolution as the enemy have got it right. The more “sophisticated theologians” are happy to live with evolution, but they are deluded.

This is an interview that theistic evolutionists like Karl Giberson, Francis Collins and Alister McGrath should see.

From a Fanatic to a Humble Servant

The apostle Paul is an example of the life-changing power of Jesus Christ. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.




Joel Kontinen

When someone’s religion turns into fanaticism, it tends to spell trouble for some other people. The New Testament book of Acts recounts its effect on a man called Saul. He did everything he could to punish and persecute the followers of Jesus Christ.

But then something happened: On his way to bring Christians to what he thought was justice, he met none other than the resurrected Christ.

The persecutor’s life was changed forever. Saul became Paul, the greatest Christian missionary and theologian of all times.

In discussions on the dangers of religion we should not forget what a genuine encounter with Jesus Christ can do.

What Is So Special About Israel?

Joel Kontinen

No nation under the sun is like Israel. Four millennia ago, God promised Abraham a nation and a land. As the years went by, He revealed more about the future of the descendants of this man, who dared to trust in His promises.

God warned that He would scatter the Israelites if they disobeyed Him. That is exactly what happened. He also promised that He would bring them back to their own land.

The Jews did not loose their national identity or even their language permanently.

While some Jews we able to read ancient texts in Hebrew during their long Diaspora, the language had ceased to be anyone’s mother tongue. However, Eliezer Ben Yehuda (1858 –1922) revived the language and nowadays Hebrew is a living language spoken all over Israel.

The Old Testament contains tens of prophecies about Israel’s destiny. As this video shows, most of them have been fulfilled.




The take away message of Israel’s continued existence is that we can trust God’s Word.

BBC Says Goodbye to AD and BC – or Does It?

BBC does not want to favour Christianity. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.





Joel Kontinen

The British papers have been abuzz with the news that the BBC is about to cease using BC (Before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini, year of the Lord) in favour of the more neutral designations BCE (Before Common Era) and CE (Common Era).

The statement “As the BBC is committed to impartiality it is appropriate that we use terms that do not offend or alienate non-Christians” has been circulating widely in the media during the past week.

According to the Catholic Herald, “The BBC has clarified, however, that it has not dropped the use of BC … and AD … in favour of BCE … and CE…Even so, the religion page of its website says it prefers BCE and CE, explaining that ‘in line with modern practice, bbc.co.uk/religion uses BCE/CE as a religiously neutral alternative to BC/AD.’ ”

The issue would not have made headlines if the prevailing religious climate had not been so antagonistic towards Christianity with the tendency to bid farewell to Christian traditions, institutions and morals in the UK and elsewhere in Europe.

The incident reminds us of the “happy holidays vs. merry Christmas” battles being fought in the USA or the legality of crosses or nativity scenes.

Many critics suspect that the BBC’s politically correct stance – with or without the change – is merely a pretext for denying the Christian roots of western civilisation.

Sources:

Thavis, John. 2011. Vatican paper says reported BBC dating change is ‘senseless’. Catholic Herald (5 October).

BBC Says Yes to BCE. Biblical Archaeology Society. 5 October 2011.

Iran Threatens to Execute Home Church Pastor – But the Case Is Bizarre

Joel Kontinen

Denying Islam can lead to severe problems, especially in Muslim countries. In 2009 an Islamic court in Iran sentenced Youssef Nadarkhani to death because of apostasy. He had become a Christian.

The police arrested Nadarkhani for the first time in 2006. The Iranian Supreme Court upheld the ruling against him last year. Nadarkhani, the pastor of a small house church, will be hanged if he does not ”repent” of his apostasy.

Recently, a bizarre development occurred in Nadarkhani’s case. After US and British leaders had appealed to Iran, the Iranians changed the charge against him.

According to Christianity Today, “though Nadarkhani was found guilty and sentenced to death for apostasy in 2010, the semi-official Iranian news agency Fars News reported on September 30 that he will now be executed for Zionism, rape, and extortion.”

There is nothing new under the sun, however. Not so long ago, a totalitarian state in Europe used to diagnose dissidents as being mentally ill and send them to get treatment. Iran seems to have adopted a similar strategy.




Source:

Feddes. Morgan. 2011. From Death Sentence to Rape Charges, Iranian Pastor’s Case Is Rare—and Disputed. Christianity Today. (6 October).

Charles Darwin’s Shadow Over the Herero Genocide

The traditional costume of a Herero woman includes a stylish hat. Image courtesy of Wikipedia. A century ago, German scientists did not believe that Hereros were as developed as Europeans.




Joel Kontinen

Last week, a 60-member Namibian delegation brought the skulls of 20 of their deceased forefathers to Windhoek from Germany, where they were kept on display in museums.

The Nazis did not invent human experiments. Over a century ago, German scientists inspired by Darwinian evolution examined the skulls of dead Africans. Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species had been translated into German in 1875. In addition, Ernst Haeckel promoted evolution with his writings and Nietzsche proclaimed his view of Übermensch or superman.

German scientists wanted to show that light-skinned Europeans were more evolved than dark Africans.

Germany conquered South-West Africa or the present-day Namibia in 1884. The colonial masters treated their subjects so badly that they revolted in 1896 and 1904-1908. The German troops under Lieutenant General von Trotha put down the uprising ruthlessly. Roughly 60, 000 Hereros and over 10, 000 Namas died either in battle or from malnutrition or diseases in concentration camps.

Many skulls were sent to Germany for scientific purposes.

A hundred years ago, Charles Darwin’s shadow extended far from his homeland, bringing desperation, suffering and death to Africa.


Sources:

Ambler, Marc. 2005. Herero Genocide. Creation 27 (3): 52-55.

Joy as Herero skulls arrive in Namibia. The Local. 4 October 2011.

Consequences of the Fall In the Bird Kingdom

The fieldfare (Turdus pilaris). Image courtesy of Martin Olsson, Wikipedia.




Joel Kontinen

We can see the effects of the Fall in the bird kingdom in the autumn. A few days ago a very aggressive fieldfare (Turdus pilaris) wanted to eat all ripe hawthorn berries for himself and drove a redwing (Turdus iliacus) away.

The aggression turned out to be in vain, however. The next day, there were enough berries for Bohemian waxwings (Bombycilla garrulus) and common blackbirds (Turdus merula).

Quarrelling birds tell us that we no longer live in a perfect world. ”We know that the whole creation has been groaning”, the apostle Paul writes in Romans 8:22 (NIV).

This groaning is a consequence of the Fall. Although birds cannot sin, even they suffer from the wrong choice Adam and Eve made at the dawn of history.

Genesis and the Human Race

They all belong to the same human race. Image courtesy of G. Mützel; Nordisk familjebok (1904), vol.2, Asiatiska folk, public domain.





Joel Kontinen

How many human races are there? According to Genesis, the answer is one.

Charles Darwin and other evolutionists used to argue for several races (see quotes here and here), but recent research has indicated that they were mistaken.

The apostle Paul says that all humans originate from one man, Adam. so we all belong to the same race:

"From one man He made every nation of men, to inhabit the whole earth; and He determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands." (ACts 17:26, Berean Study Bible).

Butterfly Documentary Metamorphosis Attracts Praise and Large Audiences

Joel Kontinen

Metamorphosis, Illustra Media’s new butterfly documentary, challenges Darwinian evolution and presents a strong case for intelligent design in butterflies.

Here’s what happened when an independent journalist attended Southern California premiere of Metamorphosis:

Theistic Evolutionist Karl Giberson Takes On Ken Ham

Karl Giberson does not like Answers in Genesis. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.



Joel Kontinen

Karl Giberson believes that God used evolution in creating the world and that evangelical Christians should embrace his view of origins.

A decade or so ago, Dr. Giberson edited the now defunct Templeton-sponsored newspaper Science and Theology News that in effect was a forum for promoting theistic evolution. He then said that he would not let young-earth creationists defend their views in his paper.

Giberson is known for some bizarre statements, such as that a historical-literal understanding of Genesis “robs it of everything that is interesting" and for claiming that Jesus would believe in evolution.

Dr. Giberson, who is a physicist, has been involved with the BioLogos Foundation in promoting theistic evolution.

Recently Giberson wrote a blog post, attempting to discredit young earth creationism. Referring to Mark Noll’s book The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind (Eerdmans 1995), Giberson accuses evangelicals of relying on ideas that have been discredited centuries ago.

However, in reality it is Noll’s views that do not stand up to scrutiny. Contrary to what Noll claims, the Adventists did not discover young earth creationism in the 19th century. It has been the Church’s primary view since the apostolic era. The very idea of an evangelical scandal resulted from relying too much on the views of ex-Adventist Roland Numbers, who might have had an axe to grind against his former denomination.

Giberson is puzzled about “the strange preference that evangelicals have for the discredited young-earth creationism of Ken Ham over the legitimate and well-founded science of Francis Collins. The ideas promoted by Ham are so obsolete that some of them were actually abandoned by the scientific community in the 18th century!”

Ironically, scientific research shows that some of the claims of the BioLogos Foundation (e.g. “junk DNA”) that Giberson so ardently promotes are obsolete and the uniformitarianism that led to a belief in millions of years of Earth history has to some extent also been abandoned in geology.

Source:

Giberson, Karl. 2011. Why Do So Many Evangelicals Prefer to Get Their “Science” From Ken Ham Rather Than Francis Collins? Science + Religion Today (27 September).

Sceptic Plays Fast and Loose With Language

Michael Shermer uses language in an Orwellian way. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.




Joel Kontinen

Dr. Michael Shermer, the editor of Skeptic magazine, writes a monthly column for Scientific American. Recently, for the umpteenth time he used the expression intelligent design creationists, which some Darwinians erroneously assume is a genuine term.

It is not. Using a similar analogy, one might call the English language “Anglo-Saxon German”. Try that in the British parliament.

While creationism and intelligent design have something in common, i.e., they are opposed to Darwinian dogmatism, there is a huge difference between Answers in Genesis and the Discovery Institute.

Shermer’s column was about “pseudoscience”. He writes that ID proponents “threaten science education in America, they breach the wall separating church and state, and they confuse the public about the nature of evolutionary theory and how science is conducted.”

As most people know, none of these reasons are valid or even true. There is an apt word for the current method of teaching Darwinian evolution in schools. It is called indoctrination.

Neither ID advocates nor creationists have a lobby group for stealthily bringing creationism into the classroom, unless, of course, one believes in conspiracy theories.

Since sceptics (or skeptics as the American spelling is) are fond of using Orwellian language, they might assume that other people are so too.

“Pseudo” is a word that to a great extent describes Shermer’s use of language.

Source:

Shermer, Michael. 2011. What is Pseudoscience?

Creation Is More Than Just a Story

Jesus regarded Genesis as history. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.




Joel Kontinen

Many Christians refer to the descriptions in Genesis 1 and 2 as the creation story.

The noun "story" is somewhat problematic, however. While it can mean “a true narrative, or one presumed to be true, relating to important events and famous people in the past” (Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, s. v. “story"), it has a variety of meanings and connotations.

Evolutionists, for instance, often use just so stories that are merely assumptions. It might thus be better to use the term creation account instead of calling it a story.

Jesus regarded the Old Testament text as authoritative and reliable. For Him, the characters mentioned in Genesis, for instance Adam and Eve and Noah, were real people. He regarded the description of the origin of the world in Genesis as real history.