Command the Raven

From Koinonia House Archives February 2008

EVOLUTION AND ACADEMIC FREEDOM -
Nearly 150 years after Darwin published Origin Of The Species, his theory of evolution continues to cause controversy. This next week the Florida Board of Education will vote on the state’s new science standards, including what will be required in the area of evolution education. In the meanwhile, a professor at Iowa State University recently lost an appeal after arguing his tenure was denied because he supports Intelligent Design.

While many people believe that the evolution controversy is about religion, many closely involved believe it is more about the academic freedom of a scientific minority - a minority that argues that evolution is insufficient to explain the well-engineered complexity of life on earth.

Florida

Florida’s time for the science standards battle has arrived. On February 19, the state board will finalize its decision on how to handle the prickly subject of evolution in the state’s science standards. If left as they are, the standards would promote microbes-to-man evolution as basic scientific fact.

The board held a final hearing Monday to allow differing views to be expressed. Concerned citizens traveled from the far nooks and crannies of Florida to voice their opinions and nearly 80 people spoke over five hours. Significant numbers expressed concern that evolution should not be promoted as a fact but as a theory, while others argued that a soft approach on evolution would set the state back and would fail to prepare the students for college.

The chairmen of various district school boards joined the fray.

Chairmen like Debra Walker of the Monroe County School Board argued that the science standards should remain the same. Walker asserted that there would be little controversy over evolution if people were better educated in science.

On the other hand, Patricia Weeks, chairman of the Baker County School Board argued that, “The standards deny academic freedom to students and teachers.” Her local school board had voted to request revised standards in which “evolution is not presented as fact.”

While the state board has given all sides freedom to speak, only the votes next Tuesday will show whether the open forum had any effect on the science standards.

Iowa

In the meanwhile, Guillermo Gonzalez believes that he was wrongly denied tenure at Iowa State University because he supports Intelligent Design.

Gonzalez, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy at Iowa State, appealed the decision to deny him tenure last spring. He argued that the decision was based not on his research and his teaching, but on a smear campaign against him because he supports Intelligent Design.

The Iowa Board of Regents voted 7-1 to deny his appeal on February 7. Gonzalez, however, had not been allowed to give oral arguments to the board. He believes that if he had been able to do so, he might have proved his case. Emails between professors and administrators at Iowa State justified his position.

“I don’t see how they come to reach an informed decision without all of the relevant facts,” Gonzalez said. He believes the vote was a “major blow to academic freedom.”
Related Links:
• Dr. Guillermo Gonzalez And Academic Persecution - The Discovery Institute
• Professor Who Backs Intelligent Design Loses Tenure Appeal - AP
• Evolution Backers, Opponents Make Points At Orlando Hearing - Orlando Sentinel
• Bay District School Board to Discuss Evolution - WJHG.com
- FROM: Koinonia House News Letter

From Koinonia House

IN HIS IMAGE

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” - Genesis 1:27 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)

Satan is an expert at twisting truth. The power of his deception often lies in taking the facts and mutating them into poisonous ideas that still resemble the truth, but lead to death.

In Genesis 3:4-5 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
, Satan deceived Eve by mixing truth and lie. “Ye shall not surely die,” the Serpent told Eve. “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”

Yes, eating the fruit did open Adam and Eve’s eyes to good and evil, but the price was the death of the entire human race. Our first parents did not become gods, but in fact lost their positions as close companions of the true God, the Creator of the Universe.

Satan hasn’t changed tactics since the beginning when he deceived Eve. He still directly contradicts God by twisting and perverting the truth. The descendants of Adam and Eve continue to seek to be gods, all the while throwing away their true positions as God’s redeemed and adopted children.

In our sinful nature, we humans constantly demand our own way, fight for high positions and insist, “We decide right and wrong. We are in control of our destinies. We are God.” Deceived and deceiving, we reject the Word of God and embrace deceptive words that scratch our ears and rub our feel-good emotions.

Angels of “Light”:
How to we avoid being deceived? By already knowing the truth. Plenty of New Age ideas out there come from spiritual voices that talk to people. A Course in Miracles, for instance, was allegedly dictated to Helen Schucman by an inner voice, whom she identified as “Jesus.” The problem? The principles in A Course in Miracles - for instance, that God did not create the world, and that there was never a separation from God - directly contradict the Word of God. We need to study God’s Word and know it so that we aren’t misled.

Paul the Apostle warns in Galatians 1:8 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
, “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.”

Aren’t angels good? Certainly some are, but not all of them. As Paul notes, “Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light,” (2 Corinthians 11:14 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
).  There are many spirits out there.

Who We Are In Christ:
The human condition is an extremely interesting one. We constantly err and do evil, and we deserve death (Romans 6:23 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
). We are called to be servants of one another, to be meek and humble (Matt 18:4 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
), to wash each other’s feet (John 13:14 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
). Jesus says in Luke 17:7-10 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
:

“But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.”

Humbling as that is, it is more than we deserve. It is an honor to serve the truly pure, All Mighty God.

And yet. Yet, we are precious to God. We have absolutely tremendous value to Him, so much so that He sent His only Son to die for us. He allowed us to humiliate and slaughter Jesus so that we could be cleansed and made new (John 3:16, 1 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
Peter 2:23-24 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
). One day, we will be given new bodies and will be like Him (1 John 3:2 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
). Those who suffer with him will also be glorified with him and will reign with him (Romans 8:17, 2 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
Timothy 2:12 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
).

“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” - Romans 8:18 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
8

Here is the greatest wonder. While we are to say, “We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do,” Jesus himself will come to his faithful servants and he himself, the King of the Universe, will serve them.

“Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.” - Luke 12:37 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)

That is astonishing news.

The World demands the liberty to do whatever it likes. Christ offers us freedom from corruption. The World tells us to fight for first place, to climb to the top. Christ calls us to humility and servanthood. We are not called to be servants because we are nothing. We are called to be servants because we want to be like Christ, who is everything.

God loves us and gives us tremendous worth.  Then, on top of loving us, He makes us able to do great things.  In Christ, we have strength and wisdom. In Christ we have power and authority over the enemy. In Him our brilliance and creativity can have eternal consequences, and He gives us passionate love that changes lives. In Christ, we have everything that it means to be made “in His image.”

We human beings fail to reflect our Creator much of the time. He’s perfect. We’re not. He knows everything. We just think we do. He’s holy. We fall on our faces. Despite all our many faults and failures, though, God can work through us to tear down any mountain and throw it into the sea. It isn’t about us, it’s about Him. But, God created us to be His children, to look like Him. Through Jesus, we regain what Adam and Eve lost, and so much more.

Related Links:

• Reflections of His Image: Overcomers - Koinonia House
• The Sovereignty Of Man - 66-40 Radio Show - Koinonia House

1. The Scriptures prove that Divine providence has been working in all ages in all the affairs of men. It was providence that originally brought all things into existence [Isa. 45:18 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
; Col. 1:15-19 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
], that provided redemption for the fall [Gen. 3:15 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
; Eph. 1:1-11 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
]; that preserved the race at the flood [Gen. 6:8-8 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
:22]; and that dealt with men in each dispensation giving them a chance to make good in every age.

2. The continued preservation of all things from the creation of man proves that God’s providence is working out all things after the counsel of His own will.

3. God’s love in creating and redeeming all things proves His desire to preserve creation and finally reconcile it to Himself.

4. The prevalence of order in all things proves the divine providence. One can see fixed and eternal laws governing everything in creation, evidencing an all-wise ruler and preserver of all things.

5. History records and abounds with unlimited proof of the providence of God in all things. What has happened is not the result of living in a chance world. There always has been and always will be a supernatural power guiding the affairs of all creation according to a fixed plan.

6. Religion proves a divine providence, for men in all ages have found God through the exercise of religious faculties according to the revealed will of God in the Bible.

7. Common intelligence in all rational beings proves there is a divine providence. It cannot be denied by sane men, for they experience it in many ways.

Ultimate purpose of providence:

God’s purpose has been to create a race of beings who would find their highest degree of happiness in the highest degree of holiness and who would, in proportion to their highest holiness and happiness, glorify their Creator. [Gen. 1:26-28 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
; Isa. 43:7 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
; Isa. 45:18 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
; Eph. 1:12 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
; Col. 1:15-22 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
; Rev. 4:9-11 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
; Rev. 5:11-14 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
; Rev. 7:10-12 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
].

Interpreting Divine Providence:

Experience and observation warns us against haste and over-confidence in our interpretations of happenings in life.
If certain ills come to bad men people are quick to assert it is the judgment of God. If the same things happen to good men they are quick to lay all blame on the devil.

Human interpretations fail so often it is wise not to interpret events in the lives of others.
- Dake A.R. Bible: page 633

The Morning Stars

Job 38:7 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)

When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

The morning stars are the infinite suns out in space which are suns to other planets like our sun is to our earth and its related planets.

This passage proves that the whole of the heavens was created before the earth itself or these stars could not have been singing when God laid the foundations of the earth [v 6-7].

That the material creations do sing and speak their own languages is plainly stated in Psalm 19 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
and many other scriptures. In fact, all creations have some means of communication with one another and with God and man.

This will be more in evidence after the curse is removed from all creation [Rom. 8 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
: 21-24; Rev. 22:3 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
]

[…all the sons of God]: These were angels [v7; 1:6; 2:1; Gen. 6:1-4 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
, notes]
- Dake Annotated Reference Bible: page 544

Psalm 19:1-6 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handy-work.
Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.
There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.
Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,
Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.
His going forth if from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it; and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.

The sound of the voices of the heavens, the firmament, days, and nights speak and make their knowledge known wherever men are found [v3]. Their messages of a Supreme God are manifest to all.

The heavens, God has set a tabernacle for the sun in the heavens and His hand-work of creation [v 4]

The sun has two movements of its own. It rotates on its axis just as the earth does every 25 days. It moves in a circuit through space among the stars at 12 miles a second, or 43,200 miles an hour.

Hebrew, ‘chuppah’, bridal canopy erected on 4 poles which 4 Jews held over the head of the bridegroom [v 5].

In reality the earth and the sun, as well as all heavenly bodies travel eternally in their own circuits and orbits through space in conjunction with one another. The sun moves through space in its own circuit at the rate of 43,200 miles an hour. Its own planets revolve around it as they all travel through. How long it takes to make a complete circuit through the entire heavens is not known [v 6].

The surface temperature of the sun is about 12,000 degrees Fahrenheit and the center about 40,000,000 degrees F. No life could exist on the sun.
- Dake A.R. Bible: page 556

From Koinonia House Archives 27th March 2008

TECHNOLOGY AND THE BIBLE -
Why do we believe the Bible is accurate? Is it more than just a history book? What makes it different from all other religious books? How do we know that the Bible really is the Word of God?

In the 20th century we have witnessed one of the most remarkable discoveries in recorded history: the discovery that the universe is finite. The implications of this discovery are indeed staggering. Beginning with Albert Einstein in 1903, twentieth-century physicists have demonstrated that space-time and matter had a finite, simultaneous beginning. Prior to this discovery, atheistic scientists and philosophers rested comfortably on the notion that the universe was eternal. Consequently, a universe without a beginning needed no cause, it just existed. However, a universe that has a beginning either created itself (a logical and scientific absurdity) or it was caused to exist by a Being who preceded it. By definition, that means a transcendent Creator, One who exists outside time and space.

A transcendent Creator presents some interesting possibilities. Because a transcendent Creator possesses the sufficient means to act in our space-time domain, He also has the capability to get a message to us. The Bible claims to be that message. The Bible authenticates that its text is an extraterrestrial, supernatural message system from a transcendent Creator in several ways. Not the least of which is its scientific accuracy.

The Bible declares that God is omniscient (all-knowing). He possesses a perfect understanding of the physical universe. Consequently, we would expect any book claiming to be the word of God to be without error or contradiction when it speaks on scientific issues. Well, not only is the Bible 100 percent accurate regarding scientific phenomenon, it revealed many scientific facts thousands of years before they were discovered by scientists (i.e. that time, space, and matter are finite, the universe is expanding, the spherical nature of the earth, the laws of thermodynamics, the oceanic currents, etc.)

Throughout the Bible’s text there are highly specific and accurate statements regarding the laws of physics, the nature of our solar system, the planet earth, and its life forms that were penned centuries before this scientific knowledge was discovered by the scientific community. This phenomenon, called scientific foreknowledge, is present throughout the text of the Bible and is a powerful hint of supernatural authorship.

Throughout the Bible we find the fingerprints of a supernatural message system. Numerous design features in the Biblical text defy coincidence and demonstrate that the Bible, which consists of sixty-six books, penned by forty authors over thousands of years, is an integrated message system. Astonishing evidence has gradually accumulated in the fields of archaeology, astronomy, physics, and biology which confirm the scientific and historical accuracy of the Bible, the supernatural origin of its text, and the fact that it has been preserved virtually unchanged for over two thousand years. No other holy book on planet earth authenticates its message in these ways.

Did you know that the Bible anticipates the use of nuclear weapons and smart bombs? Did you know that there are passages of Scripture that allude to modern technologies and discoveries like DNA, microchip implants, clones, holographic images, and even global television coverage? Chuck examines these scriptures in detail in his new briefing pack Technology and the Bible.
Related Links:
• Technology and the Bible - DVD - New!
• Technology and the Bible - MP3 Download - New!
• Technology and the Bible - Audio CD - New!
- From: Koinonia House News Letter

From Koinonia House

THE APES IN OUR PAST

According to Genesis, the human beings that live today all descended from the three sons and wives of Noah. That is, all the different peoples on Earth came from the variety available in the genetic code of Noah’s family. All other genetic lines were wiped out. The Bible also describes races of humans after the Flood that are apparently no longer around.

Paleoanthropology is the fascinating study of ancient humanity through the excavation of bones and evidences of human culture from thousands of years ago. Of course, the majority of paleoanthropologists long to find out not only about ancient humanity, but also about the descent of mankind from the apes. This motivation to find missing links colors every new hominid discovery. From Lucy to Turkana Boy to Peking Man, paleoanthropologists believe they have found pieces of humanity’s ancient ancestry - the links between the apes and modern day humans. But, do any true missing links exist? Or is tree of ancient humanity really just a pair of two separate bushes – one of apes and one of humans?

We cannot begin to go through all the hominid finds made over the past 150 years in this short article, but we can touch on the most familiar.

Neanderthal:
The term “Neanderthal,” still brings to mind a thick-skulled knuckle dragger with far more brawn than brain power. The Neanderthal man had heavy bones and those distinctive heavy eyebrow ridges. His chin was smaller and rounded, the center of his face jutted forward, and his skull was low and elongated. It was easy to portray him as a primitive man, closer to the apes. Today, though, scientists generally agree that Neanderthal was a highly intelligent, creative, true human being. In fact, Neanderthal had an average cranial capacity (and therefore brain size) of 1,485 cc, with a range of 1,245–1,740 cc, slightly larger than the modern human average of 1,350 cc. While greater cranial capacity doesn’t necessarily equal higher intelligence, it does look good on Neanderthal’s resume.

In his book Buried Alive, orthodontist Jack Cuozzo describes the poor reconstruction of certain original Neanderthal skulls to make them appear more ape-like and “primitive.” For example, he argues that the Le Moustier specimen was reconstructed in a way that made the jaw appear more ape-like than it would have been naturally. Cuozzo also makes the very interesting argument, based on his knowledge of jaw and tooth growth, that it appears that Neanderthals lived to be several hundred years old.

According to Live Science November 15, 2006, “[E}xcavations and anatomical studies have shown Neanderthals used tools, wore jewelery, buried their dead, cared for their sick, and possibly sang or even spoke in much the same way that we do. Even more humbling, perhaps, their brains were slightly larger than ours.”  There is no question that Neanderthal was a fully functioning human.

Homo Erectus:
Many different hominid discoveries fall into a broad Homo erectus classification. These humans include Peking Man, Java Man, and early African Homo ergaster specimens like Turkana Boy. H. erectus was a smaller person, with an average cranial capacity of 973 cc.  This falls into the low end of modern human range, which is about 700–2,200 cc according to Molnar’s Races, Types, and Ethnic Groups (1975). H. erectus bodies are generally described as very much like modern humans, though thicker boned. It is the H erectus skull that has been particularly classified as more primitive. The large brow ridges and flat, receding forehead, the smaller, forward-jutting jaw and large teeth all are considered primitive characteristics - as is the long, low-vaulted cranium and occipital torus.

Yet, these are features that Neanderthal also has, and Neanderthal is regarded as fully human. It can be argued that Homo Erectus is in fact just a small version of Neanderthal.

Harry Shapiro writes in his 1974 book Peking Man, (George Allen & Unwin Ltd, London, p. 125):

‘But when one examines a classic Neanderthal skull, of which there are now a large number, one cannot escape the conviction that its fundamental anatomical formation is an enlarged and developed version of the Homo erectus skull. As in Homo erectus, it has the bun-shaped protrusion in the occiput, the heavy brow ridge, the relatively flattened crown that from the rear presents a profile like a gambrel roof. Its greatest breadth is low, just above the ears, and the absence of a jutting chin is typical.’

He wrote that back when Neanderthals still had a fairly brutish reputation, but that doesn’t change the basic implication. H. erectus has generally been considered a couple of steps closer to the apes than we are, but if he was rather like a smaller version of the Neanderthal, his features should not necessarily be considered primitive. In fact, modern day Australian Aborigines also display many of these features, and they will be quick to assure us that yes, they really are humans too.

H. erectus also had the intelligence and technology of humans stuck out in the wilderness.  For instance, stone tools found with Peking Man show that he cut down trees, trimmed his wooden clubs and dismembered the animals caught as food. Peking Man also made use of fire. It appears that in the search for missing links, H. erectus has too quickly and erroneously placed in the less-than-fully human category.

Lucy:
The first australopiths were uncovered by Mary Leakey in Tanzania in 1959, and the Leakey family has uncovered many more specimens there in the Olduvai Gorge since. The name australopithecine means “southern ape” and Lucy (Australopithecus afarensis), discovered by Donald Johanson in 1974, was likely about as bright as chimpanzees today. The estimated cranial capacity of A. afarensis was between 375 and 540 cc and it has the large jaws and small brain cavity of apes. Lucy also has the short legs, long arms and pot belly of an ape. The thing that excites paleoanthropologists is some analysis that argues Lucy walked upright.

Yet, as we noted in our article on Ardi in October, 2009, Anatomist Dr Charles Oxnard used multivariate analysis to show that Lucy’s big toe was opposable, just like in chimpanzees. B.G. Richmond and D.S. Strait also reported in Nature in 2000 that Lucy’s wrists indicated she was actually just a knuckle-walker like other apes. Lucy is often portrayed with human feet and standing upright, but not necessarily because of her actual morphology. Human footprints have been found in the hardened ash at Laetoli, near where Lucy was found. The footprints were dated to the time of Lucy using K/Ar testing, and since evolutionists have already decided humans and Lucy did not co-exist based on their evolutionary model, they have concluded that Lucy must have made the prints herself. This is one of many examples in which evolutionists allow their pre-held beliefs to shape their conclusions, rather than depending solely on the evidence at hand.

And Others?
Cro Magnon – modern day man
Toumai (Sahelanthropus tchadensis)– an ancient ape that is dated older than Lucy but with features “younger” than Lucy’s. Definitive conclusions on Toumai are hard to come by.
Ardi (Ardipithecus ramidus)– an extinct ape whose skeletal remains were horrible crushed.
Homo habilis – arguably an invalid taxon made up of a mixture of fossils from both apes and humans

New hominid remains are found every year, always with much fanfare. Rather than clearing up the question of human ancestry for evolutionists, though, these always seem to just add another twig on the already-twiggy branches of either humans or apes. They don’t ever provide a true trunk that links the two branches together.

Related Links:

• Fossil Evidence For Alleged Apemen - Part 1: The Genus Homo - Journal of Creation
• Fossil Evidence For Alleged Apemen - Part 2: Non-Homo Hominids - Journal of Creation
• Neanderthal: 99.5 Percent Human - Live Science
• The Non-Transitions In ‘Human Evolution’ - On Evolutionists Terms - AIG Technical Journal
• Alleged Evolutionary Ancestors Coexisted with Modern Humans - ICR
• Neanderthal Man and the King of Creation - Koinonia House eNews
• Was Ardi Our Ape Ancestor? - Koinonia House eNews
• The Changing Face of Human Evolution - Koinonia House eNews
• From Astronomy to Zoology: Articles Supporting Biblical Creation - TrueOrigin.org
• Zhoukoudian - The Home of ‘Peking Man’ - ChinaTour.com

From Koinonia House

ON THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF DARWIN’S ORIGIN

November 24 will mark the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s book On the Origin of Species, one of the most influential books on biology ever written, and arguably the most controversial. One hundred and fifty years after Darwin made popular the idea that the diversity of life on planet Earth today descended (or ascended?) from lower life forms over millions of years, the general theory of evolution is still not accepted by vast numbers of people, to the chagrin of large numbers of evolutionary biologists.

Did all of life really descend from one-celled organisms that developed in primordial waters billions of years ago? Is that really what happened? If so, we should see plenty of evidence of it all around us, and there are significant numbers of scientists who argue that we indeed find just that. They argue that there are a sufficient number of transitional forms in the fossil record to support Darwin’s theory. They argue that natural selection, acting to preserve small beneficial mutations and weed out the bad ones, can indeed slowly but surely bring about the development of sophisticated structures like eyes and circulatory systems. These scientists may disagree over specifics, but in general buy the evolutionary model of origins.

While still in the minority of vocal opponents of Darwinian evolution, a growing list of degreed scientists are willing to confess they are skeptical of Darwinism’s ability to explain life on earth as we know it [see link below].  These argue that evolutionary explanations are simplistic and full of holes. Some point out problems in the favorite sequences of transitional forms, or argue that the human tree looks more like a bush without any true common stem. Some of the famous Intelligent Design theorists argue that natural selection, acting on small mutations, is vastly insufficient to explain the brilliance of even the “simplest” of life’s structures.

At that point, as the weedy scientific material gets hacked through, the dirt under the scientists’ feet begins to show. And what is that dirt, that ground, that foundation? It all gets down to the nitty gritty of a scientist’s philosophy about how science should be done.

In his July 2002 article in Scientific American, John Rennie writes what he believes are “15 Answers to Creationist Nonsense.” In that article, he offers a basic description of the philosophy of modern science, saying: “A central tenet of modern science is methodological naturalism — it seeks to explain the universe purely in terms of observed or testable natural mechanisms.”

That right there is the blessing and curse of this whole debate. Now, it’s correct that scientists use the natural world to explain the natural world. After all, the only thing we can scientifically test and weigh and directly observe is the physical world around us. It is also the job of science to strive to explain things as much as possible through testable natural mechanisms.

Yet, according to this specific philosophy on the way science should be done, God can’t be a part of the equation. Ever. Scientists have to proceed under the assumption that God is not, and that frankly limits modern science.

Let’s have a little “what if.” What if God really does exist? What if He really is the cause of things? How would modern science be able to detect Him, even indirectly? According to John Rennie, it can’t.

On principle.

In other words, evolution in some form or another has to be the scientific explanation for the incredible brilliance of life.  Some evolutionists acknowledge that life looks engineered, but will insist that intelligent design is simply an illusion.  They believe the history of earth’s life has to be one of microbes-to-man evolution because that is the only explanation that modern scientific philosophy allows.

Over the next few weeks, we want to look more closely at some of the basic arguments in the intelligent design/evolution debate and examine them, including their underlying assumptions, as carefully and honestly as we can.

Related Links:

• Ray Comfort Responds to Genie Scott on Creationist ‘Origin of Species’ - US News & World Report
• Intelligent Design Book Delivers Blow to Darwin - PR Newswire
• 15 Answers to Creationist Nonsense - Scientific American
• A List of Scientists Willing To Question Darwin - Dissent From Darwin

THE SOLAR SYSTEM

Psalm 8:3 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)

When I consider Thy Heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou has ordained.

David omits the sun here, indicating his meditation was at night. If he had considered the heavens in the day all he could have seen would be the sun and sky, not the moon and stars. These he wished to introduce because of their immense variety and splendor. The sun he describes in Psalm 19:1-6 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
.

Our solar system is about 6,000,000,000 miles across. Our galaxy, called the Milky way, contains roughly 400 billion stars, each with its family of planets.
The nearest star is 26,000,000,000,000 miles away.

It is estimated that there are 100 billion galaxies like the Milky way. This would make 40,000 million, million, million [40 sextillion] stars or suns in space.
If each sun is the center of a solar system there are 40 sextillion solar systems or 1,480,000 million, million, million planets and satellites in space.

Of the 360,000 million, million, million major plants 10% are believed habitable.
The earth is believed to be 5 ½ billion years old and middle-aged by celestial standards.

Further, it is believed that if man ever reaches other planets he may find himself just a primitive and comparatively new in existence considering other beings on other planets.
Planets are invisible to terrestrial telescopes because they are cold masses emitting no light of their own.

One thing is certain, the Bible teaches that the heavens are now inhabited [2 Chron. 18:18 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
; Neh. 9:6 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
; Job 25:3 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
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; 13:6; 19:14].

The earth which is about 25,000 miles in circumference has a solid content of 264,544,857,944 cubit miles.
It is small compared to other planets.
The sun is 1,300,000 times as big as the earth: Jupiter 1,400 times: Saturn 1,100 times: and Uranus 800 times, as big.

The sun is 2,777,000 miles in circumference. Its surface is 366,252,303,118,866,128 cubic miles.
Many of the other heavenly bodies are supposed to be much larger.
Comets and many other bodies are bigger than the earth.

The comet of 1811 A.D. had a head 112,000 miles in diameter and a tail 112,000,000 miles long. It is supposed to appear again in 3,000 years.

Mercury is said to be 36,000,000 miles from the sun; Venus 67,250,000; Earth 93,000,000; Jupiter 484,000,000; Saturn 887,000,000; Uranus 1,787,000,000; Neptune 2,797,000,000; and Pluto 3,675,000,000 miles.

A modern 200 inch telescope can see things in space over 600,000,000 light years from earth, or 3,600,000,000,000,000,000,000 [3 sextillion, 600 quintillion miles from earth].

This is how far light can travel in this many years at the rate of 186,324 miles a second.
A light year is about 5,800,000,000,000 miles.

The new Supernova recently discovered is supposed to have 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 [10 septillion] times more energy than the hydrogen bomb.

Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible – Page 618

AGE OF THE EARTH

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In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. [Dake]

We cannot say how old the earth is because we do not know WHEN the beginning was. God’s creation of the heavens and the earth in the beginning could have been millions and billions of years ago.

If geologists can prove the age of the earth to be what they claim, we have no scriptural authority to disagree. They cannot contradict the Bible, for it does not reveal any time element in connection with the earth’s original creation.

This much is certain, according to Scripture, that the earth is more than 6,000 years old, and there were inhabitants on earth before the days of Adam.

The earth was cursed and flooded, as in Genesis 1:2 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
because of sin BEFORE the 6 days of re-creation in Genesis 1:3-2 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
:25.

Lucifer was already a fallen creature when he came into Adam’s Eden, having already ruled the earth, rebelled and caused the first flood [Gen. 1:2 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
; Isa. 14:12-14 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
; Jer. 4:23-26 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
; Ezek. 28: 11-17; Lk. 10:18 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
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].
- Dake Annotated Reference Bible: Page 53.

SUMMARY OF CREATIVE AGES /ORIGINAL CREATION

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And these are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.

The first half of v 4 refers to the original creation [Gen. 1:1 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
]; the last half to the work of days 2, 3, and 4. The first work was a creation, and the second a making or a restoration of the clouds in day 2, the earth in day 3, and the solar system in day 4.

With the words, in the day that God made the earth and the heavens [v4], we have the commencement of a new section and a new narrative, complete in itself, to a great extent.

V 1:3-2:4 are the summary of the 6 days’ work: 2:4-25 are a more detailed account of the work of days 2, 3, 5, and 6.

The first narrative states what God did and embraces the universe and all things therein. The second is mainly a description of how the work of days 2, 3, 5, and 6 was done.

In the first, the Divine Being is called Elohim, indicating creative relationship and infinite power.

In the second, He is called Jehovah-Elohim, indicating covenant relationship and infinite power, so as to inspire man with implicit faith.
- Dake A.R. Bible: Page 53

ORIGINAL CREATION OF GOD:

Genesis 1:1 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

The original creations of God include the heavens, the earth and all things therein as first brought into being. They were made perfect the first time. Genesis 1:1 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
refers to the dateless past or the beginning of the creative ages [Job 38 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
; Ps. 8:3-8 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
; 19:1-6; Prov. 8:22-31 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
; 1 Jn. 1:3, 10 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
; Acts 17:24-26 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
; Col. 1:15-18 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
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; 11:3; Rev. 4:11 [show/hide]ERROR: You have exceeded your quota of 5000 requests per day. Please contact the developer of this application if you have questions. (If you're the developer and have questions about this error message, please contact Crossway.)
].

The 6 days of re-creation [Gen.1:3-2:25] are a part of and the end of the creative ages, and have nothing to do with the original creations of the heavens and earth.
- Dake A.R. Bible: Page 53