Introductory Comments:
The BIBLE represents a FAITH that FITS the FACTS
Beliefs in origins, and the interpretation of scientific evidence, is biased by whether one believes in GOD or believes there is no GOD
Evolution is a theory based on numerous assumptions, which despite all the claims of scientific support, does not fit the observable evidence.
Many of the world’s elite institutions, media groups, and leaders (schools, museums, television documentaries, many politicians & law makers) expect people to believe that the theory of evolution explains the universe and origins of life on earth. Our public education system excludes teaching any theory which challenges the principal assumptions of evolution theory. That includes the creation model. This is indoctrination, not education.
If you choose to believe in GOD and are wrong, then you are no worse off than if you chose not to believe in God. If you choose not to believe in GOD, and are wrong, you lose everything.
Summary of DVDs used for the Creation Studies Course
Week 1 – Maker of Heaven and Earth
Week 2 – Life’s Story
Week 3 – The Case for a Creator
Week 4 – Part 1 > Heaven and Earth, Part 2 > Flood geology
Week 5 – Unlocking the Mystery of Life
Week 6 – The Origin of Humans
Week 7 – From Evolution to Creation
Week 8 – Dating Fossils and Rocks
Week 9 – Astronomy and the Bible
Week 10 – The Case for Christ
DVD Notes: To be printed out for Creation Studies Course attendees.
Week 1
Maker of Heaven and Earth
Why Creation is a Gospel Issue – by Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr. – President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Produced by ICR (Institute for Creation Research) 40 Years of Ministry
Rating 10 out of 10 50 min.
Key Points
We are at a defining moment in history.
4 Horsemen of evolution – Carl Marx, Sigmond Freud, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Charles Darwin.
Europe is made up of primarily secular nations. Even in Catholic Spain only about 2-3% of the people attend church. France is pretty much the same. However, in the United States it is the educated elite who are secularized. The least religious people on earth are the Swedish people. The most religious are East Indians. America is a nation of East Indians ruled over by an elite of Swedes.
Charles Taylor, a Canadian philosopher, describes three sets of conditions of belief. Prior to the 16th century it was impossible to believe there was not a Creator. After enlightenment in the 17th & 18th centuries, it was possible to believe there was no God. In the third period which is now, it is impossible to believe. The secular world does not understand how we can believe what we believe, they think we are nuts.
Richard Dawkins believes in the selfish gene, that strives to replicate without any other purpose. He compares the lack of belief in evolution, as being comparible to denying the holocaust. The evolutionary movement seeks to marginalize and destroy the biblical foundations of the Christian faith.
The evolutionist elite are going after our children. They don’t care what happens in church, because in the end they will get them in the classrooms. 70% of Christian students leave the church by the time they finish college.
In the 21st century God & Jesus is being presented as evil. The new atheists in Europe are now claiming that to raise a child with religious conviction is a form of child abuse.
77% of Americans still reject evolution according to a recent survey, but the numbers are in decline.
There is no compromise with Darwinism. If Darwinism’s evolution theory is true, the Bible is not. We need to articulate the TRUTH with unmistakeable clarity. As we face off with the future we must, stay in the fight, sharpen the arguments, stand on the scriptures and shout it from the mountain tops.
Week 2
Life’s Story
The One That Hasn’t Been Told
Rating 10 of 10 56 min.
What does modern DNA research prove about the theory that simple cells evolved into all life on earth? The answer is simply, that evolution is impossible. So why is this information being withheld from the general public? Should Darwin’s theories still be taught as fact in our educational institutions? This is a great presentation showing how Animals could not have evolved by natural processes over long periods of time.
Evidence: (Part One)
Romans 1:19-22 – Paul writes, For the truth about God is known to them instinctively. God has put this knowledge in their hearts. From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that God made. They can clearly see his invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God. Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. The result was that their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they became utter fools instead.
The Observable World Around Us – Look at the world around us and the complexity and uniqueness of each living thing. Consider the uniqueness of the planets, the stars, and the galaxies. Then consider the majesty of the creator and the absurdity of a theory that suggests that it all just happened through time, chance and the process of natural selection.
DNA – The DNA on the head of a pin would fill enough books to extent to the moon and back 5 times. Each creature contains unique instructions for life. Darwin knew nothing of the DNA codes of life.
Limits of Adaptation – All life has the ability to adapt within limits of change. For example fish can adapt in size, color and patterning, but the result is always fish. Limits of adaptability are built into DNA. One type of animal cannot breed with another outside its own family of species. For example, a horse can breed with a donkey and produce a mule, but a horse cannot breed with a cow, because that is outside its own species. DNA polymerase regulate the replication and repair for cells which would otherwise be harmful to the creature. Adaptations do not create increased complexity, but rather decrease or simplify a more complex organism. This means that new animals cannot be produced, just variations of exisitng species. This rules out evolution creating brand new animal kinds.
Symbiosis – Two different species that are reliant on each for their existance could not have evolved by small changes over time. Parrot fish and coral reefs.
Dolphins – If Dolphins evolved then their blow holes for breathing would not have been able to evolve over time. If the holes did not close tight after breathing air or leaked, the animal would drown. Most often evolution would have to take place immediately not in a series of stages for the evolution to be successful. But then that by definition would not be evolution. Dolphins are capable of diving up to 1800 ft. At that depth the water pressure is 820 lbs. per sq. in. An animal which is claimed to have evolved from a land creature, could not have evolved slowly to withstand this type of pressure.
Movement – Animals today have not changed one bit, except by the intervention of man (intelligence). The Red Sea has 600 species of highly varied fish which survive in an identical environment. Perhaps they never evolved to begin with. The variety and way creatures are designed to move suggests that they did not have common ancestry.
Destiny – Religion is not contrary to modern science. Exactly the opposite is true. Evolutionists use religion as an excuse to demean the idea of Creation by God, in favor of a theory without God called evolution. But, evolutionists are wrong to do so. All scientific evidence is pretty much the same. It is the interpretation of that evidence based on a belief in God or a belief there is no God, that makes the difference between views.
Creationists are not intent in teaching religion in schools, but they are interested in opening up the science to include the possibility that God created, not evolution. After all if the evolutionists are correct in assuming that everything happens by natural causes without any supernatural intervention, then we have no hope beyond our short stay on this earth. However, if creationists are correct, the evolutionists have just cost the world they authored the eternal hope that is promised to those who believe. Given that choice alone, I would choose creation, I would choose God.
Evidence: (Part Two)
DNA – A 2% difference in DNA is a massive difference considering the billions of instructions that DNA contain. Scales, fur and feathers have very different properties and material make-up. Where would the coded information come from that would change one into another? There is simply no credible evidence to suggest that one form of these could change into another.
Animal variety is so unique and different from each other, that evolution cannot logically explain these differences. Creation has a logical explanation.
Intelligence, thoughts and instincts are not physical. Where do they come from if not from God?
Animals either know what they know when they are born or their parents teach them, so the lessons of survival never have enough time to evolve.
Irreducible Complexity – All parts must work together from the beginning or it won’t work at all. Examples are the eye and the human body.
Only life produces life, not chemicals.
Evolutionists believe in naturalism, atheism and humanism, whereas Creationism implies a Creator. Evolutionists lead a deceptive agenda, based on a myriad of assumptions, and discredit the biblical account of Creation, despite the overwhelming evidence for design. They hide behind a smoke screen, claiming scientific knowledge. They base there claims on unprovable and often unobservable process which they claim do not require a supernatural creator. Much of the world believes them, gives them license to indoctrinate our children and grandchildren in an education system that precludes looking at all the evidence and expunges any talk of the possibility of an intelligent designer God.
Week 3
The Case for a Creator — by Lee Stroble
Rating 10 of 10 60 min.
Lee Stroble, a former atheist, interviews scientists & scholars from the fields of physics, astronomy, cosmology, biology and human consciousness to learn that the discoveries of modern science point towards God.
Evidence:
Miller Experiment – In 1953, at the University of Chicago, Stanley Miller tried to demonstrate how life first emerged on earth by recreating the earth’s early atmosphere and exposing it to electrical charges. He produced a few amino acids in the process. Many saw this experiment as proof that natural processes could have created the building blocks of life. With reinforcement from his teacher, Lee Stroble found it easy to accept Darwinian evolution and outright atheism. He was amazed to learn that many Christians believed that you could harmonize Darwin’s evolution theory with Christianity.
Evolution is basically an undirected process, so it made no sense to Lee Stroble that a Christian God would direct an undirected process. Lee Stroble asked himself if science pushes you away from or towards God? He decided to seek the TRUTH about God regardless of where that truth led. He was about to be shocked.
Negative Evidence – Biologist Johnathan Wells explained to Lee Stroble that the Miller experiment had been totally discredited. The assumption about the earth’s early atmosphere were wrong, and when Miller made the adjustments to his experiment, he produced no amino acids at all. Many have tried since Stanley Miller and nobody has been able to produce amino acids. However, even if they could, they would be light years away from creating life.
Proof – If you take a living cell and put it in a test tube environment that it can thrive in, then poke it so that all the components spill out, you can’t put the molecules back together again to make a living cell.
Tree of Life – Darwin’s tree of life, whereby all living things were generated slowly over time into all life that exists today, has no grounds for support. The fossil record should support the theory of the tree of life, but it does not, unless we impose it by our own minds. What is seen is that in the era defined as the Cambrian explosion, all body plans for virtually all animal fila appeared with astonishing suddenness, not gradually as Darwin’s theory had suggested.
A Scientific Dissent From Darwinism – Over 600 highly accredited Scientist from universities all over the world have signed this document stating that they have major problems with Darwin’s theory.
Evidence of Cosmology – A question of origins? Until about 1915 most people accepted that the universe had always existed and was relatively static and eternal. In 1929, astronomer Edwin Hubble, provided empirical data confirming that the Universe was expanding. He determined that galaxies outside our Milky Way were moving away from us at a speed proportional to their distance from the earth. The further way from us, the faster the galaxy was moving away. (That fact seems to make the earth a pretty significant part of this universe as the Bible describes it to be.) If the Universe is expanding, then at some point it must have been smaller and more dense. That suggests at some point in the past the universe had a beginning. The Kalam Cosmological Argument states that 1) Whatever begins to exist has a cause, 2) The universe began to exist, 3) therefore, the universe has a cause. Thus the universe was created out of nothing and was brought into being. The scientific evidence points persuasively and powerfully to a Created universe (Creator).
The Evidence of Physics – All matter is governed by precisely balanced laws. Gravity, a strong nuclear force, electromagnetic force, etc. Wipe out one of those laws and we would not have life. Where did these laws of the universe come from? The fine tuning of the universe is absolutely phenomenal. If the universe is fine tuned for life, maybe it has a fine tuner. This is a dead end for evolutionists and atheists, so they have dreamed up the theory of multiple universes. There is no evidence for this theory. It is spawned from a choice to reject any possibility of God’s existance, even in the face of evidence to the contrary.
Astrobiology – In researching the characteristics necessary to support complex life, the conditions required number at least 20. The chance of hitting only these 20 factors on a single planet is 1/1,000,000,000,000,000, suggesting our earth is very rare indeed. Why can we see distant galaxies, postulate what is going on inside atoms or black holes, or seek out an understanding of our universe? The universe appears to be designed for our discovery quest. Through science, that quest leads us to a more refined understanding of God.
The Evidence of Biological Machines – During Darwin’s time in the 19th century, scientists thought that the basis for life, the cell, was a simple glob of protoplasm. In the 20th century we discovered that the cell is a highly complex organism 1/10th of the size of the head of a pin containing about 3 billion units of DNA. Our body is made up of trillions of cells, with different functions, that must all fit together to make our bodies work. They are amazing machines of great complexity. Each machine is an engineering and micro-technological marvel. They are essential to vision, photosynthesis, and the production of energy in the cell. These machines could not have come into being gradually without foresight or plan according to the biological pathway Darwin envisioned.
Irreducible Complexity – Numerous parts necessary for function, cannot exist without all the parts. They are irreducible without losing function. They simply don’t fit the Darwin model. The eye is one example of this. Blood clotting mechanism is another. Living things are irreducibly complex.
The Evidence of Biological Information – The DNA molecule contains an immense amount of information in the form of a 4 character code A,C,T, and G. DNA functions like a software program, but far more complex and sophisticated than anything devised by man. Sequences of these codes provide the instructions for building complex proteins, which in turn are responsible for making your eyes, hearts, and other organs. It is the language of life. There is only one known cause of information, and that is intelligence. Intelligence implies God.
Psalm 19 – David writes, The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of his hand. Day after day they pour forth speech. Night after night they proclaim knowledge. There voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the end of the world.
Colossians 1:15 – Paul writes, Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before God made anything at all and is supreme over all Creation. (NLT)
Week 4
Part 1 – Heaven & Earth
Rating 10 of 10 20 min.
How wonderful, vast, and stunning are the heavens and the earth? How is the universe governed?
What laws does it obey, and where do those laws come from? Explore what the bible says about these marvels. Contents: Natural Laws, Building Blocks, A Habitable Planet, DNA, Plants, Sun, Solar System, Stars, Backyard Variety.
Evidence:
Natural Laws – Where did they come from? Laws of Logic, Laws of Mathematics, Laws of Physics, Laws of Chemistry, Laws of Biology. All these Laws work together. Why should there be laws at all?
Building Blocks – Everything in the universe is made up of about 90 kinds of atoms, which can combine into millions of substances. Carbon is the most common element. Change it just a little and we would not have life. Water’s unusual properties makes it unique. Water expands as it freezes unlike other chemicals. Freezing creates ice which floats, thus protecting life by insulating in the water from the cold so that water can support life even in freezing temperatures. Change water just a little and life would be impossible.
Habitable Planet – Earth is ideally placed in the galaxy to limit radiation which otherwise could end life. Earth is the right distance from the sun, not too hot or not too cold for life. The earth’s tilt is ideal to regulate heat. Earth’s mass is big enough to hold on to needed gasses supporting life, but not too big to hold on to poisonous gasses that would destroy life. The amount of water is unique to earth. The moon creates tides which prevents oceans from stagnating. It has an electromagnetic field that protects the earth from harmful radiation.
The Language of DNA – is recognizable as from a source of intelligence. It is far too complex to have just happened by chance.
Plants – Plants convert the sun’s energy into energy usable by life. This process is extremely complex. Plants produce oxygen needed to sustain life, slow erosion, hold moisture, provide food, and more.
The Sun – Spins too slowly (once every 24 days) to have formed from evolution. It is well balance with earth to sustain life.
Solar System – Each sphere is unique in size, color, composition and match the descriptions in the bible long before the invention of modern telescopes. Comets are formations of ice crystals and each time they pass by another celestial body they give off moisture. The comets we observe are relatively new.
The Stars – Our Milky Way galaxie is estimated to contain over 100 billion stars, but it is like a grain of sand compared to the estimated 100 billion galaxies in the known universe. In the days when one could only see about 3000 thousand stars in the sky at night, the Bible records that there are as many stars in the skies as there are grains of sand on the shores. Scientists don’t really know how many stars there are, but there are estimates that the number of stars is around 10 21st power; whereas mathematical estimates of grains of sand on the earth’s seashores are estimated to be 10 25th power. Perhaps some day the two numbers will meet.
Backyard Variety – The variety in living things in our own backyards defies evolution. At present rates of change, there simply is not enough time even with millions of years to account for these variations. The variety in bacteria have been found in even the earliest fossils, suggesting that life did not start by changes to simple celled organisms. In fact, the evidence of God creating both male and female after their own kind as described in the Bible is exactly what we observe today.
Part 2 – Flood Geology
Rating 10 of 10 29 min.
The earth today carries many remnants of the great flood of Noah. Massive fields of fossils buried suddenly, weather patterns recorded in polar ice, continent-wide layers of sediment uncovered today as rock layers, all support the Genesis account. Contents: Flood Initiation, The present is not the key to the past, Mt. St. Helens, rock layers, fossilization, coal, canyon, rapid specification, distribution of plants & animals, ice age.
Evidence:
Flood initiation – The flood initiation was caused by an upheaval and cracking of the earths crust releasing vast quantities of water. Note – It has been estimated that there may well be more water under the earth’s crust than above it.
Present is not the key to the Past – The geological features that we see around us appear to be vastly different from what we see forming today. Thick mud layers over continents, coal seems covering entire states, fossil grave yards, frozen Mammoths, miles of underground tunnels, ice sheets over continents, canyons cut thousands of feet deep. The Bible’s great flood provides a logical explanation to many of the earth’s changes of the past.
Mount Saint Helens – May 8th 1980, Mt. Saint Helens erupted in Washington from a 5.1 earthquake. The earth’s surface changed rapidly. The eruption blew out the side of the mountain. Large areas of ice were covered by ash and formed badlands in days. Followup eruptions formed fine layers in just hours. On June 10th mud flows cut a 100 ft deep zigzag canyons in soft sand and mud, complete with perpendicular side canyons. These canyons are reminiscent of Grand Canyon, but 1/40th the size and created in just hours. Mud flows in the next 10 years cut hundreds of feet deep into solid rock in days of cutting time. A log mat formed on the surface of Spirit Lake, and the movement of the logs stripped the bark away and formed up to 3 ft. of bark peat in just a couple years. Vertically floating trees sunk upright to the bottom of the lake and were buried in a decade. This is similar to the trees in Yellowstone’s Fossil Forest which were also buried in ash. Observing the recent processes of Mt. St Helens offer up a great deal of insight into the non-evolutionary explanations for the things we see around us today.
Rock Layers – Rock layers are visible all over the world. Present processes don’t explain these layers.
Formation of fossils are rare today, but somewhere in the past thick layers of sand and mud were spread over continents, and rapid burial fossilized millions upon millions of well preserved creatures. Noah’s flood offers an explanation as to why sea creatures are found at the top of the Grand Canyon over a mile above sea level. Some of the sand grains in the Navajo sand stone had to have come from the Appellation mountains, but there is no known process for taking material from the Appellations to the southwest, except perhaps a global flood.
Fossilization – Without rapid burial, living organisms rot, decay and are consumed before they have a chance of fossilizing. Yet billions of fossils are found all over the world, even soft parts. If a body is quickly sealed from oxygen and out of reach of burrowing animals, it can be preserved.
Coal – Coal is found all over the continents. 10 ft. of plant material is needed to make 1 ft. of coal. Evolutionary geologists teach that coal is the result of peat building up in swamp bogs over millions of years. However, top and bottom layers of coal seems are usually flat, and thin layers of mud are often found in between layers of coal. In the present world, roots of plants break up the peat layers and mud layers that form. Tree trunks make the layers uneven. No modern processes can explain how coal originated, except perhaps the biblical description of a global flood. The rains upon the earth washed away the plant growth and floated on the surface of the water, until becoming water-logged, and sinking to the bottom forming coal beds. The beds would not be affected by growing plant and would tend to have flat upper and lower surfaces. In-between could be undisturbed layers of mud.
Canyons – How did they form? A little bit of water over a long period of time or a lot of water over a short period of time? Rivers don’t usually cut downward through solid rock. In a heavy rain storm, you can see the power of water to carve out small canyons with similar characteristics as largest ones. Up stream from the Grand Canyon is evidence of huge lakes (Hopi, Canyonlands, and Vernal Lakes). These lakes would not have formed if the Canyon was open below them. If these lakes formed from rains after the flood and broke through the soft sediments laid down by the flood, we might expect to see what we see today. Remember Mt. St. Helens when Spirit Lake broke through and carved out massive canyons on a smaller scale. If this scenario makes sense, then we would expect to see surge deposits down stream below the grand canyon, and this is exactly what we find. Evidence of a lot of water carving its path over a little bit of time.
Rapid Speciation – Plants and animals possess a huge reserve of information that can produce a stunning variety of species within a family group. The Bible says that God created all the plant and animal kinds in the beginning. DNA has shown us that He placed an enormous amount of information in each kind which would produce great variety. This is not evolution from a lower form of life.
Distribution of Plants & Animals – Why do we find the same plants and animals in split ranges in far off places, but nowhere in-between. Noah’s flood may have created huge mats of plant life circulating on the surface of the ocean for decades or much longer. These could have acted as rafts for the transport of many species of birds, reptiles, and other animals. Interestingly, most of the plants and animals of split ranges follow the pattern of modern currents. Their distribution can be explained by rafting.
Ice Age – Much of the worlds ice sheets are miles deep and hundreds of miles wide. They are cold deserts, where no present processes can provide the environment to create such sheets. There is little snow activity in these areas today. The flood of the Bible may provide answers. The flood of the Bible may have led to the Ice Age in the following manner. The volcanic action under the seas at the time of the flood would have warmed the ocean waters significantly. Perhaps taking the waters from around
39F to above 80F, according to meteorologist, Mike Oard. This temperature change would increase evaporation rates significantly. Subsequent volcanic activity on land from the shifting of the earths mantle would have had a cooling effect on the planet by the ash spewed into the atmosphere and blocking the sun. Heavy snow fall far inland over cooler climates would build up ice thousands of feet thick. Eventually the ash plumes subside and temperatures become more normalized.
Bible References:
2 Peter 3:6 – The world that was then overflowed with water.
2 Peter3:3-4 – In the last days scoffers shall say, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
2 Peter 3:5-6 – Scoffers are willingly ignorant…that the world being overflowed with water, perished.
Genesis 7:19-20 – The waters increased greatly upon the earth…and the mountains were covered.
Genesis 6:17 – Gods said…behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth.
Genesis 6:20 – Two of every kind shall come to you, to keep them alive.
Week 5
Unlocking the Mystery Of Life
Rating 10 of 10 65 min.
In 1859, Charles Darwin published, “On The Origin of Species”. In it he argued that all life on earth was the product of undirected natural processes, time, chance, and natural selection. Since Darwin, biologists have relied on such processes to account for the origin of living things. This theory is being challenged as never before. This DVD tells the story of the contemporary scientists who are behind the theory of intelligent design. Using computer animation, “Unlocking the Mystery of Life”, transports you into the interior of the living cell to explore systems and machines that bear the unmistakable hallmarks of design – Rotary motors that spin at 100,000 rpm. Biological information processing systems more powerful than any computer network. Explore a thread-like molecule that stores instructions to build the essential components of every living organism on earth.
Evidence:
Pajaro Dunes, California – 1993 Phillip E. Johnson, Professor of Law at the University of California,
Berkeley invited a group of well recognized scientists and philosophers to a meeting to contemplate the origins of life. The guests were Dr. Paul A. Nelson, Philosopher of Biology; Dr. Dean H. Kenyon, Evolutionary Biologist, San Francisco State University; Dr. Michael J. Behe, Biochemist Lehigh University; Dr. Stephen C. Meyer, Philosopher of Science Discovery Institute; William Densky, Mathematician Baylor University; Johnathan Wells. Phillip Johnson suggests that the question of origins is the most interesting topic of discussion there is. Together they began to formulate an alternative to the central theory of modern biology proposed by Charles Darwin.
Charles Darwin – In 1831, Darwin at age 22 year old set sail for the Gallapegos Islands. Darwin took extensive notes, collected specimans and then he left never to return. Over the next 25 years he developed a theory how diverse life forms came into being. In 1859 Darwin published a book on the Origin of Species. Its impact on science and all of western culture was dramatic. In his book, Darwin argued that all life was the product of undirected natural forces. Time, chance and a process he called natural selection, could account for all life on earth. He related the natural selection process to the finches he found on the Galapagos Islands. Through natural selection, Charles Darwin thought he could explain design without the intelligent designer. Natural selection became a sort of designer substitute.
Natural Selection – Works well to explain small scale change, but it doesn’t work well in explaining the real complexity of life as Darwin thought it could. As Darwin describes the process, natural selection acts only by taking advantage of slight successive variations. She can never take a great and sudden leap, but must advance by short and sure, though slow steps. When Michael Behe was getting his education in biology, the entire education system operated on the assumption that the principles of evolution were correct. These assumptions were not challenged and he could find no reason to not believe in the evolutionary process. After graduating he read a book called Evolution, A Theory in Crisis, and started to understand there was another side to this story. He got angry that he could receive a doctorate in biology, and never have heard of these arguments questioning evolutionary assumptions. Natural selection selects for those processes which provide a natural advantage, and eliminates things that don’t work. If something is created by a series of small steps over time, chances are that the process will be eliminated after the first step if there is no advantage to the organism.
Things that are irreducible will simply not be able to be produced under the process of evolution, as they will be eliminated long before they become useful. In 1996 Michael Behe published a book Darwin’s Black Box. In this book Mr. Behe concludes that evolution cannot account for irreducibly complex organisms or machines. In addition, even if all the parts were made available, there would be no instructions for assembly of the parts without an intelligent designer using DNA & RNA. Operative machines require a blueprint for construction. The blueprint for construction points to a designer or creator.
The Cell – Darwin’s believed a cell was just a clump of protoplasm. Recently, our knowledge of the cell has exploded. Each cell is highly complex with many different types of machines operating with purpose within the cell. These machines are irreducibly complex and defy evolutionary theory. This specifically applies to biological machines. These systems cannot be built gradually over time.
In Darwin’s Own Words, he states, If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down. We now observe many organisms that prove Darwin’s basic assumption is wrong, but those committed to Darwinism continue to argue to keep his theory alive.
Two Big Questions in Biology – First, how do you get new living forms with new structures like wings and eyes from life that already exists, and secondly, how did life originate in the first place?
Darwin’s Tree of Life – Darwin saw life as growing out of a primitive organism, and life growing more and more complex over time. His tree of life was an attempt to explain how organisms changed into a host of different species over time. He had no idea how life may have started in the first place from non-living matter. In later life Darwin did little to address this issue. In fact, scientists have never observed any changes which add information to the genome.
Chemical Evolution – In the 1920s & 30s, Russian scientist Alexander Oparen formulated a theory of chemical evolution. Over the next several decades chemical evolutionists explored this theory. One of the world’s leading scientists in that research was Dr. Dean Kenyon. In studying complex proteins, it was determined that 20 amino acids linked together in long chains provided a high degree of architecture in the cell units. These amino acids combine to make different proteins, just like the letters of the alphabet combine make many different words. The arrangement of these components determine if you get anything meaningful. There are at least 30,000 types of distinct protein chains. If they are sequenced properly, they will fold into themselves forming a meaningful proteins which will have a specific function. If the sequence is wrong in any area it will be destroyed.
DNA – DNA, is present in every cell. DNA is the most densely packed and detailed assembly of information in the known universe. Two choices emerged for Dr. Kenyon. Either he had to explain the origin of DNA assembly instructions, or he had to explain how proteins could have arisen directly from amino acids without DNA. He could do neither. Dr. Kenyon determined that natural selection could not have existed prior to the first self-replicating cell. So where did it come from, if not from God?
Francis Crick Nobel Laureate DNA Research – Biologists must constantly keep in mind that what they see was not designed, but evolved. In the face of overwhelming evidence of intelligence, scientists are conditioned to not consider anything in their science which cannot be explained by natural causes.
Recognizing Intelligent Design – Message in English in the sand on a beach, Stonehenge, Mt Rushmore, DNA. We search for extra terrestrial life in outer space by looking for intelligence. Yet many refuse to recognize intelligent design all around us. We must look for the truth wherever it leads.
Intelligent design deserves to be in the tool box of science.
Week 6
The Origin Of Humans
(Neanderthals, Australopithecines, and other Famous creatures)
Featuring Mike Riddle (AIG)
Rating 10 of 10 68 min.
This DVD features creationist Mike Riddle’s analysis of the false claims by evolutionists. Mike Riddle has a degree in Mathematics, a Masters degree in education, and 25 years experience in the computer field, most recently managing Microsoft’s worldwide training for system and sales engineers. He is a keynote speaker for Answers in Genesis. In this DVD he deals with case studies in the areas of Neanderthals, Lucy and Australopithecus, and the new ape-man: Ramidus. In the process of his analysis, he discusses both natural selection and mutations. This DVD focuses on the fossil findings used by evolutionists to support their theory of the evolution of early man. Mike Riddle exposes evolutionists deceiving the public in an effort to support their theory, and questions why they would need to lie for their theory. He challenged evolutionists to be truthful in their presentation of the fact of science. He exposes the text books & media for using selective reasoning to promote the theory of evolution in the face of facts supporting the opposite view.
Question – Did we evolve or were we made in the image and likeness of God?
Topics:
• The history and track record of ape-men
• Three case Studies – Neanderthals, Australopithecines and Lucy, and a new “ape-man”
• Mechanism for change
If the evolution of humans from an ape-like ancestor is true there should be two proof evidences.
1. An abundance of fossils
2. A mechanism for change
If these evidences are absent then the only alternative is special creation by God.
Evolution begins with the assumption that man has evolved from ape-like creatures.
The Bible states in Genesis 1:27 – So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female.
Only one of these statements can be true, therefore the other has to be false.
Our schools teach openly that we are primates; descendants from the branch of Monkeys, Chimpanzees, and Apes. Biology textbook example, year 2000 – But all researchers agree on certain basic facts. We know, for example, that humans evolved from ancestors we share with other living primates such as chimpanzees and apes. Our schools are teaching neither real science or the truth. They are indoctrinating those they have been entrusted with.
Java Man – (Pithecanthropus erectus)
• 1891 found an apelike skullcap
• 1892 found a human like thigh bone 40ft. away
• The claim – ape-man 500,000 years old, with no dating mechanism to prove claim
• Rudolph Virchow (father of modern pathology) stated at the time, In my opinion this creature was an animal, a giant gibbon, in fact. The thigh bone has not the slightest connection with the skull. His expertise was ignored. Dubois (founder) refused to let others see the bones.
• In 1907 an expedition of scientists travelled to Java seeking more clues. They speculated that nearby lava flows were recent and could not support an age of 500,000 years old.
• Dubois insisted his discovery was intermediate between gibbons and humans.
• Since 1950 Anthropologists and textbooks have been calling Java man Homo erectus.
Piltdown Man
• Parts found between 1908 and 1912 in Piltdown, England
• Portion of a human skull
• Portion of lower ape-like jaw bone and teeth
• The claim – Intermediate link 500,000 years old, with no dating mechanism to prove claim
• Almost every scientist who believed in evolution at the time believed this to be a known fact.
The New York Times ran an article: “Darwin Theory Proved True”. Featured in textbooks and encyclopedias for over 40 years.
• 1953 scientists studied the bones and determined the bones had been chemically stained to make them appear old, and the teeth had been filed to make them fit.
• It is now believed that Piltdown man was about 600 years old.
• The whole thing was a fraud.
Nebraska Man
• Fossil discovery 1922
• Used to support evolution in the famous Scopes trial
• The claim – 1 million year old intermediate link. Yet, no dating methods till the 50’s & 60’s
• The museum in Nebraska created Nebraska man, his wife, his family & living environment.
• The evidence – a single tooth. The tooth was later found to be that of an extinct pig.
Ramapithecus
• Pithecos = Greek for ape
• Discovered in 1930s: teeth and some jaw fragments
• The claim – 14 million year old intermediate between ape-like creatures and humans. No dating methods available at that time.
• The evidence – 1970 discovered that Ethiopian baboons had an almost identical tooth & jaw structure.
• Ramapithecus is no longer part of the human line in textbooks, no longer a fact of evolution.
Summary of “Facts”
• Java man – Extinct ape
• Piltdown man – Hoax
• Nebraska Man – Pig
• Ramapithecus – Ape
• Every estimated date for age was wrong
Neanderthals
• Constructed by the media to look hairy and ape-like, because that’s the likeness they wanted.
• First found near Dusseldorf, Germany in 1856
• Brain capacity slightly larger than average human
• Later it was determined the bones had been put together wrong. When they put the bones back correctly, they looked similar to humans. They had all the anatomy for human speech, which is not the case with primates. They painted on cave walls, played musical instruments, and buried their dead.
• Neanderthal anatomy has everything to do with natural selection (adapting to their environment) & nothing to do with evolution.
• Common dates for Neanderthals are 100,000 to 35,000 years ago. On average say 65,000 years.
This is about 2600 generations. There should be easily 50 billion Neanderthals which lived in that time period. Yet we have found very few Neanderthal skeletons, and only at about 30 sites. Where are the fossils, when Neanderthals buried their dead?
Conclusion About Neanderthals
• Protruding brow ridge – we have that today
• Stocky body build and short extremities – we have that today
• Isolated population of people – we have that today
• Lived in a cold climate – we have that today
• 100% human
Science and Education
• Receiving only selected information means you are not being educated, you are being indoctrinated.
• Why are textbook writers withholding information? Because once you put all the information in the textbooks, evolution cannot stand up against it.
• A model that continually resorts to misleading information and deception can no longer be called science. If evolutionists want their theory to be called a science they must be prepared to do the work and provide all the evidence for their theory.
Lucy and the Australopithecines (southern ape)
• Discovered 1974
• About 40% of the fossil was found
• The claim – 3.5 million years old. Claimed to be bipedal (walk upright).
• Lucy named after Beatles song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (LSD).
• Lucy bears no similarity to humans. Long arms identical to chimpanzees. Jaw similar to a chimpanzee. Upper leg bone similar to a chimpanzee, and legs were ape-like. Brain size overlaps chimpanzees at 400-500cc. Hands similar to pygmy chimpanzee. Feet were long and curved. Yet, a drawing from Life: The Science of Biology, Purves, Orians, and Heller, 1992, p.604 shows a picture of human feet labelled Lucy’s Feet. Our textbook writers continue to put false and misleading information in the textbooks to support evolution.
• For decades, major researchers and even articles in evolutionary magazines, have concluded that Lucy could not walk upright; yet our textbook teaching has not changed.
A.ramidus (validity of the reported evidence)
• Discovered in 1994 (Aramis, Ethiopia)
• The claim – 4.4 million years old
• Fossils were collected from 17 different areas, and were spread over a square mile. Found 8, teeth, most were damaged. Base of the skull found 1500 ft. away from the major search area. Arm bones found almost 900 ft. away. How would you know if all the findings belonged to the same creature? You would not.
• Time Magazine, Oct. 3, 1994, p. 68 – Bones from the Ethiopian desert proved that human ancestors walked on earth 4.4 million years ago.
• Newsweek, October 3, 1994, p.57 – Ramidus confirms once and for all that the common ancestor lived just a little more than 4.4 million years ago.
• The evidence of proof:
1. It fits into the line of progression with all the other missing links
2. The date of 4.4 million years
3. The thickness of the enamel on the fossil teeth
4. The deciduous molar
5. It might have been bipedal
• Conclusions – None of this so called proof stands up to scrutiny. Great claims require real evidence!
Mechanism for Change
• Natural selection and mutations must add new information for the genome to perpetuate change.
• Natural selection ONLY works with existing information. It never adds new information.
• The Biology of Animal Parasites, 1989, p. 516 states, Natural selection can act only on those biological properties that already exist; it cannot create properties in order to meet adaptation needs.
• If evolution were true, then evolution should select the beneficial mutations and eliminate the harmful ones, but it does not. As of 1999 we had over 11,000 known human mutations and disorders in the human species alone. Natural selection is moving in the opposite direction to what evolutionists are telling us.
• The evidence does not support evolution.
Human Variation
• Although God has given us the ability to adapt to our environment, he has not given us the ability to add new information.
Mutation
• There are no known beneficial mutations that add information.
• Evolution is a great claim without any evidence.
We must choose between God and the deception of evolution. If you rule out a creator God, then we become our own god. That great lie has become part of many churches today.
Bible References:
Genesis 1:27 – So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female.
Genesis 3:5 – For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.
Week 7
From Evolution to Creation
(Testimony of a former Evolutionist) by Dr. Gary Parker
Rating 10 of 10 60 min.
A respected biology professor explains his gradual conversion from belief in evolution to biblical creation.
Warm, humble and humorous. Dr. Gary Parker shows how, step by step, the Lord helped him to see the false assumptions behind modern evolutionary belief, and how the Bible’s account of origins is confirmed by science.
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Dr. Gary Parker begins by describing evolution as he was taught, taught to his students, and believed for years. He now believes that what he taught is the biggest lie he ever told.
God inspired a book in which he said what he meant and meant what he said.
As a young Christian Dr. Parker was unsure of what to do with the mountain of so called evidence he had learned. He thought that he could just modify his beliefs to say evolution is true, but God did it. The more he thought about this concept, the more he felt it did not reconcile to the God of the Bible. A colleague at the seminary shared a book with him, The Genesis Flood by John Whitcomb and Henry Morris. After reading the book he began to feel cheated that nobody had ever showed him the evidence of creation. Recognizing evidence of creation requires only the simple tools – logic & observation.
Evolutionists see evidence for creation all around them, but they knowingly suppress the truth.
Madalyn Murray O’Hair, best known for the Murray v. Curlett lawsuit, which led to a landmark supreme court ruling ending government sponsored prayer in American public schools, is no exception. She may have hated God with every fibre of her being, but she knew God existed.
Like gravity, you can’t see it, feel it, or taste it, but we know it exists by the effect it has on things. So it is with some of the evidence for creation.
Two basic units of living things are DNA and protein molecules. They have a relationship in that the amino acids take instructions from the DNA when forming protein molecules for structure and function.
An airplane is a collection of non-flying parts. The only way it flies is by creative design and organization. A cell is more complex than any airplane. The cell is a collection of non-living molecules. What does it take to make a living cell alive? Creative design and organization.
Woodpecker as an example of evidence of creation.
Great Debate – Science Department defending creation, the Bible Department defending evolution.
Nebular hypothesis whereby gasses form new spherical bodies in stellar creation, has a big problem. The calculations show the gas cloud pressure created by condensing gasses is 60-100 thousand times the pressure of the gravity claimed to pull it in.
Charles Darwin wrote that, the Origin of plants is an abominable mystery.
Lessons from Blue-Green Algae?
Evolution – Simple beginnings, change over time? NO!
Creation – Complex beginnings, well designed, multiply after their kind? YES!
Much more plants in the past than there are today.
To the unprejudiced, the fossil record of plants is in favor of Special Creation – Prof. Corner, evolutionist at Cambridge University.
At the lowest level of the fossil record clams are still clams, snails are still snails, corals are still corals.
Rock Layers – Quick formation of rock layers, not millions of years. Mount St Helens’ recent observations. Polystratic fossils are fossils found in multiple layers of strata, and are quite common.
Stalactites & Stalagmites – By observation these can form quickly, and don’t require a lot of time.
Six Ordinary Days and the Age of the Earth – Rubidium-Strontium dating is one of the best methods of dating. Yet the dates produced from it are very inaccurate in cases of known age. In dating Lucy, the lab provided Donald Johanson with a date of less than 3 million years. The age was disappointing to Johanson. Three months later the lab reported a new date of 3.5 million years. Another scientist got involved and came up with a younger date than the first one. Media headline – “Lucy, the trouble with dating an older woman.”
In dating lava flows from the top and bottom of canyon layers, the dates given for the top layers were shown to be older than those for the bottom layers.
It is obvious that radiometric techniques may not be the absolute dating methods that they are claimed to be. Age estimates on a given geological stratum by different radiometric methods are often quite different (sometimes by hundreds of millions of years). There is no absolutely reliable long-term radiological “clock”. Stansfield, the Science of Evolution, P. 84 He goes on to describe the many evidences for a young earth – the amount of helium in the atmosphere, oil pressure in wells, only enough carbon 14 in the atmosphere for an earth less than 30,000 years, in fact closer to 10,000 years
old. Carbon 14 should have reached the balance point in the atmosphere in 30,000 years, yet it is still out of balance. According to Stansfield (evolutionist) this could have been caused by the biblical flood about 5000 years ago. The list of assumptions for evolution require evolutionists to “Keep The Faith”.
The Bible represents a Faith that Fits the Facts. Evolution is a faith the facts have failed.
Biblical references:
Romans 1:20 – For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.
Romans 1:18 – For the wrath of god is revealed from the heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.
Hebrews 1:10-11 – And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they shall wax old as doth a garment.
Psalm 19:1 – The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork.
Week 8
Dating Fossils and Rocks
Scientific Evidence and the Age of the Earth – by Mike Riddle
Rating 10 of 10 61 min.
Topics:
• Primer on radioactive decay
• Carbon 14 dating
• Radioisotope dating
Radioactive Decay:
The Atom is a fundamental unit of matter, made up of subatomic particles forming a nucleus. The nucleus is surrounded by Protons (positive charge), Neutrons (no charge), and Electrons (negative charge).
Carbon:
Carbon 14 is referred to as C-14 or Radiocarbon. There are many types of carbon called isotopes. Carbon 14 has 6 protons and 8 neutrons. Other isotopes like carbon 12 would have 6 protons and 6 neutrons. Carbon 10 would have 6 protons and 4 neutrons. The number of protons doesn’t change, only the number of neutrons do. In addition, we have unstable Isotopes (Atoms) and those are Isotopes where the Protons and Neutrons are not in balance. A stable Isotope has 6 protons and 6 neutrons. Whereas an unstable Isotope has say 6 protons and 8 neutrons like C-14.
What is Radioactive Decay? It is where the nucleus of an atom of one element changes into another element. For example, C-14 with 6 protons changes into N 14 (Nitrogen) with 7 protons forming a new element. In this instance the decay process actually adds an additional proton to form a new element. The rate of decay is measured in half-life. The time it takes for ó the decay process to take place. The half-life of C-14 is 5,730 years. That means it takes 5,730 years for ó of C-14 to change into N-14. It will take another 5,730 years for ó of the balance to decay into N-14, and so on. Cosmic radiation bombards the nitrogen in the atmosphere converting it back into carbon 14, and some of the C-14 combines with Oxygen in the atmosphere to form CO2 (Carbon Dioxide). All living plants and animals take in C-14 from the atmosphere. Once a living thing dies, it begins to lose C-14 as it decays back in to N-14.
Rocks don’t breathe so they do not take on C-14, so cannot be dated by using the radioactive decay method.
Equilibrium – Assumption is that the amount of C-14 being added to the atmosphere is equal to the amount being removed. It is assumed that the C-14 in the atmosphere stays constant. This has recently been proven false.
Radiometric Clock starts once a plant or animal dies. At that point it no longer takes on any more C-14, and C-14 begins to decay. The carbon 14 dating method relies on determining the amount of C-14 left in a fossil. A lot of C-14 in a fossil means the fossil is not very old. Very little C-14 assumes the fossil is old. If no C-14 is found, it is assumed the fossil has been dead for 60,000 years or more.
What do we need to know to determine how many half-lives have expired?
1. How fast it decays measured in half-lives – 5,730 years in the case of C-14.
2. The starting amount of C-14 in the organism when it died.
When an organism is alive we assume it has the same amount of C-14/C12 ratio as in the atmosphere. One atom of C-14 for every 1 trillion atoms of C-12. If we measure the amount of C-12, we can then estimate the C-14 that should have been in the organism to begin with. Based on that, we can estimate the age of the fossil. Assumption for C-14 Dating – The ratio of C-14 to C-12 has always been 1 trillion to 1. If this is true, the dating method is reliable to about 60,000 for plants and animals. If it is not true, then it is not a reliable dating method for plants and animals.
• Dr. Willard Libby, the founder of Carbon 14 dating, noticed that the atmosphere was almost 25% out of equilibrium. Believing in billions of years as an evolutionist, he ignored the evidence, and he chalked it up to a calculations error.
• In the 60’s other scientists repeated Libby’s experiment & determined it was not an error. To reach equilibrium from a starting point of zero it should take only 30,000 years.
• Scientists now suggest that C-14 is being produced at a 25% higher rate than it is being consumed. Therefore, the method of dating exaggerates the age for plants and animals.
Deception – In the 60’s we knew the prime assumption for Carbon 14 dating was false, but ignored this known fact, and taught this misinformation anyway for over 40 years. Why?
Because evolutionists want to believe in billions of years so much, the evidence doesn’t matter.
Other factors that could affect the amount of carbon in the atmosphere:
1. Cosmic ray penetration of the earth’s atmosphere.
2. Strength of the earth’s magnetic field. The magnetic field is decaying.
3. Amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.
4. Genesis Flood – buried much carbon from living organisms to form coal and oil. The buried carbon today is about 100 times the total carbon currently in the biosphere.
Evolutionists assume coal took 100’s of thousands to millions of years to form. It is formed from plant and animal material. Every sample of coal taken today shows C-14 in it. That means that the absolute oldest that coal can be is 60,000 years old. Based on the current evidence it is likely much, much younger. Fossil woods that are estimated to be over 200 million years old, still contain C-14.
Carbon – 14 Summary:
• C-14 can only be used to date organic material.
• C-14 dating, accuracy is dependent on consistent ratio of C-12 to C-14 [equilibrium]. The assumption of equilibrium is FALSE.
• Other factors affecting atmospheric C-14: Genesis Flood, weakening magnetic field.
• Ancient fossils as well as coal contain C-14 residue.
• It takes 30,000 years to reach equilibrium and we are 25% out of equilibrium.
• Conclusion – The earth is young.
Radioisotope Dating Methods – Dating rocks
Why do people believe in an old earth?
• They think science has proven the earth to be old. Circular logic of the geologic column.
• Peer pressure.
• Intellectualism (science Vs religion).
• Don’t want to hear the information.
• Young earth believers are ignoring the scientific evidence? Not at all!
• The Bible does not teach how old the earth is….But yes it does.
• Most scientists believe the earth is old…true. But there are 1000’s that believe it is not.
Teaching evolution as Fact without Questioning the Evidence or Teaching how it Works:
Biology Textbook: Visualizing Life, Holt, Rinehart, Winston, 1998, p. 177. – Using radioactive dating, scientists have determined that the earth is about 4.5 million years old, ancient enough for all species to have been formed by evolution.
How does radioactive decay work?
Parent element like Uranium gradually decays into Lead the daughter element. Similarly Potassium over time decays into Argon. This method is used to date igneous and metamorphic rocks (basalt from lava flows). Cannot be used to date organic material, limestone, sandstone and shale). When you find a rock with lead in it, scientists assume that all the lead from the molten flow seeped out and left only uranium. Thus, they assume that all the lead present is from radioactive decay.
Assumptions:
1. The starting amount of daughter element is known.
2. All the daughter element is from radioactive decay.
3. Sample was always in a closed environment – couldn’t add or take away from sample.
4. The decay rate has always been consistent.
Accuracy:
• Sunset Crater, Northern Arizona – Potassium-argon date 200,000+, Reality AD 1065
• Mt. Ngaurhoe, New Zealand lava flow – Potassium-argon date 275,000, Reality 1949, 1954, 1975
• Hualalai basalt, Hawaii – Potassium-argon date 1.4-22 million, Reality: AD 1801
• Mt. Etna basalt, Sicily – Potassium-argon date 140,000-350,000, Reality 1972
• Mt. St. Helens – Potassium-argon date 2.8 million years, Reality 1980
• Grand Canyon – Precambrian layer at bottom of canyon dated by Rb-Sr isochron age of 1070 million years old, then took rocks from top layer (youngest rocks) same method produced age of 1340 million years old. 300 million years older than the oldest rocks.
• Even the same rock tested twice will give significantly different results. If we can’t trust the dates on rocks we know the ages of, how could we ever trust the figures when we don’t know the ages of the rocks? If you base your theory on a wrong assumption, all your work can be correct, but the result will be wrong.
Evidence the Earth is Young:
• Lava flow with trees in it. Trees dated at 44,000 years, while lava around it was dated at 45 million years old.
• Helium – migrates very easily into the atmosphere from rocks during the decay process. Over 68% of the Helium is still in the granite rocks. This suggests the earth is young, perhaps about 6000 years old, not billions of years.
• Nuclear decay rates don’t support an old earth (radioisotope dating).
• Not enough sodium in the oceans for it to be old.
• Rapid disintegration of comets don’t support an old earth.
• Erosion of the continents.
• Sediments in the ocean
• Decay of the earth’s magnetic field
• Carbon 14 ratio in the atmosphere
• Radio halos for polonium in granites
• Population statistics
• Recession of the moon
RATE Group – Scientists that are focused on the age of the earth at ICR. They confirm C-14 dating supports a young earth, not one that is millions or billions of years old.
Conclusion: (five facts)
1. The earth has not been scientifically proven to be billions of years old.
2. The bible teaches a literal 6 day creation.
3. Many scientists believe in a literal 6 day creation about 6,000 years ago.
4. New evidence from nuclear decay supports a young earth model.
5. There are many, many scientific evidences for a young earth. (see list above)
Bible references
Psalm 118:8 – It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.
John 17:17 – Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Week 9
Astronomy and the Bible
featuring Mike Riddle
Rating 10 of 10 72 min.
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Topics
• Two models
• Evidence for age
• Origin of stars
• Scientific evidence and the big bang
• The Bible and big bang cosmology
Evolution/Theistic Evolution
• Day Age Theory – God used the big bang to start things off, but the universe is billions of years old and the days of creation are long indefinite periods of time.
• Gap Theory – Puts billions of years in between Genesis 1 and Genesis 2.
• Progressive Creation Model – Big bang, long periods of time for days of creation.
► All the above believe in the big bang, universe is 12-15 billion years old, and that stars formed by natural processes.
Biblical Model
• God spoke the universe into existence by his great power
• Young Universe
• God created the stars and all heavenly bodies
What are the implications of accepting the big bang as part of, In the beginning God Created?
• The big bang is associated with long ages and stellar formation by natural processes.
From a Biblical Perspective it means:
• God’s creation was not 6 days
• The meaning of “very good” in Genesis 1:31 becomes questionable
• Death before sin
• Genesis Flood was not worldwide
• Colossians 1:16 “all” does not mean all things
• What do the heavens declare? God or Evolution
Textbooks and Science Journals
• Big Bang – billions of years old
• Distant Starlight – billions of years old
Are we being given all the evidence?
• Recession of the Moon – 4 cm/year (Contact of earth and moon in 1.4 billion years.)
• Comets – Made of ice. Long period comets circle around the sun or solar system 200 years or more. Short period comets circle around the sun or solar system 200 years or less. As they circle around our solar system they lose mass and therefore should not exist over long periods of time. Evolutionists claim that out in space is an Oort Cloud that produces comments to replace the ones which melt away. An Oort cloud has never been observed, there is no evidence for its existence, and there would not be enough mass in the hypothetical Oort cloud. Oort clouds are accepted and taught on faith, not science. Danny Faulkner, PhD Astronomy,
More Problems for the Oort Cloud, Technical Journal, 2001 p.11 states, Since it cannot be detected, the Oort Cloud is not a scientific concept. This is not bad science, but non-science masquerading as science. The existence of comets is good evidence that the solar system is only a few thousand years old…
• Age of the Sun – Sun creates energy by thermonuclear fusion (turning Hydrogen into Helium). As it ages, the sun gets hotter and hotter. If the earth is 4.6 billion years old, then we should be 40% hotter today than in the beginning. According to evolutionists, life started 3 ó billion years ago. At the time life formed, the average earth’s temperature would have been below freezing at 27. F or -3. C. Yet, evolution theory requires much heat to supposedly create life.
• Supernova Remnants – We have observed stars exploding into gas clouds.
Supernova Number of observable SNRs
Remnants predicted if our galaxy is:
Stage (exploded in years) Billions of Years 7000 Years Actual
First (recent) 2 2 5
Second (thousands) 2260 125 200
Third (millions) 5000 0 0
• Galaxy formation – Spiral galaxies should not exist if the age of the universe is billions of years old. Book – The Facts on file Dictionary of Astronomy 1994, p.172. – Galaxies must have expanded from the big bang… Details of the formation of galaxies are still highly uncertain, as is their subsequent evolution. This is evidence of a faith in evolution, not in science. Why should we accept the evolutionist’s believe system, when our own fits alongside the observable evidence.
The Origin of Stars
• Evolution – Stars evolved billions of years before the earth.
• Theistic Evolution/Progressive Creation – Stars evolved billions of years before earth.
• The Bible – Earth created on Day 1, The sun, moon and stars on Day 4.
How are stars formed? Evolution teaches that stars are formed from gas and dust clouds through gravitational contraction. This theory is counter to basic physics. The process causes heat pressure and expansion, not contraction. Fred Whipple, Smithsonian Institute Press, 1985, p. 213. says that Astronomers have yet to find an interstellar cloud in the actual process of collapse. The textbooks are filled with deception, and hold back evidence that might suggest special creation.
Star Formation and Time
• Based on the number of estimated stars in the universe, the star formation rate should be around 31,700 stars per second, yet we can’t observe any stars forming. Evolutionists suggest most stars formed at the point of the big bang or shortly thereafter. That conveniently masks the problem of star formation.
• Star nurseries are a figment of the imagination.
Background Radiation
Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, or WMAP satellite: New York times, 2003 – The most detailed and precise map yet produced of the universe at its birth confirms the Big Bang theory in triumphant detail.. . It reveals the emergence of the first stars in the cosmos, only 200 million yrs. after the Big Bang, half a billion years earlier than theorists had thought. The pictures were just a bit more clear than previous pictures. They made a great claim with no evidence, and that’s called faith.
Marcus Chown, “Let there be Light”, New Scientist, Feb 7, 1998 states, The truth is that we don’t understand star formation at a fundamental level. The question is then; why do so many textbooks state we know how stars formed? It appears the scientific evidence doesn’t matter.
From the perspective of the evolution model we are:
• A non-special species
• Living in a non-special place in the universe
• An accident of chance occurrences
Is there enough evidence to support a belief in billions of years?
This is what evolutions use as evidence for billions of years:
• Redshift
• Cosmic Background Radiation
• Element abundances
• Education system and the media (biggest supporter)
Evidences against the Big Bang (left out of most textbooks)
• Redshift
• Cosmic background Radiation
• Galaxy formation
• Spiral galaxies
• SNR (supernova remnants)
• Distribution of galaxies
• 1st & 2nd Laws of thermodynamics
• Medium and heavy elements
• Star formation
The big bang model proposes that in the beginning there was matter which expanded in the relationship of space and time, similar to blowing up a balloon. It assumes there was matter, but doesn’t explain where it came from. The bible has the answer. It requires more faith to believe the big bang theory than, in the beginning God created.
Redshift – As with sound, as light travels towards you is compacts (blue-shift) and expands as it moves away from you (redshift). Compacting is shown on a blue scale, and expansion or stretching out is shown on a red scale. Most of the light we see is on the red side of the scale suggesting that the universe is expanding away from us. That is used by evolutionists to support the big bang model. Also, the further away a galaxy is from us the further it shows on the red scale or the faster it appears to be moving away from us. Assumption to the big bang model is that the universe is homogenous, with no center, and redshift everywhere. What we observe is redshifts in concentric circles 1 million-light-years apart, with nothing in between. Big bang predicts everything should be the same. Evolutionists, W.G. Tifft and W. J. Cocke, wrote, “Global redshift quantization”, Astrophysical Journal, 1984, There is now very firm evidence that redshifts of galaxies are quantized… This went against the big bang theory and was totally ignored. This has been confirmed out to a billion light years by the Hubble telescope.
The big bang theory suggests that before the time of Copernicus we thought ourselves to be the center of the universe, but as stated by Stephen Hawking and George Ellis in 1973, in the Cambridge University Press, we are nothing special. Yet we have come full circle and it now appears that everything in the known universe is moving away in concentric circles from our galaxy. Halton Arp (Staff astronomer at the Mount Wilson and Palomar Observatories for 29 years), Quasars, Redshifts and Controversies, 1987, p. 195. The fact that measured values of redshift do not vary continuously but come in steps – certain preferred values – is so unexpected that conventional astronomy has never been able to accept it, in spite of the overwhelming observational evidence.
Does the evidence support the big bang model? NO!
The Bible and Big Bang Cosmology
Can we fit big bang cosmology into the Bible? Danny Faulkner, PhD Astronomy states, There are many today who interpret Genesis in terms of the latest scientific theories and even fads. If the history of science is any teacher, then we must conclude that many of these ideas eventually will be discarded.
Many churches today compromise God’s Word to the fallible theories of man, like the big bang. Many of these ideas were devised to counter the biblical record, which is firmly against cosmic evolution over billions of years. Once compromised, it is easy for them to believe other evolutionary ideas. If the foundation is let go to evolution, then what can the righteous do?
The Bible and Time of Creation – There is nothing in the Bible which leads us to believe the earth is billions of years old.
1. Day with a number
2. Evening and morning
3. Genesis 1:14 – And Gods said, Let the bright lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. They will be signs to mark off the seasons, the days, and the years.
4. Exodus 20:11- For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; then he rested on the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy. Plus Exodus 31:17.
5. Words used to indicate time
6. Sentence structure
7. Genealogies (Gen 5, 1Cron 1, Luke 3)
8. Plants and sunlight
9. The sun
10. The plain reading of the text
11. Lexicons and theological dictionaries
12. Semantics
A God of Miracles
• God created trees mature with fruit
• God created mature animals
• God created Adam and Eve mature
• Jesus fed the 5000
• Jesus turned the water into wine
• Jesus withered the fig tree (Matt 21:18-19)
• Instant learning of language (Tower of Babel)
• Instant healing of soldier’s ear (Luke 22:51)
• Creation was “very good” (Genesis 1:31)
Question – Is that the God we worship or do we have to bring God down to our level of understanding of science? If the latter statement is true, then we are creating God in our own image and that’s idolatry.
What have we seen about the pattern of evolution?
• Not reporting all the evidence
• Constantly updating the big bang model to match observable data
• Disagreement among astronomers
• A disregard for biblical interpretation
• An appeal to churches to accept “real science” claiming you can have the Bible and Evolution
Which is easier to believe?
1. Nothing created something (Universe)
2. God used evolution
3. In the beginning God created
2 Timothy 4:3-4 – For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. Fables today come in the form of evolution.
The creation by God gives meaning to the Universe. We were created in the image of God. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son to save us from ourselves and forgive our sins so that we would be worthy of grace when we face our God in Heaven.
Biblical References:
• Genesis 1:16 – And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
• Isaiah 40:26 – Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number:..
• Psalms 8:3 – When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
• Exodus 20:11 – For in six days…
• Psalms 19:1 – The heavens declare the glory of God
• Psalms 33:6 – By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them…
• Psalms 148:5 – …for he commanded and they were created.
• Is 45:12 – …I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their hosts have I commanded
• Nehemiah 9:6 – Thou, even thou, are Lord alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host…
• John 1:3 – All things were made by him…
• Rev 4:11 – …for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created
Week 10
The Case For Christ
by Lee Strobel
Rating 10 of 10 71 min.
Former atheist, Lee Strobel, uses his journalistic skills to investigate the evidence for Jesus Christ.
Over a 2 years quest for the truth, Lee Strobel, legal editor of the Chicago Tribune, examines the historical accuracy of the Gospels, the personal claims of Jesus, and his resurrection from the dead. The big question for Lee Strobel: Is there evidence to confirm that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed, the son of God and the Savior of the world?
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Lee Strobel’s approach was not to look at the New Testament as being the inspired word of God or as being inerrant. Rather, he looked on the New Testament as being a historical set of ancient documents that historians had applied criteria to which determined their trustworthiness.
Over the last few centuries scepticism over the Bible has wormed its way into Western Culture, and Christian circles. Scholars like N.T. Write, Bishop of Durham, UK, and others have spent years researching what was going on in the 1st century in Palestine. The further the research took them, the more the Biblical history made sense.
The New Testament gospels are biographies of Jesus. The gospels are written by eyewitnesses or based on eyewitness accounts of the life and teachings of Jesus. Jesus was born between 7 and 4 B.C.,and died no later than A.D. 33. His public ministry started with the choosing of his disciples, and lasted about 3 years, culminating in the Passion Week and his trial and death. Scholars agree that the gospel of Mark was written first sometime between 60-75 in the first century. Matthew and Luke were authored slightly after, followed by the book of John. Eyewitnesses were still around to confirm the history.
Was the information reliably preserved? The ancient world had no modern media, and wasn’t even a print-based culture. History was preserved by oral tradition, most of which was memorized. It was not uncommon for Rabbis to commit the entire Torah to memory. Early apostles saw the information about Jesus as sacred holy tradition, and went to great lengths to get it correct. Stories were told to a community and if the story was not told correctly, then there were lots of people around who could correct the teacher.
Isn’t the New Testament filled with contradictions? Mark describes one blind man healed; whereas Matthew describes two. That is not a contradiction as Mark only described one of the two. Had all the details of every story been exactly the same, then we would think there was some form of collusion.
The oldest copies of the Bible the codex sinaiticus was authored between A.D. 330 and 350 and contains almost all of the New Testament and a significant portion of the Old Testament. The codex vaticanus is a near complete Greek copy of the entire Bible. A papyrus fragment from the 18th chapter of John dates to A.D. 125. There are no original survivors of the New Testament writings.
How do we know today’s copies bare any resemblance to the original text? There is better manuscript attestation for the New Testament than any other ancient document. The Bible of the Greeks, Homer’s Iliad, is preserved in about 600 manuscripts, the oldest of which is less than 1000 years old. There are 5000 Greek manuscripts confirming the New Testament.
Outside of the biblical account, there is a remarkable amount of corroboration for the Bible. Josephus refers to him in A.D. 93 in his work Antiquities of the Jews, the Roman historian Tacitus refers to him, Suetonius, a political writer, refers to him, and critics refer to him. The Gnostic Gospels are a collection of religious writings from the 2nd & 3rd century. They are a blend of the teachings of Jesus with a variety of ancient philosophical beliefs. They are not reliable.
Was Jesus really the Son of God? While other teachers taught in the name of someone else, Jesus taught with authority. He would clarify or overrule in some cases, Old Testament law. He claimed he was the one that came to fulfill the law. Jesus claims to be God. Jesus tells Philip, The one who has seen me has seen the Father. Under the threat of death by Caiaphas, the high priest, Jesus confirms to be the Messiah the Son of God. He says, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated …” More than 80 times in the New Testament, Jesus is identified as the Son of Man. In addition to his self proclamation, Jesus is reported to have walked on water, healed the sick, turned water into wine, raised the dead, and did exorcisms. The people that supported him said he did these things in the name of God. Those opposing him said yes he did amazing things, but the devil helped him. He was referred to as a magician. The gospels record over 40 separate miracles performed by Jesus during his ministry.
He claims to be able to forgive sins.
Is Jesus the Messiah? Ancient prophecies in the Old Testament Bible predicted the coming of the Messiah, and Jesus against all mathematical odds fulfilled those prophecies. Reference Isaiah 53:3-6 describing the life of Yeshua, points us to Jesus Christ, but was written about 681 B.C. There are 2 types of prophecy, those that could have only been uniquely fulfilled in Christ, and those fulfilled typologically in Christ. In Psalm 22, David tells us, 300 years before crucifixion is known, that the Messiah will have his hands and feet pierced for our iniquities. This is not done just because Jesus is a martyr, but also a substitute for sin. The odds of a human fulfilling the Messianic Prophecies is basically zero.
The Resurrection: The ultimate evidence and pivotal point in history.
• All for gospels record Jesus’ beating, crucifixion, death on the cross and burial.
• Had the guards let Jesus get away they would have paid with their lives, life was cheap.
• They made certain Jesus was dead by piercing his side with a spear. John 19:34
• Joseph of Arimathea, a Sanhedrin who convicted him, gives credibility to the burial of Jesus.
He would have been well known and so would the burial location. Matthew 27:57-60
• The discovery of the empty tomb by women isn’t what would be reported if the story was made up, as women were 2nd class citizens. Luke 24:1-5
• Jesus was seen by over 500 people after his resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15:4-8
• When Paul was writing to the Corinthians, he told them that many people who saw Jesus after the resurrection were still alive to testify to that fact.
• 1 Corinthians 15:3-7 provides evidence that belief in the resurrection was already present among Jews in 2-3 years after Jesus was killed.
• Growth of the early Christian church under severe persecution was rapid. They would not have died for this belief without first hand accounts of people that had seen the resurrected Lord. 2 Corinthians 11:23.
• After the crucifixion the disciples suffer for many years for their beliefs. Most died a violent martyrs death for not recanting those beliefs. They would have gained very little in human terms unless they died for what they knew was true.
• In the case of James and Paul, they didn’t believe until after the resurrection.
Lee Strobel’s conclusion was that given the evidence it would take more faith to believe in evolution than it would to believe in God’s plan. If Jesus returned from the dead then it is a game changer.
Investigate the evidence for yourself. Make 3 resolutions.
1. Make it a priority issue in your life
2. Resolve to have an open mind and go where the evidence takes you
3. Once the evidence is in resolve to reach a verdict in the case for Christ.
Bible References
Isaiah 53:3-6 – 3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Zechariah 9 – Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
Psalm 22 – 16 For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. 17 I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. 18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. 19 But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me.
John 19:34 – But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.
Matthew 27:57-60 – The Burial of Jesus 57 As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. 58 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. 59 Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away.
Luke 24: 1-5 – Jesus Has Risen 1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?
1 Corinthians 15:4-8 – 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
2 Corinthians 11:23 – 23 Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again.
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