Sombrero

Here’s a thinly veiled metaphor about my experience on the social media. When other people ought to be saying,

“That’s not how I use that word,”

or, “Here’s what I mean when I use that word,”

they instead say,
“You’re  liar and a moron and you barely speak English and your constant straw herrings show that you’re a big fat liar McLiar-pants!”

Can you see how that is different?

Enjoy!

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The GOSPEL- Part 1: Would You Like to Take a Survey?


Many well meaning viewers on social media (and pastors who haven’t taken a science class since the 1970’s) probably wonder why I would spend time attacking Evolution or Deep time. Why don’t I just agree to disagree and celebrate Darwin’s birthday in my own way by NOT baking a monkey shaped cake? The answer in a word (well, a word and a definite article) is The Gospel.

Even though it offers no actual argument or evidence against the existence of God or the gospel, many people falsely believe that evolution and deep time do somehow disprove Christianity, and thus they stand as barriers between people and the gospel. Thus, by tearing down the lies, I am seeking to bring people to Jesus. But what is the Gospel?

Gospel means “Good News.” It is a declaration of celebration or victory. But before I tell you the good news, I need to tell you the bad news. But before I tell you that bad news, I need to have you take a quick survey:

How GOOD are you? On a scale from 1 to 10. Think about all of the things you do, say, think, and feel, and decide how good you are. And remember, I’m asking how good you ARE, not how good you wish you were.

  1. I’m practically perfect in every way.
  2. I’m almost entirely good.
  3. I’m very good.
  4. I’m pretty good.
  5. I’m a little more good than bad.
  6. I’m as good as I am bad.
  7. I’m more bad than good.
  8. I’m kind of bad.
  9. I’m mostly bad.
  10. I’m almost pure evil.

How did you rate? Be honest now, it’s just us here. You’re not as good as what’s her name, but you’re CERTAINLY not as bad as what’s his face. If you’re like most people, you’d rate yourself as a 7. It’s a C, but it’s better than passing, right? In fact, at your better moments, you have achieved 9 or 10 status, even if that isn’t your average.

But… there was that one time… you know the time I mean. You really did sink down below 5 didn’t you? I mean, I don’t know if you hit as low as1, but you could have felt it if you had reached out for it. And when you think of the things you would have done if you had the strength, or if you had known you would never have been caught…

Of course, you never would have done or said those things if HE hadn’t… you remember. The Jerk. And the situation was so bad, what choice did you have? And you had been drinking, so you PROBABLY wouldn’t have done what you did if you had been in your full faculties, right? So that doesn’t count.

Or does it?

Imagine that Microsoft Billionaire Bill Gates has murdered Dora the Explorer. Just beat her to death in a rage with that singing map of hers. He is arrested and stands before the judge, truly sorry for what he has done.

What would a truly JUST judge do? Consider a few things. First, Dora can be kind of annoying. I think we’ve all wanted to at least smack her with that map of hers, even if not actually kill her.

Second, Bill Gates is the president and founder of one of the most influential companies on earth. He’s a very important guy.

Thirds, Bill is one of the richest people on earth. He gives more to charity every year than you will every make in your whole lifetime.

Also, as far as we know he has never killed anyone before. And he will probably never do it again.

Would a good judge- a truly JUST judge really punish him for one little homicide?

Obviously the answer is yes. His money can’t bring her back from the dead, and his importance doesn’t undo what he has done. Doing what is right doesn’t undo an act of evil. Civil law is not a scale where all of your deeds are added up, and the law of God is no different. Good deeds are not stored up to pay for future sins. They are just what you are supposed to do all of the time.

This even works with little sins. Next time you get pulled over, tell the cop how many times you we not pulled over and see if he can still justify giving you a ticket for going 75 in a school zone that ONE time.

Another consideration is the position of the victim of your crime. Consider Mr K. One day, his wifi went out. In a rage, he kicked his cat. What punishment will the law hand down? Nothing very severe. He may have his cat taken away.

Now imagine he kicked his wife. The law would have a more serious punishment this time.

Now imagine he kicked the queen of England. He may be executed for treason to the crown.

When you sin against God, you are committing a crime against the highest office, not in the land, or even on the planet, but in the universe. The punishment will fit the crime.

There is one more thing to consider when trying to understand what sin is. Imagine a fleet of boats. You are the captain of one boat. What does it take to be considered a good captain? What does it take to be considered a bad one? You’ve been given three basic instructions from your admiral- take care of your ship, sail well with others, and reach the appointed destination. If your boat is falling apart and failing to function because you neglect your duty, you will be fired.

What’s worse, because your ship doesn’t work right, it will run into other ships in the fleet, causing damage to both. Finally, even if you can get your ship in shape and not run into other ships, you will all get fired if you sail to the wrong destination. You are captain of your own ship, but you are responsible to obey your admiral.

This is why Jesus says if you’ve lusted, you have committed adultery, or if you have hated, you are guilty of murder. What you do to your own ship effects the fleet, and allowing your own ship to fall into disrepair is still violating the instructions of your Admiral, even if it doesn’t cause damage to other ships.

The bad news is, you have allowed lust, greed, and hate to damage your ship. You have crashed into other ships. You have failed to sail to your appointed destination. You have sinned against God, and your sins are not a mere kicking of the cat. You have murdered the king. Nothing you can do in a lifetime of good deeds will ever balance that scale.

Romans 3:23 says “..all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..”

THAT, my friends, is the bad news. But you remember that the message of Christianity is called the Gospel- the GOOD news. So your story doesn’t have to end here. For a sneak peek at the end, see John 3:16.

In part 2, we will see how the bad news actually gets worse. But don’t let that get you down, because remember, #JesusLovesYou

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Liberals: Here’s why Conservatives think you’re Insane

Just remember, according to political correctness, identifying someone’s gender based on physical characteristics is HATE SPEECH.

But then we’re expected to remember all of THESE distinctions:
I have learned. I always thought you could just tell an alligator from a crocodile because one will see you later and the other will see you in a while.

But identifying MAN vs WOMAN based on physical traits? THAT is just hateful and wrong.

And this, my left leaning friends, is why more than half of the country voted for TRUMP.

Please visit us at https://www.youtube.com/abitoforange

#JesusLovesYou

 

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Here’s your Homework! Giftwrapped Research for 2016

Hello my friends and welcome to Giftwrapped Apologetic Research for 2016! Below you will find a wide range of information (by category, but in no particular order) on topics related to the creation/evolution debate, as well as the intellectual defense of Christianity. You’ll find that while the presenters are (obviously) Young earth creationist, they get their data from primarily secular, evolutionary sources. Also, they interact with the criticisms of the theory and give valid and logical defenses, showing the weakness of the criticisms and opposing worldviews.

Below that are resources for a lot of other topics, and not all of them are YEC’s, but those who aren’t specialize in much different fields. They would be if they studied more science.

Let’s start right at the very beginning. Isn’t the Big Bang the scientifically proven history of the world? Hasn’t it been established by science? You will find that the facts don’t defend the explosion of nothing making everything. For a summary of the arguments, read my articles below. For more the videos and get quality academic lectures from the scientists in their field.
The Big Bang (watch):

The Big bang Never Happened

A 6000 year old universe! Who Says? Who Cares? Jim Mason PhD    

Physics Disproves Atheistic Cosmologies    

Spike Psarris: Debunking The Big Bang    

Spike Psarris: Science or Storytelling?    

Our Solar System: Evidence of Creation    

Science Educator Dr. G. Charles Jackson: Big Bang Cosmology is a Fake

Big Bang (Read):
Confessions of a YEC part 9- Big Bang: BIG FAIL
Confessions of a YEC part 10- Red Shift, Escape, Delete: Science
Confessions of a YEC part 11- The Not So Smoking Gun of the Big Bang

What about the distance to the stars? Doesn’t that prove that the universe must be billions of years old? Or big banged? Nope. There are a few models which explain it well within the realm of observational science. I liken it to the JFK assassination- maybe we can’t say for certain what happened, but we can rule our natural causes.

Here’s an article which sums up the problem and some of the solutions.

The Problem of Distant Starlight (watch):

The Speed of Light – Jason Lisle

Does Distant Starlight Prove the Universe Is Old – Jason Lisle

Starlight and Time – Dr. Russell Humphreys

Starlight And A Young Earth – Dr. G. Charles Jackson    

The Decreasing Speed of Light 1:19:36 (Full Length)    

Starlight and the Young Earth by Dr. Charles Jackson

Where did life come from? I suggest you start with my “Defining Evolution (Thursday Night Nachos)” series where in I define what Darwin meant and then examine the various proposed mechanism and evidence for evolution. Then, check out the longer academic lectures by scientists in the videos below.  
Darwinian Evolution
(watch):

Check This Out Evolution Refuted     

The Defining Evolution Series Playlist

Is Darwinian Evolution Science Fiction? – From “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed”    

How Did Life Begin?!? – from “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed” –    

Evolution and Genetic Mutation – from “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed”    

Natural Selection is not Evolution – MSU Origin Summit    

Darwinism: Massacred by a Monarch    

Science vs Evolution: “Three Lies of Evolution” with Dr Charles Jackson

Why Biblical Creation is Good Science

The Defining Evolution (Thursday Night Nachos) Playlist

UC Berkley, the Nation Center for Science Education, and the California Museum of Paleantology (and a bunch of other people) put together Evolution 101– the series intended to teach and prove evolution to school kids of all ages. I debunked the series one page at a time. Watch the first half of the series here

Darwinian Evolution (Read):
The Evolution 101 series (Read the entire series) The series begins here:
Evolution 101-part 1: Definition FAIL
The Defining Evolution (Thursday Night Nachos) Series

Ape to Man Evolution:

Jonathan Sarfati – Does our DNA show that we came from apes?

Chimps, Gorillas, Humans and Homo naledi: Dr. Charles Jackson

Human Evolution: Is That All You Got?

Lucy – She’s No Lady

The study of Genetics is a new field which is always bringing us new and fascinating information. The more we explore the information in our cells, the more we discover. From the existence of this code of life, to the spell checkers in all of our cells, and even the multifaceted way in which information is stored, everything about this field of study shows the glory of God and the impossibility of Evolution.
Genetics (watch):

The Multi-dimensional Genome–impossible for Darwinism to account for– by Dr Robert Carter.mp4

The Multi-dimensional Genome–impossible for Darwinism to account for– by Dr Robert Carter.mp4    

Traces of the Bible in our Genetic Code–Dr. Robert Carter (Ph.D. Marine Biology).m4v

Junk DNA, Part 1 of 2 · Dr. Charles Jackson

Junk DNA, Part 2 of 2, Dr. Charles Jackson

The boat that don’t float: CrEvo Rant #78 with Wazooloo

Can the Bible Explain the Origin of the Different “Races”?

Wonder of DNA by Dr. Georgia Purdom

Your textbooks will tell you that we are standing on a mile of evidence for deep time and evolution, but what do the rocks actually say for themselves? Geology and paleontology do NOT defend either, but are both great support for creation and the flood of Genesis. One thing to pay attention to- Biblical sources show you the fossils while evolutionary sources show you their interpretation. Always ask to see the data.

Geology and Fossils (watch):

New finds by Creation Research – Part 1

Living Fossils – Dr. Carl Werner, part 1 of 2 | Origins

Living Fossils- Dr. Carl Werner, part 2 of 2

Whale Evolution vs. The Actual Fossil Evidence

Geology and the Clash of Worldviews

Origins – Mount St. Helens – Explosive Evidence for Creation with Dr. Steve Austin

Geologist Dr. Steve Austin: Catastrophic Plate Tectonics – A Global Flood Model

The Mystery of Coal | Origins with Dr. Steve Austin

Fossil Record: A Problem for Evolution  

Bryan Osborne: Dragons & Dinosaurs

Creation Resources:
These are web sites and organizations which teach the science and scripture that show Evolution is false, Creation as written in Genesis is true, and there are MANY reasons why it matters. If you have questions about Genesis or Darwin, start here.

Creation Today (On their main page is a box that says “Get Answers!” which searches not only their own archives, but also a collection of the best Creation apologetics sites. It’s a Creation Science search engine. I also highly recommend their YouTube Channel.

Answers In Genesis For thirty years this organization has had content created by the top scientists in their field, including many who have done field research to demonstrate the existence of C14 and soft tissue in dinosaur bones, the rapid rate of radio-decay in certain elements, and a host of other topics which validate Biblical Creation and invalidate Evolutionism.

Genesis Week/ Ian Juby My 3rd favorite Canadian and congenial scientists, Juby presents on a LOT of related topics, and he does his homework (links in the description to his videos on YouTube). From creation and evolution, to the flood and fossils, modern and historical science, and more, Juby makes it clear, entertaining, and relevant. More than his web site, I recommend his YouTube Channel. If you’re new, start with his Crevo Rants. If you want to see the whole case for Creation and against Evolution laid out all at once, check out his Complete Creation Series.

Creation Ministries International This multinational organization is much like Answers in Genesis- they have top scientists in their fields creating content and speaking on topics related to the Creation/Evolution debate, including biology, chemistry, dinosaurs, astronomy, and more.

Origins TV A Creation science tv show available on line. Not as entertaining as Ian Juby or Eric Hovind, this show still has top scientists diving deep into relevant topics for 25 minutes at a pop. A lot to be learned here from the nerds who know what they’re talking about.

The Slaves4Christ YouTube Channel is a warehouse of great lectures on science topics. The lecturers come from all of the organizations above and more, and as you will see, most of them are top scientists in their field.

The North West Creation Network also has a YouTube channel which houses a VAST collection of great lectures by top scientists. For years now they have had an annual creation conference where in the topics are addressed by top scientists. Once you’ve heard Ian Juby rant for a few minutes, come here and get an hour more on the details and learn you some science!

John Mackay– A brother from down under, Mackay is an old friend of Ken Ham and Answers in Genesis. His YouTube channel has a lot of great teaching on creation science from Mackay and friends on a variety of topics.

So it’s clear the Bible teaches that In the beginning, GOD created, but what makes us so sure that God even exists? Many reasons to be sure, but here’s a few arguments which can be made for those still skeptical.
The Existence of God:

Leibniz’ Contingency Argument    

The Fine Tuning of the Universe

The Moral Argument

The Kalam Cosmological Argument

The Ontological Argument

Proving God Exists- Sye Ten Bruggencate

Richard Dawkins/The God Delusion
Dawkins is the most popular atheist on the internet right now (although he has stopped calling himself an atheist because he admits atheism is indefensible). A biologist, Dawkins eventually decided that he was in a position to attack the Bible and as such wrote a popular book far more atheists reference than have actually read, and also showed how very incapable of theology he was. See his intellectual failings picked apart down to the bone below.

The God Delusion? – Dr. Marc Surtees Refutes Richard Dawkins

“The Greatest Hoax on Earth” summary of book by Dr. Jonathan Sarfati

Richard Dawkins’ Best Argument Against God is the Worst Argument in Western History

Apologetics on a LOT of topics:
Want to know the REAL history of the Bible? Do you want to know what Jesus REALLY taught? Do you want to know where science and faith intersect? Read on friends. The truth will set you free. Oh, and Jesus loves you!

These are Some of my Favorite Apologetic Web Sites with brief descriptions of what you’ll find there and what the site says about itself. (I do not agree with 100% of what these men say- Kreeft is a Catholic- I am not- and Craig is accepts Big Bang cosmology- I do not- but they still present a vast amount of useful information on many relevant topics, from the existence of God to the historicity of the resurrection of Jesus. Eat the meat, spit out the bones.)

ReasonsForHope– Karl Kerby is a guy in a Hawaiian shirt who is the son of a professional wrestler. His ministry focuses on quick and easy to understand answers, including a look into the world view of popular media (tv, movies, videogames). Most known for his short series of animations called DEBUNKED, he also gives great presentations, such as THIS ONE about a proposed Missing Link which got her own tv show. It’s a REALLY great presentation because he uses a LOT of the video and web site which tried to sell this lemur as a pre-human, showing the lies and hypocrisy, and eventual admission of dishonesty from the evolutionists behind it all.

http://www.leestrobel.com/
Tons of short videos on a wide range of topics from dozens of scholars. Like an educational YouTube of apologetic teaching. Topic include God and the Bible, Science, History, metaphysics, comparative world religions, and answers to critics and skeptics. A great web site- especially if you’re not in the mood to read.

http://hankhanegraaff.blogspot.com/
Blog of the “Bible Answer Man,” who’s radio show can be found here:
http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/bible_answer_man/

http://www.equip.org/categories
The Christian Research Institute exists to provide Christians worldwide with carefully researched information and well-reasoned answers that encourage them in their faith. Lots of common questions answered in brief, search-able articles.

http://www.josh.org
Josh McDowell Ministries- video, audio, and articles on the deity of Christ, the reliability of Scripture, and the historical fact of the resurrection in the context of the current culture to bring people into a vital, intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. His podcast is called Josh McDowell Ministries Messages.

http://debate.org.uk/topics/apolog/contrads.htm
Responses to “101 Clear Contradictions in the Bible”, by (Muslim Author) Shabbir Ally
This article discusses the nature of the Bible as literature, its history, and the proper way to view it’s inerrancy. Then it takes the 101 supposed contradictions given by Mr. Ally and gives answers to them, showing the trustworthiness of the scriptures.

http://www.bethinking.org.uk/
Resources to help you to understand, defend and communicate the Christian faith. Audio, articles, pictures, and a wide range of authors on a wide range of theological, scientific, and personal issues- including the reliability of the scriptures both as internally coherent and historically accurate:
http://www.bethinking.org.uk/bible-jesus/isnt-the-bible-full-of-errors.htm

http://rzim.org/
Ravi Zacharias is the host of the radio/podcast Let My People Think and has authored many books. He travels and speaks on maters of apologetics and world view. This site has videos of him speaking at colleges and links to other material. Ravi Zacharias International Ministries is a global ministry that seeks to communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world. At its essence, apologetics is the art and science of Christian persuasion: communicating the relevance, coherence, and reasonableness of the Christian Gospel to skeptics, cultural influencers, and critical thinkers across the globe.

http://www.answersingenesis.org/
Founded by “Young Earth” Creationist and Australian born teacher Ken Ham, this web site is full of video, audio, and many scholarly articles on a vast range of scientific topics supporting the Biblical account of creation, and showing the weaknesses in “Naturalistic” theories of science. Curators of the Creation Museum:
http://www.creationmuseum.org/

http://www.reasonablefaith.org
Video, audio, and many written articles on matters of theology, philosophy, metaphysics, and worldview. There is a long list of questions sent in by readers of the site which he answers, articles on a range of related topics, and audio and video of lectures and debates. Reasonable Faith features the work of philosopher and theologian Dr. William Lane Craig in order to carry out its three-fold mission: to provide an articulate, intelligent voice for biblical Christianity in the public arena, to challenge unbelievers with the truth of biblical Christianity, and to train Christians to state and defend Christian truth claims with greater effectiveness. His youtube channel has many short clips on topic, and much longer lectures and debates.

Dr James White of Alpha and Omega Ministries is a powerhouse of information and logic, covering a WIDE variety of topics, from the historicity of the resurrection and the reliability of the New Testament, to the Christian response to Islam, Mormonism, and Atheism, as well as in depth replies to the most popular skeptics and heretics of the day. He specializes in debates and is an intellect to be feared, on par with Dr Craig.

JP Holding of Tekton Apologetics is like a librarian on steroids when it comes to defending the Christian faith. He specializes in taking on skeptics and heretics specifically, but also addressed ideologies uniquely and with great research. His youtube channel is almost entirely snarky cartoons making fun of the many lies which get spread on the internet, and the liars who spread them. It’s a blend of sarcasm, scholarship, and Loony Toons. If there’s a popular YouTube atheist, odds are JP Holding has made fun of them in cartoon form.

CSLewisDoodle A youTube channel where in the works of CS Lewis are read and cartoons are draw in in to illustrate the concepts. Lewis makes difficult concepts clear- from the validity of miracles to the existence of God and Objective morals, and the cartoons make it come alive, especially for those of us who are visual learners.

http://www.veritas.org/
The Veritas Forum is a collection of lectures and debates from professionals and experts in their fields (Including Ravi Zacharias, J.P. Moreland, and William Lane Craig) offered on college campuses, focusing on a Christian world view through a wide range of topics, from science and history to drama and music. Media downloads are available for free.

The Official Peter Kreeft Site
Peter Kreeft is a great philosopher who stands on the shoulders of giants. A lover of CS Lewis, GK Chesterton, Tolkien, surfing and all of church history, Kreeft tackles individual philosophers and their worldviews as well as culturally relevant topics from relativism to abortion.  His lectures are congenial and very educational, and his books are a wonderful introduction to the history of Western thought on both sides of the isle. Check out the free audio on his site to begin with.

Socrates Meets Jesus is a stageplay based on a book by Kreeft by the same name. It’s clever, insightful, and in a short time gets into the depths of modern thought and the rationality of faith in Jesus. I’ve gotten to see this one live, and it is great. click the link to watch it on YouTube. For more from the guy who plays Socates in the production, check out Kevin O’Brien’s work here on youtube. He’s a great actor who uses comedy to teach.

Kevin O’Brien plays a host of characters on G.K. Chesterton: Apostle of Common Sense- a show celebrating the work of GK Chesterton. As I have said before, Chesterton and the makers of this show are Catholic, and I am not, thus I have my disagreements, but overall, Chesterton was a great gift to the entire Christian church, and he is well represented here. He makes whimsical sense of many parts of faith, and dismantles attacks against Christianity with a rapier wit. Once you fall in love with Chesterton, check out this evening with Chesterton as performed by the man who plays him on the Apostle of Common Sense.

Ronald Nash at Reformed Theological Seminary Go to I Tunes U and find Ronald Nash at RTS, and check out his courses on philosophy and history. He teaches several, and they are wonderful. Want to trace the history of thought within the church from its biggest names? Want to learn the worldviews which opposed the church for its entire history? Want to get a better grasp on philosophy- ancient and modern- from a guy who doesn’t take himself too seriously? I recommend Nash- witty and clear. You will enjoy learning from him, and it’s all free for download.

Inspiring Philosophy is a YouTube channel which deals with the deeper apologetic questions, philosophy, and alleged errors or contradictions in the Bible. Presented as easy to follow animated videos, this series will make you think.

ISLAM:

Acts17Apologetics is a YouTube channel which is home to many apologetics topics, most notably David Wood who defends the historicity of Christianity and spends a LOT of time teaching about Islam, Mohammed, and the Quran. If you want to learn about Islam from Islamic sources, this is a great place to start.

Here are a few videos that ask what history says about the origin of Islam and begin to uncover reasons to doubt Islam even existed during the lifetime of Mohammed- if he even existed:

Robert Spencer vs. David Wood: Did Muhammad Exist?

Robert Spencer speaks in Los Angeles on Did Muhammad Exist?

Nabeel Quareshi is a former Muslim, now Christian, who speaks and writes about Islam. He left Islam when he began to study what it really taught and also began to study Christianity with his friend David Wood.

The Masked Arab is a former Muslim who now considers himself an atheist [so, language warning], but like David Wood he examines Islam from within its own sources and doctrine. In case you want to see what non-Christians familiar with Islam have to say. Check out his video on the Islamic depiction of the universe HERE: Islam & the whale that carries the Earth on its back

Mormonism:

Jim Wallace – website here, YouTube Channel here– is a cold case homicide detective who has a lot of useful info on the historicity of the Bible, the logic of Christian faith, but he also has done a lot of research on Mormonism due to having family in the LDS church. If you want to learn how Mormonism is different than Christianity, and how it fails the test, this is a great place to start.

Top Ten Mormon Problems Explained A look at the evidence against Mormonism and the claims of Joseph Smith.

Do you have any favorites I missed? Leave your recommendations in the comments below! And remember”

#JesusLovesYou!

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Q and A: Science, Lies and Darwin

Greetings friends and welcome to a Q and A all about science and scientists and truth and evolution. We’re covering a lot of topics today, but the summation is, why do people like me claim Deep time, Big bang and Evolution are false when so many scientists believe those models? Am I saying they are all liars or all bad scientists? And if those models were discredited by science like I say, wouldn’t all of the scientists in the world be happy to learn the truth? A faithful reader poses the question as follows:

Now one thing that caught my eye immediately was this quote of yours: “Dating methods are based on assumptions. Most scientists probably don’t think about these assumptions and almost no textbooks will ever address these.” Now of course reading the rest of your article you do go into detail on these assumptions in the form of a metaphor. But here’s my biggest problem with this. There hundreds of thousands of scientists all over the world writing peer-reviews articles and publishing them for other scientists to read and these articles get critiqued all the time and yet nobody is willing to question these out of risk of losing their jobs? That’s what science is all about!

..That’s how most scientists seem to feel to me! They want the truth! And honesty is extremely important to a scientist. If you lie about something as a scientist and you’re caught then your credibility is shot! Lies are not tolerated.

A very good point, worthy of addressing.whale2a Continue reading

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Q and A: Isn’t Evolution Logical?

Today’s question is about Evolution:

What are the biggest problems you see with Evolution exactly? The more I look into it, the more it seems like evolution is more logical. I mean why can you accept small changes over a small period of time but large changes over large periods of time seems impossible?

A very good question, and in a sense it sums up the whole debate.

No young earth Creationist I know of would suggest that living things never change. No YEC organization would say that God created all existing species as they exist today during Creation week. Species change all of the time. New species are discovered every year, which strongly implies that new species are forming, as opposed to us simply failing to identity millions of species for hundreds of years. Given enough time, can’t small changes add up into big ones?fish-lizard-copy Continue reading

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Q and A: The Copycat Jesus Theory

Today’s Q&A involves something which no doubt all of you have seen in memes on Facebook: The Copycat Jesus Theory. An astute reader says:

How about mythological deities that seems similar to Jesus? If we were to say that Jesus was born at around the BC/AD time switch, than Horus was made around 3100 BC, Buddha at 563 BC, Mithra at 2000 BC, Krishna at 3000 BC, and Osirus at 2500 BC and all of these deities had similarities to Jesus such as being born of virgins, having disciples, casting out demons, performing miracles, etc. etc. etc.

Oh, my dear, dear friend. You make me sad. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it maybe another four or fives times: Just because you read it on the internet, doesn’t mean it is true. People make stuff up. Some people are just liars. And…All liars have a web site. Continue reading

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Q and A: A flood of questions about Noah

Today’s thoughtful comment has to do with the world’s WORST weather. It was just like that movie 2012, but without John Cusack. Apparently it did have Russell Crowe and Hermione Granger. These historical documentaries are invaluable for my research, let me tell you.

I’m going to break up this comment and reply section by section. My reader begins as such:

I did read your article on Noah’s flood but you don’t really seem to bring up any historical or scientific evidence that it happened just some bible verses.

egypt Continue reading

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Just for the record: FOSSILS

Today’s Q&A is about the fossil record. An alert reader, replying to my previous writings and video content, said the following:

As to the fossil record, if we actually find an animal on the wrong rock layers then that would be huge news to scientists all over the world. So if this has happened at least once then can you provide an example of this? Because scientists have pretty much sequenced the entire ape-to-human evolutionary line from our ancestor’s fossils and I’m pretty sure the same can be said for whales but don’t quote me on that. As for the definition of evolution: “Changes in the gene pool over time through mutations and natural selection as to cause speciation”. Those are my words based on my understanding of evolution btw.

Right off the bat, you are absolutely correct. Finding animals in the “wrong” rock layers WOULD be news to scientists all over the world! But that isn’t because it hasn’t happened hundreds of times. It’s because, as I explained in the article about Deep Time dating methods recently, there are checks to make sure such information never sees the light of day (See CreatorGate video below for a recent example). Try to publish in a secular magazine about fossils which fly in the face of evolution, and you may never work again. The result is, not a lot of people get to read about those discoveries. Sometimes the stories leak, but even when they prove conclusively that the evolutionary story is wrong (Such as Mary Schweitzer’s highly publicized and equally controversial- discovery of soft tissue in dinosaur bone) it is quickly dismissed, swept away, or hidden under a faith blanket of “Someday we will discover how this MIRACULOUS event occurred without violating the tenets of atheism or Evolution.” I don’t mean to sound cynical, but this happens all of the time. When you know what I know, cynicism and realism tend to blend into a fruit-smoothy of head smacking disbelief.

You ask for examples of fossils which are in the wrong place? Sure thing. Quite a few of these are featured in this video with inks in the description: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7k0B80oJlQw

Tiktaalik was supposed to be the FIRST animal with legs, but fossilized footprints show up in rocks dated hundred million years earlier. (Watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeTEfg4m3pQ Starting about 11 min in)

Human and Dinosaur footprints are found in the same rock, with them even stepping in each other’s footprints. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXDBX99qePA

Fossil pollen shows up before those plants were supposed to have evolved. http://www.icr.org/article/pollen-fossils-warp-evolutionary-time/

Dino eating mammals have been found with dino in their bellies, when evolution tells us only tiny squirrels or smaller should have existed. http://www.livescience.com/3794-dinosaur-fossil-mammal-stomach.html

https://answersingenesis.org/dinosaurs/when-did-dinosaurs-live/dino-dinner-hard-to-swallow/

There is a fossil of a trilobite in a footprint, and the foot was wearing a sandal- even though the trilobites are supposed to have gone extinct hundreds of millions of years before. http://www.footprintsinstone.com/the-footprints/meister-print/

http://www.creationevidence.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=29

Marine invertebrates are found EVERYWHERE, including at the top of Mt Everest. That shows global flood but NOT evolution.

Modern birds show up in the fossils in rock layers dated millions of years before the dinosaurs were supposed to have evolved into birds. http://www.genesispark.com/exhibits/trivia/birds/

http://creation.com/modern-birds-with-dinosaurs

Human artifacts made of brass found in coal- coal which was supposed to have formed millions of years before the first humans evolved. http://www.genesispark.com/essays/update-on-the-mysterious-bell-found-in-coal/

http://www.icr.org/article/possible-human-artifact-found-coal/

In short, this kind of thing happens ALL of the time. What ought to annoy you is the way in which the geological record is created in the first place. If you’re anything like me, you got the idea (from textbooks and television) that Darwin built the theory of evolution in part on the evidence from the fossil record which, as you dig down, shows evolution going back in time. The other side of that coin is, the geological column which you find in your textbooks indicates that, the further down you go, the further back in time, meaning, if you dig down far enough anywhere, you will find the Jurassic period and have dinosaurs of your own! And if you keep on digging, you find trilobites! But all of this is a horrible, bold faced lie.

I don’t say that merely because I reject evolution. I say it merely because these two pieces of information which I thought I knew and which I was sure science had proven are not facts asserted by science. First, the fossil record was not evidence for evolution. Darwin’s only real comment on the fossil record is regretting that it did NOT show evolution. Specifically, he laments the fact that fossils show NO intermediate forms, meaning, the stages between fully formed animal kinds. He hoped that someday in the future, the fossil record would eventually show the transitions (i.e. missing links) which he knew ought to be there, were his theory true. For a collection of scientists admitting that the missing links are STILL missing, see the links below.

But don’t modern evolutionists know that the fossils support evolution? Don’t they use it as evidence for evolution? The textbook writers do. The actual paleantologists? Not so much. But again, don’t take my word for it:

“In any case, no real evolutionist, whether gradualist or punctuationist, uses the fossil record as evidence in favour of the theory of evolution as opposed to special creation.” Ridley, Mark, “Who doubts evolution?” “New Scientist”, vol. 90, 25 June 1981, p. 831

One of the ironies of the evolution-creation debate is that the creationists have accepted the mistaken notion that the fossil record shows a detailed and orderly progression and they have gone to great lengths to accommodate this “fact” in their Flood geology. David M. Raup, “Evolution and the Fossil Record”, Science, Vol. 213, No. 4505, 17 July 1981, p.289

Why don’t evolutionists use the fossil record as evidence in favor of evolution when it shows evolution so clearly? Because it doesn’t. In fact, the fossil record only exists in one place in the world: Textbooks. The order in which fossils are found in the ground is NOT a gradual progression from simple to complex. You don’t go back in time the deeper you go. The rocks are dated, not by the order in which they are found, but by the fossils they contain, and the evolutionary theory.

Here’s how it works. You dig into your backyard, hoping to find a dinosaur fossil. You find a horseshoe crab. Those guys evolved 500 million years ago, so this fossil is 500 million years old, and thus the rock layer is 500 million years old. Then you dig deeper and you find a hadrosaur! But those guys are only 70 million years old (meaning of course that the rock layer it was found in is 70 million years old). Doesn’t that mean this fossil is in the “wrong place”? Not according to evolutionists! Since he’s in a 70 million year old rock layer, he’s in the right place. We just need to accept the fact that, somehow, a 500 million year old rock layer got pushed up on top of a 70 million year old layer. How does that happen? We have no idea, but it MUST happen, because otherwise all of these rock layers will be in the wrong order.

So how do we date the fossils? We determine the age of the fossils by what rock layer they are found in. But didn’t I just say we determine what rock layer it is by the fossils it contains? Yes. Yes I did.

The fossils date the rocks, but then, the rocks date the fossils.

But then how do we determine the age of the rocks or the fossils to begin with? We look at the evolutionary theory to tell us how old things are. You may be wondering why I have failed to mention radiometric dating. This is because we don’t bother with that until we have the ages of the rocks and fossils figured out. But wait! Don’t we use radio methods to date the rocks and fossils? Well… no. First of all, fossils cannot be radio dated directly by any method other than C14 dating, but that can only be used on once living things which died LESS than 100,000 years ago, and we know that dinosaurs went extinct 65 MILLION years ago. Almost all other methods can only be used on volcanic rock, and most fossils are not found in volcanic rock. The rock layers are almost all sedimentary, meaning they are formed from sediment settling out in water- like we would find in, say, a global flood. Besides all of that, here is the key point: Radio dating methods are calibrated by using the dates provided by evolutionary theory.

WHAT THE WHAAAAAAT?

Yes, those dates provided by radio dating methods are determined to be correct or incorrect by comparing the date calculated by lab tests against the dates given by evolutionary theory. If the lab tests differ from the evolutionary dates, the lab date is tossed out. But once again, don’t take my word for it:

“In conventional interpretation of KAr age data, it is common to discard ages which are substantially too high or too low compared with the rest of the group or with other available data such as the geological time scale. The discrepancies between the rejected and the accepted are arbitrarily attributed to excess or loss of argon.” A. HAYATSU,  Dept. of Geophysics, U. of Western Ontario, Canadian Journal Of Earth Science, 16:974.

“In general, dates in the ‘correct ball park’ are assumed to be correct and are published, but those in disagreement with other data are seldom published nor are the discrepancies fully explained.” R. L. MAUGER, E. Carolina U., DISSENTERS EJECTED, Contributions To Geology, Vol.15 (1): 17

So let me sum up: Evolution tells us WHEN different species evolved and when they went extinct. Thus, evolution tells us how old the fossils are. The fossils of those species tell us how old the rock layers are. Once we know how old a rock layer is, we can use that to date the fossils. If there is volcanic rock nearby, we can date it with radio dating methods to get confirmation of the ages determined by the rocks and the fossils, and we know the lab results are correct by comparing them to the evolutionary dates we got from evolution in the first place. And then, we use all of this as evidence for evolution. Which means, when you get right down to it, Evolution is used as evidence for evolution. Any data we find is forced to fit into the evolutionary model by first assuming evolution to be true, and if any data doesn’t fit, we explain it away or toss it out.

It sounds like I am making this stuff up, but I am not.

Here’s what you need to realize about this: They have created a system where by it is almost impossible for the evidence to disrupt the theory. If the rocks are not in the right order (and literally 99% of the time, they are not) they invent some geological upheaval which says the rocks were laid down in the right evolutionary order, but then somehow they got flipped over. Or if layers are missing so that, such as in the grand canyon, 95% of the deep time ages and epochs are missing, they label it a “great unconformity” and assume that it HAD been there, but has eroded away over time. And the rocks are not dated according to where they are in relationship to each other, but merely by what fossils they find in the rock layers. And the age of the fossils is determined by evolutionary theory, BUT if a rock contains fossils from different ages, they will claim one fossil needs to be explained away, maybe by saying the animal (or sometimes human) fell into a crevasse, which then closed up and fossilized them. The test proposed is, if we ever found a pre-Cambrian rabbit, it would prove evolution false. But if you find a rabbit fossil, then CLEARLY that rock layer is NOT pre-Cambrian, no matter how deep you have to dig to find it. It’s the way the defense attorney in a trial says an eye witness is unreliable because they claimed to have seen the defendant at the scene of the crime.

So it’s impossible to radio date dinosaurs directly. Or is it? Remember Carbon 14 dating? Dinosaurs should be 64.9 Million years too old to date with that method, but as of a few years ago, 25 dinosaur fossils were shown to have C14 in them, meaning they were YOUNGER than 100,000 years. And Coal. And Diamonds. In fact, as C14 detection has become more and more sensitive, it has become almost impossible to find any fossil plant or animal without C14 in it, which means all of these things which evolution says are MILLIONS of years old CANNOT be a tenth of ONE million years old. What’s worse, I know of at least three species of dinosaur which have been found to have soft tissue in them, and un-fossilized dinosaur skin has been found. 65 MILLION years old? No Chemical Way.

For a realistic look at how fossils in the wrong place are dealt with, watch this: https://youtu.be/lTWZJBXAZJA?t=10m21s

Onto the next point: scientists have pretty much sequenced the entire ape-to-human evolutionary line from our ancestor’s fossils and I’m pretty sure the same can be said for whales…

If you have any textbook teaching evolution, then the ape to human or the land animal to whale sequences will be proudly displayed as settled evolutionary fact. What those charts do not show you is the actual evidence, meaning the fossils. What you get are the artists reproductions of what the animal, or what the skeletons MAY have looked like.

The entire collection of ape to human fossils could ALL be stored in a box smaller than a coffin. Most are fragments. One was a dolphin. HubbaWHAAAA? Check it out:

A five million-year-old piece of bone that was thought to be a collarbone of a humanlike creature is actually part of a dolphin rib, …He [Dr. T. White] puts the incident on par with two other embarrassing [sic] faux pas by fossil hunters: Hesperopithecus, the fossil pig’s tooth that was cited as evidence of very early man in North America, and Eoanthropus or ‘Piltdown Man,’ the jaw of an orangutan and the skull of a modern human that were claimed to be the ‘earliest Englishman’.

“The problem with a lot of anthropologists is that they want so much to find a hominid that any scrap of bone becomes a hominid bone.’”
Dr. Tim White (anthropologist, University of California, Berkeley). As quoted by Ian Anderson “Hominoid collarbone exposed as dolphin’s rib”, in New Scientist, 28 April 1983, p. 199

What those charts also don’t give you are updates on the discoveries. Every single proposed human ancestor has been determined by the evolutionists in the field to be either FULLY HUMAN, or merely another primate. One was a lemur. For a detailed look at that- and a great examination of the propaganda and subtle lies that get used to sell this stuff, check out Carl Kerby’s talk “Evolution: Is that all you got?” https://youtu.be/zbWDER83NwE

And also very much worth a watch is Dr Charles Jackson:Chimps, Gorillas, Humans and Homo naledi
https://youtu.be/SqBsEC5I0Pk

In short, the human to ape evolution story is a marketing piece which is a lie that paleontologists do not believe, but that the media keeps selling. If you think it’s harsh to call it a lie, then take a look at the media’s FAVORITE pre-human ancestor- Lucy- being “adjusted” with power tools to fit the theory, because the evidence as discovered didn’t serve the evolutionary story. You need to see this to believe it: https://youtu.be/p6RfIEVO6YQ

What about whales? Once again, you can hear it right from the evolutionists mouth. The fossils do not support the story. There are artists reconstructions based on the theory, but the evidence, as you will see admitted by the guy responsible for proposing that land animal to whale chart that shows up in your textbooks, does not support it. He knows its wrong, but the textbooks and museums don’t care about the evidence when they have faith and some cartoons to sell their story. Once again, don’t take my word for it.

Whale Evolution vs fossil evidence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zio1ttlDjlM

The Fossils: they DO NOT support evolution. People who study them admit this. What the fossils show are two things which support the creation account but which fly in the face of evolution. Once again, don’t take it from me. Let’s hear from a true believer of Darwinian evolution:

“Paleontologists have paid an enormous price for Darwin’s argument. We fancy ourselves as the only true students of life’s history, yet to preserve our favored account of evolution by natural selection we view our data as so bad that we almost never see the very process we profess to study. …The history of most fossil species includes two features particularly inconsistent with gradualism:  1. Stasis.  Most species exhibit no directional change during their tenure on earth. They appear in the fossil record looking much the same as when they disappear; morphological change I usually limited and directionless.  2. Sudden appearance. In any local area, a species does not arise gradually by the steady transformation of its ancestors; it appears all at once and ‘fully formed.’” Gould, Stephen J. The Panda’s Thumb, 1980, p. 181-182

Fossils don’t show evolution. They show fully formed, created kinds appearing fully formed and distinct, and NOT changing, even if you accept the millions of years.

Finally, what is evolution? My astute reader says “As for the definition of evolution: “Changes in the gene pool over time through mutations and natural selection as to cause speciation”. Those are my words based on my understanding of evolution btw.”

 A better attempt than most, but instead of going into it here, I will suggest my series on defining evolution which begins here:

https://abitoforange.com/2016/03/01/defining-evolution-1-the-fight-almost-starts/

https://youtu.be/LDoETfGFRx8?list=PL9H1r9fw21g5wFlvJzY2imlSDVYrffOnu

I go into detail about why most definitions fail, and why my definition is a better explaination of what Darwin was trying to say. If you have questions on any of that, please let me know. To sum up why yours needs work: CHANGES– this can mean extinctions. This can mean a sighted species going blind. This can mean cancer. In order to mean what Darwin meant, you need to be able to explain the Darwinain Tree of life, and most changes will not do the job. Also, Natural Selection REMOVES variation over time, it does not ADD it, which means it is actually the opposite of what evolution needs to be. As you’ll see in my series, Darwin figured this out and wrote about it himself.

In short, when you begin to put all of the pieces together, you will see that you have been lied to. The evolutionary story is a lie, the evidence is fabricated, altered or tossed out to suit the theory. Evolution is not supported by science, it is supported by itself and only itself. It exists only to give an imaginary intellectual defense of atheism. Like the myth of deep time, it was not DISCOVERED by scientists, it was INVENTED by atheists who acknowledged that they intended to undermine Genesis and it is NOT supported by the actual evidence, it is supported by blind faith and imagination. If you look at the fossils without the presumption of Evolution, you would NEVER see evolution in the rocks. What you see is the evidence of a global catastrophe. The fossil record is exactly what you would expect to find if the Genesis account of creation and the flood were real history.

I hope this helps. As always, I welcome your questions. For more information on related topics, check out the links below, and remember, #JesusLovesYou.

Here are a few articles with more info:

http://creation.com/fossils-out-of-order

http://creation.com/fossils-wrong-place

Read: https://abitoforange.com/2016/04/21/defining-evolution-16-fossils/

Watch Fabulous Fossil Fail: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo_uLKR85ak

https://creationsoapbox.wordpress.com/2015/09/28/the-flood-4-genesis-rocks/

Ian Juby: Fossil record Busted! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTWZJBXAZJA

Creatorgate! Anti-Creation Bigotry overshadows science: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JJTiPf_ChE

Consensus Rant from Ian Juby: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ESmAg68UHQ

QUOTE MINES! More secular scientists accidentally telling you the truth.

https://creationsoapbox.wordpress.com/2014/09/01/quote-mine-monday-for-part-3-fossils-fail-darwinian-faith/

https://creationsoapbox.wordpress.com/2014/10/20/quote-mine-monday-for-part-9-moving-on-to-modern-birds/

https://creationsoapbox.wordpress.com/2014/09/22/quote-mine-monday-for-part-6a-cloudy-fossils-and-circular-dating/

https://creationsoapbox.wordpress.com/2014/09/01/quote-mine-monday-for-part-3-fossils-fail-darwinian-faith/

 

 

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Waters ABOVE the Waters? HubbaWHA?

Welcome to another Q&A! Today’s question is about the description of the earth given in the Genesis Creation account:

In Genesis, the bible describes a rather unusual Earth where we live on a flat Earth with water surrounding the land and water above the land held up by an expanse. To put it simply, the Bible is telling us we essentially live in a snowglobe underwater, which we know for a fact that this is not the case. This is in Genesis 1:6-8 NIV if you want to look it up yourself.

A very wise suggestion from an astute reader: Look it up! Let’s do that:

Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. 8God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

Other translations say “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters,” or “”Let there be a canopy between bodies of water, separating bodies of water from bodies of water!” or “”Let there be a space between the waters, to separate the waters of the heavens from the waters of the earth.” In short, God makes something to be between two waters. Does this mean the earth is flat?

This is a fairly common question from modern readers, especially because we have been taught that pre-modern people (Everyone born before 1985) believed a lot of silly, unscientific things which we now know not to be true, such as cigarettes are good for you, or that the Cubs would someday win the World Series. One of the things we are told pre-modern people believed was a flat earth and, we are told, the Bible teaches a flat earth.

Genesis does not describe a flat earth. This interpretation is NOT in the text, but is the result of cramming flat earth into the text and them using that as the lens through which to view the description. Nothing in the bible directly supports flat earth theory, and it was not the view of the church as a whole for 2,000 years. The Western world knew the shape and size of the earth since before Christ was born. The only debate in the church was the relative positions of the sun and planets. A lot of lies get told about this matter. See this for more about that- Ian Juby rants about the lie that the Church has always believed the earth to be flat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZrLMhjOPPM

Does water surround the land? Yes, look at any map. Is water UNDER the continents- actually, yes. Deep drilling and volcanic ejecta both show HUGE amounts of water under the land. Some scientists have speculated that more water exists UNDER the continents than in all of the oceans. I cite some sources and give more details about this HERE.

There are several good Creation/Pre-Flood models which make sense of this, and which help to explain the separation of the continents at the time of the flood. However, the deep time/planetary evolution model does not allow this, which is why its existence is a big deal. If the planetary formation model taught by most textbooks was true, there could NOT be water under the continents, let alone as much as is presently calculated.

As for water above the atmosphere- just look up. See those clouds? Now imagine them higher, and colder. That is what the common Creation models show for the canopy, and they show amazing ramifications, such as uniform temperatures globally (Explaining the palm trees in both arctic zone fossils), and higher air pressure, which we know has great results in living things, such as increased injury repair and increased oxygen utilization. Also, many have speculated that, in the present atmosphere, many dinosaurs, such as T Rex, could not have run more than a few feet before passing out, Apatosaurus could not have gotten enough air through his little nostrils to survive in our present density and oxygen concentration and the largest pterosaurs would not have been able to fly without a powerful headwind. It seems that they NEEDED a different atmosphere in order to survive.

So the flat earth in a slowglobe underwater is NOT what the Bible describes. Job 26:7 says “He stretches out the north over the void and hangs the earth on nothing.” And Isaiah 40:22 says “It is he who sits above the circle (or ball- same word in Hebrew) of the earth..” So a ball earth is not only defensible, but strongly implied if not directly stated in the old testament. All arguments asserting the opposite tend to rely on logical fallacies. Genesis does NOT say the earth is flat.

My very astute reader also said the following:

Genesis 1: 6-7 clearly states “And God said, “‘Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.’ So God made the expanse and SEPPATRATED THE WATER UNDER THE EXPANSE FROM THE WATER ABOVE IT.” (sorry for the all caps but idk how to bold letters in a wordpress comment). This “expanse” sounds to me like an air pocket and it would make sense that people back then could mistake the sky for water considering the blue colour, but GOD mistaking the sky for water? As with the video you shared, while Ian Juby was talking about the subject of the flat Earth he seems to be specifically talking about the misconception of Christopher Columbus and modern day flat Earthers, not the piece of scripture I cited.

Like I described above, many Creation models view the firmament (waters ABOVE) as a dome of water- probably ice or even something more exciting, like a metallic form of hydrogen- which would have surrounded the earth and created- according to these models- some very useful effects. They would have resulted in more uniform temperatures across the globe (less deserts and habitable polar regions, both of which fossils support), far less radiation from the sun which means no skin cancer and other harmful effects which we experience now. The air pressure would probably have been higher, and that would allow denser concentrations of oxygen and carbon dioxide, which would allow our bodies to heal FAR faster and allow plants to grow much faster and bigger. Fossil plants show that some species of plant could grow to ten times their present size, and this model explains how that is possible. The air pocket, as you call it, would be the atmosphere which, it seems, was not made with the earth but in the days after, and the firmament (as some translations call the water above) would be the ceiling which kept it from escaping in to space like it does now.

Even if the waters above are nothing more than the clouds, consider that an average storm cloud (just one of those) is a pile of water that weighs as much as 350 blue whales. Since the text does not specify that the water was in a liquid state, we should not force that into the text without justification. Water is water. Without the atmosphere, clouds as we have them would be impossible, so even if this is just the atmosphere being put between oceans and clouds, a flat earth interpretation is not required by the text. It may actually just explain the creation of the water cycle.

Here’s a video about the weight of clouds:

As for the video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZrLMhjOPPM), yes, Ian Juby is talking about the misconception that pre-modern people (especially the church) believed the earth to be flat. Now, I won’t argue that NO ONE believed that. Some church fathers did. Some people still believe it today. However, the simple facts remain:

  1. It was never the common view in the church or among the Jews.
  2. Even if it had been, that doesn’t mean the bible teaches it. Biblical teaching is based on the Bible, not on the personal thoughts of people who own a copy. If every Christian on earth decided that Jesus was born in Canada, that would not make it a biblical teaching. We must determine the meaning of a text by the text and not on the readers.

When you hear people try to use the Bible to support a flat earth, just remember that they are imposing a certain view on the text which the text does not demand, just as people have tried to defend geocentrism by saying the bible refers to the sun rising and setting, and thus it teaches that the sun orbits us. But we still say the sun rises and sets. It would make no sense to say WE are merely describing what it looks like to us, where as the Bible MUST be talking about the large scale structure of the solar system. Genesis starts out as a universal description of the creation, but it quickly becomes earth-centric because it is a description of the earth for people who live there. God may have been painting that big heart shape on Pluto on day 4 of creation, but why would Genesis include that in His creation account for people who wouldn’t know about Pluto for another five thousand years? The Bible is earth centric in its descriptions because we are earth centric in our experience. That does not make it inaccurate.

Also, the sun rises and sets. It really does- just step outside and watch it. Keep in mind that much of science is determined by the point of view of the observer. The speed of a moving object is determined relative to the observer. A car is moving at 45 miles per hour OR standing still at the same time depending on if you are in the car or on the sidewalk. Similarly, the sun rises in our sky, just as earth orbits on its axis from the sun’s point of view. Neither is absolute and the other false. That is the indeterminate nature of science and language, and the kind of misunderstanding that attacks against the Bible are often built on. Just keep that in mind when someone tells you the Bible contradicts itself.

In summary- the bible is totally true and scientifically accurate, but it is primarily a book of history. The Genesis account of creation is an account of the week of creation as a real event, but it crams a full week into a single chapter, and it wasn’t written for us specifically in 2016. I suspect that previous generations knew what was meant by the Firmament or the Nephilim and didn’t have to ask, just as previous generations knew what “Mork and Mindy” was, or who the Marx Brothers were. That we don’t understand should not be falsely chalked up to ignorance on God’s part when it is in fact ignorance on our part. And you kids all need to watch Duck Soup. For reels.

I hope this helps.And remember, #JesusLovesYou

Got questions? Let me know. I am here to help.

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