Thursday, August 30, 2018

Life of Samuel


Hannah’s Vow and Fulfillment


Year after year, Hannah, whose womb the Lord had closed, went to the house of the Lord at Shiloh with her husband Elkanah to worship and sacrifice to the Lord. Hannah was in bitterness of soul and prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish. Then she made a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head” (1 Samuel 1:11) Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Eli the priest thought that she was drunk. Hannah answered “No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine not intoxicating drink but have poured out my soul before the Lord.” (1:15). Eli blessed her saying, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition which you have asked of Him” (1:17). Hannah went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.

In the process of time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and called his name Samuel, saying “Because I have asked for him from the Lord” (1:20). When Hannah had weaned Samuel, she took him with her and brought him to Eli. Hannah said to Eli “For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition which I asked of Him. Therefore, I also have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives he shall be lent to the Lord” (1:27-28). Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli the priest, even as a child, wearing a linen ephod. Hannah used to make him a little robe, and bring it to him year by year when she came with Elkanah to offer the yearly sacrifice. Samuel grew in stature, and in favor both with Lord and men.

Lord calls Samuel


The boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation. One day early morning the Lord called Samuel with an audible voice inside the tabernacle of the Lord where the ark of God was, and Samuel mistook it for the voice of Eli. But Eli perceived that the Lord had called Samuel and instructed Samuel on how to respond to the call. The Lord revealed to Samuel that he will judge the house of Eli because of their iniquities. Samuel told Eli what the Lord had told him. So, Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. All Israel knew that Samuel had been established as a prophet of the Lord. And the word of Samuel came to all Israel.

Samuel Judges Israel


After the death of Eli and his sons, Samuel became a Judge over all Israel. Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If you return to the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and Ashtoreths from among you, and prepare your hearts for the Lord and serve Him only; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines. So, the children of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtoreths and served the Lord only." (7:3-4) Samuel judged the children of Israel at Mizpah. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. Then the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel was restored to Israel, and Israel recovered its territory from the hands of Philistines. And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.

Israel Demands a King


When Samuel was old he made his sons judges over Israel. But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice. The elders of Israel told Samuel “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations” (8:5) Samuel prayed to the Lord, and the Lord said to Samuel “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them” (8:7) Samuel tried to forewarn them about the way kings reign, but the people did not want to heed them. So, the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed their voice, and make them a king”.

Saul is chosen as King


The Lord had told Samuel in his ear the day before Saul came, saying, “Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him commander over My people Israel, that he may save My People from the hand of the Philistines; for I have looked upon my people, because their cry has come to Me.” (9:16) So when Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said to him, “There he is, the man of whom I spoke to you. This one shall reign over My People.” (9:17) There was not a more handsome person than he among the children of Israel. From his shoulders upward, he was taller that any of the people. (9:2) Samuel explained to the people the behavior of royalty and wrote it in a book and laid it up before the Lord.

Saul is rejected as King


The word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, “I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commands.” (15:11) And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the Lord all night. So, Samuel said to Saul: “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.” (15:22-23) And Samuel went no more to see Saul until the day of his death. Nevertheless, Samuel mourned for Saul, and the Lord regretted that He made Saul king over Israel.

David anointed as King



The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons." (16:1) The Lord said to Samuel “You shall anoint for Me the one I name to you.” (16:3) The Lord rejected all the other seven sons of Jesse and chose the youngest one David. The Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. (16:13)

Death of Samuel


Then Samuel died; and the Israelites gathered together and lamented for him and buried him at his home in Ramah.

Lessons that can be learnt


  • Samuel’s mother dedicated him to serve the Lord even before he was born. Samuel did not reject this at any time of his life and continued to be in service of the Lord as a Judge, Prophet and Priest all his life
  • When the Lord rejected Saul as King, Samuel continued to mourn for Saul even though Samuel did not choose Saul to be the King
  • When choosing David as the King, Samuel kept looking for someone as handsome as Saul and did not look at the heart of David as God had looked at

About this Post


This post is adapted from the Term Paper that I submitted to World Video Bible School as a part of my study of Old Testament History 2 Course.

You can read about the Gideon from the Book of Judges from the earlier course of Old Testament History 1.

You can read about The God I believe in here .

If you like my blogs please visit https://www.facebook.com/fjpandiaraj and like that page to be notified of my future posts in Facebook. You can also find links to my older posts there.


Tuesday, August 7, 2018

Gideon from the Book of Judges


Book of Judges


The Book of Judges covers a period of about 300 years from the death of Joshua to the rise of Samuel. This Book of Judges was written either at the end of the rule of Judges or very early in the rule of King Saul. Samuel appears to be the author of this Book.

Gideon the Judge


Gideon was one of the thirteen Judges whose life is given in the Book of Judges. He was the fifth Judge about whom the Book of Judges provides details about. The life of Gideon is described in Judges 6:1 to 8:35. The Lord chose Gideon to deliver Israel, when she was being oppressed by Midianites, Amalekites and the people of the East for seven years and the people of Israel cried out to the Lord.

Midianite Oppression


The Midianites are the descendants of Abraham and Keturah (Genesis 25:2). The oppressors did not oppress Israel either by way of war or by killing. Instead, they would enter the land in great numbers to destroy it (6:5). They would also take for themselves all that Israel had sown and destroy the remaining harvest and leave none for Israel (6:3-4). Because of this Israel was greatly impoverished and forced to live in caves in the mountains to hide anything they had and to keep it for themselves.

Appearance of the Angel of the Lord


The Angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon while he was threshing wheat in a wine press to hide it from the Midianites. The Angel of the Lord said to Gideon, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!” (6:12) “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” (6:14) “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man” (6:16) Gideon sought a sign from the Angel of the Lord by bringing an offering of prepared meat of a young goat, unleavened bread and broth and offered it to the Angel of the Lord. The Angel of the Lord confirmed the sign by consuming them through the fire that rose out of the rock and departing out of his sight.

Gideon tears down his father’s Altar of Baal


That same night the LORD said to Gideon “Take your father’s young bull, the second bull of seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that you father has, and cut down the wooden image that is beside it; and build an altar to the Lord your God on top of this rock in proper arrangement, and take the second bull and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the image which you shall cut down.” (6:25-26) Gideon did what the Lord said to him that night with the help of his ten servants.

Gathering for confrontation


The Midianites and Amalekites and the people of the East crossed over and gathered together at the Valley of Jezreel and encamped against Israel. Now the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon. Gideon blew the trumpet and gathered the Abiezrites with him. Then he sent messengers throughout Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali and gathered them behind him.

Sign of the Fleece


Gideon said to God, “If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said - look, I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground then I shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said.” (6:36-37). Next morning the ground was dry, but when Gideon squeezed the fleece he could gather a bowlful of water. Once again Gideon said to God “Do not be angry with me but let me speak just once more: Let me test, I pray, just once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew.” (6:39) God did so that night. In the morning there was dew on all of the ground, but the fleece was dry.

God chooses only 300


The Lord said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many … Whoever is fearful and afraid, let him turn and depart at once ...” (7:2-3). Then 22,000 people returned, and 10,000 people were still left. The Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there.” (7:4) By this test the Lord chose only 300 men and sent all the rest of the Israel to their tents. The same night the Lord said to Gideon, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand.” (7:9)

Confrontation


Gideon divided the 300 men into 3 companies and gave to every man a trumpet and empty pitchers with torches inside the pitchers. By mid-night Gideon’s three companies surrounded the Midianite camp on all sides. In a coordinated manner based on Gideon’s signal all of them simultaneously blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers in their hands. They held the torches in their left hands and blew the trumpet with their right hand and shouted, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!” and stood in the same place around the camp. Panic spread throughout the whole camp and the army cried out, ran and fled. In the panic the Lord set every man’s sword against his companion throughout the whole camp and they fled. The men of Israel gathered together and pursued the Midianites. Gideon sent messengers throughout Israel asking them to “Come down against the Midianites and seize from the watering places.” And they did so and subdued the Midianites.

Gideon’s Ephod


Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, … for you have delivered us from the hand of Midian.” (8:22) Gideon collected all the golden earrings from the plunder and made it into an ephod and kept it in his city, Ophrah. And all Israel played the harlot with it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his house.

Death of Gideon


Through Gideon, Mideon was subdued before Israel, and they did not lift their heads any more. There was peace in the land for 40 years in the days of Gideon. Gideon died at a good old age and was buried in a tomb in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

Lessons that can be learnt


  • The first act of Gideon was to destroy the Baal worship at his father’s house. We too must begin the process of salvation with those closer to our homes.
  • Because of what Gideon experienced he repeatedly kept on asking God for signs again and again. First, he brings an offering and the Lord consumes it. Then he wants two different type of fleece tests. He even goes into the Midianite camp as the Lord suggested to see the extent of fear in the camp. He wants to be sure that it is the Lord that is directing him and that he is not carried away by anything else. We too need to be sure that what we are doing for God is in fact coming from God.
  • Gideon made an Ephod as symbol of his worship to God. Instead of worshiping God they started worshiping an object that represented God. We too should directly worship God and not get distracted by anything else that represents God.

About this Post


This post is adapted from the Term Paper that I submitted to World Video Bible School as a part of my study of Old Testament History 1 Course.

You can read about the Christian Evidences from the earlier course of Christian Evidences.

You can read about The God I believe in here .

If you like my blogs please visit https://www.facebook.com/fjpandiaraj and like that page to be notified of my future posts in Facebook. You can also find links to my older posts there.


Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Christian Evidences

Introduction


After completing the earlier course of Matthew in September 2016, I started in earnest this course, Christian Evidences from World Video Bible School. For two months I worked on it and even took the first test at the end of October 2016. For the second test I had to prepare personal notes from the book The Truth about Human Origins. This is a 530 page book from Apologetics Press. However much I tried, I simply did not have the motivation to go through with the preparation of the notes, even though I kept reading the book. Eventually I abandoned the effort and forgot all about the course.

On 12th July of this year I received a mail from World Video Bible School that I had not logged in into my free account for 12 months and gave me the option to delete my account. It was then I thought that I will work through the course irrespective of how tedious some of the course work may be and resumed with the course.

Description and Purpose: This course is a survey of the logical reasons for believing in God's existence and in the inspiration of the Bible. The purpose of this course is to examine the many evidences upon which Christianity rests, to provide a rich, in-depth study of God's word, and to provide convincing proof, both from internal and external sources, of the Bibles' claim as the word of God.

Course Contents


The course is delivered through the following Videos
  1. Why Study Christian Evidences (Part 1)
  2. Why Study Christian Evidences (Part 2)
  3. Cosmological Argument
  4. Teleological Argument
  5. Anthropological Argument
  6. Ontological Argument
  7. Argument For Revelation
  8. The Biblical Claim Of Inspiration
  9. Harmony Between Science And Scripture
  10. Introduction To Archaeology
  11. Archaeology And Logic Prove Bible Inspiration
  12. Prophetic Events In the Life Of Christ
  13. The Uniqueness Of The Bible
  14. Fulfilled Prophecy
  15. The Resurrection Of Jesus Proves Inspiration
  16. Miracles - Did They Happen?
  17. Evolution Is Presented Dishonestly
  18. Faith In Evolution
  19. Evolution Has Failed
  20. Dating Problems And Techniques
  21. Radio-Metric Dating Methods
  22. Fossils
  23. The World-Wide Flood
  24. The Ark Of Noah
  25. Recent Creation
  26. Theistic Evolution
  27. Dinosaurs
  28. Why Does God Allow Pain And Suffering?
I had to read the following books as part of this course.
  1. Creation Compromises, Bert Thompson, Apologetics Press, Montgomery, AL
  2. The Truth About Human Origins, Brad Harrub and Bert Thompson, Apologetics Press, Montgomery, AL
I also read the following recommended book
  1. Why We Believe The Bible, George W DeHoff, DeHoff Publications, Murfreesboro, TN

In the following sections I will try to briefly high light some of the important thoughts on the topics covered by the course. This study is really very deep thought provoking one and it will depend on how one view and believes on the concerned matter. I will not be exactly summarizing as to what was excellently presented in the course, but will try to say what I have personally come to think and believe about each of the topics after going through the course. Each of the topics are very large to discuss, so I will try to make it as brief as possible to highlight only the important points as much as possible as it was presented in the class.

Even before I write about the course contents I am aware that I will never be able to convey even very little of what the course contains. If any of the brief descriptions given below creates any interest in you I suggest that you can create your free account and watch videos of these topics which would take about 18-19 hours just to view them. You can register for the Christian Evidences course here. You only need your user id and email to register. I would encourage you to register and explore deeper on this subject.

Why Study Christian Evidences


The Christian Bible, when truly studied, will reveal to the student that the Bible truths are independent of time and that they have been written with divine inspiration. No human mind, without divine inspiration, could have conceived many of the truths that are revealed in the Bible. There are numerous Christian evidences that can be explored to establish the divine authority of the Bible.

The Bible commands to the reader in 1 Peter 3:15 "... if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it." It instructs in Colossians 4:6 "..." that you may know how you ought to answer each one." Christian evidences by themselves do not change a person; only the Word can change.

Cosmological Argument


This argument that says that there had to be something adequate enough to bring about the entire universe is called the Cosmological Argument. This argument says that universe is here and had to come from somewhere. It could not have created itself. According to First Law of Thermodynamics, nothing comes from nothing in nature. This is also called Causal Argument. Atheists have objected "that if everything had to have a beginning, God did, too." But this objection assumes that God is an "effect," not a "Prime Mover."

Teleological Argument


The argument for the existence of God from the evidence of order, and hence design, is called the Teleological Argument. The Teleological argument is also known as the Argument for Design or Intelligent Design Argument is an argument for the existence of God or, more generally, for an intelligent creator based on perceived evidence of deliberate design of the natural world. It is more logical to conclude that the cause that created the world must have been "mind".  Dr R. J. White, a neurosurgeon, stated that from his medical knowledge, logic led him to believe in a Superior Mind that made out minds.

Anthropological Argument


This argument that says all men have a conscience (i.e. concept of right and wrong and, therefore, they must have been made by one who had the same ability since no known physical laws could account for the rise of "moral" in non-moral materials) called the Anthropological Argument. Emmanuel Kant stated the anthropological argument persuaded him to believe in the existence of God even though other arguments had failed.

Ontological Argument


The universality of the concept of God is called Ontological Argument. God is the greatest being possible and it is not possible to there to be a being greater than God. The ontological argument is an argument based not on observation of the world (like the Cosmological and Teleological Arguments) but rather on reason alone.

Argument for Revelation


Man has 5 senses which are the only avenues through which intelligence concerning material things can reach us. The intellectual power of man consists of perception, memory and consciousness. Man cannot invent or originate the idea of spiritual things; therefore the idea and the words used to express them are derivable only from and direct revelation from God. There must be a cause great enough to bring about this whole universe, and it is not a part of the physical universe. It obviously works intelligently and purposefully and is, therefore, mind. It is able to rationally decide between good and evil; therefore, He is personality and must have revealed to man that He exists, since man is unable to conceive of any absolutely new idea by himself.

The Biblical Claim of Inspiration


The New Testament teaches the Scriptures are "God-breathed". 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work". The New Testament passage 2 Peter 1:20-21 clearly points out that the Holy Spirit moved (carried along) the writers of prophecy. "Knowing this first that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." According to the class, the Old Testament claims to be from God approximately 3,808 times. New Testament inspiration is so exact; Paul claims the Holy Spirit gave the words he used in teaching (writing or speaking) God's word.

Harmony between Science and Scripture


The Bible does not state scientific truths in scientific language. The errors and fallacies of science common to the age of Bible's production are not found in it. "From the time Bible first stated the earth was round (a sphere) until it was proven by Ferdinand Magellan by his voyage around the world in 1519 it was about 2,500 years. Matthew Fontaine Maury was able to discover ocean currents because he noticed the teaching found in Psalm 8:8 which say "The birds of the air, and the fish of the sea that pass through the paths of the seas." Because of the scientific foreknowledge found in the Bible we can conclude that Bible writers must have received their material from a source higher than their own learning. The two major cautions given about accepting certain passages from the Bible as proof of scientific foreknowledge were (1) proper interpretation of poetic passages, and (2) make sure not to give only a modern theory as solid proof which may tomorrow be proven scientifically wrong.

Introduction to Archaeology


Early archaeologists were not careful to preserve the artefacts they discovered believing the importance of their finds would be of great historical value. They dug out the artefacts for their material value. Two advantages of modern Biblical Archaeology are the confirmation it gives to the Bible and the supplemental information it gives concerning background and geological customs. Nelson Glueck stated that "Archaeological discoveries have never controverted (contradicted) a biblical Reference. If all manuscripts of the New Testament we destroyed, we could reproduce the entire book from quotations of early church writes except for a few (about 11) verses.

Archaeology and Logic Prove Bible Inspiration


The Bible specifically claims to be the inspired word of God. The archaeological discovery of Nuzi Tablets proved that the actions of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were typical of those living in that approximate time period. The Ebla Tablets were found in about 1975 contain tablets written about 2500 BC. The Ebla Tablets contain letters, economic texts, law codes, mythological texts and other similar items. They also provide valuable dictionary and pronunciation guide in Sumerian and provide vowel sounds. Two significant discoveries in the Ebla Tablets for Bible students were the vowels in the ancient Semitic language, and the personal name of God. These Tablets indicate the name Yah (or Yahweh) was in use long before Moses' time. The medical book Moses would have been taught from during his days of education in Egypt is now called papyrus Ebers. The John Ryland's Fragment of John (papyrus-52) archaeological discovery showed the gospel story to be written around the years 125-175 AD. So many 'problems' of the Bible have been solved by archaeological discoveries that we may now be assured by inductive reasoning, that even though the Bible is now being challenged, when the final answer comes, the Bible will be proven right.

Prophetic Events in the Life of Christ


Even though they are just as true as any other prophesy, those about Christ which are written in the Old Testament and fulfilled in the New Testament are not as strong as others which are provable by archaeology and history when they are used for evidence to non-Bible believers. It was specifically prophesied in the Old Testament that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem. The exact town of the birth of Messiah, the general time of the coming of Messiah and the triumphal entry into Jerusalem were all prophesied. It was specifically prophesied in the Old Testament that Jesus would be resurrected.

The Uniqueness of the Bible


 The Bible is unique in its restraint in recording amazing things and it consistency in recording events in history. The Bible was written over a period of approximately 1,500 to 2,000 years and by about 40 different authors. In the work done by Wilson in comparing 41 kings' name found both in the original discoveries and in the Old Testament, there is strong proof not only of historical accuracy of the Bible, but also that it has come down to our time correctly copied. If the original writers and all copyists were so accurate in recording the names of foreign kings (which we can check out), they would have been more likely to record events, prophecies, revelations and laws (which we cannot check out at this time). The Bible is the only ancient book which begins at the beginning and ends at the end. According to the class the real overall theme of the Bible is redemption.

Fulfilled Prophesy


One criterion of true prophecy is it must be beyond the power of man to predict. Another criterion of true prophecy was that it must be unambiguous.

The Resurrection of Jesus Proves Inspiration


The Bible specifically claims to be the inspired word of God. One of the proofs of inspiration given in class dealt with results in history wherever Bible has gone. One of the proofs of inspiration given in class dealt with the authority is assumes when it tells people to give up evil and practice things they would not normally do or be punished if they do not. If it can be shown that the resurrection of Jesus is true, we would then also know that the whole Bible is true. If it can be shown that the resurrection of Jesus is true, then we can also show that Christianity is one true religion. If the resurrection of Jesus did NOT happen, then Paul says all preaching is vain and no one is going to be resurrected. If the resurrection did occur, Jesus is the Son of God, Christianity is the only true religion, and miracles did occur, of which the resurrection is chief. According to class the New Testament mentions resurrection 104 times.

Miracles - Did They Happen


Just relating the miracles of the Bible to sceptics is not as strong an argument as also showing the actual historical effects of those miracles. Concerning "Miracles," there are many categories under which they fall, such as nature, bodily healing and raising the dead. One of the evidences FOR Bible miracles is the fact that Jesus and miracles are "inseparable." One way to determine if a miracle is real or not is to determine if the event is unique (not reproducible by specific techniques employed by or at the direction of human practitioners). One way to determine if a miracle is real or not is to determine if the testimony associated with the miracle honours God and Jesus, and supports clear teachings of the Bible.

Evolution Is Presented Dishonestly


There is much evidence to show that evolution should not be listed even as a theory of science. Evolution has failed to explain the existence of a material universe's coming from nothing. Evolution has failed to explain the existence in all forms of animate beings some form of instinct and in man his conscience, rational power and spiritual inclination. If the Bible chronologies are of any value at all, the age of man cannot be millions or billions of years old. A hat and a ham in New Zealand show that fossils do not always take long to make. Evolution is inconsistent with God's omnipotence, personality, omniscience and purposiveness.

Dating Problems and Techniques


The way any radioactive dating process works is that the parent product breaks down to the daughter products. Radioactive dating technique is uncertain because of the difference in isotope concentrations. Also radioactive dating technique is uncertain because the increase decay rates would affect samples. The radioactive dating technique is uncertain because the instability of the nucleus of radioactive atom is not clearly understood. During collapse of a nearby star or galaxy, earth would have been subjected to sudden increase of radioactivity causing nuclear instability; a drastic change in the magnetic field of the earth. Such events would cause radioactive clocks to speed up and show "apparent aging." Radioactive dating procedures are not fool-proof. The 2nd Law of Thermodynamics is true, everything is running down and entropy occurs. In a close system when an item turns into another it loses ability, it can never go back. The eternity of matter is impossible.

Radio-Metric Dating Methods


Geologic-related dating methods are open to question because: It must be known that no parent or daughter material has been added or removed. Earth could have been created with the appearance of maturity. Uranium 238 turns into Lead 206 with a half-life of 4.5 billion years. Uranium 235 turns in Lead 207 with half-life of 0.7 billion years. Potassium 40 turns into Argon 40 (gas) with a half-lie of 1.3 billion years. How could anyone calibrate such events involving billions of years accurately? The half-life of Carbon 14 is 5730 years. The date back to which Carbon 14 is accurate is 1,500 BC. Assumption would be the amount of radio-carbon in the atmosphere has remained fairly constant in past ages.

Fossils


The name of the science that has to do will fossils is Palaeontology. Evolutionists say that Simple Fossils are normally in the lower strata. They also say that Complex fossils are normally in the upper strata. Bones can be trapped in sediment and become fossilized. Even footprints and body casts can become fossils. Evolutionists say sedimentation happened again and again over millions of years. Evolutionists explain that Over-thrust was the reason how fossils got "out of order". They said the Trilobite was for too "advanced" for the "old" geological dated strata it is in. Circular reasoning is the major fallacy with geologic procedure in dating fossils. Uniformitarianism theory presents that geological rates are about the same as they have always been in the past. The Mythen was moved from Africa to fit the geological theory.


The World-Wide Flood


The origin of civilization always goes back to the area near Ararat-Babylon region in post-flood time. Knowing how the population of the world has been growing one can work back to how long back the world would have had 8 people from whom all others had descended. Mathematical calculations show that it cannot be more than 13,000 years. There is lot of geological evidences of worldwide occurrence of water-laid sediments and sedimentary rocks. Also all major mountain ranges are less that about 10,000 years.

The Ark of Noah


The ark was built of gopher wood. If Noah had used some other sort of wood, the material would have perished before he finished the boat. The size of the ark was 450 feet by 75 feet by 45 feet. The cargo space of Noah's ark was equal to at least 527 box cars. It seems logical that God may have caused baby animals to be the ones who came to the ark instead of mature ones. The would (1) take up much less room, (2) eat far less, (3) not be as dangerous to other animals and people, and (4) not need to reproduce until leaving the ark a year later. If this hypothesis is correct, much less room than that suggested above would be required for all the necessary species. It must be noted that Noah and his sons had up to 120 years to complete the task. Further, when compared to feats of other ancient build, e.g. pyramids, the barge does not seem impossible to build. Finally, since Noah was a patriarch (chief), it seems reasonable to assume that hired help could have aided in its construction. When one has an objection to the Bible as God's Word in the grounds of a certain argument, if it can be shown that there is a logical explanation, he should abandon his position. If, however, he continues to hold his opposition, he has a heart problem, not an intellectual one. These should cause the honest man to stop his opposition to God's Word.

Recent Creation


During Darwin's time, the earth was said to be 20 million years old. Over 5 miles of science texts in a museum in France can't be checked out, not because of value, but because they are wrong! Honest investigation should be welcomed by scientists and non-scientists alike. As more and accurate science is understood the age of the universe is "reduced." 1979 -- Miscalculation of Hubble's' "constant" results in 6-9 billion years reduction. 1987 -- Measuring a radioactive nuclide in the sun ... "the data suggests a date too young to be measured by means of this calculation." 1994 -- "Billions and billions of years shaved off the age of the universe." Stars which are given as billions of light years may not be so far away. There are many different ways to measure the life of the earth. Each of the method gives a different value. Science seems to be biased to take a largest of the value than more probable small values.

Theistic Evolution


Theistic Evolution is the idea that God started or directed evolutionary processes. They try to believe both in evolution and in God. Theistic Evolution uses many of the Creationists argument against "chance" and claim that it had to be God that caused it to occur. Theistic Evolution is not accepted by evolutionists. You cannot understand evolution and believe in God. Theistic Evolution does not fit what the Bible says. Like, space, matter and time are eternal in the evolutionary scenario, whereas according to Biblical record there was a period with no time, space or matter. The course discusses another 34 such contrasting differences between evolution and creation. Theistic Evolution causes people to turn more toward the materialistic world-view ("Mother Nature") and less toward the spiritual.

Dinosaurs


Painting of "dragons" and a trilobite in a sandal print is evidence that men and dinosaurs lived at the same time. Blue whale is an animal much larger than dinosaurs.

Why Does God Allow Pain and Suffering


One reason there is so much suffering is because people will not heed the warnings of nature. Pain is the body's way of saying "I need attention." One value of pain is that it gives man a reason to realize life will end. God has already experienced suffering; so He is not to be charged unfairly because He allows us to suffer. It would not be best for all people if God stamped out all the evil in the world, because then there will be none in the world.


About this Post


This post is inspired by the course of Christian Evidences provided by World Video Bible School as a part of my study.

You can read about Life of Peter in the Gospel of Matthew from the earlier course of Matthew.

You can read about The God I believe in here.

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