Posts

Trusting the Text of Revelation

Image
Scoffers often accuse Jews and Christians of stupidly accepting ancient texts and legends, then incorporating them into our belief systems. They claim Mithras, Osiris, Krishna, and other pagan myths had striking similarities to our beliefs — but those claims are utterly false . False religions and others have presented books and letters attributed to the apostles and other church leaders. In tense times, the canon was decided upon using specific criteria . The book of Revelation was not enthusiastically embraced at first because church leaders wondered if it was authentic. Heaven clipart, Free Christian Illustrations I'll allow that Revelation reads quite a bit differently than other New Testament books, and it has been used by heretics for their own agendas. But then, selecting verses for cultic agendas happens with rest of the Bible itself. Liberal scholars have tried to find reasons to downplay Revelation, but those sidewinders have been doing that stuff for quite a long time — ...

Of Hippopotamuses, England, and the Flood

Image
While there were other hippopotamuses long ago, there are only two kinds left: the pygmy and the river. Interesting contrast, as the river hippo makes its home in the Nile. It is the third largest land animal and very dangerous. They are also fragile. To modify a line from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy , Hippopotamuses glide through water in much the same way that bricks don't. Water temperature must be just right, and no salt, either. So how did they get to merrie olde England? Dining hippopotamus, Pixabay / Petar Ubiparip Since they cannot fit through the doors of mass transit and they cannot operate motor vehicles, they must have walked. But Cowboy Bob, England isn't very merry and it's surrounded by water! Well, Ireland and Britain are islands now , but there was a time when the areas were accessible by foot. This involves the Ice Age that was the result of the Genesis Flood. (People have some wrong ideas about the Ice Age, such as many of them in the past an...

Evolution and Bird Brains

Image
A possible missing link for bird evolution had been proposed, and the hands at the Darwin Ranch were all a-twitter. Indeed, they were celebrating so loudly, they could be heard all the way to Stinking Lake (which is not as bad as it sounds). But there was little reason for it. Consider that if universal common ancestor evolution were true, scientists would practically be tripping over the multitude of transitional forms. Instead, they are happy when they find a few possibilities. This bird skull find is packed with weasel words and dubious reasoning. Suspicious ostrich is suspicious, Pexels / Adriaan Greyling (modified, also used ImgFlip ) Several basic concepts have been neglected. A larger brain does not guarantee more cognitive ability. This bad boy is supposed to fit between Archaeopteryx  (a true bird) and modern birds, but birds have different sized skulls. Consider that the ostrich skull has a typical length of  almost 19 cm. (7.4 in.) and a house sparrow runs 2-1/2 cm...

Babies Recognize Languages Very Early

Image
Studies of how unborn children respond are fascinating, and I witnessed how one of my newborn children recognized my voice. I spoke, and he tried to turn his head in my direction! It has been recommended that expectant parents talk to their developing children; some also read to them. It has been discovered that babies have a built-in ability to learn  and are also ready to read . Naturally, it fits right in that they are ready to learn the language of the people around them. It was discovered that they learn it earlier than scientists thought. Baby feet in crib, RGBstock /  Jean Scheijen For that matter, it is known that children are far more adept at learning more than one language, but it is often difficult for adults to learn additional languages. It would be in the best interests for children of parents who do not speak the language of the country where they live to learn that country's language as well as the one their parents speak. That way, the whole family doesn't ha...

Planetary Habitability and Water

Image
Habitability out there, thataway, was a simple concept: A planet had to be the right distance from a suitable star. There also had to be some water. Secular cosmologists and astrobiologists (yet there are no aliens to study) depend on atoms-to-alien evolution to happen. Aside from the silliness of believing in abiogenesis despite  science and reason, these folks also have to deal with how the habitability zone becomes increasingly complex. It gets more complicated the way water is vital for habitability in more ways than scientists previously considered. Desert world scene, Pixabay / Gordon Taylor There are books and movies about desert worlds where water is a precious commodity. Computer simulations greatly increase the suspension of disbelief in audiences because a world without water could not evolve  — a substantial amount of water, at that. Also, the water would have to be at a minimum level. Such information should inspire people to be thankful to the Creator for the wor...

Resistance to Question Evolution Day

Image
by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  Although Reddit is really big on teh interwebs and seems to have evolved from newsgroups , I have little use for it. Interesting because I was involved in newsgroups for a spell. They were like the Wild West; there was no town marshall, so almost anything could be posted. Reddit is a bit moderated, I hear. Someone posted about Question Evolution Day . As expected, atheists and other anti-creationists went ballistic. A cursory glance shows that they still reject rational discourse and logic — yet they claim to be the rational ones. The first thing I noticed (again, cursory glances) is that the substance of QED was not discussed. Instead, they used straw man arguments, prejudicial conjecture, and some fabricated complaints that were decades  old (railing against a book from 1997). One complained that creationists are always lying, which I have pointed out is ludicrous even on the surface: Why would we, who believe in a holy and righteous God who hates lyi...

Folded Rocks and the Rapid Formation of Grand Canyon

Image
Denizens of the secular science industry have a habit of telling stories, especially when they need to protect deep time. After all, the Bearded Buddha needs many years to make his evolution story seem plausible, so they give it to him. Evidence for the Genesis Flood is rejected out of hand. Some time ago, Dr. Andrew Snelling was pondering the folded rocks at Grand Canyon. Try to bend or fold a rock now, it shatters under the force. He wanted to take some rocks for examination, but government officials discriminated against him and refused permission . Monument fold in the Tapeats Sandstone, Flickr / Nate Loper ( CC BY 2.0 ) Fortunately, Dr. Snelling won the lawsuit and was able to collect fifty-three samples. His goal was to see if secular scientists could adequately explain rock folds or if they were just using the principle of Making Things Up™ again to bolster their story of 500 million years to fold those rocks. Tomorrow is Question Evolution Day The samples were processed with g...

Fireweed Designed to Reclaim Damaged Land?

Image
There is a perennial wildflower that grows in temperate areas of the Northern Hemisphere known as fireweed  in America, and  rosebay willowherb in Britain. It seems like an understatement to refer to land as disturbed  after fires or volcanic eruptions (or bombing, it has been called bombweed  in England), but fireweed is ready to reclaim the land. Fireweed is attractive, but may be sparse during good times for the land. Its method of distributing itself on disturbed land (above and below ground) is quite interesting. Fireweed, Flickr / Alaska Region U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Kristine Sowl (PD) When Mt. St. Helens erupted, the land was a mess and scientists watched for years to see how it would recover. Guess what showed up right quick-like? Yup, fireweed was observed  by 1985. Fungi also joined the land reclamation party. Add to this is that fireweed and other plants are food for wildlife — if they eat the right varieties at opportune times. One reas...

Dinosaur Collagen Does Exist

Image
When soft tissues in dinosaurs were found, Darwin's disciples denied it. Accusations of faulty laboratory procedures, sample contamination, and other excuses were made. Even so, discoveries of soft tissues and saying those things should   not exist  continued. Things kept getting worse for evolutionists. Cellular proteins were found in dinosaur fossils , and so has DNA . Not only is the word fossil  used loosely because not all fossils are permineralized, a new study definitively confirmed that dinosaur collagen exists in fossils. Modified postage stamp of an  Edmontosaurus  head from the author's collection The hip bone of an  Edmontosaurus  was studied with several techniques and identified the remnants of collagen. Molecules had degraded, but they were clearly identified as collagen. When compared to protein sequences of other animals, those of dinosaurs were unique. It is commendable that the researchers admitted to the evidence, which is a huge pr...

Island Tiger Snakes and Natural Selection

Image
Off the coast of Australia is the island state of Tasmania, and off the coast of that is Mount Chappell Island (also called Hummocky). It is uninhabited private property used for sheep grazing. Some critters live there, one of which is the extremely venomous tiger snake. This snake gets its name from bands of color resembling a tiger, but there are color varieties. If you are uncertain about its identity, leave it alone — especially since that part of the world is chock full o' venomous things. Interestingly, that island tiger snake is a study in natural selection. Tiger snake, iNaturalist / Max Tibby (PD), modified at PhotoFunia Darwinists may be surprised that informed biblical creationists accept natural selection, and that it fits nicely with creationist models. Part of their confusion is from natural selection being a part of the evolutionary framework, but their adaptation by selection idea also requires mutations. Many creationists postulate that the Creator frontloaded liv...