Piltdown Superman

Every once in a while, there will be news about a gospel, Bible fragment, or other ancient text that purports to provide special insight. People get all a-twitter about these things, thinking that knowledge can be gained from texts that were omitted from the Bible. Here is an expensive word that may impress your friends if you use it: pseudepigrapha . Essentially, it is an ancient text that is falsely attributed to a famous person. There are quite of few of those things. An infancy gospel is credited to Thomas, and I doubt he would approve of it. Apostle St. Thomas / El Greco, ca. 1612 One of my suspicions as to why people like rejected writings is that people want to feel special, and having what appears to be knowledge that others don't have may give them that imagined superiority. Indeed, that also fits with Gnosticism . While Gnosticism does not really have one definition and has changed over the centuries, essentially it means special esoteric knowledge. Also, they tend to b...

Several countries have special days set aside to pay tribute to those killed in the service of their countries. Today is ours. One tradition is to put American flags on graves of the fallen, and people tend to blur Veterans Day (which honors living people in the armed forces) with Memorial Day. It is a good thing to have holidays to prompt us to remember the fallen, and also for other noteworthy times in a culture or individual lives. We do something similar with birthdays and anniversaries. Establishing reminders is found in the Bible. Memorial Day flags and cross / Pxhere God instituted symbols and feasts to prompt Israel to remember him and what he did for them. The most obvious in the Old Testament is the rainbow, which is God's promise to never flood the entire earth again. Another famous reminder is  Passover , which had detailed instructions for the observance. Yesterday at church, we had Communion (the Lord's Supper). Passover was a strong foreshadowing of the time when...

With tears in my eyes, I know that my beloved wife is having her first Easter observance in Heaven; this is my first one without her after so many years together. Despite the pain, those of us in Christ do not grieve like those who have no hope (1 Thess. 4:13). Our hope is not based on wishful thinking, but on the certainty of new life because Jesus was bodily raised from the dead (Matt. 28:5-8). Once again, I speak of the grand reunion with those who have gone before. The Resurrection Day , Jesus with Mary Magdalene, possibly by Heinrich Hoffman (public domain) Those who do not have Jesus as the Lord of their lives do not have that hope, that certainty, of salvation and of Heaven. Some cherish their sins on Earth too much and would rather have an eternity in Hell. That's right, I said it!  Others are resisting the call, but all of us are sinners (Rom. 3:23) and have earned death, but the gift of God is life with him (Rom. 6:23). You, too, can have hope and be adopted as a child of...

Many times, I have encouraged people to ride up to the top of the hill and get the big picture. This time, however, the view is from out in space. The subject is our blue marble. Consider how there are many things operate to make Earth supportive of life. Our planet is situated in a quiet galactic neighborhood with a good-natured sun , unlike some of those other stars that emit gamma rays that would eradicate life on their worlds (if it existed in the first place). Since the sun has its own activity, Earth has deflector shields . Earth in hand, Pixabay / Okan Caliskan We also have the right gasses in the atmosphere at the right balance (oxygen explodes, you know). The distance from the sun, our orbit around it, the moon — indeed, the other planets in the solar system are needed to keep things in balance . When humans want to design a complex system, engineers are needed. They design things and keep them running. Several factors must be taken into account so their designs can work well...

The greatest miracle of Jesus...there are many ideas about what that may be, and those are probably influenced by personal preference or knowledge. John 11:43-44 records how Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, and there were others as well. Those are pretty impressive. Jesus is the Creator (John 1:3, Col. 1:16, Heb. 1:2), so making the earth, life, entire universe — a substantial miracle. Calming a storm by speaking to it (he created everything by speaking), healing people, walking on water. An eye surgeon believes giving sight to the man born blind is a huge miracle. Healing the man born blind by Jesus Christ , Vasily Surikov, 1888 As a side note, in John 9:2, his disciples asked, "...who sinned, this man, or his parents, that he should be born blind?" How could he have sinned if he was born that way? Someone pointed out that the disciples were talking about reincarnation, and Jesus dismissed the idea. This child wonders if they were also toying with the idea of karma. Eithe...

Something that many of totalitarian dictators and even mass murderers of the last 150 years or so is holding to belief in Darwinism. Evolution is not just a theory for academics to discuss and for ordinary people to accept because they said so. Instead, it is a worldview used to interpret science and morality. Unfortunately, white supremacy will never go away. Those sidewinders are known for despising people with darker skin, but they have particular venom for Jews. Leftists label many people as "far right" including white nationalists, but leftists as well as alleged Conservatives were joining in with hatred for Jews. People worshiping statue of Darwin, made by AI at Bing Although the Intelligent Design people wrongly want to keep God out of the discussions, an article makes a point — which is often made by presuppositional apologists. That is, if Darwinism is right, nobody  can condemn Hamas for attacking the Jews. When atheists say that something is morally wrong, they are...

Study on it a while. Jesus is God the Son, the second person of the Trinity. God is perfect in holiness and majesty, and everything in creation belongs to him. Jesus is the Creator (John 1:1-3, Heb. 1:2-3, Col. 1:16). He was born in the jerkwater town of Bethlehem, and lived in Nazareth — which was not exactly the Gangnam District of Seoul, savvy? We have all sinned against God, and are deserving of death (Rom. 3:23, 6:23). This began with Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:1-7). God could have simply made the world go away. The Adoration of the Shepherds   /   Giorgione, 1505-1510 (they all look very white, though) The gap between creation and Creator is unfathomable, so why would he want to come to Earth? Out of love (Rom. 5:8), he emptied  himself , giving up his glory and took human form (Phil. 2:5-8). He was born of a virgin in humble circumstances. He was never regal in his earthly life. One reason for that is that Jesus was acceptable to the common man, not someone only ca...

That beloved story by Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol , is superficially a story about the conversion of Ebenezer Scrooge from selfishness to kindness and altruism. According to fundamental evolutionism, Darwin intended his theory to be selfish and purposeless in its operation. Because evolution is made of squishy pliable stuff, Darwin's disciples appeal to teleology and design (using Natural Selection and Evolution as entities) and get away with it. This Scrooge of science cannot account for altruism in birds or in animals . Not just niceness out of convenience, but taking risks as well. If you study on it, evolution cannot account for altruism in humans, either. Scrooge looking at his dressing gown, A Christmas Carol  illustration by Arthur Rackham , 1915 Secularists try to evosplain kindness and altruism as something that animals do so they can have better "fitness" and increase their survivability, so animal behavior is a virtue. (Except when it's not. They...

On the holiday traditionally known as Easter, millions of professing Christians gather to celebrate how God the Son was bodily raised from the dead. Jesus is our Creator (John1:1-3, Colossians 1:15-17) and took the form of man to die on the cross (Philippians 2:8), then his Resurrection was on the third day. We have eyewitness testimony in the Gospels (1 Corinthians 15:3-8). We also have evidence from archaeology. While it is not direct  evidence, there are many aspects that support the biblical narratives. Something noteworthy about the Bible that sets it apart from myths, legends, fairy tales, and so on is the amount of very specific details that are not found in made-up stories. Church of the Holy Sepulcher image credit: Flickr /  Seetheholyland.net  ( CC BY-SA 2.0 ) There are several compelling facts supported by archaeology, including the fact that he was worshiped as God long before such a legend would have time to develop. Cumulative details from history and archae...

It is readily apparent that everything in the universe was designed, from celestial objects to humans to single-celled organisms. A commonly used argument by apologists is that a building requires a builder, a painting requires a painter, so all these things with specified complexity require a Creator. However, that argument from intelligent design is all right for a starting point, but it does not go far enough . You may convince a skeptic that there is a higher power, but then what? Made at PhotoFunia Through his creation, the Master Engineer has made himself known from the beginning. It is a good thing for us that we don't have to speculate; he made himself known through special revelation. The Maker is the God of the Bible, and he has given us gifts for Christmas. The Creator of the world and all that is in nature has been identified! He speaks every language on earth. Here is the English version of what he said: Take a look over at " Nature’s Maker Identified ."

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  Once again, I had an inspiration from an unlikely source when my mind wandered off all by its lonesome. I have no idea why I was on the rabbit trail, but I was looking up When Worlds Collide . The book by that name was written by Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer in 1933. Bookstores have it, and used copies can be had. Try your library. A movie based on the book was made in 1951, and that can also be found. Pixabay /  Neypomuk-Studios The genre of science fiction has a dilemma: Keep the science in it, or skip reality to garner more sales. Some manage to balance storytelling with science and speculative science, but willing suspension of disbelief is still necessary. Not as much as comic book superhero stuff, though. Sometimes people want to shut off reason so they can have fun, or mayhaps guys want to look at Scarlett Johannsson. Discourteous Celestial Objects In the book version of When Worlds Collide , two rogue planets are going to make life on Ear...

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  In an article about climate screams , the word groupthink was used. It sounds like something from George Orwell, but is actually a psychological phenomenon. In some ways it is like herd mentality where everyone goes in the same direction, but groupthink is more complex. Even though I've used the word and had a cursory knowledge of the concept, I wanted to get a better understanding of groupthink. I found a good article to which I will add my own thoughts, linking to it later. Credit: Unsplash / Eric Herni Conformity involves people changing their actions (and probably their thoughts as well) so they can fit in with a group, but groupthink involves the decision-making process. What do you think happens when people appeal to the consensus, whether it is evolution, climate change, or something else that is highly charged? There is an appeal to emotion. Psychologist Dr. Irving L. Janis coined the word in 1972. People go with the views of a group and practice sel...

No, the title is not an attempt to put forward some Gnostic idea that the Mary we know about in the Bible is not actually the mother of Jesus. Unfortunately, many traditions and false teachings have been presented for a couple of millennia. We should examine who she is according to the source documents. Credit: Free Christian Illustrations Mary seemed to be just another Hebrew girl. The Bible shows us that she was obedient to God, knowledgeable of the Scriptures, had faith, willing to face the hardships of being unmarried and pregnant in that culture — and she was not perfect. She said herself that she needed a Savior. It must have been almost overwhelming to give birth to God the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity that became flesh and is the Creator of the universe! Let's find out more. We can see in church history that unbiblical traditions started to accrue about Mary, the mother of Jesus, as early as the second century. This means that some of our thoughts about her...

In the comedy Short Circuit, robot Number Five was struck by lightning and became alive. He had a personality and was able to think. When he accidentally killed a bug, he had trouble understanding that the bug could not be made alive again. The Nativity by Jacques Stella, 1639 If you study on it, life is actually difficult to define. Naturalists define it in a chemical manner with cells processing, physiological activity happening, and all those rather mechanical procedures. All the ingredients of Number Five's dead bug were still there, but life had ceased. For that matter, Number Five was not alive (despite his protestations) according to naturalistic definitions. Materialists cannot explain the origin of consciousness , but they still search for the physical location of the soul and free will . When misotheists complain that something is evil or wrong (such as claiming that by refuting Darwinism, creationists are "lying" about evolution), they are inconsistent. Ath...

In one of those calendar quirks and because Easter is not on a fixed day, this is also Cosmonautics Day . Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space way back in 1961. However, this pales in comparison to the bodily Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Background image: Pixabay / Jeff Jacobs Many things happened on that first Easter morning and the days leading up to Jesus' Resurrection. The Creator of the universe (John 1:1-3, Col. 1:16), who is God the Son, took on human form, died on a cross for our sins, and was bodily raised from the dead. The Lamb of God (John 1:36, 1 Cor. 5:7, Rev. 5:13) is the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Rev. 5:5) has conquered death. Many prophesies were fulfilled, several of which were made centuries before Jesus was born. Easter and creation are important to Christian doctrine in several areas. The featured article has three parts:     Part 1: What the resurrection tells us about God, the world we live in, and Jesus  ...

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen There are certain elements in our lives that, try as some people may, still reflect what our Creator has designed us to know. When we say that something is morally right or wrong, we are appealing to a higher authority. This may be simply the law or cultural trends, but we ultimately appeal to God's laws. Men and women are made to be different and complement each other in marriage . Despite notions to the contrary, the truth that is inside us (Rom. 2:15-16) still affirms the order of creation. The Holy Family by Martin Schongauer, 1480 - 1490 Believers in universal common ancestor evolution are unable to cogently explain why sexual reproduction even exists. After all, it's a mite inefficient in an evolutionary worldview because asexual reproduction is better. The plan of our Creator was for marriage to be between one man and one woman. In an episode of The Briefing, Dr. Mohler was discussing articles about what is called homosexual "marria...

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  It may be a surprise to learn that that extremely famous Christmas hymn "Joy to the Word" was not written by Isaac Watts to be about Christmas. He wrote it about the return of Christ. Like many other hymn writers, it was based on Scripture. In this case, the 98th Psalm. So many things work together when singing this song at Christmas. Credit: Pixabay / Ria Sopala Indeed, there is a great deal of strong theology in many hymns, especially those about Christmas. (I think that's one reason that cults like the Jehovah's Witnesses isolate their people; you won't have them coming along to your Christmas Eve service. After all, they may hear, "Hail the incarnate Deity!" and similar lyrics.) Dr. James R. White pointed out that "We Three Kings" is also deep, despite the erroneous traditions that we do not know how many "kings" there were, only that there were three gifts. A line in the song " When He Come...

Some things we believe we cannot live without, and we want them right away. Most of those are frivolous when compared to those things that are essential to life. Have you ever been deprived of air for a while? You want those next breaths, and you want them in a mighty big hurry. Credit: Freeimages / Vincenzo Piazza If something or someone isn't breathing, there's no point in sending a "Get Well Soon" card. Ain't nobody home. Having the breath of life is one way that our Creator keeps us alive, such as providing oxygen in our blood to supply all those cells inside us. Scientists experiment on cadavers to find ways to keep us functioning, but they are more like objects than people when they are bereft of breath. God also gave the symbiotic relationship with plants that use carbon dioxide we exhale and give us oxygen so we can continue to breathe. It is a simple fact that everyone who has been or ever will be born will stop breathing and die. Those who have ...

While many creationists use the word microevolution, it is conspicuously absent from this site. That is because this word is misleading, and believers in minerals-to-microbiologist use it to imply that if there is a little  evolution, then that leads to much  (or macro ) evolution. It does not work that way, and many biblical creationists advise against using the words micro- and macroevolution . What is considered microevolution is actually variation and speciation.  Creationists don't get on the prod with those terms because they are not only observed in nature, but they support biblical creation science models (see " How Do Evolutionists Hijack Real Science? " for an example). Evolutionists see variations as evidence for evolution, such as in antibiotic resistance . Variations are essentially horizontal  changes, but you must remember this, a fish is still a fish, a fly is still a fly, and so on, even though time goes by. They're pulling the ol' bait ...