Are you here by
Accident?

     
Why I  believe…

 

              …we are here by design, not chance.

           …the Bible is the reliable message of God.

           …Israel demonstrates the existence of God.

           …Christianity is unique among all religions.

           …You should ask yourself these questions.

           …You should seek God.


…we are here by design, not chance.

F Against All Odds
The statistical odds of generating life by chance are absurd. [1]  The chance of generating a single amino acid has been calculated to occur once in every 10130 tries (the number 1 followed by 130 zeros). To assemble the enzymes by chance from the amino acids has been calculated as one chance in 1040,000. [2]

If such an experiment could be performed, there has not been enough time—even if we assume the universe to be 15 billion years old (only 1018 seconds, 1027 nanoseconds). “…the probability is so small in terms of the known age of the universe that it is effectively zero.” [3]

Even if all the material in the observable universe were available to perform the experiment, there is not enough material (only 1070 atoms, 1080 subatomic particles).[4]  “…an outrageously small probability that could not be faced even if the whole universe consisted of organic soup.” [5]

Amino acids occur in left-handed or right-handed mirror-image structures.  Non-living matter contains of a mix of right-handed and left-handed molecules. But all living things are made of left-handed amino acids. [6]   Right-handed amino acids are poisonous.[7]  Random chance should produce both right- and left-handed amino acids.

Some propose that given enough monkeys typing at enough typewriters for long enough, Shakespeare’s sonnets could be typed by chance.  But what if every other key on the typewriter was fatal to the monkey?

Francis Crick, Nobel Prize winner and co-discoverer of DNA wrote: “An honest man, armed with all the knowledge available to us now, could only state that in some sense the origin of life appears at the moment to be almost a miracle, so many are the conditions which would have had to have been satisfied to get it going.” [8]

“Any theory with a probability of being correct that is larger than one part in 1040,000 must be judged superior to random shuffling.  The theory that life was assembled by an intelligence has, we believe a probability vastly higher than one part in 1040,000 of being the correct explanation…”
[9]

F Microbiology
The theory of evolution suggests that higher animals came about by a series of small adaptations from lower life forms.  If true, in the world we should see a range of biological complexity—from lower to higher complexity.  But the modern biological revolution has shown just the opposite.

Since
Darwin’s time, the revolution in microbiology has shown that there is no such thing as a “simple cell”.[10]  Even the simplest of biological systems is much more sophisticated than anything achievable by the intelligence of man.[11] [12]


For example, the knowledge currently stored in all the libraries of the world, if stored in DNA molecules, would require 1 percent of the volume of a pinhead.  To store the same information using the most sophisticated computer memory circuits available today would require a pile of “chips” higher than the distance between the earth and the moon.[13]

“The complexity of the simplest known type of cell is so great that it is impossible to accept that such an object could have been thrown together suddenly by some kind of freakish, vastly improbable event.  Such an occurrence would be indistinguishable from a miracle.” [14]

F Complex Systems
Complex systems do not occur by chance.  They are based on a set of co-dependent relationships between individual components.

There is a hierarchy of increasingly complicated systems: [15]

1.       basic open systems (a wristwatch),

2.       feedback systems (power steering),

3.       adaptive systems (anti-skid brakes),

4.       intelligent machines (computers),

5.       self-repairing systems

6.       self-reproducing systems.

Man—with the most sophisticated intelligence known—has produced systems 1 through 4, but has yet to create truly self-repairing[16] nor self-reproducing systems.  Yet these levels of system complexity are found throughout the biological world. Development of even a rudimentary complex system by chance has never been demonstrated.

Some systems are especially complicated and are said to be irreducibly complex[17] because two or more components are interdependent such that no component can successfully function without the others.  This poses a problem for evolutionary theory because each co-dependent component would have to evolve in-step with the other components it depends upon for the organism to continue to survive.  Yet the living world is full of examples of irreducibly complex systems such as the feather, the eye, the avian lung, the amniotic (reptilian) egg, the woodpecker[18], and many more.[19]

Complex systems, when left to themselves, tend to fail.[20]  Randomness (chance) leads to chaos.  This downhill trend in physical and information systems can only be reversed by the addition of information.  Information can only be added by intelligence.  Complex systems are evidence of intelligence!

F Missing Fossils
The fossil record itself undermines the theory of evolution. [21]

The fossil record provides insufficient evidence for the evolution of the earliest life: “The fossil record is of little use in providing direct evidence of the path ways of descent of the phyla or of invertebrate classes.  Each phylum with a fossil record


has already evolved its characteristic body plan when it first appeared…”  [22]

The fossil record does not contain the needed transitional forms—a fact well-known to evolutionists themselves, but not well-publicized.

“The extreme rarity of transitional forms in the fossil record persists as the trade secret of paleontology.  The evolutionary trees that adorn our textbooks have data only at the tips and notes of their branches; the rest is inference, however reasonable, not the evidence of fossils.” [23]

This lack of fossil evidence was the driving force behind the development of the theory of punctuated equilibria which attempts to explain how transitions occurred without leaving a trace in the fossil record—postulating evolution to be true, regardless of the lack of fossil evidence.

Another scientist put it this way: “…no real evolutionist, whether gradualist or punctuationist, uses the fossil record as evidence in favor of the theory of evolution as opposed to special creation.” [24]

“We are now about 120 years after Darwin and the knowledge of the fossil record has been greatly expanded. We now have a quarter of a million fossil species but the situation hasn’t changed much.  The record of evolution is still surprisingly jerky and ironically, we have even fewer examples of evolutionary transition than we had in Darwin’s time.  By this I mean that some of the classic cases of Darwinian change in the fossil record, such as the evolution of the horse in North America have had to be discarded or modified as a result of more detailed information.” [25]

Simple logic tells us that with millions of different life forms [26] evolving over billions of years—all of which were supposedly arrived at by small changes from other existing life forms—there should be countless fossils documenting transitional forms.  Yet the fossil record is strangely silent—only seeming to preserve abundant evidence of those animals in a state of stability.  Instead of a few dozen postulated intermediaries (such as Archeaopteryx—now considered by some evolutionists to be a full-fledged bird), our museums should contain thousands of complete, smooth transitions.

Darwin himself said: “…the number of intermediate and transitional links, between all living and extinct species, must have been inconceivably great.  But assuredly, if this theory is true, such have lived upon the earth.” [27]

Where are they?

F Fossil Fraud and Exaggeration
The field of paleoanthropology, has earned a reputation for exaggerated claims and outright fraud. Fraudulent and exaggerated discoveries include Heidelberg Man, Nebraska Man, Piltdown Man, Peking Man, and Java Man.

The trend in the field of paleontology is clear: highly publicized exaggerated claims made on initial discovery followed by silent retirement or recategorization of the find in the years that follow as the evidence is more carefully analyzed by


colleagues.  Among those finds which are no longer thought to be intermediaries between ape and man we find Rhodesian Man, Neanderthal Man, Peking Man, Java Man. [28]

Other fossil evidence for early man is highly controversial in nature with many experts in the field disagreeing as to the categorization, significance, and whether representative of ape or human.[29]

F Living Fossils
The phrase “living fossil” has been coined to describe animals alive today which are essentially unchanged from their original form in the fossil record.

Perhaps the most famous living fossil is the Coelacanth—a fish. Originally only found in the fossil record, it was thought to have been extinct for 50 million years… until 1938 when a live specimen was caught near
Madagascar!  Since then, about a dozen of these “prehistoric” fish have been caught.  Paleontologists originally postulated that the Coelacanth, being an early fish, would have internal body organs quite different (more crude) than normal fish. Yet the internal organs of live specimens resemble other normal fish. [30]

Other “living fossils” are less famous because they are everyday animals such as bats, sharks, pigs, and the like.  There are hundreds of such living fossils. [31]

How is it that during the same period of time that evolution is said to have produced man from pre-biotic soup, other animals—the “living fossils”—remained essentially unchanged?

F Anthropic Principle
The universe appears to be designed for the existence of life in that many physical factors appear to be tuned to the narrow range required for life to exist.  As one famous scientist put it: “A common sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a superintellect has monkeyed with physics, as well as with chemistry and biology, and that there are no blind forces worth speaking about in nature.” [32]

Formation of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and other heavy elements required for life depend on the delicate match between the energies of helium, beryllium, and carbon. [33]  If the ratio of the mass of a proton to an electron were much different, the required molecules would not form and there would be no chemistry and no life.  If the relative strength of the four fundamental forces (gravity, electromagnetism, strong and weak nuclear) were slightly different, there would be no atoms, no stars, and no planets.  Many other examples can be given. [34]

Most people don’t think about how critically tuned our surroundings are.  Yet this fact surfaces when discussing environmental concerns such as the ozone layer or global warming.  If small changes in our surroundings can spell disaster for life, then what made it so carefully balanced in the first place? [35]

F Evidence of Intelligence
Everywhere we look we see evidence of complexity. The simplest life form is a sophisticated self-repairing, self-reproducing system of incredible complexity. The


universe appears to be a highly tuned system. On and on it goes.

Complexity and design require intelligence in order to combat the decay of natural systems toward disorder.  The blind mechanism of random mutation followed by natural selection is simply insufficient as the source of genetic information on the level required for biological life.

The evidence that we are here by intelligent design even pops up unintentionally in the comments of those who oppose the idea of a Creator: “The more I examine the universe and the details of its architecture [36] the more evidence I find that the universe in some sense must have known we were coming.” [37]

Yet man continues to ignore the evidence of design in favor of highly conjectural ideas such as chaos theory, self-organizing systems, and the like which sound sophisticated on paper, but can’t be demonstrated in the real-world.[38]

Complex systems require a design which reflects an intelligence which implies a designer with a purpose. We are not here by chance!

“…We are therefore presented with a curious question.  If information and order always has a natural tendency to disappear, where did all the information that made the world such a special place come from originally?  The Universe is like a clock slowly running down.  How did it get wound up in the first place?” [39]

The Bible provides the answer:

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows his handiwork.  Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge.  There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard  Their line has gone out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world.” – Psalm 19:1

…the Bible is the reliable message of God.

F Time Span
No other book has been written over a span of 1500 years— all the while remaining consistent across a wide range of controversial topics.

F Authorship
No other book has been written by 40 different authors from at least 11 different vocations [40]— all of whom deal consistently with a wide range of controversial topics.[41] [42]

F Accuracy of Transmission
“…a careful study of the variants (different readings) of the various earliest manuscripts reveals that none of them affects a single doctrine of Scripture.  The system of spiritual truth contained in the standard Hebrew text of the Old Testament is not in the slightest altered or compromised by any of the variant


readings found in the Hebrew manuscripts of earlier date found in the Dead Sea caves or anywhere else.” [43]

F Manuscript Evidence
There are more manuscript copies of portions of the Bible than any other ancient writing: [44] [45]

Author

Earliest Copy

Number of Witnesses[46]

New Testament Authors

200 A.D.[47]

20,000+[48]

Old Testament Authors

300 B.C.[49]
250 B.C.[50]

several hundred

Homer (Iliad)

1200 A.D.

643

Caesar

900 A.D.

10

Plato (Tetralogies)

900 A.D.

20

Tacitus (Annals)

1100 A.D.

20

Pliny the Younger (History)

850 A.D.

7

Aristotle

100 A.D.

5

Sophocles

1000 A.D.

100

 

F Avoids Errors of Surrounding Cultures
The Bible taught the existence of one God who was separate from His creation at a time when surrounding cultures believed in many Gods.  Although Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians[51], his writings concerning medical matters avoid the crude superstitions of
Egypt.  The Bible even contains instructions for using a latrine! [52]

F Archaeology
Archeological discoveries confirm the Biblical record: the excavation of a Babylonian account of Noah’s flood; the existence of Hittites; the fall of Jericho; Egyptian confirmation of the early existence of Israel; the Hebrew conquest of Canaan; Israel’s king Jehu; Belshazzar as secondary ruler of Babylon; Cyrus’s capture of Babylon and decree permitting freedom of worship; Solomon’s stables; Sennacherib’s campaign against Judah and subsequent murder by his sons; the Pool of Bethesda, etc.[53] [54]

Sir William Ramsay, regarded as one of the greatest archaeologists ever to have lived, set out to disprove the reliability of the New Testament books of Luke and Acts.  After 30 years of study he concluded “Luke is a historian of the first rank; not merely are his statements of fact trustworthy…this author should be placed along with the very greatest of historians.[55]

F Honesty
No other historic book discusses the failings of its heros in such frank detail.[56]


F Fulfillment of Prophecy
Only God, who is outside of the limitations of time and space, accurately declares the future in the pages of His book.[57]

Prophecy

Predicted[58]

Fulfilled

Messiah born of a virgin.

Genesis 3:15 (4,000+ B.C.)
Isaiah 7:14[59] (580 B.C.)

Luke 1:34-35 (2 B.C.)

Messiah born in Bethlehem.

Micah 5:2 (720 B.C.)

Luke 2:1-7 (2 B.C.)

Timing of Messiah’s presentation as king.[60]

Daniel 9:25 (530 B.C.)

Luke 19:28-44 (30 A.D.)

Messiah to die for sins of others.

Daniel 9:26 (530 B.C.)
Isaiah 53:8,11 (580 B.C.)

Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, John 19 (30 A.D.)

Messiah to be resurrected.

Ps. 16:10 (970 B.C.)

Mark 16:9 (30 A.D.)

Destruction of Jerusalem by Rome

Daniel 9:26 (530 B.C.)
Luke 19:43 (30 A.D.)

70 A.D.

Jerusalem to become a heavy burden for all nations.

Zechariah 12:3 (480 B.C.)

???

 

Israel demonstrates the existence of God.

F Worldwide Dispersion - The Bible predicted that the Jews would be scattered “among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other.” [61]  What other ethnic group has been scattered so extensively that a plant has even been named after them: the wandering Jew?

F Unparalleled Persecution - No other ethnic group has endured such severe persecution throughout history.  The Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, the Nazi death camps… even by those who should know better.[62]  The Jews have had no homeland for a large portion of their history, yet they and their culture continue to survive.

F A Nation After 2,000 Years - The Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D. For nearly 2,000 years the Jews had no homeland, no nation.  Then, abruptly, on May 14th, 1948 the nation Israel was restored. What a coincidence!  Yet the Bible says


that God will accomplish His will: “Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once?” [63]

F The Return Of Jerusalam - In 1967, after nearly 2,000 years under foreign jurisdiction, Israel, against all odds, recaptured Jerusalem in the Six-Day War. Jerusalem—mentioned by name over 800 times in the Bible (but not once in the Koran)—still has a role to play in God’s plans. [64]  Another coincidence?

F The Regathering of the Jews - The Bible says that the Jews will be gathered from their dispersion. [65] The return of Jews to Israel is currently in progress, although not yet in major numbers.

F The “Promised Land” - God made an unconditional promise that a piece of land considerably larger than modern-day Israel would be given to Israel forever. [66] [67] God’s own reputation is tied to the fulfillment of His promise.[68]  Why is the promised land continually in the news?  Because God has chosen to make it the most important piece of real-estate in creation.

F Jerusalem: A Burden for All Nations - God has special plans for Jerusalem.[69] Yet the Bible predicts that one day all nations will come against Jerusalem: “And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples, all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it.” [70]  This trend has already begun with nations and organizations refusing to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.[71]  Expect Jerusalem to remain in the news as various proposals are put forth to make it an “International” city—anything and everything will be done to oppose allowing it to be recognized as the undivided capital of Israel.  Why all the fuss? Because the world fails to recognize God—thereby unwittingly opposing the plan He has declared for His [72] city.

F Israel: Chosen by God - God chose Israel as a special nation among other nations.[73] He did so for various reasons[74]—some of which Israel has not yet fulfilled. [75]  He didn’t choose them as an act of favoritism, but to accomplish and demonstrate His purposes through history.[76]  The history of Israel is a demonstration of how God purposefully uses the weak things of the world to put to shame the wise. [77]  Although God shows no favoritism based on nationality or ethnicity in regard to salvation [78], God has different plans and objectives for the nation Israel[79], His church of believers [80], and the unbelieving world.[81]

…Christianity is unique among all religions.

F A Creator and a beginning -- Christianity (and its foundation, Judaism) declares a beginning to time and space and a Creator who is separate from His creation.[82] People have an intuitive understanding that this must be so.[83]

F All Are Lost -- Christianity teaches that all people are inherently sinful and lost without God.[84]  Are you perfect? Or do you often “miss the mark”?  If you don’t


believe you are a sinner, perhaps your understanding of the holiness and perfection of God is inadequate--perhaps your concept of God is too small? [85]

F Can’t Earn God’s Favor -- Only Christianity teaches that we cannot approach God on our own terms. We are so far removed from the holiness and power of God that there is nothing we can do to approach Him.[86]  No amount of self-sacrifice, good deeds, or holy living can be used to earn our way to God.  A Holy God cannot abide with sin—not even the tiniest fraction.  Only absolute perfection can stand before God.[87]

F The Uniqueness of Blood -- Christianity (and its foundation, Judaism) teaches that life is in the blood [88].  Christianity understands the physical significance of blood as known to medical science as an indicator of its special God-given role: the sacrifice of God’s own blood as a one-time[89], all-sufficient remedy for sin.[90]

F Only One Path -- Christianity teaches that there is only one path to God [91]— acceptance of the perfect sacrificial blood of Jesus Christ as atonement for our sin.[92]  Does that seem foolish? Does that offend you? The Bible predicts it might.[93]

…You should ask yourself these questions.

F Here by chance?  -- Why are you here? Are you a product of chance?  Just a “blip” on the radar screen of time?  Or are you here for a purpose?  A design requires a designer.  A designer implies a purpose. A purpose implies responsibility and accountability.

F Are you good?
Perhaps you are highly intelligent? Or talented? Perhaps you feel that you are a “good” person? Compared to whom? God? How you view your own personal merit isn’t the issue—it’s how you measure up to God’s standard—absolute perfection. Like business and politics, it’s not what you know, but who you know. If you haven’t achieved perfection and you don’t know God then you are at risk!

F What comes next?
Is this life all there is?  The Bible says it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.[94]  Are you ready for what comes next? If you were to die tomorrow, do you know where you will be?  Do you have a relationship with the One who inhabits eternity? [95]

F Is something missing?
Are you trying to fill a God-shaped hole in your heart with other things?  Could it be because you were designed to have a relationship with God, but you haven’t allowed God to be a part of your life?

F What if you’re wrong?
How confident are you that the Bible is just some old stories which have been made obsolete by modern science--and that evolution explains how you got here? Or will you be taking the biggest gamble of your entire life when you die?


…You should seek God.

F God desires seekers
“And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us, for in Him we live and move and have our being…”  (Acts 17:26)

F God rewards seekers
“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”  (Hebrews 11:6)

F God saves seekers
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:16-17)

For seekers…

The primary sources for seeking God are prayer and reading the Bible.[96]

Why not perform an experiment? Regularly and earnestly pray before God that He would reveal Himself to you.  If you are honest in your desire, He has promised to reveal Himself to you.

The following resources offer avenues for further investigation for those who are curious. Citations by secondary references appear within square brackets. [97]

&     Archer, Gleason L., A Survey Of Old Testament Introduction (1994)

&     Archer, Gleason L., Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties (1982)

&     Behe, Michael J., Darwin’s Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution (1996)

&     Bird, W.R., The Origin of the Species REVISITED (1991)

&     Bromiley, Geoffrey W, editor, The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1988)

&     Denton, Michael, Evolution: A Theory in Crisis (1985)

&     Free, Joseph P., and Vos, Howard F., Archaeology and Bible History (1992)

&     Fruchtenbaum, Arnold G., Israelology: The Missing Link in Systematic Theology (1993)

&     Geisler, Norman, and Howe, Thomas, When Critics Ask: A Popular Handbook on Bible Difficulties (1992)

&     Gish, Duane T., Creation Scientists Answer Their Critics (1993)

&     Gish, Duane T., Evolution: The Fossils Still Say No! (1995)


&     IHeeren, Fred, Show Me God: What the Message From Space Is Telling Us About God (1995)

&     Hunt, Dave, A Cup of Trembling: Jerusalem and Bible Prophecy (1995)

&     Johnson, Phillip E., Darwin on Trial (1993)

&     LUBENOW, Marvin L., Bones of Contention: A Creationist Assessment of Human Fossils (1993)

&     McDowell, Josh, Evidence That Demands a Verdict (1991)

&     Morris, Henry, The Biblical Basis for Modern Science (1984)

&     Ross, Hugh, The Creator and the Cosmos (1993)

&     Taylor, Ian T., In the Minds of Men: Darwin and the New World Order (1991)

End Note



[1] Within the field of statistics, the possibility of anything with less than one chance in 1050 is defined as “absurd”.

[2] Hoyle and Wickramasinghe, “Where Microbes Boldly Went”, New Scientist 24 (1986) [MORRIS, p.183]

[3] SHAPIRO, Robert, Origins: A Skeptics Guide p.112 (1986) [BIRD, p.79]

[4] HEREEN, p.183

[5] HOYLE and WICKRAMASINGHE, Evolution from Space p.24 (1986) [HEREEN, p.183]

[6] PATTERSON, C., Evolution p.157 (1978) [BIRD, p.309]

[7] GISH, Creation Scientists Answer Their Critics p.266

[8] CRICK, Francis, Life Itself, p.88 (1981) [GISH, Creation Scientists Answer Their Critics, p.375]

[9] CRICK, Francis, Life Itself p.71 (1981) [BIRD, p.80]

[10] DENTON, p.201

[11] BEHE, p.106

[12] Recognize that the best minds, money, and research around the world have yet to come close to creating life by design using man’s intelligence. Although man is able to tinker with life, he will never be able to create life from scratch.  This adds to the already weighty evidence against the development of life by chance.

[13] GITT, Werner, “Information, Science and Biology”, Creation Ex-Nihilo Technical Journal, vol. 10, no. 2, 1996

[14] DENTON, p.264

[15] MISSLER, Chuck, Beyond Coincidence audio tape, Koinonia House (http://www.khouse.org)

[16] Not just self-diagnostic.

[17] BEHE, p.110

[18] A woodpecker could not function without all of the following: special claws for gripping a tree trunk, stiff tail feathers for bracing against the tree, special shock absorbers surrounding the brain, long tongue anchored under the skin in the back of the skull which enters the beak through the right nostril, glands to secrete a sticky substance to coat the tongue.

[19] BEHE, DENTON

[20] Due to the operation of the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics (the tendency toward randomness) which operates in information systems as well as physical systems.

[21] DENTON, GISH, BIRD

[22] VALENTINE, J.W. What Darwin Began, p.263 (1985) [GISH, Creation Scientists Answer Their Critics, p.378]

[23] GOULD, Steven J., “Evolution’s Erratic Pace”, Natural History, p.12,14 May 1977 [BIRD, p.58]

[24] RIDLEY, Mark, New Scientist, 90:830 [GISH, Creation Scientists Answer Their Critics, p.376]

[25] RAUP, David, Field Museum of Natural History Bulletin 50(1):25 (1979) [GISH, Creation Scientists Answer Their Critics, p.381].  Contrast his statement with that made by Richard Leakey in the same year: “New fossil finds since Darwin’s day have smoothed out much of the abruptness of the fossil record.”

[26] SIMPSON, G.G., “The History of Life”, Evolution of Life p.135 [Denton, p.334]

[27] DARWIN, Charles, The Origin of the Species, p.309

[28] LUBENOW, TAYLOR

[29] BIRD, GISH, LUBENOW

[30] DENTON, p.179

[31] The creationist museum LEBENDIGE VOORWELT, in Hofheim, Germany maintained by Dr. Joachim Scheven specializes in “living fossils”. http://www.lebendigevorwelt.de

[32] HOYLE, Fred, Engineering and Science, November 1981 [HEREEN, p.179]

[33] The anthropic principle was used by Fred Hoyle to successfully predict this relationship—based solely on life’s need for it—before it was experimentally determined.

[34] HEREEN, ROSS

[35] A claim is generally made by skeptics at this point that this is a circular argument: life exists as it is precisely because of the physical environment we are in.  If it had been different, then life would have evolved differently (e.g. silicon-based, etc.).  I leave it to the reader to examine the previous comments regarding complex systems to determine whether a highly-tuned system occurs by chance.

[36] Notice the use of the term architecture which implies purposeful design.

[37] DYSON, Freeman, Disturbing the Universe, p.250 (1979)

[38] Real-world examples of “self-organization” are either isolated to minute localities of time or space or reflect underlying information already present in the system (e.g. snowflakes, crystals, plant growth).

[39] DAVIES, Paul, “Chance or choice: is the Universe an accident?”, 80 New Scientist 506 (1978). [BIRD, p.402]

[40] Kings, priests, prophets, soldiers, statesmen, shepherds, fishermen, tax collector, medical doctor, tent maker, farmer.

[41] GEISLER and HOWE

[42] ARCHER, An Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties

[43] ARCHER, A Survey of Old Testament Introduction, p.28

[44] ARCHER, A Survey of Old Testament Introduction, p.27

[45] MCDOWELL, p.42

[46] Copies or other writings quoting their content.

[47] BROMILEY, 4:815

[48] ARCHER, A Survey of Old Testament Introduction p.27

[49] Varied Old Testament texts from the Dead Sea Scrolls.

[50] The Septuagint, a Greek translation of the entire Old Testament written in Alexandria.

[51] Acts 7:22

[52] Deuteronomy 23:13

[53] ARCHER, A Survey of Old Testament Introduction, p.188

[54] FREE and VOSS

[55] RAMSAY, Sir William, The Bearing of Recent Discovery on the Trustworthiness of the New Testament, p.222 [MCDOWELL, p.71]

[56] Genesis 9:20; Numbers 20:12; 2 Samuel 11:4;, Luke 22:60

[57] Isaiah 46:9-10

[58] Dates are approximate.

[59] Some point out that the Hebrew word used  for virgin  in this passage can also mean young maid.  But, would this qualify as a sign?  Also, the Septuagint—the Greek version of the old testament written in the third century before Christ’s birth—translates the term into Greek as parthenos, which specifically means virgin.

[60] The Coming Prince by Sir Robert Anderson offers an in-depth analysis of this prophecy.

[61] Deuteronomy 28:64, 29:28, 30:1; Amos 9:9; Ezekiel 36:19

[62] HUNT, Dave, A Woman Rides the Beast (1994)

[63] Isaiah 66:8

[64] Isaiah 62:6, Matthew 24:15, 2 Thessalonians 2:4, Revelation 11:1

[65] Deuteronomy 30:3, Jeremiah 16:13-16, 23:3-8, 32:37-41; Ezekiel 20:33-38, 22:17-22, 36:22-29; Zephaniah 2:1-2; Zechariah 10:8-10

[66] Genesis 13:15, 15:18, 35:12, Exodus 23:31, Numbers 34:2, Deuteronomy 1:7, 11:24; Psalm 105:8-11

[67] HUNT, Jerusalem: A Cup of Trembling

[68] Ezekiel 36:22-24

[69] Jeremiah 3:17, Isaiah 62:7, Zechariah 14:16

[70] Zechariah 12:1

[71] Jerusalem was designated as the capital of Jerusalem by Israel and the Knesset relocated there on July 30th, 1980.

[72] Daniel 9:19; Matthew 5:35

[73] Exodus 6:6, 19:6; Deuteronomy 4:37, 7:6-8, 10:15, 14:2, 26:18, Psalm 105:6-7, 135:4; Isaiah 41:8, 44:1, 45:3, 49:7

[74] To receive and record God’s revelation: Deuteronomy 4:5-8; 6:6-9; Romans 3:1-2.  To be witnesses of God: Isaiah 43:10-12; Revelation 7:1; 14:1. To produce the promised redeemer, the Messiah: Romans 9:5; Hebrews 7:13-14; Revelation 12:2,5

[75] FRUCHTENBAUM

[76] Ezekiel 36:22, Ezekiel 39:7

[77] 1 Corinthians 1:27

[78] Ephesians 2:14-17

[79] Isaiah 48:9-12; Romans 11:1,12,25-32

[80] Matthew 16:18; Revelation 12:11; 19:7

[81] Romans 9:18-24

[82] Genesis 1:1; John 1:1-3

[83] Romans 1:20; Acts 17:22

[84] Jeremiah 17:9, Matthew 5:28-29; Galations 3:22; 1 John 1:8

[85] Isaiah 6:5

[86] Romans 3:20; Galations 2:16; Ephesians 2:8

[87] Exodus 33:20

[88] Leviticus 17:11

[89] Hebrews 9:25-26

[90] Isaiah 53:10; Hebrews 9:22; 1 John 1:7

[91] Matthew 7:13; John 14:6

[92] John 3:16; John 3:36

[93] 1 Corinthians 1:27; Galations 5:11

[94] Hebrews 9:27

[95] Isaiah 57:15

[96] Unlike other books, the bible is spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2:14).  Don’t  expect to read it like a novel and grasp its deeper content.  God doesn’t work that way.  He reveals truth in layer-upon-layer to those who seek Him—like peeling an onion.  If you’re not serious about seeking Him, he won’t reveal things to you. (Does the very idea that God would withhold information from those that don’t seek him offend you?  If God is real and the Bible is His book, then you need to get past trying to create God in your own image and find out what He says about Himself. If He truly is the creator and you are his creature, then your preconceptions and opinions don’t matter.)

If you are unfamiliar with the Bible, I wouldn’t suggest beginning at Genesis 1:1.  Although Genesis and the rest of the Old Testament are foundational, starting there is like trying to swim across the Pacific ocean your very first time in the water.  I recommend you start with the book of John in the New Testament (The events of John 1:1 precede Genesis 1:1 anyway!).  Pray before each reading session and remember that you are out to find out who God says He is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[97] Permission is granted to freely copy and distribute this material.
Questions and comments? Email to: why@camano.com
Rev. 8, 3/23/03