Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Thanks! - Answers to questions...
Thanks for everyone's attendance and participation last night. It is fun when we can engage together around God's Word.
So below are some answers to the most frequently asked questions from last night. We will cover the questions on this blog during the week. We will review many of them at the start of the next class in case there are follow on questions. I rephrased some questions so they would cover multiple of the same questions asked on the cards. This is just some of those that were asked. I will cover the rest later this week.
Q) If teachers are allowed to teach about evolution why aren't they allowed to teach about politics?
A) Teachers in public schools do teach about politics, our political system here and in other countries. Certainly politics has philosophy built in - if a candidate believes something is right or wrong - such as abortion - they 'stand' for that position. In the classroom for evolution no other areas or ideas such as creationism can be explored.
Q) Where are dinosaurs in the bible?
A) We will cover more detail in the 5th week of the study but here is some info from our friends at gotquestions.org:
Those who believe in a younger age for the earth tend to agree that the Bible does mention dinosaurs, though it never actually uses the word “dinosaur.” Instead, it uses the Hebrew wordtanniyn, which is translated a few different ways in our English Bibles. Sometimes it’s “sea monster,” and sometimes it’s “serpent.” It is most commonly translated “dragon.” The tanniyn appear to have been some sort of giant reptile. These creatures are mentioned nearly thirty times in the Old Testament and were found both on land and in the water.
In addition to mentioning these giant reptiles, the Bible describes a couple of creatures in such a way that some scholars believe the writers may have been describing dinosaurs. The behemoth is said to be the mightiest of all God’s creatures, a giant whose tail is likened to a cedar tree (Job 40:15). Some scholars have tried to identify the behemoth as either an elephant or a hippopotamus. Others point out that elephants and hippopotamuses have very thin tails, nothing comparable to a cedar tree. Dinosaurs like the brachiosaurus and the diplodocus, on the other hand, had huge tails which could easily be compared to a cedar tree.
Nearly every ancient civilization has some sort of art depicting giant reptilian creatures. Petroglyphs, artifacts, and even little clay figurines found in North America resemble modern depictions of dinosaurs. Rock carvings in South America depict men riding diplodocus-like creatures and, amazingly, bear the familiar images of triceratops-like, pterodactyl-like, and tyrannosaurus rex-like creatures. Roman mosaics, Mayan pottery, and Babylonian city walls all testify to man’s trans-cultural, geographically unbounded fascination with these creatures. Sober accounts like those of Marco Polo’s Il Milione mingle with fantastic tales of treasure-hoarding beasts. In addition to the substantial amount of anthropic and historical evidences for the coexistence of dinosaurs and man, there are physical evidences, like the fossilized footprints of humans and dinosaurs found together at places in North America and West-Central Asia.
Q) How do you deal with a person who is a believer in evolution?
A) Curiosity is one of the best ways to confront a theory different than the biblical account. Asking questions regarding why the person believes this and why it would be bad to believe the biblical account is one of the first areas to cover. We will get much more in week 6 when we cover this. Start with knowing that people that believe evolution are similar to anyone who doesn't believe the bible is the inspired word of God.
Q) What do you say to a person who asks us why we believe?
A) The bible has been found true again and again, both historically accurate and in prophecies (accounts where the future was predicted). There are no accounts of the bible being inaccurate. The reason we believe is because God has revealed to us the truth (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). The first understanding (head knowledge not saving knowledge) is to understand that God also reveals Himself through correct words in the Bible.
Q) If we were made out of one cell where did the other cells come from?
A) Evolutionists, in general, will tell you that dividing cells took a long time to produce and this was a mutation that ultimately allowed this to happen. What that means is that something unexpected happened and it allowed the cell to divide and that was good for the cell. When they divide is important but nearly as important as what it would take to do this. There is a more specific explanation of what evolutionists believe - which we will cover in week 3 - in Dr. David Meyer's book called "Signature in the Cell" which you can give to any adult biologist who does not believe in creation.
Q) Are most people who believe in evolution athiests?
A) Actually most people who believe in evolution also believe in a God. They often give credit to Him regarding the initial matter the universe is made up of or in special processes but not in creation of life. If they do give Him credit (those that are Theists) then the bible is innaccurate to them. They believe that God is involved as the bible says but that the day is not a day and that sin and death (which the bible explains did not come on until AFTER Adam and Eve sinned) happened before Adam and Eve were on this planet. The hard part is for those that actually believe evolution and creation go together and well over 1/2 of evolutionists believe this.
Q) I don't understand how evolution started - Can you explain?
A) Charles Darwin observed changes in animals from season to season and commonalities between creatures (such as the hands in an orangutan and humans as we watched in the video). He theorized that these creatures are all related. He then took this one step further in his theories to develop a system where by, through natural selection (where the fittest animals with the best capabilities survive) ulimately new creatures are created. Darwin thought this must happen by little things happening, such as you have an extra long fingernail and can dig for food better so that was passed on to the next generation. Ultimately, over millions of years, you (as the animal) would develop new arms, legs, lungs (for those things that came out of the sea), or even develop eyes if you didn't have them. Because this is statistically inaccurate (the earth would have to be really really really old) some more modern theories include macro evolution whereby birth defects would help speed this up. What this means - and we will see in week 3 - is that a baby born with an extra arm would be better than one with only two. The only real problem here is that those defects are almost never passed on to the next generation and most of the defects are like cancer and other things that kill the animal. We can talk more but that gives you a super short primer. By the way, this theory has only been around for about 150 years. Until the early 1900s the bible was taught in schools at the authority on origin.
So below are some answers to the most frequently asked questions from last night. We will cover the questions on this blog during the week. We will review many of them at the start of the next class in case there are follow on questions. I rephrased some questions so they would cover multiple of the same questions asked on the cards. This is just some of those that were asked. I will cover the rest later this week.
Q) If teachers are allowed to teach about evolution why aren't they allowed to teach about politics?
A) Teachers in public schools do teach about politics, our political system here and in other countries. Certainly politics has philosophy built in - if a candidate believes something is right or wrong - such as abortion - they 'stand' for that position. In the classroom for evolution no other areas or ideas such as creationism can be explored.
Q) Where are dinosaurs in the bible?
A) We will cover more detail in the 5th week of the study but here is some info from our friends at gotquestions.org:
Those who believe in a younger age for the earth tend to agree that the Bible does mention dinosaurs, though it never actually uses the word “dinosaur.” Instead, it uses the Hebrew wordtanniyn, which is translated a few different ways in our English Bibles. Sometimes it’s “sea monster,” and sometimes it’s “serpent.” It is most commonly translated “dragon.” The tanniyn appear to have been some sort of giant reptile. These creatures are mentioned nearly thirty times in the Old Testament and were found both on land and in the water.
In addition to mentioning these giant reptiles, the Bible describes a couple of creatures in such a way that some scholars believe the writers may have been describing dinosaurs. The behemoth is said to be the mightiest of all God’s creatures, a giant whose tail is likened to a cedar tree (Job 40:15). Some scholars have tried to identify the behemoth as either an elephant or a hippopotamus. Others point out that elephants and hippopotamuses have very thin tails, nothing comparable to a cedar tree. Dinosaurs like the brachiosaurus and the diplodocus, on the other hand, had huge tails which could easily be compared to a cedar tree.
Nearly every ancient civilization has some sort of art depicting giant reptilian creatures. Petroglyphs, artifacts, and even little clay figurines found in North America resemble modern depictions of dinosaurs. Rock carvings in South America depict men riding diplodocus-like creatures and, amazingly, bear the familiar images of triceratops-like, pterodactyl-like, and tyrannosaurus rex-like creatures. Roman mosaics, Mayan pottery, and Babylonian city walls all testify to man’s trans-cultural, geographically unbounded fascination with these creatures. Sober accounts like those of Marco Polo’s Il Milione mingle with fantastic tales of treasure-hoarding beasts. In addition to the substantial amount of anthropic and historical evidences for the coexistence of dinosaurs and man, there are physical evidences, like the fossilized footprints of humans and dinosaurs found together at places in North America and West-Central Asia.
Q) How do you deal with a person who is a believer in evolution?
A) Curiosity is one of the best ways to confront a theory different than the biblical account. Asking questions regarding why the person believes this and why it would be bad to believe the biblical account is one of the first areas to cover. We will get much more in week 6 when we cover this. Start with knowing that people that believe evolution are similar to anyone who doesn't believe the bible is the inspired word of God.
Q) What do you say to a person who asks us why we believe?
A) The bible has been found true again and again, both historically accurate and in prophecies (accounts where the future was predicted). There are no accounts of the bible being inaccurate. The reason we believe is because God has revealed to us the truth (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). The first understanding (head knowledge not saving knowledge) is to understand that God also reveals Himself through correct words in the Bible.
Q) If we were made out of one cell where did the other cells come from?
A) Evolutionists, in general, will tell you that dividing cells took a long time to produce and this was a mutation that ultimately allowed this to happen. What that means is that something unexpected happened and it allowed the cell to divide and that was good for the cell. When they divide is important but nearly as important as what it would take to do this. There is a more specific explanation of what evolutionists believe - which we will cover in week 3 - in Dr. David Meyer's book called "Signature in the Cell" which you can give to any adult biologist who does not believe in creation.
Q) Are most people who believe in evolution athiests?
A) Actually most people who believe in evolution also believe in a God. They often give credit to Him regarding the initial matter the universe is made up of or in special processes but not in creation of life. If they do give Him credit (those that are Theists) then the bible is innaccurate to them. They believe that God is involved as the bible says but that the day is not a day and that sin and death (which the bible explains did not come on until AFTER Adam and Eve sinned) happened before Adam and Eve were on this planet. The hard part is for those that actually believe evolution and creation go together and well over 1/2 of evolutionists believe this.
Q) I don't understand how evolution started - Can you explain?
A) Charles Darwin observed changes in animals from season to season and commonalities between creatures (such as the hands in an orangutan and humans as we watched in the video). He theorized that these creatures are all related. He then took this one step further in his theories to develop a system where by, through natural selection (where the fittest animals with the best capabilities survive) ulimately new creatures are created. Darwin thought this must happen by little things happening, such as you have an extra long fingernail and can dig for food better so that was passed on to the next generation. Ultimately, over millions of years, you (as the animal) would develop new arms, legs, lungs (for those things that came out of the sea), or even develop eyes if you didn't have them. Because this is statistically inaccurate (the earth would have to be really really really old) some more modern theories include macro evolution whereby birth defects would help speed this up. What this means - and we will see in week 3 - is that a baby born with an extra arm would be better than one with only two. The only real problem here is that those defects are almost never passed on to the next generation and most of the defects are like cancer and other things that kill the animal. We can talk more but that gives you a super short primer. By the way, this theory has only been around for about 150 years. Until the early 1900s the bible was taught in schools at the authority on origin.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Welcome!
Hello everyone!
We should have some fun this fall learning about how much God loves us through His creation. We will ask some fun and insightful questions. We will also be taking your questions, anonymously, about this or other topics and answer them from a biblical perspective.
We trust you will pray for each other, for our pastor, and the world as we attempt to follow the Lord.
See you Wednesday!
We should have some fun this fall learning about how much God loves us through His creation. We will ask some fun and insightful questions. We will also be taking your questions, anonymously, about this or other topics and answer them from a biblical perspective.
We trust you will pray for each other, for our pastor, and the world as we attempt to follow the Lord.
See you Wednesday!
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