Article VI, part 3

Posted on 05/13/2013 by Jason Ministries

In this three part article, concerning the truths of Christ and the knowledge of humanity, we have seen how knowledge without understanding is dangerous because it lacks wisdom. Especially concerning the subject of biological science. Part one, laid out the foundation to this truth, and part two began to reveal examples.

In this post we will continue to examine the dangers mankind can expect to encounter by utilizing academia as a means to remove God’s wisdom from the subject of biological science, rather than embracing it. We will also cite further examples of the foolishness of macro-evolution.

So, can Darwinism really destroy human dignity and remove hope from a nation? Certainly it can. Recall with me how Karl Marx saw the need to “dethrone God” from the mind of humanity. He desired this because he saw religion as a toxic drug that organized a false sense of hope inside mankind. Mr. Marx knew that for his atheistic ideologies, his secular humanistic political beliefs, to take root and flourish it would require displacing humanity’s hope in God. Once that happened, then mankind would be ready to accept his ideology of autonomy and social structure. As Darwinism teaches that mankind came to be without the help of God, and continues to evolve into a moral and ethical creature on his/her own, then so too (per Marxism) can humanity govern its self regarding moral and ethical issues without God’s help.

So as national leaders, such as Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, and Mao Tse-tung, embraced the atheistic philosophies of Darwinism and Marxism, humanity was also forced to endure some of history’s most amoral and unethical governance ever brought to light. So much for mankind’s ability to be dignified without God; to govern morally and ethically without God. Death tolls of all four tyrants total any where from thirty-seven million to about sixty-three million. Why under Adolf Hitler’s reign (1933-1945) alone approximately eleven million, noncombatant, civilians of Europe died. Remember, as we stated earlier, knowledge without understanding can be dangerous.

Adolf Hitler was so influenced by Darwinian ideologies that it lead him to kill approximately fifty-thousand handicapped individuals at the Hadamar Euthanasia Centre, in Hadamar, Germany. Why is Darwinism connected to these killings? Because as Charles Darwin inferred in the book entitled The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex (pub. 1871) the invalid and handicapped are nothing more than “useless eaters.” Adolf Hitler wasn’t simply out to kill Jews and push his anti-Semitic ideals onto his citizenry, he was also out to give aid to “Natural Selection” by killing any one genetically inferior to his ideal specimen of humanity or anyone no longer productive in society.

What was written in The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex that would lead to such an amoral ideology? Read with me the words of Charles Darwin:

“With savages, the weak in body or mind are soon eliminated; and those that survive commonly exhibit a vigorous state of health. We civilized men, on the other hand, do our utmost to check the process of elimination. We build asylums for the imbecile, the maimed and the sick; we institute poor-laws; and our medical men exert their utmost skill to save the life of every one to the last moment. There is reason to believe that vaccination has preserved thousands, who from a weak constitution would formerly have succumbed to smallpox. Thus the weak members of civilized societies propagate their kind. No one who has attended to the breeding of domestic animals will doubt that this must be highly injurious to the race of man. It is surprising how soon a want of care, or care wrongly directed, leads to the degeneration of a domestic race; but excepting in the case of man himself, hardly anyone is so ignorant as to allow his worst animals to breed.”

When God is removed from humanity’s existence and development — when mankind is reduce to nothing more than an evolved animal — then eugenics, and euthanasia, become nothing more than a means-to-an-end. Regulated procreation and sterilization, as well as regulated death become necessary to ensure that only the strongest and most productive of the species will be allowed to survive and thrive.

Despite Mr. Darwin’s attempt to soften his words, in the next paragraph, by suggesting that humanity has evolved to exhibit the “instinct of sympathy,” it is historically clear that mankind does not act sympathetic toward its own instinctively. No, humanity’s natural tendency toward one another is to act wickedly. Scripture tells us this, as well:

“The godly have been swept from the land; not one upright man remains. All men lie in wait to shed blood; each hunts his brother with a net. Both hands are skilled in doing evil; the ruler demands gifts, the judge accepts bribes, the powerful dictate what they desire — they all conspire together.” (Micah 7:2-3)

“For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’” (Mark 7:21-23)

Humanity is not instinctively good, nor is mankind naturally sympathetic (Ecclesiastes 7:29; Jeremiah 17:9). Traits such as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are all traits of God that appear in mankind because we are made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27; Galatians 5:22-23). Without God, humanity cannot treat one another in a dignified manner; mankind cannot experience dignity at any level, nor can they ever hope to. And just as Darwinism strips away humanity’s dignity, so too does the teaching of macro-evolution strip away the scientific truths that God has laid before us.

Remember with me the Linus Pauling quote, “Science is the search for truth.” The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “truth” as a sincere action, character, or utterance. The state of being the case. The Life Application Study Bible (NIV) defines “truth” as reality or fact. As science continues to expose the inconsistencies inherent in Mr. Darwin’s theory of natural selection, academia cannot be allowed to teach macro-evolution as truth. Examine with me a few more of the “holes” in Darwinism.

Charles Darwin once said, “If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down.” Well, “break down” it has. Ever heard of “Irreducible Complexity”? Simply put, it’s any system of interacting parts in which the removal of any one part destroys the function of the entire system. Basically, an irreducibly complex system requires each component to be in place before it will ever function at all. Michael Behe, a biochemical researcher and professor at Lehigh University, in Pennsylvania, is the one credited with having made this discovery. We’ll use his example of a traditional mousetrap to fully explain his find.

You see, a traditional mousetrap contains five parts, and all five parts are dependent on each other for catching mice: the wooden platform, the spring, the “hammer” (the “hammer” is the bar that pins the mouse against the wooden base), the holding bar, and a catch. Each of these five parts are needed for the successful operation of the mousetrap. If you remove any one of the parts from the mousetrap you would not be able to set the trap, nor could you ever catch a mouse.

Note what this states: an irreducibly complex system cannot come about in a progressive process. You cannot begin with one of the five parts, say the wooden platform, and catch a mouse or two. Nor can you then add another one of the five parts, for example the spring, and end up catching a few more mice, and so on. No! All five of the parts must be in place before the mousetrap can function — period. A gradual process will only result in a system of five individually useless pieces. It can only work when all five parts are correctly assembled and made ready. “Irreducible Complexity” applies to biology in this manner.

Mr. Behe notes that scientists from the late 1800s to the late 1900s had a very simplistic model of a cell’s makeup. Without the electron microscopes, and other advanced technologies that now allow scientists to peer into the mechanisms of the cell, it was assumed that cells were quite simply nothing more than blobs of protoplasm. Therefore, it was easy for scientists, like Charles Darwin, to see cells as simple collections of molecules. But technological advances, made in the past twenty years or so, have revealed that cells are made up of very complicated molecular machines.

In his book entitled Evolution: A Theory in Crisis, Michael Denton, a British-Australian author and biochemist, said this about the cell: “Although the tiniest bacterial cells are incredibly small, weighing less than ten to twelve grams, each is in effect a veritable micro-miniaturized [nano] factory containing thousands of exquisitely designed pieces of intricate molecular machinery, made up altogether of one-hundred thousand million atoms, far more complicated than any machine built by man and absolutely without parallel in the nonliving world.” Basically, Mr. Denton is saying that the cell is so complicated that it could never have evolved. After all, when was the last time you looked at a computer’s “motherboard” and wondered, “How many millions of years did it take for this to form?” If a non-biological, complex machine demands a biological designer, then most assuredly the more highly complex biological designer of that non-biological machine needs an even more highly complex and divine designer. Now, let’s examine one of these molecular machines.

Bacterial flagellum, is the most common mechanism used by bacteria to swim through various liquids. The bacterial flagellum is made up of three major parts: an ion driven motor, a hook, and the filament. All three of the parts, together, form a nano-outboard motor. When the bacterial flagellum is rotated, the filament forms a nano-supercoil, which gives it a “corkscrew” shape. This rotating filament spins at about one-hundred thousand revolutions per minute.

Flagellated bacteria are able to be subjected to directed movement through changes in the rotation of the flagellum. When the flagellum rotates to the right, the filament forms a long pitch nano-supercoil. This allows several flagella on a single cell to form a large mass, which moves the bacterium along a straight line in one direction. When the filament is rotated to the left, it makes a shorter pitch nano-supercoil; this causes the flagellar mass to break apart, and the independent movement of several flagella on the cell cause it to scurry unmethodically.

Cells are also programed by a highly sophisticated “software program.” Each cell’s programing tells it to behave in a specific manner. They are not functioning at random, unless they have become cancerous. It’s the cell’s Deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, that provides the “Language of Life” coding which dictates to the cells what they will do. DNA is one of the three major macromolecules necessary for all known forms of life. Again, if a non-biological, complex machine demands a biological designer, if a non-biological computer can’t function without a biological programmer, then most assuredly the more highly complex biological designer/programmer of that non-biological machine/computer needs an even more highly complex and divine designer/programmer.

It’s time the world realized that Mr. Darwin got it wrong. First of all, life cannot spontaneously arise from some “warm pond.” Louis Pasteur’s findings decisively refute the idea of macro-evolution, and over a century’s worth of scientific observation and experimentation have confirmed his findings time-and-again. And let’s forget about citing the famous Miller-Urey experiment, as it made use of unrelated conditions, a wrong atmosphere, low yields of chemicals in wrong amounts and a serious configuration problem, not to mention it lacked in proteins.

Second, Mr. Darwin conceived his theory of natural selection in part by observing breeders of animals. For example, Charles Darwin noted the way a breeder of pigeons managed to come up with a wide variety of pigeons. Yet we should remember that despite the breeder’s many varieties of pigeon, all the birds were still pigeons.

Third, Mr. Darwin was very much aware of the issues surrounding his own theory. One huge issue that frustrated Charles Darwin, to no end, was the lack of evidence in the fossil record. In fact after being confronted by the “Cambrian Explosion,” which we discussed earlier did not exhibit any evidence of a mutation between species, but rather showed the animal kingdom as abruptly appearing, Mr. Darwin made this statement: “The difficulty of assigning any good reason for the absence of vast piles of strata rich in fossils beneath the Cambrian is very great . . . The case at present must remain inexplicable; and may be truly urged as a valid argument against the views here entertained”

The fourth weak argument from Mr. Darwin was his study of “homology.” In these studies, Mr. Darwin took note that different creatures shared some common features in their skeletal makeup, such as the five fingers of the human hand and the five digits of a bat’s wing. Charles Darwin theorized that this similarity in different species was evidence for a common ancestry (a.k.a.: the “Tree of Life”). Yet this argument is strictly based on his analogy; one that quickly weakens since — again — the fossil record shows no gradual evolution from one species to another. Proponents of “Intelligent Design” can account for these similarities, though, as they are simply the result of a common design used by a brilliant designer.

There’s also Mr. Darwin’s hypothesis that proposes that humanity evolved from some type of ape, similar to the chimpanzee. He discussed this theory in great detail, in the book we mentioned earlier entitled, The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. But when modern scientists look closely at the evidence they see what I’m calling Darwin’s fifth weak argument, as a huge amount of variance between chimpanzees and mankind exist. The original hypothesis stated that we human beings share ninety-nine percent of our DNA with chimps, but this has been refuted by the deciphering of the chimpanzee genome.

Finally, Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection is based on his anti-God bias. As we said earlier, the lie of natural selection began as a simple scientific theory, but that “simple theory” had a sinister agenda behind it. Charles Darwin’s agenda was rooted in his anger toward God. Mr. Darwin was angry because his beloved daughter, Annie, died at the young age of ten. So like many people before him, and since, Charles Darwin allowed his anger towards God to turn into doubt. His doubt then lead to finding an alternate “truth;” an alternate “truth” that was based in atheism. That was his choice.

Again, if we are determined to ignore the evidences of God and live within our doubts simply because we do not want to believe in God, or simply because we are mad at God and religion, then no amount of seeking answers to our questions — no amount of study — no amount of knowledge will lead us to see, and know God.

I want to leave you with one more piece of evidence to mull over in your mind. It concerns another fantastic truth surrounding the cells that make up these complex biological machines known as the human body. In the second article from this series we briefly touched on the fact that the human body is made up of literally trillions of cells, but did you ever consider what holds all of these cells together? It’s a protein called laminin.

Laminin acts as the “glue” that holds our cells together, and in place. “So what does laminin have to do with macro-evolution and knowledge,” you may ask? Just this — laminin is shaped like a cross. Yes, the very instrument meant to destroy life, but that God used to grant humanity access to eternal life, is also inside our bodies and holding our trillions of cells together so that we might live. The cross of Christ, is the real “Tree of Life.” It is symbolized and discussed all through out Scripture and history, and it even does so from within the makeup of the human body. Truth is, no life exists apart from Christ.

Consider these words from the writer of the book of Hebrews:

“For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything . . . Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house. And we are His house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast. So, as the Holy Spirit says: ‘Today, if you hear His [God’s] voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion [time of anger, disappointment, doubting, etc.] . . . See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.” (Hebrews 3:4, 6-8a, 12-14)

In other words, don’t let life’s hard times turn you away from God’s truths and wisdom. Allow the knowledge and understanding of Christ to remain in your lives, until the end of your days. As Scripture says, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” (Psalm 14:1a) Don’t let yourself live a foolishly vile and corrupt life where nothing good is accomplished because your knowledge existed without understanding. The truth of Christ is in you, and all around you. Embrace God’s wisdom today.

Truth or Dare by J. Scott Harden is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
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All rights reserved. The brief information quoted from this book appears in this article with the permission granted per the copyright statement which appears in the third printed publication by Adler & Adler, April 1986.

All rights reserved. The brief information quoted from this book appears in this article with the permission granted per the copyright statement which appears in the August 1981 publication, by Princeton University Press.

If your church or organization would like to talk with J. Scott Harden about a speaking engagement, or a writing project, please get in touch with Mr. Harden through Jason Ministries‘ Twitter account or Facebook page.

Article VI, part 2

Posted on 04/29/2013 by Jason Ministries

In our first post we began to discuss how knowledge, like wisdom, must be pursued to be obtained. We also talked about how knowledge without understanding is dangerous, because it lacks wisdom. We disclosed how knowledge and understanding have to be coupled together in order for humanity to receive wisdom (Proverbs 2:6, 9:10).

We also talked about how academia, though a good vessel for giving mankind knowledge, has actually prevented mankind from receiving understanding because it has chosen to remove God’s teachings from it’s curriculum. Especially where the sciences are concerned.

With that said, let’s now return our thoughts to the statement made by Linus Pauling, “Science is the search for truth.”

Back in 2008, American actor, commentator of political and economic issues, lawyer, and writer Benjamin Jeremy “Ben” Stein hosted a documentary entitled Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. In this film, directed by Nathan Frankowski, Ben explored a troubling trend in American academia; one that was becoming increasingly more common place, yet being kept concealed from the public. This startling trend? The silencing of all who would openly question Darwin’s theory of evolution, especially those who were proponents of “Intelligent Design,” or “I.D.”

Within a few short moments of the film, Ben introduces us to five scientists who have lost tenures, years of academic credibility, and even careers simply because they either mentioned “I.D.” in a scientific article or journal, or because they proposed “I.D.” to be a valid scientific possibility to understanding the origin of life on this planet. Scientists such as:

– Robert J. Marks II, an electrical and computer engineering professor from Baylor University — a university that advertises itself as a “private Christian university” — was forced to shut down his web site and return grant money, when a link between his work in engineering and the theory of “I.D.” was established.

– Dr. Guillermo Gonzales, astrologist from Iowa State University, was denied tenure and had his career threatened when he published a book that argued in favor of “I.D.” In spite of the fact that the vast majority of astrologist support some type of theistic philosophy, and in spite of his stellar research record, which has lead to the discovery of several planets, Dr. Gonzales was severely chastised.

The other three scientists interviewed by Ben Stein experienced similar ridicule, and the film reveals throughout its run-time that there are others being targeted. It is becoming apparent that Darwinists, at least in America, are attempting to prevent scientists from searching out the truth, by silencing any find that does not support Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection. As Mr. Stein stated in the opening of the documentary, “Science has been about the freedom to ask any question, to pursue any line of inquiry without fear of reprisal, but this is not the case anymore.”

Scientists are allowed to research “Intelligent Design,” but any findings that support “I.D.” cannot be published without consequence. The two main reasons for this is:

1) “I.D.” is too closely connected to “Creationism,” “Theocracy,” or “Biblical Theism,” and Darwinists do not want to make a way for Christianity to reenter the classrooms of American schools.

2) Darwinists, such as Michael Bruce, admit that the evidence for macro-evolution is so appalling that Darwinism doesn’t need “I.D.” confusing students further.

Darwinists know that there are “holes” in the theory of evolution, such as the lack of evidence in the fossil records, and the inconclusive evidence for the common origin of life (a.k.a.: Darwin’s “Tree of Life”). Thus the reason evolution is still only a scientific theory, and not a fact. Yet atheistic Darwinists, such as Richard Dawkins, still want to see macro-evolution taught as fact. They insist this must be done to prevent the lie of “Theocracy” from being taught in American classrooms. To make this happen, Darwinists lean heavily on the scientific proofs being discovered in support of micro-evolution, but still there is that irritating question looming over the entire theory of how natural selection even began. The question that no one Darwinist can answer the same way. Where did the first cell come from?

Michael Bruce, claimed it first appeared on the back of a crystal. Sounds a bit more like pantheistic Occultism than scientific Darwinism. So what is the chance that such an organism could simply “begin” on its own? Well, a single cell organism needs two-hundred and fifty proteins, as well as other elements such as Hydrogen, Oxygen, Carbon, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Sulphur, etc. — all of these elements and proteins have to be in an exact order just to sustain minimal life functionality. The odds of this happening by chance are one in six-trillion. One in six-trillion! That doesn’t even begin to factor in the fact that the organism also requires the perfect amount of gravity and a perfect cosmological constant. Darwinists will accept any number of theories that allow for these coincidental happenstances, but they will not accept that God created it.

Even those in the American press are pressured to promote macro-evolution as fact, and “I.D.” as religious propaganda. Author and journalist Pamela R. Winnick refused to write a biased article against “I.D.” and Darwinists viciously attacked her character and belief systems. She received “hate mail,” and soon began to see her career as a journalist falter. Why is it that European scientists and journalists don’t appear to take issue with “Intelligent Design” in the same way that American scientists and journalists do? For this reason. If “Theocracy” can be removed from the American culture then America’s governance can be overthrown at it’s foundation.

You see, once Americans are separated from their Judeo-Christian roots, then the Constitution that governs them can be rendered obsolete. None of the European governments were founded with the purpose of propelling the Gospel message. They were all kingdoms established after the fall of Rome. Kingdoms that aligned themselves with the Roman Catholic church — yes — but the Gospel of Christ was not their focus, as it was in America’s governance. Satan, and America’s enemies know that to render God’s statutes as obsolete in America means the end of Christianity in America. Just look at how the Darwinists have weakened Europe’s Christian history with their atheistic teachings.

In Europe, where many of the world’s philosophies have already infiltrated and weakened the various Christian denominations, they are seeing many of their cathedrals closing, due to decreasing congregations and a lack of funding. In England many of these old church buildings are now being sold off and they are being transformed into Islamic Mosques. The old cry of Karl Marx to “dethrone God, and destroy Capitalism” seems to be flourishing in Europe, and it’s the apparent foundation for which American Darwinists, and other left-wing activists, are standing on. The western world’s moral, ethical, and financial decline will continue unless the statutes of Christ are again embraced by western culture.

America’s founders all understood the importance of establishing their governance on Judeo-Christian morals and ethics. George Washington, the first President of the United States once said, “It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible.” John Adams, the second President of the United States, heralded these words, “We recognize no sovereign but God, and no King but Jesus!” But it was Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth President of the United States, who seemed to be the wisest of all the American Presidents. It was President Lincoln who made this observation some one-hundred and fifty years ago:

“We [Americans] have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand, which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.”

Those words are even more true today, as secular humanism continues to thrive among Darwinists, and the liberal left. America’s scientific advances, and military might, have given it a false sense of security. By allowing God’s teachings to be removed from America’s culture, and schools, and governing authorities, Americans have opened the preverbal door for Communism, Socialism, Fascism, and other forms of Atheism to enter in. Satan knows how influential America has been in the thwarting of evil around the world, and not just by fighting against evil with its military, but also by testifying of God’s glorious Gospel message through her citizens. Satan needs Americans to reject God, and this is why the United States has become a battle ground where Atheists seek to destroy Biblical Theism. In fact, most evolutionary apologists no longer defend macro-evolution, but simply attack the Judeo-Christian belief system.

Richard Dawkins, who wrote The God Delusion, admits that he is personally out to attack and destroy religion. Mr. Dawkins claims that, “Science has the right answer for the origin of life and religion does not.” Richard Dawkins even goes as far as to say that science actually explains away religion, but truthfully it exalts it. Scripture reminds us in several places that all of creation tells mankind of his/her divine Creator. Recall with me the words we quoted earlier from the first chapter of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Roman church:

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities — His eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20)

Many scientists over the years have concurred with Scripture. Robert Boyle, the “Father” of modern chemistry (whom we mentioned in Article 5), once said, “From a knowledge of God’s work we shall know Him.”

Edmund T. Whittaker was an English mathematician who contributed widely to applied mathematics, mathematical physics, and the theory of special functions. He made this statement regarding the origin of life, “It is simpler to postulate creation ‘ex nihilo’ — Divine will constituting Nature from nothingness.”

Allan R. Sandage an American astronomer responsible for determining the first reasonably accurate value for the Hubble constant and the age of the universe, was quoted as saying, “We can’t understand the universe in any clear way without the supernatural.”

Robert Jastrow, an American astronomer, physicist, and cosmologist, was a leading NASA scientist, populist author, and futurist. Mr. Jastrow, though an agnostic, once stated, “Astronomers now find they have painted themselves into a corner because they have proven, by their own methods, that the world began abruptly in an act of creation to which you can trace the seeds of every star, every planet, every living thing in this cosmos and on the earth. And they have found that all this happened as a product of forces they cannot hope to discover. That there are what I or anyone would call supernatural forces at work is now, I think, a scientifically proven fact.” Robert Jastrow also said, “Now we see how the astronomical evidence supports the biblical view of the origin of the world. The details differ, but the essential elements in the astronomical and biblical accounts of Genesis are the same: the chain of events leading to man started suddenly and sharply at a definite moment in time, in a flash of light and energy.” The fossil record also supports this.

The fossil record is very damning to anyone wanting to believe in macro-evolution because, as the “Cambrian Explosion” reveals, it does not exhibit any evidence of a mutation between species. Consider Jonathan Wells’ explanation. Mr. Wells graphs out the beginning of life, as if it happened within a twenty-four hour period. On this clock we would not see any life forms appear until around the sixth hour. This is the time we would first see the single cell organisms appear.

As the clock continues to move forward through time, the single cell organisms would continue to be the only life forms on the earth until well past the first twenty hours of the day. Then suddenly — at about twenty-one hours, and within less than two minutes — all the major complex animal lifeforms appear. Most of them are still in existence today. They did not gradually appear, like Darwin believed, and they did not come from one single cell organism, as Darwin’s “Tree of Life” theory suggests. No! Complex life simply appeared, and the fossil record proves this.

It’s this type of evidence that upsets the Darwinists and pushes them to promote their atheistic/anti-religion worldview. Darwinism seeks to strip humanity of its dignity, by arguing that we are not made in God’s image, and they push to remove mankind’s hope, by teaching that there is no God. We simply exist to eat, sleep, procreate, and die.

And even though the theory of “Intelligent Design” does not out right endorse God to be the “Designer” of the universe, it still explains certain features of the universe and of living things to be from an intelligent cause. Thus, as we said earlier, it is seen as a “doorway” to “Theocracy.” Dr. Peter Atkins, a former chemistry professor at Oxford University, says:

“Religion is just fantasy, basically. It’s particularly empty of any explanatory content — and it’s evil, as well.”

Darwinists believe that science is the weapon that will destroy the “evils” of religion, once and for all. In their minds they believe that as scientific knowledge increases, so too will religious faith decrease. Thus Darwinists hope to one day see a flourishing utopia of atheistic humanism, worldwide. Much in the same way America’s founders saw the United States as a utopia for bringing the world Christ’s Gospel message. Again, Darwinists can’t fulfill their dream without first destroying Christianity and its connection to the “American Dream.”

Let’s recall one more word of truth from the sixteenth president of the Unites States, “America will never be destroyed from outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” (Abraham Lincoln) Lethal Atheism, injected by way of the syringe of Darwinism, appears to be the “poison” for which America’s suicide will be administered.

In part three, we will continue to examine the sinister agenda behind American Darwinists, and we will also continue to reveal the the foolishness of macro-evolution.

Article 4

Posted on 05/14/2012 by Jason Ministries

The Ten Commandments, starring Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, Anne Baxter, Edward G. Robinson, Yvonne De Carlo, Debra Paget, and John Derek, is a 1956 epic film that tells the story of the Hebrew’s exodus from Egypt.

The Ten Commandments, which was the last film that famed director Cecil B. DeMille presided over, is one of the most financially successful films ever made, grossing over $65 million at the US box office. If you adjust for inflation, this makes it the sixth highest-grossing movie domestically, with an adjusted total of $1,025,730,000 in 2012.

The film received seven Academy Award nominations including “Best Picture,” and won the award for “Best Visual Effects.” The American Film Institute (a.k.a. AFI) later voted The Ten Commandments as the tenth best film in the epic genre.

As epic as this film is in cinematic history, so too is this story’s monumental affect on man’s history and future. For it’s in this saga of the Hebrew’s exodus from Egypt that we see the formal beginning of God’s salvation and redemption of humanity on display, and where we see a subtle visual of one of God’s earliest of names — El Shaddai.

I realize that for most the name “El Shaddai” is more closely connected in our thoughts and minds to the very popular song written by Michael Card and more famously performed by Amy Grant, rather than the story of the Exodus, but grant (no pun intended) me just a moment and I’ll explain the association.

“God of the mountains” or “el shaddai,” was a Mesopotamian term that was used in reference of a divine mountain. This name was but one of the patriarchal names for the tribal god of the Mesopotamians. Now in Exodus 6:3, “El Shaddai” is seen identified solely with the Creator — the God of Abraham — and with His name, Yahweh, which is why this particular name of God (El Shaddai) could be derived from the Hebrews experience of seeing God’s fire atop Mount Sinai and from hearing God’s thunder from the Israelite camp at the base of the mountain. It could also explain, in part, the more popular interpretation of the name “El Shaddai” as meaning “God Almighty,” but linguistically this interpretation comes many years later from the English translators of the Septuagint (i.e. the Greek translators of the Old Testament).

These English translators determined that “Shaddai” came from “shad-ad,” a root verb that means “to over power” or “to destroy.” It’s also seen translated in the Latin Vulgate as “omnipotens,” which is where our English word “omnipotent” comes from. Yes, God is everywhere. Yes, God is all-knowing, and all-powerful, therefore God is Almighty. But while this is very true of God, I don’t think this quite reveals the essence of what this name really means. Also, long before Moses and the exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt, God makes use of this very name when introducing Himself to the Hebrew patriarch, Abram.

In Genesis 17:1, our Creator used the name “El Shaddai” when He confirmed His covenant with Abram, and his descendants, and renames Abram to Abraham. The more popular name of “God Almighty” certainly could apply here, as God is mighty enough to make this promise and fulfill it, but there appears to be more implied here. Especially if “Shaddai” is seen as a compound word within a compound name.

“El Shaddai” is one of 27 compound names known as “El constructs.” The names are formed by combining a shortened form of the name “Elohim,” meaning “Deity,” with some other name or title, in this case the name “Shaddai.” Split apart “Shaddai” and we get two smaller words: “sha,” which means “who,” and “dai,” which means “enough.” So, a closer look at the Hebraic practice of shortening a name of God (El from Elohim), and combining that shortened name with a descriptive attribute (i.e. Shaddai), and we begin to see that “El Shaddai” could translate as “God who IS Enough.” Pause and ponder that name for a moment (selah) — God who IS Enough!

What an amazing revelation of God to Abraham, and to us. Yahweh wasn’t just making us aware of His might in this covenant. God was saying He was, is, and always will be sufficient to fulfill His promises to us, in us, and through us. Yahweh, is mighty! Yahweh, is enough!

We see another example of El Shaddai as being all sufficient in Genesis 49:22-26, as Jacob (Israel) is blessing his son Joseph. In this verse Israel says:

“Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine near a spring, whose branches climb over a wall. With bitterness archers attacked him; they shot at him with hostility. But his bow remained steady, his strong arms stayed limber, because of the hand of the Mighty One [El Shaddai] of Jacob, because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, because of your father’s [Israel’s] God, who helps you, because of the Almighty [El Shaddai], who blesses you with blessings of the heavens above, blessings of the deep that lies below, blessings of the breast and womb. Your father’s blessings are greater than the blessings of the ancient mountains, than the bounty of the age-old hills. Let all these rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince among his brothers.”

See how God is described by Israel to be the mighty provider of Joseph’s blessings? God is shown to be Joseph’s strength to endure hardships. God is shown to be Joseph’s strong moral and spiritual foundation. God is shown to be Joseph’s sustenance and nourishment; not just to him, but to his children too. All in all, El Shaddai is Joseph’s “God who IS enough.”

So, how about you? Is God your strength in hard times, your foundation of truth, your sustainer in all you need, both physically as well as spiritually? Is God enough?

Do you allow God access to all areas of your life? Do you really have a deep enough relationship with God; one in which you can call upon El Shaddai in confidence? Do you really know “God who IS enough”?

Selah (Pause/Reflect).

I’ll leave you with this word from God to the Apostle Paul. It comes as a response to a painful plea that Paul made to our Creator to have a “thorn” removed from his life. God’s answer to Paul was not to remove the torment from his life, but to reveal Himself to Paul through the affliction. In this answer came an understanding; Paul came to know El Shaddai even more upon hearing and accepting these divine words:

“My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

His Name Is . . . by J. Scott Harden is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
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Teaching the Church its Purpose – True Worship

Tag Archives: understanding

Article VI, part 3

Article VI, part 2

Article 4