A. I. (The Atheist Illusion) Chapter Two

Seven Questions

Question #1: Do you really believe dinosaurs were alive at the same time man was walking this planet, according to the Bible, less than 10,000 years ago?

Yes, even though the current scientific observation places them some 200 million years ago. According to {Worldatlas.com} it is difficult to determine when modern man became aware of these giant creatures. Some large bones were discovered as early as the 16th Century and it took some time afterward to determine what these large bones were. Some thought they might have been from a race of giants that once lived on the earth such as the one mentioned in the Biblical story of David and Goliath. As the scientific community developed their understanding of what they were discovering, the name Dinosaur was invented and given to the extinct creatures in 1842. 

The Bible challenges many of the conclusions the scientific community has arrived at in their understanding of the data being analyzed over the past few centuries. I admit my apologetics are driven by a presuppositional Biblical worldview, therefore I approach these scientific assertions with skepticism. 

It has long been suggested that dinosaurs and humans never existed together because we have never found the two fossilized together in the same layer. However, this is not proof they did not exist together, it's just proof they have never been found together. Considering 95% of all fossils are shallow marine organisms, such as corals and shellfish and 95% of the remaining 5% are algae and plants. The 95% of the remaining 0.25% are invertebrates, including insects. The remaining 0.0125% are vertebrates, mostly fish. Then we must understand that 95% of land vertebrates consist of less than one bone. The number of dinosaur fossils is actually relatively small, compared to other types of creatures. Not finding human and dinosaur fossils together is not that surprising. 

A new study demonstrates that contrary to previous opinions, human ancestors did indeed live along with the dinosaurs. (Human and Dinosaur)  This new study does not depart from the popular evolutionary design but suggests that Human evolution occurred much earlier than they previously thought. This new discovery does not fit their current model, so they simply move the human evolution back 66 million years. 

According to Wikipedia, Mary Higby Schweitzer is an American paleontologist at North Carolina State University, who led the groups that discovered the remains of blood cells in dinosaur fossils and later discovered soft tissue remains in the Tyrannosaurus rex specimen MOR 1125, as well as evidence that the specimen was a pregnant female when she died. This is interesting because the Tyrannosaurus is said to have been extinct for 65 million years. That's a problem because soft tissue and blood cells under perfect conditions only survive for thousands of years, not millions. How to explain these new discoveries without abandoning the millions of years scheme is difficult. Some scientists are suggesting that there must have been some previous means of preservation we are not aware of enabling this tissue to survive so long. This would however fit within the Biblical timeline of 6 to 10 thousand years. 

Of course, this subject rarely comes up without that dreaded carbon 14 formula, doesn't that prove the dinosaurs lived millions of years ago? For some reason that is the common assumption, but carbon-14 dating, is a scientific method that can accurately determine the age of organic materials as old as approximately 60,000 years. Carbon 14 shouldn't even be in dinosaur bones, the fact it exists is another reason to place them within the Biblical timeframe. Scientists who accept a young earth creation are considered by the mainstream scientific community as non-credible resources. However, they acquired their credentials and achieved their degree of study from the same sources as other scientists. If they would fall in line with the popular narrative they would be cited as credible sources. In conclusion, from the data presented by the scientific community, I find no difficulty with the Biblical view. The problem arises when you approach the issue committed to millions of years, the data is then viewed to fit that narrative.  

Question #2: Do you believe dinosaurs, lions, tigers and other carnivores (with teeth designed to tear and cut up meat) were originally vegetarians as asserted in one documentary film? 

A recent discovery of the first perfectly preserved stomach context reveals the dietary habits of the Tyrannosaurus. This specimen was a 5 to 7-year-old classified among the Tyrannosaurus. The stomach contents revealed two hindlegs of a bird-like dinosaur. Apparently, he liked prehistoric chicken legs! The scientific journal reports, "Skeletal remains preserved in the abdominal cavity of the juvenile Gorgosaurus consist exclusively of articulated and associated postcranial elements, primarily from the hindlimbs, of two separate individuals of the small caenagnathid theropod Citipes elegant" (science.org) So no doubt they were meat eaters! Probably didn't make good pets. This is a fascinating discovery, one which could be cited in the first question, if this dinosaur is 64 million years old, how are its stomach contents still preserved? 

However, staying with question #2, there is no doubt these creatures along with lions, tigers, and the like were and are meat eaters. The assertion is that they were not originally violent before the Biblical event of the fall. The period referred to would most likely have been very short. After the fall, creation was subsequently dramatically changed, and man as well as animal life took on a violent nature. 

Genesis 6:11 ESV

(11)  Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence.

Question #3: Do you believe that ALL the humans now on earth, including those on remote islands in the remote South Pacific, are descendants of Noah and his family?

If we assume that the population doubles every 150 years which is a conservative number, we can find our results. Starting with only Noah and his family in 2500 BC, 4,500 years is more than enough time for the present population to reach over 8 billion. Using the current rule of 70 methods, if Noah's family of 8 only had a 2% growth rate, their population would have doubled in 35 years, not 150. This is not to assert that we have had a constant population growth throughout human history, but simply to demonstrate that achieving the current population from the time of Noah with 8 people is easily provable. The question should not be, could it be achieved, but why there are only 8 billion if we have been here for hundreds of thousands of years, not 4,500? 

Question #4: Would you agree that if you answer yes to Question #3 above you automatically imply we are all the result of incest within Noah's family? 

This indeed does seem strange to us, for most of us in today's culture this is a grotesque thought and should be. Remember, Noah's sons and their family lived hundreds of years, so marrying nephews and nieces would not have been like it is today. Noah's son Shem lived 600 years. The human Geno would not have been broken down as it is today, so health concerns for close-relation marriages had not yet developed. That would begin to be addressed during the time of Moses. The practice of men taking multiple wives also would have increased the population growth.

Question #5: According to one documentary, Noah, his family, and approximately 6500 animals survived on stored food, without decay or spoilage, for 370 days. Is that possible? 

It is, there are several methods of preserving or supplying meat. Meat can be preserved through drying, smoking, salting, or pickling. Certain fish can pack themselves in mud and survive for years without water, these could have been stored on the ark. Fish eggs, live eels, or fish stored in barrels or sealed wooden crates, earthworms, and snails are just some of the many more protein food items Noah could have brought as food for the animals. In addition, earthworms, eels, snails, and Noah may have also brought mealworms and other insects onto the ark as food, and these can be bred for both carnivores and insectivores, providing food for supposedly meat-only creatures. Cricket or grasshopper flour could have been baked into the equivalent of protein bars or sprinkled on other food, as could the ground seeds of gourds. 

We are not told, but many of the animals could have temporarily entered a state of hibernation and required less food. But even without this providing for the animal and human food consumption would be doable. The Ark dimensions could accommodate 650 large animal pens and over 1,000 small ones. Over 4,000 birds could have been housed, and over 650 reptiles. It could have carried over 450 tons of food storage leaving 1,800 sq ft of living space for Noah and his family. So yes, it is possible.  

Question #6: Noah did not need to save the sea creatures because they didn't need to be saved from a flood. How did the freshwater fish survive the worldwide flood that would have created an environment they could not survive? 

Well, most fish didn't survive. In fact, if you'd been a diver in the oceans before the flood, and then you'd been saved on the Ark and had started diving again after the flood, you would've said something like, "What happened? Where's everything gone?" You see, most marine species were killed during the flood. Now certainly some fish did survive, and we see their descendants in the oceans today. How did freshwater fish survive in the saltwater oceans? There are two possibilities. First, there are many areas in the world today where we see freshwater and saltwater together, and the two waters don't mix. So it's possible that certain organisms survived in pockets of fresh or salt water. Second, because of natural selection, which creationists accept, organisms today have become very specialized. Organisms at the time of the flood, however, would've been much stronger and able to tolerate many more changes than they can today. There's really no problem at all in answering this question.

Question #7: Do you truly believe the world and all the different races of humans and remote locations, were populated by one family, Noah's family, in less than 4500 years, according to the Bible?

Yes, perhaps the most obvious is explained by Babel, the origin of the various languages present in our world. While an evolutionary worldview might expect all languages to trace back to a single parent language (much like it claims all life traces back to one organism), that isn’t what researchers have found. Instead, language families of today trace back to multiple unrelated parent languages, which is what one would predict from the Babel account. 

But why, then, do people from various parts of the world look so different from each other? The explanation for differences in physical appearance is simple. As the groups spread out and separated from each other after Babel, their gene pools were largely isolated, generally more so, the farther apart they were and physical features such as certain skin shades or eye shapes gradually became dominant within each group. Originally there would have been one skin tone and minor physical differences. As they were isolated, the distinctive features would have begun to develop. These distinctive features are still reflected in the diversity among people groups today. But far from evidence of evolution, these minor genetic differences are the natural result of the loss of genetic variability that occurs when people groups are isolated from one another.

Hope this has been helpful,

David

The Bullet

 

As a result of the past assassination attempt on former President Trump, there has arisen some criticism directed toward the media and some politicians that suggested the event was an intervention by the hand of God to save the former President. This criticism is fueled by the fact the former President was surely spared in a remarkable way, however, two other innocent bystanders were seriously injured and one fine man was killed shielding his family from the onslaught of gunfire. Therefore, it has been asked if God intervened on behalf of the former President, why allow others to be hurt? Some have even suggested God directed the bullet away from the former President and into an innocent man trying to protect his wife and children.

As it was put by one friend of mine, ". . . if God intervened to protect Trump why did he not do it in a way to prevent the death of an innocent and good man Corey Comperatore? My heart and tears, not prayers, goes out to his family. I will keep the picture above [referring to a picture of Corey Comperatore's family] to remind me a loving compassionate God does not exist. His explanation goes like this, "The shooter was an imperfect human who missed a small moving target a couple of hundred yards away. It is not hard to believe he missed because of his own doing, he missed! Actually, the shooter hit his target but just not a bullseye. A mythical God had nothing to do with it."   

Another writer put it this way, "There is something wrong with a theology that says God intervened to save Donald Trump, which implies in an awful way that God redirected the bullet into the person who was killed at his rally or the two people who were grievously injured."

These comments, both those of the critics and the divine intervention comments, are produced by the misunderstanding of two doctrines of the Christian faith. The doctrine of God and the doctrine of Providence. Volumes have been written on these two doctrines which can guide you through the scriptures developing them with more clarity. One excellent resource would be "The Existence and Attributes of God" by 17th-century author Stephen Charnock. The Existence and Attributes of God It is a 5-volume set if you are inclined to a much deeper study.

When hearing the comments concerning God's intervention I really didn't take issue with it, I understand most religious people simply respond similarly to such unexplainable circumstances. One image that has been put forth is a picture of the Virgin Mary pushing the bullet slightly to the side with her finger as it passes the former President. 

Since this criticism has arisen it seems proper to address it. Obviously, the full context of these two doctrines cannot be reached in a short blog post. However, we will strive to clarify how Christians should view these past events. First, American TV preachers have done a great deal of harm to the Doctrine of God. They have created an image of a sugar daddy god whose sole purpose is to make your life better and give you success. All these things indirectly lead us to where we are today in our misunderstanding of God's involvement in these events.

To the question, "Did God intervene and save the life of the former President?" I understand the statement but intervene is not the best word for what happened. The explanation my friend gave suggesting the shooter simply missed, or at least missed by enough margin to avoid a tragedy in the life of the former President is closer to the truth than the term "God intervened". To say God intervened is to suggest certain events were going to take place in history and God miraculously intervened and changed those events to a different outcome. However, He only changed history for one, namely the former President, He did not change history for Corey Comperatore and the other two victims. Unless you want to suggest God directed the bullets in such a way as to kill and injure other innocent people. 

In response to my friend, I referred him to Luke 13 concerning the Tower of Siloam. 

Luke 13:1-5 ESV

(1)  There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.

(2)  And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way?

(3)  No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

(4)  Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem?

(5)  No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

We can discover some insight in this passage of scripture. There is the concept in the minds of some that God is intervening in this world on behalf of good people and opposing the lawbreakers and the corrupt. Therefore, if there was a good God, He certainly would have saved Corey Comperatore. However, Jesus instructs us in His answer concerning these two events, that is simply not the case. God's purpose throughout the history of the world is not to make our lives better and protect us from tragedies. This is a fallen world going the way of a fallen world, we live and exist in this world and suffer along with it. 

Job 14:1-2 ESV

(1)  “Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble.

(2)  He comes out like a flower and withers; he flees like a shadow and continues not.

However, that does not mean the world is running itself, all of human history is indeed governed by the omnipotent hand of God. It is stated in West Minister Confession of Faith, "God the great Creator of all things doth uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least, by his most wise and holy providence, according to his infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of his own will, to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy"

HEB 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.

Hebrews tells us all things throughout time are constantly being upheld by his power.

 DAN 4:35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? All the events of time are directed by God, we cannot change them or question why He does as He does.

 ACT 15:18 Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. You see, God did not intervene in the life of the former President, the event was established from eternity, and so was the tragedy of Corey Comperatore.  

Job 14:5 ESV

(5)  Since his days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass,

Job 14:5 tells us man's days are determined, there is an appointed time on this earth for each of us, and when that time has expired our days will end. The means that bring about this expiration are as set and appointed as the day. God's purpose is to save sinners to the Glory of His name. Therefore, Jesus told us concerning the tragedies in Luke 13, that if we do not repent, we will likewise perish. We may die from an assassin's bullet, like Corey Comperatore, or die in falling towers, be killed in a car wreck, die from a long debilitating disease, or a thousand other things. All these are consequences of living in a fallen world. Had Corey been killed in a car wreck going home that day the nation would have never heard about him and his heroic nature. The events of history are established as God has determined, we live and experience life and learn from these events of history. Knowing and understanding a heroic act such as that of Corey determines someone must die. For us to know and understand the depravity of a sick mind there must be an assassin.

Matthew 18:7 ESV

(7)  “Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes!

We know from Scripture that God does not tempt any man, yet we also know from the Scripture above that he will's temptations to come. 

It is the way we understand our fallen condition and the world we live in as a result. Corey is said to be a Christian, if that was so, he achieved his greatest desire and became a hero for his family. 

Philippians 1:21-23 ESV

(21)  For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

(22)  If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.

(23)  I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.

Some would call this determinism, and it would be if it were not for the free volition of men. The West Minister Confession would further explain, "God from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeable ordain whatsoever comes to pass; yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures; nor is the

liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established." All those involved in the tragedy could have freely chosen to have done otherwise than they did, however, all their free choices were upheld and yet brought within the divine decree of God's governing Providence established from eternity.

These doctrines of God and Providence were once prominent in the Christian faith. General Jackson was known for his devout Christian faith during the American Civil War. His courage on the battlefield earned him his nickname, "Stonewall". He was said to stand like a stone wall on the battlefield facing the opposing army fearlessly leading his men in open combat. A bullet once pierced through his hand as he was leading his men riding atop his horse. When asked how he could enter into battle with such courage Jackson replied, “My religious beliefs teach me to feel as safe in battle as in bed. God has fixed the time of my death. I do not concern myself with that, but to be always ready whenever it may overtake me. That is the way all men should live, and all men would be equally brave.” - Stonewall Jackson

General Jackson did indeed escape numerous close calls where his life was astoundingly spared. Yet, he was spared only to be fatally injured accidentally, being shot by his own men. That providential moment was one of the major turning points that would determine the outcome of the Civil War. Jackson fully understood the teaching of Christ in Luke 13 and lived his life accordingly. There are many objections when considering these doctrines. They mostly arise in defense of human free will and to protect God from being the cause of tragedy. Some would call such events a senseless loss of life. However, with the loss of General Jackson and Corey Comperatore, and all events in history where there is a loss of life, not one is lost without purpose or significance. 

Some would say it could not have been God's will or decree for General Jackson to be killed in such a manner. That is like saying it is not God's will for General Jackson to die at all, but die he must. If he were to just die of old age few Christians would suggest it wasn't God's will for him to die. But to die in battle, it would be wrong for God to will that. For God to decree such events, it must be in a manner acceptable to us. Biblically, we have not been handed the determining factor.

Some will concede that God has knowledge of such events, but he does not decree them to be. He simply knows what free creatures will do, he is not in control of human affairs. However, that would make the Bible not God's will but a collection of historical events that happened to happen the way they did. The characters that lived and died in the historical narrative were not ordained or decreed to be, they only lived and died of their own volition and determined the outcome that produced our Bible. The Scriptures completely reject that scheme of thought and specifically attribute all events to the sovereign decree of God's wisdom and purpose.     

   

My friend does not believe in God, so none of this makes sense to him. All that is within his reach is found in this world, therefore, anything that takes that away is a tragedy. For the Christian, life is only a journey through a world of suffering and a brief one at that, their affections is set upon the rewards of a gracious God once we pass through. The Christian understands the suffering, the reasons for it, and therefore the goodness of God for his redemption through Christ Jesus our Lord. The world has experienced moments of reprieve from extreme suffering, the rise of the Christian West is one of those moments. Most of world history is much worse than we have in our current American experience. But even in this great experience of freedom man's depravity breaks out often. This world will have its ebbs of reprieve, but it will always revert back to its fallen condition. The human hope of living in a world without tragedy, misery, and suffering will never be achieved until this world has been judged. After that God has promised a New Heaven and Earth where all righteousness will finally be achieved. That is the Gospel and the Christian Hope. 

Revelation 21:1-8 ESV

(1)  Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

(2)  And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

(3)  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.

(4)  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

(5)  And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

(6)  And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.

(7)  The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

(8)  But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

Hope this helps,

David

A.I. (The Atheist Illusion) Chapter One