Evidence for God to Answer Challenges Archives - Page 24 of 28

November 17, 2018November 13, 2018

How Extensive Was the Flood of Noah?

Perhaps the most argued event in the Old Testament is the flood of Noah described in Genesis. This week we have been examining some of the questions people ask. Today we will look at the question, “How extensive was the flood of Noah?”

Taking the Bible literally does not mean a superficial reading of the King James translation of the Bible. You have to look at who wrote it, to whom it was written, why it was written, and how the people to whom it was written would have understood it. The language of Genesis 6-8 certainly seems to indicate that the waters of the flood covered the whole globe.

Many times biblical passages sound like the event was global when it clearly was not. Luke 2:1-3 says “There went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed…” Was that the whole globe or the Roman world? Did Rome collect taxes from the Incas, the Hopi, or the Denali? The people of the time would have understood that to mean the entire Roman world. In Colossians 1:23 Paul says that the gospel of Christ “was preached to every creature which is under heaven.” I have visited with the native people at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, and they have no record of the gospel ever having been preached to their ancestors there. Clearly, Paul was talking about the world that he knew.

The message of Genesis 6-8 is that humans discarded God and became corrupt to the point that God destroyed them by a flood. The one person who stayed faithful to God was a man named Noah who was warned that the event was coming. God gave him time to construct a way to save his family and the animals of his area. There is evidence to verify this that we have considered in this series of posts and which is available on our website.

How extensive was the flood of Noah? It ended the lives of all but the few people on the boat. The Bible tells us that a flood like that will not happen again. However, it also says that the Earth will be destroyed by a fire that melts the very elements of which we are all made ( 2 Peter 3:8-13).

We must listen to the lesson of Noah and not try to deny the historical event on which it is based. I would suggest the flood covered the whole inhabited Earth of Noah’s day. It probably did not cover uninhabited lands thousands of miles away from where Noah lived. If you have a different opinion, that is fine, but don’t miss the message of the story.
–John N. Clayton © 2018
We have a discussion of the flood in our video series program # 27 available on our doesgodexist.TV website. You can also look up information on the flood by doing a word search on our doesgodexist.org website search engine.

November 16, 2018November 16, 2018

Where Did the Water Go After Noah’s Flood?

If the flood covered the whole Earth so that the highest mountain was under water by 15 cubits (Genesis 7:19-20), what happened to all that water? Genesis 8:1-3 says that “God made a wind to pass over the Earth” and stopped the fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven. That indicates three methods of removing the water. If the fountains of the deep involved underground springs that gushed massive amounts of water, that water could be removed by flowing back into the caverns from which it came. If “the windows of heaven” indicates an extraterrestrial source, it is difficult to suggest any significant return. High winds which the Bible mentions would maximize evaporation, but there are some other factors to consider.

It is important to point out that nowhere in the Bible is there an indication that the waters were level. We will discuss the extent of the flood in our next post, but the known earth at the time of this event was a limited area. At the Straits of Gibraltar, there is a normal fault with the downthrown side to the west. At the base of that fault is a large waterfall gouge. The Glomar Challenger Oceanographic Research Vessel has documented what appears to be an opening of the Straits with the whole Atlantic Ocean having access to the Mediterranean Sea at a time in the past, which was a desert before the flood. It is reasonable to propose a model where hydrostatic pressure could drive water up the western shore of the Mediterranean which is of course where the biblical story takes place.

While this is speculative, it does show that a limited flood to the known world at the time is possible. The water could merely return to normal static levels after the event. There are several other models based on recent evidence that assist in explaining the question of where the water came from and answering the question of where did the water go after Noah’s flood. Very important to this question is, “What was the extent of the flood?” We will examine that question tomorrow.
–John N. Clayton © 2018
We have a discussion of the flood in our video series program # 27 available on our doesgodexist.TV website. You can also look up information on the flood by doing a word search on our doesgodexist.org website search engine.

November 15, 2018November 15, 2018

How Could All Those Animals Fit in Noah’s Ark?

Perhaps the most argued event in the Old Testament is the flood of Noah described in Genesis. For the past two days, we have been examining some of the questions people ask. Today we will look at the question, “How could all those animals fit in Noah’s ark?”

The Bible gives the dimensions of the ark, and it indeed was huge, especially for that time. How do you get the 25 million or so species of animals on Earth today into that ship? The answer is that you couldn’t.

Genesis 6:20 lists the same groups that are described in Genesis 1. Those are (1) fowl, (2) cattle, (3) “creeping things,” and (4) fish. We pointed out in our lessons on evolution that the word “kind” in Hebrew is not the same as “species” in modern scientific terms. The word “kind” is the Hebrew word “min,” and the Bible tells us in both the Old and New Testaments that there are four kinds: the flesh of fish, the flesh of birds, the flesh of beasts, and the flesh of man. First Corinthians 15:39 identifies these four and Genesis 1 identifies them as well. The same groupings are used in Genesis 6 to describe what Noah took on the ark.

The Hebrew word “remes” is rendered as “creeping thing” in some translations of the Bible. “Sherets” is also translated creeping thing (see Leviticus 11). “Remes” was an animal the Jews could eat, but “sherets” was not. “Remes” clearly refers to goats and sheep – animals that could be eaten by the Jews. But “sherets” refers to things like snakes and lizards which they could not eat.

So how could all those animals fit in Noah’s ark? The point of all this is that Noah didn’t take two poodles, two cockapoos, two German shepherds, etc. He took two dog-like animals. Similarly, he took two bovines, not the dozens of varieties that exist today. There are over 100 varieties of chickens, but he took two of that group. In short, Noah’s ark would have had enough room, and the evolutionary change that has taken place since has given us the variety we have today.
–John N. Clayton © 2018
We have a discussion of the flood in our video series program # 27 available on our doesgodexist.TV website. You can also look up information on the flood by doing a word search on our doesgodexist.org website search engine.

November 14, 2018November 15, 2018

When Did Noah’s Flood Happen?

When Did Noah's Flood Happen?
Perhaps the most argued event in the Old Testament is the flood of Noah described in Genesis. Yesterday we looked at the question of whether it really happened. Now let’s consider when did Noah’s flood happen?

People have suggested many dates for the flood. The instructions given to Noah indicate that fabricated metals had not yet been invented. Genesis 6:14 indicates that the ark was made of “gopher wood” and covered with pitch. We don’t know what gopher wood was, but some wood expands when it is wet, and pitch can be used as a waterproofing sealant. The planing of wood to make planks had not been invented yet, so the construction of the ark is doubly amazing and modern portrayals are wildly misleading.

The Bible doesn’t answer the question of “When did Noah’s flood happen.” All calculations must be based on many assumptions that may or may not be correct. Therefore, there is no way to date the flood accurately. The one thing we can say is that it was very early in human history.

The instructions God gave to Noah suggest that the flood event happened before the smelting of metals and machining of wood. The stone age is the label we have given this time period, and scientists call it the Neolithic period. Our modern calendars would put that age at around 10,000 years ago. Noah would have used the primitive tools available at that time.

Another often-asked question is, “How could all those animals fit in the ark?” We will look at that tomorrow.
–John N. Clayton © 2018
We have a discussion of the flood in our video series program # 27 available on our doesgodexist.TV website. You can also look up information on the flood by doing a word search on our doesgodexist.org website search engine.

November 13, 2018November 14, 2018

Did Noah’s Flood Really Happen?

Did Noah's Flood Really Happen?
Perhaps the most argued event in the Old Testament is the flood of Noah described in Genesis 6–9. Atheists have portrayed it as a myth which came from ancient cultures but with no scientific support. Young earth proponents have used it to explain everything from the age of the earth to the geologic column to the origin of the races. In the next few days, we hope to provide some brief answers to questions people raise about the flood. To begin with, did Noah’s flood really happen?

There is massive evidence that the flood did happen. The fact that even skeptics point out that every culture has a flood account is strong support that it occurred. The flood stories of various cultures are remarkably similar although usually enhanced with local cultural flavoring. The Hawaiians have a giant canoe, the Denali in Alaska have a giant raft. But there is a global idea of a massive flood which only a few humans, who were warned in advance, escaped. To suggest that this was due to a myth being circulated among all cultures is difficult to support. Communication between these geographically separated cultures is not as likely as the fact that there was a common event.

The biblical description of the source of the water is “the fountains of the great deep” and the “windows of heaven” (Genesis 7:11). Two different Hebrew words can be translated “window.” The common window in your home is indicated by the Hebrew word “challon” and that word is used in Genesis 8:6 to refer to a window in the ark. The word used in Genesis 7:11 and 8:2 is “arubbah” which refers to an opening in heaven. (See Malachi 3:10 and 2 Kings 7:2.) The word “fountain” is the Hebrew “mayan” referring to a spring – an underground source of water. Massive underground pools of fresh water have been found all over the earth, and astronomical sources of water are also known. The fact that Genesis does not describe normal sources of water lends support to the notion that this was an unusual addition of water to the Earth.

There are many unanswered questions. Where did the water go? Was the flood global? There is no worldwide evidence of a massive flood in spite of what some may claim, nor would you expect there to be. The erosion of Earth’s surface is extensive, and whatever flood strata may have existed has long since been eroded away. However, if someone asks you, “Did Noah’s flood really happen’” the facts strongly suggest that it did. When did it happen? We will look at that question tomorrow.
–John N. Clayton © 2018
We have a discussion of the flood in our video series program # 27 available on our doesgodexist.TV website. You can also look up information on the flood by doing a word search on our doesgodexist.org website search engine.

November 8, 2018November 6, 2018

Are We a Hologram?

Are We a Hologram?
This ministry has been functioning for 50 years, and one of the things we have seen is that atheist and skeptic arguments are cyclical. In the 1960s there was a push by skeptics to say that the physical world doesn’t exist at all and the universe is an illusion. So are we a hologram? Some scientists today seem to think so.

In the New York Times for May 10, 2018, science columnist Dennis Overbye wrote, “The news from some physicists like the late Stephen Hawking is that the universe might be a hologram, an illusion like the three-dimensional images on a bank card. Some cosmologists have argued that it is not inconsistent – at least mathematically – to imagine that the entire universe as we know it could just be a computer simulation as in The Matrix.”

Just because something is mathematically possible does not mean that it is true. You can prove that 1 = 2 if you make the right assumptions (in that case dividing something by zero). On a more practical level, there are certain things that holograms or illusions cannot do. For example, you can’t force an illusion to be taught to think. The whole notion of free will does not fit an illusion hypothesis. Our brains are not a simulation, and the things we do at a spiritual level are not within the reach of aliens.

If your view of the creation is that we are mindless pawns who have no purpose, then the hologram hypothesis may seem reasonable. Are we are a hologram controlled by aliens? For those of us who believe that we are spiritual beings with a purpose for our existence, this is just another silly, desperate attempt to get around being responsible for what we do.
–John N. Clayton

November 7, 2018November 6, 2018

Genealogies of Christ

Skeptics have criticized the biblical accounts of the ancestry of Jesus. The problem is that Matthew 1:1-17 gives 42 ancestors of Jesus and Luke 3:23-37 has over 50. In addition to that, there are some differences in individuals in the genealogies. How can there be those differences in the genealogies of Christ?

The answer to that question is that Matthew gives the line of Joseph, the legal line. Luke gives the line of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Matthew is a Jewish writer and Jews regarded only the male line of descent. Joseph had to be a descendant of David, or the Jews would not have recognized the genealogy as a fulfillment of the prophecies that Christ would be the Son of David.

Luke was a Gentile writing for Gentiles. He was more particular to give the line that shows that Jesus is indeed the Son of David. So why does Matthew 1:16 say that Jacob was the father of Joseph while Luke 3:23 says that Joseph was the son of Heli? If Mary was the daughter of Heli, especially if an heiress, Joseph, by marriage, would become the “son of Heli.” That there is no contradiction between the two genealogies of Jesus is shown by the fact that the Jews who best understood their genealogies never changed it.

We have said that to take the Bible literally means to look at who wrote it, to whom it was written, why it was written, and how the people it was written to would have understood it. The genealogies of Christ are a classic example of why we must do that.
–John N. Clayton

November 3, 2018November 2, 2018

Channeling the Spirit World

Channeling the Spirit World
An enduring scam is spirit guiding or psychic medium guiding, also called channeling. Those who practice channeling claim that a spirit takes over the channeler’s body for the purpose of communication. Shamans, witch doctors, and spirit prophets claim to hear voices from the spirit world which gives them a higher consciousness. Channeling the spirit world is part of the New Age belief system that has gained popularity in today’s culture.

In the 1970s an American channeler named Jane Roberts claimed to channel an ancient entity named Seth. In 1972 she released a popular book titled Seth Speaks. In the last 30 years J.Z. Knight has claimed to channel Ramtha who is supposed to be the spirit of a warrior born on Atlantis 35,000 years ago. Knight became a multi-millionaire publicizing wisdom that she claimed Ramtha gave her. The latest successful channeler is Neferatiti Ife whose books Shine Your Divine Light and Conversations with the Blackman’s God claim to give healing power and spirit knowledge coming from Africa. Her popular workshop is called African Ancestral Channelling and Healing Workshop and promotes the “Ankh Healing System.”

One has to be reminded of the rather humorous incident in Acts 19:13-16 where a group of “vagabond exorcists” saw what Paul was doing and tried to copy it. They attempted an exorcism on a man, but he responded by saying, “Jesus I know and Paul I know; but who are you?” Then he beat them up. The vagabond exorcists ended up running out of the house naked and wounded. Ancient people attributed almost everything to spirits. In Matthew 14:23-27 when Jesus walked on the water His disciples became frightened and declared that it was a spirit they were seeing.

Channeling the spirit world is a scam. God condemned cases like the Witch of Endor and Saul and Samuel recorded in 1 Samuel 28:7-19. In fact when the witch saw Samuel actually come back from the dead to speak to Saul, she was frightened and screamed. She was conducting a scam and the real thing showed up which scared her badly.

The Bible tells us that all we need to be complete is God’s Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17). It also says that God works directly to help us deal with life (1 Corinthians 10:13). Neferatiti Ife has no checkable academic credentials. No experiment has ever verified the claims of her or other channelers, and numerous fakes and failures have been documented. Psychologists know that automatism, a form of dissociation, explains most positive claims of channeling. We need to rely on God’s Word and on our relationship to Jesus Christ. Paying money to people making claims of channeling the spirit world is a waste of both money and time.
–John N. Clayton© 2018

Data from Skeptical Inquirer, November/December 2018, pages 32-33.

November 2, 2018November 1, 2018

Sun Stand Still

Many times when a skeptic attacks a biblical story, the problem is caused by misunderstanding a word. In Joshua 10 there is an account of a battle between the Amorites and the Israelites. In verses 12 and 13 of the King James translation, Joshua said, “Sun stand still” and the Sun and Moon stood still for a whole day.

There is no question that God can make the Sun stand still. He can do anything He wants to do, but the physical consequences of stopping the Earth from rotating on its axis are enormous. The inertia of the water in the oceans, the effect on the atmosphere, and even the impact on the land masses challenge the imagination. A careful study of the words used in the biblical account resolves what appears to be an impossible statement in the scriptures.

The New Testament uses the Greek word “helios” which means Sun, but there is no Hebrew word for Sun in the Old Testament. In Genesis 1:16, the word for lights is “maor,” and the Sun is identified as “gadol maor” usually translated “greater light.” In Job 31:26, the Hebrew word is the shorter version “or” and Job 30:28 it is “chammah” referring to the heat of the Sun. In Judges 8:13 and 14:18 the word used is “cheres” again referring to the Sun’s burning heat.

In Joshua 10, the Hebrew word used is “shemesh” which refers to a ministrant, a device to minister to a need. It usually refers to the Sun but could be any ministrant. The word for Moon is “yareach” which refers to a wondering object. There is another interesting point about the words in the last part of Joshua 10:12. The pronouncement of God’s provision for the battle to continue says in the King James, “Sun stand thou still upon Gibeon (El-Jib today); and thou Moon in the valley of Ajalon.” Ajalon is in Dan and Gibeon is 4 miles from Bethel. These two locations are less than 30 miles apart. That fact should suggest that these are not the celestial Sun and Moon.

The question is not whether God caused a “great light” to allow the battle to continue at Joshua’s request, but what was the method by which God did it. There are many ways God could provide a great light or series of lights as a ministrant. Verse 11 speaks of “great stones from heaven” cast down on Azekah which was a town in Judah near Gibeon. Many astronomical possibilities to provide light are worth considering such as an asteroid or meteor shower or an aurora.

If you read the rest of the chapter, the main message is that God fought for Israel. Verse 14 indicates “there was no day like it before or after.” If you are satisfied with assuming that “Sun stand still” was simply a miracle of God and no explanation should be attempted, that is your prerogative. But to the skeptic, there needs to be an answer, and the evidence gives several possible answers that enable the believer “to be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks of the hope that is within us” (1 Peter 3:15).
–John N. Clayton © 2018

October 23, 2018October 22, 2018

Does Earth Have Enough Food?

Does Earth Have Enough Food?
When God put the first man upon the Earth, He told him to take care of the garden–to dress it and keep it (Genesis 2:15). We have not done a very good job of keeping the Earth, and the result has been disastrous in a variety of ways. When Noah left the Ark, God told him, “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. As I gave you green plants, I give you everything.” (Genesis 9:3). Did God give us enough? Does Earth have enough food to feed our growing population?

The first point we need to make is that we waste most of the food we grow. Various research groups give different estimates of what percentage of our food is either discarded, spoiled, or not harvested properly. All studies of this topic have shown numbers indicating that we waste more than 75% of the food that is available.

One area where we do not use food efficiently involves plants and animals that grow at astronomical rates. Some fish and water invertebrates can produce many thousands of eggs from a single female. The Ocean Conservancy has called attention to the growth rates of mahi-mahi, an ocean fish found in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. That species offers a vast supply of meat for harvesting. In one year of growth, the mahi-mahi can attain a length of over four feet, and the fish can reproduce as early as four months of age.

God has provided a wide variety of food sources for us. Does Earth have enough food to feed a growing population? Yes, we do have the potential to produce enough food for all people on Earth to eat. World starvation issues are due to our failure to develop food resources and to our massive waste of food. It is not because God didn’t give us enough to supply our needs.
–John N. Clayton © 2018
Data from Splash published by the Ocean Conservancy for Fall 2016, page 3.