Humans Archives - Page 2 of 68 - DOES GOD EXIST? TODAY

January 2, 2024January 1, 2024

Loneliness Crisis Is Deadly

A recent USA Today article gathered data from the University of Michigan and Harvard University, showing that loneliness has increased dramatically in the United States. According to the article, 61% of adults ages 18 to 25 feel profound loneliness. Harvard professor Jeremy Nobel has established an initiative called “Project Unlonely” to address this loneliness crisis.

Professor Nobel classifies three types of loneliness:
(1) Psychological loneliness – not having anyone to trust or confide in
(2) Societal loneliness – feeling systemically excluded because of such things as gender, race, or disability
(3) Spiritual loneliness – feeling disconnected from oneself.

The U.S. Surgeon General’s advisory report says that loneliness increases the risk of premature death by 26%, equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. The American Heart Association says that feeling lonely increases a person’s risk of heart disease by 29% and stroke by 32%, indicating that the loneliness crisis is deadly.

The U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy says that the solution to loneliness is to take 15 minutes a day to reach out to someone you care about or look for ways to serve others. He says that when we are with someone else, we must give them our full attention and put away our devices. He further states that schools, companies, and healthcare facilities must adopt strategies to reduce loneliness.

Nowhere in the USA Today article is the Church mentioned. The fact is that the teachings of Christ offer a real solution to loneliness. Read Acts 2:41-47, and you will see an excellent cure for loneliness. Read Matthew 25:31-40 and see what Jesus considers essential in how we live our lives. Christians can avoid the loneliness crisis by becoming active in building relationships and serving others.

Having a relationship with Christ gives us an understanding of our purpose for existing. Loneliness results from a world dominated by “survival of the fittest” and “looking after # 1.” The loneliness crisis in America has become an epidemic and is just part of the collateral damage that comes from rejecting God.

Reference: “Americans are lonely, and it’s killing them” by Adrianna Rodriques in USA Today 12/27/23

December 29, 2023December 30, 2023

A Mindful Ultimate Cause for Our Existence

Yesterday, we said that all major polls from Gallup and Pew agree that faith in God is declining in America. We pointed out that the majority of atheists and agnostics agree with the statement: “The findings of science make the existence of God less probable.” That is true even though recent scientific discoveries point to the existence of a mindful ultimate Cause for our existence.

In the past, a significant factor that caused people to reject faith in God was the problem of pain and suffering. Why would a loving and all-powerful God would allow pain and suffering? That question has led many people to reject God in the past, but another factor for rejecting God has exceeded that one.

According to the Discovery Institute, research shows that 50% of people who reject God do so because of suffering, disease, and death. However, 65% of those who reject belief in God today do so because of: “Scientific theories about the unguided evolution of life.” That means science has become a more significant factor in rejecting God than the pain and suffering problem.

What are the implications for humans if we evolved by unguided evolution? Suppose humans have evolved from the lower animals by a mindless, undirected process. In that case, it means that humans have no intrinsic value, no ultimate purpose, no objective morality, and death is the end of our existence as our bodies decay. When people believe that, what can keep them from being filled with despair and choosing suicide and murder? If we fail to find happiness in life, why not bring it to an end?

Before society is destroyed by complete despair, we have a message of hope. We want to tell you that there is a mindful ultimate Cause for our existence. Even scientific evidence points to the existence of God. The Bible and Jesus Christ show us that God loves us and has a plan for our lives. There is purpose and hope and a reason to live. As we enter a new year, the Does God Exist? ministry will continue to share that good news with everyone willing to open their hearts and minds to listen.

Reference: Stephen C. Meyer on “Has Humanity Forgotten God” on YouTube

December 28, 2023December 27, 2023

Major Factors for Rejecting Faith in God

Polls show that belief in God among Americans has declined over the past few years, and most dramatically among Gen-Zers. Generation Z is the term used to describe those born between the late 1990s and early 2000s (approximately 1997 to 2012). This generation grew up with access to the internet and portable digital technology. What are some major factors for rejecting faith in God?

Stephen C. Meyer said that the Discovery Institute surveyed people if they agreed with this statement: “The findings of science make the existence of God less probable.” Among self-proclaimed atheists, 65% agreed, and 43% of agnostics agreed. What these people perceive about science has influenced their belief in God. However, as we have said before, science supports faith in God.

In recent years, scientific discoveries have given us more reasons to believe in God. One significant discovery is that the material universe had a beginning. Evidence for that appeared in the 1920s, was confirmed in the 1960s, and further reinforced in the 21st century. The Bible tells us that in verse 1, but it took scientists years to accept the evidence. Anything that begins to exist must have a cause. The cause of the material universe must be outside of time and space and, therefore, immaterial. Science recognizes that time, space, matter, and energy all had a beginning, but they could not have created themselves.

A second discovery that points to an intelligent Creator is that the universe was fine-tuned for life from the beginning. Many physical constants must be precisely as they are for life to exist. More than that, without precision fine-tuning of the physical laws and constants, the universe itself would not exist. Chance cannot explain the precision because so many precise factors must work together.

A third discovery that came into a fuller understanding in the 21st century is the design of the digital code in the DNA molecule that makes life possible. This design has been there since the emergence of the first living cell. We have no examples of information being created without a mind to create it. Information does not happen by chance.

In those three recent discoveries, science rediscovers God. Then what are the major factors for rejecting faith in God? More on that tomorrow.

Reference: Stephen C. Meyer on “Has Humanity Forgotten God” on YouTube

December 26, 2023December 19, 2023

Are You Content with Your Life?

Recent studies of the mental state of college students show that 45% of them are too depressed to function well, and 10% of those have tried or are contemplating suicide. The use of chemical drugs to bring contentment has grown at an incredible rate. The number of psychological descriptions of mental discontent has grown so large that psychologists now have labels for almost everything imaginable. Are you content with your life?

Jesus Christ lived with twelve dysfunctional, ordinary men. The followers of Christ were not highly educated or leaders in their communities. In some cases, they abruptly left their regular station in life to follow Jesus. In Luke 14:16-24, Jesus tells a parable about a man preparing a great dinner and inviting people to come. The invited people made excuses for not coming, ranging from needing to look at a recently purchased property to a guy who just got married. The twelve men who followed Jesus didn’t procrastinate and give excuses about why they couldn’t follow Him. However, they still struggled with contentment:

*The brothers James and John had their mother appeal to Jesus to give them the choice positions in His kingdom (Matthew 20:20-23).
*Peter was boisterous and competitive (John 21:20-22).
*Thomas struggled with his faith (John 20:24-28).
*Philip and Andrew were skeptical about what Jesus could do (John 6:7-9).

In Philippians 4:12, Paul stated that he had LEARNED to be content. When you read the teachings of Jesus in Matthew 5-7, you see that many of His words were designed to enable His followers to find contentment. Learning not to be angry with others (Matthew 5:22-25) brings contentment. Avoiding pornographic activity (Matthew 5:27-28) and not wanting revenge but caring about others (Matthew 5:38-44) can do wonders for our mental attitude. Making prayer personal in a quiet time with God and practicing forgiveness can relieve stress (Matthew 6:6-15). Not being obsessed with making money can bring huge rewards (Matthew 6:19-21 and 25-34).

When you read about the first century Church in Acts 2:42-45, you learn that their activity led to contentment for everyone – even those who were not part of the congregation. Ephesians 3:14-21 gives a picture of contentment. God is a relational God who does not want us to be stressed. Spend some time learning to comprehend what Paul had learned. Christians should be the most contented people in the world. With the stress of life today, being content is critically important. Are you content with your life?

December 1, 2023November 29, 2023

The Journey to Safety

We have often talked about the design of animals. Various animals act on what we often call “instinct.” Programmed into sea turtles is a journey to safety. When baby sea turtles hatch on the beach, they instinctively and quickly head to the ocean to escape the predators on land. Their mothers didn’t teach them to do that. It is programmed into them. When a kangaroo is born, it will instinctively journey to safety by climbing into its mother’s pouch. She does nothing to assist the tiny creature. Programming a specific action is very efficient, so we program computers to do specific tasks.

In contrast to programmed actions, there is free will. When we tell our children what to do, they may do something entirely different. The child can understand our instructions but still refuse to follow them. The reason is that the child finds other things he wants to do are more appealing.

The bottom line is that commanding actions is less efficient than programming those actions. A baby sea turtle, kangaroo, or robot will act in the way it is programmed. If you are a parent, you have realized that your child will not always do what you command. The question, then, is why didn’t God program humans to do what He wanted? Why did He give us free will? Programming us to act as He desired would have been much more efficient.

God commands us rather than programming us to do His will because He wants to have a relationship with us. Robots can be very efficient because they have specific functions programmed into them and will do what their designer intended. That is not true of humans. However, you can never have a real relationship with a robot. God wants to have a relationship with us. He knew what would happen when He created the first humans, but He did it anyway. We have rebelled and made a mess of our lives and our world. Hatred, war, and mayhem have been the results.

Why, then, did God choose to create us? To Him, having a relationship with us was worth the price. Jesus Christ came to Earth to restore the broken relationship. He was the perfect man, but at the same time, He was God in the flesh. He showed us how to have a loving relationship with God and each other. Then, He bore the punishment for our disobedience to restore the broken relationships.

We are not robots. We are God’s creation, in His image, with free will. We can choose the journey to safety or ignore God and choose our own path. God has made the journey to safety and peace available to us. Why choose the path to destruction?

November 30, 2023November 29, 2023

Seaweed as a Food Source

God has given us a food source that so far humans have been unwilling to tap – seaweed. It is super fast growing, with some species like giant kelp growing 50 centimeters a day. Seaweed doesn’t need land or pesticides and doesn’t have to be watered. Furthermore, it is packed with protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. With over 800 million people starving worldwide, one answer might be seaweed as a food source.

Oceans cover roughly two-thirds of our planet, yet they contribute less than three percent of humans’ total food calories. Asian recipes have used seaweed for centuries, and its cultivation is limited mainly to Asia — large areas of the sea could be seaweed farms. There are 12,000 different types of seaweed, and humans have only learned how to cultivate fewer than 30.

Dried seaweed retains its nutrients and has a long shelf life, so it doesn’t have to be refrigerated or frozen. The reluctance to use seaweed as a food source has primarily come from misconceptions about it. Many of us have only seen water plants growing in a freshwater pond and have no idea what ocean-grown seaweed is like. In addition to food and the replacement of environmentally polluting agents, seaweed can be a significant carbon sink, absorbing massive amounts of carbon dioxide.

Seaweed can also be used as a natural fertilizer for land plants and as feed for animals. It can even be a cotton alternative in textiles and, in some cases, as a biodegradable replacement for plastics. Like most human problems, the solution is there, but we aren’t using all of the wealth of resources God has given us. One solution God has provided may be seaweed as a food source and more.

Reference: Opinion article by Vincent Doumeizel on cnn.com

November 24, 2023November 21, 2023

The Feel-Good Hormones

Hormones are chemical messengers that travel through our bloodstream. You can describe them as signaling molecules that work to set things in motion. The name comes from a Greek word meaning “setting in motion.” Hormones are produced in various areas of our bodies and are sent through the bloodstream to signal some action or response. Good health requires a balance of hormones, and proper diet, exercise, and rest help to keep them in balance. The feel-good hormones are four classes of hormones that, as you might guess, do things that make us feel good.

ENDORPHINS- Endorphins are the body’s natural painkillers. The pituitary gland, located at the base of the brain, synthesizes and stores them. Endorphins help to mask pain, reduce stress, and improve mood. When we push through a painful task or strenuous exercise, endorphins are there to help us.

DOPAMINE- Two areas of the brain produce dopamine, and you can think of this hormone as the brain’s reward system. Exercise, eating a food we like, or accomplishing a task can cause the brain to release dopamine, giving us a pleasurable feeling. The use of some drugs and alcohol can release a flood of dopamine, giving us a sense of euphoria, a “high.” But coming down from that high can lead to depression and a desire for more of the drugs. Normal activities or exercise stimulate dopamine more slowly, and the effect of the hormone remains longer. Good stewardship of our bodies and health calls for avoiding harmful drugs and alcohol.

OXYTOCIN- Some people call this feel-good hormone the love hormone. Touching, hugging, or sexual activity can trigger the release of oxytocin. The brain’s hypothalamus produces it, and the pituitary gland releases it into the bloodstream. Oxytocin can help improve social interactions and give us a desire to develop stronger connections with others.

SEROTONIN- Serotonin is a natural mood booster, and depression can result from a low level of this hormone. Serotonin performs many functions and is produced by the central nervous system in various areas of the body. Serotonin improves memory and learning and promotes relaxation. Exercise, as well as exposure to sunshine and the outdoors, can increase the production of serotonin. Meditation and quietness in prayer can also reward us with this mood-boosting hormone.

The feel-good hormones are part of good health, and a healthy lifestyle boosts them. However, too much of a good thing too quickly is not healthy. Alcohol and drugs can give us a high but only lead to a letdown. A healthy lifestyle involves proper diet, exercise, rest, prayer, meditation, thankfulness, and balanced relationships with others. Incorporating those things into our lives is the best way to enjoy the blessings God has for us.

November 14, 2023November 13, 2023

James Tour Challenge

How did non-living chemicals become living plants and animals? Origin of life research has been the focus of countless hours and vast expenditures by expert scientists for the last 70-plus years. The results have been, well, unremarkable. Chemist Dr. James Tour of Rice University issued a 60-day challenge. The James Tour challenge to the leading origin-of-life researchers called for them to show what progress they have made in 70 years.

Dr. Tour points out that there are five major hurdles that the origin-of-life scientists must clear. They are the fundamental problems that stand in the way of life originating from non-life (abiogenesis). In simplified form, they are:

Linking amino acids into chains
Linking nucleotides into RNA molecules
Linking simple sugars into chains
The origin of biological information
The assembly of all components into a cell

YouTubers are claiming that scientists have completely solved these obstacles to abiogenesis. If that is true, Tour challenged the leading origin-of-life researchers to verify and explain it. The James Tour challenge gave them 60 days to put up their evidence. Dr. Tour said if they could show that they have solved even one of those problems, he would shut up about the issue.

The James Tour 60-day challenge expired at the end of October 2023. Not one scientist could meet his challenge. In other words, in 70 years of research, no progress has been made on any of the major roadblocks to non-living matter becoming a primitive living cell.

If brilliant scientists with the best equipment and modern laboratories ever manage to produce life from basic elements, what will they prove? They will not show that life can originate by unguided accidents. They will have demonstrated that an intelligent being can create life from non-living matter. That is what the Bible has said for thousands of years.

References:

Evolution News report on the James Tour challenge.

James Tour’s Put Up and I’ll Shut Up challenge.

James Tour debates a YouTuber who claims science has solved all origin-of-life problems.

James Tour mentioned in “Scientists and God” in our quarterly publication.

Creating life in the laboratory.

November 2, 2023October 31, 2023

The First Month of Human Development

When the sperm meets the egg, a human cell is produced. From this single cell, a human body is built, containing over 30 trillion cells. How does that happen? Science really has no answer to that question. Dr. Jacob Hanna at the Weizmann Institute of Science refers to this stage of human development as a “black box.” Most of the research on embryo development has been done on mice, rabbits, chickens, and frogs. What happens during the first month of human development remains largely unknown.

Understanding what goes on during the first month of human development would help in dealing with miscarriages, congenital birth defects, and the side effects of medications taken during pregnancy. Dr. Hanna and other researchers have built a group of cells that act like an embryo but can’t grow into a fetus. This group contains the cell types that are essential for an embryo’s development, including the placenta, yolk sac, and outer membrane. This is all before any organs are formed, and takes about eight days.

Dr. Hanna does his research without using fertilized eggs or anything derived from aborted babies. Scientists are already using these stem cell models taken from adult skin cells. This work could have addressed some problems of the past, such as the drug thalidomide, which was used as a treatment for morning sickness and was found to cause birth defects.

The complexity of the changes taking place during the first month of human development speaks of the wisdom and design that has produced all humans. We are very different from the animals that make up the world around us. The difference becomes evident as we study the development of a fetus from the single cell that started the process.

Many years ago, the writer of Psalms 139:13-14 reflected on this as he said, “For you created my inmost being: you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I will praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

Reference: CNN Wonder Theory Science Newsletter for October 26, 2023, by Katie Hunt.

October 31, 2023October 30, 2023

Neanderthals and the Bible

In 1856, workers in Neander Valley near Dusseldorf, Germany, discovered a cave containing human bones that were different from modern humans. Scientists gave those bones the name Neanderthal, which means “Valley of the New Man.” We have written about this before (such as HERE, HERE, and HERE), but how can we reconcile Neanderthals and the Bible?

Since that first discovery, anthropologists have found Neanderthal remains throughout Europe and elsewhere. Neanderthals had large brains, thick bones, and muscle attachments, indicating high strength. The age of these specimens is much greater than any written human communication. They lived a nomadic lifestyle and dwelled in caves and natural shelters. They did not have cities or build sophisticated structures, but recent studies show intelligent behavior, including mastering fire for cooking, controlling animals, and providing warmth.

Genetic studies show that modern humans had Neanderthal ancestors. Some writers claim that Neanderthals were humans physically but had no soul and, thus, no spiritual awareness. That raises the question of how Neanderthals connect with Adam in Genesis 1 and 2. Those who promote theistic evolution say that ape-like hominoids evolved. Then, when these individuals reached a certain level, God infused them with a soul and called them “Adam,” Hebrew for “of the ground.” Some claim that Cain encountered Neanderthals in the area that Cain was banished to in Genesis 4:14 and following.

The point is that rather than deny that Neanderthals existed, we need to realize that there are many possible ways to reconcile Neanderthals and the Bible account of Adam and Eve. As scientists make more discoveries, the picture may become more evident. Meanwhile, we know the biblical account is valid and not at odds with findings about human history.

References: The Naked Neanderthal by Ludovic Slimak and wikipedia.org