Billie Eilish and Pornography

Billie Eilish and Pornography
Billie Eilish

Every time we mention the damaging effects of pornography, we get a few nasty emails suggesting that we are just control freaks who want to deny a harmless activity. The Bible makes it clear that God would have us “abstain from all appearance of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:22). A recent news report about Billie Eilish and pornography shows it is not harmless.

Young people today have easy access to porn because it is readily available online. Billie Eilish, a Grammy-winning singer, stated that the porn she began watching online at age eleven “really warped her mind” about healthy sex and relationships. Porn composes a third of all internet downloads in the United States and is a pandemic among young people.

In The Daily Telegraph, Judith Woods wrote that online porn is “suffused with hatred for women.” She goes on to say that the sex depicted on porn sites is “terrifying, dominant, and violent… There is choking and spitting and angry misogyny… Women are degraded, used” and “discarded.”

Anyone who thinks this activity is not damaging to young minds is simply ignorant about how young people learn. Furthermore, the whole purpose of sex is lost in a culture that denigrates marriage and uses sex as a weapon or a recreational activity.

Sex in marriage creates a sacred, unique, and pure relationship between a man and a woman. Therefore, Christians must teach children what sex is about at an early age before the world exposes them to pornography. In the case of Billie Eilish and pornography, that was age eleven.

— John N. Clayton © 2022

Reference: The Week, December 31, 2021/January 7, 2022 page 19.

The Biblical Message of Newness

The Biblical Message of Newness

As we start a new year, let’s consider the biblical message of newness. Human religions call people to focus on maintaining the traditions and practices of the past. Some Christian denominations have done the same, but the Bible calls for newness.

Kainos,” the Greek word for “new,” is used extensively in the New Testament. Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words says this about “kainos”:

…denotes new, of that which is unaccustomed or unused, not new in time, recent, but new in form or quality, of different nature from what is contrasted as old … new covenant, new commandment … new character … new name … new life of the quickened spirit of the believer … impossible to dissociate this from the operation of the Holy Spirit by whose power the service is rendered.”

The biblical message of newness carries throughout the New Testament. In Luke 5:36, Jesus says, “No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have a torn garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old.” Likewise, you can’t take old lifestyles and patch them into being a Christian. Colossians 3:10 tells us to “put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its creator.” Hebrews 10:19-20 talks about a “new and living way” opened to us by the blood of Christ. Galatians 6:15 calls Christians “a new creation.”

Ephesians 4:22-24 talks about “being made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” In 2 Corinthians 5:17-18, we read, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old is gone, the new has come. All of this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.”
The biblical message of newness continues to the end of the New Testament.
Revelation 21:1-4 describes a new heaven and new earth where God says, “I am making everything new.”

We don’t change by our own power, and New Year’s Resolutions don’t work because they depend on us. However, becoming a Christian and opening yourself to God does work. God isn’t going to force people to accept Jesus Christ, but for those who do, He offers newness. If you haven’t opened yourself to being made “kainos,” isn’t it time to do so?

— John N. Clayton © 2022

Is There Any Hope for America?

Is There Any Hope for America?

It is difficult to be optimistic about the future of America. The danger to this country is not coming from a superior military, and aliens from some other planet do not threaten us. A shortage of natural resources or the threat of natural disasters cannot destroy us. The danger to America is from within. The amazing thing is that it is fed by the ignorance of our people, including our leaders. Is there any hope for America?

In the Old Testament, we read of the rise and fall of the nation of Israel. Hebrew has different words that we translate as “nation.” One is “goi,” used to describe the corporate body. God promised to make Israel a great nation (goi) in Genesis 12:2 and 17:4. That promise was repeated throughout the history of Israel.

The other Hebrew words are “leom” and “ummah,” both translated “nation” in most English versions. It refers to the people, not the political system under which they lived. In the New Testament, the Greek word translated “nations” is “ethnos,” from which we get our word “ethnic.” Jesus used it in Matthew 24:1-13. His disciples pointed to the temple’s greatness, and He told them of its destruction. He said that nation would rise against nation, natural disasters would happen, and people would hate His followers.

So is there any hope for America? Nothing will ever destroy the Christian nation or “ethnos,” but America is not a Christian nation. It is a corporate nation that is badly divided, has rejected God and the ethics that Jesus taught. The iniquity that Jesus described in Matthew 24:12 is before us all. We not only have a dysfunctional government, but the opponents of God have succeeded in eliminating God from discussions at the national and state level.

In our military, any discussion of Christianity is now forbidden. Marriage has been denigrated to the point that an all-time low percentage of our population engages in it. On the other hand, our culture now embraces any kind of “marriage” one wishes. Our government not only allows recreational drug use but, in some places, encourages it by providing places where people can “safely” use them. Abortion, euthanasia, prostitution, and pornography are freely allowed in many states.

So is there any hope for America, or will we go the same route as ancient Israel and Rome and all other cultures that have died due to their alienation from God? My response is that America CAN survive, but it will not come from the government or our religious or entertainment leaders. It will come from the ordinary folks who “have not bowed down to Baal and those whose mouths have not kissed him” (1 Kings 19:18). If America survives, it will be because we refuse to embrace the teachings of political or religious leaders who don’t know or obey God.

As we start the new year of 2022, let us learn from history rather than repeating it. Join hands with us “little people” and do what God calls us to do and not be swayed by leaders who lie to promote their personal agendas.

— John N. Clayton © 2022

Five Years with More to Come

Five Years with More to Come

With this article, we reach the milestone of five years with more to come on DoesGodExist.today. In our daily posts during that time, we have covered many topics. We have dealt with current events, moral issues, and design in the natural world. In addition, we have attempted to show evidence for design that demands a Designer.

You can find articles on a subject that interests you by using the “Search” box on this page. You can select all articles on a category topic using the “Categories” list. Our “Recent Posts” list allows you to go to any of the last dozen articles we published. Below that, you can go to the “Archives” to read articles we published in any month back to 2017. If you scroll to the bottom, you will find a form where you can choose to enter your email address to receive our weekly “Best Of” email. We send it out each Monday morning with links to our most popular postings from the previous week.

The “Best Of the Week from DOES GOD EXIST?” email includes not only
the three best articles from this website but also the three best from our daily Facebook postings. Our Facebook page concentrates on design evidence in plants and animals. We often feature animals or plants that many people have not even heard of. We also bring out little-known design facts about the very familiar living things we see every day. You can find our page on Facebook at facebook.com/evidence4god. We have been doing daily posts on Facebook for seven years, ever since 2015.

You can help us continue this ministry in two ways. First, pray that we may reach people worldwide with the message that God exists and He loves us and has sent His Son to redeem us. Secondly, please share our posts on this page and our Facebook posts with your friends and acquaintances. We look forward to great things in 2022.

— Roland Earnst © 2021

A Giant Millipede and What It Teaches Us

A Giant Millipede and What It Teaches Us
A Modern “Giant” Millipede

Can you imagine a giant millipede almost nine feet long? Most of us have seen inch-long millipedes under a rock or in a rotting log. Like centipedes, millipedes get their name from their many legs. “Mille” means thousand, and “ped” means foot, so a millipede could have a thousand feet.

Some 10,000 species of millipedes live today, and they are related to lobsters, shrimp, and crayfish. Australian researchers recently announced finding a three-inch-long millipede with 1,306 legs, which stirred up great interest among biologists. But that is nothing compared to a new fossil discovery.

Now researchers from the University of Cambridge have found the fossil of a true giant millipede in England. This specimen is 8.6 feet long and would have weighed about 110 pounds. Named Arthropleura, this is the largest invertebrate ever found, replacing giant sea scorpions that previously held the record. This animal lived before the dinosaurs and was an omnivore eating plants, nuts, seeds, and other invertebrates.

The importance of a find like this giant millipede is that it tells us that large animals, insects, and plants existed in the past. In addition, it reminds us that the ecology of the early Earth, as it was being prepared for later life forms, was very different from what we see today. At that time, England was a tropical area where massive quantities of resources like coal, limestone, and various minerals were being produced. Therefore, the plant and animal life in that ecology had to be large.

The Bible does not describe all of the processes because even today
, we have a hard time comprehending how that ancient world functioned. Genesis 1:1 simply tells us that God created the Earth, not how or when or what processes He used to prepare the planet for humans. But because God used a process, we can locate resources far underground. If He had simply “zapped” the planet into existence, we would have no clue about where to look for oil or coal or various minerals.

Proverbs 8 talks about the wisdom that allowed the production of all we see and use today. When we hear about a find like this giant millipede, it underlines how carefully God planned for our existence. Today, our challenge is to take care of the planet by preserving what God has given us rather than wasting it.

— John N. Clayton © 2021

Reference: USA Today by Jordan Mendoza 12/28/21.

Oxygen Generators and More

Oxygen Generators and More

They are microscopic plants. You may never see them individually, but they exist by the millions on or near the surface of oceans, lakes, and rivers, even in polar regions. Scientists call them phytoplankton which comes from two Greek words that mean “plant drifter.” We call them oxygen generators.

You can see masses of green phytoplankton on the water surface because of the green chlorophyll they contain. Chlorophyll enables them to use sunlight and nutrients from the water to produce the nourishment they need to live. In the process of photosynthesis, they are oxygen generators. Of course, humans and all animals must have the oxygen to breathe, and phytoplankton play an essential role in our climate by controlling the balance between oxygen and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

In the ocean, tiny animals called krill eat phytoplankton. In turn, the krill provide the diet for many fish and even for huge baleen whales. Those whales stir up the ocean, bringing to the surface minerals which the phytoplankton need. As whales eat and grow, they take in large amounts of carbon. When they die, their bodies containing the carbon sink to the bottom of the ocean. This well-engineered system helps prevent the build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Phytoplankton are incredibly diverse, with thousands of different species. The microscopic photo shows members of one class of phytoplankton known as diatoms. The carcasses of phytoplankton, algae, and other marine plants deposited on the sea beds long ago became the petroleum we use today.

Diatoms produce silicon shells, and when they die, those shells form deep deposits on the ocean floor. People mine those microscopic shells and use them for what we call diatomite or diatomaceous earth used in industry for fine polishing and for filtering liquids. In addition, gardeners sprinkle diatomaceous earth around their plants to protect them from insect pests. Scientists are also exploring uses for those microscopic shells in nanotechnology.

So, in addition to being oxygen generators, these tiny plants produce energy sources for humans and food for creatures of the ocean and freshwater lakes. Without them, our climate would be much different, and life would be difficult, if not impossible. Chance evolution doesn’t seem to be an adequate explanation for diverse phytoplankton. We see them as another example of design by the Master Designer of life.

— Roland Earnst © 2021

The Big Bang and Creation

The Big Bang and Creation

We receive many interesting questions from our readers, and recently we received this one about the big bang and creation:

“Dr. John Mather, head of the new telescope project, explains that the ‘Big Bang’ is not correctly understood as the universe having one exact beginning point. Rather that its beginning was everywhere at once as evidenced by galaxies all moving away from each other, and residual heat of the “big bang” being somewhat uniform everywhere we look.”

We could blame this misunderstanding on Dr. Fred Hoyle, who coined the term “big bang,” but as teachers of physics and astronomy, we are probably guilty of contributing to it. When we hear the term “big bang,” we think of an explosion. An explosion assumes some material existed, and it blew up like a bomb. That is a mistaken perspective. The big bang didn’t start with a singularity that already existed. The modern understanding of the big bang is that space and time came into existence in a form we call “spacetime.”

We struggle with the concept of the big bang and creation because
we cannot envision a condition where neither space nor time existed. We live in a three-dimensional universe and are familiar with X, Y, and Z on a cartesian graph. We know that we can plot any of these dimensions against time. If we move along the ground in direction X at a certain speed, we can plot the distance moved against the elapsed time. When a rocket goes straight up, you can plot Y against time. There is a third direction at right angles to both X and Y that we call Z, and we can plot it against time. But what is time? It’s a fourth-dimensional quantity that you can’t define. You can say it is “what keeps everything from happening at once,” but that is not a definition but a consequence of time.

The big bang concept agrees with Genesis 1:1 that space and time began, but not as an explosion. If space was created, then everything embedded in space was also created. Only action from dimensions beyond our own (X, Y, Z, and time) could do that. So as we consider the big bang and creation, we must ask what could be the source of creation that existed outside of space and time?

You can argue that it wasn’t God, but that doesn’t hold much water. We must account for the design we see in the cosmos, and chance doesn’t even try to do it. The big bang is an excellent proof of creation by God. The Bible describes God as an intelligence outside of space and time who created space and time. We don’t need to understand everything about creation to have faith in God. However, science strongly reinforces the adage that “the more you know of the creation, the closer you get to God.” As science advances in its understanding of the design of the cosmos, the existence of God becomes more and more evident.

— John N. Clayton © 2021

Pearl Beauty and Design

Pearl Beauty and Design

We have often reported on how design in nature has helped human “inventors” develop new products or improve old ones. It seems that lowly mollusks can teach humans some lessons from pearl beauty and design.

When a grain of sand or a tiny bit of debris enters the mollusk’s shell, such as an oyster or mussel, the creature goes into a defensive action to protect itself from the irritating particle. The oyster deposits a crystalline form of calcium carbonate known as aragonite. Limestone is primarily calcium carbonate, but it lacks the iridescent appearance of this crystallized form. The smooth layers of mineral and protein which the mollusk deposits on the foreign particle is called nacre (pronounced NAY-ker). The layers of nacre take on a beautiful, iridescent, and shiny appearance that gives pearls their beauty.

The question that has bothered scientists for more than a century is how the oyster can change a jagged or lopsided fragment of grit into a perfectly round and smooth pearl. However, pearl beauty and design remained a mystery until recently when a research team studied pearls from Akoya pearl oysters (Pinctada imbricata fucata) in Australia. First, they used a diamond wire saw to slice pearls in half. Then they polished the cut surfaces and used various electron microscopes to study them more carefully than anyone had done before.

The researchers refer to the layers of nacre as “tablets.” For example, one pearl they studied had 2,615 tablets deposited over 548 days, or 4 to 5 tablets per day. The pearl was only 2.5 mm in diameter, so the tablets were extremely thin. However, the mollusk modulates the thickness of the nacre layers according to “power-law decay across low to mid frequencies, colloquially called 1/f noise.” That means the mollusk uses some math to adjust the thickness of the layers to compensate for irregularities. Where one layer is thin, the next is thicker to self-correct, so irregularities heal themselves in the following few layers.

One of the researchers, Laura Otter, a biogeochemist at the Australian National University, said: “These humble creatures are making a super light and super tough material so much more easily and better than we do with all our technology.” Using calcium carbonate and protein, oysters make nacre 3,000 times tougher than the materials from which they make it. Another research team member, Robert Hovden, a materials scientist and engineer at the University of Michigan, said that understanding how mollusks make pearls could inspire “the next generation of super materials.” That might include materials for better solar panels or for use in spacecraft.

Once again, design in nature gives us some valuable insights. Even lowly mollusks can teach humans some lessons through pearl beauty and design, thanks to the Designer of nature.

— Roland Earnst © 2021

References: ScienceNews.org, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Christmas Facts and Fiction

Christmas Facts and Fiction
What’s wrong with this picture?

The “Does God Exist?” program is an effort to show that science and faith are friends and not enemies. At this time of year, atheists and skeptics criticize the celebration of Christmas and say the facts are not consistent with scientific evidence. Most of the complaints we see are about things that show up in TV shows and Christmas cards but are not actually in the Bible. The biblical account of the birth of Christ comes from two sources. They are the Jewish writer Matthew (Matthew 1:18-2:23) and the gentile writer Luke (Luke 1:26-2:20). Mark and John do not record the birth of Christ. We need to separate Christmas facts and fiction.

Many of the complaints about the Christmas story revolve around the star of Bethlehem. The shepherds of Luke 2:8-20 never saw a star, nor did Herod. Matthew 2:1-12 tells about the star and the “wise men from the east.” The “wise men,” or “magi” in the original language, were Persian astronomers or priests. Magi were present in Arabia, India, Assyria, and Persia, and they were most likely astrologers. We don’t know how many there were, nor do we know their names. They went first to Jerusalem, not Bethlehem. The Jewish priests knew from Micah 5:1-2 where the Messiah would be born, but they didn’t know when, nor did Herod.

In Matthew 2:9-10, the star led the magi to a house (verse 11), not a stable. A celestial star would not lead to a particular house, and the Christ child was no longer in a manger but a house. The Bible records several times when people were led by what the Bible calls a “Shekinah,” which was a pillar of fire or cloud. (See Exodus 13:21, 24:17, 40:38; Ezekiel 1:28,10:18-19, 11:23). This was a purposeful miracle of God, not a celestial event. In other words, the image on your Christmas card is almost certainly not accurate.

Separating Christmas facts and fiction, there are two uncontested facts in the biblical account. One is that Jesus Christ came to save all people, and the magi were Gentiles, so this was not just a Jewish event. The second is that Christ fulfilled prophecies written long before His birth. Isaiah 7:14 repeated in Matthew 1:23 and Micah 5:2 repeated in Matthew 2:6 are clear. The prophecy of Hosea 11:1 was repeated in Matthew 2:15. Jeremiah 31:15 was repeated in Matthew 2:18. Isaiah 40:3 was repeated in Matthew 3:3.

When we separate Christmas facts and fiction, it takes considerable faith to believe that the fulfillment of those Bible prophecies was just a hoax. Trying to find ways to reject what the Bible says and live in defiance of God offers no reward and no incentive to live constructively. However, believing in Jesus and acting on that faith can bring blessing and purpose to our lives.

— John N. Clayton © 2021

Lost Loved Ones at Christmas

Lost Loved Ones at Christmas

Christmas should be a time of joy, love, celebration, and family. Unfortunately, for many of us, the glitz and color of Christmas are dimmed by the loss of a loved one during the previous year. The family traditions of the holiday season are painful reminders of lost loved ones at Christmas.

For me personally, this Christmas has an empty feeling. Christmas was my son Tim’s favorite time of year. He couldn’t see the decorations because of his blindness, but he enjoyed remembering the trees we had when he was a child and could see. He was in his fifties but still wanted to have his large stocking full of the usual Christmas foods and small toys like a squeeze ball or a bottle of perfume. He loved Christmas music and could sing all of the familiar songs. His sisters frequently sent him singing cards which he played until the batteries wore out.

I share that with you because I know that many of our “regulars” have had a tough year and are missing their lost loved ones at Christmas. Christmas will bring some pain for them, knowing that the usual things we did together can no longer happen. Someone who shared this experience was Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who wrote the words to a great Christmas song in 1863. Longfellow’s first wife died in childbirth in 1859. In 1861 his second wide died from burns. In 1863 his son joined the Union army and was very severely wounded and near death.

As Christmas approached in 1863, Longfellow composed the poem that is one of our Christmas standards:

“I heard the bells on Christmas Day. Their old familiar carols play, and wild and sweet the words repeat of peace on Earth, good will to men. And I thought how, as the day had come, the belfries of all Christendom, had rolled along the unbroken song of peace on earth good will to men. Still ringing, singing on its way, the world revolved from night to day, a voice, a chime, a chant sublime of peace on earth, good will to men. And in despair I bowed my head, there is no peace on earth I said; for hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, good will to men. Then peeled the bells more loud and deep: God is not dead, nor does He sleep; the wrong shall fail, the right prevail with peace on earth good will to men.”

If you, like me, are staring at an empty stocking this Christmas, stem the tears by remembering that the story of the baby in the manger ended with an empty tomb. So too will we one day be reunited with the lost loved ones at Christmas we miss so terribly now. With that in mind, have a great Christmas holiday.

— John N. Clayton © 2021