Bible Archives

November 12, 2024November 11, 2024

Trashing God’s Creation

The Bible tells us that God created our planet to be a beautiful place and gave humans the responsibility to take care of it. However, we see today that humans are trashing God’s creation.

Several times in my life, I have had the privilege of being in an area where no human activity had ever been present. From the underwater gardens in the Galapagos Islands to isolated regions of Alaska, the beauty of the natural world has astounded me. In Australia, I was allowed to be in places where the nearest human city was hundreds of miles away, and the beauty was breathtaking. Canoeing in Canada’s Quetico wilderness was another place where I saw incredible beauty. Numerous trips to the bottom of the Grand Canyon allowed me to see an unspoiled natural environment.

Finding unspoiled places today has become increasingly difficult. Human greed, selfishness, and materialism have led to trashing much of our planet. Many people have sensed this loss, including those who may not see it as God’s creation but cannot deny the destruction of the natural world. One organization is the Ocean Conservancy, which is involved in global cleanup. One of their programs is the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC), which uses volunteers to pick up trash worldwide.

In 2023, ICC volunteers collected 1,947,483 cigarette butts, 1,358,870 plastic beverage bottles, 853,086 plastic bottle caps, 762,803 food wrappers, 563,390 plastic grocery bags, and a variety of trash, adding up to 14.3 million items. The issue of trashing God’s creation has gotten more attention since scientists discovered that microplastics contaminate all oceans and even show up in the human bloodstream. Medical research shows that these tiny plastic particles combine with chemicals to produce cancer, birth defects, brain damage, infertility, and various other health issues.

We see skeptics blaming God for these illnesses and problems when the root of much of the pain and suffering is humans trashing God’s creation. Christians cannot assume that this problem is unrelated to their faith. We need to be leaders in caring for God’s creation just as we must lead in helping our world understand Christ’s wisdom as He tells us how to live and how to treat each other.

— John N. Clayton © 2024
Reference: The Ocean Conservancy in their Splash newsletter for Winter 2024

November 8, 2024November 7, 2024

Is Prayer a Waste of Time?

We recently received an email from a man saying, “I have quit praying. It is a waste of time. Nothing I ask for ever happens or comes.” Is prayer a waste of time?

I understand the man’s comment. When my son was born, I prayed he would be healthy and blessed with a keen mind. After about six months, we learned that he had congenital cataracts. I prayed that his vision would be restored after cataract surgery, but then we learned that he had retinal problems and would be blind. I knew some blind friends who were very bright and had purposeful lives, so I prayed that my son would be bright and full of potential. However, by the time he reached school age, it was evident that he was mentally challenged.

At that point, I had to ask myself, “Is prayer a waste of time?” As a Christian, I knew the Bible said I should pray (John 16:24, Mark 11:24, Matthew 5:44, James 5:16). While studying this question, I gradually realized that prayer was never about physical needs. Jesus warned that problems would come (Matthew 24:4-13). Prayer did not remove issues for Jesus or Paul. Jesus was still crucified, and Paul still had an affliction (2 Corinthians 12:7-9).

The Bible teaches that prayer is primarily about spiritual issues, not physical ones. That doesn’t mean we should not talk with God about physical problems, but the promises of what prayer will do are spiritual. James 1:5 tells Christians to pray for wisdom, not intelligence. James 5:13-14 says, “Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray.” (KJV) The Greek word “afflicted” is “kakopatheo,” meaning to suffer evil. This is not about physical affliction but letting evil take over your life. The use of oil mentioned in the passage was not about medicinal value but a symbol of gladness or spiritual nourishment. (See Deuteronomy 33:24, Psalms 23:5, and Job 29:6.)

Colossians 3:2 tells Christians to “Set your mind on things above, not on things on this Earth.” Philippians 4:6-7 tells Christians that prayer will guard our hearts and minds, not skin and joints. Is prayer a waste of time? I have had atheist friends tell me they don’t understand how I keep going with all the things that have happened in my life. They don’t realize that prayer brings what this passage calls “the peace of God.” Peace doesn’t come from politicians or things of this world. Realizing that you have a purpose for existence is a beautiful reward of being a Christian. My prayer for you is that you will find that peace.

November 4, 2024November 3, 2024

When Neutron Stars Collide

The periodic table has 94 elements that occur naturally and 24 others that exist only in particle accelerators, nuclear reactors, and atomic explosions. The natural elements include one group known as “rapid neutron capture process” or r-process elements. Most of those elements are created when neutron stars collide, giving off gamma rays.

In the periodic table above, you can see the r-process elements in lavender. Without those elements, life would be very different, if not impossible. Two of the r-process metals are thorium and uranium. Earth’s strong magnetic field that protects us from deadly solar and cosmic radiation exists because of radioactive thorium and uranium inside our planet. Those elements are also the reason for plate tectonics, which transformed the planet from a water world (Genesis 1:2) into a world with oceans and continents (Job 38:8-11).

Other valuable metals in the r-process group include silver, gold, platinum, palladium, and osmium. Those metals are essential for electronic components and catalysts that make our high technology possible. They are also involved in medical treatments, including chemotherapy.

The precisely fine-tuned properties of neutrinos and the weak nuclear force make the rapid nuclear capture process possible. When neutron stars collide, we are also blessed by the fact that they are far away from our planet, so the gamma rays pose no risk to our survival. The closest detected collision was in a galaxy 130 million light-years from Earth. We see evidence of God’s creative wisdom in all of these things and many more.

Reference: salvomag.com

November 1, 2024October 28, 2024

The Violation of Parental Rights

A struggle with faith connections in America today is the violation of parental rights. By a parent, we mean more than the woman who gave birth to a child and the father who impregnated her. I am the father of three children who are not biologically related to me. They came into our home as infants, and my wife and I raised them. Their birth certificates identify my wife and me as their mother and father. We love our three children as much as any parent can, and they refer to us as mom and dad.

We are seeing a disturbing violation of parental rights in America. In some cases, the government can take children from their parents if they refuse to promote gender ideology. Reported instances of adults telling kindergarten students that there are more than two genders or that they may have been born in the “wrong body” cause concern among parents. Government agencies can tell people of faith that they cannot adopt a child or raise a child in a foster home because they won’t promote the current craze of trans-genderism.

Some public schools have adopted “secret social transition” policies requiring school staff to treat children with gender dysphoria as the opposite sex without telling the child’s parents. The long-term effect of hormone drug treatment is still unknown, but all available evidence is that it has a negative impact on a child’s longevity. Secret transition policies are a violation of parental rights.

In the Bible, Proverbs contains many admonitions to children, fathers, and mothers. (See Proverbs 22:6, 23:13-14, and 22-25.) The New Testament addresses parents directly, charging both mother and father with parental responsibility. (See Ephesians 6:1-4, Colossians 3:20-21, and 1 Timothy 3:4.) The biological process of conception and having a baby is a small part of being a parent, and God’s plan works and produces the very best long-term results.

October 31, 2024October 28, 2024

The Ouija Board Scam

Scams, lies, and fakes are nothing new—they have been around for centuries. An example is the Ouija board, which dates back to the early 1800s. Originally a parlor game, the “ouija” name was an amalgamation of “oui” and “ja” from the French and German words for “yes.” Today, you can buy a Ouija board from Walmart for $19.99. The Ouija board scam uses well-known psychological principles to do interesting things that depend on the human mind.

The Ouija board originated when life expectancy was very short compared to today. Almost a third of children did not live to see their fifth birthday. When the Civil War erupted in 1861, everyone was touched by the loss of a loved one. Many people wanted to communicate with their dead relatives, resulting in seances, disembodied voices, automatic writing, and other scams involving communicating with a loved one in the spirit world. In 1891, Elijah J. Bond received a patent for a “talking board,” which he sold to William Fudd, who made a fortune selling them.

The Ouija board scam is an example of automatism, doing something without feeling we are doing it. People have used automatism in hypnosis, dowsing, automatic writing, and many fake psychic events. Those of us who have been around for a while have seen things like this repeated over and over. Who can forget “Clever Hans,” the horse who could do complex mathematical calculations? It turned out to be a function of the mind of his owner, a mathematician, who could transmit commands to the horse by subtle physical gestures.

Another scam is religious spiritualism, in which a preacher claims to have special powers coming from God. Religious scams have also gone on for a very long time. In 1 Samuel 28:3-14 Saul went to a woman known as the witch of Endor and asked her to contact Samuel, who had died. Witchcraft was outlawed in Israel then, so the woman was reluctant to conduct a séance. When she did the scam séance, the real Samuel appeared through a miracle from God. The witch was shocked and screamed, obviously surprised because she had a scam going, and the real thing appeared.

The Bible presents a rational, accurate description of the normal process of human affairs. Miracles are identified as such and cannot, by definition, be proven. Jesus offered evidence through miracles during His physical time on Earth. Religious leaders today claiming the ability to perform miracles are like the Witch of Endor or the Ouija board scam.

— John N. Clayton © 2024
Reference: smithsonianmag.com

October 29, 2024October 28, 2024

What Nothing Is

It may seem strange that we would have an article about “nothing,” but this is a serious topic. The dictionary defines nothing as “not any material or immaterial thing” (Oxford English Dictionary). Cosmologists like Stephen Hawking won’t accept that definition. Do we really know what nothing is?

Hawking argues that “nothing” can result from cyclic processes – quantum fluctuations in the very early universe. Cosmologist Lawrence Krauss explained his understanding of what nothing is this way: “For surely “nothing” is every bit as physical as “something,” especially if it is to be defined as “the absence of something.” The cosmologists’ speculative attempts to redefine nothing is an attempt to eliminate God from the process of creation.

If I have a bill for $10.00 and $10.00 in my pocket, is my net worth “nothing”? If matter and antimatter combine, they destroy each other. Does that produce “nothing”? The answer is clear. They produce energy, which is not nothing. This is not a scientific discussion because you can’t observe “nothing,” and you can’t devise an experiment to test “nothing.” Hawking and Krauss are scientists, not philosophers, but they are attempting a philosophical argument to eliminate God from the creation process.

There is strong evidence of a beginning to time, space, and matter/energy. It was not eternal and was not created by “nothing.” We can talk about dimensions beyond the ones we live in and the ones scientists can do their experiments in, but ultimately, God comes to the creation process from a dimension beyond the three we know. String theory suggests eleven spatial dimensions, but that is not good science; it is only speculative guesses about the nature of reality.

“In the beginning, God created the heaven (space, time, and matter/energy) and the earth.” That statement in Genesis 1:1 gives purpose, direction, and realism to all of us. Let us not argue about what nothing is.

— John N. Clayton © 2024
Quotes and data from John C. Lennox’s book God and Stephen Hawking – Whose Design Is It Anyway? pages 30-33.

October 24, 2024October 21, 2024

Superstar Lucy and Anthropology

American Scientist magazine called Lucy “Paleoanthropology’s Superstar.” Lucy (Australopithecus afarensis) is a hominid fossil found in 1974. Paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson named it Lucy because the Beatles song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” was being played on the radio that year. Lucy had a brain size of 450 cc. A modern human’s brain is between 950 cc and 1800 cc, depending on sex and location. What is special about superstar Lucy?

Lucy stood about three feet seven inches tall, weighed around 60 pounds, and had a pelvis similar to a chimpanzee. Lucy’s limbs were close to the ratio of a monkey, with the femur and humerus being about the same size. In humans, there is a 2:1 ratio between these two bones. The opening into the skull through which the spinal column sends its messages to the brain is called the foramen magnum. In a human, that opening is centered in the middle of the skull, allowing a normal vertical position. In a monkey, the foramen magnum is in the back of the skull, so vertical standing is difficult. In the case of Lucy, the foramen magnum is not in the center of the skull and not in the very back of the skull. Vertical motion and standing would have been possible, but walking long distances would be difficult.

Graduate students and anthropologists have used superstar Lucy for fundraising, with many getting support for field research. In the 50 years since Lucy’s discovery, researchers have found many other hominid fossils in better condition than Lucy. The theory of human evolution 50 years ago was a tree with something like Lucy at the base. The newer models are that hominoid history is more of a bush than a tree.

So, where do Adam and Eve fit into all of this? The Bible says that man was formed “from the dust of the Earth … and man became a living being”. The Hebrew used here is “nephesh,” which the Hebrew lexicon says means “animal soul.” The passage does not say how long God took to do that or what process He used. We can understand some of what God did by looking at the fossils. What separates the first human is not his body. Our body chemistry is the same as other forms of life. What sets us apart is our creation in God’s image.

Genesis 1:26-27 describes the unique creation of man – not his physical body. “Let US create man in OUR image” refers to the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.” In other words, the image of God refers to our spiritual makeup. It isn’t our brains or our bodies that make us unique and special. All humans are created in God’s image with a spiritual aspect that can last eternally. The physical body will return to the dust from which it came (Genesis 3:19), but our spiritual body (soul) is not subject to the physical laws that govern all other life on Earth.

As anthropologists focus on superstar Lucy, The big question is, “When will we recognize the unique beauty of all humans and stop killing each other?”

— John N. Clayton © 2024
Reference: “Paleoanthropology’s Superstar” in the November/December issue of American Scientist magazine (pages 326 -327).

October 23, 2024October 21, 2024

Making Assumptions About the Biblical Account

Bible Skeptics claim that Cain would have had to marry a sister since no other women were around. This is a classic demonstration of making assumptions about the biblical account that are incorrect both scientifically and biblically.

Even if Cain married a sister (which the Bible does not say), it would not be incest. The genome of humans at the early stage of human creation would have been perfect. Incest is when two people with DNA from the same imperfect parents produce a child. We all have mutations in our DNA from the thousands of generations of humans on Earth. Any brother having a child with his sister today would be dooming the child to genetic issues.

People making assumptions about the biblical account are only guessing and may contradict other biblical passages. How many children were born in the “Garden of Eden?” In Genesis 1:28, God told Adam and Eve, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the Earth …” Some have suggested that this is the only command God ever gave that humans have completely obeyed. The point is that they either had children or they disobeyed God. The skeptic’s only alternative is to assume their time in the Garden was too short to bear children.

Genesis 4:16-17 says, “Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.” The Bible does not say that Cain took his wife to Nod, so he must have married a woman living in Nod. This would be a distant relative from the population that left the Garden of Eden. Genesis 5 lists the genealogy from Adam to Noah, leaving out Cain’s descendants. Genesis 6:1-5 records the increase in human population using the word “Nephilim,” meaning fallen ones. It does not mean aliens or monsters, as some have suggested, but those who rejected God.

Making assumptions about the biblical account is dangerous because the Bible does not tell us many things about early humans. Neither does the geologic fossil record give us the details we want to know. But what is actually recorded in the Bible is not at odds with the geological evidence. As in all such questions, you can intelligently and reasonably believe both the scientific evidence and the biblical record. They are symbiotic.

October 21, 2024October 27, 2024

Sea Robin Design

Small fish in the subfamily Prionotinae are among the most interesting ocean creatures. They are known as sea robins because they have large pectoral fins resembling bird wings. The sea robin design makes them distinctive, and some say, “bizarre.”

Sea robins live off the coasts of the Americas in the western Atlantic and eastern Pacific oceans. In addition to having fins that resemble bird wings, they have limbs like a crab. These legs are covered with tiny protrusions, which are like taste buds that can detect mollusks buried under the sand, allowing them to find food on the ocean floor.

When a northern sea robin (Prionotus carolinus) hatches, it has webbed fins for swimming. As the fish grows, the first three rays of the pectoral fins separate into three individual appendages on each side that can serve as legs for “walking” along the ocean floor. These appendages in northern sea robins can detect chemicals released by prey hidden under the sand. Each of these six “legs” has a large nerve that branches from the massive spinal ganglia to carry information to and from the brain.

The unique sea robin design includes fins to soar like a bird underwater, “legs” to walk on the sea floor and “taste” hidden predators, armor plating, and specialized muscles to generate croaking sounds by drumming on their swim bladder. This is another example of complexity in a life form that is too complex for a chance explanation. Evolutionary theories can explain one of the unique characteristics of the sea robin design, but all of these unique features have to come together to survive.

Controlling the populations of benthic sea creatures and keeping the ocean floor clean of debris requires a unique form of life, and the sea robin design remarkably fills the need. God’s creatures offer an understanding of God’s design wisdom, care, and engineering. Romans 1:19-20 tells us that things like this fish are an apologetic for the existence of God.

October 16, 2024October 14, 2024

Rivers and Streams Neglected

We take for granted many of the things God has created that our lives depend on. The classic example is neglected rivers and streams. Many rivers have become dumping grounds not only for human waste but for agricultural waste and chemical disposal. Scientific studies have shown us how destructive this is.

One-third of the American population depends on rivers and streams for drinking water. Seventy-five percent of commercial fisheries depend on rivers that run into the oceans or the Great Lakes. These include shrimp, clams, oysters, salmon, walleye, catfish, lake trout, cisco, grunions, and a host of rough fish used for cat food and fertilizer. Rivers and creeks, if adequately cared for, store billions of gallons of water annually. Much of the flooding in America is caused by the neglect of rivers and streams or the misuse of them by straightening, paving the stream bed, or narrowing the stream channel.

The Bible has many references to streams and rivers. The Psalmist pictured rivers as places of retreat and recovery (Psalms 1:3 and 65:9). Rivers and streams were involved in various biblical historical events. The book of Revelation uses rivers to portray the message of God concerning the future. (See Revelation 8:10, 9:14, 16:4, 16:12, and especially 22:1 & 2.) In Acts 16:13-15 we see people gathering at the riverside to worship.

The home of this ministry is located on the edge of the St Joseph River in Michigan. I moved to this area in 1959 to teach science in South Bend. In one course, the students took water samples and studied what the river was like in the past and what it might be like in the future. My students found used toilet paper, dead animals, bottles of chemicals, and rotten food. When a Notre Dame professor joined us, he pointed out that the city cemetery drained into the river. An oxbow lake that was part of the river was the city swimming hole. The professor suggested that the fluids from the cemetery in the water meant,” You are swimming in grandpa’s juices.”

The home where I live in retirement is on the river downstream from all of that. Five cities empty the overflow from their sewage treatment plants into the river. Like most rivers in America, the one I live by carries bacteria, chemicals, waste, and sewage. Rather than identify the human role and clean it up, our culture wants to blame God for the diseases that afflict innocent people.

God gave us rivers and streams as places of beauty and solitude, reflecting God’s creative wisdom. We see muskrats, peregrine falcons, beavers, turtles, deer, eagles, herons, swans, and a host of shoreline birds along the river. They all speak of God’s wisdom and planning and His desire for us to live as He called us to live. Romans 6 gives a great call for all of us. Please read it.