image of God Archives - DOES GOD EXIST? TODAY

May 29, 2024May 28, 2024

Animals Do Not Possess Human Values or Empathy

One result of evolutionary thinking is believing that humans are not unique but just animals at the top of the evolutionary ladder. As a result of that message, many people treat animals as if they are humans, at times even raising wild animals in their homes. The problem is that animals do not possess human values or empathy, and their instinctive behavior may cause unexpected problems.

In some cases, animals have reverted to instinctive drives, causing them to attack their owners. A man named Austin Riley in Boerne, Texas, found a newborn warthog whose mother had died. Riley took the tiny warthog, nursed it, and raised it for five years. He named the pet warthog Waylon after Waylon Jennings, a country singer known for his outlaw behavior. When Riley would lie down and listen to sports radio, Waylon would lie down beside him. Riley would take Waylon to Whataburger to get something to eat, and Waylon would sit in the front seat “happy as can be.” Waylon grew to weigh 250 pounds and was identified with Pumbaa in the popular Lion King movie, with the Swahili expression “hakuna matata,” meaning “no worries.” However, there was something to worry about in this case because animals do not possess human values or empathy.

Warthogs have lower tusks protruding from muscular jaws like blades. The tusks are curved, so the warthog can do incredible damage to any animal or person by twisting its head. Warthogs are designed to protect themselves from lions, their main enemies in their native Africa. On an October evening in 2022, Austin came to Waylon’s pen, and the warthog greeted him happily as he went to the feeding trough. Twenty minutes after feeding Waylon, Austin fed Daisy a potbellied pig he raised from a piglet and then walked to his ATV. Suddenly, Waylon attacked Austin, ripping his legs, wrist, abdomen, and neck. Doctors say that Austin lost half of his blood, and his treatment required ten surgeries. Medical studies of Waylon showed he did not have rabies.

The bottom line is that wild animals are not good pets. Animals do not possess human values or empathy. I have known friends who had snakes, alligators, turtles, deer, eagles, crows, chimps, goldfish, and even sharks for pets. In many cases, a time came when the animals acted aggressively toward their keepers. The point is that humans can behave like animals, but animals cannot behave like humans. Humans are created in God’s image, which is expressed in how we live and care for one another at all stages of life. The world would be a much better place if everyone followed the teachings of Jesus Christ in Matthew chapters 5 to 7.

Reference: boingboing.net and Texas Monthly

February 29, 2024February 28, 2024

Should Only the Fit and Wanted Be Allowed to Survive?

People in the abortion debate avoid the question of when a baby in the mother’s womb should be called a human. The scientific facts do not support attempts by abortion supporters to say that the baby is just an extension of the mother’s body and, like hair or fingernails, can be removed at the discretion of the mother. Should only the fit and wanted be allowed to survive?

One of the many evidences that the baby is a human and not an extension of the mother’s body is the issue of morning sickness. A new study reveals that the nausea may be caused by a protein called GDF15 produced by the fetus. The mother’s body rejects the protein as coming from a foreign object. Claims that morning sickness is psychological have been disproven and are “widely refuted.”

It is not hard to understand why a woman with an unwanted pregnancy would choose abortion. However, from a scientific sta n dpoint, the fetus is a human. We need to emphasize the alternatives to killing an inconvenient child. Our culture must understand the value of human life. If we accept the idea of destroying anyone who places a burden on others, then killing Alzheimer patients, cancer patients, elderly people with limited life expectancy, and people with severe mental illness will be acceptable.

The Bible makes it clear that we are created in God’s image. All human life is precious, and each person has a purpose for existing. On the other hand, should only the fit and wanted be allowed to survive? Evolution says “yes.” While that may work for raising chickens, it is not what we want for the future of our children and grandchildren.

Reference: “Fetuses make a protein that causes morning sickness in pregnancy” in Science News magazine’s January 27, 2024 issue.

February 7, 2024February 5, 2024

Design of the Umbilical Cord

Science still doesn’t fully understand the design of the umbilical cord that allows a baby to live inside its mother for nine months. The umbilical cord supplies the baby with oxygen, nutrients, and antibodies. Birthing techniques before the 20th century delayed cutting the cord, but that has changed since birthing moved from the home to the hospital. However, new data shows that delaying cutting the umbilical cord can boost the baby’s blood volume, red blood cell count, and iron stores and ease the transition to breathing.

The issue of when to cut the umbilical cord has become exceptionally well-studied in the case of premature babies. Nearly one million premature babies worldwide die every year, and a study of 10,000 preemies shows that when doctors delay clamping and cutting the umbilical cord, the survival rate improves. Yale University School of Medicine expert Jessica Illuzzi says, “longer is better.” The design of the umbilical cord is amazing.

Some pro-abortion advocates say the unborn child is just an extension of the mother’s body. It can be cut off and discarded like a fingernail or a lock of hair. There is no scientific support for such a claim. From the mother’s morning sickness to the baby’s physical characteristics and genetic makeup, all evidence shows the child is a unique individual. The fact that the unborn child depends for survival on the mother and the design of the umbilical cord does not change the fact that the baby is a unique human and not part of the mother. Every facet of the reproductive process shows God’s wisdom.

Women have the right to choose whether to be a mother, but the decision must be made before sexually engaging with a man. In the case of an unwanted pregnancy, options are available. As the father of three adopted children, I know how that adoption can be a positive experience for everyone involved, and there is an acute shortage of babies for adoption.

The psychological damage of abortion for women is well documented. Part of that damage comes from knowing that a child created in God’s image has been destroyed. The system of producing life designed by God has been disrupted, which is an affront to the Creator.

Reference: “Lifeline Decision” in Scientific American for February 2024, page 13.

November 17, 2023November 14, 2023

The Purpose for the Cosmos

Scientists and philosophers speculate on the question, “Why Is There Something Instead of Nothing?” The question is why our solar system exists and why there should be countless galaxies other than our Milky Way. Part of this question no one can answer, at least not at the present time. What is the purpose for the cosmos?

Is there intelligent life in any of the other solar systems? We can’t answer that question yet. However, if God’s purpose in creating the physical world in which we live is to advance the battle between good and evil, would He also do that in other places? Isaiah 55:8-9 challenges us to understand that God is not limited to our capacity to think and understand. In that passage, God says, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways … For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Science fiction writers have created a whole industry on the assumption that the war between good and evil is ongoing and not limited to the planet on which we live.

A theologian may object to the possibility of other planets with intelligent life, saying, “So you think that Jesus died more than once and experienced more than one resurrection?” The answer to that is “no.” The biblical account is limited to planet Earth. However, many years ago, on a Larry King talk show with an atheist, a caller asked the atheist, “What would you do if a spaceship landed on the White House lawn and a little green man jumped out with a Bible in his hand and said, ‘Has Jesus been here yet?'” My atheist opponent smiled and said, “Punt.”

God may provide a different means for the battle between good and evil than what we see on planet Earth. The point is that there is a purpose for our existence and a purpose for the cosmos. God may use other places and methods to carry out that battle. On a cosmic level, the atheist has no purpose for existing.

Another point we must consider about why the universe exists is that all we see in the cosmos may simply be the result of the creation of time, space, and energy in the beginning. We now understand that the “big bang” singularity was not just a physical process. God created time and space, and matter-energy was engrained in the fabric of space. For us humans, limited to our five senses and able only to comprehend the changes in our physical world, the purpose for the cosmos is beyond our current understanding.

Recent advances in quantum mechanics have shown that time did have a beginning and that the fabric of space contains all the residual matter produced by the creation process. God was not just concerned about the scientifically ignorant population of the days of Moses and Christ. God knew that humans would eventually come to understand the creation process to such an extent that we could see evidence of God’s hand in the cosmos. As God’s ultimate creation, it makes sense that humans would seek to know the purpose for the cosmos.

We suggest that what makes humans unique and special is our spiritual makeup, being created in the image of God. Our physical qualities are of secondary importance. The whole message of the cosmos is that God is a God of incredible power, wisdom, and purpose. The universe radiates that, and the more we see of the creation, the more we understand of its Creator.

May 25, 2023May 25, 2023

Deciding Who is Human and Who Isn’t

The Bible tells us that humans are created in the image of God, giving us a spiritual nature – a soul. That means all races and sexes of humans are equal. Galatians 3:28 says it well, “you are all one in Christ Jesus.” While that is speaking of Christians, it applies to all humans since anyone can become a Christian. Those who reject belief in God have a harder time deciding who is human and who isn’t.

In the past, people justified slavery based on the claim that certain racial groups were not human and thus could be exploited by those deemed human. People today use the same illogic to justify abortion.

People use various criteria for deciding who is human and who isn’t. For example, when I was a young college student in the 1950s, we were told that the ability to make and use tools was the deciding factor. That teaching was nullified when researchers found that many animals make and use tools. For example, researchers have seen macaques in Phang Nga Bay in Thailand crack nuts with stones and discard sharp flakes, similar to early human tools.

More recently, anthropologists have suggested that the ability to recognize yourself in a mirror is evidence of self-awareness and is a cognitive ability unique to humans. One reason for this interpretation is that chimps and orangutans show they recognize themselves when they look in a mirror. That led to the conclusion that chimps, orangutans, and humans are all one family. However, a recent study of bluestreak cleaner wrasses by cognitive scientists at Osaka Metropolitan University in Japan has shown that these inch-long fish can recognize themselves in a mirror.

When researchers put a parasite-like mark on cleaner wrasses’ throats and allowed the fish to see their reflection in a mirror, they rubbed themselves on rocks to remove the mark. The wrasse could also pick its picture out of four photos that included three other wrasses. It’s essential to point out that self-awareness allows the physical survival of these fish because the wrasses eat parasites off the bodies of other fish. Knowing which fish will seek their help and which will eat them involves recognizing faces. This private awareness is a survival feature God has given them and doesn’t translate to emotions, thoughts, or language.

Humans are unique because of our spiritual nature, created in God’s image. Therefore, other criteria for deciding who is human and who isn’t are doomed to failure.

Reference: Scientific American, June 2023, pages 16 and 19.

May 24, 2023May 23, 2023

How Humans Avoided Being Eaten by Carnivores

Have you ever considered how humans avoided being eaten by carnivores in ancient times since we are essentially defenseless? We aren’t stronger than large carnivores, have no teeth or claws for defense, can’t run very fast, and do not have camouflage. So if you believe in survival of the fittest, it is pretty obvious humans should not have survived.

The research done by scientists reveals some incredible planning that allows us to exist. Consider these facts:

1) Human color vision is unique from that of other animals. For example, carnivores have dichromatic vision with two color cones, while humans have three. Hunters can wear red and not spook their prey because the prey does not have red cones.

2) Human vision has better angular resolution than other animals allowing greater spatial processing. We can tell where an animal is long before it can see us. When you walk your dog, you can see another dog long before your dog does, and you know how far away it is.

3) Humans have group behavior and group communication. Our speech lets a group know what the carnivore is and where it is. Our brains have sound and behavior connected. Carnivores have blind-deaf disembodied brains, meaning that sight and sound are not connected in a carnivore’s brain. Seeing a human or hearing one does not tell the carnivore whether the human is a useful food source. In addition, a carnivore would have to fight a group of humans prepared for its attack, requiring more energy to track down than the energy it would get from eating one of us.

Studies by biologists have shown that if zebras and antelopes had the same visual and sound connections to their brains as humans, lions would starve to death. So God’s design is how humans avoided being eaten by carnivores that are stronger than us. These features, and our intelligence, allowed us to survive.

After the flood, God told Noah, “And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand” (Genesis 9:2). So that is how humans avoided being eaten by carnivores. God designed the life system, including the animals that physically could use man as a food source, in a way that humans could exist. We are unique in our spiritual makeup in God’s image and in our physical bodies designed for survival.

Reference: “Comparative study of fibrillar collagen arrangement in the corneas of primates and other mammals” in Advances in Integrative Anatomy and Evolutionary Biology, 290(12), 1542 – 1550.

January 7, 2022January 6, 2022

Animal Tool Use and What It Means

An interesting fact about animals is their ability to use tools. Years ago, people thought that only humans used tools, but recent studies have shown animal tool use. However, the word “tool” means different things to different people.

Webster defines a tool as “an instrument used to accomplish a given task.” By that definition, we can find examples of animal tool use. We have reported on some of them before. For example, HERE and HERE.

Science News reported that polar bears sometimes kill walrus by bashing them with chunks of stone or ice. People have observed birds cracking nuts by dropping them from high altitudes onto rocks. Elephants use tree trunks for a variety of purposes, and crows use sticks to pry off the lids of bottles. Chimpanzees use conchoidally fractured chert or flint to cut open a fruit. Those of us who have bird feeders have seen squirrels use a tree branch to access a feeder. Recently, researchers in Israel taught fish how to drive a “car.”

There is a difference between a tool and a machine. According to the dictionary, a machine is “an assembly of interconnected components arranged to transmit or modify force in order to perform useful work.” A broader question here is whether intelligence is needed to fashion a machine? If that is the case, intelligent animals should be making machines, and mentally challenged humans would not be able to do so.

This discussion of animal tool use gets into difficulties because the anatomical parts of all animals are simple machines. Limbs are levers, and teeth are wedges. The design of all animals includes the equipment to secure food and shelter. Building into animals the ability to use objects in their environment to survive is another example of God’s design in the natural world.

Studies indicate incredible wisdom and planning in the creation of animal life. However, what sets humans apart from all other animals is not tools, machines, or intelligence. Instead, our spiritual nature is what makes humans different.

The ability of humans to create art, express ourselves in music, conceive of self, worship, and be taught to think set humans apart. To have an agape type of love that is not sexual and does not promote survival makes us human. The mentally challenged among us possess these abilities because all of us are created in the image of God. Animal tool use is far removed from possessing God’s image.

Reference: Science News, July 29, 2021.

October 22, 2021October 21, 2021

A Chimp Named Washoe

In the 1960s, a husband and wife team conducted an experiment with a chimp named Washoe. R. Allen Gardner was a psychologist, and his wife Beatrix was a zoologist. They took a young chimpanzee and attempted to raise it like a human child. The name came from a native American tribe and Washoe County, Nevada.

The couple taught Washoe American Sign Language (ASL), which they said he learned very quickly. Over time, Washoe learned 350 words and used them in combination, such as “Gimme Sweet.” R. Allen Gardner recently passed away, and his work has been revived in several popular magazines and journals.

When Gardner published the report about raising a chimp named Washoe, some people used it to say that chimps are merely less developed humans. They said the Gardner’s had to use ASL because the anatomical structure of a chimpanzee’s mouth and throat was simply inadequate to speak in human language. Furthermore, Washoe taught a bonobo named Kanzi to use ASL. Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington, had a department called The Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute which closed in 2013. Washoe died there in 2007.

Scientists have conducted many experiments on the interaction between chimps and humans. Sometimes they had negative results when the chimps reverted to their normal behavior as seen in the wild. Animal rights proponents have pushed to have chimps receive the same rights as humans. Some evolutionists would point to this as proof that humans and chimpanzees evolved from a common ancestor.

While the research is interesting and the creativity of the Gardners is impressive, there are some important things to point out. There has never been a question about whether animals can mimic human sounds. A parrot can rattle off human words and even phrases. There have even been dogs that could make a sound that resembles human words. Learning sounds and putting them into a form that elicits the desired response is not language. Webster defines language as “a system of communication which consists of a set of sounds and written symbols used by the people of a particular country or region for talking or writing,”

Mimicking a sound is not language. A chimp named Washoe using ASL is not human language. Humans project ideas, feelings, and artistic expression of life in music and art using language. The evidence supports a vast difference between animals and humans, as described in the Genesis account.
The Bible tells us that humans are uniquely created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). That refers to our spiritual makeup expressed in language and may or may not include sound. Baby humans learn to mimic, but it isn’t until they reach some level of maturity that they express spiritual creativity. Humans express the image of God in morality and the structure of society, as well as in language, art expression, and appreciation of beauty. The more we learn about animals, the more we appreciate how well-designed they are, but they are not humans.

We previously reported that Koko, the gorilla raised by Penny Patterson, also mastered ASL. You can read about that HERE and HERE.

September 14, 2021September 13, 2021

Difficult Genesis Issues – Where Did Cain Get His Wife?

Several Genesis verses contain some issues that have bothered many people. For example, are we supposed to understand the ages of the people chronologically? If so, how did they live so long? Who was Cain afraid of, and where did those people come from? Where did Cain get his wife? Those are some of the difficult Genesis issues people have tried to resolve.

The Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation is the product of scientists who believe in God and accept the Bible as His Word. They have advanced academic degrees, and their articles are very scholarly. Recent issues have carried some interesting discussions of difficult Genesis issues, including the account of Adam and Eve. The September issue contains an article by Dr. Roy Clouser. He contends that we have ignored the Jewish understanding of Genesis, causing credibility issues with the biblical account. Clouser maintains that the ages of biblical characters were not intended to be understood as chronological but symbolic of their character or accomplishments. For example, Methuselah living 969 years would indicate higher qualities than Adam’s 600 years.

That is an interesting explanation. I am now 83 years old chronologically, and I cannot fathom living for 600 years. The physical weakness that comes from age seems to be built into humans as it is in the rest of the world. When Adam and Eve were in the Garden, they had access to the Tree of Life that would allow them to live forever. The traditional explanation that the human fall into sin brought physical death into the world for the first time has credibility issues with most people.

Clouser makes an interesting comparison between Genesis 2:7, where God breathed into Adam the breath of life, and John 20:22, where Jesus breathed on His disciples. Genesis tells us that “God formed man of the dust of the ground,” clearly referring to man’s body. Then the verse says, “and man became a living soul.” Genesis 1:26-27 describes the man and woman as created in the image of God. That, of course, refers to the spiritual image because God is a Spirit and not a limited physical being. When humans sinned, God’s spirit departed from them. However, John 20:22 tells us that Jesus “breathed on them (His disciples) and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’”

Other difficult Genesis issues include when Cain says, “Everyone who finds me will try to kill me” (Genesis 4:14). Who are those who would try to kill Cain, and where did they come from? Where did Cain get his wife? Cain also builds a city, and that requires large numbers of humans. My response has always been that Adam and Eve had many children in the Garden of Eden. Therefore, all of humanity rebelled against God and were forced out of the Garden and lost a relationship with God. Clouser presents a different interpretation that warrants more study.

The fact is that the biblical account is accurate and deals with salvation through Jesus Christ. However, understanding how we got to where we are is very complex and will always leave some questions for further study. It is our understanding of the difficult Genesis issues that is in question–not the accuracy of the biblical record.

June 29, 2021June 20, 2021

Creation of the First Humans

Over the last two days, we have looked at some Hebrew words used in the Genesis creation account. The two most important words are “bara” and “asah.” They describe two different processes God used. Yesterday, we said that “asah” refers to making something from materials that have already been created. “Bara” refers to something only God can do in creating something that did not exist before. The Bible uses that word in describing the creation of the first humans.

Genesis 1:1 uses “bara” to refer to God creating the universe and planet Earth out of nothing. The same word is used in Genesis 1:20 for the creation of the first life when only non-living matter existed before. Then it is used in Genesis 1:27 for the creation of the first humans in the image of God. Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him, male and female created He them.” This view of what a human is, values every human. All human lives matter because all lives, all races, all ethnic groups, and both sexes are created in the image of God.

All attempts to get animals to exhibit characteristics unique to humans, such as artistic creation, musical synthesis, worship, and being able to be taught to think, have been a failure. There are horror stories of animals raised in human homes as humans and how they eventually reverted to their instinctive drives. One of them was a chimpanzee raised as part of a family. It savagely attacked and wounded a female visitor whom the chimp considered an invader in his territory.

The Bible is very clear in its teaching about the unique nature of humans and their equality with one another. In John 4:1-42, Jesus interacts with a Samaritan woman. Verse 9 points out that Jews at that time didn’t even talk to Samaritans, much less a Samaritan woman. Verse 27 tells us that the disciples marveled that Jesus spoke with her. Galatians 3:26-29 states the Christian view of the equality of all humans in no uncertain terms.

Skeptics have attempted to say the Bible denigrates some humans as second-class citizens by pointing out the conflict between Jews and Gentiles. That conflict had nothing to do with race but was over religious matters. Others have suggested that Genesis 6:1-8 denigrates some groups by calling them “nephilim.” The word “nephilim” doesn’t mean a giant or an alien or a half-human. The word’s literal meaning is “fallen ones,” and the passage’s context is clear that it describes people who have rejected God and His will. The word for giant in Hebrew is “gibbor” (Job 16:14) or “rapha” (Deuteronomy 2:11, 20 and 2 Samuel 21:16, 18, 20, 22).

The Biblical concept of humans is not only that all races and nationalities are equal, but that humans as a whole are unique and special because they are created in God’s image. The lineage of all people on Earth today goes back to the creation of the first humans. No other faith but Christianity has given the instructions to treat one another–even our enemies–with love, respect, and care (Matthew 5:38-48). That is because we are all created in God’s image.