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This is all science fiction. No one has ever seen a hypercycle, progenote, etc. “How plausible is all this?” Pigluicci asks. Bravely upholding the honor of modern science as best he can, he replies, “It certainly is conceivable from the standpoint of modern biology. The problem is that each step is difficult to describe in detail from a theoretical standpoint, and so far (with the exception of the formation of organic molecules in the soup) has proven remarkably elusive from an empirical perspective. It looks like we have several clues, but the overall puzzle is proving to be one of the most difficult for scientific analysis to solve . . . the events in question are so far remote in time that there is very little we can be certain about, making any attempt at empirical investigation hopelessly vague.”

Massimo Pigliucci acknowledges, “The origin of life is one question that science will be pondering for some time to come . . . be wary of oversimplified answers found in introductory biology textbooks.”38 God is eliminated not by evidence and proof but by definition. What does that leave? Scrambling desperately to get along without a Creator, scientists offer all manner of speculation (which is all they have), as does Pigliucci himself. Consider the following (uncertainties/guesses are italicized):

“The general path leading to the organization of life seems to have been something like this: 1. Primordial soup. . . ; 2. Nucleo-proteins (similar to modern tRNAs); 3. Hypercycles [which] could have coexisted before the origin of life. . . ; 4. Cellular hypercycles . . . eventually enclosed in a primitive cell made of lipids. . . ; 5. Progenote (first self-replicating, metabolizing cell, possibly made of RNA and proteins, with DNA entering the picture later on.”

One of the tired old canards on which antitheists have dined out for years is the claim that our eye is stupidly wired back to front, something no decent designer would use. E.g. the vociferous misotheist and eugenicist Clinton R. Dawkins said in his famous book, The Blind Watchmaker:

“Any engineer would naturally assume that the photocells would point towards the light, with their wires leading backwards towards the brain. He would laugh at any suggestion that the photocells might point away, from the light, with their wires departing on the side nearest the light. Yet this is exactly what happens in all vertebrate retinas. Each photocell is, in effect, wired in backwards, with its wire sticking out on the side nearest the light. The wire has to travel over the surface of the retina to a point where it dives through a hole in the retina (the so-called ‘blind spot’) to join the optic nerve. This means that the light, instead of being granted an unrestricted passage to the photocells, has to pass through a forest of connecting wires, presumably suffering at least some attenuation and distortion (actually, probably not much but, still, it is the principle of the thing that would offend any tidy-minded engineer). I don’t know the exact explanation for this strange state of affairs. The relevant period of evolution is so long ago.”

Other anticreationists such as Kenneth Miller parrot the same sort of argument (see Refuting Evolution 2, ch. 7: Bad design is evidence of leftovers from evolution?).

Dawkins was really using a theological argument rather than a scientific one. I.e. he was claiming that a designer wouldn’t design something like this, rather than scientifically demonstrating evolution.

For all the cant about creationists using theology rather than science, notice that Dawkins was really using a theological argument rather than a scientific one. I.e. he was claiming that a designer wouldn’t design something like this, rather than scientifically demonstrating evolution (cf. Rats! A toothless argument for evolution). After all, he admitted to ignorance of an evolutionary explanation.

This is not surprising—the computer simulation he touts as proof for eye evolution starts with the nerve behind the light-sensitive spot. The vertebrate eye has the nerves in front of the photoreceptors, while the evolutionary just-so story provides no transitions from behind to in front, with all the other complex coordinated changes that would have to occur as well.1

However, ophthalmologists have denounced Dawkins’ claim repeatedly. E.g. George Marshall, the Sir Jules Thorn Lecturer in Ophthalmic Science, stated in reply to Dawkins:

The idea that the eye is wired backward comes from a lack of knowledge of eye function and anatomy.—Dr George Marshall, Sir Jules Thorn Lecturer in Ophthalmic Science

“The idea that the eye is wired backward comes from a lack of knowledge of eye function and anatomy.”2

Dr Marshall explains that the nerves could not go behind the eye, because that space is reserved for the choroid, which provides the rich blood supply needed for the very metabolically-active retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). This is necessary to regenerate the photoreceptors, and to absorb excess heat. So, it is necessary for the nerves to go in front instead.

It’s important to note that the ‘superior’ design of Dawkins with the nerves behind the photoreceptors would require either:

The choroid in front of the retina—but the choroid is opaque because of all the red blood cells, so this design would be as useless as an eye with a haemorrhage!

Photoreceptors not in contact with the RPE and choroid at all—but the photoreceptors would be slow to regenerate, so it would probably take months before we could drive after we were photographed with a flashbulb, as another ophthalmologist, Joseph Calkins, points out.3

Another creationist ophthalmologist, Dr Peter Gurney, in a detailed article, pointed out all the above with the RPE, but pointed out another use: extracting excess heat.4

However, in the evolutionists’ fantasy world, it is only natural to take the word of evolutionists totally lacking in ophthalmology qualifications over creationist experts in ophthalmology, when the issue is ophthalmology.

[This] shows that inverted wiring is necessary for vertebrate eyes to work—but that is the direct opposite of what evolutionists claim would be the ‘correct’ wiring. Note that the evolutionists’ claim is actually undercut by their own assessment of squid eyes, which, despite being ‘wired correctly’, don’t see as well as vertebrate eyes, according to the evolutionists themselves.5,6

Interestingly, anyone with excellent eyesight is said to have ‘eyes like a hawk’, which are ‘backwardly wired’, not ‘eyes like a squid’.

The excellent sight provided by these allegedly ‘wrongly wired’ eyes makes Dawkins’ objection absurd even on the face of it. Surely, if something works well, it is crass to whinge at alleged design faults. However, the precise reason for its excellent working was discovered only this year, as will be shown next.

Dawkins’ claim that the nerves obstruct the light has been falsified by very new research by scientists at Leipzig University. They showed that the vertebrate eye has an ingenious feature that overcomes even the slight disadvantage of nerves in front of the light receptors.7

The light is collected and funnelled through the nerve net to the receptors by the Müller cells, which act as optical fibres. Each cone cell has one Müller cell guiding the light to it, while several rods can share the same Müller cell.

The Müller cells work almost exactly like a fibre-optic plate that optical engineers can use to transmit an image with low distortion without using a lens. The cells even have the right variation in refractive index for “image transfer through the vertebrate retina with minimal distortion and low loss.”

Indeed, Müller cells are even better than optical fibres because they are funnel-shaped, which collects more light for the receptors. The wide entrances to Müller cells cover the entire surface of the retina, so collect the maximum amount of light.

One of the research team, Andreas Reichenbach, commented: “Nature is so clever. This means there is enough room in the eye for all the neurons and synapses and so on, but still the Müller cells can capture and transmit as much light as possible.”8

[TBC: For full article and footnotes, see:]

https://creation.com/fibre-optics-in-eye-demolish-atheistic-bad-design-argument

"Spiritual But Not Affiliated" (SBNA) began to be used to some degree by academics in 1960. By the turn of the Third Millennium the turn "Spiritual But Not Religious" (SBNR) became a category of choice for many. "What It Means To Be Spiritual But Not Religious" notes: 

Because over 92 percent of religiously-affiliated Americans currently identify as Christian, most “spiritual-but-not-religious” people come from that tradition. The term SBNR took off in the early 2000s, when online dating first became popular. “You had to identify by religion, you had to check a box,” Hedstrom told me. “‘Spiritual-but-not-religious’ became a nice category that said, ‘I’m not some kind of cold-hearted atheist, but I’m not some kind of moralizing, prudish person, either. I’m nice, friendly, and spiritual—but not religious.’”

Many do not understand what is going on in this transition. They are not giving up on spirituality but trading it in for something more enchanting. Carl Teichrib points out in "Magical Re-Enchantment: Part 3: Spiritual Secularity and the Occulturing of Society": 

French theologian and social thinker, Jacques Ellul, said the following on the heels of the Cultural Revolution in the West: “Secularization is always an intermediate stage between a religious society on the way out and the appearance of a new religious structuring.”

If the 1960s and 1970s represented the revolutionary seedbed for a new spiritual outlook (see chapter 6 in Game of Gods), the 1980s and 1990s were the decades of blossoming. In my view, this 40-year window was a critical time for the Christian church in the West. Alas, the year 2000 and onward would see both a harvest and re-seeding of spiritual alternatives; fresh shoots are flourishing in the soil that had been tilled during those key decades.

We have entered the Age of Re-enchantment.

It isn't exactly an abandonment of logic, reason, and science but an attempt at melding them into a new way of knowing. It is a sort of scientific mysticism. For Christians, especially churches, it will mean investing in regaining the type of apologetics style the Apostle Paul used in the First Century in order to be able to use the material the newly enchanted are drawing from in order to point them to Christ and salvation through Him.

https://mailchi.mp/2ad66b102db9/taming-jesus?e=169825fd77

Why must there be an explanation—an explanation that, admittedly, science can never produce? Are we to bury our heads in the sand? Why not admit the obvious, that God created it all? It cannot be argued that this conclusion is irrational unless it can be proved that God does not exist, and almost every atheist admits that no such proof can be found.

Becoming a follower of Jesus includes honoring God’s vision for sexual relationships, whether through opposite sex marriage or in a life of sexual integrity through singleness. In Mark 10, Jesus reveals how He thought about human sexuality:

“...from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate” (Mark:10:6-9 [6] But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. [7] For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; [8] And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. [9] What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
See All...).

Within Jesus’s words “God made them male and female… two” are the Biblical mandate for sexual identity. No matter where we identify ourselves within the LGBTQ spectrum, before God we are none of these. He sees us as we are—the way He made us as a man or woman. Because God knows us as we truly are, we trust Him to renew our minds and our understanding of ourselves so that we may fully enjoy what He placed within us. Our identity as God’s sons and daughters enables us to fully belong within His family. We no longer need to identify ourselves by cultural labels.

In this passage, Jesus points to creation itself—not the Torah law—to understand marriage. He discloses that sexuality, expressed within a covenant only between a man and woman, is a vital part of human creation that uniquely reflects the Divine Image. This sexual union reflects something of God’s identity and personality, and hints at the nature of the Trinity. Marriage is not merely a “Law” or social construct. The theme of marriage is used throughout the Bible to help us understand God’s desire for an unbroken and purehearted relationship with humanity, and is highlighted at “the beginning” to demonstrate God’s particular care and concern about our sexuality.

The binary division of the sexes and the intimacy of “two” are vital parts of God’s message to us. By these, humanity reflects God in the miracle of creating human life. This is a profound mystery of reciprocal communion and fellowship with God. Christopher West points out in Our Bodies Tell God’s Story that men and women are complete, independent entities physically in every way except one: our sexuality. A woman cannot bear children by herself, apart from the reproductive system of a man, just as a man cannot bear children apart from the womb of a woman. They must have each other to be fully expressed.

—Anon. (Former LGBTQ+)

Originally published August 1993

And in the days of these [ten] kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed.... —Daniel:2:44And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
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After this I saw...a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible...and it had ten horns....And the ten horns...are ten kings.... —Daniel:7:7After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.
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And...behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns.... —Revelation:12:3And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
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And I...saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns.... —Revelation:13:1And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
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I saw a woman sit[ting] upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns....And the ten horns...are ten kings.... —Revelation:17:3So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
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Of all the prophecies in the Bible, Revelation 17 is the most astonishing. It culminates a series of visions of four world empires, the fourth to be revived in the "last days" and ruled by Antichrist through ten subordinate "kings"—a series of visions which began 600 years earlier in Daniel 2 with Nebuchadnezzar's image. The image's "head of gold" was the first world empire, the Babylonian; the "breast and arms of silver" pictured the succeeding Medo-Persian Empire; next was the Grecian represented by "belly and thighs of brass"; and finally the "legs of iron, and feet [with ten toes signifying ten kings] part of iron and part of clay" depicted the fourth world empire arising out of Rome.

Daniel's prophecy (continued in chapters 7-12) foretold accurate details of coming world empires which we can't enumerate. Apropos of our subject, however, the image's two legs foretold the Roman Empire's division into East and West. And so it happened, first politically; centuries later, religiously. Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy (which in July again gained control of religion in Russia) remain divided to this day. They will, however, be reunited as the core of Antichrist's new world religion.

In a second vision, the four world empires were seen as beasts. The fourth had ten horns, representing, like the ten toes on the image, "ten kings" (Daniel:7:24And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
See All...) yet to arise. The ancient Roman Empire was never ruled by a coalition of ten kings; yet so it must be when "the God of heaven sets up [his] kingdom." Thus the Roman Empire must be revived in that form.

God's millennial kingdom will not (as many are teaching) result from a gradual takeover of the world by the church but through a sudden catastrophic intervention by Christ from heaven. He is the stone "cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet...the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold [were] broken to pieces...and the stone...became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth" (2:34-35). Christ's sudden intervention at Armageddon is also presented by Paul: "And then shall that Wicked [Antichrist] be revealed, whom the Lord shall...destroy with the brightness of his coming" (2 Thessalonians:2:8-10 [8] And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: [9] Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, [10] And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
See All...). The same event is found in Zechariah 12-14, Revelation 19, and elsewhere.

The Bible ignores other empires, some of which have been larger than the four above. Why? They won't be revived. For centuries the seat of world power was Egypt. There were great dynasties in China, Genghis Khan's far-ranging Mongolian empire, and vast Mayan and Aztec kingdoms in Central and South America. The Arabs once controlled most of North Africa, the Middle East and much of Europe. These empires will not rise again. The United States has been the dominant industrial and military force for 50 years, but that dominance cannot continue. The prophecies are clear: the Roman Empire will be revived, with Antichrist's seat in Western Europe and the world religion's headquarters in Rome.

In addition to the revived Roman Empire, the ten-horned beast also depicts Satan (the "great red dragon") and a satanically empowered man (Revelation:13:4-8 [4] And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? [5] And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. [6] And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. [7] And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. [8] And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
See All...)—the coming world ruler, or Antichrist. Yet it wasn't so much the sight of this terrifying beast that took John's breath away, but the woman who was riding him: "MYSTERY, BABYLON." Babylon is not a country but a city (certainly not the United States). Nor is it the city Saddam [was] rebuilding in Iraq, for that historic Babylon, in ruins for 2,300 years, obviously does not meet the five criteria. Nor are there two Babylons (a spiritual one and a commercial one) shown in Revelation 17 and 18. They are one and the same.

Babylon was built around the ruins of the Tower of Babel, which, we noted in June [1993], represented the false religion of human effort in opposition to salvation by grace through faith in Christ. It was the satanically inspired attempt to establish man as his own God. Babel's antichrist paganism remained as the unifying factor linking the four successive world empires. And so it must be revived with the Roman Empire.

Like Nimrod at Babel, the Caesars presided over the pagan priesthood and were worshiped as God. All who refused to bow down before the emperor's image in recognition of his deity were slain––a practice which will be reestablished under Antichrist (Revelation:13:8And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
See All...,14-15). Most astonishing of all, "Christianity" must merge with Babel's antichrist paganism to form the new world religion! That insight was a major reason for John's amazement.

That a gorgeously clad woman was holding the reins astride such a terrifying, world-devouring beast was incredible. The woman's identity, however, staggered John far more. Beneath the erotic attire, flashy jewelry, and impudent gaze there was a haunting familiarity. It couldn't be! How had Christ's chaste bride become this brazen whore? What alchemy had transformed that small, despised flock of humble followers of the Lamb into this notorious prostitute toasting Satan with the blood of the martyrs in a golden cup! How could the church, hated and persecuted by the world, as Christ had said she would be––how could she have become this Machiavellian despot that reigned over the kings of the earth?

History authenticates John's vision. The blood of the martyrs was the seed of a heavenly minded church without earthly ambition, a church whose members, increased to about 10 percent of the Roman Empire, were oppressed by the world and periodically slaughtered. Then, in AD 313, freedom from persecution came unexpectedly and suddenly under Constantine. Unfortunately, what seemed like a gift from God was a trap laid by Satan. It set the stage for an apostasy that would last more than a millennium––and is now gathering renewed momentum.

When he gave Christianity official status alongside paganism, Constantine, as emperor and "Pontifex Maximus" over the pagan priesthood known as the Pontifical College, became the de facto head of the Christian Church. As such he invented and took the title "Vicar of Christ." Coming from the Latin vicarius, vicar means "in the place of." Its Greek equivalent is anti. Thus the popes' title, "Vicar of Christ," literally means "Antichrist"—the one who pretends to be Christ.

For centuries, Protestant creeds identified the popes as antichrists. That label surely applies to the paganized Christianity over which the popes have presided as Constantine's successors. Succeeding him also as head of Rome's Pontifical College, the popes retain to this day the related pagan title "Pontifex Maximus." Undoubtedly, however, the Antichrist will be the new Constantine—head of the new world order—with the Roman pontiff his right-hand man.

Constantine, the first "Vicar of Christ," did indeed prove to be an antichrist. Not a genuine Christian, he had no concern for doctrine but only for religious unity in his empire. The original ecumenist, he convened the first Ecumenical Council, the Council of Nicea, in AD 325, set the agenda and presided over it as Charlemagne would over the Council of Chalon 500 years later during his attempt to revive the Roman Empire. Though all such attempts failed, the popes gave the Empire continuity in religion and wielded supreme secular authority as well. Historian R. W. Southern reminds us,

...there was in Rome a single spiritual and temporal authority [the papacy] exercising powers which in the end exceeded those that had ever lain within the grasp of a Roman Emperor.

To John's utter amazement, he saw that the church Christ had founded would metamorphose into "that city...on seven hills...that rules over the kings of the earth"! Picture, for example, the humbled emperor Henry IV waiting barefoot in the snows at Canossa to make his peace with Pope Gregory VII in 1077! As noted last month, no other city in the world except Vatican City "rules over kings" and meets the other four criteria which identify the woman in Revelation 17. In the July 3, 1992 National Catholic Reporter (NCR) a Catholic priest confesses, "The church...was subverted by the ambitions of such men as [Popes] Gregory VII, Innocent III and Boniface VII [and many others] into a politico-ecclesiastical institution wielding totalitarian power in both sacred and secular fields." Historian Walter James elaborates:

The Papacy controlled the gateway to heaven which all the faithful, including their rulers, hoped earnestly to enter....[I]t gave the Popes a moral authority which has never been wielded since. A Pope like Innocent III held all Europe in his net....

If that seven-headed beast with ten horns, the revived Roman Empire, is to appear, then the "woman" must hold the reins once again. While the Roman Catholic Church, since the Reformation, saw its supreme power challenged, it has regained much. The Vatican is a sovereign state like any nation. It exchanges ambassadors with the world's nations and participates in international politics. The NCR boasts, "No other church has such privileged access" to top political gatherings.

John Paul II [previously] emerged as the world's most respected and influential leader. Though papal power is not wielded as overtly as during the Middle Ages, yet the Pope still "rules over the kings of the earth." Presidents Bush and Gorbachev consulted with the Pope at least once a week. President Reagan solicited the Pope's help against communism. Using Poland as a base, agents of the Vatican worked with the CIA to bring down communism and the Berlin Wall. These amazing events, Gorbachev later confessed, could not have occurred without John Paul II.

Ecumenism is essential in creating a "Christianity" which embraces all religions. Psychology plays a major ecumenical role by providing common faith, language and ritual for everyone from atheists, cultists and occultists to Roman Catholics and evangelicals. Today the Reformation is seen as a semantic misunderstanding, its vital issues blurred or ignored. There is a growing cooperation between the National Association of Evangelicals and Roman Catholics, according to Jack White, [former] NAE president. Even leading cult experts whitewash Rome's heresies. Chuck Colson's (like Billy Graham's) embrace of Catholicism and acceptance of the Templeton Prize is one more shocking example of the growing ecumenism among evangelical leaders which is preparing the way for Antichrist. (See "Q&A" for further clarification.) Nor could a more apt pope than John Paul II have arrived upon the scene at this crucial hour. [TBC Note: The former president of Christianity Today, Timothy Dalrymple, is now the new president of the Templeton Foundation. The Religion News Service reports (5/29/2025) that Timothy “...has long had an interest in the spiritual questions Templeton pursues.”]

The centuries-long involvement of Roman Catholicism in pagan/occultic practices has led naturally to its present marriage to the New Age. Rome has made it clear that the disciplining of New Age priest Matthew Fox is for failure to submit to the hierarchy but not for his horrendous heresies. Fox continues as a priest with a huge following among Catholics. The involvement in Eastern mysticism of tens of thousands of priests, nuns, and laity is condoned by the Vatican.

We have documented the accelerating secular acceptance of New Age "spirituality" such as Nancy Reagan's obsession with astrology and President Reagan's submission to astrological guidance and his own superstitions. Matters have only gotten worse with the new administration. Bill and Hillary Clinton's and Al Gore's commitment to an amoral, humanistic, and New Age agenda is well known. That all three claim to be "Christians" fits the fact that the world religion will be an antichrist "Christianity."

Time magazine recently had a picture of Hillary Clinton with eyes closed, head reverently bowed, as a North American Indian shaman performed a ritual over her. Concluding a recent speech, Hillary declared, "Let us be willing to remold society by redefining what it means to be a human being in the twentieth century, moving into a new millennium." Yes, the Clintons intend to "remold society" and to "redefine what it means to be a human being"!

Part of that remolding involves promoting ungodly lifestyles. The consequences are devastating and worsening. Raw statistics condemn the Clintons' encouragement of homosexuality. The median age of death for married heterosexual men is nearly twice that of homosexuals: 75 compared with 39. Only 1 percent of homosexuals live beyond age 65. The average age of death for married women is 79 compared with 45 for lesbians (Christian News, 1/13/92). Secular studies have demonstrated that living together before marriage increases the likelihood of divorce––exactly the opposite of what those who engage in "safe sex" imagine (The Baptist Challenge, 10/92).

Our world is fast ripening for God's judgment. Consider a simple comparison between the seven leading problems in "Christian" America's schools in the 1940s and the 1990s. Fifty years ago the worst problems faced by teachers and administrators were 1) talking in class, 2) chewing gum, 3) making noise, 4) running in halls, 5) cutting in line, 6) dress code violations, 7) littering. Today they are 1) drug abuse, 2) alcohol abuse, 3) pregnancy, 4) suicide, 5) rape, 6) robbery, 7) assault. How revealing!

Everywhere youth is bombarded not only with evil but with persuasively presented antichrist philosophies. A recent TV series began with Indiana Jones as a boy in India going to the Theosophical Society to meet founder Annie Besant. There he was introduced to Jidhu Krishnamurti, the "chosen world leader"; he then was taken to various Hindu and Buddhist temples. Christianity was degraded and Jesus was put on the level of all other "religious leaders." Behold an even more insidious effort by George Lucas to indoctrinate the West into shamanism than even the Star Wars series of films!

Christians face two dangers: 1) becoming so immunized to apostasy that it seems normal and no longer alarming; 2) becoming discouraged and deciding that there is no use in standing up to such overwhelming evil. Yes, the stage is set for Antichrist. He will take over the world. False "Christianity" will deceive billions. The Bible says so. We will not save the world or even America. But we can rescue countless individuals through prayer, godly example and the proclamation of the gospel. Let us do so!

TBC

• Question: Was Chuck Colson's acceptance of the Templeton Prize part of the Parliament of World Religions?
• Letters
• Quotable
• NewsWatch
• Dave Hunt Classic/TBC Extra

Question (August 1993): I wrote to Chuck Colson concerning his acceptance of the Templeton Prize. The reply from his ministry contradicts what you reported. They state that the public presentation in Chicago, though it will be attended by many from the Parliament of the World’s Religions, is not part of the Parliament, but actually precedes it. Being awarded the prize, according to Prison Fellowship, has enabled Chuck to “present the Gospel at the United Nations, the National Press club…[etc.].”

Response: Unfortunately (for whatever reason), you are not receiving the facts from Prison Fellowship. The truth is that the public award ceremony is a major event (perhaps even the major event) of the Parliament. The “Twenty-First Presentation of the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion” is listed in the preview of major events of the Parliament titled “Glimpses of the 1993 Parliament” contained in the official packet sent to all registrants. It does not precede the Parliament, but, according to the official schedule of events, takes place on the sixth evening of the eight-day Parliament—Thursday, September 2, 1993. The CPWR [Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions] Journal of June, 1993, indicates that Sir John Marks Templeton, founder of the prize, is a “CPWR Board Member” actively involved in planning and promoting the Parliament. He is also a major donor for the underwriting of expenses of the Parliament.

Let us consider a few other facts. The panel which chooses the recipients of the prize includes leading Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, and Jews. The very purpose of the prize (stated by Templeton when he awarded it to Colson) is to “encourage understanding of the benefits of each of the great religions.” (Imagine Elijah on Mount Carmel “encouraging understanding of the benefits of paganism”!) Sir Templeton, the founder of the prize, declares that God is the only reality (pantheism) and that Jesus Christ is in everyone whether he realizes it or not (universalism/human divinity). Should a genuine Christian be associated in any way with such a prize or such a man? In receiving the prize, Chuck Colson has identified himself with its goals and the man behind it—and not only implicitly but overtly. For example, at the February 17, 1993 press conference called by the Templeton Foundation (Sir John and Chuck were both present and spoke) Chuck praised Templeton himself and the Templeton Prize: “And so I salute Sir John for establishing this award and doing it in such a generous way…[etc.].”

Moreover, contrary to what his ministry reports, Chuck has not “presented the gospel” of Christ in conjunction with his acceptance of the Templeton Prize. The above acceptance speech contained repeated references to “moral breakdown,” “moral values,” a “rising spiritual movement in America,” etc.—ideas acceptable to all religions and even to humanists. While Chuck did refer to “the love of Christ,” the “reconciling power of Christ,” to a friend’s “conversion to Christ,” these were vague terms without any explanation of who Christ is, why He came, what He accomplished, and how we are saved. Chuck described his own conversion as calling out to God to “Take me as I am,” with the added comment that “From that moment to this, my life has never been the same….” Followers of many religions with varying concepts of “God” give similar testimonies. The gospel was not presented. Nothing was said that would contradict the false beliefs of Templeton or offend any of the press corps or would lead any of them to saving faith in Christ.

The same was true of Colson’s “Speech to the National Press Club,” March 11, 1993 concerning the reception of the Templeton Prize. Again the gospel was not only missing but some of the “spiritual” terminology he used undermined it. The talk was an appeal for reconciliation between the secular press and the "religious right.” It contained interesting insights into crime, the prison system, and the breakdown of morality in our society. There were once again repeated references to “morality and character,” “spiritual awakening,” “deeper morality,” “moral reformation,” “religious value and religious hope”—vague terms acceptable to almost anyone and adaptable to whatever meaning one cared to put upon them. There were also references to “redemption” and “Christian principles,” but what was meant was not explained. In fact, some of his statements, such as that of placing nonviolent inmates in “work camps or community-based treatment centers” would be “redemptive for the individual by teaching responsibility for his actions" and that “religion provides a moral impulse to do good” undermined the true gospel meaning of “redemption” or “Christian principles.” Chuck mentioned “the love of Christ,” a "beautifully carved crucifix of Jesus hanging on the cross,” but again did not present the gospel. He hinted at it—“only the gospel of Christ can bring about moral reformation…it is Jesus Christ who made a lasting difference in my life”—but never explained how or why.

It has been very sad to hear of evangelical leaders falling into immorality. It is perhaps even more tragic to see a man such as Chuck Colson fall into the trap of ecumenism, compromise, and even praising those who promote it, while at the same time imagining, apparently sincerely, that he is thereby presenting the gospel of Christ!

Dear TBC,

Timely reminder of how long this ecumenism and confusion has been going on and how so many supposed Christian leaders were wolves in sheep's clothing much like the popes and priests of the RCC. I am a former Catholic saved out of that paganism by Jesus Christ, being born again through His all sufficient sacrifice and eternal love and salvation. All Praise, Glory and Honor belong to God only. “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts:4:12Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
See All...). DM (email)

Dear TBC,

First, the Rapture, then the Great Tribulation, next Armageddon and, then, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to set up His Millennium Kingdom on this Earth and after that, the Eternal State in the New Jerusalem, no more sin, sorrow, death, crying and pain with only Bible Believing Christians. And I am looking forward to being part of it. But first, I'm still looking forward to the Rapture. Thank you. Anon. (email)

Dear TBC,

I hope you guys had a nice Spring. I'm 66 years old. I appreciate your latest article about being a Berean. It's needed today. So, I was just calling to encourage you to “keep on trucking” against the false teachings. So, like the word faith movement, Pentecostalism itself. I'm glad you guys believe in eternal security. I believe in eternal, not the false. Like Jack Vernon McGee said, it's eternal in security for the made believer and eternal security for the true believer. I like what he said years ago. I read and memorized that. Anyway, you guys take care and keep on trucking and keep me on your mailing list as well. Goodbye and take care and have a nice week and everything. Stay encouraged. LW (telecon)

Dear TBC,

On another note, TBC, [in the May article, see—​www.bit.ly/LivingAsBereans] you have showed the correlation between ecumenism (which Bob Jones University WAS delving in, with that Sacred Art mess) and racism. When Candace Owens went Catholic, she also went Anti-Semitic. The first modern ecumenist was not Rick Warren, but Adolf Hitler: who actually gathered all replacement theology people, from Catholics to Mennonites, against the Jews. BG (email) 

Dear TBC,

Where can you find community and fellowship in the church? Still looking for that. What I have observed in general is that churches that teach the word lack real community and churches that are compromised tend to have stronger community and care for one another more. IMO [the church] needs to really focus on defining community and modeling it so that people have a viable option. Unfortunately, most of my experience has proven that the church is an unsafe environment for relationships. No trust any more. CM (email)

Dear TBC,

[Concerning “Is Psychological Counseling Biblical?”, see—www.bit.ly/43tttcF] Besides this, there just are mental and emotional hurts that another human being cannot possibly understand no matter how much you try to explain what's bothering you. It comes down to GOD and GOD alone, Who can not only understand but heal those hurts. Some things just run so deep that there are no words. A mere human being obviously cannot heal or cure what they cannot understand. No wonder the BIBLE cautions against leaning on the arm of the flesh. And, too, thinking we can solve these problems like GOD can is pride & arrogance. We need each other, though, but only by GOD's good Design. DW (email)

​​Dear TBC,

I’ve read the Bobgans work... They are truthful and on the right side of the Bible in their research. I just experienced a Jay Adams type counseling and it was not fruitful and did more harm. Fortunately I knew this going into the appointment. Long story on why I was there. I have time and again agreed with the Bobgans...get in the Word. The scripture is your counsel...obey it. This would solve many problems...how easy it is to rely on man and turn God aside. May people’s ears and eyes be opened to the truth...The Word is sufficient. CB (email)

Dear Rob and all at TBC,

A great newsletter from start to finish. We are truly blessed by the Lord for giving us godly men obedient in their laboring of His Word to feed the flock. After 38 years TBC is still nourishing me with sound hermeneutics and exegesis, e.g., examining Luke:5:4-5 [4] Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. [5] And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.
See All... and John:21:4-11 [4] But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. [5] Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No. [6] And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. [7] Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea. [8] And the other disciples came in a little ship; (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits,) dragging the net with fishes. [9] As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. [10] Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught. [11] Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.
See All.... I can see I need to study the scriptures even more carefully and ponder in the Spirit the deeper meanings.

My daily prayers are with all at TBC, Tom TBC Emeritus, and his family. HG (email)

For the believer in Jesus, every trial of suffering is an opportunity to grow in the faith, to grow in our relationship with the Lord, and to see Him work in our lives in a uniquely personal way that demonstrates His compassion, His comfort, His tender mercies, His lovingkindnesses, His grace, and His endless love. Only God knows what each of us needs to experience and learn in order to be "conformed to the image of his Son" (2 Corinthians:1:4-5 [4] Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. [5] For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.
See All...; Romans:8:29For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
See All...).

Whether we or those the Lord has put on our hearts are suffering, let Paul’s unceasing intercession for the Colossians be our prayer for ourselves and for our loved ones. “For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness” (Colossians:1:9-11 [9] For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; [10] That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; [11] Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;
See All...). Note that it concludes with “longsuffering with joyfulness.” No trial of suffering can rob us of our joy in Christ as we are strengthened by Him.

—T. A. McMahon (excerpt from “The Value of Suffering” [The Berean Call, May 1, 2010])

The Liberal Betrayal of the Jews

FrontPageMag.com, 4/30/25, “The Liberal Betrayal of the Jews” [Excerpts]:The Holocaust inversion that had become so commonplace in anti-Israel arguments was now taking center stage at the D.C. Holocaust museum at an event commemorating the Holocaust. And the man responsible had spent decades running the organization that was supposed to fight antisemitism, only to equate Trump’s actions against Hamas supporters with the Holocaust.

In the first 100 days after President Trump took office, the liberal Jewish groups that had at best offered toothless condemnations of over a year of riots by Hamas supporters, including several assaults on synagogues, one on a Holocaust museum screening an Oct 7 documentary, and the harassment of Jews on college campuses nationwide, showed that they were not inept after all.

Instead the same groups that had stood by before quickly organized themselves into a movement to aggressively rally for the Hamas supporters attacking American Jews.

The Jewish Council on Public Affairs run by Amy Spitalnick, a former employee for the anti-Israel lobby J Street, took the lead in standing up for Mahmoud Khalil and other campus terror supporters who had led campaigns to intimidate Jews on campus.

https://bit.ly/NewsWatch0701

What Is Christian Ethics?

BibleStudyTools.com, 4/21/23, “What Is Christian Ethics?” [Excerpts]:What exactly is Christian ethics? It can seem like a puzzling question. One would think, “Well, the Bible makes it clear how we should live. If ethics is the study of how to be morally upright, shouldn’t we just follow the Bible? End of discussion?”

Well, there may be a little bit more to that. For instance, what do we do in gray areas? Such as what the early Christians had to deal with when it came to eating meat sacrificed to idols (1 Corinthians 8).

According to Merriam-Webster, ethics are “a set of moral principles: a theory or system of moral values a person follows and allows to orchestrate their lives.”

Regarding Christian ethics, we have made the Bible our set of moral values. We follow the Ten Commandments and the greatest two commandments set out by Jesus: love God and love others (Matthew:22:34-40 [34] But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. [35] Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, [36] Master, which is the great commandment in the law? [37] Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. [38] This is the first and great commandment. [39] And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. [40] On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
See All...).

What distinguishes Christian ethics is the solid foundation it is built on. We do not murder because we believe humans are created in the image of God. We do unto others because when we help the least of these, we help God (Matthew 25).

https://bit.ly/NewsWatch0704

Marine Mammals: Designed for Deep Diving 

ICR.org, 4/24/25, “Marine Mammals: Designed for Deep Diving” [Excerpts]:There are many fascinating aspects to these amazing aquatic creatures. One of the more astounding facets is the seal’s ability to dive deep and stay submerged for upwards of 30 minutes.

The world’s deepest-diving mammal is Cuvier’s beaked whale, which can go down over nine thousand feet and stay there for well-over three hours.

Creationists recognize the design of diving mammals (including sea otters, pinnipeds, cetaceans, and manatees) put in place by Jesus the Creator. It’s not so simple for them to just hold their breath while they dive until coming back up for air. Zoologists realized decades ago there is a significant amount of physiological and anatomical features within the creatures that are critical during a typical dive. Such designs could never come about by chance, time, and natural processes.

Take, for example, oxygen storage during the seal’s dive. In addition to oxygen being briefly kept in hemoglobin molecules in the blood, a small amount of oxygen is also in the residual air kept in the lungs. (On prolonged dives, some mammals rely on anaerobic respiration that results in a buildup of lactic acid.) But this is not why they can stay down so long. God placed a molecule in the muscle called myoglobin. This differs from hemoglobin in that it has a single polypeptide chain (hemoglobin has four peptide chains). The concentration of myoglobin in Cetaceans, pinnipeds, and other marine mammals is about 30 times more than in land animals. The muscle in cattle is bright red (think fresh ground beef), but the oxygen-rich myoglobin concentration in whale and seal muscle is so high it’s almost black, allowing them to stay submerged for so long.

https://bit.ly/NewsWatch0703

The bizarre lobe-finned coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae) “that flourished some 350 million years ago”1 continues to be a thorn in the evolutionists’ side. Paleontologists can only say these amazing fish evolved from a vague, unidentified “Sarcopterygian ancestor.”2 Creationists say they have always been coelacanths since their creation thousands of years ago.

Recently, this living fossil3,4 “has been photographed in Indonesia[n] [waters] for the first time.”5 Indeed, in past decades, Indonesia has become a focal point of coelacanth sightings. In 1997, marine biologist Mark Erdmann was walking through an outdoor market in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, when he spied a coelacanth on display. A year later, another one was caught in Indonesian waters, leading ichthyologists to name these as a new species: Latimeria menadoensis.6

Science writer Goldberg reported,

The Indonesian coelacanth (Latimeria menadoensis), once considered extinct for 70 million years, was photographed in the Maluku Archipelago, Indonesia, and marks the first time the coelacanth species has been caught on camera in Indonesian waters. The rare fish was spotted by divers searching approximately 475 feet below the ocean's surface.5

Perhaps the biggest jaw-dropping statement in Goldberg’s article is, “Coelacanths are highly sensitive to their environment, so the exact location of [undersea photographer Alexis] Chappuis’ discovery will remain confidential until further environmental protections are in place.”5

Not only are these living fossils sensitive to their environment, but they are highly sensitive. So sensitive that conventional scientists believe there should be environmental protections for this very delicate species. But if they really are as sensitive as claimed by the evolutionary community, how have coelacanths been able to survive for the last 415 million years? This necessarily means they have been successfully enduring extreme instabilities of every sort (underwater volcanoes, anoxic events, violent deep-sea tectonic activity, dead zones, marine heat waves, habitat destruction, parasites, predation by sharks, and more), all without any environmental protections! Instead, could it be a small population of coelacanths has survived in their deep-water habitat since the Flood 4,500 years ago?

You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, You still them.7

1. References
2. Hickman, C. et al. 2024. Integrated Principles of Zoology. New York, NY: McGraw Hill, 542.
3. Hickman, Figure 25.1.
4. Thomas, B. Should We Drop the Term ‘Living Fossil’? Creation Science Update. Posted on ICR.org July 18, 2016.
5. Sherwin, F. Yet Another Living Fossil Found. Creation Science Update. Posted on ICR.org December 12, 2022.
6. Goldberg, M. ‘Living Fossil’ Fish Species Once Thought Extinct for 70 Million Years Photographed in Rare Sighting. Yahoo! News. Posted on yahoo.com May 2, 2025.
7. DeSmit, O. Fish Story: How a Coelacanth Discovery Set Off a Flurry of Science, Subterfuge. Conservation International. Posted on conservation.org January 16, 2019.
8. Psalm:89:9Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.
   See All....

https://www.icr.org/article/15275/

This is not science, but scientism. It is pure speculation, forced upon scientists by their refusal even to consider the possibility that God may exist as Creator of all—not an unreasonable idea. Nor could Jastrow, as he honestly confessed, tell us anything concrete about the origin either of matter or of life. He could no more have seen behind the “curtain” he described that hides creation from human eyes than could anyone else. Therefore, we have no reason for accepting his (or anyone else’s) speculation about what he called “the moment of creation,” even though pronounced in the name of science. By his own admission, science has nothing to offer when it comes to the origin of the universe, but speculation often speaks with “scientific authority” that is mistaken for proof.

How could Jastrow or any other astronomer know this, when by his own admission “the curtain drawn over the mystery of creation will never be raised by human efforts”? And how could “every living creature” have been “planted in that first instant” that totally sterilized everything? No life could possibly come out of the ball of fire he describes, or the law of biogenesis is a lie! Nor could Jastrow offer any sensible reasons why we should accept his scenario.

The boundaries of the Nation of Israel by covenant from YHWH were and still are “From the river to the sea.” From time to time in the nation’s history God removed them from the land due to disobedience, or idolatry, etc. but always had them return. The last time the Israelis were dispersed from the land was in A.D. 70.

Ironically, the expression “From the river to the sea” has become a very popular slogan for Israel’s surrounding nations. We have been hearing that slogan frequently even in our own nation, especially on college campuses – but with an ironic evil twist. The expression is not being voiced by the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Israel but rather from the enemies of Israel – who are demanding to rid the “promised land” of God’s covenant people, Israel.

How can people not see the evil irony of this demand?

The updated Hamas version, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” has a sort of a ring to it and markets well, especially among those who know relatively little about history, and even less about biblical history or the dark spiritual nature of the conflict. The current version of this “from the river to the sea” chant of course does not come from the word of God. It is instead a modified version from the 2017 Hamas Charter (the original Hamas Charter was done in 1988). The first line of Article 2 begins:

"Palestine, which extends from the River Jordan in the east to the Mediterranean in the west.

"Hamas does not recognize the reestablishment of the Nation of Israel in 1948 and in Article 5 claims: The Palestinian identity is authentic and timeless; it is passed from generation to generation.

"The evidence seems to demonstrate this claim is not true. “Palestine and the Palestinians (1948–67)” points out: the idea that Palestinians form a distinct people is relatively recent. The Arabs living in Palestine had never had a separate state. Until the establishment of Israel, the term Palestinian was used by Jews and foreigners to describe the inhabitants of Palestine and had only begun to be used by the Arabs themselves at the turn of the 20th century."

To our knowledge, there is no archaeological history that would support the claim that any Palestinian identity existed and has been “passed from generation to generation.” On the other hand, there is a great deal of evidence that attests to Jewish history in the land dating back thousands of years. Biblical figures validated by archaeological finds is just one of the most recent examples.

Is the issue simply that Jews are living unfairly in the land that Hamas claims has for generations been recognized as its own? We don’t think that is the case at all. It seems again to be a spiritual battle.

The inexplicable hatred of the Jewish people down through the centuries, and the current drive to rid the world of Jews is a spiritual issue. It is evil and a slap of the face to the living God. The cleaning of the land “From the river to the sea,” is not simply to remove the Jews to other nations but is a call for the elimination of all Jews.

https://midwestoutreach.org/2025/05/29/from-the-river-to-the-sea-2/

By Jastrow’s own analysis, God is the only answer that fits all the facts—but he wouldn’t subscribe to it unequivocally. Was he afraid of losing his reputation, of suffering the scorn of his atheistic/agnostic colleagues? His speculations did not answer anything but only added further questions. Where did this energy come from? How long had it been sitting there (wherever “there” was) waiting to explode? How did this bundle of energy become “packed together into one dense mass of enormous density, pressure and temperature”?

[TBC: For years we have seen how Sir John Templeton has been part of the seduction that draws believers from the Truth and Eternal promises of the Lord. Instead, there are a growing number of those who fail to see what Templeton so often “preached. Apostasy, like evil clearly “never sleeps.”]

Tim Dalrymple leaves Christianity Today to become new president of Templeton Foundation

Tim Dalrymple, currently the CEO and president of Christianity Today magazine, will become the third president of the Templeton Foundation, based in West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, at the end of July. The foundation, which controls more than $3 billion in assets and distributes more than $130 million in grants each year, funds “interdisciplinary research and catalyzes conversations that enable people to pursue lives of meaning and purpose.”

“We are working to create a world where people are curious about the wonders of the universe, free to pursue lives of meaning and purpose, and motivated by great and selfless love,” reads the foundation’s job description for the CEO.”

Ryan Burge, an associate professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University who studies the religious landscape, said Dalrymple’s hiring at Templeton made sense. Dalrymple has the academic credentials and the institutional leadership experience the role requires — along with a sincere interest in spirituality and an active faith practice.

Dalrymple, though he is an evangelical Christian, is not a culture warrior.

“There is still a lot of respect in America for religious people who really live out their convictions but are not trying to beat you over the head with their convictions,” Burge said.

Dalrymple said he sees overlap between his doctoral work at Harvard, where he studied religion and the nature of suffering, and the mission of the foundation. He called Templeton’s mission “soul stirring.”

“We live in a world hungry for purpose, where the lines between science, spirituality, and moral imagination are converging in new ways,” he said. “The insights we gain and decisions we make in the next ten years could have profound civilizational effects.”

He said that his work at Templeton will be inspired by the same kinds of questions that the foundation’s founder pursued and will follow Sir John Templeton’s “sense of awe before the majesty and mystery of the universe.”

Dalrymple said the foundation “invests in human dignity and flourishing, in character and moral formation, amid rapid social and technological change.”

“I find all these questions fascinating, important, and deeply spiritual,” he said. “In an age of artificial intelligence, synthetic biology, and interreligious conflict, our answers to these questions will have profound consequences for the whole of humankind.”

https://religionnews.com/2025/05/29/tim-dalrymple-leaves-christianity-today-to-become-new-president-of-templeton/?utm_source=RNS+Updates&utm_campaign=01cc89ea15-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2025_05_30_01_37&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c5356cb657-01cc89ea15-94977221

[TBC: Templeton very clearly stated he believed that “everything is God.” As Dave Hunt pointed out, “It is pantheism. It is also a basic tenet of cults such as Science of Mind, Religious Science, and Christian Science. What they teach is basically the same as Peale’s positive thinking and Schuller’s possibility thinking, which explains why the latter would promote it in his magazine. Here is how “nothing exists except God” works in the mind science and positivity/possibility thinking arena: God is good and God is all. Therefore, all is good. Thus, anything that isn’t good—sin, sickness, suffering, death, etc.—is not real but a delusion of one’s negative thinking. The way to be delivered from these negative delusions is to become a positive or possibility thinker.

“Our deliverance from sin and death comes not by denying the reality of these evils through the power of the mind, but by faith in Christ, who suffered the agony of the Cross and paid the penalty which His own justice had pronounced upon sin. He died for our sins and “was raised again for our justification” (Romans:4:25Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
See All...). If sin and death don’t exist, then the death of Christ for our sins and His resurrection are merely allegories and not real events—contrary to the historical facts” (In Defense of the Faith).

Dalrymple said nothing about the Gospel gained by the sacrifice of the Lord. Instead, he spoke of a modernized version of the Tower of Babel “We are working to create a world where people are curious about the wonders of the universe, free to pursue lives of meaning and purpose, and motivated by great and selfless love…”

All this is just an echo of Genesis:11:4And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
See All..., “And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”]

Without a heart anchored in Christ, we will be spiritually unprepared and ill-equipped for life’s inevitable woes. For the Christian who hasn’t pursued God’s truth, etched His word on their heart, or made Scripture their default for life’s deepest questions, the cost is steep. Unprepared, we risk handling trials in ways that leave us worse off — spiritually adrift, emotionally shattered, and vulnerable to the enemy’s lies. Neglecting to fix our focus on the One who carries us through fire and flood unscathed is to face the world’s storms without the only Anchor that holds.

The truth is, we will stumble, make mistakes, and continue to fall into sin. It’s part of living in a fallen world. But praise be, because we’re given a promise in 1 John:1:9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
See All...: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” When you fall, repent, and Christ’s grace will lift you.

In Christ, we’re made new. Though we still sin, it no longer defines us. Though we will stumble, Christ will guide us through. We don’t have to live in fear of falling away. But because we’re new creations in Him, we’re called to live each day reflecting that truth. So, rise daily, prepare your heart by anchoring it in His word, and walk boldly in the freedom of His unending, sustaining love.

— Sarah Holliday (Writer, commentator, reporter at The Washington Stand).

Of course, Jastrow’s imaginary scenario was pure conjecture—and solved nothing concerning the actual origin of energy or of the universe. Jastrow was trapped in the vortex of an endless speculative regression of “before that . . . and before that . . . and before that. . . .” There had to have been an actual beginning of all physical existence. Jastrow was only deferring the moment of truth. He declared:

“Recent developments in astronomy have implications that may go beyond their contribution to science itself. In a nutshell, astronomers . . . have been forced to the conclusion that the world began suddenly, in a moment of creation, as the product of unknown forces.

“[I]f we go back far enough in time, we find that at a certain critical moment in the past all the galaxies in the Universe were packed together into one dense mass at an enormous density, pressure and temperature. Reacting to this pressure, the dense, hot matter must have exploded with incredible violence [that] marked the birth of the Universe.

“The seed of everything that has happened in the Universe was planted in that first instant; every star, every planet and every living creature in the Universe came into being as a result of events that were set in motion in the moment of the cosmic explosion. It was literally the moment of Creation . . . the origin of the world—for which there is no known cause or explanation within the realm of science . . . we cannot find out what caused that to happen.

“This is a distressing result for scientists because, in the scientist’s view . . . he must be “able to find an explanation for the beginning of the Universe . . . that fits into the framework of natural rather than supernatural forces.

“So, the scientist asks himself, what cause led to the effect we call the Universe . . . [and] he sees that he is deprived—today, tomorrow, and very likely forever—of finding out the answer to this critical question.

“Why is that. . . ? At that time it must have been compressed to an enormous—perhaps infinite-density, temperature and pressure. . . .

“The shock of that moment must have destroyed every . . . clue to the cause of the great explosion . . . to the nature of the forces—natural or supernatural—that conspired to bring about the event we call the Big Bang.

“This is a very surprising conclusion. . . . The scientist . . . goes . . . back . . . feeling he is close to . . . the answer to the ultimate question of beginning—when suddenly the chain of cause and effect snaps. The birth of the Universe is an effect for which he cannot find the cause. . . .

“This is why it seems to me and to others that the curtain drawn over the mystery of creation will never be raised by human efforts. . . . Although I am an agnostic, and not a believer “I still find much to ponder in the view expressed by the British astronomer E. A. Milne, who wrote, ‘We can make no propositions about the state of affairs [in the beginning]; in the Divine act of creation God is unobserved and unwitnessed.’”

You may not think, at first glance, that an article about the oral traditions of the Picuris Pueblo, a small tribal nation in New Mexico, would have anything to do with Answers in Genesis. But new genetic research into the Picuris Pueblo people confirms something very interesting—and ties in with new AiG research.

First, the story. The oral traditions of this tribal nation state that they descended from ancient North American ancestors, specifically those living in ancient pueblo sites in Northwestern New Mexico, known as the Chaco Canyon society (AD 850–1150). However, archaeologists dismissed these traditions, believing instead that the evidence showed these particular people arriving much later, after the Chaco Canyon society had already collapsed and everyone had left.

Well, a new genetic study, requested by Picuris officials, confirms what their stories claimed: “Ancient and modern Picuris show close genetic ties, including descent from a maternal Chaco Canyon line.”

It’s interesting to me that, in scientific and archaeological research, oral traditions are often ignored and treated as mere myth with no grounding in historical reality. This is true of creation, flood, dragon, and Babel legends too—cultures all around the world have very similar legends, and yet researchers refuse to “connect the dots” and realize that all of humanity does indeed share a common history beginning with creation, then the fall, a global flood, and the event at Babel (and that man and dinosaurs, or “dragons,” did live together!). The Bible preserves the perfect, infallible account, but these histories confirm what we’d expect if the Bible’s history is true (which it is).

Now, what does an obscure oral tradition from a small tribal nation in New Mexico have to do with Answers in Genesis? Well, just this month, one of our researchers, Dr. Nathaniel Jeanson (who has a PhD from Harvard University), released a new book, They Had Names: Tracing the History of the North American Indigenous People. This book is a layman’s version of the detailed research Dr. Jeanson has undertaken for the past few years, attempting to trace the pre-Contact (pre-Columbian) history of the Americas. And—just like the researchers looking at the Picuris Pueblo DNA found—Dr. Jeanson has found that many Indigenous histories match the genetic and linguistic evidence. He has confirmed so many of them now that he argues we should assume these histories are true, rather than automatically assuming they are false as so many researchers do.

But Dr. Jeanson’s research is quite different from the research of the scientists looking into Picuris DNA. You see, Dr. Jeanson is starting with the proper timescale for earth’s history—just thousands of years (the Bible’s history gives about 6,000 years from the beginning). Because he has the right starting point, he can uncover genetic mysteries other scientists will never see simply because they don’t start with the right foundation, the Word of God. His research is fascinating and continues to be confirmed by the evidence (I encourage you to learn more in Traced: Human DNA’s Big Surprise).

You know, this story also reminds me of the way the scientific community likewise ignores the historical accounts given in the Bible. Rather than trusting that the Bible is accurate in what it says, they ignore it (or, worse, scoff at it) and instead trust their own wisdom, assuming they can look at the present and figure out what must have happened in the past. But when they sideline the Bible, they aren’t sidelining an oral tradition, handed down generation after generation and carefully guarded. They are ignoring the eyewitness account of history from the perfect, infallible Creator!

When scientists (like Dr. Jeanson) treat the Bible as historical narrative, assuming it to be what it says it is—the very Word of God—and use it as their starting point and their framework for interpreting the evidence, the evidence confirms the Bible!

Yes, the history in God’s Word is true—100% true, because it came from the One who has always been there, knows everything, and has never made a mistake.

https://answersingenesis.org/genetics/2025/05/15/are-native-american-histories-accurate/