Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Exodus 20:11

Consider the Sabbath commandment:

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it (Ex. 20:8-11).

We work six days (144 hours, twelve dozen) and rest one. These are not imaginary days – they are real. Creation Week occurred in six 24 hour (approximately) days. Creation In Six Days (CISD) is an important teaching of the Bible.

For in six days GOD made Heaven, Earth, and sea, and everything in them; he rested on the seventh day. Therefore GOD blessed the Sabbath day; he set it apart as a holy day (Ex. 20:11, Msg).

Exodus 20:11 is the Haec Credimus (“this we believe”) of the Creation Research Society:
Exodus 31:17 is a parallel passage:

It [the Sabbath] is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.

The Hebrew of Exodus 20:11 may be found here.

John Trapp commented on Ex. 20:11, “God took six days to make the world in, to the end that we might be in a muse when we think of it; and think on his works in that order that he made them.” [1]

Robert McCabe concluded, “… both passages [Ex. 20:11, Ex. 31:17] have been clearly understood as references to man imitating the divine pattern established in the first week of temporal history by working on six consecutive, normal days and resting on a literal seventh day…” [2]
Notes:
1) Online Bible (2004)
2) “A Critique of the Framework Interpretation of the Creation Week” by Robert McCabe in Coming to Grips with Genesis ed. by Terry Mortenson and Thane Ury (Master Books, Green Forest, AR, 2008), p. 243.

Monday, May 16, 2011

Creationism 101 with Joel Heck

Joel Heck has written In the Beginning, God: Creation from God's Perspective which is a superb coverage of the basics of creationism (Concordia, 2011). It’s short (80 pages) and is only $3.99 (what a bargain!).

Dr. Heck has a ThM in Old Testament from Trinity Evangelical Divinity and a ThD in Exegetical Theology from Concordia Seminary. He gives a detailed explanation of Genesis chapter one. He lists 17 reasons why yom means a normal day in Ge 1, including #12, the years lived chronicled in Ge 5 & 11 make sense only if day in Ge 1 refers to a regular 24 hour day. That is, if day means millions of years for Creation Week, then how do we understand Methuselah living 969 “years.”
Dr. Heck also argues against scholars who oppose taking Genesis chapter one as historical narrative. He also discusses OT & NT references that bolster a traditional reading of Genesis (a comprehensive compilation of these may be found here). There is an excellent 10 page summary of scientific research supporting fixity of kinds, the Flood and Young Earth Science (YES). If you know anyone who is sitting on the fence on the crevo issue please give them Dr. Heck’s book! Few other works provides so much bang (a BIG one too) for the buck.



It is a rare pleasure to find a theologian courageous enough to take the first chapter of Genesis at face value, disregarding those of his peers who feel they must kowtow to the latest fad in “science.” Dr. Heck explains the passage clearly, showing it is historical narrative supported by true scientific research—not myth, poetry, or vague allegory. -- Russell Humphreys

Michio Kaku - Epic Fail?


              *** UPDATE ***
Be sure to catch our latest video.  We tackle a potpourri of topics:  Thunder & C-14, Tree Rings & Ammonites,  Norman Macbeth (Darwin Retried), OMNI magazine & censorship ... #Rubio #NormanMacbeth #Darwin #AltMed #TreeRings

Hotep = B @


Physicist Michio Kaku (b. 1947) is the host of the radio show “Science Fantastic.” Kaku is a leading futurist and the co-founder of string field theory. His parents were held in an internment camp during World War II. While in high school, Kaku made his own particle accelerator! He caught the attention of atomic scientist Edward Teller and Mrs. Teller arranged for Kaku to receive a scholarship to Harvard. [1]

Kaku contrasts the God of Miracles and the God of Order (Einstein’s god), yet does not deny that miracles may happen. [2] However, he gives no examples of miracles that he accepts as historical. Empiricist philosopher John Locke (d. 1704) had no trouble with miracles [3]:

The evidence of Our Savior's mission from heaven is so great, in the multitude of miracles he did before all sorts of people, that what he delivered cannot but be received as the oracles of God and unquestionable verity. For the miracles he did were so ordered by the divine providence and wisdom that they never were, nor could be, denied by any of the enemies or opposers of Christianity.

Kaku overlooks the fact that science itself is based on Christian principles [4]:

As Francis Schaeffer pointed out, “Both Alfred North Whitehead [d. 1947] and J. Robert Oppenheimer [d. 1967] have stressed that modern science was born out of the Christian world view.” [5]
Kaku criticizes the traditional “proofs” for God’s existence and even brings up the issue of who made God. [6] One wonders if Kaku has even read the Bible. His denial of the Moral Argument is shocking, “The moral proof is by far the weakest, because morality can be viewed in terms of evolving social customs.” [7] Was the Holocaust an “evolving social custom?” Is abortion an “evolving social custom?” Kaku seems to accept Einstein’s god, that is the impersonal god of Spinoza. Einstein admitted that, “… the doctrine of a personal God interfering with natural events could never be refuted, in any real sense, by science …” [8] Although an evolutionist, Kaku still uses personal language, “… being blessed [by whom, God?] with the intellect to divine the ultimate secrets of nature gives meaning enough to life.” [9]
Kaku is fascinated with the possibility of time travel. [10] If we could make a History Observation Device, then we could settle the issue of Atom-to-Adam evolution and Young Earth Science (YES).

Math describes the universe well. Kaku admits that this is hard to explain, “… the precise reason for the miraculous convergence [between physics and math] seems totally obscure. No one has even a reasonable theory to explain why the two disciplines should share concepts.” [11] Since the Creator is a God of Order, it makes sense that the cosmos displays mathematical patterns – the equations of creation. He refers to Eugene Wigner (Nobel prize in physics) on this topic, who endorsed one of the earliest works on Intelligent Design in 1986. [12] [13] Physicist turned theologian John Polkinghorne said [14],


If the deep-seated congruence of the rationality present in our minds with the rationality present in the world is to find a true explanation, it must surely lie in some more profound reason which is the ground of both. Such a reason would be provided by the Rationality of the Creator.


Kaku praises Bernhard Riemann for his work in higher dimensions and even mentions his work defending the accuracy of Genesis. [15] Kaku claims that “geologic time” trumps Ussher. One wonders if Kaku has considered the facts that favor YES.


Saying to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ And to a stone, ‘You gave birth to me.’ For they have turned their back to Me, and not their face. But in the time of their trouble They will say, ‘Arise and save us.’ (Jer. 2:27)
If materialism fails and ID is the future, who is the Intelligent Designer?
How old is the Earth?  Is Darwinism valid?  How does the Renaissance of Catastrophism relate to the age of the world?  Is your favorite planet thousands or billions of years old?  Discover the shocking evidence in this powerful new book, YES – Young Earth Science by Jay Hall (at Amazon.com). 

Here are some cool Zazzle items on Young Earth Science (YES): 

Notes:
1) Hyperspace by Michio Kaku (Anchor Books, New York, 1994), pp. 6, 7.
2) Ibid., pp. 330, 331.
3) Head and Heart by Gary Wills (Penguin Press, New York, 2007), p. 126.
4) adapted from “How Should a Christian Relate to a Scientific Naturalist?” by J. P. Moreland in The Apologetics Study Bible ed. by Ted Cabal (Holman, Nashville, TN, 2007), pp. 946, 947.
5) How Should We Then Live? by Francis Schaeffer (Fleming H. Revell, Old Tappan, NJ, 1976), p. 132.
6) Kaku, p. 191-195.
7) Ibid., p. 192.
8) Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics by Norman Geisler (Baker Books, Grand Rapids, MI, 1999), p. 214.
9) Kaku, p. 334.
10) Ibid., pp. 232-251.
11) Ibid., p. 327.
12) Ibid., p. 328.
13) Origins and Destiny by Robert Gange (Word, Dallas, TX, 1986).
14) quoted in Creation by Alister McGrath (Fortress Press, Minneapolis, MN, 2005), p. 66.
15) Kaku, p. 30, 31.