Adam’s Blog [stardate 256,527.128] - Hell Never Dies

When will Cain receive his punishment? It must be after this life. That is, there must be a bad place after death. The other day Mal-Lor tripped and cracked his skull. As he lay there dying, he cried “Oh the darkness, the fire, save me father Adam!” I have heard of similar experiences.

I am a soul man and a soul lasts forever [cf. Deut. 6:5]. We have all sinned against our Creator who is Almighty and infinite. This treason deserves an infinite punishment [cf. Ps. 51:4]. So, the bad place after death must last forever. If one of my children steals one apple and another steals ten apples, the penalty must fit the crime. Thus, the afterlife’s domain of darkness must have degrees of punishment [Gen. 4:11-16, Mt. 11:22, Rev. 20:12-14]. Annihilation has no degrees of punishment.

A hull is a cover and a cover separates. The bad place after death is disconnection from our glorious Creator that never ends. This destiny is E-ternal, so I think I will call it “hell.” Hell never dies. Hell is separation from all the blessings of creation and is the ultimate quarantine. God separated Eve and I from Paradise and Cain went out from the presence of the Lord [Gen. 4:16]. In hell there is no playtime – joy has been subtracted. Hell is a loveless place without exits.

Last week my pet ceratosaurus, “Punky,” wandered near Lava Hill. She was being chased by a T-Rex and fell off the cliff and into the boiling lava. The roars and the screams were so frightening that I had nightmares for three days straight! Could this be anything like the torments of hell? When Eve (aka “Eva”) makes beautiful clothes she takes the scraps of material and puts them in the fire. Are there not many of my children who have scrapped their lives by rejecting the Almighty? Will most of my children reach this final doom? As a rough estimate, 66.6% may reach this dreaded destination [cf. Mt. 13:18-23, Lk. 13:23-28, Mt. 7:13,14].

The Creator has promised that the coming seed of Eve will crush the serpent’s head and provide salvation [Gen. 3:15, cf. John 3:16, Gen. 3:21].

******
Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?" says the Lord GOD, "and not that he should turn from his ways and live? (Ez. 18:23).

Is Evolution Weak during Evolution Week?

The 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin is Feb. 12th, 2009, so the week of Feb. 8-14 may be dubbed “Darwin Week” (I’m sure St. Valentine is rolling in his grave).

Recently the Texas State Board of Education has tentatively voted (the final decision is expected in March) to reject the requirement for public school teachers to present the weaknesses of evolution.

Many media outlets have made a great error by making a primary connection between doubting Darwin and Intelligent Design (or Creationism). Many evolutionists and atheists are also willing to admit that Darwinism has numerous weaknesses (missing links anyone?).

Pierre Grasse (d. 1985), considered the “most distinguished of French zoologists” by Theodosius Dobzhansky (a leading evolutionist), wrote the following in 1977 [1]:

Today, our duty is to destroy the myth of evolution, considered as a simple, understood, and explained phenomenon which keeps rapidly unfolding before us. Biologists must be encouraged to think about the weaknesses of the interpretations and extrapolations that theoreticians put forward or lay down as established truths. The deceit is sometimes unconscious, but not always, since some people, owing to their sectarianism, purposely overlook reality and refuse to acknowledge the inadequacies and the falsity of their beliefs (emphasis added).

Grasse was Chair of Evolution at Sorbonne University for thirty years and was ex-president of the French Academy of Sciences. Grasse’s book Evolution of Living Organisms is available from Amazon and was published by Academic Press (not an ID or creationist company).

One of the clearest weaknesses of evolution is the origin of life itself. The unexpected accident of life arising by chance has been compared to the creation of a jumbo jet due to a tornado plowing through a junk yard. Hubert Yockey, writing in the Journal of Theoretical Biology, said, “…contrary to the established and current wisdom, a scenario describing the genesis of life on earth by chance and natural causes which can be accepted on the basis of fact and not faith has not yet been written.” [2]

Well-known geologist Derek Ager (former president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science) concluded that “…nearly all the evolutionary stories I learned as a student … have now been debunked.” [3]

David Kitts was my History of Science professor at the University of Oklahoma and admitted that the gaps in the fossil record are real. Kitts had been a professor of Geology and had debated Duane Gish and Henry Morris (creationists). Kitts admitted that Aristotle’s biological essentialism (fixity of basic types of life) was a legitimate scientific stance. Hear my interview with Dr. Kitts at the top of this blog.

Consider the gap between dinos and birds. John Wilford, in an article in the New York Times, made the following striking confession: “Ornithologists… have long disputed the dinosaur-bird link, contending that dinosaurs and birds probably shared an ancestor among pre-dinosaur reptiles.” [4]

Physicist H.S. Lipson (fellow of the Royal Society), writing in Physics Bulletin, admits that, “I have always been slightly suspicious of the theory of evolution because of its [lack of] ability to account for any property of living beings (the long neck of the giraffe, for example). I have therefore tried to see whether biological discoveries over the last thirty years or so fit in with Darwin’s Theory. I do not think that they do … To my mind, the theory does not stand up at all.” [5]

Even atheists deny evolution and hold to stability of essential types of life. G. H. Harper is an example of this view and he was published in the UK’s School Science Review.

God tells us to speak to the earth, “But ask the animals what they think—let them teach you; let the birds tell you what’s going on. Put your ear to the earth—learn the basics. Listen—the fish in the ocean will tell you their stories. Isn’t it clear that they all know and agree that GOD is sovereign, that he holds all things in his hand — Every living soul, yes, every breathing creature?” (Job 12:7-10, The Message). This is a mandate for scientific investigation.

Notes:
1) Pierre Grasse, Evolution of Living Organisms (Academic Press, 1977), p. 8.
2) Hubert Yockey, “A Calculation of the Probability of Spontaneous Biogenesis by Information Theory,” Journal of Theoretical Biology, vol. 67 (1977): p. 396.
3) Derek Ager, “The Nature of the Fossil Record,” Proceedings of the British Geological Association, vol. 87, no.2 (1976): p. 133.
4) Nicholas Wade (ed.), The Science Times Book of Fossils and Evolution (The Lyons Press, 1998), pp. 66, 67.
5) H.S. Lipson, “A Physicist Looks at Evolution,” Physics Bulletin, vol.31 (1980): p. 138.

Notes 2, 3 and 5 were taken from Creative Defense by Nicholas Comninellis M.D. (Master Books, 2001), pp. 68, 217, 220.

You! MC O-Rigins (Wesley the Creationist)

In 2006 Abingdon Press (Methodist publisher) put out Can You Believe in God and Evolution: A Guide for the Perplexed by Ted Peters and Martinez Hewlett. They discuss creationism, intelligent design and evolutionary theism. If they follow the example of John Wesley (d. 1791) they will join the ranks of Orthodox Protestants who take Genesis as Historical Narrative (OPGHN, “opgane”) who believe that creation took place in six regular days and that the Global Flood of Noah’s time was a significant geologic event.

Regarding the Fourth Day of Creation Week, John Wesley comments, “This is the history of the fourth day's work, the creating the sun, moon and stars.” Note that we have the creating of stars and not just their appearance (as progressive creationists claim). Often it is stated that Genesis tells us the “Who” of creation but not the “How.” In contrast, we read in Wesley’s commentary on Genesis, “The work of creation not only proceeded gradually from one thing to another, but advanced gradually from that which was less excellent, to that which was more so.” The six days of Creation Week go from less complex to more complex. Even the most basic atom is complex if we go down to the quark level.

Wesley comments on the sixth day and the how of creation:

The evening and the morning were the sixth day - So that in six days God made the world. We are not to think but that God could have made the world in an instant: but he did it in six days, that he might shew himself a free agent, doing his own work, both in his own way, and in his own time; that his wisdom, power and goodness, might appear to us, and be meditated upon by us, the more distinctly; and that he might set us an example of working six days, and resting the seventh. And now as God reviewed his work, let us review our meditations upon it; let us stir up ourselves, and all that is within us, to worship him that made the, heaven, earth, and sea, and the fountains of waters. All his works in all places of his dominion bless him, and therefore bless thou the Lord, O my soul [emphasis added].

Wesley said that numerous geologic formations were “doubtless formed by the general Deluge.” [1] Wesley held that the original “very good” creation held no death, disease or destruction. [2] Wesley tells us that at the perfect beginning, “there were no agitations within the bowels of the globe, no violent convulsions, no concussions of the earth, no earthquakes…” [3] Thus, the evidence of death and devastation in the fossil record must be post-Fall. Originally, man and beast were vegetarian (Ge 1:29-30). Wesley comments, “there were no birds or beasts of prey; none that destroyed or molested another; but all the creatures breathed, in their several kinds, the benevolence of their great Creator.” [4] There are fish eating fish in the fossil record, so it must be post-Fall. Regarding the Lord’s promise not to send another worldwide flood, Wesley said, “God had drowned the world once, and still it is as provoking as ever; yet he will never drown it any more, for he deals not with us according to our sins.”

The topic of creation was so important to Wesley that he wrote the two volume work Survey of the Wisdom of God in the Creation (1763). [5] Wesley was a creationist and held that creation occurred about 4000 years before Christ. [6]

If I tell you things that are plain as the hand before your face and you don’t believe me, what use is there in telling you of things you can’t see, the things of God? (Jn 3:12, Message)

May your heart also be "strangely warmed."

Notes:
1) Refuting Compromise by Jonathan Sarfati (Master Books, 2004), p. 130.
2) ibid.
3) ibid., p. 199.
4) ibid., p. 206.
5) The Great Turning Point by Terry Mortenson (Master Books, 2004), p. 42.
6) ibid.

Adam to Abraham (A2A): The Dating Game

Orthodox Protestants who take Genesis as Historical Narrative (OPGHN, “opgane”) believe the Genesis record gives us a clear chronology from Adam to Abraham. There is no evidence of gaps. [1] Seth named Enosh (Ge 4:26) so he was his direct descendant and not a distant relative. In Jude 14 we are told that Enoch was the seventh from Adam, so no gaps are possible there. Lamech named Noah (Ge 5:29) so he was his biological father and not his great great grandfather. Arphaxad must be the son of Shem and not his grandson since he was born just two years after the flood. Methuselah’s name means “when he dies it shall be sent” and the year of his death is when the Global Flood started. This shows how accurate and tight the historical chronology from Genesis is - Methuselah could not have died after the Flood!

Adam and Eve lived at the beginning of creation not millions of years later (Mk 10:6). Since the beginning of creation man has been able to see God’s eternal power and divine nature through observing creation (Rom 1:20) – man has existed since the beginning and is not a latecomer in cosmic history. If millions of years really existed before the Flood, scripture could have made that plain. Second Chronicles 14:9 refers to a million man fighting force.

Jacob told Pharaoh that his life so far was short (130 years) compared to his forefathers (Ge 47:9), thus confirming the long ages of the antediluvians (900’s). The Sumerian King List also documents long ages before the Global Flood and a drastic reduction in life spans afterward. The Sumerian King List shows eight kings before the flood and if we don’t include Adam and Noah, this matches the historical chronology from Genesis. The Sumerian system of math was based on 60 instead of the decimal system (base 10). If we convert the life spans of the line of Seth from decimal to base 60 we can see that the Sumerian King List is somewhat close to the actual values from Genesis. For Mahalalel we have 8*3600=28,800 and 9*60=540. The totals for all eight differ by only 5%.














To many, long life spans seem incredible. Just think of the number of dreams Adam had in 930 years. One way to live longer is to avoid disease. A group of dwarfs in southern Ecuador get neither cancer nor diabetes due to their unique genetic makeup.

We can see from this chart by Walt Brown (click to see larger image) that Adam lived at the same time as Methuselah, Methuselah lived at the same time as Shem and Shem lived at the same time as Isaac! So Isaac could have verified Shem’s first hand knowledge of the genealogy, Shem could have done the same with Methuselah and Methuselah could have checked his facts from Adam himself! A chronology you can trust from the man made from dust. Adam and Eve had plenty of practice with number theory when they counted the thousands of stars at night. Bookkeeping the “begats” would be no problem for the first Edenite.

From Adam to the Flood is 1656 years. For hundreds of years people could chat with the perfect couple (initially) who once lived in a utopia named Paradise. Both Genesis and Josephus agree that Abraham was born 290 years after the Flood. [2] Abraham could have compared his genealogy with Shem, who was still alive in his time. Abraham is generally considered to be living around 2000 BC. Therefore, the traditional date of creation of around 4000 BC seems correct. The Mayan calendar places creation at 3114 BC which is not that far from the date of 4004 BC given by Ussher.

Some reply that radiometric dating forces a lengthening of the Genesis chronology. The book and DVD “Thousands not Billions” provide decisive evidence that radioactive dating actually supports the Young Earth Science (YES) position. This book, which summarizes the findings of the RATE project includes both scientific and biblical evidence.

All the men named in these genealogies were sinners: “Here’s a word you can take to heart and depend on: Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. I’m proof—Public Sinner Number One” (1 Tim. 1:15, Message).

NOTES:
1) Refuting Compromise by Jonathan Sarfati (Master Books, 2004), pp. 289-297.
2) ibid., p. 291.

Dear Geico

I love your funny “caveman” ads, but disrespect for our ancestors is looked down upon by many cultures of the world. Your underlying message seems to be, “It not only takes a village, it takes a village idiot named Caveman to sell insurance.” During the Ice Age it made sense to live in caves!

The most famous cavemen were the Neanderthals.  New Man, that is what Neanderthal means, is my brother. The Choctaw, of which I am a member, have a tradition that all people spoke the same language (Choctaw) and that after building a tall mound to reach the sky the languages were confused. This is a variant rendition of the historical account of the Tower of Babel found in Genesis (Adam’s favorite book). That is, all peoples, including Neanders, have a common origin. An update from the journal Archaeology provides evidence that Neanderthals and moderns interbred.  

Some Neanderthals had red hair! Neanders made wood structures covered with hide. They made javelins, a flute, body ornaments and used fire and spices for cooking. They even made a deep underground structure without natural light. 

A fascinating piece, "Neanderthals are Still Human” shows that the hyoid bone, which is important in speech, is the same as the hyoid bone in moderns.  Also their brains were bigger. There were also ritualistic burials with goat bones. Jack Cuozzo had the opportunity to x-ray some of the original Neander skulls in Europe and found that they must have lived to the great old age of around 200 years!

The mitochondrial evidence that some claim puts the Neandertals into a separate group actually falls within the range of modern genetic dispersion.

I would encourage your fine organization to concentrate on advertising customer value and fair pricing rather that putting down our brilliant relatives from a few thousand years ago. Stress the actuarial basis for honest pricing rather than picking on the noble caveman!

Yo Schmookie!*

Here’s hoping that you’re having a swell day, but that you’re not swelling!
Are you bent on self-destruction? Have you seen GoodFellas more than three times? Is your goal to blow up tall buildings? There is a bold contrast between the big bad dude and the Real Messiah: “A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of” (Jn. 10:10, Message). Knowing your Creator (the Intelligent Designer) brings joy; thieving brings prison.
Would you rather have plastic furniture or plastic explosives? Have you ever stuffed a space monkey in your trunk? Seeking vitality through pain is not the answer; childlike humility is:
"Truly I say to you, Except you are converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (Mt. 18:3,4).
Violence addiction can result in loss of life. Consider this caution from The Ultimate Guidebook, “it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Heb. 9:27).
There is more to life than support groups and insomnia. Would you rather join the Fight Club or the Righteous Revolution (Mt. 10:34-42)? Is your best friend’s cousin named Parker Morris? Do you love others? Does anyone care about you? Is your twin twin brother named Tyler?
Make soap, not war. You are made in the image of God and have tremendous worth. You should care for your body (take a bath occasionally) and be a good steward of the talents God has given you (cf. Eph. 5:29, Ex. 31:1-5). Getting beaten up is not fun, but self-torture is completely pointless. The Real Book About The Meaning Of Life states, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love” (1 Jn. 4:18). Focusing on the needs of others will overcome your feelings of danger regarding yourself. Scrap Project Mayhem and join Project May-all-the-glory-go-to-Him.
Your father may not have been the best role model, but the true Messiah from Nazareth will not disappoint. If we believe in Jesus we can experience the lavish love of God and reach perfection when he returns (1 Jn. 3:1-3). The Prophet (Acts 3:18-23) suffered real pain inflicted by others. Christ bled and died and took the punishment we deserve for our wrong actions and thoughts. If we trust in him we will have eternal life (Jn. 3:13-18).

DON’T FIGHT CLUB RULES:
1) Talk about Jesus (Lk. 12:8).
2) Talk about Jesus more (Jn. 1:40,41).
3) When someone beats you up and says “Stop!” - talk about Jesus (Acts 5:40-42).
4) 2 or 3 should speak at a time (1 Cor. 14:26-33).
5) One day at a time (Lam. 3:19-23).
6) Wear clothes (Gen. 3:21).
7) Meetings continue as needed (Acts 20:9).
8) Each member (even new ones) must perform their function in the body (Rom. 12:3-8).

God made man perfect (Eccl. 7:29), but we now have a messy world since Adam made a wrong choice and ate from the forbidden Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil which lead to the great rebellion (Gen. 3). Job suffered for some special reasons and even the weather was against him (Job 1:18,19). Suffering hits us all because we live the a creation twisted by the Fall and awaiting rescue (Gen. 3:17,18; Rom. 8:18-22). Christian apologist Francis Schaeffer points out that even though we all Fall down, man is still noble:

Another question in the dilemma of man is man’s nobility. Perhaps you do not like the word nobility, but whatever word you choose, there is something great about man. I want to add here that evangelicals have often made a serious mistake by equating the fact that man is lost and under God’s judgment with the idea that man is nothing – zero. This is not what the Bible says. There is something great about man, and we have lost perhaps our greatest opportunity of evangelism in our generation by not insisting that it is the Bible which explains why man is
great. [1]

Is cruelty intrinsic to humanity? Schaeffer gives some vital insight here:

We can explain that man is cruel [because of the Fall], without God being a bad God. There is a hope of a solution for this moral problem which is not intrinsic to the “mannishness” of man. If this cruelty is intrinsic to the “mannishness” of man – if that is what man always has been – then there is no hope of a solution. But if it is an abnormality, there is a hope of a solution. It is in this setting that the substitutionary, propitiatory death of Christ ceases to be an incomprehensible concept. … God did not make man cruel, and He did not make the results of man’s cruelty. These are abnormal, contrary to what God made, and so we can fight the evil without fighting God. [2]


Notes:
1) The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer, Vol. 1, p. 278.
2) The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer, Vol. 1, p. 301.

True Stories:
Psalm 19:1
The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.
Proverbs 19:1
Better is the poor man whose ways are upright, than the man of wealth whose ways are twisted (BBE).

“enough with the Schmookie” (rev.)

*If your name is Shmookie (sub “p” for “k” in the Seinfeld episode) or if the content applies, let the shoe fit.

-- Answer to Puzzle for July 2008 post --

The following months have 31 days:  Jan, Mar, May, Jul, Aug, Oct, Dec

Adam's Blog [stardate 032,172.781]

“Palmettos and Recurrence Dreams”

  Do you enjoy braiding you daughters’ hair?  I was pondering the trunk of a palmetto tree and admired the braided pattern the Intelligent Designer gave this plant.  I could imitate this design to make rope!  I invented a small version of the palmetto trunk and if you put your fingers in each end it’s difficult to escape.  My children love this toy! I named it an HTU for Holistic Tube of Unity.

  I had a strange dream the other strange day.  In the dream I was sleeping, as I woke up I said, “MADAM, IN EDEN I’M ADAM.”  Next, I went to the garden and noticed that three fourths of my tulips were missing.  A funny thing about ¾ is that it’s NEVER ODD OR EVEN.  A while later Dennis and Edna were caught fighting, so I gave my verdict: DENNIS AND EDNA SINNED.  This series of events repeated itself over and over and over.  By the way, aren’t groundhogs cute?

  The Intelligent Designer made the world during the first six days of history.  Unlike my adorable offspring, I never said “goo-goo gah-gah.”  I had no mom or dad to hug or kiss me.   Some call me “Dusty” for that is what the Creator made me from and where my destiny lies [~ Ge 2:7, 3:19].  Since Eve was taken from my rib, some have nicknamed her “Reeba.”  Before the day I ate the bad fruit, my dreams had no animal deaths and none of my children had fatal accidents.  Our sinless, deathless paradise is gone, but our loving Creator has promised a coming Savior [~ Ge 3:15, 1 Jn 3:8, Rev 22:3].  I love to eat radishes and squash.  I am the first Adam.   Deep time? What’s that?  I have been stuck by thorns, but I have never Ben Stein…  

[note: palindromes are in ALL CAPS SPACL LA]