Did I get your attention with this title?

(I have been thinking about science and creation this week.  So has LDS Dave B. over in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  I invite you all to our “Celebration of the Creator” this Sunday.  It is going to be great.)

Paul Garner of BCM writes,

One of the most important influences on the development of the “species” concept came from Greek philosophy.  In the fourth century before Christ, Aristotle had taught that every entity was characterized by an eternal and unchanging set of features or form–its immutable “essence.”  Such “essentialist” thinking was eventually applied in biology, leading to belief in the immutability of species.

Of course, Aristotle did not believe in biblical creation, but many Christians who later adopted his ideas did.  Thus, by the seventeenth century, the concept of the immutability of species had become linked to belief in their separate creation.  The Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus, famous for laying the foundations of our moder biological classification system, expressed his essentialist thinking like this:  “We count as many species as there were created forms in the beginning.”

In this way, a Greek philosophical concept became Christianized.  Although it was given a biblical facade, this belief was really rooted in Aristotelianism (AnswersMagazine, Jan.-Mar. 2009, p. 38).

Dr. Todd Wood asserts, “Many people think the Bible teaches that God created modern species in the beginning and then Darwin proved the Bible wrong.  The truth is more interesting.  When fossils of extinct species were discovered in the fossil record, scientists started to ask, what mechanism changed species?  Darwin didn’t raise the questions, and his followers didn’t settle them” (p. 67).

Todd Wood raises some heart questions for biologists.

How do created kinds generate species?  Is it just random variations and natural selection like Darwin said, or is there something else involved?

How fast can species change?  Creationists believe that earth is only 6,000 years old, but the Bible records modern species in the time of Abraham (Genesis 12:16).  Could there be some kind of “trigger” that makes species change quickly?

How much can species change?  Is there some intrinsic limit to change, and if so what is it?

Why do species appear to be so well designed?  If species can change and even adapt to new environments, how do they end up so beautifully designed?  Does God somehow oversee the changes, or is the change itself part of God’s design?

Good questions.

Dr. Todd Charles Wood, president of the Creation Biology Study Group (BSG) declares,

We’re not just trying to answer some weird questions or refute the scoffers.  Our goal is God Himself.  We’re trying to understand His creation, His design, which ultimately is a reflection of His very nature.  What better goal could there be?” (p. 77).

I agree 100%.  There is no better goal.

(Of course, then my LDS friends want to take the discussion up to the highest notch.  How much does Greek philosophy corrupt our beliefs about the Creator?)

Ken Ham (probably someone whom Richard Mouw would seek to distance himself from as among ‘the worst kinds of fundamentalism’) writes (AnswersMagazine, Jan.-Mar. 2009),

“In June of 2008, Paul Myers, Associate Professor of Biology at the University of Minnesota–Morris, decided to oppose me on his blog by beginning a name-calling exercise.

Millions of people, including some of the most knowledgeable biologists in the world, think just about every day that you are . . . [and then he launched into a long list of names, from airhead to birdbrain, blockhead, bonehead, and bozo to sap, scam artist, sham, simpleton, a snake oil salesman, wacko] and much, much worse.

You’re a clueless schmuck who knows nothing about science and has arrogantly built a big fat fake museum to promote medieval [expletive]–you should not be surprised to learn that you are held in very low esteem by the community of scholars and scientists, and by the even larger community of lay people who have made the effort to learn more about science than you have (admittedly, though, you have set the bar very, very low on that, and there are 5 year old children who have a better grasp of the principles of science as well as more mastery of details of evolution than you do).

Wow, I thought leading American scientists were more methodical and logical and less susceptible to emotional bias and emotional rhetoric.

Did you know that to admit you believe in a sovereign Creator, you can now be labeled as a “child abuser”.

Richard Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California writes (Newsweek, February 9, 2009),

Yes, I voted for Prop 8.  Yes, I oppose gay marriage.  But that doesn’t make me a religious fundamentalist. . . .

Angry shouts. Shaking fists.  It makes me sad.  This is something that happens on occasion in an intimate relationship.  People who care deeply about each other start arguing about some touchy issue.  As temperatures rise, so does the rhetoric.  Mean-spirited things get said.  The situation seems hopeless.  That is why I want to issue this plea to my fellow citizens on both sides of this divide over sexuality:  Can we talk?

I ask this as someone who has been one of the angry ones — angry about things that have been said about people like me.  I’ve been on talk shows where people phone in to call me a fascist or equate me with those who burned accused witches at the stake.  One remark that hit especially close to home was made by the editor of this magazine.  He wrote that anyone–anyone!–who tries to make a scriptural case against same-sex marriage is guilty of “the worst kind of fundamentalism.”

That hurt.  I have spent several decades of my life trying to spell out an evangelical alternative to “the worst kind of fundamentalism.”  My friends and I have argued that the Bible supports racial justice, gender equality, peacemaking and care for the environment–views that often draw the ire of the worst kind of fundamentalists.  But none of that seems to matter to folks who don’t like our views about same-sex relations.  Because we also believe that the Bible frowns on sexual intimacy outside of marriage between a man and a woman, we are being relegated to the margins of the civil dialogue.

I refuse to go to the margins. . . .

I wonder what Richard would think of Jeremiah’s ministry?

We are in Jeremiah 11 tonight.  The persecution starts.  Everything begins to go downhill.

The Prodigal God by Tim Keller

I am pleased to announce to you that it is now in the Idaho Falls Public Library.  Look for the gold jacket in the new books section.

After reading Runtu’s “Double Whammy” this weekend, I know this book would be a good read for others.

Lynda told me she made a mistake in the singing today.  Who cares?  This sister-in-Christ had me thinking deeply of the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

I was once married to the law.  My eternal marriage to Jesus Christ is my sole treasure in heaven.  My wife’s sole treasure, too.

I have been reading He is Coming by Wendie L. Edwards (Cedar Hills: Seventh Seal Publishers, 2009).  Implant computer chips.  Flesh-eating bacteria.  The mysterious Antichrist.  Earthquakes.  The U.S. Constitution hangs by a thread.  The collapse of America.  An electromagnetic pulse initiating a deadly plague.  A new America rising on the original Constitution.  Tent cities.  Rogue pirates.  It is all there in this LDS endtimes series, eschatology through the LDS lens.

But I cannot believe this is what the apostle John says about the Lord Jesus Christ:

Jesus was a student of the Holy Ghost; He learned line upon line just as you and I do.  But because of His worthiness and the previous talents and sensitivities that came with Him from the pre-existence, He became far more knowledgeable than any normal youth (58).

Chenille asks John the Beloved,

When did you know Jesus was half Deity?

John answers,

James and I always knew.  It was just a fact (59).

Would you like to know my response on this sunny Saturday in February of 2009?

(Sigh)

(Sigh)

(Sigh)

I think I am going to simply put this book back on the shelf.

(P.S. – And I didn’t know this particular LDS answer to why John the Beloved couldn’t have kids until now.  See page 60.)

Hmmm . . . it depends on which LDS scholar you read.

Read Kerry Muhlestein’s article, “One Continuous Flow:  Revelations Surrounding the ‘New Translation'”, in the 37th Annual Brigham Young University Sidney B. Sperry Symposium.

He writes,

In the infancy of the Church, Joseph’s revelatory work on translating the Bible and his other concurrent revelations laid, stone by stone, a doctrinal foundation upon which the Church would firmly stand.  The revelations resulting in the Joseph Smith Translation, which he called the New Translation, and those in the Doctrine and Covenants are not two separate sides of this foundation but are instead many individual stones that overlay and interlock” (40-41).

Do you have the New Translation constantly by your side for Scripture reading?

Romney is not happy.

Neither is the Idahoan delegation happy with the President’s “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act”.

Senator Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, said he cannot support this level of spending.  Senator James Risch, R-Idaho stated, “This is not an economic stimulus package.  It’s a 40-year package of Democratic programs they haven’t been able to get through.”

The front page of today’s Post Register relates (I give you only the bad parts):

“Some parts of the bill have come under attack from interest groups such as Taxpayers for Common Sense and congressional Republicans:  $6.2 billion for home weatherization, $100 million to teach children about green construction, $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts, insurance exemption for companies that work on recreational boats longer than 65 feet, and requirement for the Transportation Security Administration to buy 100,000 uniforms from U.S. apparel makers.”

“How will this impact the federal deficit?  If a stimulus package is signed into law this month, the Congressional Budget Office estimates it would increase the federal deficit by:  $233 billion over the remaining months of fiscal year 2009, $461 billion in fiscal year 2010, $142 billion in fiscal year 2011, and $884 billion over the 2009-19 period.”

That is a lot of money.

About these men:

“D. Jeffrey Meldrum holds a PhD in anatomical sciences with an emphasis in physical anthropology from SUNY at Stony Brook.  As an associate professor of biology at Idaho State University, he teaches human anatomy and evolution.  His research in evolutionary morphology and paleontology centers on primate and human locomotion.”  Make sure you check out his online notes about the infamous Sasquatch.

“Trent D. Stephens holds a PhD in anatomy and embryology from the University of Pennsylvania.  He is a professor of biology at Idaho State University, and his research in embryology and teratology focuses on the mechanisms of limb development.”

I just read their article, “Who Are the Children of Lehi?” in The Book of Mormon and DNA Research (The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2008).

They conclude:  “We probably will never find a genetic marker for the children of Lehi, for the children of Abraham, or even for the “Children of God.”  Ultimately we are impressed by the realization that the fundamental question of the veracity of the claims of the Book of Mormon lies beyond the ken of modern DNA research.  The final implications of the book, as a witness of the prophetic calling of Joseph Smith and as another testament of the divinity of Jesus Christ, remain within the realm of faith and individual testimony” (182).

I find Trent’s description of his wife intriguing:

“Kathleen’s father was not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when the children were born.  Her mother was.  When the children were still very young, her father joined the church.  A year later the family went to Idaho Falls Temple and was sealed for time and all eternity.  Kathleen knows no more about the Catholic Church than most any other Latter-day Saint [biological parents were Catholic].  She grew up with a strong Latter-day Saint heritage and is a devout member of the church.  I know of few women who are stronger in the faith.  It is her belief, and mine, that she was meant from the premortal existence to be with her brothers and her parents.  Because her parents were not able to have children, she and her siblings came by another means to live with their loving parents” (175).

“In my wife’s case, and mine, I believe, memes are stronger than genes” (176).

Interesting words coming from a scientist.

Compare this verse with a modern translation.  Do you see the remarkable truth revealed by the early Greek witness?  Taste and savor this precious truth about the Shepherd.

Despite what the modern prophet and apostles would tell you, you may pray directly to Jesus Christ, too.  Ask Him.  Ask in His name.  He is High.  He is King.  He is God.

Feast on these unbelievable words by Jesus Christ in John 14:12-14.