Akin for the Truth: Recent Episodes
Jack Akin, MS, PE
This podcast is dedicated to topics of archaeological, historical, scientific and logical discussions in theology. The primary point of conflict between proponents of intelligent design vs evolutionism, for example, is the question of origins.
AW Wilder-Smith Smith, a brilliant scientist with three PhD’s in the biological field, clarifies that the spontaneous synthesis of life’s building blocks, and embedding of information within life, is made absolutely impossible by the Second Law of Thermodynamics.
The second law of thermodynamics builds upon the First law by stating that all energy, which according to the first law cannot be created or destroyed, experiences a universal process of change, and it is a directional change, but it is not an upward change.
We left off last time with the clear statements in Scripture that all things wer created and have been hurled into a downward spiral of devolution and death. These Biblical realities are heavily demonstrated by the laws of thermodynamics.
Thermodynamics is one of those disciplines, heavily based in mathematics, that is supported by universally accepted, scientific laws.
To conclude our observations regarding prophecy in Scripture that allude to end times judgement, we noted a recent though dwarfish example of upcoming events by looking at Mt. St. Helens.
Last time we were looking at an interesting scripture found in the ancient book of Job, “Have you entered into the treasures of the snow, or have you seen the treasures of the hail, which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?"
Water and its characteristics are obviously specially designed to help maintain life on Earth. A very unique property of water is that ice is uniquely less dense than its liquid state, and therefore floats.
Thermal escape alone cannot explain the lack of helium in the atmosphere, and so the problem is considered “unsolved”. Could the source of the problem be the assumption that the Earth is 4 billion years old?
To explain the significant lack of helium according to an old Earth, evolutionists theorize that helium escapes the atmosphere. But is the temperature of the exosphere base high enough to allow that much helium to escape?
Where is the Earth's helium? There is up to a million times less helium than there should be if the earth is billions of years old.
The theory of a young magnetic age is supported by several indisputable facts. Find out why this is the Achilles heel of evolution.
Has the Earth's magnetic field been at a constant decay rate? Or a dynamic decay? Learn the difference and what the age of the Earth would be based on these 2 theories.
Compasses point north because of the magnetic field of the core of the Earth. That magnetic field is weakening. Could this prove the theory of a young Earth?
One theory to explain this paradox is that the Earth used to have much more greenhouse gas, and then the amount of that gas decreased at the same rate as the sun's heat increased. But is this coincidental same rate even plausible?
As we talked about last episode, the assumed age of the sun would mean Earth would've begun as an ice planet. Yet this conflicts the Earths record, which insists its temperature has not changed in the past 4 billion years.
The early faint sun paradox asks: 4 billion years ago when the sun would've been 40% cooler than now, making the Earth an ice planet, how could life form?
Dr. Russel Humphreys, an award-winning physicist, has been working to bring cosmogeny up to date, by applying relativity and thus showing that the universe not infinite, but with a boundary and a center.
According to General Relativity, if a person is located close to an extremely dense mass, like a black hole, time would be greatly slowed. These days the Hubble telescope has, in the opinion of many cosmologists, located some of these black holes.
We’ve spoken before about the fact that we can seeing galaxies that cold be even billions of light years away. But, if that is true, how could the Biblical account limiting the Earth’s age to 1000’s of years also be true?
We've been discussing the age of the cosmos and the theoretical and proven understanding that time is slowed down in proportion to the density of mass.
Last time we were talking about geological phenomena like canyons, tectonic plate drifting, limestone cave creation, ad more that are believed by many to have occurred over billions of years, are being demonstrated to occur catastrophically, in very short periods of time.
There are galaxies that are probably billions of light-years distant from us. Light which left a galaxy 5 billion years ago should just now be reaching us, if it and we have been around for five billion years.
Just near the big dipper we find the constellation Comah, or Coma Berenices. Today we'll look at the fascinating history of this constellation.
In Psalm 19, David proclaims that the Heavens declare God and the work of His hands. Psalm 19 is not just describing the mere wonder of the heavens, but is also telling us that the heavens contain a revelation from God.
Recently we were discussing some of the natural miracles that allows life on this planet to go on day after day. Today we'll look at some miracles in our moon, sun and planets.
This time we'll discuss Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, often referred to as the outer gas planets.
The first in a series of three some of those amazing and fortuitous conditions about our environment that make life on Earth and Solar System possible.
We began our discussions by citing recent studies being performed by scientists unveiling flaws in radiometric dating of rocks. This is important because evolutionists often support their theory with radiometric dates.
Today we'll look at some of the observations of the RATE group that are surprising to evolutionary geologists.
In 1996 a group of Scientists formed to investigate the reliability of popular methods of radiometric dating. This research group was called the Radioisotopes and the Age of the Earth (or RATE group).
In concluding our discussions regarding what we can learn from the fossil record, it has been necessary to enlist many of the claims that can not be factually supported by the fossil record.
We left off last time with the Coelacanth, dubbed before living Coelacanths were discovered in the 1930s as the dinofish, a cross between amphibians and fishes.
Recently we investigated the plausibility of the theory that invertebrates could transform into vertebrates, those into amphibians, then those into reptiles, and those into birds and mammals.
Unbroken transitional fossil evidence must be found in order to support presumptions that millions of favorable mutations, occurring simultaneously and/or in perfect order, have conspired to produce our incredible variety of living things.
In trying to link fishes and amphibians, we find no "fishibian" has ever been found. Every fish, living or fossil, is fully fish, and every amphibian fully amphibian.
Many are taught that lungfish evolved into land creatures. Today we'll look at the supposed transition from fishes to amphibians.
NO immediate ancestors for any of the 32 orders of mammals have been found, even though evolutionists believe there is a genetic link between ancient reptile and mammals.
The evolutionist sees through the lens of materialism and gradualism to explain variation by the development of increased order.
Even though the transition from invertebrates from vertebrates is supposed to have taken 100 million years, not a single intermediate has ever been discovered.
The theory of evolution states within its doctrine that vertebrates evolved from more primitive invertebrates after millions of years.
We have been looking at the testimony of fossils in general and today we'll look more at the the Archaeopteryx.
Let's talk now about the supposed transition from reptiles to birds, which creationists see no evidence for in fossils.
Evolutionists who also study paleontology or sedimentary geology sometimes put forth arguments against the world-wide flood spoken of in Scripture being the source of most of the fossils we find.
We continue today by introducing the testimony of the fossils as we take a closer look at the various types that have been found.
Opposing statements are sometimes made from two different camps using the same data - such as when interpreting the data provided by fossils.
What we all thought took thousands, or millions of years, we saw happen in days, weeks and months at Mt.St. Helens!
Today we'll talk about 3 more kinds of baloney: straw man, fake terms, and broad or shifting definitions.
Continuing from our last discussion, I would like to briefly describe another research experience: the study of the reliability of Scripture.
Today we'll look a few varieties of "baloney" we should learn to detect: selective use of evidence, inappropriate appeals to authority, and ad hominem.
The reliability of the New Testament documents is a crucial point to be able to verify, so I decided to tested it's authenticity by research.
If any of you are searching for a successful marriage between philosophy and theology, let me recommend a book that every Christian today should study: Mere Christianity, by CS Lewis.
Last time I began presenting some testimonies by experts and researchers in various fields, all of which demonstrate that, no matter from what perspective you come, the Scriptures shine.
For some time now our discussion has been about research, the motivations, tools, and resources. Today I would like to put some ”flesh on the bone”, if you will, giving some personal examples.
The same argument presented by Charles Sanders Peirce, that the universe presents the reality of God, was reiterated by Paul in Romans.
In this episode, I continue a listing of references I can personally recommend for research in specific areas.
Early 20th century philosopher, Charles Sanders Peirce, is the recognized father of pragmatism. Today we'll look at excerpts from his piece, "A Neglected Argument for the Reality of God."
We've so far identified the Bible, approved commentaries and study guides as key written research tools. Here are a few more research tools I use.
Having previously introduced the importance and motives for research, we are now able to talk practically about some tools that have been valuable for research.
Becoming fruitful in the knowledge of Jesus Christ is a well traveled road driven by the operation of God to infuse the precepts of His Word into the very fabric of our lives.
To undertake research can be an exciting and useful endeavor, a journey. And the resulting discovery, even when about subjects already well known, is at least very personal.
The answer of origins remains a paradox for the materialist, but we continue to evaluate the assumptions underlying the origin explanations for evolution.
We’ve been looking at a couple of interesting terms: axiom and paradox. Now, we'll combine them by looking at the famous question, Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
Let's look another, more familiar, word. A paradox combines para with the Greek word for "thought" - hence something that takes us outside our normal thinking.
Have you ever heard the term “axiom" before? An axiom is a basic truth or fact that does not need to be proven, because it’s foundational.
We'll speak today of some writings of the Apostolic Fathers, many of which are fiery, insightful and point us back to God's Word.
Sometimes talking about Biblically-related ancient writings can be confusing. Today we learn some of the reasons why the apocrypha is rejected by ancient and modern Bible scholars alike.
We’ve been talking about the extra-Biblical evidence for the reliability of the New Testament - so here's some more examples.
Anyone questioning the authorship and authenticity of the New Testament documents is really about 50 years out-of-date.
Critics today can be heard saying that the canonical Gospels are late and cannot be trusted - so let's discover if the New Testament is historical or not.
Documents of the New Testament are validated by every discovery, and now we have enough evidence from letters among Christians who were contemporary with the apostles, to place all of the writings of the New Testament in the first century.
Possibly the most significant discovery yet made relating to the background of early Bible times, the Elba tablets describe a period 1000 years before Moses. Jack
Of all the major religions, Christianity and Judaism are unique, distinguished from all others in their historicity…they are historic.
Some critics claim that the apostles we've discussed are a fabrication, a "Christ Myth"- but do not do so on the grounds of historical evidence.
There are many more Apostolic Fathers we could study, but for now we’ll look at just one more, Irenaeus.
As we catch a glimpse of first and early second century writings and memoirs of devout Christian writers, we should not leave out Polycarp.
In this series so far we’ve briefly visited the 1st and 2nd century church, but now let's look at elegant Latin memoirs of a Christian lawyer, Marcus Felix.
Today we'll look at Justin, whose writings are considered, outside of the New Testament, some of the most valuable early Christian writings.
Next we’ll look at Ignatius, also called Theophorus: a bold and fearless martyr and the second bishop of Antioch.
Clement of Rome (30-97 AD) echoes and even quotes thoughts from the book of Hebrews in his letter to the Corinthians, proving the Hebrews epistle is not of recent origin.
Eusebius enthusiastically dedicated his life and energy to documenting the first 300 years of Church history.
Over the next several sessions, let's look at some of the champions of the faith and martyrs.
Newton's writings on theological and biblical subjects alone amount to about 1.3 million words, the equivalent of 20 of today's standard-length books.
Did you know that Isaac Newton owned more books on humanistic learning than on mathematics and science, and that he sought to reconcile Greek mythology with the Bible?
The primary motivation of Sir Isaac Newton, one of the foremost scientific intellects of all time, was to understand the world through the lens of Scripture.
We continue our listing of the scientific accomplishments and discoveries of the period of Mendel and Darwin.
Between Gregor Mendal’s birth in 1822 and Darwin’s Origin of Species in 1859, countless revolutionary discoveries were made.
Last in this series where we learn how the ancient Chinese people were quite familiar with the ancient record that was eventually recorded by Moses.
We continue to see how China provides a surprising source for an extra-Biblical testimony of the Genesis record.
A 4500 year unbroken language and culture reveals some interesting -even startling- insights, and reflect the story we see in Genesis.
Among the most intriguing of ancient traditions of paradiseis that reported of the Miautso tribes of inland China.
The tradition of primordial paradise reflects a nostalgia for a mythical time when either Heaven and Earth were closer together or actually connected.
A cultural memory of a paradise where there was no death, disease, or pain is widespread throughout history and culture.
Remember in your textbook the series of pictures of the advancing stages of mammals as they develop before birth? The idea that higher life forms go through the previous evolutionary chain before birth was popularized by Ernst Haeckel - but it was later found that Haeckel forged the diagrams which he used as evidence!
Research on various anatomical features of Archaeopteryx in the last ten years or so has shown, in every case, that the characteristic in question is bird-like, not reptile-like.
It's hard to believe that newly published high school and college textbooks could contain incorrect and disproved information, yet sometimes they do.
No one who studies science could possibly believe in the “Bible hocus pocus”? History disagrees. Don't be intimidated; compare both the creation and evolutionary models.
The personal beliefs of scientists of the past didn't inhibit, but rather inspired, the innovators of today's scientific law.
In today's episode, we learn more about Sir Isaac Newton, his studies & discoveries, and how his passion was to reconcile the “book of nature” with the book of Scripture.
Newton, Kepler and Maxwell are familiar names, as men who made great leaps in the world of science. They all have something in common: they believed in God.
This is the last of the enlisting of the positions about origins held in common by most modern creationists. We conclude that knowledge of God's word has no effect unless it is demonstrated in our personal lives.
Added to the discussions we've covered so far must be the essential realization that, when taken to their logical ends, the doctrines of Darwinian evolution and special creationism are mutually exclusive.
Our next postulate is that the vast ages are refuted by scientific observation. Missing links between species are still missing in their millions. Aggressive, worldwide search since 1859 for these "intermediate species" haven't brought a single missing link.
Next we'll briefly make 2 more observations. Firstly, that there are multiplied thousands of beneficial unique factors about our solar system. Secondly, there is a historical longing in humankind for paradise.
There are certainly basics with which all creationists agree. Let's look at the first two: natural selection, and beneficial mutation.
Marvelous variety can occur within a given class of creatures - not because of new information, but the scrambling and recombination of information already existing in the DNA coding. Thus variation cannot be used to prove the tenets of evolutionary theory.
After voicing his concerns about the growing popularity of creationism among biology teachers, Mr. Berra proceeds to cite, as proof of evolution, examples that are either variations within species ♮ selection, or unsubstantiated scenarios.
Tim Berra is "alarmed" by the number of teachers who are favorable toward creation science in the classroom - but this shows the willingness that exists to challenge unsubstantiated evolutionary claims by means of critical thinking.
Evolutionists use the false argument that if we accept God as the Creator of nature, we will see no need to search for scientific explanations. History does not support this argument, since the greatest scientists that ever lived, believed strongly in a Creator.
The real rub is not what we see in nature, but how it got here. The debate is about origins.
Evolutionists and Creationists have no disputes regarding the complex coding of the DNA, but the latter see far too much purpose in the biology of life to discount a Creator.
In continuing to contrast the hopefulness of the believer of Scripture with the hopeless and dark doctrines of the materialist, we look at another of the intentional attributes necessary for life: the atmosphere.
Now we look at the worldview of the Christian, who sees each piece of the cosmos as divinely designed by a loving Creator.
We first look at the worldview of believes the order of the universe has created itself: a meaningless universe, life without purpose.
To end our discourse about the history of language, we look at Dr. Henry Morris' two theories to explain the history of language.
Primitive languages are generally more complex than their derivatives, whereas modern languages are increasingly generalized and less precise. This is the opposite of what would happen if language were the product of a positive development process.
To accept evolutionist theories about language development, we must accept that people of ancient cultures were unable to write anything for hundreds of thousands to millions of years! Let's look into the history of written of pictographic and cuneiform writing.
The ability to communicate with our own kind in abstract, symbolic speech is unique to man, and the evolutionist has never been able to bridge the tremendous gulf between this ability and the grunts and barks of animals.
Our DNA is full of directed, purposed information – a code that could not have come from the random chaos of evolution.
Our DNA code is more complex than a space shuttle, but it’s the information translation system connected to that code that is truly baffling.
The universe, including time itself, is governed by laws demonstrating a clear, coded message from a well-intentioned Encoder.
There is a common moral code throughout all ages and cultures, and the idea of an "encoder" does not escape the notice of all all fields of science and philosophy.
Let’s look at the giraffe and the integrated functions and systems that would have to mutate all at once in order to keep the animal alive.
Fruit flies are often used to study genetic mutations, but even with 400 mutations, a new species has never resulted.
As we took a closer look at irreducible complexity, we go over the 2 mechanisms that are believed to make evolution possible: natural selection and genetic mutations.
In our final episode regarding the chicken egg, we study the many variances in egg designs within different animal species.
Why would blind and uncaring evolutionary mutations place the air sack at the large end of the egg? How did blood vessels mutate to coincidentally find nourishment that could be assimilated by the embryos system?
We learn more about the chick growing inside the egg, specifically the chick's egg tooth, which allows the chick to begin breathing and then to peck his way through... and then soon disappears!
The 2-inch package of the chicken egg is an ingenious design. Grab an egg from your fridge as we learn about the incredible process of the chick's growth.
If a single system composed of several interacting, basic parts were to stop functioning at the removal of any of the parts... then we have irreducible complexity.
What need or mechanism could cause such a single-tracked, multi-staged, purposed process as demonstrated in the life and travels of the monarch butterfly?
We continue looking at the transformation of the Monarch butterfly from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly.
When looking at creatures whose design, habits and/or migrations point to a careful and wise Creator, we should not leave out the Monarch Butterfly.
Let’s take a look at the anatomy of the whale in reference to the idea that whales descended from land animals
Whales have lung tissues that can tolerate levels of compression that would rip ours apart, perfect for their high pressure habitat.
Underwater creatures must have special mechanisms for dealing with the extreme pressures of living so far beneath the surface of the ocean.