12Feb 2020 by Post

Say Happy Birthday to Charles Darwin

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Today, February 12, is Charles Darwin’s birthday. For the past two decades, secularists and atheists have celebrated “Darwin Day” almost like a religious holiday. Tonight, for example, the American Humanist Association will hold an event where they promise you can “Discover how Darwin’s apostles… launched a campaign for truth.” I’m not kidding — they really do refer to “Darwin’s apostles”! Meanwhile, the official Facebook page for Darwin Day posts statements like this: “Using scientific logic, we can be as sure of God’s nonexistence as we are of the nonexistence of the aether, phlogiston or werewolves!” The Cult of Darwin While some continue to worship in the cult of Darwin, here is some good news in time for Darwin’s birthday: The number of prominent scientists around the world who are leaving Darwin behind…
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11Feb 2020 by Post

Michael Behe on the Design Idea That Won’t Go Away (and Shouldn’t)

Charles Darwin, Darwin's Black Box, Del Ratzsch, Evolution, evolutionary mechanism, Intelligent Design, Irreducible Complexity, Jonathan Witt, Michael Behe, molecular machines, Podcast
On a new episode of ID the Future, Jonathan Witt catches up with Darwin’s Black Box author and biochemist Michael Behe at the 2020 Dallas Conference on Science & Faith, where the two discuss an idea that many wish would just go away, but hasn’t. Download the podcast or listen to it here. Charles Darwin himself told us how his evolutionary theory could be overturned: identify a biological system that couldn’t possibly have evolved by “numerous success successive slight modifications.” It’s to Darwin’s credit that he put his theory in “empirical harm’s way,” to quote philosopher Del Ratzsch. But as Witt and Behe note, Darwin also cleverly placed the burden of proof on his opponents, an arguably dubious maneuver given that his proposed evolutionary mechanism has never once been observed…
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10Feb 2020 by Post

The Death of Judas: A Hopeless Bible Contradiction?

4. Is the NT True?, Answering objections of skeptics, Apologetics, bible contradictions, Christianity, Death of Judas, Erik Manning, Is Jesus Alive, IsJesusAlive, New Testament, Skeptics, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics
Skeptics accuse Christians of not paying attention while they’re reading their Bible. If they didn’t rush through their daily devotional, they’d catch some obvious contradictions. One of the more famous of these contradictions is the two accounts of the death of Judas. Here’s Biblical scholar and critic Bart Ehrman: “The two reports give different accounts of how Judas died. However mysterious it may be to say he fell headlong and burst open, at least that is not “hanging” oneself. And they are flat out contradictory on two other points: who purchased the field (the priests, as per Matthew, or Judas, as per Acts?) and why the field was called the field of blood (because it was purchased with blood money, as Matthew says, or because Judas bled all over it,…
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10Feb 2020 by Post

Anti-Pelagianismo y la Resistibilidad de la Gracia

Anti pelagianismo, Español, Molinismo, Raúl Jaramillo, Resistencia de la gracia, Salvación, Soteriología, Teología
Introducción Cuando uno piensa en el debate entre la Soberanía de Dios y la responsabilidad genuina del hombre, comúnmente se presentan dos posturas con las cuales alguien puede identificarse, el Calvinismo y el Arminianismo[1]. En general, estas perspectivas son caracterizadas por enfatizar (o sobre-enfatizar) en la Soberanía de Dios y la Libertad del Hombre respectivamente. Esta interminable discusión nos ha llevado a creer que en el corazón de este dilema se encuentran distintos enfoques mediante los cuales los cristianos a lo largo de la historia han buscado solucionarlo. “Los Arminianos tienen un evangelio humanista y centrado en el hombre, mientras que los Calvinistas se enfocan en Dios y su Gloria”, nos dicen algunos hermanos Calvinistas. ¿Es cierto eso? ¿El problema se encuentra en el enfoque con el cual nos acercamos…
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10Feb 2020 by Post

Fewer “Deaths of Despair” Increases U.S. Life Expectancy

addiction, addictive substances, assisted suicide, cancer, Culture & Ethics, deaths of despair, despair, fentanyl, New York Times, opioid painkillers, prosperity, suicide
Good news: U.S. life expectancy has increased. From the New York Times story: Life expectancy increased for the first time in four years in 2018, the federal government said Thursday, raising hopes that a benchmark of the nation’s health may finally be stabilizing after a rare and troubling decline that was driven by a surge in drug overdoses. Part of the reason for the improvement was a decrease in what are known as “deaths of despair”: Deaths from overdoses dropped by 4.1 percent in 2018, to 67,367 from 70,237 in 2017. The decrease was largely driven by a dip in deaths from prescription opioid painkillers, which set off the opioid epidemic in the late 1990s before heroin and, later, fentanyl moved in. Provisional data suggests those deaths continued to fall…
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08Feb 2020 by Post

Are Pro-Lifers Who Own Guns Hypocrites?

abortion, Apologetics, Christianity, Christians, FreeThinking Ministries, Guns, Legislating Morality, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, Nathan Apodaca, Pro lifers
Another assertion has become commonplace in discussions of abortion. Pro-lifers who own firearms, or support military actions abroad are misled at best, and at worst, hypocrites. The critic assumes that any inconsistently held pro-life beliefs are evidence pro-lifers aren’t actually motivated by a desire to protect human life, but rather a desire to control women’s liberty. This line of criticism lacks substance and misunderstands both the essential pro-life position as well as why people support gun rights or particular military actions. Suppose for a moment it’s true that the vast majority of pro-lifers are hypocritical in how they hold their views on protecting life across various issues. Would that supposition invalidate the pro-life position as a whole? The essential pro-life argument is as follows: It is wrong to intentionally kill…
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08Feb 2020 by Post

Michael Denton: Remarkable Coincidences in Photosynthesis

coincidences, Energy, genetics, ID The Future, improbability, Intelligent Design, Life Sciences, light, Michael Denton, oxygen, photosynthesis, Podcast, water
On a classic episode of ID the Future, listen in on a a few minutes from a lecture given by medical geneticist and CSC Senior Fellow Michael Denton. Download the podcast or listen to it here. We’ve all heard of the importance of photosynthesis as an oxygen-creating process. In this segment, Denton explains the “remarkable set of coincidences” that makes the creation of oxygen through photosynthesis possible. From the specific energy of visible light to the unique properties of water, this degree of improbability screams DESIGN. Photo source: “Why Our Sun and Atmosphere Appear Intelligently Designed,” via Discovery Institute. The post Michael Denton: Remarkable Coincidences in Photosynthesis appeared first on Evolution News.
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08Feb 2020 by Post

Cosmic Child Abuse? Answering Moral Objections to the Atonement

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Podcast: Play in new window For two thousand years, Christians have understood the death of Jesus to be substitutionary—a sacrifice that paid for our sins. From the earliest creeds to the teaching of the New Testament to the writings of the Church Fathers to today, this has been a core belief of Christianity throughout its history. But in modern times, this idea is being repudiated as “Cosmic Child Abuse.” On today’s show, we are going to address these questions: • What is the historic belief of the Christian church on atonement?• Why does God have wrath and how can that be a good thing?• Is penal substitutionary atonement a late invention of medieval Christians?• If God required the sacrifice of his Son, doesn’t that make him a Divine child abuser?•…
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07Feb 2020 by Post

Reader Seeks Intelligent Design in a Nutshell

animals, biological novelty, cosmic fine-tuning, Discovery Institute, DNA, Evolution, Evolution News, homology, Human Origins, humans, Intelligent Design, Long Story Short, molecular machines, natural selection, origin of life, origin of the universe, PragerU, Stephen Meyer, The Information Enigma, Videos
A reader writes to ask: I have always had a few nagging doubts about natural selection. I have watched a few videos and downloaded some books by key ID people but I have still not found **a brief summary** of the main evidence against natural selection and for ID. Most of the videos are WAY too long and meander all over the place. You really need to sharpen things up so we can see all the KEY points gathered in one place for everyone to access. “Meander all over the place”? Well, I hope not. And from my own experience I disagree. However, I appreciate the request for a really concise presentation of the evidence for ID and the evidence against the sufficiency of natural selection for explaining all biological…
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06Feb 2020 by Post

Looking Forward to Darwin Day? Check Out the Trailer for Behe’s Secrets of the Cell

cell, Charles Darwin, Darwin Day, Darwin's Black Box, Evolution, Evolution News, Intelligent Design, Michael Behe, Secrets of the Cell with Michael Behe, unguided processes
For Darwin Day, February 12, we are a launching a new five-part series with biochemist Michael Behe, Secrets of the Cell. You can see the splendid trailer now: It was Dr. Behe’s insight that the view of evolution as driven by unguided, purposeless processes alone can’t survive an up-close encounter with the “black box,” unknown to Charles Darwin, the cell. Celebrate Darwin’s birthday by coming here, to Evolution News, next Wednesday and sharing the secrets of life, in a beautiful and accessible new series, widely with your friends and family. The post Looking Forward to Darwin Day? Check Out the Trailer for Behe’s <i>Secrets of the Cell</i> appeared first on Evolution News.
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