17Mar 2020 by Post

Listen: Biochemist Michael Behe Puts Coronavirus in a Helpful Scientific Perspective

Andrew McDiarmid, chimpanzee, Clorox wipes, coronavirus, Evolution News, Facebook, human genome, ID The Future, Intelligent Design, Lehigh University, Medicine, Michael Behe, Neil Shubin, Podcast, Social media, virosphere, viruses
What to do during a full-country shutdown? Sit at home and stare at increasingly toxic Facebook and other social media, as I’m sorry to say I did for too long on Sunday? Fortunately there’s an alternative to blithe reassurances and doomsday handwringing: Michael Behe! On a new episode of ID the Future with host Andrew McDiarmid, the Lehigh University biochemist and intelligent design advocate puts coronavirus in an objective scientific perspective. I found that oddly comforting, and I think you will, too. He explains what a virus is, what makes this one special, how viruses originated (no one knows), what he meant in a post at Evolution News about a “storm” in the virosphere, and more. 8 Percent Virus? Meanwhile, as Andrew McDiarmid notes, evolutionary biologist Neil Shubin has a…
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15Mar 2020 by Post

Listen: Jay Richards on Distinguishing Science from Scientism

consensus, Discovery Institute, Evolution, Heritage Foundation, ID The Future, Jay Richards, March for Science, Podcast, science, scientism, skepticism, Washington D.C
On a classic episode of ID the Future, hear a talk by Jay Richards, a Discovery Institute Senior Fellow. given at a Washington, D.C., event entitled “March for Science or March for Scientism? Understanding the Real Threats to Science in America.” Download the podcast or listen to it here. The event was hosted by Discovery Institute and the Heritage Foundation. Listen in as Dr. Richards discusses the issue of consensus in science, and when to doubt such a consensus. Photo credit: Bradhoc, via Flickr. The post Listen: Jay Richards on Distinguishing Science from Scientism appeared first on Evolution News.
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14Mar 2020 by Post

Is it time to run and hide?

AFR, Apologetics, app, coronavirus, cross examined, cross examined official podcast, CrossExamined, crossexamined podcast, Frank Turek, google play, iTunes, Podcast, podcasting, Radio, Radio Show, Spotify, stitcher, Weekly Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window Is it time to run and hide?  Should you cut yourself off from other people because of the coronavirus?  Is the level of concern reasonable or overblown? Dr. Dan Eichenberger, MD, is Frank’s guest, and he gives a shot of sanity into our sensationalized environment.  Among the questions he and Frank investigate: What is unique about the coronavirus? Is this anything new? How deadly is it? Up to 50,000 people in the US will die of the flu this year. How many from the coronavirus? What will most who get the virus experience? Does it make sense to shut all large gatherings down, including church services? If you were a benevolent dictator of America, what would you do? Frank looks to the scriptures and other…
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14Mar 2020 by Post

Biophysicist and Philosopher Kirk Durston on Experimental, Inferential, and Fantasy Science

abductive reasoning, biological information, Evolution, experimental science, fantasy science, historical sciences, ID The Future, inference to the best explanation, Kirk Durston
On a new episode of ID the Future, biophysicist and philosopher Kirk Durston continues a discussion with host Andrew McDiarmid about three types of science — (1) experimental science, (2) inferential science, and (3) fantasy science. Download the podcast or listen to it here. In this second of three episodes, Durston recaps the three types but focuses on inferential science. He explains how it involves, in the historical sciences, abductive reasoning (inference to the best explanation). He also describes how such reasoning can be used as we consider the best explanation for the origin of biological information, in such a way that it is rooted in observation. Photo credit: Martin Adams via Unsplash. The post Biophysicist and Philosopher Kirk Durston on Experimental, Inferential, and Fantasy Science appeared first on Evolution News.
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13Mar 2020 by Post

Lesson from a Carnivorous Plant

Aldovanda, aquatic bladderwort, bladder, carnivorous plants, Dionaea, foresight, Genlisea, Granville Sewell, Intelligent Design, Irreducible Complexity, John Innes Centre, Life Sciences, Marcos Eberlin, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, mousetrap, The Evolution of Carnivorous Plants, Utricularia, Venus flytrap, Wolf-Ekkehard Lönnig
I won’t pretend to you that this isn’t a stressful time. In search of distraction, today I’ve been thinking about a rather odd water dweller. It’s the carnivorous plant Utricularia, aka aquatic bladderwort. Granville Sewell wrote about it here recently, citing plant geneticist Wolf-Ekkehard Lönnig and others, calling it “Michael Behe’s ‘Irreducibly Complex’ Mousetrap in Nature.” Its mechanism is not just complex, but irreducibly so. Like a mousetrap, it requires purpose in its design. Check out these videos: The video from the John Innes Centre in the U.K. concludes, “Plants are seriously smart.” I can’t tell if that’s supposed to be ironic, but the mechanism is indeed ingenious. If your German skills are up for it, you can read Dr. Lönnig’s book on The Evolution of Carnivorous Plants, downloadable here,…
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13Mar 2020 by Post

Messianic Convergence in the Gospels: A New Way to Frame the Argument from Old Testament Fulfilment

Apologetics, Christianity, fulfilled prophecy, gospels, Is Jesus God?, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jonathan McLatchie, messianic prophecy, New Testament, Old Testament, Prophecy, prophecy in the New Testament, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics
Anyone who has spent considerable time studying the gospels can tell that they are literally saturated with Old Testament fulfilment and allusions. Indeed, the early church used two primary lines of argument to establish the Messianic credentials of Jesus of Nazareth — the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and Messianic prophecy. How useful is fulfilment of the Messianic prophecy in the person of Jesus to the purposes of contemporary, twenty-first-century apologists? In this article, I explore a way to frame the argument in a robust and objective way. First, I will summarise my argument, and then I will dig into the details. A Summary of the Basic Argument When it comes to the origins of the gospel narratives, there are three contending hypotheses for explaining their origin. These are:…
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12Mar 2020 by Post

China Credibly Accused of Organ-Harvesting Atrocity

Apple, atrocity, Boeing, brain death, China, cornea, Culture & Ethics, Department of State, hearts, human rights, kidneys, lethal injection, livers, lungs, Medicine, Nike, organ harvesting, People’s Republic of China, PR department, prisoners, private sector, Religious Freedom Restoration Act, skin, South Carolina, United States
Last week, the Independent Tribunal into Forced Organ Harvesting from Prisoners of Conscience in China issued its final report concluding that China engages in the systematic human-rights atrocity of killing political and other prisoners and harvesting their organs. (I wrote about the preliminary report here.) It is a horrific account to which woefully inadequate attention has been paid. Shocking Evidence Over more than 500 detailed pages, the report presents shocking evidence of horrific human-rights abuses, including from witness testimony, analyses of public records, and reviewing of scholarly reports. The question presented could not be more disturbing. From the final “Judgment”: If the accusations are true, then thousands of innocent people have been killed…having their bodies — the physical integrity of their beings — cut open while still alive for their…
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11Mar 2020 by Post

20 Myths About Old Earth Creationism

Answer In Genesis, Apologetics, Bible, Christianity, Christians, Creation, Genesis, God, Jeff Zweerink, Ken Ham, old earth, Old Earth Creationists, Philosophy of Science, reasons to believe, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics, Young Earth Creationists
By Luke Nix Introduction Last month I was alerted to a debate on Justin Brierley’s podcast “Unbelievable.” This debate was a discussion between a young-earth creationist (Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis) and an old-earth creationist (Jeff Zweerink of Reasons to Believe). This, of course, caught my attention because of my focus on science/faith issues. I decided to take a listen but found myself quite frustrated within just minutes of Justin giving his introductions. Here is a link to the episode for those who would like to hear it for themselves: Do we live on a young or old earth? Ken Ham vs. Jeff Zweerink Throughout the discussion, Ken Ham presented many strawmen and misrepresentations of Zweerink’s old-earth creationist view in order to argue against the view. I recognized many of these myths…
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11Mar 2020 by Post

With a Hopeful Message About Life’s “X Factor,” Episode 5 of Secrets of the Cell Is Well Timed

accidents, Charles Darwin, Culture, Discovery Institute, Intelligent Design, Irreducible Complexity, Michael Behe, philosophers, philosophy, scientists, Secrets of the Cell, theology, X Factor
Michael Behe is a biochemist, leading proponent of intelligent design, and a wise guide to understanding the wonders of life with its mysterious “purposeful arrangement of parts.” The new series from Discovery Institute, Secrets of the Cell with Michael Behe, concludes today with a last consideration of the “X Factor” that appears to lie behind the wonderful, irreducible complexity of biology. That “X Factor,” he explains, is an intelligence inconceivably beyond our own: Secrets distills the argument for intelligent design in five-to-eight minute episodes, five in all. I’m sure ID has never been presented more accessibly, in a way anyone can easily understand. Share Secrets of the Cell with your family, friends, and social media network! What a remarkable thing that the design of the universe was almost universally appreciated,…
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10Mar 2020 by Post

Cosmos 3.0 Revisits Themes of the Past, with Familiar Historical Mythmaking

Alvin Plantinga, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, augustine, Baruch Spinoza, Book of Nature, Brian Miller, Carl Sagan, Christiaan Huygens, Christianity, coevolution, coronavirus, DNA, Fox Broadcasting Company, James Tour, Jews, mind, National Geographic Channel, naturalism, Neil deGrasse Tyson, origin of life, Physics, Earth & Space, public schools, Signature in the Cell, Spinoza: A Life, Steven Nadler, synagogue
With its ode to the superior rationality of the modern secular mind, last night’s debut of the third season of Cosmos 3.0 came amid a full-scale national panic attack about a virus. As David Klinghoffer commented here yesterday, the timing could be better. The first two episodes, with Neil deGrasse Tyson returning as host, have now aired on Fox and National Geographic. In contrast to Cosmos 2.0, the President of the United States does not introduce this remake. The overall theme of these episodes is our eventual exploration and colonization of other planets. All Neil, All the Time Episode 1 is titled “Ladder to the Stars.” We learn that this ladder is the DNA molecule. Very poetic. Great visuals. The episode begins with Carl Sagan admonishing us to follow the…
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