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Determining the Original Intent

When reading a document, it is important to understand the original intent of the authors. The goat rodeo hearings for the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh showed the lengths that some politicians will go to attain prominence for their own political viewpoints. Kavanaugh is an originalist, which means that he considers the original intent of the US Constitution when making his decisions. An interesting parallel can be made with interpreting the Bible. Credits: Left image, Freeimages /  Robert Owen-Wahl ; Right image: US  National Archives and Records Administration It seems reasonable to determine the intent of the authors. Obviously, there are some marked differences because the Bible was written by several people under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and the Constitution was written by fallible men with good intentions.  When the original meanings are abandoned, all sorts of bad judgments ensue. In the case of the Constitution, we had the Dred Scott decision and that

The Gospel of Isaiah

When reading the prophets in the Old Testament, it is easy to feel a mite lost without a guidebook or a pastor telling you what's going on. If I want expository preaching on, say, Zechariah, I can listen to Dr. John MacArthur . He also preaches on Isaiah, but I don't feel quite as lost along the trail when reading Isaiah. The prophets talked about time and events that are baffling to this child, what with kingdoms and people that are mostly lost to history. Prophet Isaiah predicts the return of the Jews from exile , Maarten van Heemskerck, 1560-1565 A reader of Isaiah who is also familiar with the rest of the Bible can see some important things happening. Several times, Isaiah reminds Israel and Judah (and us) that God is the Creator. There are places in his lengthy book where he talks about Immanuel (or Emmanuel). We learn about God the Son, the Creator, and his birth, death, glory, and the restoration of all things at the end. In fact, I thought there were some echoes

William Lane Craig and Other Genesis Deniers

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen Wisdom itself beings with God (Prov. 1:7), and the Bible is to be the foundation for the Christian's thinking in all areas (Psalm 119:105, 2 Tim. 3:16-17, Rom. 11:33). As we have seen in several articles here and on other biblical creation sites, Genesis is the source of all major Christian doctrines . Some professing Christians as well as atheists, old earth proponents, and other anti-creationists reject the authority of the Bible and attack not only the truth of God's Word, but also the people who take their stand on it. Credit: Pixabay / Jeff Jacobs The Wisdom of the World The Christian's faith is established in God, not in the ever-changing whims of man-made science philosophies. For example, some have joyously stated that proof of the Big Bang validates the Bible, only to have the evidence pulled out from under them. If someone's faith is based entirely on secular interpretations of science, they have little to support their belief

The Reliability of the Chronicle of Adam

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen It is easy to wonder about the accuracy and reliability of biblical history, what with the events happening such a long time ago and all. People disagree about events in much more recent history such as the World War II, for example. How do we know that the oldest narrative it correct? Credit: RGBStock / Billy Frank Alexander Yes, I'll allow that it's been a mighty long time between then and now, and things are very different. People may think of those games where one person tells another down the line, then it turns out that the last person hears something very different from the original story. Well, isn't that how we received the biblical texts? They had oral transmission until someone got the notion to invent writing, so mayhaps the Eden account was a bit fouled up before Moses commenced to setting down the events? That's a fair question. Hold up a minute there, Hoss. 2 Timothy 3:16 NIV tells us that Scripture is God-breathed. (Many

Design and Illusion

One of the most basic appeals to intelligent design is to say that a building needs a builder, a painting needs a painter, music needs a composer, and the far more complex things of life itself need a Master Designer. A bit simplistic, I'll allow, but it does make a point. Even children can see something and will intrinsically ask, "Who made that?" Atheists and evolutionists tell us we're nuts, that things only appear to be designed; things that we perceive as having patterns are nothing more than apophenia . This veiled ad hominem  is actually a statement of metaphysics based on atheistic presuppositions; it has nothing to do with science. Credit: Unsplash / rawpixel Atheists like Michael Shermer tell us that we evolved that ability to avoid predators. How he "knows" this is a mystery. People like this who say that there is no intelligent agency designing life are suppressing the truth about the Creator they know exists (Rom. 1:18-23). More than that

Matt Walsh and the Age of the Earth

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen Edited about 22 hours after initial posting. Matt Walsh has a strong pro-life view, stands up for politically conservative values, and has an excellent sense of humor. I have occasionally linked to him, and his material spurred me to do some writing (such as " It's Not My Fault! "). Unfortunately, he is bothersome to many of his supporters when he discusses theology. What really took the rag off the bush is when he decided to slap leather with biblical creation science. Credit: Freeimages / Robb Kiser Matt seems like the kind of guy that I could hang out with, and we could have some interesting discussions. Unfortunately, he is a staunch defender of Roman Catholicism and has weak theological foundations . When he threw down on creation science, I posted a couple of articles at The Question Evolution Project . The first one was by Peter Heck, " Why Matt Walsh is Dangerously Wrong About Genesis ". Later, I posted an article by Pa

The Length of the Seventh Day

People riding for the Long Ages brand will tell you that an old earth was accepted by people until young earth creationists rode into down. That is the opposite of the truth. People accepted recent creation until Christians and Jews began compromising with secular science. One bit of trickery that these four-flushers use is to say that the seventh day of creation week is not an actual day. Credit: Pixabay /  Kai Kalhh As to  why  some professing Christians want to cede to secularists and insist that Earth is billions of years, I suspect it's because they want to look intelligent in the eyes of secularists. The only way to get millions or billions of years out of the Bible is to shove them in there first and commence to saying, "Lookie what I found!" Not hardly! This effort to change the obvious meaning of the seventh day requires massive eisegesis and ripping verses out of context (while ignoring others altogether), but doing so also does damage to other areas of S

Gungor, Apostasy, and Bad Foundations

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen One of the most important aspects of the Christian life is to have a strong foundation. As Christians, we are supposed to rely on the Word of God in all matters of our faith (2 Peter 1:19-21, 2 Tim. 3:16-17, Luke 6:47-48). The source of all major Christian doctrines can be found in Genesis . When people build their faith on fun things, liberal theology, emotionalism, personal experiences , and other things instead of Scripture, the results are disastrous. Take a warning from Gungor. Credit: Unsplash / Dominik Scythe Michael and Lisa Gungor, who performed and recorded as Gungor, were popular in Christian music circles for a while. Michael got on the prod and complained about creation, the Flood, and Genesis . Let me plagiarize a section of my article a bit: Christian and musician Michael Gungor was in the midst of controversy because of his statements rejecting literal creation. Guess who likes him? Biologos !  Also , t his venomous TE also use d the

Evolutionism and Earth Goddess Worship

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen Evolution is not simply a biological hypothesis, but is actually an ancient pagan belief presented as science. Indeed, when the Apostle Paul was debating with philosophers in Acts 17:16-34, those Epicureans in Acts 18:18 were pagan evolutionists. If you commence to doing some reference digging, you will find that evolutionary beliefs can be seen in ancient Hindu beliefs. Did you ever notice that much of paganism is based on goddess worship? Gaea  (another spelling of Gaia) by Anselm Feuerbach, 1875 You hear the expression "Mother Earth", right? People usually who use the term are generally ignorant of its pagan origins and associations . Same as referring to Earth as Terra (standing on terra firma, the earth) , which is the Roman counterpart for the Greek Gaia  (or Gaea). The enviornmental movement is, at its core, essentially based on evolution and the rejection of our Creator. While there are good points in the environmental movement, some

Belief in the Eternal Hell

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen It is in the latter part of October as I write this, and people are getting all excited Halloween, which is the most important holiday for witches and Satanists. People get cutesy with it, portraying the Devil as a red dude with a short beard and horns who carries a pitchfork. They often believe he is the the boss of Hell. All of these images are like the crowded bathtub version of Noah's Ark: cute stories for kids, but big people don't believe them. I'll allow that there are more somber depictions of Hell that are a bit closer to biblical reality. Fallen angels in Hell by John Martin, ca. 1841 Some rock stars and People who reject or simply do not bother to learn the truth in God's Word are going to having a miserable eternity. We can debate about whether or not the flames of Hell are literal or figurative, but it should be clear that Hell is not a place to go and have wild parties with friends; it will live up to its name. People who be

Faith and Understanding

Every once in a while, some jasper drag this swayback out of the corral: "Faith is believing in something you know isn't true". Great. Now give it a sugar cube and put it back. Such an insult has nothing to do with Christian faith, and also shows ignorance of the real meaning of the word. Credit: Freeimages / V Fouche Everyone has faith in something to one degree or another, but the important thing is where our faith is placed. Christians know (or should know) that it is impossible to please God without faith (Heb. 11:6). Some folks think that faith is blind, or believing for its own sake, but that's not the case. Our faith is supported by evidence, and God's Word is self-attesting as well as supported by evidence. With God's help, we can persevere in an unbelieving culture. The ‘hall of faith’ in Hebrews 11 is one of the passages that Christians are most familiar with. It is inspiring to look at the recounting of the biblical heroes, and spurs us on

They Exchanged the Truth for the Lie

Christians are to stand on the Word of God, which is inerrant in the original autographs (2 Peter 1:20-21), and is authoritative. We can learn not only about salvation (Rom. 3:23, Rom. 6:23, John 1:12-13, Eph. 2:8-9) and how to live the Christian life (2 Tim. 3:16), but why many people choose to reject God and ride the Owlhoot Trail. Credit: Pixabay / Pete Linforth Atheists often demand, "Prove to me God exists!", and enthusiastic but uninformed Christians attempt to give all kinds of proofs. If they had spent enough time in the Bible, these Christians would have seen that there is no place where someone tries to prove God's existence. Further, they know that God is real, but suppress the truth! Have you noticed that there is more hostility in the world toward our Creator and his Word, and there is more persecution of Christians? Atheists and liberal "Christians" hate Genesis with a passion. Jesus, Peter, Paul, and others in the Bible qu

Albert Mohler's Reformation Lecture Series

People may have thought that we had the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, considered to have "officially" begun on October 31, 1517 when Martin Luther posted his Ninety-five Theses on the "social media" of his time. Read an article, listen to a message, have a German beer and ride off into the sunset. Not so. As we saw in several posts last year, the Reformation had its beginnings long before that date, and continued afterward. Luther at the Diet of Worms , Anton Werner 1877 Dr. Albert Mohler had been presenting a series on the Five Solas which I was looking forward to posting in time for the big anniversary observance. Delays happened, so I decided to save them for y'all in time for the 501st anniversary. Before obtaining those, I recommend reading his article, " Here We Stand ". They lectures are in MP3 format, so you can download and listen to them at your convenience. Free of charge, naturally. Each link will take you to the page where

Was the Genesis Flood Tranquil?

There are people who propose that the Genesis Flood was a local event, or even tranquil. People who say this are attempting to accommodate secular geology (evolution and millions of years) while still trying to maintain a religious appearance. Also, I reckon the are unfamiliar with floods in the first place; even draining a basin gives them a small-scale glimpse of water power. Water Drain image credit: FreeDigitalPhotos.net / Teerapun The global Flood was anything but tranquil, and Scripture makes it clear in numerous places that it was global. After all, it was a judgement of God. The Ark was also a type of Christ, and that also indicates the extent of the Flood. I've put forward the question, "In 2 Peter 3:2-4, Peter talks about the Genesis Flood. Then he talks about the coming Judgement by fire. Will that be a local event?" Not hardly! Have you ever thought about what Noah would have been able to see when he came off the Ark? Did he walk down the Mountains of

Despair in an Atheistic Worldview

I know of someone who attempted suicide, became a cripple, and now blames God for his condition and other problems. He also hates biblical creationists. The Christians worldview is the foundation for most of Western civilization. Because of that, he has his wheelchair and gets his needs met. Most importantly, the God he rejects has offered him salvation and eternal life. Credit: RGBStock / Sanja Gjenero Now think of the large-scale tragedies in life. There are wars, hurricanes, earthquakes, diseases, and more. In an atheistic worldview, there is no reason to grieve or even provide assistance for others, since death is just another aspect of the human experience. Evolutionists believe that death is a means to developing current lifeforms. The old, infirm, sick, depressed, and others have a duty to die and get out of the way for the fit to move forward. The religion of Secular Humanism is atheism dressed up and looking respectable like, but it is deceitful and inhuman ; people wil

Evidence for the Resurrection without the Bible?

It is a fair question to ask if there is evidence for Jesus, especially his Resurrection, from non-biblical sources. Is there corroborating evidence from various historical accounts? Maybe some forensic evidence? However, such questions can often an attempt to demand evidence but the inquirer is not interested in biblical information. US Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Shane A. Cuomo (Usage does not imply endorsement of site contents by the US Department of Defense) Some folks don't seem to ponder on some things, and forget that almost instantaneous satellite news didn't exist back then. We're talking about an event that happened over 2,000 years ago. Another is that Jerusalem was a jerkwater town in the Roman empire. Other information may have existed, but it's turned to dust by now. More than those details, however, is that the Bible is historically reliable. We get names, dates, details, eyewitness accounts, and more. People don't seem to have felt a need