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Christian Students and Advanced Degrees

Some Christians may be reluctant to obtain advanced degrees, and it is possible to see why. The secular science industry has its tendrils in academia and such an environment is predominantly atheistic. Some professors actively seek to destroy the faith of Christian students. The world needs Christians being salt and light in various occupations, especially those in the sciences. Some scientists who are biblical creationists advise, in essence, that creationist students should keep low profiles about their beliefs so they can get the training and graduate. Graduation paper, Pexels / Ekrulila It has been rightly said that evolution makes atheists out of people, and there are people who professed to be Christians who lost their faith at universities. Maneuvering the secular minefield can be scary for Christian students who want to advance in their learning, but it doesn't have to be disastrous for them. Yes, learn what they are teaching — but you don't have to accept fake science.

Bad Reasons to be a Creationist

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  Biblical creation science is in a special niche of evangelical Christianity, and is not extremely popular. Many people who do follow it are enthusiastic and attentive. Because creation science is more intellectual than other areas that interest professing Christians, many people have little use for it. Take a look at the name: It has Bible, creation, and science. Another name that is commonly used is young-earth creation (YEC), but many of us are using that much less than before because we follow what the Bible teaches, and are not trying to force-fit science into Scripture. Creation, Pixabay / Karin Henseler It seems reasonable to assume that those involved in a smaller area of interest would be glad to have other people join us. Sure, it's great to fellowship with like-minded individuals, but this is not just a religious social club. Someone who identifies as a creationist isn't necessarily a Christian. In fact, there are a few reasons that people shou

Training for Spiritual Warfare

No, this is not one of those posts about singing feelgood songs and chanting, or "binding" demons hiding under every bush. Stay away from that stuff. This is about a fact that I bring up here every once in a while since this weblog began in 2011. (Originally, it was "A Soldier for Jesus.") We are in a spiritual war. We do not have to go looking for trouble, it comes for us. Satan wants Christians eliminated or at least neutralized. Those who want no part of the spiritual warfare that we are in every day  are actually doing service for the enemy. Whoever is not for  Jesus is against  him. Soldiers, Pixabay / Defence-Imagery "But Cowboy Bob, if I speak up, atheists and others will say mean things and hurt my feelings!" Cowboy up, little buckaroo, and decide whose side you're on (Luke 9:62). Jesus died on a cross for your sins and rose again on the third day, and a Christian is no longer an enemy of God but adopted as one of his children, indwelt with the

Genesis and the Waters Above

The idea that the waters above or firmament in Genesis 1:6-8 indicated a canopy was used by biblical creationists a few decades ago, but knowledgeable creationists have mostly abandoned it [ 1 ]. The idea was promoted by Dr. Henry M. Morris, and the Institute for Creation Research still has some hints about it [ 2 ], but they were seeing problems with it in the late 1990s [ 3 ] and have pretty much put it out to pasture today [ 4 ]. I taught that idea myself. Part of its appeal is its explanatory power. RGBStock /  Sias van Schalkwyk One of the challenges of creation science material (and scientific material in generally, if you study on it) is that things change — often quickly. Theories and conjectures are modified and even rejected, but someone may own a book or video from a few years earlier that influenced their thinking. Perhaps an underinformed lecturer is spreading outdated information. So, we have to cowboy up, get informed, and make changes when necessary. Theories come and

Christian, Find Your Bible

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  This post is likely to offend and enrage people, but I have to tell the truth. Sure, people say that as an excuse for being unkind, but keep reading to discern my motives. It is a sad fact that many professing Christians are effectively non-Christian heretics , accepting things that are contrary to the Bible that they claim to believe. The Word of God is the source of life, but many are unaware of its contents. They will not even read it. Image credit:  pazham  at FreeDigitalPhotos.net Take six minutes and read (or listen to the audio by my favorite reader), " The Scandal of Biblical Illiteracy " and then come back. A bane of social media is when people will simply ignore the content and make uninformed comments, and the linked material often contradicts their opinions. (This is one reason I seldom make my titles into questions such as, "Was Adam the First Man?") I've mentioned before that when I asked someone if they read the article on

Determinism and You

People have long believed in forms of determinism , where behaviors and even events are the result of environmental causes, genetics, conditioning, and so on. This also extends to belief in fate, karma, and God (some religious views make God our puppeteer). So much for free will, huh? I have a vague memory of watching Steve Irwin on television where he came across a dead animal, looked at the camera, and said reverently, "It's nature's way!" In addition to the fallacy of reification, he was affirming an aspect of determinism. Original image: Wikimedia Commons / Tage Olsin ( CC BY-SA 2.0 ), modified at PhotoFunia I'm going to lose friends and followers over this, but I have to be truthful. Like Steve Irwin in that show, some Calvinists solemnly declare after something bad happens, "God is sovereign." We know and believe that, but a little humility is in order: there is no single Christian system that fully understands every aspect of the Bible. It's

Christians and Misplaced Trust in Experts

Secularists often say science and faith are not compatible, which is usually accompanied by misrepresentations of faith and then ridicule. Professing atheists furiously defend minerals-to-microbiologist evolution, which is foundational to their religion. Theistic evolutionists promote atheistic interpretations of science philosophies above biblical truth. A major organization for TEs is BioLogos, which is famous for misrepresenting and belittling biblical creationists. Like cultists, they occasionally have elements of truth in what they say. This happened in their article on trusting scientific experts. Although the BioLogos article had grains of truth, it had serious errors from the start. There were also inconsistencies and contradictions. Biblical creationists do not advocate denial of science, but we do encourage discretion. Scientific "facts" change. (The proponents of "follow the science" cite the secular science industry where it has promoted biological impos

Rejecting the Light of Biblical Creation

Several months ago, I was in a hair cuttery and we were making conversation. It came up that I write creation science material, and the lady said she had never heard of it. Her nearby co-worker had a modicum of knowledge, but that was it. Living in a culture that is saturated with atheistic materialism, that is not a surprise. Freeimages / Brano Hudak People are in spiritual darkness (John 3:19), are blinded to the light of the truth (2 Cor. 4:4), and cannot understand spiritual matters of any depth (1 Cor. 2:14). While it is not up to us to have brilliant arguments and save the lost (1 Cor. 2:1-5), we are to sanctify Christ as Lord and be ready to present the gospel (1 Peter 3:15). The Holy Spirit does the drawing, convicting, and saving. Evolution is foundational to atheism (which in turn are foundational to naturalistic philosophies, secular humanism, and so on) as well as some other non-Christian religions. Some people, like the barber mentioned above, are ignorant of the truth. Af

Toxic People, Overexplaining, and False Salvation

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  While Christians need to obtain their spiritual knowledge from the Bible, pastors, godly teachings, and so forth, the Holy Spirit can sometimes prompt us to learn things from unexpected sources. Indeed, although psychology is entrenched in evolution and naturalism, it can have occasional benefits — but is dangerous to those who are not grounded in the Word of God. Credit: Pixabay / Gerd Altmann You and I may be souls whose intentions are good, so we don't want to be misunderstood. It's natural to clarify what we say to some extent. When it comes to dealing with someone who is accusing and unwilling to believe what we say, why try so hard? In " Toxic Misotheists, Being Alpha, and the Bible ", one of the points discussed was how toxic people manipulate others. A recent video by Ashley Berges (one of my previous sources) titled " Over Explaining is a Trap - Are You Trapped? " brought this into focus in a different way. For some reason, m

Genesis Flood was Global

Pardon the awkward title, but Blogger, a property of the leftists at Google, was not allowing the previous one to publish. Since they keep destroying my work now, I keep backing it up so I can eventually post something. Even if I have to change titles and publishing times. There are professing Christians who believe that the Genesis Flood was a local event. Worse, some say it was allegorical. Mayhaps they were not taught well, have not seriously read the Bible — or fully believe it. Denying the global Flood has serious repercussions. Credit: Pixabay / Jeff Jacobs To be blunt, by denying the global Flood, they not only have a problem with biblical authority, they are also calling God a liar. It is referenced several times in Scripture. Bible authors under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit affirmed the global Flood, as did Jesus who is God the Son. If they were mistaken or dishonest, professing Christians have serious problems with who to trust for their salvation. It is clea

Poor Excuses for Rejecting Creation

So often with various kinds of conversion experiences where people get all worked up about something — then the excitement cools. Books are untouched on the shelves, no interest in lectures (videos or otherwise), but they have a smattering of knowledge. Image source before modification: Pixabay /  Spencer Wing This is especially sad when someone believes in Jesus Christ but then falls away (Matt. 13:18-23). In a similar way, someone can become excited about biblical creation science but get discouraged and distracted by philosophies, intimidated by militant atheists, harassed by college professors, teased by friends, and so on. There are some who claim to be "former creationists" that have saddled up to ride with the Old Earth brand (or even with professing atheists), but when they have discussions with knowledgeable creationists, it is discovered that they only had superficial knowledge of biblical creation science. Worse, their theology (which is intertwined with it) is als

Christians, Censorship, and Book Burning

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen Christians were warned from the get-go that we would have persecution (1 John 3:13, Mark 4:17, 2 Tim. 3:12, 1 Peter 4:19). They were tortured in various ways , including being thrown to the lions (some atheopaths seem to want that practice reinstated, I have seen this image  posted more than once). Today, atheist-run countries actively persecute Bible-believing Christians ( such as China ), and Mohammedans are rampant; they wiped out entire villages in Nigeria . This is only one example. However, many persecutions of Christians and biblical creationists in Western countries are subtle and insidious. Credit: Unsplash / Fred Kearney Poisoning the Well Atheists and anti-creationists try to silence Christians and biblical creationists by demonizing us. After all, if you poison the well against individuals and organizations enough, who will want to listen to what we have to say — I mean, aside from bigots who seek confirmation for their biases? You will hea

Interpreting the Bible with "First Mention"

There are many biblical scholars that I have heard and read (including Dr. James R. White, who can translate an ancient manuscript from the Greek on the spot). They never mentioned the Law (or Principle) of First Mention, so I was surprised to learn that this concept is a problem for hermeneutics and proper interpretation. The Bible , George Harvey, 1845 I was also startled to learn that some educated biblical creationists actually use this Law of First Mention. Essentially, it means that the meaning of a word is determined by where it first appears in the Bible. That may appear sensible at first, but there are some things to consider.  First of all, an argument for First Mention may appear more believable if people were reading from the original languages instead of translations. Another problem with the concept would be that the books of the Bible are not laid out chronologically — Job is considered to be the oldest book, Mark is considered to be the earliest Gospel, and John

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 Reformation and Creation

As most Christians are aware, 2017 marks the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, so don't be surprised when you see a whole passel of articles, sermons, and so forth all over the web. While major movements begin suddenly and have various events leading up to them, October 31 is considered the "official" date when Martin Luther nailed 95 theses to the church door in Wittenberg. Then things really took off. No, not because of the apparent vandalism, because that was the form of social media back then. Instead, things really took off because of what Luther had written. Luther nailing 95 theses , Ferdinand Pauwels, 1872 / Wikimedia Commons Luther emphasized the solae ("alone"): Scripture, faith, and grace. In later years, "Christ alone" and "glory to God alone" were added. The religious authority of the Roman Catholic Church had usurped its authority, focusing on tradition and selling of papal indulgences . Luther also wanted