Evidence for God from Science Newsletter April, 2011

Contents (scroll down for descriptions)

• News
• Reviews
  • Four Views on Divine Providence Book Review
  • Christian Movie Reviews and Critiques
• Answers for Atheists
  • The Singularity Movement: Why the Singularity Won't Be Coming Any Time Soon
  • Did God have a wife? Asherah Worship in Israel
• Biblical Creation
  • Origin of First Plants on Land: Bible Said It First
• Design vs. Evolution
  • NASA Scientist Discovers Alien Life in Meteorites - Again! NOT!
  • The Philosophical Impossibility of Darwinian Naturalistic Evolution

News

Due to the continuing growth of my wife's (Carole) brain tumor, she has gone on chemotherapy for the fourth time. Your prayers for our family during this time would be appreciated.

Reviews

Divine Providence

I am a big fan of William Lane Craig, who is one of the premiere Christian apologists of this era. When he came out with a new book on theology, I thought it was worth a read. Four Views on Divine Providence is actually part of a series of books by multiple Christian authors on controversial theological topics. Four prominent theologians (Paul Kjoss Helseth, William Lane Craig, Ron Highfield, and Gregory Boyd) tackle the question of the extent of God's providence, advocating the positions, "God causes all things," "God directs everything," God controls by liberating," and "God limits his control," respectively. The really good thing about the book is how each author critiques the other's arguments. The editor, Dennis Jowers provides a nice introduction to the topic, including a historical perspective on the writings of Christians throughout the centuries. More...

    Four Views on Divine Providence Book Review
    http://www.godandscience.org/doctrine/divine_providence.html

Movie Reviews

Dana Chaffin has been busy reviewing Christian movies. This month we have five reviews, including Bringing up Bobby, Soul Surfer, The Grace Card: Witness the Power of Forgiveness, The 5th Quarter, As We Forgive, Rust: A Mystery of Faith. More...

    Christian Movie Reviews and Critiques
    http://www.godandscience.org/movie_reviews.html

Answers for Atheists

Computational Power

Singularity movement

I recently received an email from a Christian who had read a Time magazine article on the Singularity Movement, which claims that by 2045 the human species will end and human beings will become human/machine cyborgs - godlike hybrids capable of nearly infinite intelligence and immortal existence, with capabilities of "resurrecting" their dead loved ones. If you think this sounds like the atheists' version of Christianity, you are not far from the truth. Silicon Valley billionaires with more money than sense intend to try to make this scenario come to past. Every Christian should know what these wealthy, influential people will try to do to creatures created in God's image. More...

    The Singularity Movement: Why the Singularity Won't Be Coming Any Time Soon
    http://www.godandscience.org/doctrine/singularity_movement.html

Asherah

God's wife?

The liberal BBC is at it again, this time with their anti-Christian series, "Bible's Buried Secrets." In order to promote the series, Francesca Stavrakopoulou, admitted atheist at the Department of Theology and Religion at the University of Exeter, and "star" of the series revived the tired old atheist claim that God had a wife in ancient Israeli worship. Although the scholars claim the Bible was trying to hide goddess worship in Israel, the Bible actually states dozens of times that the Israelites turned to other gods and idol worship on multiple occasions (obviously, a well-guarded "secret"). By the way, the Bible actually says outright that God has a wife, although His "wife" is not Asherah or any other cultic goddess. More...

    Did God have a wife? Asherah Worship in Israel
    http://www.godandscience.org/doctrine/singularity_movement.html

Biblical Creation

Day 3 plants

Skeptics have said that the biblical creation account fails, since it claims that plants appeared before animals. Originally, the scientific evidence suggested that animals appeared within the oceans (during the Ediacaran period of the late Precambrian, ~580 million years ago) before plants appeared on the land (~450 million years ago). Did the Bible get it wrong? New fossil evidence published last week has shattered one of the atheists' biggest complaints about the Bible's creation account. More...

    Origin of First Plants on Land: Bible Said It First
    http://www.godandscience.org/evolution/origin_first_plants.html

Design vs. Evolution

Microfossils in Meteorites?

Alien Life - Again?

NASA scientist Richard Hoover has discovered "indigenous fossils" in meteorites known as carbonaceous chondrites. Hoover has claimed to have discovered evidence of microfossils, similar to terrestrial Cyanobacteria, in interior surfaces of the meteorites Alais, Ivuna, and Orgueil. However, this is not the first time Hoover has claimed the discovery of microfossils in meteorites, although his previous claims remain unsubstantiated. Hoover is also a co-author of the book The Biological Big Bang. Panspermia and the Origins of Life. Are these really fossils of ancient life or something else? More...

    NASA Scientist Discovers Alien Life in Meteorites - Again! NOT!
    http://www.godandscience.org/evolution/nasa_alien_life_meteorite.html