Cosmos, Creator, and Human Destiny (Part 2)

Last month we began with the vastness of space and the utter folly of man's imagining that he could explore it in manned vehicles. Now we turn to the equal folly of man's efforts to find an evolutionary link between himself and lower creatures. Evolutionists have been digging desperately to find a physical link but to no avail. There are no fossils to show such a link. Furthermore, even if there were, it would prove nothing.

If the complete skeletons and DNA of Albert Einstein, Charles Dickens, and Ludwig van Beethoven were discovered, they would not reveal the genius of these men. The real person is a nonphysical being living inside the physical body.

Man's body temporarily houses the soul and spirit that make up the real person.

A. S. Eddington was praised by Einstein for writing the best layman's explanation of his general theory of relativity. Eddington firmly believed that the brain is not the mind. The real person is a nonphysical being who began existence when God "breathed into his [Adam's] nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul" (Gn 2:7).

God distinguishes between the body, the soul, and the spirit. "A man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth" (Lk 12:15, also 1 Thes:5:23). Yet mankind ignores this wisdom and persists in pursuing the accumulation of wealth and the possessions and pleasures it will buy, none of which last beyond death. Man is an eternal being living temporarily in a physical body. Those who believe that the body is all that we consist of spend their entire lives trying to fulfill the desires of the flesh.

Jesus asked, "What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul" (Mt 16:26; Mk 8:36)? He shows the folly of a materialistic outlook in the parable of the rich farmer, whose crops were so abundant that he told himself, "I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God" (Lk 12:16-21).

In the forthcoming book Cosmos, Creator, and Human Destiny , we deal with issues that one would not expect to find in a book about science and atheism, but they cannot be avoided if we are to face the matter of human destiny. For the atheist, human destiny is a hoped-for oblivion upon death, whereby one escapes God's judgment. This is the vain hope of the godless. Will that hope be granted? Never! Death is not the end of man's existence, for God has declared, "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Heb:9:27).

Though the body decays when it dies, the soul and spirit are destined to exist forever. We are eternal beings. Killing the body offers no escape. After death, Christians stand at the Judgment Seat of Christ to receive rewards or to suffer loss. The damned will face Jesus at the Great White Throne judgment and from there will be cast into the Lake of Fire, which is called "the Second Death."

As we show in Cosmos , although life is at best very short, most people give little thought to the eternity that lies beyond death's door. This shortsighted outlook is rank folly. What a tragedy!

Atheists are fervent evangelists, determined to drag the whole of mankind into hell with them. They hate God with a passion. It seems rather odd to hate so fervently someone who doesn't exist, yet Paul foretold that there would be "haters of God" (Rom:1:30). In Cosmos we quote numerous atheist scientists who vent this venom. Tragically, their numbers and influence seem to be growing.

Cosmos was written to rescue the multitudes caught in this net of evil and deceit. After God, there is nothing that Richard Dawkins and his colleagues hate more than the idea of purpose, plan, and design for the cosmos and all it comprises. Yet they cannot escape the fact that these ideas permeate our lives. That raises the question of how such ideas could have come out of the chaos of an alleged Big Bang?

Dawkins, one of the Four Horsemen of the New Atheists, pronounces with all the authority of a Papal Bull, "Most of what we strive for in our modern life uses the apparatus of goal seeking that was originally set up [by natural selection] to seek goals in the state of nature. But now the goal-seeking apparatus has been switched to different goals, like making money, or hedonistic pleasures of one sort or another."1

Goal-seeking apparatus? How does Dawkins know that such an "apparatus" exists? What might that "apparatus" be? In what organ of the body or in what gene is it centered--in the ambitious part, perhaps? And where is that? And what letters in the DNA define it? Of course, he has no evidence that such an "apparatus" ever existed. This is wild speculation like most of what Dawkins pronounces so authoritatively. It is part of the shameless nonsense that has been the stock in trade of evolutionists from the very beginning: guesses garnished with endless "perhapses...maybes..." etc.

Does anyone experience life as a slave of selfish genes or as the victim of an illusion created by the molecules that make up one's body? Such are the absurdities to which atheism leads. "What is my purpose in life?" is the logical question every reasonable person must face. This realization does not arise from an evolutionary development in the brain or DNA but from the reasoning of the nonphysical mind.

Genes don't know what kind of body or what part of it they occupy, nor could they care. Carrots, garden slugs, and fungi have the same DNA that we have, but the genes don't know the difference. The DNA alphabet is identical in all living things. The arrangement of the words in the DNA is what matters, but genes no more understand the meaning of the words they contain than do the paper and ink in a dictionary or encyclopedia understand the information they offer. One's physical brain is no more capable of thinking than is a head of lettuce.

Yet matter is all that materialistic atheists claim exists. In fact, the brain is like a computer, very useful for a thinking person, but the computer no more thinks than do the fingers purposefully punching the keyboard. A theist, who believes that the mind is nonphysical like the ideas it conceives and uses, knows very well that he/she is the thinker who will be held responsible for every thought, word, and deed.

Has there been any verification by careful and extensive experimentation to show how and when natural selection developed a moral and spiritual nature in man? Such a development would be impossible because natural selection can only affect man's physical being. Morality and spirituality are clearly not physical. Dawkins can't acknowledge this widely accepted scientific fact without renouncing his atheism. Has there been any proof demonstrating that this spiritual side is unnecessary because ethics, morals, compassion, a love of beautiful music, reverence, and worship can all be described and explained in purely physical terms? Has any atheist demonstrated that the barrier that Mortimer J. Adler declared that evolution could never cross has, in fact, been, or could theoretically be, crossed?2 No one has tried because even atheists know there is a great gulf separating the physical, mental, and moral worlds.

Atheism and its corollary, materialism, are speechless when asked to account for the human qualities that we all value so highly and that distinguish us from all other creatures: the appreciation of music and poetry, the enjoyment of beauty in nature (in which even Dawkins exults), the ability to form conceptual ideas and express them in words, to understand mathematics in relation to the universe, to use the imagination as do architects and engineers, or to feel and express a love that is so clearly unique to humans. We all know that animals do not share these qualities and capabilities with us. Lesser creatures possess none of these purely human characteristics that we value so highly, nor can these capabilities be explained by natural selection or evolution. We owe nothing to these allegedly scientifically proven processes for our moral, ethical, and spiritual qualities.

Dawkins protests loudly, as we've heard him do in a number of debates, "Of course evolution couldn't come about by chance! Natural selection is the very opposite of chance!" Dawkins is guilty of denying the problem of origins. When theists say evolution and natural selection could not come about by chance, they speak the truth. Atheists forget that these theories upon which they rely require the prior existence of a replicating organism. Where did this organism come from? It must have come about by chance, but the mathematics clearly proves that it is impossible. No matter how loudly Dawkins protests, it is irrefutable that evolution and natural selection cannot explain the origin of biological life.

What about the common moral conscience that all humans share? It cannot have evolved because it is not a physical quality that resides in the physical body. Atheists deny this unseen world of thoughts and ideas as well as the conscience and moral concepts. This attempt to deny what every person knows is true in daily life further reveals the desperate position in which atheists find themselves.

One of the many problems confronting atheists is the matter of information, without which there can be no life. Where does the information come from to begin with a single-cell bacterium and end up with the human brain? Dawkins never tells us. He makes a number of attempts in two of his books but fails. Information can only originate from a mind . What mind could that be? It could only be the infinite mind of the Creator.

What could possibly be the source of the new DNA required to change to a "higher" species? Without such a change, there is no evolution. The change, however, cannot occur without the introduction of new information, because it is the information in the DNA that defines and distinguishes between species. The information essential to define new species could only come from an infinite intelligence. Who could that be but God?

Johns Hopkins University Professor Steven Stanley of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences declared, "The known fossil record fails to document a single example of phyletic evolution accomplishing a major morphologic transition [a structural change relating to descent] and hence offers no evidence that the gradualistic model can be valid."3 In the same vein, Professor Heribert Nilsson, director of the Botanical Institute at Lund University, Sweden, declared after forty years of study:

The fossil material is now so complete that...the lack of transitional series cannot be explained as due to the scarcity of the material. The deficiencies are real; they will never be filled....The true situation is that those fossils have not been found which were expected. Just where new branches are supposed to fork off from the main stem it has been impossible to find the connecting types.4

Stephen Jay Gould admitted that "The eyes of early trilobites have never been exceeded for complexity or acuity by later anthropods."5 Does that sound like "evolution" from the simple to the complex? Something is terribly wrong with that theory!

A starfish has been discovered with more than 1,000 eyes, each with an identical lens that surpasses today's technology. Evolutionists date this creature millions of years prior to man in the evolutionary time scale. Yet its many eyes are in some ways superior to those possessed by humans. This is such a ridiculous number of eyes that they could hardly have been produced by natural selection as essential for survival. Is the Creator laughing at evolutionists? Does the following brief description sound at all like something that would have been developed by chance mutations so early in the alleged evolutionary process?

Built into the starfish's tough, calcite skeleton are arrays of microscopic crystals that focus light 10 times more precisely than any manufactured micro optics. Such was the finding of Joan Aizenberg and her colleagues at Lucent Technologies and the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History. Molecular biologist Daniel Morse, who directs the marine biotechnology program at UC [University of California] Santa Barbara, said, it's significant because it demonstrates that living organisms control nanostructures...with a precision beyond the reach of present-day engineering.

"Linked by networks of nerve fibers, the thousands of micro-lenses together appear to form a kind of single compound eye that covers the creature's entire body in all-seeing armor," said Aizenberg, an expert in biomaterials.... "The actual optical performance of these lenses is far beyond current technology."6

Indeed, for microengineers trying to craft infinitesimal lenses for faster optical computers, sensors, and switches, the brittlestar's ( Ophiocoma wendti ) eye is a living blueprint. It could lead to better-crafted and more efficient telecommunication systems and optical networks. Lobster eyes with their precise geometrical relationships of individual units, have been copied by NASA X-ray telescopes.

The human eye couldn't possibly function for assistance in survival without the cornea, iris, pupil, macula, vitreous humor, the rods and cones, the 100 million light-sensitive cells that send information to the brain through the one million fibers of the optic nerve, the brain itself, and the 100 billion nerve cells joined by some 240,000 miles of nerve fibers and the 100 trillion connections between nerve cells in the brain. As has been pointed out, "Since the eye is obviously of no use at all except in its final, complete form, how could natural selection have functioned in those initial stages of its evolution when the variations had no possible survival value...? And there are other equally provoking examples of organs and processes which seem to defy natural selection...."7 To imagine that vision's many essential parts could have developed over millions of years, while contributing nothing to survival until it all worked, is wishful thinking by those who will grasp at any idea to prop up a bankrupt theory.

We've already seen that there is something missing from all of the purely materialistic scientific inquiries and endeavors. Why are we interested in this pursuit? Why should the scientific facts about the universe leave such questions unanswered? There is a part of man that demands such answers, and they will never come from the examination of the physical universe itself.

Everything in the universe points to the Creator. How can we help but exclaim with the Psalmist, "As the hart pants after the water brook, so panteth my soul after thee O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God...." TBC

Endnotes

"Dawkins, Darwin's Dangerous Disciple," Interview with Frank Miele, http://scepsis.ru/eng/articles/id3.php.
Mortimer J. Adler, The Difference of Man and the Difference It Makes (New York: Fordham University Press, 1967).
Steven M. Stanley, Macroevolution: Pattern and Process (San Francisco: W. H. Freeman, 1979), 39.
N. Heribert-Nilsson, Synthetische Artbildung ( The Synthetic Origin of Species ) (1953), 1212.
Stephen Jay Gould, "The Ediacaran Experiment," Natural History , February 1984, 22-23.
Robert Lee Hotz, "A Lens into Nature's Gifts: A Starfish Grows Tiny Crystals that far Outperform Synthetic Optics Yielding a Design Breakthrough," http://www.rdrop.com/~cary/html/naontech.html.
Gertrude Himmelfarb, Darwin and the Darwinian Revolution (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1959) 320-21.

Quotable

Better in bitterest agony to lie

before Thy throne,

Than through much increase to be

lifted up on high,

And stand alone.

Yet best--the need that broke

me at Thy feet in voiceless prayer,

And cast my chastened heart,

a sacrifice complete,

Upon Thy care.

-John Oxenham

Question: In light of Joshua 21:43-45, and 2 Cor. 1:20, do you have a list of the specific unfulfilled promises to Israel...

Question: In light of Joshua:21:43-45, and 2 Corinthians:1:20, do you have a list of the specific unfulfilled promises to Israel...not fulfilled by either the initial entering into the Promised Land, and/or by Jesus Christ Himself? It has always been very curious to me that dispensationalism, as a major, influential doctrine within the church (actually, only within the United States, to be more accurate), rose in prominence at precisely the same contemporary time period as political Zionism under Theodor Herzl and the World Jewish Congress (I refer, of course, to the initial publication and promulgation of the Scofield Reference Bible as the crowning achievement of the efforts introduced in America by Darby a few decades earlier in the 19th century). So, is modern Israel a move of God or a satanic counterfeit?

Response: Joshua:21:43-45 tells us, "And the Lord gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein. And the Lord gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. There failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass." Some believe this to mean that all prophecy concerning Israel and the land was fulfilled at this time.

Yet, the Book of Judges records that Israel did not act upon every promise of God concerning the land. Manasseh didn't drive out the inhabitants of Bethshean...Ephraim didn't...Zebulon didn't...Asher didn't...etc. (Jdgs 1:27-31 et al.). Looking at other verses, the Jews haven't received all that God has promised (Gn 15:18-21, Nm 34:1-15, Ezk 47:13-20).

Second Corinthians 1:20 states, "For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us." All prophecies concerning Jesus' life, ministry, death, burial, and resurrection are "yea and amen" by the Father. But other prophecies tell of His triumphant return and earthly reign. Zechariah:12:10 says, "And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn." This hasn't been fulfilled.

Furthermore, some say that most, if not all, prophecy was fulfilled in AD 70. Some even say we are now in the Millennium. During the Millennium, the "wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them" (Is 11:6). Today when the lamb dwells with the wolf, the lamb is inside the wolf!

We do not have space within the confines of a Q&A for an exhaustive list of unfulfilled prophecies, but the few examples given are a good start.

John Darby and the Brethren movement were birthed in Britain, not America. Not influential in Britain? It is the conclusion of some that British Prime Minister Lloyd George was greatly influenced by dispensational doctrine of the return of the Jews to Israel, as was Lord Balfour. It has been said that modern Israel might not have been birthed were it not for evangelical influences on the British government. Although Darby is alleged to have invented premillennialism, interpretations by a number of Puritan writers predate Darby's by centuries. (See For Zion's Sake , Paul Wilkinson).

Isn't it reasonable to consider that the "coincidental" emergence of Zionism, dispensationalism, Darby, et al., was the orchestration of the Lord? "Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children" (Is 66:8).

Question: Jesus said, "When ye fast..." (Mt 6:16), not "IF ye fast..." What are some guidelines for fasting?

Question: Jesus said, "When ye fast..." (Mt 6:16), not "IF ye fast..." What are some guidelines for fasting? We know a young, married man who has more than once gone on a 40-day fast. He is now underweight yet considering another fast.

Response: Isaiah 58 has some pertinent things to say. "Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?" (Is 58:6). Of what benefit (other than health) is a fast if not chosen by the Lord? We believe it is only for the Holy Spirit and Scripture to tell whether, when, or for how long individuals are to fast.

Fasting is commonly promoted by demons who pose as the Virgin Mary. For example, the apparition of "Our Lady of Medjugorje" exhorts, "Christians have forgotten that they can stop war and even natural calamities by prayer and fasting" ("The Truth Will Set You Free," TBC, 5/92 ).

Fasting can easily become ritual and show. Jesus warned in Matthew:6:16: "Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward."

What does the Scripture tell us about biblical fasting? Paul told married couples, "Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency" (1 Cor:7:5). There are, therefore, times for fasting and prayer.

When John's disciples questioned Jesus regarding this, the Lord replied, "Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast" (Mt 9:15).

Finally, Paul wrote in Colossians:2:20-23: "Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, (Touch not; taste not; handle not; Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh."

As we can clearly see, there are times to fast and there are times not to fast. There are times when fasting is helpful for spiritual growth. Unfortunately, there are also times when fasting may be motivated by the desire of the flesh to draw attention to oneself. These things should be carefully and prayerfully considered before the Lord.

Question: I was appalled to see an article saying that (by implication) horror movies are an acceptable medium to teach Scriptural truth.

Question: I was appalled to see an article in the Christian Research Journal ( CRJ ) saying that (by implication) horror movies are an acceptable medium to teach Scriptural truth. The author even says, "God himself enjoys the horror genre." How could we benefit from these frightening, bloody movies?

Response: Screenwriter Brian Godawa authored "An Apologetic of Horror" ( CRJ , Vol 32/No. 04, 2009). He must of necessity set aside the very plain words of Philippians 4:8: "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true , whatsoever things are honest , whatsoever things are just , whatsoever things are pure , whatsoever things are lovely , whatsoever things are of good report ; if there be any virtue , and if there be any praise , think on these things." Godawa notes that Ephesians:5:11 tells us to "expose them" (the evil deeds), believing this is license for depicting horror. Yet, Ephesians:5:12 tells us that "it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret." There is no room in this passage for dwelling upon evil, as recent movies explicitly do. Godawa does say that his premise doesn't justify "all horror and thriller movies, in practice" (p. 51), but he doesn't seem to understand that his position opens the door for almost anything. We know this because he lists several movies as examples of "a strongly biblical medium for God's social commentary" (p. 50). These include Invasion of the Body Snatchers , Underworld , 28 Days Later , et al. All depict horror in the explicit, colorful, and bloody detail that computer graphics allow.

He goes on to say that "it is also true, honorable, and right to show the suicidal rotting flesh of Judas" (p. 48). He is simply wrong. Refer back to Philippians 4:8 and what we should think upon. No one honestly imagines the Lord saying there is benefit in viewing explicit details of the suicide of Judas or what rot, or decay, does to a human body left hanging in a tree. Godawa admits that evil thoughts and images can be an obsession for some, so why furnish explicit details?

There is a vast difference in Scripture's clinical report of the death of Judas. By "clinical," we mean that in Scripture, details are sparse: Judas "went and hanged himself." In Acts:1:18 we learn that "falling headlong, he burst asunder...and all his bowels gushed out." The Bible does not need to describe rotting flesh, the smell of decay, or the spillage from his burst body to make a point. On the contrary, the Lord does not major on graphic depictions (see Showtime for the Sheep? ). Instead, the writers of Scripture use short and simple narration. For example, a man's concubine was turned over to depraved individuals who sexually abused her to the point of death. There are no details or closeups of her wounds nor description of the dismemberment and sending of body parts to all Israel (Jdgs 19:1-30). In no case does Scripture dwell on dripping blood, wounds, or the common elements of a horror movie. It is a marked contrast.

Some skeptics have called the Bible "pornography" because it unflinchingly lists the sins of those whose lives are recorded. Yet the account of the sexual relations between Lot and his two daughters is short of detail (Gn 19:31-38). Contrary to cinema and fiction, Scripture furnishes no prurient details beyond that Lot was drunk, his daughters had sex with their father, and sons were born. Unfortunately, Godawa must use hyperbole to make a point.

He calls Revelation an "epic horror fantasy sequel to Daniel, complete with science fiction special effects," labeling the same as "darker than anything in a David Cronenberg Grand Guignol theater of blood." Film director Cronenberg, acknowledged to be always "testing [some would say 'trampling'] limits," is said by a secular reviewer to be "desperate to explore the unnatural ideas rolling around in his head." This is what Godawa compares to the Bible.

He then goes on to list the horrific events in Revelation. Again, he simply misses the fact that the Lord chose to present this without dwelling on specific details. Not only does Godawa miss this, he exaggerates. For example, "In this apocalyptic prophecy we read of a huge demonic spectacle of genetically mutated monsters chasing and tormenting screaming people" (Rv 9:1-11)...the dragging of rotting corpses through the streets while people party over them" (Rv 11:7-13- CRJ , Ibid., p. 46). On the contrary, Revelation:11:8 says nothing of people dragging around rotting corpses. Instead the "dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city" (Rv 11:8). Godawa adds his own details, as he adds to Revelation 9. The "locusts" of chapter 9 are certainly horrific creatures, but Godawa would imagine them as modern screen "genetically mutated monsters." This involves great imagination and goes far beyond Scripture.

An old hymn goes, "'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, Just to take Him at His word; Just to rest upon His promise, Just to know 'Thus saith the Lord!'" Along these lines, can we not simply believe the plain meaning of the Holy Spirit inspired words of Philippians 4:8? Let us think on these things.

News Alert

Washington Post, 11/11/09 [Excerpts]: Coerced abortions, as well as involuntary sterilizations, are commonplace in China. While the Chinese Communist Party insists that abortions are voluntary under the nation's one-child policy, electronic documentation recently smuggled out of the country tells a different story.

Congre ssional members of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission heard some of that story Tuesday, two days before President Obama was slated to leave for Asia, including China, to discuss economic issues. Among evidence provided by two human rights organizations, ChinaAid and Women's Rights Without Frontiers, were tales of pregnant women...being hunted down and forced to submit to surgery or induced labor. Reggie Littlejohn, founder and president of the Frontiers group, told the commission that China's one-child policy "causes more violence against women and girls than any other official policy on Earth." Littlejohn asks: What really happens to a woman who doesn't have a "birth permit" and has an "out of plan" pregnancy? [She must] surrender her unborn child to government enforcers, no matter what the stage of fetal development.

On one Web site for Chinese obstetricians and gynecologists, doctors recently traded tips in a dispassionate discussion titled: "What if the infant is still alive after induced labor?" "Damohuyang" wrote that most late-term infants died during induced labor, some lived and "would be left in trash cans."

As recently as July, officials of China's National Population and Family Planning Commission said that the one-child policy "will be strictly enforced as a means of controlling births for decades to come," according to Xinhua , the state-run news agency. The violence of these procedures doesn't only kill the child....In two of the cases described...the mothers died, too. Those who dissent are persecuted....About 500 women a day commit suicide in China -the highest rate in the world, which Littlejohn attributes in part to coercive family planning.

Letters

Dear Dave,

I almost didn't read your December 2009 "The Cradle and The Cross" newsletter. I figured it would be nothing more than just another generic Christmas message. How wrong I was! Beautifully written, brilliantly conceived, and dripping with the Spirit of prophe cy fulfilled. Thank you my friend. It made the holidays, [which] I normally dread. RH (email)

Dear Dave,

I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate your website. It has been a blessing to me and has answered many of my questions and concerns on trends and teachings in the church. It is encouraging to know that in a day of ever-increasing apostasy, there are still faithful men of God like yourself who teach doctrinal truth. JS (email)

Dear Berean Call Brethren,

I have been edified, enlightened, taught, encouraged, and truly blessed by your ministry for the last 11 1/2 years. There are too few ministries, like the one the Lord has you doing, that stay within God's Truth! The third letter of John reminds me of you all and brings joy to my heart!...It is my earnest prayer that we all continue to grow in Christ, defend the Truth, and spread the Gospel for the glory of God. Thank you once again for all the blessings you have provided through Christ and for your steadfast commitment to the purity of God's Truth. JP (prisoner, CA)

TBC,

I have already thanked our dear Lord and Savior in His throne of grace so now I am thanking you for fighting the good fight to encourage y'all. My story as a [seminary] grad and pastor of a Bible church in the midst of a megachurch environment is too long to convey via email. I'm so grateful for the work you are doing and a few articles were used by the Lord to encourage me to hang in there at a time when seeds of discouragement are easily sown. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! Be encouraged in the Lord, as I know you are. HH (email)

Dear Mr. Hunt,

For a second time, I have read A Woman Rides the Beast . I don't know how you are able to collect so much historical data.... I must congratulate you for each book you write--each one, is a fountain of knowledge and a joy to read. This is one of the books that should be in every home and library and taught in every school. If I had the means and support to give away a book to every home I would do it. This would be the best way to evangelize the Catholic world and free themselves from ignorance and naïveté one drags along from the cradle to the grave.... RS (Spain)

Gentlemen,

I have a [BA] in the field of education; a masters degree in "Pastoral Theology," and have for about sixty years studied the Bible very carefully. I was a pastor from 1966 to 2003, when I retired from pastoring, but not from studying and writing. I am amazed that so many people I have heard on television and in books have taken theories as biblical truth. These people try to make theory reasonable by using biblical writings to fit into their preconceived ideas. Having read the Bible through every year for 24 years, I find no Scripture anywhere in the Bible to support any of these teachings, except the millennium. I have Scripture and logic to explain [why] these things are theories but they would not be accepted. Perhaps you are honest in your belief, and I cannot find fault in that, but I feel that you have been deceived. Because your publication [advocates some of] these false teachings, please do not send me any more newsletters. LS (TN)

Dear Brothers in Christ,

We will keep [you] on our prayer list. We are going through many afflictions but thank God we know our Lord and Saviour. Your ministry is unique, as you stand for the Gospel truth. So we must undergird you in prayer as you continue to bring light in a darkened world. RT (MI)

My Dear Brothers and Sisters,

My brother is a truck driver and is also a newborn Christian. He came to know of your ministry through your radio programs and he has shared with me this precious blessing. Your website and newsletters are so useful. They have brought me so much awareness on so many issues I had overlooked....As I read your material each time, I am in awe for what our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is doing through you. I would love to meet you all and give you all a big hug--I am so thankful! LZ (TX)

TBC Notes

Christ Supplemented Is Christ Supplanted

I admit I have a penchant for concise sayings that are both thought provoking and worthy of being incorporated into my life. My latest favorite spiritual "bumper sticker" (above) is a terse warning that identifies what I believe is a major reason why "the world" is in the church in such a big way, in opposition to 1 John:2:15: "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." That consequence has made the church ripe for apostasy, which is increasing at an exponential rate.

"Christ supplemented" is the foolish (and worse!) attempt by finite, fallen man to add his own wisdom to that of our omniscient Lord and God. Among other grievous delusions, this attempt denies the sufficiency of God's provision for believers in His Word and through His Holy Spirit. To the degree that a true believer in Christ turns to the so-called wisdom of the world--whether for oneself, one's church, or for drawing others to Jesus--it is to that degree that a believer has displaced Christ and rejected His Word. He or she has forsaken the biblical truth: that Jesus has given to us "all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue" (2 Peter:1:3).

T. A. McMahon

Executive Director

TBC Extra

"WE'VE LOST THE CULTURE WAR"

by Brannon Howse

We've lost the culture war.

I wish I could tell you otherwise and go happily along with the many Christians who still think we can recapture America, return to our moral and spiritual roots, and revitalize our wayward institutions. But I can't, and someone needs to tell you--loudly and clearly.. .. We are not going to reclaim the culture in America and return to the days of June and Ward Cleaver. We won't see a majority of the officials in legislative and judicial branches of our government go back to the original intent of America's founding fathers as reflected in the U.S. Constitution and other original documents. We are not going to witness prayer, Bible reading, and posting of the Ten Commandments in public schools again. There will be no drastic decline in divorce, sexually transmitted diseases, abortion, and homosexual "marriage." The United Nations will not be eliminated. The undermining of our national sovereignty and parental authority will not be reversed. And we will not return to unlimited religious freedom.

Please understand that I am not advocating that Christians retreat from the culture.... We must proclaim Christian values based on Scripture regardless of persecution and despite knowing that America...has passed the point of no return morally. Standing firm is our duty, and the results--whatever they may be--belong to God.

The culture war itself has been merely the symptom of a much more profound conflict--a spiritual battle that most Christians don't understand and are ill-equipped to fight. In fact, our losing the culture war is directly tied to the fact that American Christians, churches, Christian colleges, and seminaries have not done an adequate job in understanding what they believe, why they believe it, and proclaiming it from an uncompromising biblical standpoint.... What we must now come to grips with is how to handle the new reality in which we live. The solidly post-Christian culture that Francis Schaeffer warned of more than two decades ago is now here. Conservative commentator Patrick Buchanan describes what has happened:

The European-Christian core of the country that once defined us is shrinking, as Christianity fades, the birth rate falls, and Third World immigration surges. Globalism dissolves the economic bonds, while the cacophony of multiculturalism displaces the old American culture.

The spiritual war rages, and the stakes are much higher because the battle is no longer for our culture but for the souls, hearts, and minds of our [own] children and grandchildren. We must disciple them in biblical truth, or they will be taken spiritual captives.

First Chronicles 12:32 tells us the tribe of Issachar was called wise because they understood the times and knew what God would have them do. In the New Testament, Jesus criticized the liberal religious leaders [Pharisees] of his day for being able to discern the weather but not the times. He chided, "You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, yet you can't interpret the [spiritual and prophetic] signs of the times?" (Matthew:6:3). God desires that His people understand what is happening around them and respond with biblical leadership.

Ephesians:6:12 tells us that "we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." But, take heart, for Jesus Christ has assured us He is building His Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail (Matthew:16:18).... But, as in any battle, there will be casualties. Yet we should not fear those that can only destroy the body. Rather, we should fear the One that [made] our souls.... As Romans:8:37 declares: "In all these things we are triumphantly victorious due to the one who loved us."

Lies have been cleverly packaged in positive, masking terms, but behind them remains a destructive spiritual agenda. If you're ready for this spiritual battle, you'll stand a better chance of keeping the faith, proclaiming the truth, standing firm for your family and its convictions, and enduring till the end. I'm fairly certain our national future is not bright.... [but] this can also be the greatest hour for the proclamation of the gospel if we understand the times and prepare our family and friends.... The Church can still be God's redemptive vessel in the years to come. And since one arm of attack has been directly through the Church, we can at least remove it from our midst if we act wisely and assertively....

Sadly, most [evangelical] Christians are just as clueless as their non-believing fellow citizens as to what is happening. For the most part, the Church has contributed to the loss of the culture war by surrendering--often in ignorance--to the agendas arrayed against it. That's why we're losing many of our churched youth to aberrant philosophies. We're not preparing children to know what they believe, why they believe it, and how to defend their biblical worldview....

The Church in America has had billions of dollars at its disposal in modern times. In theory, this money has been available to fulfill the Great Commission--making disciples of Jesus Christ.... Yet, with all of its monetary resources, the Church has largely failed. Untold billions have been spent on buildings and entertainment rather than establishing Christians in the faith.... Most churches do not care to do [the] work of creating followers of Jesus Christ. They are too concerned about maintaining and growing a club complete with social activities, entertaining programs, and multi-million dollar buildings.

You may think I'm being too harsh, but in fact, I'm being reserved in my criticism. Yes, some churches are led by godly pastors. But from what I've seen of the congregations of America, these faithful churches represent merely a remnant.... The typical evangelical church prefers, rather, to simply provide people with employment, to make those who show up on Sunday morning feel comfortable, and to provide activities for the kids so they stay out of trouble.... There is no interest in teaching "line upon line and precept upon precept." For those godly pastors who are leading, I am thankful, but we also need lay people to fulfill God's calling for their lives. Above all, we need parents to train and prepare their children for [these increasingly "perilous times"].

Herein lies one of our greatest areas of surrender. The Church may not be interested in instructing our kids, but many others "out there" salivate over the opportunity. Humanist and educator Charles Francis Potter, in his book Humanism: A New Religion , understood the prospects for equipping students to know what they believe and why they believe it:

Education is the most powerful ally of Humanism [atheism], and every American public school is a school of Humanism. What can the theistic Sunday Schools, meeting for an hour once a week, and teaching only a fraction of the children, do to stem the tide of a five-day program of humanistic teaching?

If we have lost the culture war, then who has won?

The winners are the people [identified in my new book]--and those who wittingly or unwittingly follow them: Alice Bailey, Helen Schucman, Julius Wellhausen, Soren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, John Dewey, The Frankfurt School, Betty Friedan, William James, Alfred Kinsey, Aldous Huxley, Benjamin Bloom, B. F. Skinner, Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, John Maynard Keynes, Christopher Columbus Langdell, Saul Alinsky, Sigmund Freud, Margaret Sanger, and Roger Baldwin.

What most disturbs me is that these people had the terms of surrender spelled out before we even knew the war was under way. The ideas, beliefs, convictions, and values of these 21 influencers have--whether you know it or not--affected your faith, family, and freedoms.... The transformation of America is happening so fast that each day brings a new revelation of what government, religious, and educational leaders are doing to accomplish their goal of re-making America in very un-American ways.... The speed at which the world is moving toward a "new order" is [simply astonishing.]

The heaviest fighting is yet to come. In the midst of a lost culture, we must stand up for righteousness.... Your first step is to "see to it that no on enslaves you through philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to the Messiah" (Colossians:2:8, ISV).... We must accept that we are past the point of restoring our culture and focus on how to preserve our families. We must evangelize, disciple, and raise up those who can lead the remnant....

[But] how can we win the battle for the hearts and minds if we do not understand or even know the foundational worldviews and philosophies of the opposition? If the culture war is lost, exactly how did we lose it? What are the goals and tactics of the spiritual battle that continues? Where are we going, and how should we prepare for whatever comes next?

*****

These are the questions Brannon answers in Grave Influence: 21 Radicals and Their Worldviews that Rule America from the Grave --see resource pages for details. This excerpt is from the introduction.

(Brannon Howse is founder and president of Worlview Weekend Conferences. Worldview Weekends brings together many of today's most biblically minded thinkers to teach, encourage, and equip believers for the purpose of evangelism, discipleship, discernment, and apologetics. Brannon is host of the radio talk show, Worldview Matters, in which he discusses current events and spiritual trends impacting the church and our nation. He is one of the few prominent voices doing so from a non-Dominionist, pre-tribulation rapture point of view, and is exceedingly passionate in his mission to help the remnant church "redeem the time, for the days are evil.")