Gregory Koukl's Blog, page 116

Synthetic Life Points to a Designer

I listened to a fascinating discussion with Dr. Paul Nelson on the Michael Medved show about Dr. Craig Venter's work on the human genomes. Recent stories reported that he is on the verge of creating synthetic life. Not quite, since he's using biological material in the process. 

But Nelson had some interesting observations about Venter's studies. He pointed out that in the process of engineering a living cell, he discovered that the error rate had a significant impact on failure. He had to keep the error rate very low if he was to be successful. Nelson pointed out that this has significant implications for Intelligent Design. The likelihood of keeping the error rate low enough without intelligent manipulation is extremely low. A purely material evolutionary process would be more likely to produce an error rate that made life impossible.

Nelson commented on Venter's work in general and his openness to discovery and having his presumptions influenced by the evidence. Venter is one of the early scientists to posit that junk DNA actually has a purpose. When he finds a process in the cell that he doesn't understand, he supposes he doesn't understand it and pursues the idea that it's more sophisticated than he imagines. Nelson contrasted this approach with the tendency of some evolutionary scientists to interpret such information as simple rather than complex. Nelson said that Venter has the virtue of being open to surprise in his work. Venter's work has also led him to reject common descent and Darwin's tree of life, though he does continue to believe in the evolutionary process.

[To listen to past and future episodes of Michael Medved's Weekly Science & Culture Update, subscribe to the ID the Future podcast.]

No Webcast Tuesday

Greg is sick so no broadcast or podcast today.  Sorry!  We'll be back next week - God willing.

A Response to Matthew Vines: The Bible Doesn't Support Same-Sex Relationships

Greg mentioned the article “50
'Hand-Picked' Christians Trained To Convince Churches To Re-Interpret
Scripture's Gay Boundaries” on a recent podcast. Here's an excerpt from the article:

Fifty hand-picked Christians were
part of a seminal conference last week planned by Matthew Vines, a 23-year-old
Christian who believes Scripture allows for monogamous homosexual activity, in
an effort to spread the idea in the American church over the next decade.

Vines says he has had success in
convincing lay members of churches over the last year that monogamous
homosexual activity is allowed by Scripture, but is encountering resistance
from Scriptural scholars. He is likely to encounter much more, say theologians....

Vines, a gay Christian, delivered a
speech in March 2012 in which he
argued that the Bible does not condemn homosexuality. The hour-long video
of that speech has been viewed over 600,000 times on YouTube and has been the
subject of debate among pastors and theologians.

He told [The Christian Post] that the writers of
Scripture understood same-sex behavior as "an impulse toward excess,"
much like gluttony or drunkenness. But the issue must be approached
differently, he says, when discussing Christian gays who are living out
"an expression of covenantal love in a faithful, monogamous relationship."

Many Christians think they cannot
believe in the full authority and inspiration of the Bible and at the same time
support same-sex relationships, says Vines, though he hopes to convince them
that isn't the case.

Vines’s video has been convincing laypeople, even if he is
“encountering resistance from Scriptural scholars,” because a rebuttal requires
very specific knowledge about the texts involved, and the truth is, most of us
haven’t looked into this issue closely enough to be ready with an answer.

James White’s
Response

This is why I wanted to post a link to James
White’s response to Matthew Vines. Please take the time to listen. It’s
roughly five hours long, but if you listen to just 15-30 minutes a day, you’ll
be finished in no time.

This issue and these arguments aren’t
going to go away. I know this probably isn’t your favorite topic to spend
time on, but we can’t ignore this. We need to be as prepared as Vines’s trainees
if we’re to help the people in our churches who are struggling to understand
this issue—including the people we love who have same-sex attractions. This is
a topic worthy of our serious study because real people are making real
decisions, and the question of which path will fulfill our purpose of “proclaiming
the excellencies of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous
light” and which path will destroy us is a grave one.

Christ Is Better Than
Other Pleasures

This isn’t about hate. If we are truly created by God, and
if it’s true that our existence has a purpose, and our bodies have a purpose,
and our sexuality has a purpose,
then to twist any of those things is to slowly destroy ourselves. There’s a
reason why Moses chose
“rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the
passing pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches
than the treasures of Egypt”: he knew deprivation of some pleasures with God is a better life than one
that fulfills immediate desires without
Him. This is what we need to help our Christian brothers and sisters
understand.

It might help for you to also hear this from someone who
struggles with same-sex attractions and has chosen Christ over his desire for
physical intimacy (a choice which, in itself, is an incredible testimony to the
value of Christ), which is why I often recommend Wesley Hill’s Washed
and Waiting: Reflections on Christian Faithfulness and Homosexuality.

Junk DNA?

A frequent objection to a Designer of the universe and life is junk DNA. Darwinists claim that this DNA that has no apparent purpose is leftover residue from epochs of evolution, and they claim that a Designer would not have been so wasteful. 

New studies are finding, however, that this DNA isn't junk, and actually has a purpose. A recently published study finds that it regulates the other genes that have a more obvious purpose. One person described this DNA as the operating system for the rest.

A story in Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News reports:

[A] report adds to growing experimental support for the idea that all that extra stuff in the human genes, once referred to as “junk DNA,” is more than functionless, space-filling material that happens to make up nearly 98% of the genome. The paper adds to a growing body of knowledge establishing a considerable role for this material in the regulation of gene expression and its potential role in human disease....

Back in the old days, the general wisdom had it that introns loaded into the human genome were basically useless. While some noncoding DNA is transcribed in noncoding RNA, such as transfer RNA, ribosomal RNA, regulatory RNA, or endogenous retroviruses, others produce RNA with no known function or identified utility to the cell.

But over the past few years, as high-powered analytical tools and genomic information have become available, the function of introns, such as transcription factor recognition sequences, has become better understood. And, as John Stamatoyannopoulos, M.D., associate professor of genome sciences and medicine at the University of Washington, points out, while only about 2% of the human genome codes for proteins, “Hidden in the remaining 98 percent are instructions that basically tell the genes how to switch on and off." His laboratory focuses on disease-associated variants in regulatory regions of DNA.

Is Your Goal for Homosexuals Heterosexuality? (Video)

A question I get quite often: Is your goal for homosexuals heterosexuality?

How to Be a One Dollar Apologist in the Second Half of Life

I’m often asked how I’ve been able to contribute consistently over the years as a “One Dollar Apologist” (a term I coined to describe our calling as Christian Case Makers), while simultaneously involved as church leader and Cold Case Detective. I’m definitely a “Type A” over-achiever (I’ve been struggling to find balance my entire life) but much of my game plan at this point in life was formed many years ago when a man named Bob Buford came to the church I was attending and talked about his book, Half Time: Moving from Success to Significance . Buford planted an idea I’ve been watering over the past 17 years: God can use the second half of my life in an even greater way than He’s used the first, if I am willing to position myself accordingly. Buford’s talk encouraged me to see this side of 50 as the best time to impact the Kingdom, and I’ve taken that encouragement seriously ever since. I’ve repeatedly asked myself, “How can I position myself financially, educationally, experientially and influentially to have the most Kingdom impact possible once I’m done with my career as a homicide detective? What can I do now to make my opportunities in the second half of life even greater?” My goal has been to prepare myself for a season of Christian Case Making in the second half of my life, built on everything I’ve learned and achieved in the first half of my life. If you’re interested in Christian apologetics (Christian Case Making) and are still a bit younger than I am, my experience may be helpful to you. Here’s how I approached this season of ministry:

Financial Preparation
You’ll be most effective as a Christian Case Maker when you are financially disconnected from your passion as an apologist. When you’re able to make decisions independent of financial considerations, you’ll have the most freedom and flexibility as Case Maker. Live modestly, save your money, and plan for your second half. Be in a position to offer your services as a labor of love, without financial need, then use what you do earn to reinvest in your ministry. These “second half” years are about building the Kingdom, not your income.

Educational Preparation
It’s impossible to pour from an empty bucket, so start looking for ways to supplement your knowledge in preparation for a season of teaching. Become a lifelong learner. When I first enrolled in seminary and projected how long it would take to finish, I remember thinking I might not live long enough to see the end. Hear me on this: ten years are going to go by whether you get that education or not, so you might as well get the education. Look for creative opportunities to learn and start as early as possible. Think about your end goals before selecting a program, and get going.

Experiential Preparation
It’s easy to think of our college or seminary experiences as the only preparation we’ll need to be good “One Dollar Apologists,” but most of what I’ve been able to teach in this second half of life, I learned from my career in the first half. Don’t underestimate your life and employment experiences. In fact, start looking now for opportunities to learn something you can teach later. I made career choices at the police department (denying promotional prospects) to put myself in the best place to learn something I could later teach. I also made choices allowing me the kind of schedule necessary to serve in churches throughout my career. Look around; make career and recreational decisions with the “second half” in mind.

Influential Preparation
It’s difficult to teach without students, speak without listeners, or write without readers. If you want to have an effective second half, you’re going to need to understand the role of leadership and the necessity of influence. While still employed full time, I started a website (PleaseConvinceMe.com) and did what I could to establish a platform (by the way, the one book I recommend more than any other to budding “One Dollar Apologists” is Michael Hyatt’s, Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World). Start thinking now about how you will serve and impact the Kingdom later. By the time I was ready to leave my “day job” at the department, I had a book published and my schedule was jammed with opportunities. Build your foundation now by establishing a presence online and feeding it daily.

I am proud to be a “One Dollar Apologist,” because I truly believe all of us are called to be Christian Case Makers. Most of us, when we think of retirement, see it as an opportunity to finally do what we want without the restrictions of our employment obligations. I saw it the same way. In this second half of life, I’m trying to use what I’ve learned so far to contribute in some small way to the Church I love. This isn’t work, it’s passionate play. If you’re already in the second half, I challenge you to get up and make a difference. If you’re still in the first half, I challenge to get ready for an even better second half.

To the Atheist Who Called Jesus "The Magic Carpenter" (And a Warning to Churches)

To the atheist
commenter who referred to Jesus as “the magic carpenter” while claiming to
“understand everything about Christianity” after going to church for 40 years:

No, that's not "what Christianity says Jesus was."

The Christianity of history is about a Trinitarian, sovereign
God who created the world with a plan to express both His loving grace and His
absolute moral perfection and justice through Jesus' (one of the persons of the
Trinity) death on the cross, thereby saving undeserving people from getting
what they deserved, and bringing them into the presence of the infinitely good
perfection of God—which is no small feat, given that you would be instantly
destroyed by the blinding purity and holiness of this infinitely perfect God
were you to stand in front of Him on your own, with all of the ways you've broken
his perfect moral law (hurt others, departed from truth, acted selfishly,
rebelled against God as Creator and King, etc., etc.) still infecting you. A
perfectly good Judge must punish those who break the law, otherwise He would
not be perfect. This is why the cross was such a brilliant move, and it's why
His love and grace have astounded people for millennia.

As the one through whom and for whom everything was created,
Jesus put some things right while He was here (healing, etc.), giving us a
taste of when everything will be put
right in the redemption that is to come, and giving us evidence of who He is by
demonstrating His authority over this world.

These are not "magic tricks."

This Christianity, and this
Jesus, created the best thinkers, writers, philosophers, scientists, and
artists of the last two thousand years. He inspired books, paintings,
sculptures, architecture, and music that still move people to tears to this
day—and sometimes to their knees. This Christianity has depth and gravity
enough to support men and women giving their entire lives to it (or rather, to Him), sometimes while suffering
unimaginable torture.

The term "magic carpenter," on the other hand, is
silly, empty, and small, and couldn’t inspire people to make a chalk drawing on
the sidewalk. You may think Christianity is false, and that's fine. But to
refer to Jesus as a "magic carpenter" is to say you never understood
the Christianity that built Western Civilization. Your church failed you.

You can say Christianity is false. You can even say it's
dangerous. The one thing you can't say is that it's silly and shallow.

If you ever decide to start over, you could start here.

To the churches out
there who use words in the Bible as jumping off points to teach moralistic
“five steps to a more godly you” each week instead of making God the subject of every sermon, preaching what
the text says about who He is and how
He’s working, placing the passage in
the context of the overall story, revealing the Gospel to us, and holding up
Jesus for us to worship:

Wake up.

Challenge Response: How Could a Sin in the OT Not Be a Sin in the NT?

My answer to this week's challenge: 

 

Unwitting Revolutionary

Martin Luther was a Roman Catholic monk who taught in Wittenburg, Germany in the early 16th century. For years, the guilt of his sin overwhelmed him, and the means the church provided for penance didn't relieve him of his guilt. Reading the library Bible one day (Bibles weren't widely available at the time), he came across Romans 1:16-17 and he understood the Gospel as he never had before. "The just shall live by faith."  Reconciliation with God was by grace alone through faith alone. 

This sparked Luther to examine a number of practices of the church he thought should be discussed and reformed. He developed a list of 95 points, gave them to his bishop, and nailed them to the church door on October 31, 1517, which was the common way of calling for a community discussion. But the debate wasn't welcomed by the church and, instead, Luther and others who agreed with him ended up separating from the church.

The Reformation was significant for a number of reasons. Luther translated the Bible into German, and because the printing press was coming into use at the same time, individuals were able to have the Bible and read it themselves for the first time. This affected literacy – many communities taught their children to read so they could read the Bible.

The theology taught by the Reformers placed authority in the Bible not the church, so this elevated the individual. This, in turn, was the worldview that was fertile ground for democracy and human rights. And it eventually was the motivation for Pilgrims to look for a place to practice their religion in peace. The Reformation was signficant theologically but also socially.

You can read more about Martin Luther here. And more about the significance of the Reformation here. And I recommend the movie Luther. 

We Need Confidence to Endure

I posted
earlier this week about the call in Hebrews 10:32-36 to hold fast to our
confidence in the reality of Christ and His sacrifice for the sake of
endurance. Unfortunately, the reputation of confidence has suffered in this
postmodern world, where “humility” has come to mean doubting your convictions. As
G.K. Chesterton noted:

What we suffer from today is
humility in the wrong place. Modesty has moved from the organ of ambition.
Modesty has settled upon the organ of conviction; where it was never meant to
be. A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the
truth; this has been exactly reversed…. The old humility was a spur that
prevented a man from stopping; not a nail in his boot that prevented him from
going on. For the old humility made a man doubtful about his efforts, which
might make him work harder. But the new humility makes a man doubtful about his
aims, which will make him stop working altogether…. We are on the road to
producing a race of men too mentally modest to believe in the multiplication
table.

Because a person’s confidence in the rightness of his
convictions enables him to endure in his course of action, even at great cost
to himself, there is much discussion these days about the dangers of this sort
of confidence. Those who think their beliefs are true are feared and even
hated. Evils of all sorts have been traced back to confidence, and confidence
is declared its root and source. The remedy for evil in this view, then, is for
everyone to reduce their confidence in their beliefs. It’s commonly thought
that this would make the world a better place.

Confidence Can Serve
Either Good or Evil

But confidence itself is a morally neutral trait. What
matters is what you’re putting your confidence in. If your confidence is
well placed in the true and the good, then great good will follow from the
endurance it produces. But if your confidence is wrongly placed in false and
evil ideas, then great evil will follow. The problem, therefore, is the false
beliefs, not the confidence which can serve either good or evil. The remedy for
evil in this view is for everyone to address the actual beliefs people hold, endeavoring
to reduce confidence in false beliefs and raise confidence in true ones. The
greater confidence people have in good, true beliefs, the better off this world
will be.

If this second view is correct, then seeing confidence as
the root of evil and pressuring everyone to have less confidence will have the
unfortunate effect of causing a net loss of not only bad things in this world,
but also a great deal of good. To do good is a very, very difficult enterprise—one
that is often met with ridicule and intense opposition (just look at Jesus). Confidence
is an absolute necessity for anyone who would persevere through this.

The Blessings of
Confidence

William
Wilberforce is a perfect example of the blessings of confidence. How
was he able to fight for twenty years, enduring scorn and personal
attacks day in and day out, to put an end to the slave trade in England? Listen
to his
own explanation:

The grand object of my
parliamentary existence [is the abolition of the slave trade]. . . Before this
great cause all others dwindle in my eyes, and I must say that the certainty
that I am right here, adds greatly to the complacency [i.e., the
settled, peaceful confidence] with which I exert myself in asserting it. If it
please God to honor me so far, may I be the instrument of stopping such a
course of wickedness and cruelty as never before disgraced a Christian country.

Wilberforce was certain that he was right about what
was wicked and cruel, and he was certain that the right thing for him to
do was to stop that wickedness. That is what drove him steadily on to end the
suffering of hundreds of thousands of people. Would you have chided him for his
confidence? If so, what if he had listened to you? What if all the
abolitionists had listened to you? The world would now be a much uglier place.

Let’s work to end evil, not confidence.