Friday, March 27, 2020

The Book of John

It's believed that Apostle John was the only one among the original apostles who lived a long life and died of natural causes. This means that he gained a lot of knowledge about what was going on in the church, both about things that were good and things that weren't so good. He was a man who told it like it was, whether it was black or white, good or bad. He didn't wrap things up. For example, see the following true central Christian doctrines that the foundation of salvation is Christ:
  • Jesus said to him (Thomas), "I am the way, and the truth, and the life.
    No one comes to the Father except through me.    " (    John 14:6).
    See also Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life.
  • "Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life." (1 John 5:10–12).
The Book of John is written to Christians. John writes these letters so that Christians can know that they have eternal life with God (1 John 5:11–13). 
Having the Son means believing in the finished work of Jesus on the cross.

 There was a heresy at the time John wrote these letters known as Gnosticism, see The Danger with Gnosticism. Therefore John says that every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God (1 John 4:2, 
2 John 1:7). Those who reject it aren't from God. The entire doctrine of redemption and forgiveness is centered on the fact that Jesus Christ came as our human representative (Gal 4:4–5) (incarnation). He couldn't represent us if he was only
a spirit without a human body. He could only represent us if he was fully human. He must also be fully God to be the perfect representative for us. Because he needed to be without sin, he had to be born by a virgin. Jesus is the only one in human history who is without sin, and is therefore the only one qualified to bear the sin of the world. John also explained that Jesus came as
Christ (Messiah) even when he was born, and was crucified and died physically (not spiritually) as Messiah, the Son of God (1 John 5:6–8,
John 19:34, Luk 1:34–35, 2:8–11, Rom 5:8). Jesus never lost his deity. As Christians, we must believe both in the humanity and in the deity of Jesus Christ. 

 God is light (1 John 1:5), see Jesus the Light of the World. He reveals our intentions (1 Cor 4:5, Eph 5:13–14). There are people who claim to have fellowship with God but walk in darkness (1 John 1:6–7). Walking in darkness isn't the same as making mistakes and repenting. We are all sinners and make mistakes (1 John 1:8, 10).
We need to repent when we fall into sin (1 John 1:9). To walk in darkness is to live in a conscious lifestyle of sin, without wanting to change, without repenting.
God sees what is in our hearts. Sin begins with the evil that we have in our hearts, see Love and not revenge in The Sermon on the Mount. Eventually it may express itself in some kind of sinful action.
  • Walking in the light:
    Walking in the understanding that I am a sinner saved by grace.
  • Walking in the dark:
    Denying my sinful condition while claiming to be in fellowship with God.
We don't need to sin (1 John 2:1a). Sin doesn't have to dominate our lives.
We will never reach sinless perfection in this life, but we can overcome sin.
If we sin, we have an advocate in Jesus who speaks for us with God the Father 
(1 John 2:1b, Rom 8:34, Heb 7:24–25). See this explained at time 9:22–12:28 in Bible Q & A With Pastor Paul │ August 2023.

 We know that we have come to know Jesus if we keep his commandments 
(1 John 2:3–6, Luk 6:46, Mat 7:21, John 14:23–24), see Jesus and the Law.
We are saved by grace through faith (Eph 2:8–9), but it must be seen in our life
that we obey God's will (James 2:20), see Sanctification.

 It's crucial to love (and not hate) our brother in faith, and our neighbor as 
ourselves (1 John 2:9–11, 3:11, 15, 4:20–21, John 13:34–35, Mat 22:37–40, 
Luk 10:25–28). This isn't done automatic in our lives. It depends on our will.
We can resist the Holy Spirit. We can choose not to. The right thing is to forgive. Because we want God to forgive us our sin, we must forgive those
who wrong us (Mat 5:21–22, 6:12), see Forgive and You will Be Forgiven.

 We must not love the world (1 John 2:15–17). The world here means
man's fallen system, where people try to find meaning without God.
It means the following (Gen (1 Mos) 3:6, Mat 4:2–10): 
  1. The lust of the flesh: 
    Makes me sin. 
  2. The desire of the eyes: 
    Things that appeal to me visually and that I want. 
  3. Pride of life: 
    My desire to be liked by people, to have people think highly of me,
    to get a high position among people. 
It's these areas where we find all sin. This is where we are attacked as Christians. Jesus was tempted in these three areas when he was tempted
by Satan in the wilderness, see The Temptations of Jesus:
  1. Making bread from stones to satisfy his hunger after he had fasted
    for 40 days (Mat 4:1–4, Luk 4:1–4).     The lust of the flesh.
  2. Be the ruler over the world, shown by Satan in its glory, by worshipping Satan (Mat 4:8–11, Luk 4:5–8). The lust of the eyes.
  3. Throw himself down from the temple without being hurt, to find favor with the people (Mat 4:5–7, Luk 4:9–13). The pride of life.
John wrote 1 John when mankind had reached the end time (1 John 2:18). There is an increase in the number of antichrists at this time. Antichrist of the end time will come at the end of this end time (at the period that we call the Tribulation period), see Who is the End Time Antichrist? We have seen many who have come in the spirit of Antichrist (1 John 2:22), but we are still waiting for the end time Antichrist. 

 What can be even more dangerous are those who claim to be Christians, but in their teaching and way of life, come in the spirit of Antichrist (1 John 2:19). They distort the truth. We must be alert to false teaching and false teachers so that we aren't led astray (2 John 1:8–9). In John's time they taught secret knowledge, later known as Gnosticism, see The Danger with Gnosticism. In today's time, for example, we have the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Mormons. We don't need such teachings. The Holy Spirit is the ultimate teacher (1 John 2:20, 27). Having said that, it's an advantage to receive good biblical teaching. However, there is no advanced knowledge that only a specific elite has (Luk 24:36–38, 45, John 14:26, 16:12–15, Jer 31:31, 33–34a).

Sometimes we need to be reminded of biblical truths (1 John 2:21, 24, 28). 
We who have received Jesus and believe in him are called children of God 
(1 John 3:1, John 1:12), see Who is the Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?

 Sin is lawlessness from the God's law (1 John 3:4). Jesus, who was without sin, came to take away our sin (1 John 3:5). It means that Jesus has taken away the judgement of our sin, he has taken away the punishment that we deserve. But Jesus also removes the sin that is going on in our lives already in this life (Eph 4:22–24, 
2 Cor 5:17). The Holy Spirit who lives in us believers is sinless and perfect, but we as humans sometimes sin (1 John 1:8, 10, Rom 7:15–20). The old sin nature is still there, see the last part of The Book of Galatians. However, we must remember that sin is incompatible with the new nature that we received when we became believers in Jesus Christ (1 John 3:6–10, 5:18). The new nature is the new normal, and it's sinlessness, righteousness, purity, and holiness. But because of the old nature, we sometimes mess it up and make mistakes. Then we must repent and ask God
for forgiveness, see Sanctification. See 1 John 3:4–10 (ESV), 5:18a (ESV) explained at time 20:56–41:48 in 1 John 3 • Beloved, we are God’s children.

Jesus said: "Whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."
(Mat 10:38–39). And: "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." (Mat 16:24). The cross was an instrument of death. When Jesus talks about taking up the cross, he is talking about letting the old nature die and letting the new nature take over my life more and more. Deny myself wrong desires. A death of self-absorption and of the things in this world that entice me to live only for myself. To start living a life for Christ and for other people. That's what it means to be a disciple of Christ. See also 1. Deny yourself and 2. Take up his cross in The Apostle Peter.

 If we believe in the name of Jesus Christ and love one another as God has commanded us to do, we aren't condemned (1 John 3:21–23, John 15:7,
Rom 8:1), see also The Golden Rule and Ask, and it will be given to you in
The Sermon on the Mount. To believe in the name of Jesus means to believe in all that Jesus has claimed, said, and is. We can be deceived by the feelings in our heart that we are condemned (Jer 17:9). We should focus on what God's word says.
God is greater than our feelings and knows everything (1 John 3:18–20).

 We must not assume that every demonstration of spiritual power comes from God 
(1 John 4:1, Mat 24:24). There are false prophets and false teachers in the body of Christ (1 John 4:2–3, 1 Kings 22:19–23, John 8:44). We must test what we hear according to the texts of the Bible (1 Thess 5:20–21, 1 John 4:6). If it's not in the Bible, we must not believe it. We should also test the messengers by the fruits of their lives (Mat 7:15–20). Jesus must be identified as he says he is, see
Jesus is God. The preached message must not be worldly (1 John 4:5, 2 Tim 4:3–4),
see Word of Faith Movement in the U.S. We tend to go by feelings and emotions, but that can lead us in the wrong direction. 

 God sent his Son into the world:
  1. So it's revealed who really knows him (1 John 4:7–8):
    "Let us love one another, for love is from God" (1 John 4:7a). "Anyone who does not love does not know God (has no experiential knowledge of God's love in his life), because God is love" (1 John 4:8), see Love in God's Attributes. 
  2. So he would show his love among us and to us, so that we could live through him (1 John 4:9–10).
  3. To be the atoning sacrifice (propitiation) for our sins (1 John 4:10),
    see God is Holy in in God's Attributes.
  4. As a reminder that we should love one another because Jesus loves us
    (1 John 4:11, 2 John 1:5). Not just those who we think deserve it.
  5. So that God's love can be completed in us.
God is the source, the originator of all love. The fact that unbelievers have the ability to love tells us that this fallen world still retains some of what it means to be made in the image of God, see The Fall of Man in The Biblical Creation and the Fall of Man.

The Holy Spirit comes to us when we give our hearts to the Lord Jesus Christ 
(1 John 4:13). The Holy Spirit takes up residence in us. It's through him that we are born again. He not only gives us a new birth, he begins to express himself in our lives, his character of God. He doesn't dictate. He is a perfect gentleman. He allows us to resist him. I can resist him from changing me, transforming me, and using me. We can grieve him. The following are evidences of the Holy Spirit working in us:
  1. We testify that Jesus is our Savior (1 John 4:14).
    It can be done in words, but also how we live our lives.
  2. We confess that Jesus is God (1 John 4:15).
    When the Bible says that Jesus is the Son of God, it means
    that he is equal with God (John 5:17–18, 10:32–33), see The Trinity.
  3. We know and rely on God's love (1 John 4:16).
    We trust Jesus in all circumstances (Rom 8:35–36, 38–39).
  4. We aren't afraid of the end-time judgment (1 John 4:17–18).
  5. In this world we are transformed to become more like Jesus (2 Cor 3:18).
  6. We love our fellow believers because Jesus first loved us and we love him:
    "We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother." (1 John 4:19–21).
None of us do this perfectly, but we can grow in it. We shouldn't feel condemned if we don't fulfill this list (Rom 8:1). The list is a reminder of how far we can reach in our Christian life.

If you believe that Jesus is Christ (Messiah), that he is the Son of God and your Savior, then you are a child of God. All people who love God the Father also love
his children (1 John 5:1, 5). To love God is to obey his commandments 
(1 John 5:2–3, 2 John 1:6), see Jesus and the Law. His commandments (which aren't the same as the Mosaic Laws of the Old Covenant described in the 
Old Testament) aren't burdensome:
  1. They are good and make life easier.
  2. We want to please God.
  3. They aren't legalistic/religious rules.
  4. We follow them because we love God.
If we pray according to God's will, he hears us (1 John 5:14–15, Eph 5:15–17).
We are to pray in faith (Mat 21:22, James 1:6). We must pray with perseverance 
(Luk 18:1–8), see The Parable of the Persistent Widow, and in obedience
(Psalm 66:18, 1 Pet 3:12). It should be submitted to God's purposes (Luk 22:42).
See also The Lord's Prayer and Ask, and it will be given to you in 
The Sermon on the Mount.

If we have a fellow believer who is living in sin, we should pray for that person 
(1 John 5:16–17), see Dealing With Sin in the Church.

Apostle John introduces himself as an Elder (2 John 1:1). Elders were used as leaders in the congregations (Acts 14:23, Tit 1:5). Elder also means old person, and John was an old person when he wrote 2 John. He wrote this letter to the chosen lady and her children, it may be to a congregation where the so-called children are members of that congregation. This way of writing is also used in the Old Testament where the expression "daughter of Zion" is used for Jerusalem or the Jewish people (Zechariah 9:9). In the New Testament, the born again believers are referred to as the "bride of Christ".

The church consists of redeemed individuals who have placed their hope in Christ for the salvation of their souls. It's not a building. It's a divine institution to be led by humble individuals, broken from pride, who fear God and seek his guidance and will. Every redeemed child of God who puts his hope in Christ for salvation has been made a member of his Church, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone (Eph 2:19–20).

Some things to look for when looking for a church to go to:
  1. A solid biblical statement of faith.
  2. Biblical and balanced worship:
    Apostle Paul wrote that everything should be done "decently and in order"
    (1 Cor 14:40). The fellowship should follow this biblical pattern.
    Not boring, just orderly.
  3. God’s word as the final authority:
    A balanced fellowship shouldn't emphasize emotional reactions and personal experiences over the word of God. Emotions and experiences are good, but God's word must always have the last word. 
  4. Healthy and stable fellowship:
    The church community should see itself as part of the larger network of the Body of Christ. Avoid a fellowship that gives you the impression that they have something that other churches don't. 
Apostle John gives examples of bad leadership in a congregation (3 John 1:9–10). 
It's a leader who:
The root of these problems is often spiritual pride which is a serious issue
for a leader in the Body of Christ. It leads to division (Rom 16:17–18).

Good leaders in a church don't tell you what to do, but they: 
  • Tell what God's word says (Heb 13:7).
  • Encourage in what God's word says. 
  • Pray with you about what God's word says.
  • Let you make your own decisions.
One reason for this is to grow and become a mature Christian. You don't grow
if you are always told what to do and are controlled in all major decisions. 

Jesus is our role model as a good leader, see The Parable of the Good Shepherd. 

Qualities of good leadership:
  • Leadership should exemplify the fruits of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22–23).
    We must know what these fruits are and expect to see them.
  • There must be individuals in the leadership who can teach God's word in an understandable and clear way that makes you feel well fed and challenged.
  • There shouldn't be undue emphasis on money and the leaders shouldn't indulge in financial extravagance. 

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Wednesday, March 18, 2020

The Ice Age in a Biblical Perspective

An ice age is a large increase in snow and ice. 10% of the continents have ice today. During the last ice age, 30% of the continents were covered by ice. It covered Canada and the northern parts of the United States, Europe, and Russia. 

 The secular view is that each ice age lasts 100,000 years and contains glacial and interglacial phases. Their view is that the glacial phase lasts 90,000 years and the interglacial phase lasts 10,000 years. Their view is also that we have had about 50 regularly recurring ice ages in the last 2.6 million years. This is based on the astronomical theory, based on uniformitarianism and cyclical behavior.

 To get an ice age we need the following:
  • Much heavier snowfall than usual for several years.
  • Much colder summers for several years, to prevent snow and ice from melting. Summer temperatures must drop more than 50° F (30° C).
    A change in solar radiation is too small to produce the high fall.
One problem with a colder climate is that it becomes drier, with less snowfall.
The colder it is, the drier it gets. This is one reason why there are over 60
secular theories about how to get an ice age.

Can a biblical worldview explain the ice age?


 Analyzing the observations from a biblical worldview yields the following,
which is a summary of the video below with Michael Oard: 

 We have only had one ice age. It occurred after The Flood at the Time of Noah 
(Gen (1 Mos) 6:5–8:19) about 4,500 years ago. It created the ice age as follows:
  • Volcanic dust and aerosols (smoke, fog, air pollution) caused cooler summers over land. This persisted for several years but subsided over time.
  • Fountains of great depth and volcanism caused warm seas. It produced very high vaporization by the seas, which fell as snow over the land. This persisted for several years but subsided over time, as the oceans gradually cooled over time.
Postulated mean sea temperature with time after the Flood  gives:

The ice age reached its maximum about 
500 years after the Flood. 

Afterwards, it took about 200 more years to melt it down.

 This gives a total time of about 700 years for the ice age.


Most areas show no evidence of multiple ice ages. 
A glacier's ice age depends on how it melts, but it's still the same ice.

The rainbow is a sign from God that there will not be another global Flood anymore (Gen (1 Mos) 9:8–17). This means that there will be no more ice age in the future, because the global Flood caused the ice age (1 Cor 2:5).

This biblical explanation of the ice age explains other ice age mysteries:
  1. Deserts that were once wet.
  2. Woolly mammoths in Siberia.
  3. Strange mixtures of cold and warm weather, animals, and plants.
  4. Mass extinctions at the end of the ice age.
  5. Lowlands without signs of glaciers in Siberia.
The very high vaporization at the oceans made it wet everywhere on Earth. 
The warm seas made Siberia much warmer than today. We had mild winters and cool summers. As time went on during the ice age, winters became colder and drier. The sea was about 50-60 meters lower when the ice was at its thickest. The larger land areas made it easier for people and animals to migrate to new areas.

For detailed information explaining this, see the following videos: 
God made the following promises after the Flood (verses taken from the ESV):
  • "I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. While the Earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease." (Gen (1 Mos) 8:21-22).
  • "Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the Earth." (Gen (1 Mos) 9:11).
  • ". . . I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the Earth . . . (Isaiah 54:9).
Although humanity has a responsibility for the environment on Earth, we can trust and rest on these promises that we won't have an out of control climate on Earth.
Since God maintains a stable system, there is no reason for catastrophic alarmism. 
It's a important to keep a balance and not take all alarms too seriously.

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Saturday, March 14, 2020

Errors in the Radiometric Dating Methods

Introduction


The dating methods used to show that we have an old Earth (radiometric dating, analysis of ice cores, annual rings in trees, etc.) are based on a philosophical assumption called uniformitarianism. This means that the geological processes observed have continued at the same rate throughout history. That assumption doesn't hold up upon closer examination of the physical evidence. Catastrophic events accelerate "normal" processes. But indirectly the secular geologists of our time realize that strict uniformitarianism doesn't hold and accept a type of catastrophe. In principle, then, they open up the possibility that dating techniques that yield an old Earth may be wrong, since these techniques are based on the assumption of uniformitarianism. 

In addition, the often cited radiometric dating methods contain a number of questionable theoretical assumptions. For more information on this, see the video 

Such dating methods (for example Rubidium–strontium, uranium-lead, 
potassium-argon (K-Ar), and carbon-14) are based on the following three assumptions which have been shown to be either debatable or outright untenable:
  1. The radioactive decay rate to get the decay product is constant over time.
    New scientific findings have called this into question. 
  2. The rock to be dated constitutes a closed system that isn't affected by
    leakage of chemical substances into or from the rock. 
    This has been shown to be false.
  3. The sample initially contains only parent isotopes. 
    This has been disproved time and time again.
The problem with the unreliability of the radiometric dating methods is exacerbated
by the fact that there are a number of measurement methods that point in the other direction that we have a young Earth, much younger than the evolutionist time schedule allows, see Evidence for a Young Earth.

The Eruption of Mount St. Helens


The eruption of Mount St. Helens in May 1980 blew away 400 meters from the top of the mountain, creating a gaping, horseshoe-shaped crater. By October of that year, the volcano had stalled so much that lava seeping in from the mountain pooled in the crater. In 1986, a lava dome was formed that was 350 meters high and at most 1060 meters in diameter. 

Geologist Steve Austin provided a number of samples from the newly formed volcanic rock (dacite) in 1992 with the intention of testing the accuracy of
radiometric dating, see his report. Dr Austin sent a number of samples from the lava to a reputable laboratory to have the appropriate measurements made with
K-Ar dating method. Some samples were taken from the dome as such, while others were selected with an emphasis on different minerals in the lava material. Some of the ages of the various samples calculated according to K-Ar dating method applied according to the standard conditions of dating:
  • The lava rock as such: 350,000 ±   50,000 years.
  • Mostly hornblende:      900,000 ± 200,000 years.
  • Mostly pyroxene:      2,800,000 ± 600,000 years.
The estimated ages varied between 350,000 years and 2,800,000 years, 
although the rock was formed only 10 years earlier. 

An assumption used when using the K-Ar dating method is that all the argon leaves the lava while it's still liquid. The age could then be calculated from the time the lava crystallized and the rock was considered gas-tight. But this assumption turned out to be wrong. The solidified lava dome already contained large amounts of argon and therefore gave incorrect dates. 

It has been objected that the tests weren't applicable because the K-Ar dating
method only works on rocks that are millions of years old. But the plus-minus range (±) of each result eliminates that objection. The plus-minus range indicates the precision of the laboratory measurements and for each sample the margin of error was much smaller than the estimated age. This shows that the measured argon was well within the precision of the equipment.

This unique opportunity to test radiometric dating of a rock of known age has shown that the basic assumptions are wrong. Volcanic rock from this volcanic eruption already contained daughter isotopes that weren't formed by radioactive decay after the lava solidified. 

The test has shown that we can't rely on radiometric dating results for rocks of unknown ages.

 The eruption of Mount St. Helens is also explosive evidence for creation, see
Origins: Mount St. Helens, Explosive Evidence for Creation. It shows rapid canyon formation and is proof that even Grand Canyon formed quickly.

Results from the RATE Project


Eight scientists created the group Radioisotopes and the Age of the Earth (RATE) 
which has done several tests on, among other things, volcanic material.

They did thirteen tests on Mount Ngauruhoe in northern New Zealand which had volcanic material with a known age of 25–51 years. The tests were done by Geochron Laboratories in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with the results:
  • 270,000 years (four samples)
  • 290,000 years (one sample)
  • 800,000 years (one sample)
  • 1,000,000 years (three samples)
  • 1,200,000 years (one sample)
  • 1,300,000 years (one sample)
  • 1,500,000 years (one sample)
  • 3,500,000 years (one sample)
The conclusion that can be drawn from these results is that an amount of argon gas was already present in the rock layers when they solidified, that is, there was simply no zero value in these radioactive clocks.

Andrew Snelling, member of RATE, ordered test results with different
radiometric dating methods on one and the same sample, with the result:
The result differed the most in 1 billion years.

When uranium decays to lead, helium is formed as a byproduct. A type of crystal called zircons contains uranium that has partially decayed into lead. By measuring the amount of uranium and "radiogenic lead" in these crystals, one can calculate that 1.5 billion years have passed, assuming that the rate of decay has been constant. This date is also consistent with the geological age given for the granite in which the zircons were found. What surprised the researchers is that there is still a surprisingly large amount of helium left in the zircons. When they then had an expert measure the rate at which helium was leaking out, it was determined that these crystals couldn't be older than 5680 ± 2000 years. The bedrock, believed to be 1.5 billion years old, contains so much helium that it can't be older than 10,000 years.

The conclusion of the RATE project is that Earth'a age is 4,000–14,000 years.

See also Radiometric Dating and the Age of the Earth in
Evidence for a Young Earth.

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Friday, March 13, 2020

Is the Theory of Evolution Proven?

Our life is a temporary chemical combination in a universe completely without purpose and meaning according to a naturalistic worldview. Within such a worldview, assuming there is no God intervening in creation, there is no alternative but a universe and diversity of life that have created themselves, purely by chance and
by nature. According to them, evolution must therefore be a fact. 

 The theory of evolution is the creation story of materialism and naturalism. It's based on the fact that random changes in DNA; mutations, have the ability to create a raw material in the form of changed genes that code for changed characteristics. The changes that make individuals in the next generation of organisms better adapted to their habitats will be favored in natural selection. 

 Note that natural selection (survival of the fittest) exists, but not as described in the theory of evolution, and it's not the same as evolution. Natural selection always
leads to the erosion or loss of genetic information, not to the creation of new
genetic information. Either by sorting out genetics that are disadvantaged in a specific environment, or by mutations doing the same thing. 

See natural selection described at:
DNA contains information. One problem is to explain how information can arise without any intelligence, see What is Information? Chance has an admittedly strong tendency to destroy information where it exists. The most common is that variation is created through the traits the individual inherits from their parents. It's not possible to turn a microbe into a human, or even into another type of microbe, 
by simply mixing what is already there. It requires that qualitatively new traits for completely new characteristics be added, and this is assumed to happen through
mutations according to the theory of evolution. What isn't often mentioned is that
a mutated microorganism has to pay a high price in terms of inferior genetic mass, which means that it's invariably eliminated in a more normal environment in competition with microorganism of the original type. See the time 43:46–52:37
(describes genetics) in Dr Robert Carter: Evolution's Achilles' Heels.

 We know that mutations cause cancer and genetic defects and contribute to the aging of our bodies. The mutations must be able to deliver new traits that express themselves in new characteristics that natural selection selects for, that provide advantages and then not only in extreme situations. These mutations are quite impossible to find in nature. Mutations are overwhelmingly a downward process where genetic information is lost. Something which, of course, can be an advantage in extreme situations. Mutations can't explain the information in our genome that contains information about how the information itself should be used and controlled. It's called metadata and can only be explained by an intelligent act of creation. 

 All animals and plants can be divided into basic types. The organisms within the basic types can mate with each other and usually produce fertile offspring. We often see a lot of variation within a basic type, new species can arise. But these variations don't arise due to mutations, but to how the genetic code is combined in a specific environment. We see limits to how large these variations can be. They never go from one basic type to another, neither in nature nor in fossils. When a fossil is found in the geological layers, the organism in its main features resembles its modern descendants. This is true all the way from the Cambrian strata up through the series of strata, but also further down, in the strata called the Precambrian strata. There is no support in the fossils that there has been a development from one basic type to another. The biblical view is that God created the different basic types, and afterwards we have seen a variation within each basic type based on how the genes have been combined and not due to mutations.

We can see a lot of similarities between different kinds of animals. This is in evolutionary theory called homology if the similarities are assumed to be due to being inherited from a common ancestor, but is called homoplasy or convergent evolution if it's understood that the evolutionary process has converged towards the same design independently. An unresolved problem with this is that the embryonic development of so-called homologous structures, such as similar fingers, thumbs, and toes, is often very different. In terms of convergent evolution, some scientists believe that the eye, which is highly complex, has evolved independently about 60 times, and the highly complex C4 photosynthesis has evolved independently more than 30 times. The Christian view of this is that these similarities exist because we all have the same Creator and we live in the same ecological system. This Creator has sometimes reused the same features in different animals and in humans and sometimes added other features in a similar way as we do in human engineering.

 Antibiotic resistance is usually presented as an example of ongoing evolution. Resistance occurs when an existing system is modified (usually by something breaking down), or when genes are transmitted from bacteria that already have them. Nothing new has been created. Therefore, it's wrong to call it an ongoing
evolution. Natural selection can favor the resistant bacteria when there are a lot of antibiotics around, but disadvantage them in an environment without antibiotics.

 It has been presented as truth that it took millions of years for fossil fuels such as oil and gas to form from algae and plants. Scientists can now convert algae into crude oil in less than an hour. This process shows that heat and pressure are sufficient for oil to form in an extremely short time. Buried plant material exposed to heat and pressure can first form carbon, which can also form in a short time. The carbon can then be converted to oil if it's exposed to even higher temperatures and pressures.

 All dogs are descended from a wolf-like ancestor. This ancestor had the genetic
diversity that allowed humans to breed different breeds of dogs. There are currently over 200 different breeds of dogs. Mixed breeds are less prone to disease because a healthy copy of a gene usually dominates over a defective one. Breeding between two purebred dogs from two different breeds usually produces a much healthier offspring than breeding within one's own breed. The mixed breeds will have fewer cases of disease and also have a longer life expectancy. Extreme breeding with the aim of obtaining certain desirable traits has made dogs more susceptible to disease. Modern dog breeds have become very genetically depleted. This may explain why God prohibited marriage between close relatives from the days of Moses onwards (Lev (3 Mos) 18:6). Mutations can be a consequence of the Fall
(see The Biblical Creation and the Fall of Man). In the beginning all was very good
(Gen (1 Mos) 1:31), implying that no bad mutations existed at that time. Therefore, it was OK to marry close relatives before the time of Moses.


The origin of life is defective described in the theory of evolution. See time 52:42–1:00:55 (describes origin of life), in Dr Robert Carter: Evolution's Achilles' Heels.

Science and morality are inadequately described in the theory of evolution. 
See time 1:00:55–1:09:45 (describes science and morality),
in Dr Robert Carter: Evolution's Achilles' Heels.

 In summary, the theory of evolution isn't proven. It's quite disproved, see:
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