Russell Moore on Evangelicals and Marriage

 

Here is a link to the best thing I've read so far in response to the gay marriage decision:

 

As the Culture Shifts on Marriage, Evangelicals Stand Firm

Why men, women, and sexual complementarity matter On Friday, when the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage, Evangelicals issued a statement on their belief and teaching that marriage is between a man and woman. Russell Moore is president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. We talk about marriage and its future. — KJL

 

 

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/420475/evangelicals-marriage-russell-moore

 

 

Organisation of human brain is nearly ideal

Here's a neat little discovery reported on ScienceDaily.com

 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/07/150707120101.htm

 

New research reveals that structure of the human brain has an almost ideal network of connections

The structure of the human brain has an almost ideal network of connections -- the links that permit information to travel from, say, the auditory cortex (responsible for hearing) to the motor cortex (responsible for movement).

 

The study continues...

 

Have you ever wondered why the human brain evolved the way it did? A new study by Northeastern physicist Dmitri Krioukov and his colleagues suggests an answer: to expedite the transfer of information from one brain region to another, enabling us to operate at peak capacity.

Putting aside the fact that the human brain has been the same since we first appeared on the planet, and that no evolutionary pathway has yet been clearly demonstrated from the hominids to us (for e.g.  we know humanity didn't descend from Neanderthals, Denasovans or Homo Erectus), and hence no macroevolution can be demonstrated from primates to hominids to us. And putting aside the assumption that macro-evolution is a fact and therefore a theory dependent pre-existed belief in the human brain having evolved from some hominid and primate ancestor, what this study reveals is pretty wonderful and, I believe, echoes the words of David in the Psalms:

 

Psalm 139:14 (NIV)

¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.

 

 

So remember, YOU ARE wonderfully made!

 

 

Cheers and God bless,

Anthony 

Did the Pope really say that? Thoughts on the papal encyclical on Climate Change

There has been a fair bit of hoo-ha in the media of late with the recent release of the papal encyclical on supposed "Climate Change".

The encyclical, titled 'A Cry for the Poor' is actually about the needs of the poor and only very briefly touches on environmental degradation issues (which includes climate as a potential issue) which have the capacity to effect the poor the most. That the Pope is concerned about the poor of the world is of no surprise, as the poor have been on his heart for his entire Catholic ministry.

So what did the Pope write in his encyclical?

Well a very balanced and brief enough article about the encyclical has been posted on Anthony Watts site Wattsupwiththat. The article is entitled 'Thoughts on the papal encyclical on environment'  written by Joe Ronan and contains a link the an English translation of the encyclical.

The article is well worth a read no matter what side of the Climate Change divide you sit on, and at the RTB Sydney Chapter here members hold very different positions on this issue but discuss the science, moral and economic issues of possible impacts from anthropogenic induced climate influences with respect towards one another, following the Golden Rule (Luke 6:31).

Its interesting to note, for example, that the Pope is on to those wishing to become billionaires through pushing carbon credit trading on the world. So check out the links and have a read of the encyclical for yourself. Don't just rely on media outlets to tell you what they want you to think and know. Be informed for yourself. We have nothing to fear from the truth.

Anthony

July meeting for the Sydney Chapter for Reasons to Believe - Friday 3rd July

The July meeting for the Sydney Chapter for Reasons to Believe will be on Friday 3^rd July.

 

We will dive into the fourth session of the Navigating Genesis small group study.

 

Details are:

 

Date: Friday, 3^rd July

Time: 8:00pm

Subject: Navigating Genesis – session 4

 

To find out more, contact us at Sydney.Australia@reasons.org 

Morling College - John Stackhouse - Apologetics for Postmodern Times - 13th July

Apologetics for Postmodern Times

 

Public Forum Day

“Why don’t my friends or family members want to talk with me about the most important things in life? What makes modern (and postmodern, and post-postmodern) culture so resistant to the gospel? How can I compel people to confront Jesus—or should I even try to do so?" Join us as we explore what we’re up against, and what we ought to be striving for, in defending and commending the gospel.

 

 

Location:	Morling College 120 Herring Road, Macquarie Park, NSW, 2113.
Presenter:	John Stackhouse
Date:	Mon, 13/07/2015 - 09:00 to 16:00

 

http://www.morlingcollege.com/events/apologetics-postmodern-times

 

Please note: All attendees should read "Humble Apologetics: Defending the Faith Today" by John Stackhouse prior to this Forum Day. Copies are available through online retailers in both print and e-book editions.

 

Professor John Stackhouse joins us from Regent University in Canada where he lectures in Theology and Culture. He has a BA (Queen’s), MA (Wheaton), and PhD (Chicago). He has given lectures at leading universities, including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Edinburgh and Fudan, as well  as at institutions as varied as Seoul Theological University, the Elijah Institute in Jerusalem, Tyndale House in Cambridge, Brigham Young University, and the ACTS Institute in Bangalore. 

The GENESIS of LIFE is now available from Koorong

Alan Marshall, one of our Sydney Chapter members here, has just published a book called The Genesis of Life. It's a friendly and easy read so if your not scientifically minded, you will still very much enjoy it. Alan has gone to a lot of trouble to make this work very accessible.

 

I highly recommend this book to add to your list of apologetics reading. All the details are below.

 

Friends,


My new book, THE GENESIS OF LIFE: A PATHWAY FOM SCIENCE TO FAITH,

can now be ordered through the Koorong website. The price for the paperback edition is $21.99. If you have enjoyed reading the book, you might like to now recommend it by forwarding this email, with the attachments, to friends you think may be interested. (Koorong don't yet have any stock on their shelves, but I have ample to stock to fill their orders.)


God Bless,

Alan Marshall


Click here to find the book in the Koorong online store: https://www.koorong.com/search/product/the-genesis-of-life-alan-marshall/9781628716184.jhtml


Synopsis


The book aims to engage anyone with an interest in science and faith as it explores not only the origin of life, but the full range of nature's "big questions".


My starting point is that all life is based on information. By quantifying the amount of information needed for the simplest possible organism to grow and reproduce, I demonstrate that this is vastly more than could conceivably arise by random chance. Just as a computer program infers the existence of a programmer, so the elegance and mind-boggling complexity of DNA, and the biochemical machinery it creates, point to a creative intelligence.


Who is this creator? My book suggests he is the one known in the Bible as "I AM who I AM". I seek to lead the reader, assisted by scientific evidence and a series of logical propositions, down a pathway to a deeper faith. How far that pathway is travelled is up to each reader to decide.


Extracts from selected chapters can be read using the links below:


DNA - The Language of Life<http://thegenesisoflife.info/chapter1.htm>

In the Beginning<http://thegenesisoflife.info/chapter2.htm>

The Genesis of Life<http://thegenesisoflife.info/chapter3.htm>

The Genesis Creation Accounts<http://thegenesisoflife.info/chapter7.htm>

What Does It All Mean?<http://thegenesisoflife.info/chapter8.htm>


Author's website<http://thegenesisoflife.info>

What's the smartest animal on the planet? (excluding humans of course)

Intelligent Bird Solves 8 Step Puzzle

A friend just sent me a video clip of a Crow revealing their amazing abilities to problem solve.

Back in 2009 Reasons to Believe posted a Todays New Reasons to Believe article on the intelligence of Corvids. The Corvid family comprises Ravens and Crews. You can read the original post here: Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.”

Now a series from the BBC has captured the astonishing capabilities of the Crovids. You can see a short excerpt from the series on YouTube here:
Are crows the ultimate problem solvers? - Inside the Animal Mind: Episode 2 - BBC Two  

Corvids: The Birds Who Think Like Humans article from io9 may also help to show the amazing cognitive capabilities of the Corvids.

These are truly remarkable metal capabilities for an animal. Moreover, Chimpanzees are not able to accomplish this feat without significant teaching and training from humans first. Corvids are capable of problem solving like this directly from the wild.

As the TNRB article shows... Caledonian crows [though not quite matching ravens in intellectual prowess] outperform monkeys in their ability to retrieve food from a trap tube–from which food can be accessed only at one end.” They also refer to an experiment demonstrating that “crows can also work out how to use one tool to obtain a second with which they can retrieve food, a skill that monkeys and apes struggle to master.” Evidently, certain bird species exhibit greater powers of the mind than do apes. (See crows’ cognitive powers in action here.).

When it comes to which animal, between the Corvids or Apes, shows the closest metal capabilities to humanity, Corvids win hands (or wings) down.

Now that's a disconnect between Darwinian Theory and reality. Food for thought there!