Is the Bible true?

How do we know the Bible is true? As a Christian I can say God has revealed its truth to me. When I read God’s Word I know in my heart by the power of the Holy Spirit it is truth revealed. Before I was a Christian I would say prove it is true. Where is the evidence ? Sadly I can say that none of my Christian friends had answers to the questions I asked. That is where we ar today. Can you answer the questions? Can you give them the answers they need to point them to the saving grace of God?

What is the Bible? It is a collection of 66 books written by 40 authors over a period of 1600 years it has one continues common theme. This book tells a story of a special people and a special place Israel in Canaan, A special family in a special tribe David in the tribe of Judah, A special child in a special town Jesus in Bethlehem.

The Bible is unique in the way it is opposed. It has been under attack since the first Words of God were penned for all to see. Many writers especially those of the New Testament died for what they believed. Early Christians were hunted and killed by the thousands. The Bible has been banned and burned through out history. No other book has been analyzed, scrutinized and studied for the sole purpose of proving it to be wrong. Why is this book so questioned? Is it because it is a book that lacks moral character? Is it a book that encourages a low moral standard that encourages people to rebel against government and rulers. On the contrary no other book sets a higher moral standard than the Bible.

It took over 1600 years to write the Bible and it can take mere seconds to destroy a copy. Yet it is still most published book in the world. It has been translated into over 400 different languages, and is translated into a new language every 17 days. So why do people spend so much effort and time trying to discredit what it teaches?

It is because of what it claims to be. It claims to be the Word of God. It is a demanding book that sets a high moral standard for all of us to follow. Therefore it must be obeyed or it must be destroyed, there are no other alternatives.

There is a story about a business man who while walking down the street saw a blind beggar. So he put a few cons in the cup the beggar was holding. As he walked away he glanced back and saw the blind man lifting his glasses and peering into the cup. The business man now upset realizing the beggar was not blind confronted him. “You are not blind” The beggar answer you are right the blind man is on vacation, I ma usually the deaf dumb man on the other corner. Why would anyone lie like this? Because people can be gullible, it is good for us to maintain a healthy skepticism when evaluating other people and their character. What about the character of a religion? This is a very important decision one that will effect where we spend eternity. We cannot accept a belief just because it sounds good. We need to know it is reliable. If the Bible were to be found unreliable we would be accused of following a false religion. We are going to discover that the Bible is indeed reliable. We are going to look ar a few objections to the Bibles reliability and together discover the truth.

The first objections is. The majority New Testament was written 100-200 years after the life of Christ. So how do we know we do not have a distorted version of the original account of the life of Jesus Christ?
(pause for answer)

If this was true then we would not have an accurate account of who He really was. If there was only a long history of oral traditions of things being passed by word of mouth over many generations the account could have been distorted. Such as the case with the Koran; which was passed down orally for generations before finally being put to paper. The Bible however does not have this problem. This objection is not a valid one as the accounts of the life of Jesus were written down with the life span of those people who were eyewitnesses to what happened. The New Testament was written within 60 years of the death of Christ and most Gospels within 30 years There are many manuscripts that a test to these facts.

The John Ryland Papyus dated around 125AD is a copy of a fragment of the book of John. The original has to have been written earlier.

Early church fathers were quoting many of the New Testament books around 100Ad. These would have had to have been in circulation before that time.

There is no hint that the writers new of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD. Such an event would have been record in their writings.

According to history Paul died in the mid 60s AD. At the end of Acts he was still alive; therefore Acts and the other books Paul wrote were written before the mid 60sAD. Luke wrote the book of Luke before Acts so the book of Luke is even older. So there was no time for myth to grow around the life of Christ.

We have determined when the New Testament was written but we have not determined if it is historically correct. There are three major test that all ancient documents are put through to prove their validity. these test are.

1 –Bibliographical testing
2- Internal evidence
3-External evidence

The bibliographical test evaluates the reliability of the manuscript. This test determines how well the manuscript has been preserved since it was written. How close to the original writings are the ones we have.

This brings us the next objection. We do not have anything close to the original because to much time has passed and there are to many copies. More time and more copies leads to more mistakes. Lets look at the time difference between the original and the copies on some popular ancient manuscripts.

Aristotle 1400 years
Tacitus 1000 years
Caesar 950 years
Homer 500 years

Skeptics all accept these manuscripts as reliable yet they will reject the reliability of the New Testament. So what is the timeline of the New Testament? The originals were written as we have seen between 30 and 60 AD. The manuscripts of the New Testament were written around 150AD, that is only 90 years that is a very small amount of time when compared to other ancient manuscripts, yet these skeptics will question the validity of the New Testament.

Our third objection. Even if the time line is correct there are too many copies to even come close to what the original manuscripts said. Can you really have too many copies? (pause for answer) The correct answer is more. The more copies you have for comparison the closer you can get to the original. Let me demonstrate, the Big X represents the original, the small Xs the copies. Since we no longer have the original we must depend on the copies. There will be some errors in the copies, however where ever the majority of the copies agree we can be sure that somewhere among all the manuscripts the original form of every passage is present. Lets look back at those other ancient documents and see what we have to compare.
Plato 7
Caesar 10
Tacitus 20
Homer 643

Again many people consider these documents accurate and true to the original. The New Testament has over 5700 recorded manuscripts in Greek alone. Frederick Venyon a world renowned paleographer said. “ The number of manuscripts of the New Testament of early translations from it and quotations from it in the oldest writers of the church is so large that it is practically certain that the true reading of every doubtful passage is preserved in some or other of those ancient authorities. This can be said of no other ancient book in the world”

7/8 of the New Testament is the same in all the manuscripts of the 1/8 that remains the majority of the differences are in spelling, style or grammar. Only 1/60 of that 1/8 has any significant differences. None of those differences have anything to do with the key doctorial message. There is in total only abut 400 differences significant to the meaning of the New Testament. That is less than one per page in an English translation.

Compare that with the ancient Roman and Greek literature. Most pieces of literature cannot be reconstructed enough to know what percentage was in the original for sure. There is one exception and that is Homer’s Iliad with 643 copies. It is about 95% pure. The New Testament which is at least 98% pure. This compares very well with any other ancient document. We can conclude that we have what was written by the original authors, we have the Word of God. Fredrick Venyon said “ The Christian can take the whole Bible in his hand and say without fear or hesitation that he holds in it the true Word of God, handed down without essential loss from generation to generation throughout the centuries”

We know the authors were accurate in what they wrote, but how do we know what they wrote was accurate? That is where our next step comes looking at the internal evidence. This evidence helps us to determine whether we can trust the authors. Aristotle said “ The benefit of the doubt is to be given to the document and not the critic” How many here have been confronted and told the Bible is full of contradictions?(wait for answer) The law of contradictions states “ For one statement to absolutely contradict another there must be no sense in which the statements can both be true. If there is a possible logical explanation it is not a real contradiction” What this means is if there is a reasonable and logical explanation for a supposed contradiction in a document the document cannot be found to be untrue based on this supposed contradiction. One Gospel says there was one angel at the tomb the other says there was two angels. This is not an absolute contradiction because the Gospel that says there was one does no say there was only one. There is no absolute.

I had person tell me once they have found a real contradiction. In John 19 it says Jesus was standing before Pilate in the 6th hour. Mark 15 says that Jesus was crucified in the rd hour. How could He be standing before Pilate after He was crucified? How do we reconcile this apparent contradiction? ( wait for answer)

There is a solution, John in all likelihood was using Roman time which like our present clock is begins and ends at 12am. Mark was using Jewish time which begins around 6pm and begins again at 6am. This would mean that Jesus stood before Pilate at 6am and was crucified at 9am. There is no absolute contradiction. There are no proven absolute contradictions in the Bible. The writers of the Bible based their accounts on eyewitness testimony. Any surface contradictions confirms this. It shows that the writers were truly writing from their own experiences and perspective, and not scheming together to get eh story right.

The Bible was written by man, however as 2 Peter 1:21 says “For prophecy never had its origins in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us the “All Scripture was God Breathed”

It is simply this ‘The Holy Spirit moved men to write. He allowed them to use their own language, their own style, their own gifts, and their own culture. But the Holy Spirit overruled in the expression of thought and the choice of words. SO that they recorded accurately all that God wanted them to say and exactly how He wanted them to say it. The Bible is a harmony of the active mind of the writer and the sovereign direction of the Holy Spirit. “

Lastly the writers were willing to die for their Doctrine. People will sometimes be willing to die for what they believe is the truth, but never are they willing to die for a lie. If the Resurrection had not taken place the disciples would have known this. The writers willingly gave their lives for their belief in the Resurrected Christ. This is perhaps the most powerful internal evidence of all.

What of external evidence, evidence outside of the Bible? We have supporting evidence from early Christian writers. Papias and acquaintance of the Apostle John wrote “ The Elder ( John) used to say this also Mark having been the interpreter of Peter wrote down accurately all that he (Peter) mentioned whether saying or doing of Christ not however in order”

If we combine the testimonies of Josephus, Tacitus, Lucian, Suetonius, Pliny the Younger, Thallus and the Talmud, all of which are non-Christian sources we see

1 Jesus was crucified under Pontius Pilate at Passover time.

2- He was believed by his disciples to have risen from the dead three days later

3- Jewish leaders charged Christ with sorcery and believed He was Born of adultery

4- The Judean sect of Christianity spread even to Rome.

5 - Early Christians denied polytheism lived dedicated lives according to Christ’s teachings and worshiped Christ.

William Tyndale in 1536 was tried found guilty, garroted and burned at the stake. His crime, was translating the Bible into English so we can all have access to God’s Word. Robert Dick Wilson was a Professor of Semantic Philology at Princeton Theological Seminary. He was a book scholar, he read up on history. He had a 45 year plan, for the first 15 he would learned all the languages that had anything to do with biblical manuscripts. So he learned German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, Aramaic, Babylonia, Ethopic, Phoenician, Syriac, Egyptian, Armenian, Persian, Coptic and many more all in all he learned 26 languages and dialects. , Then he spent 15 years studying all the manuscripts, the last 1 years he published his findings he came to this conclusion. “ I try to give my students such an intelligent faith in the Old Testament Scriptures that they will never doubt them as long as the live. No man knows enough to assail the truthfulness of the Old Testament.”




Sir William Ramsey was not a book scholar he was a shovel scholar an archeologist. Unlike Robert Wilson he was not raised to believe in the Bible, in fact it was quite the opposite. He was an accomplished man.
A Professor at Oxford and Aberdeen universities

He earned 3 honorary fellowships at Oxford

9 honorary doctorates from British, Continental, and American universities.

Was honored with the Victoria Medal of the Royal Geographical Society in 1906

A founding member of the British Academy

And Knighted in 1906 for his service to archeology.

He spent most of his life digging up Asia Minor, The place in history that Paul spent most of his time. Paul who’s travels were well document by Luke. Sir Ramsey was led to believe that all of Luke’s writings were full of errors and pretty much void of fact. However after spending many years digging up Asia Minor he came to this conclusion.

“You may press the words of Luke in a degree beyond any other historian and they stand up to the keenest scrutiny and the hardest treatment. Christianity did not originate in a lie and we can and ought to demonstrate this as well as believe it.”

It was the evidence that convinced him. The archeological evidence for the Bible is powerful.

Let’s talk about a king that never existed. It will be a short talk. Well until 1843 the only reference ever found to a king named Sargon was in a single verse in Isaiah 20 verse 1. So many people thought this was just a made up king used to fill in the blanks. Then in 1843 an archeologist named Paul Botta was digging around the area of Nehniva which is in modern day Iraq. and discovered a temple with a library belonging to a certain king named …… you guessed Sargon. He went on to become one of the most known of the ancient kings.

Now let’s look at an order that was never given. We all should be familiar with the command give in Luke chapter 2. Historians for years thought no Emperor of Roman would ever give such a ridiculous order. That was until a papyrus scroll was found dating AD 104 showing an order, that all men should return to their place of birth for a census. Putting aside any thought that such an order would never be given.
Understand one thing though. We do not believe the Bible because archeology confirms it. We believe the Bible because it is what it claims to be, the inerrant Word of God, finally I am going to give you 9 reasons why we can trust the Bible.

Its Accuracy demonstrates it. It is constantly being proven true. That again it is not why we believe it we believe it because it is what it claims to be. Professor Wiseman a famous archeologist said “Archeology properly understood will always confirm the accuracy of the Bible”

Its Unity supports it. From beginning to end from Genesis through Revelation the story remains the same. The redemption of man through the price Christ paid on the cross for you and me, like a piece of fine fabric weaved together to create a wonderful tapestry.

Thinking minds endorse it. Many well educated people like those I have met at Answers in Genesis believe it to be true. You do not have to be ashamed that you believe it is what it says it is.

Human nature requires it. Remember our sign post, Origin + Destination = Route. As a society we have forgotten or origins and no not where we are going and have made a mess in route.

Our Savior taught from it. Jesus taught the Old Testament as history, not just as stories, but as actual history to point out and bolster doctrinal and theological points.

Revelation confirms it. The fulfillment of prophecy is a powerful testament to the truth in the Bible. Just read Psalm 22 which was written 900 years before Christ. Sure Christ had some control, such as the riding of the donkey something He did deliberately to fulfill prophecy. Yet as He hung on the cross He had not control over the guards casting lots for His cloths or the wagging tongues that mocked Him.

Its Own claim demands it. Self authentication from God, it is to be believed or destroyed.

The Character of God secures it. It makes no sense for that God would created such a wondrous universe and such a wonders mind, in a wondrous being such as you. Then not leave any instruction on how to live and be stewards of that creation.

Finally Your personal experience illustrates it. The way it can and has changed yours and many others lives. I know it has changed mine in so many ways, It convicts us, it teaches us, and it comforts us.

The Bible is a unique book, with a unique one of a kind message, about a very unique Man.

Fatwa

For those who do not know what this is a "Fatwa" is a death sentence placed upon those that defile or desecrate anything that has to do with Islam. In the recent movie "2012" many landmarks are destroyed, the White House, the Vatican, , Buddhist temples, even the Great Pyramids. But the produce and directors stop short of destroying the Kaaba a cube like structure located in Mecca. Why you might ask. because they are afraid that the Muslims will put a fatwa on their heads.
It is a sad statement but so true of America today. We can destroy anything, desecrate anything, persecute anyone, as long as it has nothing to do with Islam. Our government and others constantly scream about separation of church and state. yet schools are told they have to provide rooms for Muslims to pray five times a day. We can teach about Islam in school so our kids understand and can have tolerance to others. However even mention a moment of prayer, or say you are going to teach Biblical history and watch the fireworks start. The ACLU will on your back quicker that cat on a mouse. What has happened to this great country in which we live. A country founded on Christian principles? There is a minority running this country because they are loud and well backed. A minority that is , if it has it's way banning the practice of Christianity. We need to stand up and be a voice crying in the wilderness. "Behold the Kingdom of God is at hand" Lest we forget like the Israelis and we are cast into bondage.

It was a good day

I went to a little place called Lake Isabella , Ca for an archery shoot this past weekend. The weather was perfect, high 70's and sunshine. The shoot went well I finished fourth, which is pretty good in my class. Lots of friends there to hang out with. I have to say the best thing about the weekend is that God had plans other than me just shooting. Met a man a fellow believer in Christ who was having issues about Genesis. he had been buying into the whole evolution is a fact view and was beginning to have doubts about God's word. He still believed Christ is Lord and savior but those doubts were there. Letting them fester and grow could have been harmful to his walk. God lead me to him, where I was able to share things I have learned about the truth of God's Word when it comes to creation. He listened closely and i could see and feel the peace it was giving him. What a great moment, that was for me to see God putting me to work for His glory.
But He was not through with me yet for that weekend. that night at the campfire, I began to talk to one of my fellow shooters form the club I ma affiliated with. Found him feeling lost and confused. He grew up in a family and a neighborhood that was very close, both socially and in their walk with God. After moving away and now being in his latter years he was missing that fellowship. Feeling lost and missing that relationship with God and fellowship with other believers. I shared with him God's Grace and God's plan that he should find a new local church and renew that fellowship. A fellowship God calls us to with our brothers and sisters in Christ. I listened as he shared his thoughts with me and silently prayed for him.
I am always amazed how God can take any situation you are in. Any place you might be and turn it into a way to glorify Him. I thank and praise Him for every opportunity He places before me to do just that. Praise Him for His Grace and Love, for His patients, for His guidance in my life.

Flying Dino's

Meet Darwinopterus modularis, the newest and greatest. Said to be one of the oldest flying reptiles yet discovered. Found in the out reaches of China it is said to be a predecessor to the later flying reptiles such Pteranodon. It is said to be unique in that it has the characteristics of many different flying reptiles and is been dubbed "modular evolution" A transformer of the ages so to speak. It is also said to have flown around eating other smaller flying reptiles and dinosaurs. Of we know this because the bones left us a note telling us all the characteristics of the creature. It must have eaten meat after all it has sharp teeth.
From a perspective starting with God's Word, of course it had the characteristics of the other flying reptiles they are all of the same kind. Each different species arose form that kind to adapt to the enviorment it lived in. As for the idea on how it lived and what it ate those are all guess based on man's idea to make it into what we want it to be. Just because something has sharp teeth does not mean it eats meat. Unless we suddenly discover the stomach contents we will never know what it ate. Unless it left a note about its life we will never know its habits. Just like many other discoveries secular science, speculates based on a bias that we evolved and there is no God. When you start with God we see a wonderfully made unique creature.

Plant eating spiders

One of the most common arguments against Genesis is that there are animals that have, do and always will eat others, They cannot survive without eating others. In Genesis it clearly states that Adam and Eve along with all the animals were vegetarians. We have seen this behavior in almost every kind of living creature today. Bears can live off only fruits and berries, lions can do the same. No science has discovered a spider in South American that gets most of it's nutrition from eating plants. Evolutionist hail this as a unique and unusual thing. I see that this just strengthens my belief that in the beginning there was no death, no animals eating each other. This spider is just doing what God made and intended for it to do. There is no surprise no uniqueness seen by those who believe in God's Word, that He is the wonderful Creator of this world we live in. That His Word is the truth as written, from beginning to end.
Here is the link to the article http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33281411/ns/technology_and_science-science/from/ET

6 Days?

I have been studying and getting ready for a presentation to the youth of the church, on the 6 days of creation. My focus has been ; Are the days in Genesis 1 6 normal 24 hour days. The quick answer to that is yes. If you take the Bible as God's literal word then they are 6 normal days. The problem arises when we take man's ideas and try and fit them into the Bible. The problem started in the 1800's when the idea that the earth was millions of years old first entered into popularity with science. Many of the church fathers decided that science over road the authority of God's Word and, told us that Genesis was just a story. Or perhaps evolution is true as long as God did it. Let us take a look at Genesis and see if it is only 6 normal days.
The Hebrew word for day is "Yom" , as with the English word day it can have different meanings based on the context it is used. Lets look out side of Genesis in the Old Testament and see how it is used to mean a 24 hour day. It is used 410 times the word day is used with a number and means an normal day. 38 times morning and evening without the word day means a normal day. 23 times evening and morning with the word day means an ordinary day. 52 times night with day meaning and ordinary day. Now lets look how it is used in Genesis 1 For the sake of time I am going to highlight the important parts vs. 5 night, evening , morning, first day, vs 8 evening , morning second day. vs 13 evening, morning third day, vs 19 evening, morning fourth day. I do not need to go on they all read the same. Taken in context it is a normal 24 hour day.
In this blog at this time I ma not going to go over all the flaws in the different dating methods used to determine the earth is billions of years old. What I want you to see is that when we take God's Word as written in means a 24 hour day. You have to ask do i take the infallible Word of God or the fallible word of man. Where is my starting point? Do I truly believe in the authority of God's Word? If there was millions of years before Adam, that means there was millions of years of death, suffering, disease, before sin. The Bible clearly states that death was a result of sin. Romans 5:12 "Therefore just as through on man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and therefore death spread to all men, because all sinned" . If you take God's Word as written there was no death before sin, so the idea of millions of years makes no sense, unless you try and re-write God's Word to fit man's ideas.
This is a battle over the authority of God. Not a battle of science and evidence. We all have the same science, the same evidence. Where d o you start with the authority of God's Word or with man when you interpret the evidence? I start with God's Word, I have been on the other side and it makes no sense. I have seen the truth in His Word and saw the fallibility of my own thinking. You cannot have it both ways, Jesus said You are either for Him or Against Him, there is no neutral position.

Meet Ardi

This is a recent article about our newest "ancestor" Ardipithecus ramidus. It seems the media thinks just like with "Ida" this is the lastest and greats. They do however fail to tell the whole story. I hope this helps explain what the find really means.
Hiram


Evolutionists aren’t yet sure if they should call it a human ancestor, but one thing they do know is that “Ardi” does away with the idea of a “missing link.”
Although first discovered in the early 1990s, the bones of Ardipithecus ramidus are only now being nominated for evolutionists’ fossil hall of fame—via a slew of papers in a special issue of the journal Science. In it, Ardi’s researchers describe the bones and make the case that Ardi is even more important in the history of human evolution than Lucy.
Despite claims of its evolutionary significance, one of the scientists who studied Ardi noted, “It’s not a chimp. It’s not a human.” That is, instead of looking like the hypothesized “missing link” (with both chimpanzee and human features), Ardi’s anatomy—as reconstructed by the scientists—shows it to have been distinct from other apes as well as from humans. The researchers have consequently shunned the notion of a missing link: “It shows that the last common ancestor [between humans and] chimps didn’t look like a chimp, or a human, or some funny thing in between,” explained Penn State University paleontologist Alan Walker (who was not part of the study).
The first question creationists have to answer is just what Ardi is. We can quickly eliminate important things that it isn’t: it’s not a human fossil, nor is it a complete fossil. In fact, even referring to “it” is deceptive, because Ardi is a partial skeleton put together based on a smattering of bones linked with at least 36 A. ramidus individuals. Dated at 4.4 million years old, the first bones were found in the early 1990s in Ethiopia. The delay in publishing an analysis was in part due to the poor state of the remains. “It took us many, many years to clean the bones in the National Museum of Ethiopia and then set about to restore this skeleton to its original dimensions and form; and then study it and compare it with all the other fossils that are known from Africa and elsewhere, as well as with the modern age,” said the University of California–Berkeley’s Tim White.
But the Evolution News & Views blog offered a more critical look at how the poor state of the fossils casts doubt on the scientists’ headline-grabbing claims. One telling quote comes from National Geographic News (in the same article that quoted Walker, linked above):
The first, fragmentary specimens of Ardipithecus were found at Aramis in 1992 and published in 1994. The skeleton announced today was discovered that same year and excavated with the bones of the other individuals over the next three field seasons. But it took 15 years before the research team could fully analyze and publish the skeleton, because the fossils were in such bad shape.
After Ardi died, her remains apparently were trampled down into mud by hippos and other passing herbivores. Millions of years later, erosion brought the badly crushed and distorted bones back to the surface.
They were so fragile they would turn to dust at a touch. To save the precious fragments, White and colleagues removed the fossils along with their surrounding rock. Then, in a lab in [Ethiopia], the researchers carefully tweaked out the bones from the rocky matrix using a needle under a microscope, proceeding “millimeter by submillimeter,” as the team puts it in Science. This process alone took several years.
Pieces of the crushed skull were then CT-scanned and digitally fit back together by Gen Suwa, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Tokyo.
Thus, as a starting point, creationists should remember that—as with many fossils—the state of preservation is far less perfect than what media images and “reconstructions” portray. (The “complete,” 4 feet [1.5 m] tall Ardi fossil, as reassembled, is shown on the cover of the special Science issue.)
We also know, as Walker explained (above), that Ardi actually shows many differences from both other apes and humans. Kent State University’s Owen Lovejoy described some of the features: “She has opposable great toes and she has a pelvis that allows her to negotiate tree branches rather well. So half of her life is spent in the trees; she would have nested in trees and occasionally fed in trees, but when she was on the ground she walked upright pretty close to how you and I walk.” Obviously, we would point out that the scientists haven’t actually observed Ardi walking; their assertion is based on their reconstruction of the bones. Furthermore, Ardi’s feet not only had opposable big toes, but also lacked arches, which separates Ardi from humans and means “she could not walk or run for long distances,” BBC News reports. And National Geographic News notes, “Ardi would have walked on her palms as she moved about in the trees—more like some primitive fossil apes than like chimps and gorillas.”
In fact, despite the headlines and hype, the evolutionary researchers aren’t even confident enough to say that Ardi is a human ancestor as opposed to simply an extinct ape. BBC News reports:
Even if it is not on the direct line to us, it offers new insights into how we evolved from the common ancestor we share with chimps, the team says.
Asked whether A. ramidus was our direct ancestor or not, the team said more fossils from different places and time periods were needed to answer the question.
“We will need many more fossil recoveries from the period of 3-5 million years ago to confidently answer that question in the future,” the scientists said in a briefing document that accompanied their journal papers.
“But if Ardipithecus ramidus was not actually the species directly ancestral to us, she must have been closely related to it, and would have been similar in appearance and adaptation.
Not only does that uncertainty exist; several scientists have admitted skepticism over the Ardi reports. Harvard University paleoanthropologist David Pilbeam told ScienceNOW, “I find it hard to believe that the numerous similarities of chimps and gorillas evolved convergently.” (We, too, have criticized the idea of convergent evolution in the past—albeit from the opposite angle.)
Also, anatomist William Jungers of Stony Brook University criticizes the conclusion that Ardi could walk upright: “This is a fascinating skeleton, but based on what they present, the evidence for bipedality is limited at best. Divergent big toes are associated with grasping, and this has one of the most divergent big toes you can imagine. Why would an animal fully adapted to support its weight on its forelimbs in the trees elect to walk bipedally on the ground?” he told National Geographic News.
Finally, some scientists have asked how Ardi fits into the evolutionary scheme with Australopithecines like Lucy, another supposed human ancestor said to have lived more recently than Ardi. Was there enough time, in the evolutionary timetable, for primitive Ardi to have evolved into less-primitive Lucy? The BBC quotes Chris Stringer of London’s Natural History Museum, who said, “With Australopithecus starting from four million years ago, one would have thought that things would have moved further down the line by 4.4 million years ago. OK, you can have very rapid change, perhaps; or Ardipithecus might be a residual form, a relic of a somewhat older stage of evolution that had carried on. Perhaps we will find something more like Australopithecus at 4.4 million years old somewhere else in Africa.”
We must admit that from our perspective, we’re growing desensitized to the fervor that increasingly surrounds each new fossil discovery claimed to support evolution. Surrounding Ardi’s unveiling is a spectacular media frenzy, but in many ways it’s little different than the hype over Ida less than five months ago (see Ida (Darwinius masillae): the Missing Link at Last?). That hype was quickly revealed to be unmerited at best and dishonest at worst (see Ida (Darwinius masillae): the Real Story of this “Scientific Breakthrough”). In the same way, the concerted release of so many papers on Ardi and the corresponding hubbub seems to perhaps be more about attention-seeking than about science. Could it be that the ongoing pressure for scientists to find something of evolutionary “significance” has led to a systematic incentive to make a huge deal (to use the vernacular) out of otherwise trivial fossils? (See The Dating Game for more along these lines.)
Perhaps we’re being a bit too rough, though. Evolutionists believe our own origins lie buried in such fossils as Ardi, so it’s no wonder they have a desire to interpret such finds in the light of human evolution. But in the case of Ardi (and Ida, Lucy, etc.), good science abstains from making such untestable, presupposition-driven claims.
Given the number and scope of the papers presented this week on Ardi, it will take some time before creationists are confident in our conclusions on Ardi and her kin. Based on our first look, however, the facts seem solidly behind the idea that Ardi was a quadrupedal ape with relatively little in common with humans (i.e., no more than most apes); the key basis for the alleged Ardi–human link (which even the authors are hesitant to confirm) is the idea that it walked upright—an idea that even evolutionists have criticized. And we can’t forget that all of these conclusions are inferred from digital reconstructions and fallible reconstructions of bones that were in very bad shape.
Without having a live “Ardi” to observe, scientists will only ever be able to come to probabilistic conclusions about its characteristics. As far as we’re concerned, the evolutionary “threat” to creationists from Ardi is no more than that posed by Ida: viz., none.

Hmmmmmm

I was just sitting and watching the Emmy Awards for day time TV with my wife. They had a very touching segment on a program they run called Day Time Gives back. It does some great work with feed the children, and I commend them for that. Then I get to thinking, there are people there that make in excess of tens of millions of dollars a year. Yet they ask others to give what they can. Do they need a 37 room house in Beverly Hills? I realize there is a certain appearence that is to be kept by people in their line of work. But then again is it all about them or all about others. We had a sermon tonight that was very convicting. Asked am I using all that I have to glorify God? I am going to have search hard in my heart to see if I am doing just that. Are these people doing all they can to glory God? Or are they living for themselves. They are always coming on to ask us to help, yet they spend millions on things that are useless, things that are vain. We do the same thing, me included. I am going to really have to re-evaluate who I am and what I am doing. I ask you to do the same. I ask all of us to do the same.

Love

One thing as a man that is always hard to answer is when I ma asked by my wife "Why do you love me?" It is hard because there are so many things about her that I cherish in so many different ways. So on one anniversary I came up with these words.

Why do I love you?
why do i love you? you often will ask
finding the answer is a difficult task

is it your sharp mind your quick wit?
two things you have i hope will never quit

your smile so sweet your laughter bold
your endless beauty ageless and untold

the way you hold me in the night
how you can make, my love take flight

the feel of your touch ever so tender

every moment weak knees you do render

you are the one who can, make my heart beat
you make my soul sing, such a wonderful feat

why do i love you? often you will ask
finding the answer, is a difficult task

words are never enough, they seem so few
i love you deeply, because you are you

Hiram Withers

Radom thoughts

Today was a good day. We were discussing 1Peter and the fact that we are going to have suffering and persecution in our lives as believers. How we handle that is very telling on where we are in our walk with God. I would be a miss to say that I handle it all with nothing but faith and joy. It is hard as human with human emotions to not be troubled by the things that come into our lives. More troubling would be if theses trouble came and I did not have the hope that is to come in my heart. To many times we focus on the now and loose our focus on the what is to come. The trouble we face today is nothing compared to the joy God has promised us. There was a story told of an older gentleman that had been in flicked with cancer and friends would ask him if he was afraid to die. He would reply " You cannot scare me with Heaven". I pray that we all have this heart the heart of one that looks to that promised hope. To top it off, pastor is preaching a series on heaven. What a joy to know where I am going. Then there is the sadness I feel for those who do not know where they are going. Those that do not have this hope within them. Even sadder are those that know of this hope and have rejected it. My prayer is that they open their hearts to the truth and that when given the chance God gives me the words to point them to the truth.
God Bless
Hiram

Remebering

This is a poem I wrote on Valentines day remebering the first time me and my wife actually met. I had went to Fresno for an archery shoot and she met me there. The day befoer the shoot we went on a tour of some old plantation there. Then I went off to shoot and on the way back I got behind some guy doing 25mph. When I got there I bent down on my knee to kiss her adn she informed me that had I been just minutes later she would hvae been gone, thinking she had been stood up. Whew I am glad I made, as we have had a wonderful ife together.

I REMEMBER
i remember the first kiss
your lips tender and inviting
sending me to heavens bliss

i remember seeing your smile
the way it lighted your face
how it went on for a mile

i remember pizza and beers
sitting there with you laughing
until we were in tears

i remember sitting in the park
looking into your eyes
cupid’s arrow hitting his mark

i remember that old house
walking close to you
being quiet as a mouse

i remember you by the pool
me kneeling down on the ground
you thinking that was so cool

these are memories so dear
they are found in my heart
always there year after year

Hiram D Withers