Tuesday, March 11, 2025

The Tetragrammaton in DNA?

Be cautious around sensational claims. One claim that surfaces from time to time is that the Hebrew spelling of Jehovah, the Tetragrammaton, is encoded in our DNA like a signature of the Creator. While this claim is endearing, is it also delusional? While many seem to accept this claim uncritically, I personally have always found it to be highly suspect, even wildly absurd. It turns out my skepticism was well-founded and immediately justified. This claim that the Tetragrammaton is encoded in our DNA is fake-news.

So here is the claim spelled out, and the problems with it:
It’s a code that’s written in acid. ATCG is the name of the acid, and these acids are held together by these sulfuric bridges like a chain, and these bridges appear in a sequence, and it’s every ten, every five, every six, and again, every five. In Hebrew gematria, that spells the Tetragrammaton YHWH 10, 5, 6, 5!
First, the scientific problems are that:
  1. DNA is an acid (deoxyribonucleic acid) that contains four nucleotides, not acids, ATCG: adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine.
  2. There are no “sulfuric bridges,” thus also no sequence.
  3. Instead, DNA is held together by hydrogen bonds between base pairs. Sulfur creates strong bonds that would interfere with DNA replication. Disulfide bonds are sulfur bonds that are found in proteins, not DNA. They form after protein synthesis.
Second, the linguistic problem is that it assumes that Hebrew predates its appearance in the archeological record and even the dawn of humanity—that the Tetragrammaton was predestined to be the spelling of His name with that specific sequence of letters.

Thus, I hope you are completely convinced that this claim is delusional propaganda best to be ignored and forgotten.

(Frankly, this is almost as bad as the claims regarding the cruciform protein laminin! See: What is laminin?.)


ANOTHER LINE OF REASONING!
I was exposed to another argument for the Tetragrammaton in DNA, and here is a screenshot of the presentation along with an acompanying graphic:
As you can see, the claim is:
“Each DNA base reflects a number of atoms that corresponds with a Hebrew letter and holds spiritual meaning”
However, five minutes of fact-checking on my phone produced this:
  • Adenine contains a total of 15 atoms: 5 carbon atoms, 5 hydrogen atoms, and 5 nitrogen atoms.
  • Thymine is composed of 22 atoms: 5 carbon atoms, 6 hydrogen atoms, 2 nitrogen atoms, and 9 oxygen atoms.
  • Cytosine contains a total of 12 atoms: 4 carbon atoms, 5 hydrogen atoms, 3 nitrogen atoms, plus 1 oxygen atom.
  • Guanine contains a total of 10 atoms: 5 carbon atoms, 5 nitrogen atoms, plus 1 oxygen atom.
Regarding what the Hebrew letters mean, I found this:
Yod:
Divine Spark: In Jewish mystical tradition, Yod is seen as a divine point of energy, a symbol of God's presence and the foundation of all creation.

He:
Divine Breath, Revelation, and Light: Jewish mystics associate Hey with God's breath, revelation, and light, referencing the five times the word "light" is mentioned on the first day of creation.

Vav:
In Kabbalistic (Jewish mysticism) thought, the Vav represents the connecting link between different aspects of creation and the Divine.
So I’m afraid whoever originally wrote this was wrong about the number of atoms in each of the nucleotides and employed Jewish mysticism to derive the meanings of the letters. The “spiritual meaning” is actually not spiritual, but comes from Jewish mysticism.

If I see any additional claims regarding this, I will add them to this blog post. (June 6, 2025)
  • Upon contacting the original producer of this claim and graphic, bible_scripictures, I was informed that it was AI-generated. The bible_scripictures account has since removed it upon fact-checking the claim about the number of atoms and discovering that the AI engine produced fictional content. (The correspondence is dated June 9, 2025.) (Added 7/8/25)

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posted by JimSpace at 12:30 PM

Thursday, August 11, 2022

The Bible and the shape of the earth


The following is pushback I wrote in response to flat earth propaganda I encountered on social media.[1] The propaganda was loaded with logical fallacies, including the reasoning that since the Bible presents flat earth, so flat earth must be true. Most disturbing was their claim that God only loves us if the earth is flat. My response:
The Bible writers were not astronomers or geologists. They did not know about Australia or Antarctica for instance, nor did they know about galaxies.

Thus, even if the Bible assumes flat earth, it is accommodating their beliefs at the time. It does not affect our modern cosmology based on our astronomy and geology centuries in the making.[2]

Lastly, the Bible does not insist on a flat earth, and neither should we.

For instance, no Bible writer knew about plate tectonics and continental drift or that marsupials migrated to Australia through Antarctica when it was a green continent connected to the other continents at the time. Nor did they know about antipodal volcanism and S- and P-Waves that we know about today. (Those are Secondary and Primary shockwaves from earthquakes that travel to the other side of the globe.)[3]

Jehovah created life on a globe because He loves us.
The key-word there is accommodation. God allows us the opportunity to make discoveries on our own. Accommodation is also the best way to teach, to reach the heart of your audience. Jesus did this in Matthew 13:31-32 and Mark 4:30-32, calling the mustard seed the tiniest because that is what his audience thought.

In closing, the human race has learned a lot about astronomy and geology since the Bible was completed, including confirmation that we live on a globe.


Footnotes:
[1] 

For the record, I have asked this person if she thinks the earth is flat or if she knows that her message teaches earth is flat. She chose not to answer. However, she later removed this propaganda. But since she inexcusably chose to ignore my clear, direct and pressing questions, this citation remains for future reference.
[2] Use these scriptures with care
jimspace3000.blogspot.com/2021/09/use-these-scriptures-with-care.html In other words, even if scriptures like Isaiah 40:22, circle of the earth, and Job 26:7, hanging earth upon nothing, do not really describe a globe but are consistent with flat earth, then those scriptures are also accommodating their beliefs at the time, and do not affect our modern cosmology based on our astronomy and geology centuries in the making.
[3] Regarding Recent Flat Earth Heckling
techspace3000.blogspot.com/2019/10/regarding-recent-flat-earth-heckling.html
Antipodal Volcanism and the K-T Extinction Event
jimspace3000.blogspot.com/2015/10/antipodal-volcanism-and-k-t-extinction.html

Watch:


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posted by JimSpace at 12:02 PM

Friday, July 19, 2019

The Apollo Moon Landings


Did you know that some of the people responsible for successfully landing men on the moon in the Apollo Program later became Jehovah’s Witnesses? Two cases are published on this, Isidoros Ismailidis and Wendell Marley. The relevant parts are presented below:
The Watchtower, 2000 8/1 p. 25 From Building Weapons to Saving Lives
AS TOLD BY ISIDOROS ISMAILIDIS ... I was working for the U.S. Air Force at a missile and space company in Sunnyvale, California. I was involved with a variety of air and space projects, including the Agena and Apollo programs. I even received medals for my contribution to the Apollo 8 and Apollo 11 missions. After that, I continued my education and became heavily involved in various military space projects.
He also mentioned a certain coworker:
In early 1967, at work, I met Jim, a very humble and kind man. Jim always seemed to have a smile on his face, and he never turned down an invitation to take a coffee break with me. He used these opportunities to share information from the Bible with me. Jim told me that he had been studying with Jehovah’s Witnesses.
The outcome of Jim’s studying with Jehovah’s Witnesses is not stated, but he apparently also worked for the success of the space program.
The Watchtower, 1982 5/1 pp. 3-4 In Search of Success
IT WAS July 20, 1969. The Apollo 11 spacecraft and the lunar landing module named Eagle circled the moon making last-minute preparations for the first historic landing of man on the moon. I sat in the mission support room at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, Texas, with dozens of thoughts rebounding in my mind: Will the landing be a safe one? Will the system for which I was responsible operate properly and carry out its necessary functions?

I, as well as many others who had worked diligently many years for this moment, waited and listened intently. Suddenly, a voice from 240,000 miles in space said: “Houston, the Eagle has landed.” How excited and thrilled I was at hearing those words! ...

At the conclusion of the Gemini Program (two-man spacecraft), I was offered an opportunity to move from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, Texas, to work on the three-man Apollo Lunar Landing Program. Since this looked like a good means to make further advancement, I wasted no time in accepting the offer.

The next few years were spent working hard on the first moon landing flight, developing computer software for the guidance and navigation systems, planning mission techniques and simulating the flight on a ground computer. I remember being told by one of my superiors: “Nothing is more important than making a success of this flight.” (p. 4)
... Contributed by Wendell Marley. (p. 6)

[Blurb on page 4]
‘“The Eagle has landed!” I had helped to design the guidance system that placed the first man on the moon’
Incidentally, I knew another man from social media, who went by the moniker PeterJ and who sadly passed away years ago, who is another example.

By the way, denying that this space program was real, accusing the space agencies and their employees of hoaxing, has become a modern-day psychosis displaying the Dunning-Kruger effect. It is a very libelous and sinister accusation fulfilling 2 Timothy 3:3, and is also only a step away from falling for the demonized propaganda of the flat earth folly.

I hope you have benefited from knowing that some responsible for the success of the Apollo moon landings became Jehovah’s Witnesses.


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posted by JimSpace at 12:00 PM

Thursday, May 30, 2019

Flat earth folly refutes itself

Flat earth goes down the drain

An irrefutable axiom is that “absurdity refutes itself.” If you wait long enough, in a relatively short time an absurd position will eventually refute itself. The flat earth explanation is no exception. This craze propagated on YouTube has refuted itself by unintentionally slipping into explaining geology using globe earth mechanics, as seen right on The Flat Earth Society website. This happened when it tried to explain how volcanoes can work on a flat earth:
Volatile Mountains are formed when molten rock, or magma deep within the earth, erupts, and piles upon the surface. Examples of Volatile Mountains include Mount St. Helens in North America and Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines.
So what it calls “volatile mountains” includes volcanoes. How deep within the earth does the magma come from? It answers:
Volcanoes can be caused by "mantle plumes". These so-called "hotspots" , for example at Hawaii, can occur far from plate boundaries.
There can be no mantle in a flat earth, only in a globe earth. A mantle also means there is a core. Therefore, The Flat Earth Society has unwittingly shot itself in the foot with a bazooka.

See screenshot:
Click to enlarge

It also has an article on “Antipodal volcanism” that is as comprehensive as it will ever be:
Click to enlarge

Flat earth fails to explain the very thing it claims to: the earth.

The end.
(This will be the last blog entry on this peculiar topic.)


See also:

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posted by JimSpace at 12:14 PM

Wednesday, May 01, 2019

All about Plate Tectonics


Plate tectonics or paleogeography has always fascinated me for as far back as I can remember.

Here is a video from PBS Eons explaining this science, its origins, mechanism, and history: Here is another presentation on the importance of plate tectonics, from What If: Here are two online plate tectonics simulators:
Notice how Pangaea was not the first supercontinent.

Of particular interest are projections into future continental configurations together with the concern of human habitability. Regarding that, Amos 4:13 reminds us that the Creator is the “Former of the mountains,” so He is in control of future continental geography and our habitation.

Recommended reading:

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posted by JimSpace at 12:01 PM

Friday, May 18, 2018

Quickly Refuting the Flat-Earth Folly

The position mentioned in the title argues that the earth is a flat disk and for geocentrism, and that this is the Biblical position.

This is a great folly, and is quickly refuted by one point:

Antipodal volcanism.

This is best seen in the Chicxulub crater and the Deccan Traps, lava flows which occurred nearly half-way around the earth following the Chicxulub impact.

See: Antipodal Volcanism and the K-T Extinction Event http://jimspace3000.blogspot.com/2015/10/antipodal-volcanism-and-k-t-extinction.html

This is a problem for the Flat Earth position as it does not believe in impact craters as they are incompatible with its geological model; instead, voices within that Flat Earth community call them sink holes due to childishly not understanding that the impactor disintegrated upon impact. See the following infographic:
It’s pure madness as described in 1 Timothy 6:4.

This problem has been humorously depicted in this graphic spread around the Internet that uses the Chicxulub impact as an example:

As should be self-explanatory, only a globe could withstand an impact of that nature, whereas a disk would be thrown-off balance or possibly even shattered.
Animated version is here: https://tenor.com/52fZ.gif

But here are two potential replies and my responses:

Potential flat-earther reply 1: “Where’s the asteroid that reportedly made the Chicxulub crater?”
Me: Disintegrated. The only reason why impactors are rejected is due to being incompatible with Flat-Earth geology, which is circular reasoning.

Potential flat-earther reply 2: “Why couldn’t the Chicxulub crater and Deccan Traps have occurred independently of each other as they were only recently connected in time?”
Me: They could have occurred independently of each other, but that would leave the Deccan Traps without a clear cause, so it’s far more compelling that it was caused by the shockwaves of the Chicxulub impact. This is only compatible with the globe model, not the Flat-Earth model.

Impact craters and their associated antipodal volcanism are a gift that informs us of the earth’s spherical character. To deny this is to deny God’s Word in nature.—Romans 1:20.

It’s thus hard to imagine a position that’s more unreasonable than this. Unreasonableness of this type is a “work of the flesh” listed together with depraved sexual sins that Christians are admonished to avoid like the plague. (Galatians 5:19-21) As James said: “This is not the wisdom that comes down from above; it is earthly, animalistic, demonic.” (James 3:15) The NET Bible footnote explains that this “describes life apart from God, characteristic of earthly human life as opposed to what is spiritual. Cf. 1 Cor 2:14; 15:44-46; Jude 1:19.” It is totally depraved in its fallaciousness.

Appendix
  1. Hugh Ross Explains
  2. Flat Earth falls flat on the South Pole
Hugh Ross Explains
Recently, Astronomer Hugh Ross commented on the Flat-Earth folly on Facebook:

Question of the Week: What are the best scientific evidences for a spherical Earth that is best understood by laypeople?

My Answer: The three that I have found to be most effective are 1) to point out that airlines have their planes fly to faraway cities along curved paths rather than straight paths, 2) when on Earth you look at a faraway tall mountain the top of the mountain is visible but not the bottom, and 3) when you take a flight from Athens to Johannesburg on a clear night you can watch the constellation Orion gradually turn upside down.

https://www.facebook.com/RTBHughRoss/posts/1723067687771328

Question of the Week: How can one refute the claim made by atheists, skeptics, and even some Christians that the Bible a flat-earth book?

My Answer: First of all, the idea that the Bible promotes a flat-earth doctrine presupposes that people living 2–3 thousand years ago lacked the capacity to determine the true shape of Earth. That presupposition is incorrect. The fact that at different locations on Earth different stellar constellations are seen and they are seen at different orientations was sufficient to persuade ancient peoples that they were living on a spherical body. Aristotle wrting in the 4th century BC cited this evidence as proof that Earth is spherical. However, documented mentions of a spherical Earth by Greek philosophers date back to the 6th century BC. Erastosthenes in the 3rd century BC used the sunlight lines at summer solistice in wells at different latitudes to determine the diameter of Earth to 1 percent precision.
Both ancient Greek and Egyptian astronomers pointed to the semi-circular shadow of Earth on the Moon during lunar eclipses as evidence for the sphericity of Earth.

The biblical texts most often cited in the claim that the Bible teaches a flat Earth are Job 38:5, 12-14, Isaiah 11:12, 40:22, and Revelation 7:1, 20:7. Of these passages, the most cited is Isaiah 40:22. The relevant part of Isaiah 40:22, referring to God, states, “He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers.” Whether the “circle of the earth” refers to a human on Earth or God looking down on Earth from above, in both cases the phrase would be consistent with a spherically shaped Earth. It is worth noting that only a sphere always looks like a circle when seen from above.

The Isaiah 11:12 and Revelation 7:1, 20:7 all refer to the “four corners of the earth.” However, even today, astronomers, physicists, and educated people around the world recognize and use the “four corners of the earth” as phenomenalogical language referring to the most distant parts of Earth from the standpoint of an observer at a specific location of Earth. It is clear from an examination of the context for all three of these passages that the most distant parts of Earth is the intent implied by the use of the idiom, the four corners of the earth. As the Theolological Wordbook of the Old Testament points out, the Hebrew word for “corners” used in Isaiah 11:12, kanap, in most of its appearances in the Old Testament is used figuratively.

The passage in Job 38:5 referring to Earth states, “Who fixed its dimensions? Certainly you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it?” The inference made by those claiming that the Bible is a flat-earth book is that the “measuring line” is a straight line which would be suitable for measuring a flat disk but not a sphere. This is an overinterpretation. Lines can be straight or curved. Also, it is customary to measure the diameter of a sphere with a straight-edge ruler.

Job 38:12-14 refers to the dawn seizing “the edges [or ends] of the earth” and earth taking “shape like clay under a seal.” What is interesting here is that for a spherical earth the arrival of dawn first shows up at the most distant horizon, end, or edge of the point of view of a human at a fixed point upon Earth’s surface. The taking shape like clay under a seal would apply to either a disk or a sphere and may be saying more about Earth’s rotation or its manufacture than its actual shape.

The irony of choosing Job 38:5, 12-14, Isaiah 11:12, 40:22, and Revelation 7:1, 20:7 to sustain the claim that the Bible is a flat Earth book is that these biblical texts better fit a spherical Earth than they do a flat Earth. While it would be an overinterpretation to conclude that these texts explicitly teach that Earth is a sphere, no where in the Bible do we find any text saying that Earth is flat. The Bible remains the only holy book for which we can say that it contains no provable errors or contradictions.

https://www.facebook.com/RTBHughRoss/posts/1716460378432059

Flat Earth falls flat on the South Pole
An official outlet for the Flat Earth Society reveals a division of opinion on Antarctica, the continent where the south pole is: it is either an ice wall boundary or a continent. This division in that geological model is a fatal flaw making its folly extremely obvious. This division is expressed in these terms:

There are two main theories concerning the nature and extent of Antarctica. The first and most widely accepted theory says that Antarctica is a portion of ice surrounding earth, and that in its end there is a huge wall of ice (with different sizes depending on the subtheory) which is the edge of the earth. The second theory says that the center of the earth's surface is the point where the Equator and the Prime Meridian meet, and therefore Antarctica is a distinct continent located at the South.

https://wiki.tfes.org/Antarctica

With this significant division of opinion over the south pole, with the later theory divorcing Antarctica from the south pole, the Flat Earth falls flat. As absurdity refutes itself, so the Flat Earth Society has explained the Flat Earth into oblivion.


See also:

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posted by JimSpace at 12:02 PM

Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Dating Dinosaurs


On one discussion board where I have limited involvement, one person said this to me regarding dinosaurs: “I do not pretend to be an expert but,” and then proceeded to belch forth ignorant and opinionated comments. Needless to say, I refuse to get involved in debates over such matters with people who are too lazy to first educate themselves before speaking. (Compare with Jesus’ principle at Matthew 7:6.) One subject he ignorantly and foolishly raised was on the recent findings of dinosaur soft tissue. People who are fact-conscious will inquire on how “soft” the tissue is. On the other hand, people who are intellectually lazy will prefer imagining that muscle or blood was found with the dinosaur bones, and then draw their own opinionated conclusions regarding the dating of dinosaurs.

To fight against this tendency, I will now share the comments from a trusted source to ones who are interested in learning:


What Dinosaur Soft Tissue Says about the Earth’s Age

May 1, 2016
By Dr. Fazale Rana

Perhaps one of the more amazing discoveries made in recent years has been the recovery of original soft tissue remnants within the fossilized remains of dinosaurs that lived nearly 80 million years ago. Paleontologists have unearthed multiple dinosaur specimens containing soft tissue parts.

What an unbelievable boon to paleontologists! Common wisdom has long held that soft tissues should readily degrade in a few thousand years. Yet, in some cases, these biomaterials have persisted for as long as a few hundred million years. Such unexpected discoveries excite the research community because they open up the possibility for scientists to gain important insight into the biology of ancient organisms.

These discoveries also excite Christians who believe that the earth is young. They see these breakthroughs as compelling scientific support for their interpretation of Genesis 1—one that regards the creation days as calendar days that occurred roughly 6,000 years ago. Young-earth creationists have capitalized on these findings to argue that it is impossible for the fossils to be millions of years old. They reason that soft tissues could not survive that long. In their view, these finds challenge the reliability of radiometric dating methods and, along with it, all other evidences of Earth’s antiquity.

Are they correct?

The scientific community is unimpressed with this latest argument for a young earth. Even though the recovery of soft tissue from fossilized remains was unexpected, it troubles virtually none of the science on which Earth’s age determinations are made. Neither does it trouble Christians who accept the age evidences for the fossil record and the earth. These Christians (including me) do have great concerns, however, about the impact of such young-earth arguments on evangelism. They may hinder nonbelievers from examining the powerful scientific evidence for God’s existence and Scripture’s reliability.

The purpose of my new book, Dinosaur Blood and the Age of the Earth, is to help Christians understand why it makes sense—from a biochemist’s standpoint—for soft tissue remains to have been preserved in fossils that date to several hundred million years in age. As a biochemist, I understand the structure, function, and stability of molecules. I hope that my insights can help prevent well-meaning believers from making a scientifically questionable argument and, at the same time, help Christians exercise discernment when evaluating and employing arguments for the credibility of our faith.

http://www.reasons.org/articles/what-dinosaur-soft-tissue-says-about-the-earths-age


 Additional resources:

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posted by JimSpace at 12:01 PM

Thursday, September 15, 2016

Evolution, earlier life, and can openers


Here presented are a series of articles in succession regarding an amazing paleontological discovery in Greenland, and the ramifications for life's origins:
  1. Greenland Fossils, Earth's Oldest, Pose an Evolutionary Dilemma by David Klinghoffer
  2. Evolution Just Got Harder to Defend by Eric Metaxas
  3. Eric Metaxas on "Evolution's Can Opener" by David Klinghoffer

Related blog entry:

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posted by JimSpace at 1:29 PM

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Keep Calm and...


It never ceases to amaze me how there are so many various different competing explanations floating around about science and religion. So I reassure myself that intelligent, thoughtful, objective and honest people who are not emotionally invested into any particular paradigm or viewpoint (“real eyes”) will be able to sniff out deception and weak arguments to find the truth.

Thus, I produced this meme of the “Keep Calm” genre to remind myself of that. Note that “lies” may not necessarily mean intentional deception and can include misinformation together with weak and unsubstantiated arguments.

It’s worth repeating.



Note: this meme in no way softens the importance or urgency of the Great Commission of Matthew 28:19-20.

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posted by JimSpace at 12:08 PM

Thursday, July 07, 2016

RTB Presents: Earth's Climate History


This video is simply superb and brilliant!

https://youtu.be/AGYYxlnDH-c

It reminds me of Psalm 65:9, 10, 12, 13:

You care for the earth, Making it abundantly fruitful and very rich. The stream from God is full of water; You provide grain for them, For that is how you prepared the earth. You drench its furrows and level off its plowed soil; You soften it with showers of rain; you bless its growth. ... The pastures of the wilderness keep overflowing, And the hills are clothed with joyfulness. The pastures are covered with flocks, And the valleys are carpeted with grain. They shout in triumph, yes, they sing.


RTB is Reasons to Believe, an old-earth creationist think tank.

Related blog entries:
See also:

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posted by JimSpace at 12:41 PM

Thursday, January 07, 2016

Terraforming Earth

Stromatolites producing oxygen, rusting away the iron in the oceans before clearing up the atmosphere of carbon dioxide.[1]

This is a story that gives new meaning to "The Little Engine That Could" in a profound way.

One source explains:
If you could build a time machine and go back to Earth's distant past, you'd get a nasty surprise. You wouldn't be able to breathe the air. Unless you had some breathing apparatus, you would asphyxiate within minutes. For the first half of our planet's history, there was no oxygen in the atmosphere. This life-giving gas only started to appear about 2.4 billion years ago.[1]
In what is called the "Great Oxidation Event," something very little appeared that started making the earth habitable for us through photosynthesis. What happened? This:

Cyanobacteria is responsible for terraforming earth, transforming it from an iron-rich water world with a choking, impenetrable carbon-dioxide atmosphere to one with blue water and a clear oxygenated atmosphere. They also enlarged the coastlines of the nascent continents, called cratons, with their accretions (called stromatolites and thrombolites). It took these little guys millions of years to accomplish this! Additionally, one type of cyanobacteria, Spirulina, is very nutritious for human consumption. Where did cyanobacteria come from, being able to terraform a planet and provide humanity with nutrition? Humanity's best friend from the Creator.

Footnotes:
[1] The Event that Transformed Earth www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150701-the-origin-of-the-air-we-breathe

 Related blog entry:

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posted by JimSpace at 11:53 PM

Saturday, October 03, 2015

Antipodal Volcanism and the K-T Extinction Event


In considering the extinction of the dinosaurs and related reptilian fauna, I found it interesting that the volcanic eruptions identified as the Deccan Traps marking the Indian peninsula are close to the antipode of the Chicxulub impact—the impact that is accused of initiating a cataclysmic cascade culminating in this extinction event, dubbed the K-T Extinction. Since the Deccan Traps and the Chicxulub crater are dated to approximately the same time period, I often wondered if the Deccan volcanic eruptions were the result of antipodal volcanism, that is, the result of the shockwaves of the Chicxulub impact traveling though the earth's mantle to the other side of the world.

Recently, this hunch has found more scientific support, namely that the Chicxulub impact at the very least greatly accelerated the Deccan eruptions already in progress, or at the most may have initiated them.

See:
  • Double trouble: asteroid, volcanoes implicated in dinosaur doom
    http://news.yahoo.com/double-trouble-asteroid-volcanoes-implicated-dinosaur-doom-233850490.html
    [The researchers] said eruptions in a region called the Deccan Traps were already underway at a lower intensity but dramatically accelerated after the asteroid strike as if the powerful impact triggered it.
  • Giant asteroid may have triggered deadly volcano eruptions https://www.sciencenews.org/article/giant-asteroid-may-have-triggered-deadly-volcano-eruptions
  • Science: State shift in Deccan volcanism at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary, possibly induced by impact
    science.sciencemag.org/content/350/6256/76
    full text via sci-hub
    “the Chicxulub impact initiated a substantial acceleration of Deccan volcanism”
  • Geol. Soc. Am. Bull.: Triggering of the largest Deccan eruptions by the Chicxulub impact
    pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article-abstract/127/11-12/1507/126064/triggering-of-the-largest-deccan-eruptions-by-the?redirectedFrom=fulltext
    “It is therefore reasonable to hypothesize that the Chicxulub impact might have triggered the enormous Poladpur, Ambenali, and Mahabaleshwar (Wai Subgroup) lava flows, which together may account for >70% of the Deccan Traps main-stage eruptions. This hypothesis is consistent with independent stratigraphic, geochronologic, geochemical, and tectonic constraints, which combine to indicate that at approximately Chicxulub/Cretaceous-Paleogene time, a huge pulse of mantle plume–derived magma passed through the crust with little interaction and erupted to form the most extensive and voluminous lava flows known on Earth.”
  • Asteroid, Volcanoes Double Whammy Doomed Dinosaurs
    http://news.discovery.com/animals/dinosaurs/asteroid-volcanoes-double-whammy-doomed-dinosaurs-151002.htm
    The impact of the asteroid changed the underground plumbing in the volcanoes, making some magma chambers larger so they spouted more lava when they erupted. ... "The scenario we are suggesting -- that the impact triggered the volcanism -- does in fact reconcile what had previously appeared to be an unimaginable coincidence."
  • Consider also the relationship between the antipodes on a Cretaceous globe here: Princeton University - Impact study: Princeton model shows fallout of a giant meteorite strike http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S31/90/32S94/
This antipodal relationship demonstrates that the continents have been moving and supplies us with a snapshot of where North America and India were at the K-T Extinction Event.


Additional reading: Related blog entries:

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posted by JimSpace at 10:26 PM

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Science Increasingly Makes the Case for God


The following is a re-post of this article by Eric Metaxas as seen publicly in the Wall Street Journal at this link: http://www.wsj.com/articles/eric-metaxas-science-increasingly-makes-the-case-for-god-1419544568

The odds of life existing on another planet grow ever longer. Intelligent design, anyone?

By ERIC METAXAS

Dec. 25, 2014 4:56 p.m. ET

In 1966 Time magazine ran a cover story asking: Is God Dead? Many have accepted the cultural narrative that he’s obsolete—that as science progresses, there is less need for a “God” to explain the universe. Yet it turns out that the rumors of God’s death were premature. More amazing is that the relatively recent case for his existence comes from a surprising place—science itself.

Here’s the story: The same year Time featured the now-famous headline, the astronomer Carl Sagan announced that there were two important criteria for a planet to support life: The right kind of star, and a planet the right distance from that star. Given the roughly octillion—1 followed by 27 zeros—planets in the universe, there should have been about septillion—1 followed by 24 zeros—planets capable of supporting life.

With such spectacular odds, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, a large, expensive collection of private and publicly funded projects launched in the 1960s, was sure to turn up something soon. Scientists listened with a vast radio telescopic network for signals that resembled coded intelligence and were not merely random. But as years passed, the silence from the rest of the universe was deafening. Congress defunded SETI in 1993, but the search continues with private funds. As of 2014, researchers have discovered precisely bubkis—0 followed by nothing.

What happened? As our knowledge of the universe increased, it became clear that there were far more factors necessary for life than Sagan supposed. His two parameters grew to 10 and then 20 and then 50, and so the number of potentially life-supporting planets decreased accordingly. The number dropped to a few thousand planets and kept on plummeting.

Even SETI proponents acknowledged the problem. Peter Schenkel wrote in a 2006 piece for Skeptical Inquirer magazine: “In light of new findings and insights, it seems appropriate to put excessive euphoria to rest . . . . We should quietly admit that the early estimates . . . may no longer be tenable.”

As factors continued to be discovered, the number of possible planets hit zero, and kept going. In other words, the odds turned against any planet in the universe supporting life, including this one. Probability said that even we shouldn’t be here.

Today there are more than 200 known parameters necessary for a planet to support life—every single one of which must be perfectly met, or the whole thing falls apart. Without a massive planet like Jupiter nearby, whose gravity will draw away asteroids, a thousand times as many would hit Earth’s surface. The odds against life in the universe are simply astonishing.

Yet here we are, not only existing, but talking about existing. What can account for it? Can every one of those many parameters have been perfect by accident? At what point is it fair to admit that science suggests that we cannot be the result of random forces? Doesn’t assuming that an intelligence created these perfect conditions require far less faith than believing that a life-sustaining Earth just happened to beat the inconceivable odds to come into being?

There’s more. The fine-tuning necessary for life to exist on a planet is nothing compared with the fine-tuning required for the universe to exist at all. For example, astrophysicists now know that the values of the four fundamental forces—gravity, the electromagnetic force, and the “strong” and “weak” nuclear forces—were determined less than one millionth of a second after the big bang. Alter any one value and the universe could not exist. For instance, if the ratio between the nuclear strong force and the electromagnetic force had been off by the tiniest fraction of the tiniest fraction—by even one part in 100,000,000,000,000,000—then no stars could have ever formed at all. Feel free to gulp.

Multiply that single parameter by all the other necessary conditions, and the odds against the universe existing are so heart-stoppingly astronomical that the notion that it all “just happened” defies common sense. It would be like tossing a coin and having it come up heads 10 quintillion times in a row. Really?

Fred Hoyle, the astronomer who coined the term “big bang,” said that his atheism was “greatly shaken” at these developments. He later wrote that “a common-sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a super-intellect has monkeyed with the physics, as well as with chemistry and biology . . . . The numbers one calculates from the facts seem to me so overwhelming as to put this conclusion almost beyond question.”

Theoretical physicist Paul Davies has said that “the appearance of design is overwhelming” and Oxford professor Dr. John Lennox has said “the more we get to know about our universe, the more the hypothesis that there is a Creator . . . gains in credibility as the best explanation of why we are here.”

The greatest miracle of all time, without any close seconds, is the universe. It is the miracle of all miracles, one that ineluctably points with the combined brightness of every star to something—or Someone—beyond itself.

Mr. Metaxas is the author, most recently, of “Miracles: What They Are, Why They Happen, and How They Can Change Your Life” ( Dutton Adult, 2014).

Correction
An earlier version understated the number of zeroes in an octillion and a septillion.


Related Videos from Dr. William Lane Craig:






Recommended reading:

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posted by JimSpace at 12:17 PM

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

On Predatory Dinosaurs

Faunal predation is a fact of life. Was it always intended though from a theistic Biblical point of view?

Yes.

Genesis 1:30 is usually shown to prove otherwise, but that scripture proves only that vegetation was given to the animals to eat. It does not even address scavenging the dead animals. Thus the use of Genesis 1:30 to try to prove that animals were herbivorous unwittingly denies faunal death, creating a state of cognitive dissonance.[1]

What evidence though do we have of predation within the dinosaurs? Much could be presented indicating this.

First, we have bones with tooth impressions in them. When dental putty is inserted into these impressions in the bone, it is revealed to bear the unmistakable image of a carnivorous tooth. But that could just be from scavenging. However we also have what appears to be injuries from a predator that are in a stage of healing.[2] There is also the "fighting dinosaurs" ensemble from the Gobi desert that has preserved a carnivorous Velociraptor and an herbivorous Protoceratops locked in a struggle to the death. (See introductory image and Figure 1 below.)

Figure 1
click to enlarge
Additionally, in 2006 an ensemble designated as the "Montana Dueling Dinosaurs" was discovered that contains a ceratopsian skeleton in contact with a tyrannosaur, with tyrannosaurian teeth embedded within the cervical vertebrae of the ceratopsian. (Refer to Figure 2 below.) Absolutely fascinating! There is also the field of paleopathology which investigates abnormalities in fossil bone to determine if they were caused by disease, infection, scavenging, predation, etc. There is also at least one trackway I am aware of that displays a chase scene with a two-legged theropod dinosaur, Acrocanthosaurus, chasing a four-legged sauropod dinosaur, Paluxysaurus.[3] The tracks seem to show the former leaping onto the later and slowing him down before ending abruptly. Notice also Figure 2 in "The Fossil Record Of Predation In Dinosaurs."[4] That figure shows a photograph of a fibula of an herbivorous dinosaur with a theropod tooth embedded in it. We also know of coprolites with digested bones[5] and dinosaurs with skeletons in their gut region.[6] Thus, the abstract of that paper says: "Inferences about theropod diets and hunting behavior based on functional morphology are sometimes supported by evidence from taphonomic associations with likely prey species, bite marks, gut contents, coprolites, and trackways." To argue against evidence like this due to concerns over the evolutionist paradigm of the authors (Farlow and Holtz) is inadvisable as that may be perceived as bigoted. The evidence speaks for itself, in this case quite uniformly.

Figure 2

click to enlarge
From a news report: "The predator nanotyrannus, a 24ft-long cousin of the tyrannosaurus rex, left teeth embedded in the neck of a plant-eating triceratops, who in turn left its opponent with a large dent in its skull. It is thought the pair fought before being buried by an earthquake." (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2416212/Locked-combat-predator-prey-65million-years-ago-sold-record-breaking-6million.html)

Faunal predation is one of the wonders of the biosphere. To reject it on the basis of human emotion is insufficient, and leaves no room for investigation with increased Godly devotion as the aim.

Open minds find answers, closed minds find only what they want.

Footnotes:
[1] For a more detailed explanation regarding Genesis 1:30, please see my article Genesis and Ante-Adamic Faunal Predation in PDF. See also my answer to the question "When did animal predation begin—after the Fall or after the Deluge? Did Satan cause animal predation?" under "Animals" here: http://www.jimspace.000space.com/YECFAQ.htm

[2] See the article "Tyrannosaurus rex hunted for live prey" by Mark Kaplan in Nature News, 15 July 2013: http://www.nature.com/news/tyrannosaurus-rex-hunted-for-live-prey-1.13381 Note the figure of a "CT scan of a duck-billed hadrosaur's vertebra" which "shows an embedded T. rex tooth crown with bone tissue that regrew around it," which is best explained as an unsuccessful predatory attack where the T. rex lost its tooth in the caudal vertebrae of the escaping and surviving hadrosaur. Not surprisingly, this has been called "a smoking gun" for tyrannosaurian predation.

[3] As seen in Monsters Resurrected: Great American Predator [Documentary on DVD]. (2010). Discovery Channel.

[4] By James Farlow and Thomas Holtz, Jr., page 254: https://www.academia.edu/293256/The_Fossil_Record_of_Predation_in_Dinosaurs (Other trackways are discussed in that article as well.)

[5] See: "A king-sized theropod coprolite" Nature 393, 680-682 (18 June 1998) http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v393/n6686/abs/393680a0.html "This specimen is more than twice as large as any previously reported carnivore coprolite, and its great size and temporal and geographic context indicate that it was produced by a tyrannosaur, most likely Tyrannosaurus rex. The specimen contains a high proportion (30-50%) of bone fragments, and is rare tangible evidence of theropod diet and digestive processes."

[6] See page 253 of the Farlow and Holtz article. "Some theropod skeletons contain the bony remains of their prey."


See also:

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posted by JimSpace at 10:57 AM

Wednesday, May 01, 2013

Let the Viewer use Discernment


According to science, dinosaurs predate humankind. This I believe is reasonable, considering their monstrous forms that they are most known for. It's quite clear that we are more compatible with a biosphere dominated by mammals and birds rather than by giant reptiles.

However, archaeological anomalies exist. What are known as the Ica stones are an excellent example of this, for they include scenes of dinosaurs interacting with humans, supposedly from eyewitnesses! This is where discernment should come in, which would prevent expressions such as this:
Quote:
"Check out minute 20 onward through minute 27 for excellent discussions of carbon dating and, incredibly, thousands of Inca [sic] stones showing very clear depictions of dinosaurs interacting with humans! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EZ6fFfRE2k&feature=related" (underscore added)
The link is to a video documentary. While one man in that video at 26:10 claimed that the dinosaurs are drawn "precisely" on the Ica stones, I noticed some inconsistencies. For instance, at 25:33 teats are shown on the bottom of the "sauropod" with its young drinking from them. However, everything we know about sauropods indicates that they were reptiles, not mammals—and this includes scaly skin impressions, thus exposing that Ica depiction as totally erroneous.[1] Also, at 25:53 a stegosaur is depicted with its forelimbs looking more like arms. Yet, all stegosaurs to date have been quadrupedal.[2] Now, assuming these Ica stones are authentic, I would like to consider the possibility that these are illustrations based on ancient paleontology. That is, ancient people in the Americas discovering the fossil remains of dinosaurs and making restorations and illustrations of them, recording them on what would later be referred to as the Ica stones. If that is so, then they made some errors, like assuming some were mammals instead of reptiles and incorrectly restoring a stegosaur's forelimbs.

However, it turns out that there is much evidence that these Ica stones are frauds. For instance, their provenance is unknown and, to make matters worse, their discoverer has flip-flopped on their authenticity depending on who he's talking to, saying the stones that depict dinosaurs with man and other archaeological anomalies are his hoaxes.

Thus, it would be in our best interests to identify these artifacts as sensational and less than genuine.

(The title is based on Jesus' caution at Matthew 24:15, "let the reader use discernment.")

Footnotes:
[1] Sauropod Skin and Eggs. http://faculty.plattsburgh.edu/thomas.wolosz/sauropod.htm
[2] "Stegosaur (dinosaur)." Encyclopaedia Britannica http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/564911/stegosaur

Links:

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posted by JimSpace at 5:07 PM

Monday, January 07, 2013

Theodicy Odyssey


The following is the substance of an email I sent to an atheist, and never received a reply.

Hi ____, thank you again for the video link and inviting me to share my thoughts. The Vimeo player stopped at 36:27 and I couldn’t get it to play further. But I heard a lot of your reasons. First, let me introduce myself better. I’m a theist who through personal Bible study has also rejected Trinitarianism and Hellfire. I’m also a Jehovah’s Witness, and one who does personal, independent reading and study. I have many Bible translations and I love learning about religion, history, and science. (I think this mindset is pretty typical among Jehovah’s Witnesses.)

The reasons you give are compelling and emotionally rending. However, I see room for a theodicy. Let me (1) first briefly state my fundamental reasons for theism and (2) then give summaries of your reasons, as I understand them, and my responses:

(1)
One question atheism does not address or answer adequately is the origin of information. Biological systems are information-driven. DNA for instance is biochemical information. This is different than what natural forces produce, which are repetitive like mantras and do not communicate anything beyond themselves (i.e. snow flakes, stalactites, ocean waves). Information though is not a mantra but a message. And this can only come from a sentient processor: a mind. Thus biological systems that are information-driven must have come from a mind. (See also The Atheist’s Riddle at www.cosmicfingerprints.com/dna-atheists.)

Thus, if one uses the information approach, then at the very least we are left with deism. However there are things in the Bible that compel me to believe that it as a whole is divinely inspired from the Creator. Thus, I am a theist. From the Bible we have prophecies that God will replace man’s (mis-)management of the earth.

Rejecting the Bible or theism does not necessitate atheism, but deism. Rejecting that information comes from a mind necessitates atheism.

(2)
Reason: Natural forces kill people. If God exists, why didn’t he create a world where storms, earthquakes, and lakes didn’t kill people?
Response: Plate tectonics is actually necessary and produces beautiful mountains and gemstones. People exacerbate the problem though with exploitation of fossil fuels. People also live in hazardous areas. The earth as a whole is an oasis bursting with prosperous life. I highly recommend “A Philosophical, Scientific and Theological Defense for the Notion That a God Exists” by Hal Flemings, pages 101-3. Hal writes in an engaging manner and offers responses more developed than my brief comments.

Reason: Diseases.
Response: Our diet plays a large role in our health, as you noted in your “Case for Veganism” on page 5. A whole-foods plant-based vegan diet reduces the threat of cancer and disease. (Watch The Gerson Miracle documentary which employs a diet of pure vegetable and fruit juice in treating cancer, and is touted as a cure for both cancer and diseases.) Such a diet was the first one revealed in the Bible at Genesis 1:29, where God told the first humans to be manifestly vegan. I wrote about this on my blog: jimspace3000.blogspot.com/2012/05/what-creator-gave-us-for-nutrition-i.html. Adam’s fall into sin affected our lifespan and our diet. I also suspect that there are many things that are now running off-balance and not running as they were originally intended.

A lot of the problems and suffering we see are the direct result of man’s mismanagement of the earth and ignoring or rejecting things we see in the Bible.

Reason: Why doesn’t God intervene and prevent every disaster?
Response: One theodicy that tackles this is found here: Why Does God Allow Suffering? www.jw.org/en/publications/books/bible-teach/why-does-god-allow-suffering. It points out the identity of the rebellious spirit being Satan and the issues he raised. The ultimate solution is very much an eschatological one where every tear will be wiped away, and every disastrous memory will be smothered with good ones.—Revelation 21:3, 4.

I hope this theodicy odyssey has been helpful, if not interesting. Of course you are welcome to reply.

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posted by JimSpace at 5:57 PM

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Dead Sea Scrolls are Alive!


The Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library

This is now a GOLDEN AGE in studying these documents from Second Temple Judaism.

Introductory video regarding the importance and significance of this public archive:


See also:
The Digital Dead Sea Scrolls
dss.collections.imj.org.il

With five interactive scrolls:
  • Great Isaiah Scroll
  • Temple Scroll
  • War Scroll
  • Community Rule Scroll
  • Habakkuk Commentary Scroll

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posted by JimSpace at 5:01 PM

Monday, November 19, 2012

Life on Other Planets?


The discovery of an extrasolar planet always seems to be followed with a position on whether it is habitable or not. This is especially seen when it is claimed that the planet is terrestrial and within its star's habitable zone, also called the "Goldilocks zone" in reference to it being not too hot or too cold, but "just right" for liquid water. Then sensational speculation is published in the media that it may harbor extraterrestrial life. The presence of water alone though would not allow life to exist. There are a number of factors relating to habitability, a planet's size being but one of them.

Regardless of that fascinating issue though, a more pertinent concern is regarding the theological and especially the soteriological ramifications of extraterrestrial life. From the outset though it has to be made clear that discovering non-intelligent life is one thing, but finding intelligent human-like life would be quite another, regardless of one's perspective.

The difference is in the power to choose. Thus, finding bacteria, insects, animals or trees on another planet is fine as they cannot make decisions of right and wrong. Finding intelligent extraterrestrials though is quite another matter, since they can indeed make decisions of right and wrong. Additionally, such ones would have been created by the Universal Sovereign Creator, Jehovah, just as human life was created on earth as Adam and Eve.

Human life fell into sin by rebelling against Jehovah's Universal Sovereignty. At this point it is noteworthy that no faithful intelligent extraterrestrials were subpoenaed as witnesses against Adam and Eve. As one journal explained it:
[W]hen Adam and Eve sinned, they were, in effect, questioning God's right to rule over a world of intelligent physical beings. If another planet existed at that time, a world full of intelligent physical beings who were living harmoniously and loyally under God's rule, would they not have been called in as witnesses to testify that God’s rule does indeed work? This conclusion seems inescapable, since he has already used even imperfect humans as witnesses in his behalf on that very issue.—Isaiah 43:10.[1]
Thus at least when Adam and Eve sinned, there were no faithful extraterrestrials. It would also seem reasonable that Adam and Eve were the only sinners in the universe, as their sin came as the result of the first apostate angel called Satan. He first struck on earth and was successful at establishing apostasy there. Also surely the Creator would not populate multiple worlds simultaneously, but would do so one at a time in case there was a problem with one or two, or more of them. That would be a disaster of astronomical magnitude, for then a ransom sacrifice would have to be made for all of them one at a time.

Another point that harmonizes with this conclusion is what is stated at Job 38:4, 7. There we are told that the angels rejoiced greatly over the creation of the earth. If the earth was just one of many such planets with intelligent physical life, then we would not expect such applause. This angelic rejoicing over earth's creation is consistent with its uniqueness.

Thus the most logical, coherent, and scriptural position to take is that Adam and Eve were the only sinners in the universe and that there was no faithful extraterrestrial life. After a problem arose on earth, any planned peopling of planets was postponed. Therefore we are the only intelligent physical creatures in the universe. A discovery to the contrary would present a theological and soteriological dilemma for the reasons presented above.

Questions:
What's the purpose of all those extrasolar terrestrial planets within habitable zones if they are not inhabited?
The same purpose of the solar terrestrial planets Venus and Mars that lay outside the habitable zone. They provide interesting comparisons to the uniqueness of Earth. Why assume that their purpose must be more than that? Keep in mind that there are a number of factors that need to be taken into account before creating intelligent life on a planet. All of these factors must be present.

 What about Isaiah 45:18 that says that God made the earth to be inhabited and not empty or made for nothing. Doesn't this apply to other planets? (Actual question asked of me)
That scripture is stated of earth, and to apply it to other planets would be a misapplication. Just because another planet is devoid of life does not mean it was made for nothing—as if life is the only standard to measure the worth of a planet from. The bottom line is Isaiah 45:18 is stated about earth and is not a planetary principle.

Is not the Bible Earth-centric though?
It may be Earth-centric but the Universal Sovereign Creator, Jehovah is not. Thus we can be sure that (1) there were no faithful extraterrestrials at the time of Earth's apostasy and (2) there were no other apostate worlds at the time either.

 Since the universe is so large it must be teaming with life?
We could apply the same question to an Olympic-size chlorinated swimming pool. Since it's so large it must be teaming with fish.

Footnote:
[1] Awake! 1990 April, 8 pp. 10-11 "Extraterrestrials—Finding the Answer." See also Awake! 1990 November, 8 p. 11 "UFO's—Can They Be Identified?" under "Is There an Occult Influence?" to explore the occult connection.

Related blog entry:
Science Increasingly Makes the Case for God
http://jimspace3000.blogspot.com/2015/03/science-increasingly-makes-case-for-god.html

Resources:
The introductory image is an artist's impression of the free-floating planet CFBDSIR J214947.2-040308.9. Credit: ESO/L. Calçada/P. Delorme/Nick Risinger/R. Saito/VVV Consortium

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posted by JimSpace at 12:23 PM