Piltdown Superman

Right from the get-go, I need to point out that a few things have changed since the article featured below was written in 2019. The so-called New Atheism is fading and several of its primary apologists are losing their impact. Even so, the material and principles are still useful. One of the most obstreperous and arrogant professing atheists is Bill Nye. He makes remarks against biblical creationists and the Genesis Flood as if he has superior knowledge, but is repeatedly shown to be wrong. C. Richard Dawkins and Neil deGrasse Tyson also make false claims about us. Shattering atheism image by Why?Outreach Bill Nye had a highly-publicized debate with Ken Ham a few years ago. He misrepresented creationists and used a passel of fallacious attacks , including equivocating evolution with science . He was claiming that creationists would not have reasoning skills and essentially saying that we brainwash our children. That's a lie, old son. Dawkins and Tyson also misrepresent creationi...

God the Son, the second person of the Trinity , humbled himself and became the man Jesus. Out of love for us, he was crucified, dead, buried, and bodily resurrected. These are well-attested facts in the four Gospels. However, they have differing accounts about the details of what went on that morning. Scoffers have claimed that the differences are contradictory, but such claims cannot be supported. Written accounts of eyewitnesses are available from history. Close examination of the records is needed to deal with alleged contradictions and piece together the full narrative. Four Gospel booklets, Unsplash / alabaster_co Care must be taken to avoid placing modern approaches to writing onto ancient texts. For instance, women were traveling early in the morning. Was the sun up yet? How much of it? (After all, dawn  can mean different things, such as when the first part of the sun is above the horizon, or the entire solar ball.) How many women were there? Were they there at the same tim...

The morning of the one-year anniversary of my wife's passing , I wanted to commemorate the day. It began by going to the Hudson River in the morning. Those parks open at sunrise, which I looked up online. It happens on a predictable basis. Why should it? Some folks do not like this, but presuppositional apologetics  has its ultimate starting point in the authority of God's Word and character as revealed in the Bible. Science, logic, and other things are not possible in a worldview of atheistic materialism; they only make sense in a biblical worldview. Morning on the Hudson River, Unsplash / Cowboy Bob Sorensen We all have presuppositions and an ultimate starting point. The sun will rise tomorrow, a lighter will make a candle burn, pictures on the wall will not float upward. Things happened before, so they will again — but that is circular reasoning! God holds the universe together, making logic (inductive and other kinds) possible. From there, science is possible. And mathemati...

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  Although Reddit is really big on teh interwebs and seems to have evolved from newsgroups , I have little use for it. Interesting because I was involved in newsgroups for a spell. They were like the Wild West; there was no town marshall, so almost anything could be posted. Reddit is a bit moderated, I hear. Someone posted about Question Evolution Day . As expected, atheists and other anti-creationists went ballistic. A cursory glance shows that they still reject rational discourse and logic — yet they claim to be the rational ones. The first thing I noticed (again, cursory glances) is that the substance of QED was not discussed. Instead, they used straw man arguments, prejudicial conjecture, and some fabricated complaints that were decades  old (railing against a book from 1997). One complained that creationists are always lying, which I have pointed out is ludicrous even on the surface: Why would we, who believe in a holy and righteous God who hates lyi...

It is amazing that professing atheists proclaim that they are " good without God ," but so many lie. A lot. I wrote an article about Dr. Duane Gish and the legendary "Gish gallop" debate tactic. It has never been shown to exist , but they gleefully spread this falsehood. Misrepresentation and ridicule should be red flags to thinking people that someone has no valid material to use against his target. (It may also indicate laziness.) Dr. Andrew Snelling is a prominent figure in biblical creation science, and he has to deal with a dishonest decades-old attack. Angry atheist monkey, Freeimages / vangeldere (modified) Many of the assaults we face are actually laughable in their schoolyard simplicity. I'll allow that it's difficult to not respond in kind, which may very well be the kind of distraction that such misotheists are seeking; we go off-topic to chase every little dog that nips at our ankles. Indeed, I have challenged some to show where the science in a...

When dealing with professing atheists — I have to pull on the reins right away and stop this pony before it even gets going. My use of  professing  here indicates that I believe the Bible. Romans 1:18-23 says that everyone knows God exists, but they suppress the truth so they can continue claiming that there is no God. (More foolish is that they "lack belief.") There are been many professing atheists I have encountered who ridicule theists for denying "reality" or some such. However, atheism cannot be lived on a consistent basis. Darwin dollars image made with PhotoFunia Atheists (adding professing  in every instance gets tedious) are materialists. That is, they only believe in matter; atoms, molecules, and all that good stuff. To be consistent, they cannot believe in immaterial things such as love, beauty, consciousness, morality, and other things that cannot be measured. But they do believe in most of those things, so they are standing on the biblical worldview. F...

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  Although I am not fond of trends, I like a new one on my radar. "Beware of Smartphone Zombies" can be seen on T-shirts, possibly  real road signs , and many places on the internet. People do not watch where they are walking, forcing others to go around them — if possible. It illustrates a deeper problem related to the stupidification of society, especially younger people. Our Creator gave people minds to use, but their attention is on electronic entertainment and getting dopamine from a sort of electronic culture . They miss out on true beauty. Rondout Creek joining the Hudson River, several things happening, Unsplash / Cowboy Bob Sorensen I'll allow that people want their entertainment and don't want to be interrupted. For instance, I was uninterested in going on "color tours" to see the autumn leaves changing because I had things I preferred to do. We all have some entertainment priorities or some things just have no appeal. However...

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  There was a story told some time ago about a salesman who came across a man cutting trees in the forest, and he was using just an axe. The sales rep said the man could cut down many more trees if he used the chainsaw he was selling. Sold! A couple of days later, the salesman came back and asked how things were going. "Lousy!" replied the man. "All day yesterday with that blasted chainsaw, and I only cut down two trees . I want my money back!" "Easy, friend," replied the salesman. "Let's see what's wrong with it." He pulled the starter and there was a loud vroooom. "Whoa, what is that noise? " cried the man. Car in the woods, Unsplash / Cowboy Bob Sorensen Amazing that he got any  trees cut when he didn't even know how to start up the chainsaw. Every once in a while, someone makes news for having lived an amazing number of years. People ask, "What's your secret to a long life?" Answers va...

A common claim among misotheists is that atheism is a "lack of belief" in God, which is intellectually lazy and self refuting. Rocks lack belief in God . Christians who believe the Bible presuppose it is true, and people have all the evidence they need but suppress it (Romans 1:18-22). This inner knowledge is seen in children and adults. A common argument for design is that a building has a builder, a painting has a painter, and the far more complex human body must also have a designer. That would be the Master Engineer of the Bible. Tracks on algae in pond, Unsplash / Cowboy Bob Sorensen In the picture of a pond, something made tracks in the algae. I wonder what did it. People watch animals go through the motions to build something that seems like they are being creative, but they are really just acting upon what they were designed to do. This points back to the Creator. Indeed, it goes beyond reasoning things out. Sometimes there are emotional reactions like a sense of wond...

When a knowledgeable creationist catches an atheist or other evolutionist in a logical fallacy like the genetic fallacy, an abusive ad hominem , straw man, or other errors, the culprits frequently use the epithet science denier . Such an accusation reveals that someone is not interested in a rational discussion and is probably wasting your time. Even so, it is worthwhile to examine the science denier accusation. You may want to show that the claim is absurd, and you can be aware of why it stinks on ice. Image of creationist scientist Isaac Newton modified at Pixlr Something misotheists intensely dislike is when they throw down on a biblical creationist, they are challenged to back up their claims. In my case, I have this and other weblogs where I have shown appreciation for science — and my triple-bypass open-heart surgery  to appreciate medical science. No science denier here , Horace. For that matter, ask what "science denier" even means. The accusation often comes when Dar...

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  We saw that scoffers play a "Gotcha!" game by pretending they found contradictions in the Bible . Another version of this game is to use ad hominem  attacks against creation scientists, such as claiming they did not graduate from credentialed colleges or Duane Gish used the "Gish Gallop" ( a falsehood that I refuted ). One creationist was apparently involved in wrongdoing. Biblical creationists must tread carefully so they do not give skeptics reasons to mock. More importantly, we want to glorify God by living and acting biblically in daily and professional lives. Here is an exception. Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge over Hudson River from Poet's Walk, Unsplash / Cowboy Bob Sorensen In 1989, Russian creationist Dr. Dmitri Kouznetsov wrote a peer-reviewed paper for  International Journal of Neuroscience . There were some people who checked the references Kouznetsov used but several were not found. (Do the peers who review check references or ju...

When scoffers play what I call the "Gotcha!" game (where they seek alleged errors and contradictions in the Bible), their efforts are pathetic. Indeed, the Skeptic's Annotated Bible  is an ambitious project but done without knowledge and logic. One pastor has refuted 300 of the alleged contradictions all by his lonesome. Some alleged errors are resolved with some basic thinking. Many can be defeated by considering the contexts of the passages under attack. Other questions need knowledgeable folks who know how to dig deeper into the languages and cultures of the periods. Bible open to Deuteronomy, RGBStock / Billy Frank Alexander People have wondered about the ending of Deuteronomy, as Moses was the author of that and the other four books of the Pentateuch — but it ends with his death. Naturally, the question arises as to how he wrote about his own death. Some with Atheism Spectrum Disorder act like the Bible authors and biblical scholars over thousands of years somehow m...

Some people read or watch mysteries for the challenge of solving them, but many have noted that writers withhold information. In reality, detectives have to find and use the evidence they have in the here and now to reconstruct what happened in the past. This is forensic science. In a courtroom, evidence is presented so a verdict can be reached. Both the prosecution and defense may be more interested in winning the case rather than reach the correct conclusion. Distractions, glossy presentations and wording, misleading logic and more can be utilized. Legal work, FreeDigital I mages /  I ndypendenZ Atheists and other believers in universal common ancestor evolution present their case, but do not take all the evidence into account. The secular science industry has biased presentations in museums, documentaries, and so forth. Those can be slick, compelling, and entertaining; they want to win. People who are interested in reaching the truth need both sides of the story. Biblical creati...

Knowledgeable biblical apologists understand several things about worldviews, including how they must be internally consistent. Atheists and evolutionists frequently ignore logic while pretending that science and reason support their beliefs. That is a characteristic of an inconsistent worldview. Another indication of a faulty belief system is the reliance on arbitrary assertions. So is circular reasoning, such as assuming evolution in order to prove an instance of evolution. Changing or assigning new meanings to words and phrases also indicates a weak worldview. A couple of evolutionary psychologists presented irrational material about consciousness. Brain and consciousness, Pixabay /  Gerd Altmann  (Geralt) Like others involved in the secular science industry, psychologists presuppose atoms-to-atheist evolution and build from there; they do not question whether or not evolution happened in the first place. In this instance, two psychologists suggest consciousness may have ev...

Atheists and other anti-creationists have a tendency to say that the Bible is "fairy tales," but they clearly have only a cursory knowledge of its contents. Fairy tales tend to use "Once upon a time..." and do not have details. The Bible has specific details. Particles-to-paleontologist evolution is touted as science, but it is vague historical science at best. While evolutionists cannot give dates and times, there should be some specifics. A writer at LiveScience  got herself a notion to tell readers how ten traits in animals evolved. It did not go well. Charles Darwin, magic fairy of evolution generated with AI at NightCafe Many of the explanations offered were infested with bad reasoning. Worse, some actually ignored basic facts of science and displayed ignorance not only of evolutionary mythology, but animal anatomy and behavior. This child believes that the secular science industry succeeds at bushwhacking so many people is that they do not have logical thinkin...

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  Evolution News and Science Today  is run by the Discovery Institute, the leading proponents of Intelligent Design. Despite what propagandists for universal common descent evolution claim, ID is not  creation science in disguise. An article on that site, " Are Proponents of ID Religiously Motivated, and Does It Matter? " inspired this one. The author, Dr. Jonathan McLatchie, made some excellent points in his response to a critic, especially noting that logical fallacies were utilized — which is typical of advocates of evolutionism. Image by Cowboy Bob Sorensen, modified with FotoSketcher Dr. McLatchie pointed out that when the critic of ID claimed that they were religiously motivated, it was a genetic fallacy (also, it poisons the well) . What is too often ignored is the fact that secularists are religiously motivated themselves, as many have religions without deities. This screenshot from X (formerly Twitter) shows a religious attitude toward Drago...

At one time, Christians were the main people doing science. (It was called natural philosophy  until the name was changed to science .) Christians and creationists were right at home here. Science operates by laws, and those were given by the Creator. They provide consistency. See how that works out? Eventually, Christians yielded to materialists. Much of that was through compromise on the authority of the Bible. Secular scientists reject the Bible in favor of naturalism. Both kinds of scientists have worldviews based on their presuppositions. Universe and Bible, Pixabay / Alex Myers and Maicon Fonseca Zanco What follows is going to be difficult for some people to accept, even creationists. Bible-believing Christians actually have an advantage in doing science. Indeed, Psalm 119:130 tells us that God's Word brings understanding. Not only does the biblical worldview rule out time, chance, errors as explanations for observed data, but Christians also have a basis for logic and scie...

The word apologetics  comes from the Greek word ἀπολογία ( apologia ), which essentially means to make a reasoned defense or argument. (In this regard, an apology does not mean saying one is sorry.) We discuss the Bible internally and also use outside references. There are apologists for many things. Biblical apologists strive to show that the Bible is true. Otherwise, it is simply an item of curiosity for stuffy intellectual types having parlor discussions with brandy and cigars. Our faith would be worthless, Question Evolution Day would have no relevance, we would be worthy of ridicule. Section of P-45 Greek papyrus manuscript of the Gospel of Luke, via Wikimedia Commons That is not the case. The Bible has been shown to be an important historical reference, and it is the Word of God, changing lives and bringing salvation. Interestingly, some of the technology that backfires on evolutionists  has been used to examine extremely delicate biblical manuscripts that could...

When reading history in the Bible and seeing the word Philistines , one might want to heave a sigh and mutter about troublemakers. The most famous passages about them are probably with David and Goliath (who was probably a mercenary), Samson beating up on them, and when Philistines took the Ark of the Covenant. They are mentioned numerous times throughout the Old Testament. More often than not, they were indeed troublemakers. They cause problems today for Bible scholars and historians who want to know who they were in the first place. Pottery Votive Gift to Philistine Shrine, 9th Century BC, Flickr / Gary Todd (Public Domain) Philistines lived in several areas, and seem to have come from Crete. The Bible seems to conflict with other historical accounts and archaeology. However, there are several things that need to be considered, including that the name itself seems to have been used loosely — and retroactively. The Philistines are a problematic people group in the Bible. Scholars arg...

While a passel of people are celebrating fear, death, and evil on Halloween, many Christians take note of October 31 as Reformation Day . That is when German priest used the social media of his day, nailing 95 theses to the Wittenberg door. Most movements and revolutions do not happen overnight, and a kind of dinosaur reformation is happening in paleontology right now. I have said that evolutionists are working for creationists , since they are well-heeled but we can analyze their claims — including those about dinosaurs and such. Dinosaur nailing scroll to wooden door made with Bing AI The secular science industry has been making pronouncements in its authority that do not comport with science and logic, using dinosaurs as evolutionary propaganda. Biblical creationists and others look at their assertions, compare them with evidence, and frequently find them lacking. In addition, there is new research that is mighty difficult for secularists to ignore or suppress — even in their own ra...