Facts & Faith
1991 Volume 5, No. 2
|
 |
Science in the News: Ahead to Mars, or Back to Babel?
By Hugh Ross
I'm not sure how the subject came up, but in my recent interview with Dr. James Dobson we somehow began talking about Mars. I mentioned that the discovery of the remains of life on Mars was inevitable because of the proximity of Mars to Earth. I briefly outlined a few ways by which Earth life-forms could be transported to Mars, e.g. by the solar wind and by the debris from large meteorite collisions (Facts & Faith, v. 2, n. 3, 1988, pp. 1-2, and v. 3, n. 2, 1989, p. 2). I went on to say that many scientists who are either ignoring or ignorant of these interplanetary transport mechanisms have publicly touted the future discovery of life (or life remains) on Mars as proof that life does indeed evolve, and quite easily, by natural processes.
That interview was taped in January and aired in two parts on April 17 and 18. The very next day, April 19, 1991, the May issue of LIFE magazine hit the newsstands with a cover story titled, "Our Next Home, Mars: Bringing a Dead World to Life." There the words appeared, with a qualifying perhaps tossed in the middle: "...if living things or even fossils are discovered on Mars, perhaps life is relatively commonplace, found wherever in the universe water, carbon and a few other elements mingle."
The LIFE writers intimated that God was unnecessary to the formation of life and to the subsequent appearance of more and more advanced life. How ironic, then, that they should describe the project they were unveiling as man's opportunity, on Mars, to "re-create Creation--to play God."
The project to which these reporters and a collection of young NASA scientists referred is the "terraformation of Mars," the transforming of Mars into a self-sustaining new home for human-kind, complete with a breathable atmosphere, a warm climate, lakes, and oceans. Reading about this "most ambitious engineering project in human history," estimated to be achievable in less than two centuries for a cost of not more than three trillion dollars (a fraction of what Americans will spend on pizza in the same time period) chilled me with its echoes from the tower of Babel, Genesis 11. The NASA scientists went so far as to boast that the Martian economy could become so robust compared to Earth's that Earth's investment would be paid back with interest many times over.
While the article does not overtly declare that all the scientific and engineering difficulties of the project have already been solved, it does imply that no fundamental barriers are known to exist. I hate to come across as a party pooper, but in reality, fundamental barriers do exist--in abundance.
As the NASA team tells us, the inhabitants of Mars must live in biospheres for at least 135 years. Biospheres are specialized greenhouses--sealed, self-sustaining ecosystems designed to support a small number of people for an indefinite period of time even in such inhospitable locations as the Moon, an asteroid, or Mars.
Since the 1960s the Soviets have operated a few small, primitive biospheres in Siberia as part of their research on interplanetary travel. By far America's most ambitious undertaking of this sort is a two-acre bubble nearing completion on the Arizona desert. The goal there is to support eight people for two years.
While it is one thing for people to survive in a biosphere in Arizona, it is quite another, to my thinking, for people to survive in one on Mars. One of the technical difficulties is that of maintaining a perfectly tight seal yet allowing enough sunlight in for efficient photo synthesis. A few small leaks in Arizona would pose no death threat, but even the tiniest leak on Mars would spell disaster. Given that the Martian atmosphere is too thin to burn up meteorites, meteorite impacts pose a considerable threat of puncture. And, as yet, no biosphere has been designed that could withstand destruction by a repeat of the giant Martian dust storm of 1956. Such a dust storm would also shut down photosynthesis for a year.
Then there is the human element. Artificial biospheres are not very forgiving. The biosphere God designed for us on the surface of Earth is so large, complex, varied, and harmoniously assembled that it can tolerate a fair amount of human error and sin. Nearly perfect management of an artificial biosphere's resources would be required to avoid ecological catastrophe. Man has yet to demonstrate that level of wisdom and behavior in managing the biosphere God has given us.
One of the greatest risks, one that has been somehow overlooked, comes from man's sin. Just one malicious act on the part of one person could spell doom for all the biosphereans. And help would not be close at hand, as in Arizona. A rescue mission to Mars would take at least three months to arrive. Even an answer to a question transmitted by radio would take 30 or more minutes--if one were lucky enough to be on the Earth side of Mars.
From a physical scientist's standpoint, perhaps the weakest assumption in the NASA team's analysis is that a huge quantity of water still resides on Mars deep within the Martian crust waiting to be converted into oceans and lakes. All the evidence, including the 1956 dust storm, points to an extremely dry surface. The only place on Mars where we see evidence for a tiny amount of water (in frozen form) is in polar regions, where the temperature is exceptionally cold.
Though we see physical evidence for what appears to be past water erosion on the Martian surface and theoretical evidence for abundant surface water in the early history of the planet, the air pressure, gravity, and other characteristics of Mars combine to suggest that this water evaporated rather than finding its way to underground storehouses.
Even if large quantities of water in the Martian crust did somehow escape evaporation into outer space, the dredging up of this water to the surface would add enormous problems to the terraforming effort, particularly to the task of warming the planet. If the water were somehow kept from evaporating, it would freeze. Frozen water very efficiently reflects sunlight. That means Mars would absorb less solar heat. Hence, the temperature drop would drop, causing more water to freeze and thus the temperature to drop even more.
From an engineer's standpoint, the biggest problem of the project is the transformation of the Martian atmosphere. The NASA plan calls for an atmosphere twice as dense as that of Earth. To be specific, three quadrillion tons of gases need to be added to the Martian atmosphere. How? The proposed method is the chemical breakdown (via heating) of oxides and carbonates in the Martian crust. A comparison might help give some perspective here. The burning of fossil fuels on Earth since the start of the industrial revolution has added only one ten-thousandth of this quantity of gases to our atmosphere. Neither fossil fuels, solar energy, nor nuclear fission would provide anything close to the quantity of energy required. The only hope lies in the yet-to-be-developed nuclear fusion. Even with fusion, however, the fuel transport, fuel handling, and radioactive waste disposal problems would be insurmountable.
Clearly, the scientists involved must be dreaming of new technologies and a bigger economic commitment. Realistically, though, the trillions of dollars would grow to quadrillions and the time scale to thousands of years. Considering the span of most taxpayers' foresight and the length of politicians' terms in office, the chances for funding approval seem utterly remote.
Other major obstacles could be cited, such as the need to construct an ozone shield to protect Martian life from destructive radiation. Van Allen belts would also be essential for this protection, but the latter have been completely overlooked. I see no reason to go on. No doubt you are already asking, "Why would respected research scientists even suggest such a far-fetched project if it is really as far-fetched as all this?"
The answer, I believe, is spiritual. In the Mars project lies a chance for man to prove his "deity," his power over the elements, his power to solve the problems of an ailing earth with his masterful intellect and abilities. The Christian God could die a timely death from the imaginations of men, and the "throwing off of His fetters" could become complete (Psalm 2).
These words are chilling, to be sure, but I am reminded of Paul's words to the Thessalonians: "Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant ...or to grieve like the rest of men....For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words."
Dating the Moment of Creation In my book, The Fingerprint of God, I said that astronomers had reduced the internal errors on the age of the universe to only a half billion years, and yet because of a calibration problem, they could give the absolute age of the universe to only about three billion years' accuracy.1 In a paper published this May by R. J. Dickens et al., the source of the three-billion-year disparity was revealed.2, 3
New findings now firmly establish that the globular clusters in our galaxy did not all form at the same time; rather, they formed over a period of about three billion years. The net effect is to increase the value of the age of the universe by a little more than about a billion years. This is consistent with the latest, and unprecedentedly accurate measurement of the expansion rate of the universe, measurements made by Allan Sandage and Gustav Tammann.4 Since the ages of only two globular clusters have been recalibrated thus far, it is still too early to quote an accurate absolute date. But, the major obstacle has been overcome, and the date may be forthcoming in just a matter of months. I will keep you posted.
Media Called for Distorted Reporting Those of you who caught my article on the big bang and my President's letter in the last issue of Facts & Faith may be encouraged to learn of a published outcry from research astronomers against misleading write-ups on recent big bang research. Alan Guth of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, originator of the inflationary model of the universe, has been widely quoted as saying, "Recent articles saying the big bang is in trouble are wrong. The big bang is incredibly healthy, much healthier than ever."
Discover magazine ran a two-page piece seeking to untangle the mess created by reporters last January and February. 5 They pointed out that the problems do not lie in the big bang, but in the attempts to model what happened after the big bang. Many Christians, with a few notable exceptions, are beginning to recognize that the scientific alternative to some kind of big bang is not a recently formed universe but an infinitely old, uncreated cosmos.
References
- Ross, Hugh. The Fingerprint of God, 2nd edition (Orange, CA: Promise, 1991), p. 91.
- Silk, Joseph. "Slow-motion galactic birth," Nature, 351 (1991), p. 191.
- Dickens, R. J., B. F. W. Croke, R.D. Cannon, and R. A. Bell. "Evidence from stellar abundances for a large age difference between two globular clusters," Nature, 351 (1991), pp. 212-14.
- Sandage, Allan, and G. A. Tammann. "Steps Toward the Hubble Constant. IX. The Cosmic Value of Ho Freed From All Local Velocity Anomalies," Astrophysical Journal, 365 (1990), pp. 1-12.
- Flamsteed, Sam. "Big Bang Bashing," Discover (June 1991), pp. 22-23.
Special Feature: What Do We Believe?
Many people who are just becoming acquainted with Reasons To Believe may appreciate clarification of our position on the basic tenets of the Christian faith. The following paragraphs express the key doctrinal convictions of our staff and board of directors.
scripture The Bible (Old and New Testaments) gives the true and trustworthy Word of God to humanity, written in the words and literary style of individuals. It says everything God intended to say as He inspired men to write it, and He has provided ample evidence of its complete reliability-- historical, scientific, and spiritual. The Bible is our supreme and final authority in faith and conduct, and it is meant to be taken literally unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
creation The physical universe, the realm of nature, is the creation of God. It affirms God's existence and gives a trustworthy revelation of God's character and purpose. God declares that through His creation all humanity may come to recognize His power, His love, His justice, and His mercy, and thus the way to find eternal fellowship with Him. An honest study of nature--its physical, biological, and social aspects--can prove useful in a person's search for truth.
God God is one, and apart from Him there is no God. He exists simultaneously and eternally as three persons--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Father is the author and initiator of love. Jesus Christ, the Son, is God in bodily form, a tangible expression of all that the Father is, and offers the only way to eternal fellowship with the Father. The Holy Spirit imparts truth, convicts of sin, and turns individuals to Christ. As a person repents of spiritual autonomy (sin) and submits to Christ, the Spirit irrevocably indwells that person and places him or her into Christ's Body, the Church.
man Created in the image of God to fellowship with God and give Him glory, Adam, the first man, chose to go his own independent way. As a result, the fellowship was broken, the image distorted, and the sin nature passed on to all of Adam's progeny.
redemption God has acted sovereignly to bridge the gap that separates people from Himself. He sent His Son, born of a virgin, attested by miracles and by a sinless life, to bear the full penalty for all humanity's sin.
the resurrection Jesus Christ rose bodily from the dead, conquering sin, death, and all the powers of Satan. He now lives to indwell all who recognize their sinfulness, repent, and turn their lives over to His authority.
the Church All people who have personally made this transfer of authority belong to the Church. These people are neither perfect nor sinless, but their lives are coming more and more under the control of the Holy Spirit, expressing His love, joy, peace, and other Christ-like qualities.
the second coming Jesus is coming back. We do not know the day or the hour, but we do know the signs for which He told us to look. We also know the certainty of His promise to return and to judge all humanity. Those who have received His offer of life will go to eternal blessings in His presence (heaven); those who have rejected it, to eternal separation from Him (hell).
the great commission Christ has commissioned His people, the Church, to go into all the world to disciple, to baptize, and to teach everyone everywhere to obey His Word. Because it is impossible to obey Him without trusting Him, we seek to trust Him more and more so that, as a result, our obedience will increase and our lives bring forth much fruit to the honor of God.
Let Us Reason: Raining on a Misconception
Part Ten in a Series
By Hugh Ross
One of the questions that comes up each time I speak on science and Genesis is this: Did rain fall upon the earth before the Flood? People wonder, too, whether or not the rainbow Noah saw was the very first rainbow. Apparently, many Christians have been taught that the earth's cycle of evaporation and precipitation was very different before the Flood from what it is today and that major atmospheric changes occurred at the time of the Flood.
This teaching is, I believe, part of a larger hypothetical scenario called the canopy theory, the point of which is to account somehow for "importation" of the water required for a global flood (water that is missing from the earth's environs) and also to account for the drastic shortening of man's life span after the Flood. (Both issues were addressed in this column in the most recent issue of Facts & Faith, v. 5. n. 1, 1991, pp. 4-5.)
According to the theory (more appropriately called a hypothesis), in the days before the Genesis Flood the earth supported a massive layer of water (either frozen or vaporous) high in the upper atmosphere. At the time of the Flood, the canopy is said to have melted or condensed at God's command, thereby dumping the cataclysmic deluge on the earth's surface.
Unfortunately, this popular scenario finds insufficient support from scripture and no support whatsoever from science. Let's take a look at the Biblical passages first. Genesis 2:5 speaks of a time when God had not yet sent rain upon the earth. What is the time context of this verse? It refers clearly to a time when the continents were still devoid of life. That is to say, it describes a period prior to the third creation day and to the establishment of our stable water cycle.
Genesis 2:6 comes after a punctuation break in the Hebrew and seems to refer to a later time when God caused "mist" (though a few translations say "streams") to water the ground. Apparently the ground at this point needed watering to support the flora and fauna. The Hebrew word used for "mist" in this verse is 'ed. Its normal translation is "mist" or "vapor," as in a fog. To translate it as "streams" is to stretch it toward a rare and, in this case, inappropriate usage.
Technically, both mist and fog qualify as rain. Mist, fog, and rain all refer to drops of liquid water in the atmosphere. The distinction lies in the size of the drops, and that distinction is imprecise. Where I grew up in coastal British Columbia we called anything less than a downpour a mist.
Neither does the later discussion of the rainbow as a covenant sign (Genesis 9) imply that rain and rainbows had never been seen before the time of Noah. When the Flood was over, God told Noah that He would never again destroy all mankind and his animals by the waters of a flood. Then God designated the rainbow as His signature, a reminder, of this covenant (contractual agreement between God and man, initiated by God) not to repeat a watery judgment against man's sin. It may be worth noting that the other eight covenants of scripture are signified with previously existing items or actions to which the covenant simply adds new meaning.
As for scientific analysis of the canopy theory, I must begin by stating my belief that when God performs a miracle (and the operation of a canopy would have to be considered one, for it is outside the realm of naturally occurring phenomena), He does not deliberately cover up or distort the evidence to mislead us or to keep us from detecting it. What most Christians do not realize is that acceptance of the canopy theory requires acceptance of a massive cover-up by God. I cannot reconcile such action as consistent with the character of the God of the Bible.
From science we learn that no mechanism exists for supporting such a quantity of water (frozen or vaporous) in the Earth's upper atmosphere. Neither is there a mechanism for protecting a canopy from destruction by meteorites and interplanetary and cosmic radiation.
A further problem is that when ice melts it uses up 80 calories of heat per gram. When vapor condenses it releases 539 calories of heat per gram. In other words, the melting or condensing of a canopy would have caused such massive temperature shifts on Earth that Noah and his crew could not possibly have survived. Backing up a bit, if a canopy were vaporous, the greenhouse effect it would have engendered before the Flood would have trapped so much heat as to make life impossible on the surface of the earth.
These are only a few of the scientific difficulties with the canopy scenario, mostly theoretical. Physical counterevidence is also available. Geologists point to splash depressions in well-dated sandstone deposits, depressions caused by falling drops of liquid water. These splash patterns show that raindrops of all the sizes we see today have fallen throughout the last several geologic eras, including eras before the Flood.
The canopy theory represents yet another reminder to Christians that we need to submit our apologetics arguments to review by reputable non-Christian and Christian scholars in appropriate disciplines. If only scientists who are Christians attest to a particular physical phenomenon, especially one of such magnitude as the canopy, we have good reason to question its validity.
From the President's Desk
Dear friends,
It saddens me that Reasons To Believe is still widely perceived as a ministry to well-educated urban professionals. Moody Monthly, for example, portrayed Reasons To Believe as an outreach to university professors. I'm beginning to think that perhaps ministries reaching these kinds of people for Christ are so rare that the label "specialist" automatically gets attached.
According to the Bible everyone needs reasons for faith, not just the "intellectuals." While it is true that certain personality types--the cautious, analytical types--usually need many questions answered and a solid foundation of factual support before they will respond to Christ, our experience in outreach is that everyone wants good reasons to believe. Now, thanks to television and radio appearances, we have more substantial data to confirm our conclusion.
Since December we have processed over 7000 pieces of mail from people who had not previously known of Reasons To Believe. Where is all this mail coming from? Most of it from rural communities across America, though the majority of viewers and listeners live in urban areas. In reading this mail we have found that many rural Americans are mildly offended that Christian ministries tend to characterize them as simple-minded, as exercising a faith that is blind.
As I understand scripture, we respond to God's Son first with our mind, then with our will and our emotions. I have met people who committed their lives to Christ through an appeal to their emotions, but they have told me and I have observed that they later suffered from misgivings and nagging doubts and struggled in their outreach attempts until gaining some reasons to support their choice.
Three years ago I was the conference speaker for a large group of Christian business people. The men and women there shared with me how year after year they heard messages exhorting them to be more active in sharing their faith, but their response was more guilt than action. As one put it, "I already knew that God called me to share my faith, and I really did want to, but how could I face all those tanks out there with my little squirt gun? What I need is some solid answers to use when my non-Christian associates throw their challenges at me."
I think this man's words reflect the thoughts and feelings of people all over North America and around the world. It is the same for the Ph.D. as for the one who did not complete grade school, for the professional as for the laborer, for the child as for the adult, for the city dweller as for the country dweller.
We at Reasons To Believe are working to develop a range of materials which will be more widely useful. An abridged, less technically detailed version of The Fingerprint of God is in the works. We have also taken steps toward producing a comic book series on apologetics subjects. Our current ministry plan outlines eight separate projects to provide apologetics tools that virtually anyone can use. Please pray with me that the resources for these projects will not be lacking.
Sincerely,
Hugh Ross
Pray-ers' Closet
By Kathy Ross
As we loaded the van for an evening of ministry at Forest Home Family Camp I heard Hugh utter that familiar but unsettling expression, "Uh-oh." (That was our son Joel's first word some five years ago now.)
I asked what was wrong and learned that we were down to our last projector bulb. No spares. Hugh's presentation that night would be his slide show of the universe, called "Journey to the Outer Limits."
"I'll pray about it," I said glibly. We finished loading materials, helped the boys into their seats, and headed for camp, turning our attention to the adventure ahead and reminiscing about Hugh's first opportunity to speak at Forest Home many years ago when we were newlyweds.
Thoughts of the bulb left my head completely till the show was in progress. The house was packed and hushed (hushed, that is, except for two-year-old David, who sat in my lap exclaiming loudly over the beauty of each slide). A twinge of panic crept into my stomach as I remembered the bulb. I shot up a quick prayer: "Lord, please, let it last for this one more show."
Within moments I saw a faint flicker; then the room fell dark. As Hugh explained to the audience what had happened, I prayed the prayer I would have done well to pray in the first place. "Father, may your will be done here tonight. Help Hugh to keep calm, to stay tuned to your voice, and to take whatever direction you give him, according to the needs of these people."
As I shot up that prayer, answered Joel's "What's going on, Mom?" and calmed David's fear of the dark, some men (or were they angels?) flew into action. One appeared from nowhere with a flashlight. Another popped the slide tray off our projector and onto another. It fit. Someone found an extension cord and plugged it in, and in a matter of minutes--maybe seconds--the show continued.
The response at the end, the questions, the discussion, the sense of awe at God's power and glory, brought delight to my soul. And while I savor that memory, I also ponder the lesson God gave me that evening about prayer. I see that I often ask for magic. I want what is easy, what is convenient, what fits with my plans. I want God to do my bidding rather than offering myself to do His.
No wonder prayer seems so easy and yet is so hard. If you spend much time at it, you know what I mean, and if you don't spend much time at it, you know what I mean. It takes effort, concentration, listening as well as talking, understanding of God's ways and purposes revealed in scripture, not to mention understanding of people.
Meeting with a group to pray is one way to grow in prayer skills. I will take this opportunity to invite you to join our corps of Pray-ers in person or otherwise. The Pray-ers gather once a month at our offices in Sierra Madre, 154 West Sierra Madre Boulevard. For dates and times, please phone the RTB office. If distance prevents you from coming, you can still be a part of the team. Call us at (818) 355-6058.
Meet Our Staff
By Daphne Trager
If you have called the RTB office during the past four months, the voice you heard on our end of the line was probably that of Carla Shahin. Carla joined the staff as full-time receptionist in February. Her title is only partially accurate, for though she does handle the majority of phone calls, she also helps with myriad other tasks, from courier service to word processing. She is noted for carrying out her varied assignments with grace and aplomb.
Carla grew up in the state of Washington and is a graduate of Prairie Bible Institute in Alberta, Canada. She moved to Pasadena three years ago to continue her training in the TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages) program at William Carey International University. Her interest in people of other cultures, which began in childhood, has never waned. After becoming engaged to Abraham Shahin, a native of Egypt whom she met while studying at William Carey, Carla spent a year in Jordan, immersing herself in the culture and learning Arabic. The couple was wed in December 1990, and their dream is to serve someday as Christian workers in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, Carla reads as much as she can about the Arabic world. She enjoys language study and loves to interact with internationals, especially in their cultural settings. She and Abe participate in the internationals ministry of their church, Sierra Madre Congregational. For added recreation she skis, jogs, and plays volleyball.
Carla and Abe regularly attend the Paradoxes Sunday school class taught by Hugh and others. One Sunday she asked for prayer to find a job and soon thereafter was contacted by the RTB office coordinator, Zana Scheele. "We chose her, and she chose us," says Zana, "and we are glad to have her as a part of the team."
Wendy Wallace came to RTB at the same time and in the same way. And again we can say we are glad. Wendy works part-time as "assistant everything," by her own description. The title fits. She helps with the phones, sorts the mail, and fills other gaps as needed, all with her characteristic wit and upbeat personality.
Wendy moved to southern California with her high-school-sweetheart husband, Steve, several years ago from San Jose. She describes herself as "extremely happily married." Steve and Wendy have two daughters, Raine, 13, and Jenny, 11, and they are expecting their third child in October.
After many years as a stay-at-home mom, Wendy recently returned to school to pursue a degree in nursing. She entered Pasadena City College with a little trepidation, but her 3.85 GPA shows that she had nothing to worry about. She says she's thankful for her participation in the Paradoxes Sunday school class. The subjects covered and the careful study of the Bible helped her respond confidently to some atheistic professors.
Her final few courses will have to wait till after baby comes, but Wendy plans to complete her degree when the time is right. Though slightly curtailed for the moment, Wendy's athletic activities include running, tennis, and racquetball, among other sports. Another talent is decorating, which she is happily putting to use on a new nursery.
Puzzles & Paradoxes
For our new readers, here is a repeat of the puzzle presented in the last issue: Willie Mays hit 660 home runs in his baseball career. More than 20 percent came in the first inning. That's one-fifth of the home runs in the first one-ninth of the game. It seems reasonable to conclude that he lost momentum as the game progressed. What's wrong with this simple conclusion?
Answer: This simple conclusion overlooks a yet simpler one, at least to anyone who knows anything about the game of baseball. The first three men in the batting order always come to bat in the first inning. Rarely do they bat in the second, sometimes they come up in the third, and so on, depending upon how the hitting and the outs are going. The answer, in this case, is simply a matter of statistical probabilities. Willie Mays batted third in the line-up for most of his career; so he batted in the first inning far more frequently than in any other inning. To conclude anything about fatigue or any other pattern of personal performance one would have to do some calculations of the ratio of home runs to at-bats in each of the nine (or more,) innings.
Before introducing a new paradox, I want to commend Graham Landgraff of Sterling, Ontario, Canada, for his response to the recent question (in this column) about the meaning of "this generation" in Matthew 24:34. His letter, written in January, reached my desk only a few weeks ago or it would have been cited last time. Mr. Landgraff points out that the time flag needed to establish which generation does appear within the context, specifically a little ways back, in verse 30. There we find the words, "At that time..." attached to the description of events, indicating that the generation on hand to see these events is the one that will not pass away until all of them unfold.
Now for the new paradox. The Bible tells us that God poured out all of His wrath against sin upon His Son as Jesus hung on the cross. Christ paid the full penalty for all our sin, past, present, and future. And yet the Bible also says that the wrath of God is yet to be poured out, that the day of God's wrath against man's wickedness is coming. How can this paradox be unraveled?
In Memory: Esther Frazer
By Kathy Ross
God-fearing, strong, outspoken, truthful, unwavering, hospitable, tender-hearted, generous--these are some of the qualities by which Esther Frazer will be remembered by her family and friends. These are some of the words they suggested to describe her at a memorial service in her honor on May 25, 1991.
Born in 1914 and raised in Saginaw, Michigan, one of eight children, Esther became the matriarch (another of the words used by relatives to describe her) of her own large clan: three daughters and three sons, 32 grandchildren, 66 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild, with five more on the way.
Esther worked for U.S. Graphite in Saginaw for 30 years, retiring in 1976. When most of her family moved to southern California to follow career opportunities, Esther pulled up roots and moved here, too. And something wonderful happened. First a daughter-in-law, then a son, then a grandson committed their lives to Jesus Christ and began pointing other family members towards the Lord. Esther found fuel for the spark of spiritual life that had begun in her years earlier. That spark quickly grew to a flame. She began attending church (Sierra Madre Congregational) and participated in Bible studies at one or more of her sons' homes weekly, responding with sincere and whole-hearted obedience to the word of God. It was in one of those studies that she met Hugh Ross, then a bachelor and a part-time scientist, part-time minister. He was the teacher.
Esther wanted nothing more than to be used by God to share His truth with others and see them come to know Him. Had she been a little younger, she may have headed for the mission field. Instead she found a field right at her doorstep--international students in the Pasadena area needing a home away from home. She had her sons help with the remodeling of her home and began taking in her new family from around the world. She cared for each one as if he were her own and prayed fervently for all who came to live with her. Sooner or later each one joined her at Bible study and church, and many became her "sons in the faith" before returning to their home countries.
When Hugh decided to stay in the U.S. (rather than return home to Canada) to serve on the staff of the church, Esther was there to cheer him on. When Hugh married Kathy, Esther was there to pound him on the back. When Hugh and Kathy and friends founded Reasons To Believe, Esther was there with her hand extended. She was among the first to become a sustaining donor to the ministry, and she remained faithful in giving monthly.
After recovering from a stroke in 1988, Esther moved to Arkansas to be near her eldest granddaughter, then a few months ago returned to Saginaw to help her youngest sister recuperate from heart surgery. While there at her sister's home she suffered another stroke. Thirteen days later, on May 5, after saying farewell to her family gathered around her bed, Esther left for her new home with the Lord. No doubt she enjoyed a rich welcome there.
True to character, Esther didn't want to leave the ministry in the lurch. She requested that any and all remembrances of her be channeled as donations to Reasons To Believe. We wish we could say, "Thank you," in person, and someday we will. For now, we feel humbled and challenged to make Esther's investment count for eternity.
As We See It: The Reason for Reasons To Believe
A new unit of the RTB ministry team is in motion: the Development Committee. Under the leadership of our Vice-President for Development, Dr. John Rowe, a group of enthusiastic supporters has banded together to help generate the financial resources which will propel us toward fulfillment of our mission. Already they have begun contacting interested friends, organizing vision-sharing evenings in homes, and exchanging ideas for development projects.
Central to their task has been preparation of a brief document stating the case for the ministry's existence, and, more than that, the case for promoting and supporting its endeavors. Here is their statement, which they want to share with our newsletter readers:
One of mankind's distinguishing traits is belief in a Creator-God. Attacks against this belief have arisen throughout history, but none compares with the European assault launched in the 18th and 19th centuries. Scientists, philosophers, and theologians then joined forces in an attempt to disprove the God they had previously declared. They successfully effected a dramatic shift towards agnosticism, materialism, existentialism, and the other "-isms" now dominating modern civilization.
The newly embraced world view rested on, and indeed required, a universe without limits. According to the scientists, infinite time, space, and material meant that anything could happen by chance, even atoms self-assembling into human beings. According to the philosophers, an infinite universe meant that man could never really know whether he was the creation of a personal God or an accident of chance, whether he had purpose and moral responsibility or an existence of no ultimate consequence. According to the theologians, terms such as "faith" and "God" needed redefining.
In the 20th century, with this view smugly accepted as a cornerstone of both Eastern and Western thought, the advance of science itself began blasting the foundation away. With more and better observations of the heavens came the startling (and to some, objectionable) revelation of an expanding universe; a universe in fact with a beginning and, therefore, a Beginner. Furthermore, the universe, though vast and ancient, was discovered to be far too limited for random assembly of life forms. The scramble was on to find a loophole. Yet the more scientists experimented and observed, the more inescapable these unsettling conclusions became.
In just the last decade, significant characteristics of the universe have for the first time been measured. In those measurements both the existence and the identity of the Creator have been unmistakably revealed. He is none other than the personal, almighty, transcendent God of the Bible. The facts and the probabilities have ruled out all other candidates.
While stunning, this revelation from the frontiers of research should surprise no one who believes that the God who is responsible for the words of the Bible is also responsible for the realm of nature. According to scripture, the God who cannot lie proclaims that His existence and characteristics can be known by anyone, anywhere, anytime. How? Through observation of what He has created. (That's a good definition of science.) In fact, the trustworthiness of nature's revelation is why the Bible declares that everyone who doesn't recognize and worship the Creator is "without excuse."
The recent explosion of knowledge about the universe has prompted the founding of Reasons To Believe by astronomer and former Caltech researcher Dr. Hugh Ross. So overwhelming is the demand to hear this message that Dr. Ross has accepted invitations to address radio, television, and live audiences across North America and on four other continents. He has written extensively on these subjects, covering virtually every aspect of how the latest scientific evidence continues to reveal the identity of the Creator.
Dr. Ross's audiences have ranged from young school children to university professors, from homemakers to captains of industry, from Christian workers to atheistic Soviet generals and physicists. The response to his message, especially from those considered "unreachable" by traditional methods, has proven that this information is a powerful evangelistic tool. From teenagers immersed in the occult, to ministers on the verge of losing their faith, reactions have been consistent: "This is what I've always been searching for." "You've answered questions I never dared to ask. I was afraid they couldn't be answered." "How can I learn more about what you're saying?"
Reasons To Believe is committed to meeting the overwhelming need of those who are hungry for truth. We have encountered multitudes of every nationality who sense their spiritual starvation yet have no idea where to turn. The eager response to the latest scientific evidence for God's existence and for the reliability of His Word intensifies our desire to get the message out. Never before in the history of the world has the time been so ripe, the opportunities so abundant, the doors so widely open as now.
Letters
"...I have an uncle who is a computer scientist with heavy interests in astrophysical facts and phenomena. I had occasional long talks with him over the years (sometimes while observing through his refractor) about space, light, black holes, and extra-dimensional brain benders, many of which my grasp was just enough to keep me awake at night. While I was a Christian then, my uncle was not. He is now, and I wanted to share with you one of his testimonies to me. He said he had come to a point in his big-headed, know-it-all life that he realized by what he knew about astronomy and physical science that the chance of the big bang blooming out into such a perfect balance of elements forming everything from red dwarfs to red roses without a Creator acting deliberately was about the same as that of detonating a large nuclear device under a printing plant and when all the dust had settled down finding a perfectly arranged set of the Encyclopaedia Britannica."
--Mark, [no return address]
"You have truly been a blessing to me. I am 20 years old and have been a Christian since I was a child. I have always had doubts about the existence of God, but as a child I was taught to accept the reality of God by faith alone. So I did. But I wanted my belief in the existence of God to be more than faith alone; I wanted proof. You have provided me with the proof I was so desperately searching for...
"I cried after listening to you explain why I should believe in God. I cried because for the first time, I felt that I had a genuinely personal relationship with the Creator of the universe. You have greatly motivated me to study the Bible with more careful thought to what is actually being expressed in the Scriptures. I feel a greater love for God because of your message..."
--Roderick, Houston, TX
"...Your point of view is unique and closely resembles my own. I was surprised (pleasantly) by the information you are propagating.
I am employed as a designer of cores for nuclear reactors. Working with scientific and engineering personalities on a daily basis leaves me with a nagging question: How is it that people (scientific) who have the most evidence of a Creator reject the concept more completely than others not as privileged? I was happy to catch your program..."
--Tim, St. Cloud, MN
"I fellowship in a conservative community which has been strongly influenced by [a particular group]. Their dogmatic emphasis on a 6000-year-old earth is doing a great disservice to the faith. They have an active and vocal following from sincere people who do not have the background to challenge their assumptions. They are also making it a basic tenet of the faith.
Since God is the creator of both the Bible and the world, I have felt that the messages we get from science and from the Bible must ultimately agree. I get very little support in this position. [Some] seem to be using the scientific process as a weapon against science. They do not look for 'truth' through their science except to support their own position. Science is 'good' if it agrees with their understanding of the Bible, and 'bad' if it does not. But, the science they reject is the same science they also accept. Those who have been influenced do not see through this. As a result many feel that science itself is the bad guy.
I need all the help I can get in countering this position. I need good science and good Biblical exegesis, not just emotional responses..."
--Harley, Liberty Lake, WA
"I just happened to catch your talk on television today and I must admit, it was to me the most real presentation on religion that I have ever seen or heard.
I have been searching for some real meaning--something that I can really believe for a long time now.
Your talk was like a breath of fresh air, something that really made sense to me..."
--James, [no return address]
"I can't tell you about what Fingerprint of God has meant to me. I first saw your presentation on TBN, not a program I view on a regular basis. Since 1984 1 have had a humanistic cloud over me. That happens to be the year I completed my M.B.A. I grew up in a Christian home and have been active in leadership in the body nearly all my life. Yet somehow I took on this baggage of humanistic thought and saw the circular argument we Christians often use...
I feel like a new Christian, excited, ready to go. I have mentioned your book to my S.S. class and have taught some of the concepts. I don't know if it's the material or my excitement that makes it teach so well..."
--Rod, Fresno, CA
"Thank you for responding to my letter of a couple of weeks ago. I'm the guy who is impressed with your scientific arguments about the existence of God, but less convinced about the reliability of the Bible.
I am not hostile to your views about the Bible. I actually want to believe them. However, I am intelligent enough to know that something does not become true simply because I choose to believe it.
Furthermore, the notion that God would punish us (for eternity) for failing to believe something we are not convinced of strikes me as inconsistent with reasonableness, let alone love. I refuse to accept the notion of God as a high-pressure salesman--'buy today or lose out.'
I get a very different view of the historicity of the Bible, as judged by historians, from your books and tapes than I get elsewhere. Would you please read the enclosed article from The Humanist and, if you have time, let me know what you think of it?..."
--Russ, San Jose, CA
Food for Thought: My God of Galaxies and Sand Flies
By Olive Fischbacher
Freelance Writer
Santa Barbara, CA
The warning, "Your God is too small," has never stirred me personally. I long ago situated my God in a vast expanding universe. And when my university astronomy professor focused camera shots of a vast and glowing gaseous mass, I was transported in quiet ecstasy at the revelation of God's glory and majesty. Seldom, even in uplifting church services, have I felt as thrilled and reassured as in that classroom. The glowing nebula was part of my God's handiwork and dwelling place; and I could worship Him right there in a secular environment. No problem.
Then one day a few years ago I kicked up a cloud of sand flies at the local beach, and a relaxed walk through sandy seaweed started an uneasy squirming in my elementary scientific mind. Could the God of distant galaxies be involved with tiny sand flies? Could He actually know them individually?
True, my Christian faith had long ago accepted the scriptural assurance that God has numbered the very hairs of my head and that He notes the sparrow in its fall. But sand flies?
Finally, with great effort, I made myself believe that my mighty God can count and probably had counted the sand flies on the local beach. But then I had to push Him to the counting of all the sand flies in the whole world, and then to include all insect life forms. Ridiculous? Maybe for other minds than mine that have long ago functioned down to microscopic levels. It was much easier for me to worship the majestic God of the vast cosmos than to imagine and relate to the God who created and noted sand flies.
With another quantum leap I felt pushed to let God inside those sand flies; and that move was even more difficult. God, my great and awesome God--could He know the organ systems of each sand fly? And what's more, does He know the life history of every insect that ever lived on earth? (Forgive me, Heavenly Father. I never meant to put this minutiae onto you! But the fact remains, it has to be true.)
Then, as if a sovereign, relentless Spirit kept edging me to the limits, not just of light years of hurtling quasars, I had to admit that God must also know the individual molecules and atoms and subatomic particles of every organ system of every sand fly on earth now or in the dim past.
Memory tormented me even further as I recalled the first time I heard a science teacher describe the ever-changing orbits of electrons or estimate the number of atoms in the universe. Now, much later in my life, I must bring God into all of His creation, down to sand flies' eyes and electrons. My God has been so big, and now He must be equally small.
Fortunately there is Biblical clarification for these muddled scientific musings. Our human extremity has been met, as recorded in Romans 1:20: "For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and God-head; so that [we] are without excuse" (KJV).
Now I may stretch out into space or crawl timorously into atoms and still find the power and headship of my God. I may stand and puzzle over an insect or bask in warm sunshine and think with relief of the omniscient, omnipotent Creator who sustains all things. He keeps the stars and the electrons in their orbits, and He details every sand fly. "...all things were created by him, and for him, ... and by him all things consist" (Colossians 1:16-17), KJV).
Field Report
A persistent beckoning from the U.S.S.R. seems to echo the Macedonian call, "Come over here and help us" (Acts 16:9). Convinced that God has opened a door for us to preach the gospel to Soviet peoples, RTB sent five speakers--Alex and Pam Metherell and their daughter Caroline and Dave and Diane Rogstad--to Leningrad on a mission jointly sponsored by Christian Leadership Ministries and the World Laboratory.
The two couples and 15-year-old Caroline were warmly received (to put it mildly). Whether in lecture halls of science institutes, in school classrooms, at special interest clubs, on buses, in private homes, or even at the hotel where they stayed, they met open, hungry hearts, seeking to fill, as one Russian man described it, "an empty hole inside." Their sincerity and joy served as a magnet, and their discussion of life in Jesus Christ held more rapt attention than did discussion of life in the United States.
Over the summer months a detailed account of this (our third) ministry venture in the U.S.S.R. will be prepared and made available to all who request it. Those of you who prayed for safety and fruitfulness will be thrilled to discover how God answered.
Meanwhile, in and around the States, other exciting ministry events were unfolding. Trinity Broadcasting Network aired 90 minutes of a 2-hour special, available on video cassette and titled "New Reasons To Believe" (see Resources section), and Focus on the Family aired Dr. James Dobson's two-part interview of Hugh (again, see Resources section). Despite strong reaction from a few individuals who disagree with some of our views, the response to both was overwhelmingly positive--and positively overwhelming. Thousands of phone calls and letters and requests for materials flooded our office. So many orders came for The Fingerprint of God that we had to rush a second printing of the second edition. Once again our volunteers helped keep us afloat. We thank God for them.
Hugh and the team spoke in person, too, in a variety of settings:
Churches - in California, Lake Avenue Congregational (Pasadena) and Sierra Madre Congregational jointly-sponsored Bible study for singles; Vallejo Drive Seventh Day Adventist (Glendale) singles class; Laurelglen Bible (Bakersfield) morning and evening worship services; Armenian Brotherhood Bible (Pasadena) evening service; Ventura Missionary men's dinner outreach; Valley Christian Fellowship (Redding) and nearby Neighborhood (Anderson) morning worship services; in Washington, University United Methodist (Bellevue) weeknight outreach; in Hawaii, Mililani Missionary (Oahu) evening outreach; Kalaheo Missionary (Kauai) youth meetings, evening outreach, morning worship services and the adult Sunday school class.
Campuses - breakfast outreach to the community of Normal, IL, held at Illinois State University; "Journey to the Outer Limits," slides of the universe, presented by Charley Myers to students, parents, and guests at Calvary Chapel School in Upland, CA; the same presentation by Hugh Ross at Calvary Chapel School in Redlands, CA; both junior and senior high classes in English, biology, and physics at Kauai High School in Lihue, Kauai, HI; Intervarsity Christian Fellowship at Caltech.
Hughes Aircraft - noon hour outreach at the El Segundo facility. Approximately 250 employees attended.
Forest Home Family Camp - "Journey to the Outer Limits" universe slide show for Memorial weekend campers of all ages. (See Pray-ers Closet.)
Hotels and Restaurants - breakfast and luncheon outreaches with the Christian Businessmen's Committees of Seattle, Tacoma, and Bellevue, WA; outreach training in Chicago for business and professional people traveling with the John Guest Evangelistic Team to Kiev, U.S.S.R.; community-wide Saturday seminar on science and the Bible in Redding, CA; banquet at the Gideons Convention in Spokane, WA
Homes - dessert outreaches at the Danklefsens' in Bellevue, WA, and at the Hansens' in Santa Ana, CA; dessert gathering at the Scheeles' in Sierra Madre, CA, introducing people to the ministry of RTB.
The Open Forum for Skeptics continues to meet for lunch and discussion once a month at the University Club in Pasadena. Recent topics have included the deity of Jesus, the claims of Jesus, evidence for Jesus' resurrection, the reliability of Old and New Testament documents, and new evidence for creation. If you would like to participate call Tom Delahooke at (818) 796-2649.
News from RTB Africa
David and Liz Block enjoy a busy speaking schedule in churches around South Africa, all in addition to their work as university faculty. Liz also assists in maintaining a distribution point for RTB materials. And, now, with some discomfort yet with great joy, she carries their first baby, due in December.
News from RTB Australia
Our liaison, Bruce Ogden, recently in town for World Vision directors meetings, replenished his supply of RTB books and tapes for dissemination from his home base in Sydney. He tells us that orders for materials are coming in from many places across Australia, and he is looking for ways and means to raise awareness of the ministry and its resources. A man of extraordinary ingenuity, he keeps feeding us new ideas for evangelistic tools. His most recent idea calls for preparation of a very brief tract abstracting the contents of The Fingerprint of God, something that would provoke not only interest in the book, but more importantly would invite dialogue about who God is and how we can know Him.
Kids Ask
By Hugh Ross
At a recent outreach in Santa Ana, CA, nine-year-old Chris Hansen posed this good question:
"What's the connection between cave men, the really old ones, and Adam and Eve?"
Chris was talking not about the remains of cave-dwelling modern men, but about the ancient fossils such as "Lucy" of Africa, fossils of creatures that looked something like men and women and that lived long before Adam and Eve came on the scene. Some of these fossils have been exposed as fakes, but many more are legitimate. These creatures were mammals and they used tools, but I do not call them men, and neither does the Bible, because they were not spiritual beings. I call them hominids, because in their physical features they resembled men. However, at none of the sites where bones, tools, and other fossil remains of these creatures have been found has anyone ever uncovered a religious relic. There is no evidence that they worshiped or had any awareness of God, even though they may have been quite intelligent.
According to the Bible, Adam and Eve, who came later and were specially created by God, were the first of His creatures to have body, soul, and spirit, the first ones to reflect His image. The creation of Adam and Eve took place at least 6,000 years ago, probably more, according to both the Bible* and the scientific study of the remains of modem man.
While it may seem disappointing that the Bible makes no special mention of the hominid species created before Adam and Eve (though it does mention land mammals, the larger group to which these hominids belonged), it's good to remember that in Genesis God describes for us, through the Bible writers, only the major highlights of His creative work. If he had given us all the details we would be hauling dozens of volumes to Bible classes every week. What we see are the top ten or eleven most important events. The hominids are part of the creation of the animals, but do not merit any special mention in the unfolding of God's message to man.
*Scholars who specialize in the ancient language and culture of the Jews tell us that the family trees of these people tended to skip names, for a variety of reasons. They also say that the words for father and son were also used for grandfather, great-grandfather, etc., grandson, great-grandson, etc. For more information and references, see my book called The Fingerprint of God.
This page, and all contents, are Copyright © 1991 by Reasons To Believe.
