Puritan Corner - To Prevent All Escape

"God, to prevent all escape, hath sown the seeds of death in our very constitution and nature, so that we can as soon run from ourselves, as run from death.....those infirmities of nature that will bring us down to the dust."
by William Gurnall (1616-1679)
For the wages of sin is death; 

Romans 6:23

Burnt child

 That henceforth we should not serve sin. Romans 6:6

"CHRISTIAN, 

Q: what hast thou to do with sin? 

Q: Hath it not cost thee enough already? 

Q: Burnt child, wilt thou play with the fire? 

Q: What! when thou hast already been between the jaws of the lion, wilt thou step a second time into his den? 

Q: Hast thou not had enough of the old serpent? 

Q: Did he not poison all thy veins once, and wilt thou play upon the hole of the asp, and put thy hand upon the cockatrice's den a second time? 

Oh, be not so mad! so foolish! 

Q: Did sin ever yield thee real pleasure? 

If so, go back to thine old drudgery, 

and wear the chain again, 

if it delight thee. 

But inasmuch as sin did never give thee what it promised to bestow, but deluded thee with lies, be not a second time snared by the old fowler—be free, and let the remembrance of thy ancient bondage forbid thee to enter the net again! 

It is contrary to the designs of eternal love, which all have an eye to thy purity and holiness; therefore run not counter to the purposes of thy Lord. 

Another thought should restrain thee from sin. 

Christians can never sin cheaply; they pay a heavy price for iniquity.

 Transgression 

destroys peace of mind, 

obscures fellowship with Jesus, 

hinders prayer, 

brings darkness over the soul; 

therefore be not the serf and bondman of sin." 

Charles Spurgeon

Creation Moment 5/31/2025 - 6,000–6,500 years ago

"Evolutionists believed they had clear proof against the Biblical account, because ‘Mitochondrial Eve’ supposedly lived 200,000 years ago. However, recent evidence shows that mitochondrial DNA mutates far faster than previously thought.

If this new evidence is applied to ‘Mitochondrial Eve,’ it indicates that she would have lived only 6,000–6,500 years ago. Of course, this is perfectly consistent with the Biblically indicated age of the ‘mother of all living’ (Gen. 3:20) but an enigma for evolution/long age beliefs.

Interestingly, there is a parallel account with males: evidence from the Y-chromosome is consistent with all people being descended from a single man The data is also consistent with a recent date for this ‘Y-chromosome Adam.’" CMI

State of the Dead SIMPLIFIED in ONE Word: "Dust"

"But that men have not immortality is perfectly manifest from what God said to Adam after he had sinned, Genesis 3:19 Dust you are, and unto dust you shall return." 

Charles Fitch

Fine-Tuning of the Universe SERIES PAGE

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 Godhead;
so that they are without excuse:
Romans 1:20

The Strength of Gravity

Creation Moment 5/25/2025 - Fine-Tuning of the Universe SERIES: The Strength of Gravity

The cosmological Constant

Creation Moment 5/26/2025 - Fine-Tuning of the Universe SERIES: The cosmological Constant

The Strong Nuclear Force

Creation Moment 5/27/2025 - Fine-Tuning of the Universe SERIES: The Strong Nuclear Force

Goldilocks Zone

Creation Moment 5/28/2025 - Fine-Tuning of the Universe SERIES: Goldilocks Zone

SUMMARY

Creation Moment 5/29/2025 - Fine-Tuning of the Universe SERIES: SUMMARY

Creation Moment 5/30/2025 - Pantheism: Making the Creation into "God"

But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them... 

2 Peter 2:1

"Pantheism is the doctrine that the universe is God and there is no God but the combined substance, forces, and laws that are

manifested in the existing universe. 

Panentheism is a related doctrine that asserts that God includes the universe as a part though not the whole of his being. Another view is that God is all of existence, the entirety of the universe, or reality itself. God is the whole-thing-together, which includes all of the objects, their relations, and their rules for interaction. 

In a word, God is Nature." 

Google

Symbolism of Dust and Ashes

"Scripture frequently portrays dust and ashes as symbols of humility, mortality, and repentance. For instance, in Job 42:6, Job says, “Therefore I retract my words, and I repent in dust and ashes.”

This act demonstrates a recognition of one’s lowly state before a holy God. Dust reminds believers that they do not possess eternal physical life on this earth, but that they depend entirely on their Creator for both existence and salvation.
Ashes, historically, also signified mourning or sorrow over one’s condition and the world’s fallen state. Examples in Scripture include times of national lament and personal grief (e.g., Daniel 9:3, Esther 4:1). Together, dust and ashes vividly depict human frailty and the need for divine intervention." 

BH

Creation Moment 5/29/2025 - Fine-Tuning of the Universe SERIES: SUMMARY

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 Godhead; 

so that they are without excuse: 

Romans 1:20

SUMMARY:
"Fred Hoyle, an eminent physicist and agnostic, stated, “A commonsense interpretation of the facts suggests that a super intellect has monkeyed with physics, as well as chemistry and

biology, and that there are no blind forces worth speaking about in nature.” 

Physicist P.C.W. Davies, also religiously unaffiliated, insists that “the entire universe is balanced on a knife-edge, and would be total chaos if any of the natural ‘constants’ were off even slightly.”

The existence and fine-tuning of numerous constants and parameters of the universe is unexpected and mysterious if naturalism is true. But it makes perfect sense if Christianity is true, and God desired to create beings He could have a relationship with." 

Blaze

As to the Raising of the Dead

"Well, it seems plain to me that 

--if the dead are raised, 

--they must be raised in the sense in which they are dead—i.e. 

--from the very earth under which they are laying." 

Charles Fitch

Creation Moment 5/28/2025 - Fine-Tuning of the Universe SERIES: Goldilocks Zone

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 Godhead; 

so that they are without excuse: 

Romans 1:20

The size and distance of the Earth from the sun:
"Earth’s position in the solar system is in what scientists call the "Goldilocks Zone," where it’s not too hot and not too cold, allowing for liquid water to exist on its surface. 

The size of Earth also ensures that it has the right gravity to retain an atmosphere suitable for life without being too strong to inhibit the mobility of organisms."
Blaze

Vertical & Horizontal Tables of the Law

He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. Matthew 10:37

Some people put the 2nd Table of the Law (The Horizontal Portion of the Law dealing with you and your fellow man / Commandments 5-10) above the First Table of the Law (The Vertical Portion of the Law dealing with you and God / Commandments 1-4) when they cry "Love, Love" but reject the Law of God. 

Creation Moment 5/27/2025 - Fine-Tuning of the Universe SERIES: The Strong Nuclear Force

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 Godhead; 

so that they are without excuse: 

Romans 1:20

The strong nuclear force:
"This force holds together the protons and neutrons in an atom’s nucleus. 

If it were slightly weaker, protons and neutrons wouldn’t stick together, making complex atoms impossible. Without complex atoms, the chemical diversity necessary for life wouldn’t exist. 

If it were stronger, protons could potentially bind to each other more readily, which could lead to a universe without stable hydrogen, an essential element for life."
Blaze

What God says AND Doesn't say

"Matthew 7:20 

By their fruits, you shall know them,

–not “by their creed you shall know them.” 

Charles Fitch

On the Streets of Babylon: Gay Proms Sponsored on the Streets

Babylon is fallen, is fallen,..
Come out of her, My people,
Revelation 14:8/18:4

There are "Gay Proms" sponsored on the Streets of Babylon....

"Pacific Lutheran University is a private Lutheran university in Parkland, Washington, that is sponsored and financially supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

They recently hosted ‘Queer Prom,’ an event targeted at 14-24 year olds, in conjunction with the Oasis Youth Center. 

According to Campus Record, “The sign-up sheet for the dance asked attendees to list information including personal pronouns and offered 8 specific options for sexual orientation and 7 different genders to choose from.”

Along with dancing, the event features “prizes, direct advocacy, free condoms, pregnancy tests, and HIV testing." 

Protestia

Creation Moment 5/26/2025 - Fine-Tuning of the Universe SERIES: The cosmological Constant

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 Godhead; 

so that they are without excuse: 

Romans 1:20

The cosmological constant:
"This constant relates to the expansion speed of the universe. 

If it were just a little bit larger, the universe would expand too rapidly. Conversely, if it were smaller, the universe might have collapsed back on itself." 

Blaze

Israel's Exodus (Sanctuary Outlined)

Moreover, brethren, 

I would not that ye should be ignorant, 

how that all our fathers were under the cloud, 

and all passed through the sea; 

And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 

1 Corinthians 10:1,2

*In the Outer Court Israel held the Passover (Altar of Sacrifice in Egypt)

Passed through Baptism (Brazen Laver)

*Went through the Wilderness  (Sanctification of them in the Wilderness -- Inner Court Experience-- From the Table of Shewbread fed them Manna -- From the Table of the Candlestick their Light shined out to foreigners as Rahab at Jericho would tell them that they were aware their God was the real God from observing them in the Wilderness --from the Altar of Incense Moses interceded for God to spare them as he was a symbol for Christ interceding in our Prayers to God) 

*When God Judged them (Most Holy Place) Righteous (from His Mercy Seat via the Law beneath His feet in the Ark of the Covenant) they entered the Promised Land.

The Triune Godhead Guiding History

As the Wheels in Ezekiel work in unison guiding human history in it's motions....so does the Godhead.

I. The Father (on the Throne above)
And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne......And I saw as the color of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, 

from the appearance of His loins even upward, 

and from the appearance of His loins even downward, 

I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD.
Ezekiel 1:26-28

II. The Son (known as the "Son of Man" in Scripture)

And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides;
Ezekiel 1:8

III. The Spirit (Guiding within the working parts)
And they went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went. Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.
Ezekiel 1:12,20,21

Creation Moment 5/25/2025 - Fine-Tuning of the Universe SERIES: The Strength of Gravity

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 Godhead; 

so that they are without excuse: 

Romans 1:20

The strength of gravity:
"The strength of gravity is determined by the gravitational constant. If gravity were significantly stronger, stars would burn out much faster. 

On the other hand, if gravity were much weaker, stars might not form the creation of essential elements for life." 

Blaze

How God did it....and Stamped it....and Redeemed it

He hath made the earth by His power, 

He hath established the world by His wisdom, 

and hath stretched out the heavens by His discretion. 

Jeremiah 10:12

You Cannot "Un-bless" what God has Blessed

God made all 7 days....but He only BLESSED one....

And God blessed the seventh day,

and sanctified it:

For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth,

the sea, and all that in them is,

and rested the seventh day:

wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, 

and hallowed it.

Genesis 2:3/Exodus 20:11

And from Jesus Christ, ....
--the first begotten of the dead, 
--Unto Him that loved us,
--and washed us from our sins in His own blood,

But He was wounded
for our transgressions,
He was bruised
for our iniquities:
the chastisement 

of our peace
was upon Him;
and with His stripes 

we are healed.
Ye are bought with a price.....
Revelation 1:5/Isaiah 53:5/1 Corinthians 7:23

The 4 Beasts Outline SERIES PAGE

 

The first was like a lion.....Daniel 7:4

1st Beast

Dig Deeper: The 4 Beasts Outline SERIES: 1st Beast

2nd Beast

Dig Deeper: The 4 Beasts Outline SERIES: 2nd Beast

3rd Beast

Dig Deeper: The 4 Beasts Outline SERIES: 3rd Beast

4th Beast

Dig Deeper: The 4 Beasts Outline SERIES: 4th Beast

Little Horn

Dig Deeper: The 4 Beasts Outline SERIES: Little Horn

Pagan Rome morphs into Papal Rome

Dig Deeper: The 4 Beasts Outline SERIES: Pagan Rome morphs into Papal Rome

Creation Moment 5/24/2025 - Audible Animals

"We are all familiar with vocalizations in the animal world. For example, dogs bark, birds sing, frogs croak, and whales send forth their own distinct sounds. 

Recently, a detailed investigation has been conducted to determine sounds made by animals previously thought to be mute.

A group of zoologists led by the University of Zurich declare that, “Their study includes evidence for 53 species of four major clades of land vertebrates – turtles, tuataras, caecilians and lungfishes – in the form of vocal recordings and contextual behavioral information accompanying sound production.”

The ScienceDaily article stated, “Many turtles, for example, which were thought to be mute are in fact showing broad and complex acoustic repertoires.”

We read repeatedly in Genesis 1 that God created creatures after their kind. As such, it wouldn’t be surprising to discover that many (and possibly all) have unique sound production. “Acoustic communication is not only widespread in land vertebrates like birds and mammals, but also in reptiles, amphibians, and fishes.”

Evolutionists deny the Biblical record of creation and must posit a naturalistic origin of complex acoustic communication in animals. “Our results now show that acoustic communication did not evolve multiple times in diverse clades, but has a common and ancient evolutionary origin,” concludes the study leader Marcelo Sánchez.

But not only did such communication not evolve multiple times, it

most certainly did not evolve from some ethereal, unknown creature in deep evolutionary time. As the late non-creationist Tom Bethell stated, “Common descent is a deduction from Darwin’s theory, but it has never been demonstrated.”

Dr. Casey Luskin stated in regard to this tenuous theory,

"The truth is that common ancestry is merely an assumption that governs interpretation of the data, not an undeniable conclusion. Whenever data contradicts expectations of common descent, evolutionists resort to a variety of ad hoc rationalizations to save common descent from being falsified."

The fossil record shows the sudden appearance of all the animal groups complete and fully formed without evidence of their evolution.

Scripture says that God created each type after his kind 10 times in [Genesis 1]. It seems that the writer of Scripture went out of his way to insist that animals and plants were created fully formed as particular kinds and did not get here by altering previous existing kinds, nor do they change into other basic kinds.
But for evolutionists, not only are animals’ origins unknown, but that of their acoustic communication is equally unknown.

Writing in Nature Communications, Jorgewich-Cohen et al. state,

“We suggest a single origin of acoustic communication in the last common ancestor of all Choanata [the Tetrapodomorpha—a clade of vertebrates] over 400 million years before present (mybp).” This last common ancestor is unknown, of course. The authors continue, “In support of this, vertebrate hearing epithelia and cerebral promotor circuits that control vocal behaviors are considered to be homologous and operate in the same hindbrain compartment, respectively.”

Homology is a circular evolutionary concept, and is a “controversial term” according to some evolutionists. 

Q: Could it be that vertebrates share similar anatomical features because they were created according to a common plan, by a common Creator?

God created all animals after their kind, complete with sophisticated vocal abilities." 

ICR

The 4 Beasts Outline SERIES: Pagan Rome morphs into Papal Rome

"Q: When did the little horn, or Papacy, arise?

It did not arise before the ten horns; hence, it did not arise prior to 483 AD, when the tenth horn came up. 

Three of the first horns must be plucked up before it, in its rise. 

It came up among the ten horns, and three of those horns fell before it. It must have been established at the very point where the third horn fell. 

*In the year of our Lord 493, the Heruli in Rome and Italy were conquered by the Ostrogoths. 

*In 534, the Vandals, who were un der Arian influence, were conquered by the Greeks, for the purpose of establishing the supremacy of the Catholics. 

*The Ostrogoths, who held possession of Rome, were under an Arian monarch, who was an enemy to the supremacy of the Bishop of Rome; hence, before the decree of Justinian, (a Greek emperor at Constantinople,) could be carried into effect, by which he had constituted the Bishop of Rome head of all the churches, the Ostrogoths must be plucked up. 

--This conquest was effected by Justinian’s army in the month of March, 538; at which time, the Ostrogoths, who had retired without the city, and besieged it in their turn, raised the siege and retired, leaving the Greeks in possession of the city; thus the third horn was plucked before Papacy, and for the express purpose too of establishing that power.

Here is the letter of Justinian to the Bishop of Rome, 533 AD: “Justinian, pious, fortunate, renowned, triumphant, emperor, consul, etc., to John, the Most Holy Archbishop of our city of Rome, and Patriarch. “Rendering honor to the apostolic see, and to your

holiness, (as always was and is our desire,) and, as it becomes us, honoring your blessedness as a father, we have laid without delay before the notice of your holiness all things pertaining to the state of the church. Since it has always been our earnest study to preserve the unity of your holy see, and the state of the holy churches of God, which has hitherto obtained, and will remain, without any interfering opposition; therefore we hasten to subject, and to unite to your holiness, all the priests of the whole East. “As to the matters which are presently agitated, although clear and undoubted, and, according to the doctrine of your apostolic see, held assuredly resolved and decided by all priests, we have yet deemed it necessary to lay them before your holiness. Nor do we suffer anything which belongs to the state of the church, however manifest and undoubted, that is agitated, to pass with out the knowledge of your holiness, who are the head of all the holy churches. For in all things (as had been said or resolved) we are prompt to increase the honor and authority of your see.” 

.....from the edicts of the “Novellae” of the Justinian code. The preamble of the 9th, states, “that as the elder Rome was the founder of the laws; so was it not to be questioned, that in her was the supremacy of the pontificate.” 

The 131st, on the Ecclesiastical Titles and privileges, chapter ii, states: “We therefore decree that the most holy Pope of the elder Rome is the first of all the priesthood, and that the most blessed archbishop of Constantinople, the new Rome, shall hold the second rank, after the holy apostolic chair of the elder Rome.”

 

Imperial Rome fell about 475 AD, and was in the hands of the barbarians. Thus it continued till the conquest of Rome by Belisarius, Justinian’s general, 536 to 538, when the Ostrogoths left it in possession of the Greek emperor, March, 538. Thus the way was open for the dragon to give the beast... Revelation 13:2 ...his power, and his seat, and great authority.

Daniel 7:25 ...a time and times and the dividing of time. 

John says, Revelation 13:5 Power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. 

He was to make war upon the saints—the church; and in Revelation 12:6, we are told, the woman, the church, fled into the wilderness 1260 days; and that it was for... Revelation 12:14 ...a time, and times, and half a time. 

Here then we have the period of the continuance of this power given us in three forms of expression, which settles the point that the time, times, and dividing of time is 42 months, or 1260 prophetic days or years.

From 538, 1260 years would extend to 1798. 

Q: Did anything transpire that year to justify the belief that the dominion of the Papacy was taken away that year? 

A: It is a historical fact, that, on Feb. 10th, 1798, Berthier, a French general, entered the city of Rome and took it. On the 15th of the same month the Pope was taken prisoner and shut up in the Vatican. 

The papal government, which had continued from the time of Justinian, was abolished, and a republican form of government given to Rome. 

The Pope was carried captive to France, where he died in 1799. Thus, he that led others into captivity, went into captivity; and he who killed with the sword those he was pleased to call heretics, was himself killed (subdued) with the sword; i.e., his dominion was taken away by war. Revelation 13:10 He that leads into captivity shall go into captivity: he that kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. 

Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. He is cut off from being a horn on the beast, or deprived of his civil power, so that he can no longer wield the sword against dissenters. That the Pope was restored, or a new one chosen, is ad mitted. But that he has power to depose kings and put to death the saints now, is denied. 

--When he was a horn on the beast, he deposed kings at pleasure, for centuries, and silenced heretics by the flame, the rack, prison, and the sword. 

Q: Can he do it now? No. Nor has he been able to do it since 1798—since that time the church is out of the wilderness, and the Papacy is compelled to tolerate Protestantism." James White

God’s Great Mirror

"What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law; for I had not known lust except the law had said, You shall not covet. Romans 7:7.

It is evident that Paul means the moral code of ten commandments, when he speaks of the law, from the following facts: 

1. He quotes from the tenth commandment: Exodus 20:17 You shall not covet. 

2. The epistle to the Romans was written 60 AD, about twenty nine years after “the hand-writing of ordinances” was nailed to the cross. 

And even Paul’s conversion was several years after the abolition of the Jewish system of worship; therefore the law, which was an important agent in his conversion, must refer to the moral code of which Christ says, Matthew 5:18 Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law. 

What the Apostle here affirms of himself, is most certainly true in the case of every sinner. Romans 3:20 By the law is the knowledge of sin. 

Here we see that one use of the law of God, in the Christian dispensation, is to show sinners the nature and extent of their sins. Romans 7:8 But sin taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. 

The moral law is God’s great mirror, into which the sinner may look

and see the imperfections of his moral character. Without it, sin is dead, or undiscovered. The apostle James illustrates the use of the royal law by a looking-glass.

For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholds himself, and goes his way, and straightway for gets what manner of man he was. 

But whoso looks into the perfect law of liberty, and continues therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. James 1:23,24"

James White

Creation Moment 5/23/2025 - Mysteries of Sound

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not Love, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal....and have not Love, I am nothing. 

1 Corinthians 13:1

"But recently, researchers developed private “audible enclaves.”

“It is like wearing an invisible headset,” says Yun Jing, an acoustics researcher at Penn State. If you stand in the right place, you can hear a voice or music, while someone nearby hears nothing at all, Jing and colleagues reported in March in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

They achieved this marvel using acoustic metasurfaces, materials

engineered to have tiny repeating structures to manipulate sound in ways that natural materials can’t. “A metasurface is a lens that’s thinner than the wavelength of the sound waves it manipulates,” says Michael Haberman, a mechanical engineer at the University of Texas at Austin. Like lenses for light, acoustic metasurfaces can bend, shape and direct sound by changing the wave’s shape.

Jing’s team 3-D printed acoustic panels with zigzag air channels. Adjusting the path length of each channel let the team steer ultrasonic waves into curved paths. The team then covered two speakers with thin sheets of this metasurface to bend the ultrasonic beams toward each other as they propagated through the air. At the point of intersection, nonlinear interactions transformed the waves into audible sound that could be heard at only this spot.---researchers envision a future in which private conversations can happen in open spaces — no earbuds or wires required. Libraries, offices and other public places could host numerous audible enclaves to allow for private audio streams simultaneously." 

ScienceNews

The 4 Beasts Outline SERIES: Little Horn

"The Little Horn What is the character of the horn here spoken of? First, it speaks great words against the Most High; and, second, it makes war with, and wears out the saints. The same character is elsewhere described. Revelation 13:6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints and to

overcome them. Daniel says, Daniel 7:21 ...[he] prevailed against them. 

Now see: 2 Thessalonians 2:3 That day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

Daniel’s “little horn,” Paul’s “man of sin,” and John’s blasphemous beast, are clearly identified. 

Q: Has a power of this description arisen? It must be admitted that there has, and that it is the Papacy. The titles the Popes have assumed, of “Most Holy Lord,” and their pretensions to pardon sin, even before its commission, if we had nothing else, sufficiently establish the blasphemous character of that power. 

Pope Innocent III, writes: "He [Christ] has set one man over the world, him whom He has appointed His vicar on earth; and as to Christ is bent every knee in heaven, in earth, and under the earth; so shall obedience and service be paid to His vicar by all, that there may be one fold and one shepherd."

Again, Pope Gregory VII, says, "The Roman Pontiff alone is by right universal. In him alone is the right of making laws. Let all kings kiss the feet of the Pope. His name alone shall be heard in the churches. It is the only name in the world. It is his right to depose kings. His word is not to be repealed by any one. It is to be repealed by himself alone. He is to be judged by none. The church of Rome has never erred; and the Scriptures testify it never shall err."

Surely here is a power diverse from all others, and proud and blasphemous enough to answer the character of the little horn. It is said of this horn that: Daniel 7:25 He shall...think to change times and laws. It is evident that the laws here spoken of are the laws of the Most High; for his work is to oppose God. The changing of 

human laws would not be here noted as a distinguishing 

characteristic of the man of sin. No: his distinguishing acts are against God and His saints. In fulfillment of this part of the prophecy, the Roman apostasy has removed the second commandment from the Decalogue, has changed the Sabbath of the fourth, from the seventh to the first day of the week, and has divided the tenth, to make up the number of ten commandments." 

James White

Archaeology: Ichthyosaurs Graveyard

"Ichthyosaurs are marine reptiles that occur globally in the same rock layers as dinosaurs. Specimens with babies support the idea that they gave live birth, unlike most of today’s reptiles.

A pregnant ichthyosaur fossil named Fiona offers new information about the lifestyles of these marine predators.

Originally discovered in 2009 and excavated in 2022 near the Tyndall Glacier in Torres Del Paine National Park, southernmost Chile, it is the first complete ichthyosaur found in Chile. The same site has produced an additional 86 ichthyosaur specimens to date, qualifying the locality as a Lagerstätte deposit, or a fossil graveyard. All seem to have been buried rapidly in wet sand that has since turned to sandstone.

Fiona was taken out of the ground in five pieces and flown by helicopter to a nearby ranger station before being shipped to the research laboratory at the Natural History Museum Río Seco in Punta Arenas, Chile.

One of the most fascinating aspects of Fiona is that her snout was found to have been pushed about four inches into the sand during burial, causing the skeleton to twist and exposing its right side. Science writer Jordan Joseph further described the specimen.
Inside her body were fossilized fish vertebrae, which indicate that her last meal had not yet been digested. The fetus was also mostly intact and appeared ready for birth, with its tail oriented toward what would have been the exit path from the mother.

Joseph added this about Fiona’s rapid burial,

"The fossil reveals a story of sudden burial. Scientists suspect an underwater landslide pushed down a heavy flow of sand that covered Fiona almost instantly, and led to excellent conditions for the preservation of both mother and unborn baby."

To explain the other 86 ichthyosaur fossils at the site, the science team postulated that repeated underwater landslides catastrophically buried each of them. 

Q: But where are marine animals being buried completely, so perfectly, and in such numbers today? 

--In addition, these fossils are found on the continent, not in the deep ocean.

A better explanation is that Fiona and the other ichthyosaurs were

buried in the catastrophe of the global Flood described in Genesis. The forces behind her sudden burial are best explained by super-sized, tsunami waves generated by tectonic activity during the Flood year. Earthquakes can generally create a series of tsunamis. 

--Each wave could have carried in several living ichthyosaurs from the ocean depths, rapidly burying them in sand and mud. 

While it’s impossible to tell if Fiona was giving birth at the time of her burial or if the baby was simply pushed out by the compaction process, it’s clear that ichthyosaurs gave life birth. Fiona is a reminder of the judgement of the Flood. Her unfortunate burial while pregnant is a consequence of Adam’s sin and rebellion against Jesus Christ, our Creator. With the rest of creation, Christians look forward to the day when God will “make all things new” (Revelation 21:5)." ICR