Revelation 22:1,2 Examined

 Verse 1. And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

"The angel continues to show John the wonderful things of the city of God. In the midst of the street of the city was the tree of life.

The Broad Street.--Although the word street is here used in the singular number, with the definite article the before it, it is not to be supposed that there is but one street in the city; for there are twelve gates, and there must of course be a street leading to each gate. But the street here spoken of is the street by way of distinction; it is the main street, or, as the original word signifies, the broad way, the great avenue.

The River of Life.--The tree of life is in the midst of this street; 

--but the tree of life is on either side of the river of life; 

--hence the river of life is also in the midst of the street of the city. --This river proceeds from the throne of God. 

 

The picture thus presented before the mind is this: The glorious throne of God at the head of this broad way, or avenue; out of that throne the river of life, flowing lengthwise through the center of the street; and the tree of life growing on either side, forming a high and magnificent arch over that majestic stream, and spreading its life-bearing branches far away on either hand. 

A very natural conception of the arrangement of the streets of the city would be that shown in the accompanying diagram; namely, the throne in the center, and a grand avenue in which is the river of life and the tree of life extending out in four directions to the wall of the city on all of its four sides. This would give all corresponding parts of the city equal access to the grand avenue.

The Tree of Life.--But how can the tree of life be but one tree, and still be on either side of the river?  

1. It is evident that there is but one tree of life. From Genesis to Revelation it is spoken of as but one--the tree of life.  

2. To be at once on both sides of the river, it must have more than one trunk, in which case it must be united at the top or in its upper branches, in order to form but one tree.
The tree of life bears twelve kinds of fruit, and yields its fruit every month. This fact throws light upon the declaration in Isaiah 66:23, that all flesh shall come up "from one new moon to another" to worship before the Lord of hosts. The words new moon should be rendered month.

The Hebrew has (hhodesh), the second definition of which Gesenius gives as "a month." The Septuagint has (mena ek menos), "from month to month." The redeemed come up to the holy city from month to month to partake of the fruit of the tree of life. Its leaves are for the healing of the nations; literally, the service of the nations." Uriah Smith

IN the NEWS - Vatican Looks To Biden [COVID/Climate]

I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Galatians 1:6

"The Vatican suggested Thursday a Biden presidency might inject new life into the stagnant Paris Climate Accord after President Trump pulled the U.S. out of the deal in 2017.

 The Vatican COVID-19 Commission announced Thursday that it is organizing a webinar next week in preparation for a December 12 global climate summit to be co-hosted by the United Nations and the UK to mark the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement.

 

In its preparatory document, the Vatican team lamented the lack of initiative and commitment around the Paris climate goals, something it said needs to gain renewed momentum ahead of the U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP 26) to be held in Glasgow in November 2021...... the text states. “The result of US elections can play a key role in the next weeks’ developments.”

 

In Thursday’s text, the Vatican states that governments “need an immediate response to shifting the global economy from fossil fuels” in order to avoid “catastrophic effects, including destabilizing heat waves, severe floods, and a sharp rise in sea level.”

Joe Biden vows to thrust America backwards! Joe Biden promised to bring the U.S. back into the Paris Climate Agreement, even though the U.S. is reducing emissions anyway. https://t.co/zxibsp95XA

— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) September 15, 2020

“Particularly, industrialized countries must act quickly to meet their net-zero targets before 2050 to achieve the Paris targets,” the

document declares. “Adequate and consistent financial support must be delivered to vulnerable countries to adapt to the climate-related devastation that they are already experiencing.”

At the upcoming climate summit, “national governments will be requested to present more ambitious, high-quality climate plans involving government leaders, the private sector, and civil society,” the Vatican text states. “More than ever, the ethical imperative of climate inaction will be accentuated. This summit should remind us of the urgent need to take concrete action to recognize our reliance on a healthy planet and to work together for transformative change.” Breitbart

Creation Moment 12/4/2020 - Answering Jakosky's Question

"Bruce Jakosky, who has worked with NASA in the search for
extraterrestrial life, asked rhetorically: “Was there a distinct moment when Earth went from having no life to having life, as if a switch were flipped?"

A:  And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.  Genesis 1:3

God's Way Summed Up

 "The righteousness of God is what God does; 

--it is His way. 

--To be in harmony with Him is to make His way our way. 

 

The gospel reveals this way to us (For therein is the righteousness

of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. Romans 1:17), and not only this but it is the power of God to work out His way in us. 

 

The Bible is a statement of God's way, and this is summed up in the ten commandments, which are a declaration of His righteousness. (Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; .. Isaiah 51:7)."

E.J. Waggoner

Papal Notes- Francis' "Polychromatic Light of Religions" Nonsense

These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. Rev.17:13  

 

Definition of polychromatic

1 : showing a variety or a change of colors : multicolored

2 : being or relating to radiation that is composed of more than one wavelength

 

 "The Vatican is stepping up its alliance with a pan-Islamic organization alleged to have provided "material support" to al-Qaeda's 9/11 terrorist operation as well as to have funded terrorism and the global propagation of hardline Wahhabi Islam.

 As part of recent efforts at re-branding its image through "religious diplomacy," the Saudi-sponsored Muslim World League (MWL) hosted the Vatican's envoy to the United Nations (U.N.) Sunday for a book presentation on interreligious dialogue.

Archbishop Ivan Jurkovič, the Holy See's permanent observer to the U.N. in Geneva, delivered a keynote address in Jeddah on the book The Promotion of Intercultural and Interreligious Dialogue as an Instrument for Peace and Fraternity, stressing the Vatican's developing relationship that began under Pope Francis in 2017.

Making no mention of Christ or the gospel, Jurkovič instead

extolled the "polychromatic light of religions" that illuminates this world and "does not contrast the individual colors by putting them in antithesis to one another; rather, it combines them in a non-conflictual vision."

"The inevitable consequence of abandoning a civilization of encounter is to resort to an incivility of conflict," Jurkovič said, citing both Francis' Fratelli Tutti and the Human Fraternity pact with Grand Imam Ahmad al-Tayyeb." ChurchMilitant

3 R's SERIES PAGE

3 R's SERIES PAGE

 ....hath not one God created us? 

Malachi 2:10

 

1

http://master1844-dc.blogspot.com/2020/11/creation-moment-11292020-3-rs-series-1.html

2

http://master1844-dc.blogspot.com/2020/11/creation-moment-11302020-3-rs-series-2.html

3 

http://master1844-dc.blogspot.com/2020/12/creation-moment-1212020-3-rs-series-3.html

3 R's SERIES: SUMMARY

http://master1844-dc.blogspot.com/2020/12/creation-moment-1222020-3-rs-series.html

IN the NEWS - When a "magistrate" goes full board Cultural Marxist

 ....but every man did that which was right in his own eyes. Judges 17:6

"An Australian couple whose child was reportedly seized by state authorities is appealing a magistrate's ruling finding them abusive and “dangerous” for resisting testosterone therapy for their daughter, who now identifies as male.

Lawyers for the unidentified parents filed papers last week seeking to appeal a magistrate's October decision, setting up what appears to be the country's first test case on parental rights regarding gender dysphoria medicine, the Australian newspaper reported on Saturday. Their child, then 15, was taken away from the family last year, after discussing suicide online.

“The authorities say we will not allow her to change gender, so it's dangerous for told her to come back to our house because we will mentally abuse her,” the father told the Australian. “They want us to consent to testosterone treatment.”

The parents are seeking an independent psychological review of all possible causes of their child's depression, as well as consideration of non-invasive treatment options. The teen struggled after losing friends at 13, when the family relocated, and those difficulties were compounded by a difficult start to puberty and anxiety about eating and body image, the mother said.

The family migrated to Australia a decade ago, the newspaper said, without identifying their native country. The magistrate found that the teen likely suffered verbal abuse over “his feelings and expression of gender identity,”  which the parents denied (notice that the magistrate has capitulated to the cultural demand to recognize biologically confused people’s preferred pronouns as if they are a sacred viewpoint).

Lawyers for the child earlier this month filed papers seeking approval to begin hormone therapy.

A Twitter commenter who said her own daughter suffered from rapid onset gender dysphoria, said state interventions such as in the Australia case mark “the end of parenting as we knew it.” Liberal, culture-loving governments are becoming evil, there is no better way to say it." Fulcrum7

Creation Moment 12/3/2020 - Hitching a Ride to Coax

 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.

Psalm 139:14 NLT

 

"New research has identified and described a cellular process that, despite what textbooks say, has remained elusive to scientists until now — precisely how the copying of genetic material that, once started, is properly turned off.

The finding concerns a key process essential to life: the transcription phase of gene expression, which enables cells to live and do their jobs.

During transcription, an enzyme called RNA polymerase wraps itself around the double helix of DNA, using one strand to match nucleotides to make a copy of genetic material — resulting in a newly synthesized strand of RNA that breaks off when transcription is complete. That RNA enables production of proteins, which are essential to all life and perform most of the work inside cells.

Just as with any coherent message, RNA needs to start and stop in the right place to make sense. A bacterial protein called Rho was discovered more than 50 years ago because of its ability to stop, or terminate, transcription. In every textbook, Rho is used as a model terminator that, using its very strong motor force, binds to the RNA and pulls it out of RNA polymerase. But a closer look by these scientists showed that Rho wouldn’t be able to find the RNAs it needs to release using the textbook mechanism.

“We started studying Rho, and realized it cannot possibly work in ways people tell us it works,” said Irina Artsimovitch.

The research, published online by the journal Science today, November 26, 2020, determined that instead of attaching to a specific piece of RNA near the end of transcription and helping it unwind from DNA, Rho actually “hitchhikes” on RNA polymerase for the duration of transcription. Rho cooperates with other proteins to eventually coax the enzyme through a series of structural changes that end with an inactive state enabling release of the RNA." SciTechDaily

IN the NEWS - SUN SCARE

 And there shall be signs in the sun.... Luke 21:25

Will this type of event finally produce the big one at some point down the road that knocks out power on part of the earth? Imagine the chaos that would ensue....

"On Sunday, SpaceWeather said the sun's solar explosion was measured as an M4.4-category eruption, which produced a

shortwave radio blackout over some parts of Earth and a bright coronal mass ejection (CME). 

"Remarkably, the flare was even bigger than it seemed. The blast site is located just behind the sun's southeastern limb, so the explosion was partially eclipsed by the body of the sun."

 "X-rays and UV radiation from the flare ionized the top of Earth's atmosphere, producing a shortwave radio blackout over the South Atlantic... Ham radio operators and mariners may have noticed strange propagation effects at frequencies below 20 MHz, with some transmissions below 10 MHz completely extinguished,"

SpaceWeather said on its website.

 A coronagraph video via the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) shows the massive burst of electromagnetic radiation ejecting from the sun. 

SpaceWeather said the flare and an associated CME were not Earth-facing but erupted behind the sun's southeastern limb. This is good news because the explosion was partially eclipsed by the body of the sun. If the flare were Earth-facing, it would've likely been an X-class event, meaning it could've resulted in widespread radio blackouts, downed power grids, and disrupted communication networks. 

In 2017, we noted that FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Administration) planned for a massive solar event that would be strong enough to take down the power grids.

There has also been a couple of notable solar flare events in the last three years:

• Huge Solar Flare Sparks Widespread Blackouts, May Deter Korean Missile Launch This Weekend
• NASA: "Sun Erupts With Significant Flare"

With the Earth entering what appears to be an active solar period that could last through 2025 - this would present many challenges for the new digital economy as remote working has been kicked into hyperdrive because of the virus pandemic.

SpaceWeather warns that from Dec. 1-2, Sunday's M4.4-class solar flare might sideswipe Earth's magnetic field. 

"The hidden sunspot that produced this major event will rotate onto the Earthside of the sun during the next day or two," according to SpaceWeather. "Then its ability to spark geomagnetic storms will be greatly increased." 

An active solar cycle could be bad news for the digital economy as disruptions sparked by solar flares could create massive economic damage." ZeroHedge

Repercussions of The Altar of Appetite

For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,... Matthew 24:38

 "The human family have been growing more and more self-indulgent, until health has been most successfully sacrificed upon the altar of lustful appetite. 

 

The inhabitants of the Old World were intemperate in eating and drinking. They would have flesh meats, although God had given them no permission to eat animal food. 

 

They ate and drank to excess, and their depraved appetites knew no bounds.  

--They gave themselves up to abominable idolatry. 

--They became violent, and ferocious, and so corrupt that God could bear with them no longer. 

 

*Their cup of iniquity was full, and God cleansed the earth of its moral pollution by a flood. 

*As men multiplied upon the face of the earth after the flood, they forgot God, and corrupted their ways before him. 

Intemperance in every form increased to a great extent."

E.G.W.

Creation Moment 12/2/2020 - 3 R's SERIES: SUMMARY

 .....hath not one God created us? 

Malachi 2:10

 

"The ‘3 Rs’ could never add up to mosquitoes, mesquite, mutts and man from microbes (let alone from molecules!).

The evidence instead fits with the Biblical account of God having created a multiplicity of ‘kinds’, each programmed to reproduce according to its kind.

As we’ve seen in our fur length example, long hair and short hair can

appear in just one generation, arising from the in-built canine genetic variation—variation that was built-in to dogs at Creation.

 So Noah didn’t need to take on board the Ark multiple pairs of dingoes, Dalmatians, and dachshunds; or coyotes, corgis, and cocker spaniels; or jackals, jack russells, and jackadoodles. He only needed two dogs—just as the Bible suggests (Genesis 6:19–20)." 

CMI

Why did the Disciples think they saw a "ghost" or "spirit"?

 "It is in the New Testament where we find the words ghosts and spirits being used more often, interchangeably between translations. There are two Greek words that are used. 

---The first is φάντασμα (phantasma), which literally means ‘apparition’ like the commonly understood word ‘ghost’. 

---The word πνεῦμα (pneuma) means spirit, air, or breath. This can refer to what I described before as the essence of a being. 

---It can also mean ‘demons’ when paired with the word ἀκάθαρτον (akatharton).

 

The most remembered New Testament passage regarding ghosts is Matthew 14:26. Whereas the KJV says: “And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a

spirit [phantasma]; and they cried out for fear,” the ESV says, “But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, ‘It is a ghost!’ and they cried out in fear.”

 

And Mark 6:49: “But when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit [phantasma], and cried out” (KJV). “But when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out” (ESV).

 

On another occasion when Jesus suddenly appeared in the room with the disciples, they said: “But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit [Greek pneuma]” (Luke 24:37, KJV). The ESV says, “But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit.”

 

Notice in these examples how in its translations the ESV distinguishes between the two Greek words, whereas the KJV translates both the Greek pneuma and phantasma as “spirit”.

These first passages are referring to the occasion when Jesus was seen walking on the surface of the Sea of Galilee, and the Luke account is when the resurrected Jesus appeared to the disciples in the room. 

Obviously, the disciples had never seen a man do anything like either of these events before, so their first thought was to invoke the supernatural, resorting to ideas from their culture to explain it. In the Luke account, they had seen Jesus die on the cross not too long before, so they thought they

were seeing His spirit (a somewhat understandable reaction since He suddenly appeared in a locked room).

And Jesus reinforces this in Luke 24:39 after his resurrection when He says:

“See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” CMI

"Day of Blood's " Bellona still honored by "Christians" Through the Ages

And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man....

Romans 1:23

 

Evidence for Nominal Christianities Dominance within Christendom through history....just can't shake their Roman Empire ancestors Paganism....

 

 "Bellona was an ancient Roman goddess of war. Her main attribute

is the military helmet worn on her head; she often holds a sword, spear, or shield, and brandishes a torch or whip as she rides into battle in a four-horse chariot. She had a temple near the Theater of Marcellus. 

 

Bellona was originally an ancient Sabine goddess of war identified with Nerio, the consort of the war god Mars, and later with the Greek war goddess Enyo. Her temple in Rome was dedicated in 296 BC near the Circus Flaminius by Appius Claudius Caecus, during the war with the Etruscans and Samnites.

 

Her festival was celebrated on 3 June, and her priests were known as Bellonarii and used to wound their own arms or legs as a blood sacrifice to her. These rites took place on 24 March, called the day of blood (dies sanguinis), after the ceremony. 

Roman votaries of the war-goddess Bellona cut themselves and drank this sacrificial blood to propitiate the deity.

The priests flogged themselves until they bled and sprinkled their blood upon the image and the altars in the sanctuary, while others are said to have imitated Attis by castrating themselves."

 

Q: Weren't most French "Christians" in 1879?

"Auguste Rodin's sculpture of a head of Bellona (1879) originally was created for a monument to the French Third Republic and

shows even more belligerence. Modelled on his mistress Rose Beuret while in a bad mood, the head is drawn back in proud anger, turning in dynamic movement to look along the line of her right shoulder."

 

Q:  Weren't most English and Germans from Hanover in 1763, and most French and Anglo Canadians in 1862 "Christians"?

"The Temple of Bellona, designed by William Chambers for Kew Gardens in 1760, was projected as a celebration of the Anglo-Hanoverian war effort during the Seven Years' War and eventually housed plaques honoring the regiments that served in it. These, however, related primarily to remembrance of victory rather than of the fallen. It was not until a century afterward that the French-Canadian victims of the Seven Years War were commemorated by a monument at Quebec. Atop a tall column on the site of the battlefield, Bellona looks down, carrying a shield and laurel crown in her right hand. The statue was presented by Jérôme-Napoléon in 1862 as a gesture of reconciliation."

 

Q: Weren't Most people in Brussels in the late middle ages "Christians"?

 "Batholomaeus Spranger's "Bellona Leading the Imperial Armies

against the Turks"  played its part in Austria's anti-Turkish propaganda during the Long Turkish War. A later phase of the continuing conflict, culminating in victory at the battle of Zenta in 1697, is marked by Jean Cosyn's celebratory doorway in Brussels in what now is known as the Maison de Bellone, at the center of which presides the helmeted bust of the goddess surrounded by military standards and cannons."

 

Q: Didn't most Polish in 1920 identify as "Catholic Christians"? 

"....in the Bialystok memorial to the dead in the Polish–Soviet War in 1920, she stands behind a soldier and holds aloft a laurel crown."

wiki

Chiasm of Syriac Woman's Daughter Healed

  Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. 

She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter.

Mark 7:26 

A(7:24-25)    7:25 Soon a woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit         B(7:26)       7:26 she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter.           C(7:27)          7:27 it is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.           C'(7:28)          7:28 Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children's scraps.        B'(7:29)       7:29 The demon has gone out of your daughter.     A'(7:30)    7:30 she found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.
A: A daughter has an unclean spirit. B: To drive the demon out. C: The dog and the bread.

IN the NEWS - 1 In 13 Of All U.S. Nursing Home Residents......

 ....and pestilences.... Luke 21:11

 "Satan is exercising his power. ....He imparts to the air a deadly taint, and thousands perish by the pestilence. These visitations are to become more and more frequent and disastrous.” Great Controversy, p. 590 E.G.W.

 

"According to physician and public health expert Michael Barnett, 7.7% of the nation's nursing home residents, or one in 13, have

now died as a result of Covid-19. "Things have never really gotten better," he tweeted. "Testing is a struggle, PPE and staff are daily challenges."

Soon after reaching the "bleak milestone" of 100,000 pandemic deaths in long-term care facilities, which happened on Tuesday, the U.S. on Thursday experienced a new record-high number of coronavirus-related hospitalizations.

As KFF explained, the predicted "surge in cases after holiday gatherings and increased time indoors due to winter weather... will have ripple effects on hospitals and nursing homes...." ZeroHedge

Book Review: Approaching Armageddon

 (short) Book Review: A book that may be of some interest....
(Review by  Keep The Faith)

 

 Approaching Armageddon

by Steve Wohlberg

 Publisher : Destiny Image Incorporated (October 1, 2020)210 pages

 

Author and theologian Steve Wohlberg has studied eschatology for over 40 years and in his new book “Approaching Armageddon,” he makes it clear that he believes we are living in the last days.

 “I have never seen such a cluster of biblical signs being fulfilled all around us at the same time as the world is now witnessing,” says Wohlberg. “We are now seeing an unprecedented uptick of signs —disasters, wars, famines, sexual sin—like Lot’s day. We also see violence like Noah’s day and the ‘increase of knowledge’ predicted to occur in ‘the time of the end,’ according to Daniel 12:4. Look at the West Coast fires that are burning throughout California and Oregon. This is a record. So is the temperature, up to 126% in Los Angeles. I grew up in L.A., and it was never that hot. This is all happening in the time of a global pandemic and global lockdowns, which is unparalleled. Then you add the riots, rage, and political divisions. Revelation 11:18 clearly says ‘The nations were angry’ before the world as we know it comes to an end.”

Wohlberg establishes the validity of predictive prophecy in the first few chapters of “Approaching Armageddon.” says Wohlberg. “It is interesting that the book of Daniel is divided into both prophetic timelines and practical stories which show Daniel and his three friends standing firm for God in times of crisis. These stories are lessons for us. Thus, Biblical prophecy and practical godliness need to merge in our thinking, going beyond just academic discussions about end-time theories.”

Health Note - Peppermint for Headaches

 Beloved, 

I wish above all things that thou mayest .....be in health....

3 John 1:2

 

"Rubbing a few drops of peppermint oil on the forehead and temples can ease headache pain in as little as 15 minutes and keep throbbing away for up to an hour. 

It’s been found to improve circulation and relax muscle tension."

ReadersDigest

What did Samson Lose?

And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.

Judges 16:4

 

"Samson, that mighty man of valor, was under a solemn vow to be a

Nazarite during the period of his life; but, becoming infatuated by the charms of lewd woman, he rashly broke that sacred pledge. 

 

Satan worked through his agents to destroy this ruler of Israel, that the mysterious power which he possessed might no longer intimidate the enemies of God's people. 

It was the influence of this bold woman that separated him from God, her artifices that proved his ruin. 

 

The love and service which God claims,  

Samson gave to this woman. 

This was idolatry. 

He lost all sense of the sacred character and work of God, and sacrificed honor, conscience, and every valuable interest, to base passion."

E.G.W.

On the Streets of Babylon: "Church of Eunuchs" in Pakistan?

 Babylon is fallen, is fallen,..
Come out of her, my people,
Revelation 14:8/18:4
There seems to be a  "Eunuch Church" spotted on the Streets of Babylon...

 

 

 "Transgender people in Pakistan claim “to have found a place of peace” by creating their own church, in which all are accepted

without restriction or discrimination under the wrong concept of “Christianity.”

This congregation has been called the First Church of Eunuchs, and it appears to be the only one for transgender people in the nation who consider themselves “Christian.”

“Eunuch” is a term often used for transgender women in South Asia, although they consider it derogatory.

Ghazala Shafique, pastor and co-founder of the church, said she chose the name because according to her, “eunuchs” are Biblically favored by God.

“People looked at us with eyes that laughed at us,” said Nena Soutrey, a transgender woman." 

Bibliatodo

Creation Moment 12/1/2020 - 3 R's SERIES: 3

........... hath not one God created us? 

Malachi 2:10

 

 ‘R’#3: Ruin genetic information

 "In the above examples, we see that natural selection, adaptation and speciation are real and observable. And that these simply demonstrate the rearranging and/or removing of dog genes that were originally present at Creation. (I.e. by the end of Day 6, when God completed Creation, declaring it ‘very good’—Genesis 1:31.)

 

However, there are forms of dog genes today which were not present at Creation but have arisen since. But those have not arisen by any creative process, but by mutations, which are copying mistakes (typos, we might say) as genes are passed from parents to offspring. You would expect such accidental changes to wreck the existing genes, and that’s what happens. For example, the dog pictured in Figure 3 has just such a mutated gene, resulting in ‘floppy ear

syndrome’.

Dogs with this genetic mutation have weaker cartilage and cannot lift up their ears. So they just hang, floppy before dinner, and sloppy after it—unless their owners are diligent in cleaning them. Such regular attention to ear hygiene is necessary, as dogs with floppy ears are prone to serious ear infections, which can even lead to hearing loss.⁶ Not that their hearing was especially good anyway. As you might expect, dogs with erect ears are far superior to floppy-eared dogs at detecting prey by sound.

I can remember reflecting on this when I was an atheist/evolutionist, and wondering how such floppy-eared dogs could have ever evolved and survived in the wild. I now know that they didn’t. Instead this mutation in the genes has arisen since the original  world (Genesis 1:31) was cursed as a result of Adam’s sin (Genesis 3:17–19). The floppy-eared mutation in dogs is but one example of how a post-Fall world is very much “in bondage to decay” (Romans 8:19–22). So common is this mutational defect in modern domestic dogs that many people have naïvely come to think of floppy-eared dogs as ‘normal’. But Adam and Eve, if they were alive today, would no doubt be shocked to see such deformity. The original dogs, probably something like today’s gray wolves, would have had erect, superbly functional, ears.

Why is this so important to consider, in the context of evolutionary claims that no Creator was necessary?

Evolutionary biologists, when pressed with the facts about natural selection, will concede that natural selection by itself can only remove existing genetic information. However, they argue that in tandem with mutations, natural selection would be a creative process.

But the floppy-ear mutation, for one, is a classic example of the widespread degradation of the genome—a downhill process. For microbes-to-man evolution to be true, evolutionists should be able to point to thousands of examples of information-gaining mutations, an uphill process, but they can’t. Mutations overwhelmingly ruin genetic information. Therefore evolutionists looking to mutations as being evolution’s ‘engine’ do so in vain. Thus they are left with no known mechanism capable of ever turning microbes into mutts—i.e. no way of ‘climbing’ up the supposed evolutionary ‘tree’.

Note that while mutations degrade genetic information, sometimes an advantage arising from such degradation can outweigh the disadvantage vis-à-vis survival. While a floppy-eared mutant mutt might not last long in the wild, under human care—i.e. with regular ear cleaning—the equation changes. And what about the key moment when a buyer is looking for the ‘cutest’, friendliest pup in the pet shop window? Indeed, there is increasing evidence that the floppy-eared characteristic is strongly associated with tameness. Little wonder then, that floppy-eared dogs are so common today." 

CMI

Puritan Corner - ye Pilgrims.....

To all ye Pilgrims:

In as much as the great Father has given us this year an abundant harvest of Indian corn, wheat, peas, beans, squashes, and garden vegetable, and has made the forests to abound with game and the

sea with fish and clams, and inasmuch as he has protected us from the ravages of the savages, has spared us from pestilence and disease, has granted us freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience;

Now I, your magistrate, do proclaim that all ye Pilgrims, with your wives and ye little ones, do gather at ye meeting house, on ye hill, between the hours of 9 and 12 in the day time, on Thursday, November ye 29th, of the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and twenty-three, and the third year since ye Pilgrims landed on ye Pilgrim Rock, there to listen to ye pastor and render thanksgiving to ye Almighty God for all His blessings. 

William Bradford, Ye Governor of Ye Colony. 

by William Bradford (1590-1657)

 Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God.

2 Corinthians 9:11