Podcasts about bible quotes

Ep 203 Well-being Chat - Wisdom from Bible Quotes

Well-known inspirational Bible quotes often bring us comfort, encouragement, motivation, reassurance and strength. Yet we tend to gravitate toward such verses not just because they're emotionally uplifting, but because they're contextually sanitized, non-confrontational, and undemanding of us. Such a shallow use of the Bible robs us of the endless abundance of inspiration found all over the Scriptures, including in the most unexpected, less delicate, more in-your-face and provocative of places. So with that in mind, here are four inspirational Bible verses that no one in their right mind has ever labeled “inspirational.” WATCH ON YOUTUBE • https://bcpodca.st/y/ep72

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Episode 270 –Bible: Cornerstone and Context 2 – Infinite Salvation Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script: For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. 11 Timothy, Chapter 2, verses 5 and 6, New International Version ******** VK: Hello! Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. I’m Victoria K. We’re so happy to have you with us today on Anchored by Truth as we continue with the series that we began in our last episode. We’re calling this series “The Bible: Cornerstone and Context.” Our goal on Anchored by Truth is to help people understand that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. And one powerful way for people to come to that awareness is for them to realize that the Bible is a pre-eminently reasonable book. Some people may come to the Bible and think that the various books and stories contained in the Bible were just sort of randomly assembled. But nothing could be further from the truth. The Bible is a unified revelation. To help us continue this invaluable discovery, today in the studio we have RD Fierro, an author and the founder of Crystal Sea Books. RD, why did you decide to do a series you call “Cornerstone and Context?” RD: Well, I’d also like to welcome everyone joining us here today as we continue our new series. We’ve talked often on Anchored by Truth that in our day and age there is widespread Biblical ignorance in our culture. And surprisingly that Biblical ignorance extends even into our churches. If you talk to the average person sitting in a pew on Sunday morning and ask them whether they believe the Bible is the word of God the vast majority will say yes. But when you ask them to explain to you why they believe that you get a lot of blank stares. It’s not that they are not sincere in their belief. It’s that all too often they have only a cursory understanding of the faith they claim and even more cursory understanding of the Bible. That’s sad but it’s also perilous – because a Christian who can’t provide a reasoned explanation of what they believe and why they believe it is just chum to the cultural sharks who swarm in school buildings, the media, academia, corporate hallways, and government. Some surveys have said that as many as three-quarters of the kids raised in Christian homes lose their faith when the leave home. VK: What you’re saying is that our culture is no longer a safe place to be a Christian. While there are a lot of platitudes hurled around that talk about freedom of thought and expression, the truth is that the consistent target for denigration today is evangelical Christianity. Now we shouldn’t be surprised by this. Jesus told us that his people would be a target for the world and the devil. In what may be Jesus’ best-known discourse on the end times he said this: “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.” That’s the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 24, verses 9 through 11. RD: Yes. Note that in those verses Jesus warned that “many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other.” Since Jesus said that these people would “turn away” that means that for at least some time there would be people who were seemingly His followers, seemingly Christian, but they really weren’t. And the occasion for those people abandoning their false profession of faith was because of persecution. We all need to take Jesus’ warning to heart and make sure that we aren’t among the group that turns away. We need to make sure that we – and our families and friends – are firmly grounded in their faith. VK: … that they are “anchored by truth” in other words… RD: Yes - anchored by truth. That’s why we named this show what we did. People with a shallow faith are going to be swept away when waves of persecution come. We’re already seeing that all around us. The fastest growing religious group in America today is the so-called “nones.” These are the people who possess no religious faith. VK: But that’s really a deceptive label isn’t it. People may say they don’t believe in any religion but they are just lying to themselves. It’s just that they have substituted a false idol for faith in the One True God. And while in our society they are certainly free to do that they are not free to do that without consequences. Because God has been very clear that He will one day call all people to account. The Apostle Paul wrote “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” That’s 2 Corinthians, chapter 5, verse 10. The consequence of people rejecting Christ in this life is that Christ will not recognize them as His people when they stand before Him at judgment. RD: Yes – and that’s actually what I wanted to talk more about today - salvation. I’d guess that if you asked a lot of Christians to explain exactly how Christ provides salvation to His people we would get a lot of blank stares. VK: Well, I think a lot of people would say something like “we’re saved by Christ’s death on the cross” or “we’re saved because Jesus took our sins away.” RD: I think they would and both of those statements are accurate. But they are incomplete in terms of the basis for our salvation. Both of those statements are essentially statements about the result of Christ’s atoning death – and it is a glorious result indeed. But a complete understanding and explanation of how Christ provided salvation to His people means going beyond just the result to the origin of the need for salvation and the process used to bring about the result. VK: In other words the cornerstone and context of our salvation. RD: In so many words yes. VK: Well, I think many people might say “I don’t need to know how I was saved. I just need to know that I am saved. RD: And that would be unfortunate for a number of reasons but let’s just mention one for today. Studying scripture is not optional for God’s people. In Paul’s epistle to the Philippians he told them to “work out [their] salvation with fear and trembling.” That’s Philippians, chapter 2, verse 12. Now Paul is not telling the Philippians to be afraid of the work. He is telling them that they must be diligent about being obedient to his admonitions and the commands of scripture because expects His people to do their best. We should be afraid of not doing our best for Jesus because as Paul pointed out earlier Jesus gave up a heavenly throne to provide our salvation. In other words, God and Jesus gave us the greatest blessing possible – eternal salvation – but to do that God had to send His only begotten Son to die for us. It’s incumbent on us then to express our gratitude by at least taking the trouble to understand what God did for us. In addition to the instruction God gave to the Philippians Paul also gave his follower Timothy, and us, an express command to study scripture. VK: You’re thinking of 2 Timothy, chapter 2, verse 15. In the Amplified Bible that verse says, “Study and do your best to present yourself to God approved, a workman [tested by trial] who has no reason to be ashamed, accurately handling and skillfully teaching the word of truth.” RD: Right. God commands us to study God’s word, the Bible. And if we do that we will be able to explain not only the result of our salvation but why it was necessary in the first place. And, even more wonderfully, we will be able to explain the true elegance of the plan of redemption. VK: And one thing that can help everyone with developing a complete understanding of how and why Jesus saved us is by returning to the grand story that the Bible tells. In our last episode of Anchored by Truth we mentioned that the Bible is a single book about a single plan centered on a single man. The plan was God’s plan to redeem a people for Himself. The man who is the center of God’s plan of redemption, and all of history for that matter, is Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus is the cornerstone of the Bible and History. And the grand saga that the Bible relates is a saga of creation, fall, and redemption. RD: So, one thing that we can immediately see by returning to the big story, the grand saga, is the origin of the need for Jesus to die an atoning death on the cross – the fall of man that occurred in the Garden of Eden. If Adam and Eve had obeyed God’s command to not eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil man would never have fallen. So, the origin of the need for the sacrifice of God’s only Son lies in the fall of man that is reported in chapter 3 of the book of Genesis. VK: If man had not fallen, sin would not have entered the created order. And therefore man would not have to have been redeemed from the consequences of sin. But once man fell, God had to do something to save His elect because if God had done nothing everyone would have been lost. RD: Correct. So, let’s work our way through the chain of salvation step by step. In chapter 1 of Genesis we hear the overall story of creation. Then in chapter 2 we get more detailed information about how created the pinnacle of creation, man and woman. At the end of chapter 2 everything is good – in fact very good – within the created order. VK: Sadly, all that changed in the opening verses of chapter 3 of Genesis – because in the first verse of chapter 3 we start to hear about the serpent. The serpent is really the devil in disguise. We learn about that from chapter 12 of the book of Revelation. RD: So, obviously the devil already existed at that time. And the devil had already rebelled against God and most likely already led a third of the angels into following him. So, in chapter 3 of Genesis we find out that Adam and Eve are now going to be tested to see whether they will be obedient to God or whether they are going to succumb to temptation. And from the fact that Satan presents an initial temptation for Eve to doubt God that she resists we learn that she could have resisted subsequent temptations if she had simply done what she did at first – which was to repeat God’s truth back to Satan when he tempted her. VK: And we also learn from this encounter that temptation is not sin. We can be tempted and still not sin. I think this confuses a lot of people. They think that just because they are experiencing temptation that they have sinned. But just encountering temptation is not necessarily sinful. Now it may be our sin that leads us to rush into places where we will encounter temptation more readily, but we can also encounter temptation even if we haven’t done that. Temptation is all around us – unfortunately. But just because we are tempted does not mean we have sinned. One of Satan’s favorite tricks is to discourage us by convincing us we sinned when all we really experienced was temptation. RD: I agree. At any rate Eve did ultimately succumb to Satan’s temptations and Adam followed right along with her. That lapse, that first sin changed everything – not just for mankind but for all of creation. So, at that point man was lost. Man had incurred an infinite debt. VK: Man is finite creature. All creatures are finite. But God is infinite. So, the consequences of man’s rebellion were infinite because man had offended a Being of infinite proportions and attributes. Even in our society we recognize that the consequences of our action are dependent on not just the offender but the offended. Lie to your neighbor and that may or not be a crime. Lie on a loan application and it is likely a criminal offense. Betray a friend and you’re a false friend. Betray your country and its treason. The severity of an action is dependent on both sides of the transaction. RD: Yes. So, after Adam and Eve rebelled, sinned, in the Garden of Eden they and all of their children would have been eternally condemned had God not immediately began a plan of redemption. But He did. God immediately announced that Satan’s dark plan for the downfall of man would one day result in Satan’s eternal death. God said that one of Eve’s descendants, the “seed of the woman” as the King James Version puts it, would crush Satan’s head. Crushing the head of a serpent is a fatal blow. But defeating Satan wouldn’t come without cost. The serpent would strike the heel of the One who would crush his head – a painful but not fatal blow. VK: So, immediately, even before the Bible’s account of the first sin has ended we already have 3 elements that help us begin to understand how Jesus accomplished our salvation. Element number 1 is that the coming hero would be the “seed of a woman” but not of a man. Element number 2 is that whoever this hero is going to be it is going to be a man. Most versions that translate Genesis, chapter 3, verse 15 use the pronoun “he” to talk about the person who is going to crush Satan’s head. And third we can understand that for the curse of sin to be reversed it is going to take a Person of infinite value. As we have said the debt Adam and Eve incurred in the Garden was an infinite debt. And a finite man cannot pay an infinite debt no matter how hard he tries or how long he works. RD: Right. So, even just knowing the beginning of the grand story is of immense value to understanding how Jesus saved us by his sacrificial death on the cross. We leave the third chapter of the first book of the Bible with three criteria that are going to be true of the coming Messiah. And more criteria will be added as the plan of redemption proceeds. Redemptive history began in the Garden of Eden began there but it most certainly didn’t end there. From chapters 6 through 9 of Genesis we find out that the coming Messiah would be descendant of Noah – because only Noah, his 3 sons, and their wives were the only people who survived the worldwide flood. In chapter 12 of Genesis we find out that the Savior will be a descendent of the patriarch Abraham because God tells Abraham that all the peoples on earth will be blessed through him. And in chapter 14 of Genesis we first hear of the mysterious figure “Melchizedek.” We find out in Psalm 110, verse 4 that this figure Melchizedek is a figure who presages the kind of priest that the Messiah will be. VK: And we find out that Jesus fulfilled this priestly role by three separate references in the book of Hebrews. Those verses are Hebrews, chapter 5, verse 6, and chapter 7 verses17 and 21. And in scripture a three-fold repetition of something is significant, isn’t it. RD: Yes. There aren’t many three-fold repetitions of words or phrases in scripture they are always used by God as a form of emphasis. In the case of the Messiah God was telling the Jews that the Messiah would be not only be a priest but also a king. He was also telling them that the Messiah would not be from the priestly tribe of Levi. And God continued to add criteria and attributes throughout the Old Testament that would allow the Jews and the world to know Jesus was the Messiah when Jesus arrived in the world. Jesus would be born in Bethlehem, enter Jerusalem on a donkey’s colt, be crucified between two thieves, buried in a rich man’s tomb, but rise again to sit at the right hand of God. All of these signs of the Messiah, and others, were given to the Jews in their scriptures were fulfilled in Jesus’ life. VK: And the point is that because we know that God’s grand plan and the big story of the Bible is all about creation, fall, and redemption we can trace a consistent path through the Old Testament. Immediately after the fall God told Adam and Eve that a Deliverer would come and God immediately gave them distinctive criteria that would mark the Messiah. So, by getting a firm grasp on the larger context in which all the various events, stories, and prophecies of the Old Testament are set we can see the progress of redemptive history. When God gives a new criteria that will mark the life of the Messiah, like being born of a virgin, we can look and see if we have evidence that that criteria was fulfilled in the life of Jesus. Context keeps the lights on for our pathway. So, by keeping the larger context in mind we can better organize our study to ensure we get the most out of time with scripture. RD: Yep. So, now let’s start to put all these ideas together and see God’s perfect elegance in both establishing the plan of salvation and then shepherding it to completion. God warned Adam and Eve that if they ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil they would die. VK: In other words, the consequence of disobedience was death. Or as the Apostle Paul said in Romans, chapter 6, verse 23 “the wages of sin is death.” RD: Yep. Well, Adam and Eve did eat from the forbidden tree and they experienced death. Not only did they die but everyone who would descend from them would also die. The curse of death, the sting of death, would have been an eternal part of the created order if God had not intervened. VK: And God had to intervene – because man had incurred an infinite debt to God. And as we have said a finite man cannot pay an infinite debt. The only Infinite Being that exists is God. So, God had to figure out how to pay that infinite debt if any people were ever to be saved. Man’s sin estranged man from God. Restoration required reconciliation. But man couldn’t do what was necessary for reconciliation. Only God could. And God did. RD: And this is where our opening scripture fills in a key thought. In our opening scripture from 1 Timothy Paul tells Timothy that “there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.” A mediator must be capable of representing both sides of a transaction. So, the mediator between God and man had to be able to represent both God and man. VK: Which is why the 2nd Person of the Trinitarian Godhead had to take on a human nature. This is the miracle of the incarnation. Biologically speaking Jesus was born of Mary but the baby in Mary’s womb had actually resulted from the Holy Spirit coming “on her” as most translations put it. Now we don’t understand exactly how the Holy Spirit did but an infinite God who created the entire universe and all life in the universe wouldn’t have any trouble creating a baby in a virgin’s womb. So, Jesus was the Son of a human mother but in a very real sense He was also the Son of a Divine Father. RD: Yep. Because God brought Jesus into the created order the way He did Jesus came equipped to be the mediator to reconcile man to God. VK: What remained was for Jesus to live a “spotless” life because a Perfect God can only accept a perfect sacrifice. And Jesus did live a sinless life, a perfect life before God. This fulfilled the Covenant Works which Adam and Eve had violated in the Garden. RD: Yep. And that sinless Jesus died unjustly on a Roman cross fulfilling the mandated consequence that death be the wage paid for sin. VK: But Jesus had no sin of His own. He did not need to pay the price for His own sin. That meant that He could pay for our sins. And since Jesus is fully God as well as fully man his sacrificial death had infinite value. And all of this had been clearly set forth in the Old Testament as the way that God would redeem His people. Most of the Jews of Jesus day, including the religious elites did not understand it. A few did but not many. So, in the New Testament the writers began to unpack the Old Testament prophecies in sufficient details to make it clear. Sounds like the religious elites could have done well to understand the cornerstone and context. RD: Quite possibly. We are fortunate in a way that the elites in 1st century Israel were not. We have the New Testament as well as the Old. We now understand exactly how Jesus fulfilled the role of being a priest forever according to Melchizedek because an inspired writer has spelled it out for us. And we understand that there will be two comings of the Messiah. The first coming was as the suffering Servant, the sacrificial Lamb. The second coming will be as the Conquering Lion. We can see clearly the meaning of ideas and themes that they could only perceive dimly. That’s a huge blessing. But it is no blessing at all if we neglect to use the scriptures that God has provided. But when we do we see that far from our Christian faith being a “leap in the dark” what we are actually doing is placing our faith in the abundant evidence that God has supplied. And if we understand the evidence we can explain it to others. That’s how we fulfill the Great Commission Jesus gave in Matthew 28 to make disciples of all nations. VK: Well, our thought-provoking journey into the cornerstone and context of the Bible continues. It should be a great encouragement to everyone to know that God never expected us to turn off our brains while we follow our hearts in response to His outreach of love. Hopefully, listeners will let others know about this series. It really can be a valuable resource to the skeptic and the believer alike. This sounds like a great time to pray. Today let’s listen to a prayer for the celebration of the day that our Lord rose out the earth by His own power. In doing so He conquered death for all who would place their trust in Him as Lord and Savior. Because of Jesus’ resurrection we can boldly ask “O grave where is your victory? O death where is your sting?” And the answer we receive is that they are gone and we will live eternally in the light of God’s blessed radiance. ---- PRAYER FOR EASTER VK: We’d like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.” If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not perfect but our Boss is!” (Bible Quotes from the New Living Translation) 1 Samuel, Chapter 17, verses 5 through 7, New Living Translation https://www.baslibrary.org/biblical-archaeology-review/8/4/1 https://patternsofevidence.com/2018/10/26/david-battles-goliath/)

Episode 269 –Bible: Cornerstone and Context 1 Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script: I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty. Revelation, Chapter 1, verse 8, New International Version ******** VK: Greetings! Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. I’m Victoria K. We’re excited to be with you today on Anchored by Truth as we start a new series. It is apparent to anyone who is paying attention to cultural trends that the Christian faith in America has been subjected to more challenges in the last decade than in the first two centuries of the country’s existence. Some of the challenges come from a surrounding culture that has become either indifferent to matters of faith or even outright hostile to the Bible and Christ. And certainly one trend that worries just about every thinking Christian is the increasing level of Biblical ignorance that characterizes not only our society but often the people sitting in the pews. So, RD Fierro, an author and the founder of Crystal Sea Books, has entitled this series “The Bible: Cornerstone and Context.” And we have RD who is an in the studio today. RD, why did you decide to do this series? RD: Well, I’d also like to welcome everyone joining us here today as we begin a new series. As you’ve noted there is widespread Biblical ignorance in our culture today. And often, far too often, that Biblical ignorance extends even into our churches. That’s shameful but it’s also dangerous. You can’t be a Christian without knowing Christ. And you can’t truly know Christ without the Bible. And you can’t be eternally saved without truly knowing Christ. Therefore, it’s not too strong a statement to say that ignorance of the Bible poses a very real danger to people being saved from an eternal perdition. Sadly, I know a lot of Christians who recognize this but still don’t read or study the Bible regularly. And when I talk to them about why they don’t I’ll commonly hear the answer “I just don’t understand the Bible.” VK: And we can sympathize with that statement at Anchored by Truth. The last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation, was written almost 2,000 years ago. And the first book of the Bible was written 1,500 years before that. So, the Bible was written in a different time. It was also written to a very different group of people. The Old Testament was written and delivered to the Hebrew people and its final book, Malachi, was completed at least 400 years before Jesus was born. And even though the New Testament was written during times and places that are more familiar to modern readers – because it was prepared during the height of the Roman Empire – it still contains references that to us are archaic. RD: Yes. And this lack of familiarity with the times, places, and peoples of the Bible is just the beginning of the issues that we confront when we try to encourage people to grow in their knowledge of scripture. Another real challenge is that just everybody who comes to the Bible does so without having a cornerstone on which to ground their reading and without having a context into which to place the various accounts, records, poems, and instructions. VK: And that’s why you called this series “The Bible: Cornerstone and Context.” We want to give people a framework that will enable them to know how the Bible fits together – and how the Bible fits into their lives and futures. RD: Yes. For those of us who are concerned about helping people understand that the Bible is the inspired word of God we want them to see that the Bible is not just a collection of stories, historical episodes, and moral and ethical instructions. The Bible is God’s special revelation to the world and most especially, to His people. There’s a big word that theologians use to describe the fact that God wrote the Bible so that people could and would understand it. Theologians will talk about the perspicuity of the Bible. Perspicuity simply means to think, write, or speak clearly. With respect to the Bible perspicuity simply means God wrote in such a way that anyone who comes to it with an open mind, willing heart, and diligent attitude will be able to understand what it is saying. They don’t need special training or education to read it and benefit from it. VK: But even though you don’t need special training or education to benefit from the Bible people can certainly benefit from having people who have training and education to help them along, right? RD: Yes, of course. That’s why we’re doing this series. And there are a lot of great Bible study courses and tools available in churches or the internet. Many of these resources are free monetarily. And we would definitely encourage people to take advantage of these helps including previous episodes and series of Anchored by Truth. We want to help people learn the Bible for themselves. But we want to start this series by recognizing that people can develop a deep knowledge of the Bible just by reading the Bible regularly and repeatedly for themselves. That’s why there have been Christians down through the ages like John Newton and John Bunyan who became powerful church leaders even though they had limited formal education before being saved. VK: Well, one of your concerns is that even people who start out with the best of intentions can be derailed can’t they? You’ve often said that you have known a lot of people who made a resolution to read the Bible from cover to cover but far too many of them don’t make it much past Genesis. Too many people exit their Bible program in the book of Exodus. And many who make it past Exodus are often done in by Leviticus. RD: Yep. A sincere desire to read the Bible all the way through is great. I started out that way. But it took a lot of dogged determination to get through the Levitical code in Leviticus, the genealogies of Chronicles, and the strange images of Ezekiel. Today, I know how those things fit together. But I certainly didn’t understand them on my first reading. VK: And that’s okay. People are not likely to understand everything they read the first time they go through the Bible. But persistence in studying the Bible is like farming – time and faithful cultivation will yield results. But also like farming, a little bit of up front knowledge will increase the crop and can yield a bountiful harvest. RD: Right. Understanding the cornerstone of the Bible can help tremendously – as can having a context in which to fit the information that comes from the various books and stories. We want people to have their minds and hearts illuminated and inspired by the Bible each time they come to it. And that is possible. It is especially possible because the Holy Spirit will personally teach them from the Bible. That’s something that we can say about the Bible that can’t be said about any book that is purely a product of man. VK: That’s really an amazing thought. The Holy Spirit inspired the people who wrote the Bible. Jesus tells us that even the words and pen strokes of the Bible were inspired. And the Holy Spirit is still available to us today when we come to the Bible. The Holy Spirit, as well as the Father and Son, are eternal. We heard that from our opening scripture from the first chapter of the book of Revelation. God tells us that “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” There are 3 powerful affirmations of God’s eternality and infinitude in just that short verse. RD: Yes. Alpha is the first letter in Greek alphabet and Omega is the last letter. Saying that He is the alpha and omega is merism. VK: Merism is a rhetorical term for a pair of contrasting words or phrases (such as near and far, body and soul, life and death) used to express totality or completeness. When Jesus told John in that verse that He was the alpha and omega it was a way of him saying that He is source and beginning of everything and all of history is progressing toward the end that He has ordained. One Biblical commentator, Albert Barnes, puts it this way, “The language here is what would properly denote "eternity" in the being to whom it is applied, and could be used in reference to no one but the true God. It means that he is the beginning and the end of all things; that he was at the commencement, and will be at the close; and it is thus equivalent to saying that he has always existed, and that he will always exist.” RD: Right. And Barnes’ explanation of that verse is a good example of how knowing the cornerstone of the Bible helps us begin to develop a clear understanding of passages or idioms that may initially be strange to modern readers. Most people today don’t know the Greek alphabet. If they encountered it at all it was probably in the context of the name of a college fraternity or sorority. VK: Or the name of a character in a superhero movie or video game … RD: … or a nutritional supplement like “omega 3” fatty acids. So, when they read the words “I am the Alpha and Omega” they may not have a clear idea of what the writer is trying to say. But when you understand that cornerstone of the entire Bible is Jesus – and that Jesus is fully God as well as being fully human – we gain additional clarity about what that passage is communicating to us. But I don’t want to get too far over our skis. We are talking about how people can build a solid understanding of scripture. And certainly one way we can be sure that it is possible to do so is because of scripture’s perspicuity. God wrote scripture with the specific intent that it could be understood. VK: And then God also gives the indwelling Holy Spirit to further help us. In other words anyone who has a heartfelt desire to know and understand scripture isn’t going to be left to flail about on their own. God will actively aid them in their quest. And one way God can aid them is by good Bible study tools and programs. And you think that another way people can improve their Biblical understanding and comprehension is by starting out with a solid understanding of the cornerstone of scripture: Jesus. And also by having a good contextual framework that will enable them to organize the material they learn. Correct? RD: Correct. Buildings that have weak cornerstones are not going to stand. Reading the Bible without understanding that Jesus is its cornerstone is not only going to lead to frustration but worse. It is going to lead to gross misunderstandings that can give way to heresy. VK: And Jesus himself tells us that. In the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 21, verse 42 Jesus when Jesus was speaking to the chief priests and elders he said to them: “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?” The scriptures Jesus was quoting was likely Psalm 118, verse 22 which says, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” RD: And there are other Old Testament scriptures that reinforce this same point. Isaiah, chapter 28, verse 16 says, “So this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will never be shaken.’” Jesus is the cornerstone of the Bible. It’s fair to say that every book, chapter, and verse in the Bible relies on this fundamental truth in some way. It may not always be immediately obvious how it does so, but some diligent meditation will help us gain insights and that same meditation will certainly improve our overall understanding of scripture. VK: Can you give us an understanding of what you’re thinking about? RD: Sure. Certainly, one of the best known stories in the Bible is about Jonah and the whale – or really the Bible just says it was a large fish. Now, it may not seem like this story has much to do with Jesus but it does. Jonah is one of the so-called Minor Prophets which are part of the Old Testament. After his life was saved from drowning by being swallowed by the fish or whale and then disgorged onto dry land, he finally did what God told him to do – go preach to the people of the city of Nineveh which was the capital of the Assyrian Empire. In other words they weren’t Hebrews. When Jonah did so, the whole city was converted. So, on one level the story of Jonah seems to just be about God saving a group of non-Hebrews. But it turns out that when we get to the New Testament book of Matthew we find out that the story of Jonah has profound messianic implications. VK: You’re referring to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 16, verses 2 through 4. In that portion of scripture Jesus is confronting a group of Pharisees and Sadducees who are trying to test Jesus to see if Jesus really is the Messiah, the Savior. In response to the demand from the Pharisees and Sadducees that he perform some kind of miracle to prove who he is Jesus “replied, ‘When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.’” The Bible then tells us that “Jesus then left them and went away.” RD: Yes. So, let’s think about this for a second. At first the story of Jonah doesn’t seem to have much to do with Jesus. But when Jesus actually arrives on the scene we find that it does. The first messianic implication of Jonah was that Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days. In Matthew, chapter 12, verse 40, Jesus told his disciples that “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Then, as we just heard, Jesus later told the Sadducees and Pharisees that this was the sign that was going to be given to them when they wondered whether He really was the promised Messiah. VK: Now, unlike people today, the Sadducees and the Pharisees knew the Old Testament inside and out. They knew exactly what the book of Jonah said – probably some of them could recite it word for word. So, when Jesus told them that the sign they were going to receive that would absolutely prove to them that He was the Messiah they knew, or should have known, that Jesus was telling them that He was going to rise from the dead. That’s what Jonah had done. Jonah should have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea but God saved him by the intervention of the great fish. And when Jonah was delivered onto dry land by the fish it was as if he had come back from the dead. Jonah’s delivery was a miraculous sign that would receive its greater fulfillment in Jesus’ life. Jonah was only in the grip of a seeming death before he came back. Jesus would actually experience death. Jonah needed God’s intervention to save him. Jesus would actually walk out of the tomb by His own power because Jesus is God. And Jonah would go on to preach to save a gentile city. After His resurrection Jesus would commission his Apostles to go out and begin a session of salvation that would reach every tribe, tongue, and nation. All of this is truly amazing. RD: Right. So, the story of Jonah is just one example of how knowing that Jesus is the cornerstone of the Bible helps us understand the Bible’s messages more clearly. We have an advantage that the people who physically heard Jesus speak did not. At that point in history the scriptures consisted only of what we call the Old Testament. And, by the way, that was more than enough for them to be able to know that Jesus was who He claimed to be – the Savior promised by God thousands of years earlier. In other words, the Jews of Jesus’ time had enough in their own scriptures to validate his identity and claims. Their failure to do so wasn’t because they didn’t know enough. It was because they chose not to accept the evidence. VK: Like a lot of people today. RD: Sadly, yes. Today we have the complete special revelation of God because we have the New Testament as well as the Old. But many people today still reject the lifesaving message that is contained in them. But that does not need to be the end of the story. Those of us who do know that the Bible contains the words of life still have the opportunity to add our testimony to the Bible’s witness. And one of the best ways we can do that is by improving our own understanding of the Bible’s message. By doing that we are going to be in a far better position to answer questions, assuage doubts, and direct people to the real source of the truth that can transform their lives. VK: In other words, the better we understand the Bible the better able we are to help others anchor themselves to the Truth. And one way we can improve our understanding of the Bible is to understand the cornerstone of the Bible and then establish a contextual framework to guide our further integration of the Bible’s stores, records, and messages into our scriptural comprehension. And I think that this kind of framework is so necessary today. It might not have been fifty or even twenty years ago, but it is today. RD: Yep. As we started out saying the Bible was written in a different time and it was written to people with which most of us have little familiarity. So, we will improve our understanding by reading and learning something about those times and places. But we can also improve our biblical comprehension just by knowing how the Bible fits together. Knowing that Jesus is the Bible’s cornerstone is vital but we can’t stop there. Laying the cornerstone is the first step in building the house but we’re still going to get cold and wet if we just stop there. VK: Said differently, knowing that Jesus is the cornerstone of the Bible is necessary but not sufficient to developing a clear understanding of how scripture fits together into a unified whole. We also need the vertical columns and horizontal braces upon which to hang the many, many additional components of a mature faith. RD: Yep. The Bible is a single book about a single plan about a single man. Even though most Protestant Bible’s contain 66 books, the Bible is a unified whole. It was composed by a single mind who delivered it to the world through the hands of inspired writers. The plan is God’s plan to redeem a people for Himself. It unfolds through time and history, through people and places but everything that happens unfolds according to God’s grand plan. The grand saga of God’s plan unfolds in 3 phases or stages that occur on this earth. There will be a 4th phase that takes place when this present heavens and earth give way to a new heavens and earth. The 3 phases that take place on the current earth are creation, fall, and redemption. VK: And once people understand this grand plan and see how the grand saga has unfolded they will be better equipped to see how the various parts of scripture fit into that unified whole. They will be able to see that the seemingly tedious aspects of the Levitical code are actually giving us important information about the work and life of the coming Christ. They will see that the genealogies of Genesis, Numbers, and Chronicles are actually quite necessary for us to understand the full relevance of the genealogies of Jesus that will come to us in Luke and Matthew. And they will see that prophetic statements in both the major and minor prophets were essential to the people of Jesus’ day – and our day for that matter – to be assured that Jesus was the Promised Messiah. RD: Right. The Bible is a single book about a single plan about a single man. The plan is God’s plan of redemption that was made necessary because of man’s rebellion against His infinite Creator after that Creator had created and fitted an ideal habit for His image bearer. Once man rebelled and fell, God had to take affirmative action to make redemption possible. And that redemption and reconciliation could only be possible by God providing a representative that could suitably represent both sides of the transaction. That took a unique Being that was not only perfectly human but also fully divine. And we’ll talk more about that in coming episodes in this series. We will see that Christ is not only the cornerstone of the Bible He is the cornerstone of creation. And Christ will preside over the coming 4th phase of God’s master plan which will be the glorification of God’s redeemed people in a new heavens and a new earth. God’s grand saga has unfolded through millennia. So, of course only an eternal Being could be the centerpiece of such a plan. That’s just one of the reasons our Savior and Messiah had to be both fully God as well as fully man. VK: So understanding this grand plan and the grand saga enables people to be better equipped to see how the various parts of scripture fit into that unified whole. It gives them a contextual framework to connect the various people, stories, poems, and proverbs into a comprehensible picture. Many people come to scripture essentially as ants. The can only see what is right in front of them at a single moment. We must come to scripture not only as ants but also as eagles who can see a grander vista. Ants are hard-working and scripture commends that. But eagles can see over the horizon and ride the winds to great heights. We must do both as we study scripture. Well, sounds like we’re in for quite a thought-provoking journey. Hopefully, listeners will let others know about this series. It really can be a valuable resource to the skeptic and the believer alike. This sounds like a great time to pray. Today let’s listen to a prayer for first responders – the men and women who often put their own health and safety at risk to provide for others. This is truly service that goes beyond self and they deserve our support and prayers. ---- PRAYER FOR FIRST RESPONDERS VK: We’d like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.” If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not perfect but our Boss is!” (Bible Quotes from the New International Version) Revelation, Chapter 1, verse 8, New International Version

Episode 265 – The Truth in Genesis Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script: (Bible quotes from the New Living Translation) Then the LORD said to Job, “Do you still want to argue with the Almighty? You are God’s critic, but do you have the answers?” … Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind: “Brace yourself like a man, because I have some questions for you, and you must answer them! Job, Chapter 40, verses 1 and 2 and verses 6 and 7, New Living Translation I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end,”says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One”… Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last. I am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave.” Revelation, Chapter 1, verse 8 and verses 17 and 18, New Living Translation ******** VK: Hi! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. I’m here today with RD Fierro, author, founder of Crystal Sea Books, and part-time mechanical engineer. He changes the air filter in the air conditioner. And speaking of changing things, today we are closing out the series that we’ve been presenting for several episodes that we’ve been calling The Truth in Genesis? So today we’re going to be doing a bit of a recap of all the subjects that we’ve covered and hit the highlights of some of the major things that we’ve learned. RD, would you like to say a brief word of introduction about today’s show? RD: I would. Our “The Truth in Genesis” series was designed to allow listeners to hear a sample of the scientific evidence that is relevant to two of the most important topics that affect Biblical inspiration and infallibility: the age of the earth and universe and the origin and diversity of life. One of the biggest challenges facing most Christians is right at the beginning of the Bible in Chapter 1 where the Bible tells us that God created the heavens, the earth, and everything that exists on the earth including all living creatures and most especially, us. Supposedly, that claim is at odds with what contemporary science tells us about the universe and life. So, for a Christian to maintain their faith in the Bible today culture they must immediately confront the cultural challenge to the Bible’s proclamation about creation. In effect, our culture demands that we either surrender our faith in the Bible or our acceptance of science as a source of truth. I believe that we’ve shown through the episodes in this series that conscientious Christians don’t need to make that kind of a false choice. VK: Your contention is that we have illustrated through the episodes in The Truth in Genesis series there is substantial scientific evidence that absolutely supports, the belief that the plain language of Genesis may be accepted as literal, historical fact. And today we want to review and summarize just a few snippets of what we’ve learned. But before we get too far into our discussion about the serious stuff, we’d like to start by just listening to a poetic summary of the state of this debate. To do that we want to play a portion of Crystal Seas’ upcoming poetic series called the Genesis Saga. For today, let’s listen to Part 5 of the Genesis Saga which – aptly enough - we call The Truth in Genesis. ---- TRUTH IN GENESIS VK: That is a pretty amazing summary - and it rhymes. So let’s go back and cover briefly some of the main points of evidence that we’ve learned about from Truth in Genesis that support the fact that the universe and earth aren’t nearly as old as is commonly believed. Let’s also talk about how it would be impossible for the random, chaotic action of inanimate atoms and molecules to spontaneously give rise to life. RD: Well, to start let’s be clear about the competing truth claims that we are examining. The Bible clearly claims that God created the heavens and earth and all the life that exists on the earth, whether plant or animal. And, according to most traditional interpretations, God performed His creative activity on the order of several thousands of years ago. Also, when it comes to animal life the Bible created all the “kinds” of animals that exist today. Contrary to the strawman version of Biblical creation that critics like to shoot at, “kinds” does not refer to the species that are extant today. Nor does the Biblical term “kind” refer to any particular taxonomic level such as an order or genus. It primarily refers to the ability of any two animals to reproduce regardless of how those animals might be classified according to current taxonomy. By contrast the dominant view among most scientists today is that the universe is 14 billion, or so, years old and that the earth is 4.5 billion years old. Also, most conventional biologists believe that life on earth evolved from primitive forms to more complex forms, likely starting with some sort of a self-replicating molecule that over time spontaneously aggregated into a single cell, and that from that cell all the amazing biodiversity we see around the globe today emerged – without direction or instruction from any intelligent source. As our guest for most of our shows, Dr. Jonathan Sarfati, puts it – a “goo to you” form of evolution. VK: Those are two very clearly contrasting views. But isn’t there sort of a middle ground that some have termed “theistic evolution?” This is the view that God created everything but then used evolution as a sort of intermediate mechanism to allow life to progress from simple forms to more complex ones and that over time many different forms of plants and animals emerged from the process that God originated. RD: You are absolutely correct that there have been various attempts to bridge the gaps between Biblical creationism and a materialist, secularist form of evolution. The problem is that most of these “middle ground” approaches suffer from the same faults as the ones that afflict a purely materialistic evolution plus they create additional theological or Christological problems for Christians who hold them. For instance, any approach that presumes that God used evolution to produce man from some lower form of pre-human hominid requires that death preceded Adam and Eve’s fall – and that’s if they accept the fall as being a historical event. Yet various scriptures, such as Romans 5:17, tie death directly to Adam’s sin. Further, if Adam’s fall wasn’t a literal event that introduced death into a creation that God had deemed “very good,” then why was it necessary for Christ to die on the cross to undo the effects of sin. VK: So, you’re saying the middle ground approaches really don’t bridge the gap and allow both sides to be right. But are you also saying that the middle grounds are subject to the same criticisms scientifically as a purely secularistic evolutionism. RD: Yes. For instance, one of the problems we learned about insofar as evolution is concerned is the absence of transitional forms in the fossil record, a fact that even Charles Darwin noted and lamented. When you study the fossil record species appear suddenly and fully formed with very few specimens that can even be offered up as being transitional. Despite the fact over 90% of the fossils that have been discovered were discovered after Darwin wrote the Origin of Species there aren’t any more convincing transitional examples known to today than when Darwin lamented their absence. This absence of transitional fossils would be a problem for any form of evolutionary hypothesis whether theistic or not. VK: What are a couple of other examples of problems that cast doubt on evolution regardless of which form is being discussed? RD: Well, there’s what’s been called by one writer “the failure of homology.” Homology is the idea that certain structures present in different species have a structural or other biological resemblance to each other. The classic example is the pattern in the bones of vertebrate limbs. In a wide variety of mammal species, example, from bats to whales to horses to people, there’s a consistent pattern of having one bone in the upper part of the limb (our arms or legs), connected to two bones, that are then connected to a series of five bones that have 2 segments in the large bone (thumb, big toe) and 3 segments in the other four. Such so-called “homologous” structures are thought to be evidence of “common descent.” In other words some ancient ancestor of all mammals had this pattern of bones so all the mammals in the world today that are descended from the ancestor inherited this pattern. VK: Certainly, at least on the surface, that makes sense. So what’s the problem? RD: The problem is that when Darwin wrote about the support that homology provided for his theory science knew very little about embryology – the study of how life develops following conception. Today, we know a lot more and we now know that the seeming homologous structures in adult animals don’t arise from similar embryological processes or from identical or similar genes. In other words while the adult features seem to be similar they come about from significantly varying developmental processes. This directly conflicts with the notion that the supposedly homologous structures came from a common ancestor because if all the common features were inherited from a common ancestor that ancestor would have passed along its embryological features not just the adult result. There’s a good discussion of this problem in Michael Denton’s book entitled Evolution: A Theory in Crisis. Chapter 7 for those who want to study further. VK: So just like with the fossil record, evidence that is often used to demonstrate the truth of evolution actually has significant scientific problems. Are there any other illustrations of scientific problems with the “particles to people” view of evolution? RD: There are actually lots of them and Dr. Sarfati discussed a number of them during his time in the Anchored by Truth studio. VK: For instance? RD: For instance, just about every proposed mechanism for how life could have arisen from non-living chemicals involves some variation on Darwin’s musings about a “warm little pond” – in other words the notion that the primordial oceans contained a nutrient rich broth that is sometimes termed “pre-biotic soup.” The chemicals necessary for life were supposed to have been present in this soup in such densities that random collision between the right molecules produced abiotic organic compounds that were then used to assemble the first cell or at least the cell’s precursor, whatever that would have been. The existence of these abiotically produced organic compounds is absolutely essential for the scheme to have worked. The problem is that rocks of purportedly great antiquity, by conventional dating, methods have extensively examined and none contain any evidence of these abiotically produced organic compound even the so-called “dawn rocks” of Western Greenland that were supposedly laid down within 3 or 4 hundred million years of the earth’s formation. The same thing is true of all the other rocks of similar antiquity. VK: So the rocks contain no evidence of this pre-biotic soup and without it the whole origin hypothesis falls apart. But some scientists now believe that the earliest life was formed underwater near these heating vents in the deep ocean. RD: Yes. That hypothesis is frequently mentioned in ocean exploration programs on one or another science channel. The problem with this theory is that all life depends on very lengthy chains of amino acids that are called polypeptides. Well, polypeptides won’t form in the presence of excess water. Even if the requisite amino acids were present they wouldn’t combine into the lengthy polypeptides so again there’s an absolute chemical barrier to life starting underwater hypothesis. VK: In other words the difficulties against life having arisen spontaneously from non-living chemicals are starting to stack up like a bricks in a brick wall. Are there any other bricks that are problematic? How about the famous experiments by Stanley Miller and Harold Urey? Didn’t they create the chemicals needed by life when they stimulated a chemical medium with methane, ammonia, hydrogen, and water using electric discharges? RD: Urey and Miller were successful at creating organic compounds. That much is true. But the good news pretty much ends there. VK: How so? RD: First, there is no evidence that the conditions Urey and Miller used in their lab were present in the primordial earth. At a minimum, they used an oxygen free atmosphere because oxidation would quickly break down any organic chemicals that formed. Think rust. But there is evidence of oxidation in supposedly ancient rocks so it’s more likely that the early atmosphere contained oxygen than that it didn’t. Next, amino acids come in two varieties: levorotary and dextrorotary. The amino acids that support life are all levorotary. Dextrorotary forms are lethal. The combination of the two is called a racemate. Miller’s experiments and others since only produce racemates, never pure levorotary amino acids. Third, the amino acids they produced were captured in special traps. If those traps hadn’t been there the amino acids would have broken down before they could be determined to be present. Moreover, Urey and Miller’s experiment where they produced the amino acids wasn’t the first experiment they conducted. They had done others where they didn’t get anything. So, even when they got a result it involved the application of a considerable amount of intelligence. It was the exact opposite of the operation of blind chance. VK: Wow. That last thought really forces you to think doesn’t it? Even if a team of scientists today were successful at producing life in a test tube or laboratory beaker that wouldn’t demonstrate that life could have formed randomly or chaotically. Because - presumably - the scientists would have been applying intelligent guidance and decision making at every step within their process. And, of course, that’s assuming they had duplicated exactly the conditions on the earth at the time life is supposed to have formed and that is, and always will remain, unknowable. Well, this truly has been a remarkable series and yet we really have only skimmed the surface of all these topics. But the takeaway for the series and as well as from each episode is that faithful, committed Christians can believe in the truth of Genesis without having to give up their confidence in real science. As you would expect of an almighty and all-knowing Creator, He has provided His special revelation in a way that is entirely consistent with the way that He created and sustains the universe. Sounds like a great time to praise our Creator in prayer. ---- PRAYER OF ADORATION FOR THE CREATOR (radio version) VK: We’d like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.” If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not famous but our Boss is!” (Bible Quotes from the New Living Translation) The Book of Job, chapter 38, verses 4 through 7 The epistle to the Colossians, chapter 15 verses 1 through 17 https://creation.com/right-perspective-interpreting-data

Episode 264 – Evolution’s Deceptive Evidence – An Interview with Dr. Jonathan Sarfati Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script Notes: With your wisdom and power you created the earth and spread out the heavens. The waters in the heavens roar at your command. You make clouds appear— you send the winds from your storehouse and make lightning flash in the rain. Jeremiah, Chapter 10, verses 12 and 13, Contemporary English Version God's eternal power and character cannot be seen. But from the beginning of creation, God has shown what these are like by all he has made. That's why those people don't have any excuse. Romans, chapter 1, verse 20, Contemporary English Version ******** VK: Hi! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. Today we are beginning the wrap up of the series that we call The Truth in Genesis. This series has been an examination of whether the latest contemporary science supports or refutes the traditional view of the Genesis text regarding creation. We’ve been led on this journey by Dr. Jonathan Sarfati. Dr. Sarfati is an internationally known author and the lead scientist for Creation Ministries International. He has written a number of widely selling books that bring an understandable, yet comprehensive, scientific perspective on what empirical observations tell us about the age of the earth and the origin of life. Dr. Sarfati has sold hundreds of thousands of books such as Refuting Evolution volumes 1 and 2, By Design, The Greatest Hoax on Earth and The Genesis Account. During this series Dr. Sarfati has been answering questions about a wide variety of topics that pertain the evidence that supports the historicity of the literal Biblical account. These topics have included methods of assigning dates to long past events, what we really learn from studying dinosaurs, and how life cannot exist without the complex information system that is embedded in the DNA of all life. Our approach to our discussions has been to use reason, logic, and evidence to examine whether the Bible and science are indeed at odds with each other as is often asserted today. Thus far we have seen that nothing could be further from the truth than the assertion that we have to either accept either science or the content of the traditional Christian faith. So as we begin our wrap up of this series, today we’re going see that many of the arguments commonly used to support the truth of evolution actually turn out to be evidence against it. But before we get too far into our discussion, Dr. Sarfati would you like to say a word of greeting to the Anchored by Truth listeners and give us some general comments on the whole subject of science and the Bible? Dr. Sarfati: - Thanks for inviting me. It’s a pleasure to be on Anchored by Truth today. Introductory comments. VK: Dr. Sarfati, During our last several episodes we have seen that there is a substantial body of scientific evidence that demonstrates that the age of the universe cannot be as old as conventional science claims. The earth and universe are far more likely to be several thousand years old than several billion years old. As such, even assuming inanimate particles could somehow aggregate themselves to form self-replicating molecules there is insufficient time for those molecules to be transformed into the vast diversity of plant and animal species that currently exist on the earth, much less create a logical, purposive, ethically animated being such as man. Could you give us a brief summary of some of the evidence that points out how life is too complicated to arise from non-life by blind chance? Dr. Sarfati: Comments on how life cannot arise by blind chance VK: Thank you for those observations. So let’s get right to the main subject for today’s discussion - . Question List: a. Darwin made much of the homological nature of certain vertebrate structures as evidence of common descent. What is homology and what information do we now possess that Darwin did not? Why does homology fail as evidence for evolution? b. Darwin acknowledged that the absence of transitional fossil evidence present in his time did not support his theory, but he appealed to future discoveries that he believed would come to his rescue. Have subsequent discoveries vindicated Darwin’s confidence that the fossil record would one day demonstrate that evolution is true? c. The revolution is molecular biology did not take place until almost 100 years after Darwin’s publication of Origin of the Species. How have advances in our understanding of the atomic and molecular attributes of the cell affected the validity of the evolutionary hypothesis? d. From a probability standpoint, what does the complexity of life imply about the likelihood that life could have arisen by chance? e. The conventional explanation for the origin of life requires the existence of a widespread pre-biotic primordial soup. Is there any evidence that such a “soup” ever existed? f. Some proponents of evolution have argued that we have been able to see “evolution before our eyes.” For example some have pointed to Richard Lenski’s decades-long experiments on bacteria as having demonstrated the truth of evolution. Did Lenski’s experiments show that single-celled creatures could turn into critics or creationists? g. Are there any scientists who affirm the Genesis account and who do research into biological questions from a Creationist perspective? h. In your opinion what are the three or four of the most important facts that Christians should keep in mind when reading articles about the supposed latest discoveries that support evolution as a viable explanation? i. What resources would you recommend for Christians who want to study more about the scientific deficiencies in evolution as an explanation for life and biodiversity? VK: So the big takeaway from our discussion today is that many of the traditional “proofs” used to demonstrate the validity of evolution actually demonstrate its unreliability as a scientific hypothesis. Homologous structures more often than not do not share a common embryological origin. The absence of transitional fossils really is evidence that transitional species do not exist and Darwin’s original concern for their absence has never been alleviated. And molecular biology, far from supporting evolution, has just presented even more perplexing challenges for the evolutionary hypothesis. Dr. Sarfati, we’d really like to thank you for joining us on Anchored by Truth today and throughout this series. Your insights have been invaluable and I believe will continue to be a source of inspiration for everyone who is committed to the inspiration, inerrancy, and infallibility of scripture. Just as a reminder to our listeners, this show, as well as all Anchored by Truth episodes will be available by podcast shortly after the broadcast airing. So any listener today who has a friend or study group that could benefit from Dr. Sarfati’s depth of knowledge can go to their favorite podcast app and search on Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books. Today for our closing prayer, let’s listen to a prayer for our nation, especially that the light of truth would once again shine in the hearts of all our friends and neighbors. ---- Prayer for the Nation. VK: We hope you’ll be with us next time and we hope you’ll take some time to encourage some friends to tune in too, or listen to the podcast version of this show. If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not famous but our Boss is!” (Bible Quotes from the American Standard Version) Jeremiah, Chapter 10, verses 12 and 13, Contemporary English Version Romans, chapter 1, verse 20, Contemporary English Version https://creation.com/the-evolution-trains-a-comin

Episode 263 – Life Requires Intelligence and Information – An Interview with Dr. Jonathan Sarfati Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script Notes: Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite. Psalm 147, verse 5, American Standard Version …for in him were all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and unto him; and he is before all things, and in him all things consist. Colossians, chapter 1, verses 16 and 17, American Standard Version ******** VK: Hi! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. Today we want to continue our study of the origins of the universe and life with our series that we call The Truth in Genesis. To help us to understand not only what the Bible says but what the latest scientific evidence reveals we’ve invited Dr. Jonathan Sarfati to be our guest in the studio. Dr. Sarfati is an internationally known author and the lead scientist for Creation Ministries International. He has written a number of widely selling books that bring an understandable, yet comprehensive, scientific perspective on what empirical observations tell us about the age of the earth and the origin of life. Dr. Sarfati has sold hundreds of thousands of books such as Refuting Evolution volumes 1 and 2, By Design, The Greatest Hoax on Earth and The Genesis Account. During this series Dr. Sarfati has been answering questions about a wide variety of topics that pertain the evidence that supports the historicity of the literal Biblical account. Of course, we recognize that this can be a very controversial topic. So, our approach to our discussion has been to use reason, logic, and evidence to support all of the points that underscore the accuracy of the Bible text. Sometimes you will hear people say something like – “You have faith, but I have science.” This statement creates an artificial distinction between faith and science with the implication that the Christian faith requires the suspension of our trust in science. Nothing could be further from the truth, and that is one of the reasons that Dr. Sarfati’s books are so important. His books are filled with detailed explanations for how the creative process described in Genesis is amply sustained by empirical observations and the rigorous application of logic and reason. Specifically, today we’re going see that the existence of life in any form requires not just chemistry and biology but also information – and a great deal of it. But before we get too far into our discussion, Dr. Sarfati would you like to say a word of greeting to the Anchored by Truth listeners and maybe tell us a little bit about yourself and how you developed your interest and expertise in logical reasoning? Dr. Sarfati: - Thanks for inviting me. It’s a pleasure to be on Anchored by Truth today. Introductory comments. VK: Dr. Sarfati, During our last several episodes we have been discussing key points that point to the fact that a literal interpretation of Genesis is not only true but well supported by reason and evidence. First, there are significant scientific problems with the way dates have been traditionally been assigned to the age of the universe and the earth. Second, there is a considerable body of scientific evidence that supports the ages for creation and the earth derived from Genesis. Third, the Noahic flood dispels the need for a long-age uniformitarianism to explain the geological configuration of the earth. A young earth would be an arrow in the heart of evolution as that term is commonly used. In our last episode of Anchored by Truth we saw that there is another arrow that is fatal to goo-to-you evolution: cellular information. But another line of scientific evidence that pierces the evolutionary veil surrounds the origin of life. What are the major problems that are encountered when someone tries to explain how inanimate particles came to life through the random collision of molecules? Dr. Sarfati: Comments on how life cannot arise from random and chaotic activity VK: Thank you for those observations. Obviously, this is a topic that could easily consume hours of discussion but since we don’t have that kind of time today, let’s get right to some detailed questions. Question List: a. The existence of life requires specified complexity. It also requires what one scientist has termed irreducible complexity, aka functionality threshold. What do these terms mean and how do they relate to the ability of blind chance to animate atoms? b. The Urey–Miller experiments supposedly demonstrated that electrical discharges simulating lightning when sent through a mixture of gases could produce life sustaining amino acids. But we now know that the results of the experiments to explain the formation of life were wildly overstated. What did these experiments actually do and why did they actually not demonstrate how life could have formed? c. If the primordial atmosphere contained oxygen early organic molecules would have been destroyed by oxidation. If the primordial atmosphere did not contain oxygen there would have been no ozone layer to block ultraviolet radiation which is particularly deadly to organic materials. How do evolutionary scientists try to get around this simple barrier to life’s origin absent intelligent intervention? d. All life on earth is cellular based. But for a cell to live it must have a permeable membrane to enclose its protein machinery. But the protein machinery is necessary to build the permeable membrane. Isn’t this an absolute impediment to the validity of conventional evolutionary explanations for the origin of life? e. The center piece of cellular reproduction is DNA. We now know that DNA isn’t just an arrangement of chemically linked molecules that happen to have a particular arrangement, but it is actually more akin to the software that operates a computer. The cell’s proteins are dependent on the DNA for instructions, but the DNA is dependent on the proteins for its own existence and maintenance. Doesn’t this mutual dependence destroy any possibility that life could have arisen by chance? DNA is also very unstable (as per the Nobel Prize for Chemistry 2015), and RNA is even less stable. In fact, even the building blocks like ribose and cytosine are too unstable to last long in a primordial soup. f. In your opinion what are the three or four of the most important facts about the origin of life that scientifically support Biblical creationism and demonstrate the futility of evolutionary thought to explain the existence of life? g. What resources would you recommend for Christians who want to study more about why the complexity of life requires an intelligent cause? VK: So the big takeaway from our discussion today is that an intelligent cause is required to explain the specified and irreducible complexity present in life. Higher orders of animals are so complicated they point to a supremely intelligent Creator. This means that the conclusion we get from Genesis – that God created all life - is amply supported by empirical observations and scientific evidence. After all, all life demonstrates that it could not exist without an enormously complex information system. And the notion that a complex information system could arise randomly or chaotically is simply unreasonable in the formal sense of that word. The existence of life requires the organization of information. That points directly to a personal being – God – who had the intelligence and power to not only design the system but also bring it about. Dr. Sarfati, we’d really like to thank you for joining us on Anchored by Truth today. Just as a reminder this show, as well as all Anchored by Truth episodes will be available by podcast shortly after the broadcast airing. So any listener today who has a friend or study group that could benefit from Dr. Sarfati’s depth of knowledge can go to their favorite podcast app and search on Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books. Today for our closing prayer, since there are so many places throughout the world where our Christian brothers and sisters are not free to practice their faith, how about today that we pray for those believers who live daily with persecution because of their faith? ---- Prayer for Persecuted Christians, radio version. VK: We hope you’ll be with us next time when we’ll continue our discussion with Dr. Sarfati. And we hope you’ll take some time to encourage some friends to tune in too, or listen to the podcast version of this show. If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not famous but our Boss is!” (Bible Quotes from the American Standard Version) Psalm 147, verse 5, American Standard Version Colossians, chapter 1, verses 16 and 17, American Standard Version https://creation.com/divine-engineer-sarfati-by-design-review https://creation.com/the-evolution-trains-a-comin

Episode 262 – Evolution: A Word in Doubt – An Interview with Dr. Jonathan Sarfati Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script Notes: For the LORD is God, and he created the heavens and earth and put everything in place. He made the world to be lived in, not to be a place of empty chaos. “I am the LORD,” he says, “and there is no other. I publicly proclaim bold promises. I do not whisper obscurities in some dark corner. I would not have told the people of Israel to seek me if I could not be found. I, the LORD, speak only what is true and declare only what is right. Isaiah, chapter 45, verses 18 and 19, English Standard Version You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased. Revelation, chapter 4, verse 11, English Standard Version ******** VK: Hi! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. Today we are continuing to explore the origin of the universe and the beginning of life with our series that we call The Truth in Genesis. To help us in our exploration we’ve invited Dr. Jonathan Sarfati to be our guest in the studio. Dr. Sarfati is the lead scientist for Creation Ministries International. He has written a number of widely selling books that bring an understandable, yet comprehensive, scientific perspective on what empirical observations actually tell us about the age of the earth and the origin of life. Dr. Sarfati has sold hundreds of thousands of books such as Refuting Evolution volumes 1 and 2, By Design, The Greatest Hoax on Earth and The Genesis Account. During this series Dr. Sarfati has been answering questions about a wide variety of topics that pertain the evidence that supports the historicity of the literal Biblical account. Of course, we recognize that the overwhelming view in our culture today is that the universe is billions of years old and that life somehow arose spontaneously by a process labeled as “evolution.” But, surprisingly enough, the science that supports life arising from non-living chemicals is not nearly as settled as is usually thought. Moreover, as we’ll learn today, evolution as a hypothesis is defined so flexibly that it is nearly impossible to find a consensus on what the term actually means. Today we’ll be looking at what the terms “evolution” and “natural selection” actually mean and how God’s provision for the adaptation of species has been misused in a way that violates the rules of logic and evidence. Specifically, today we’re going see that the concept of natural selection had actually been recognized by Biblical creationists before Charles Darwin ever put a pen to paper to publish his most famous book. But before we get too far into our discussion, Dr. Sarfati would you like to say a word of greeting to the Anchored by Truth listeners and maybe tell us a little bit about yourself and how you became interested in studying the subject of creation and biological adaptation? Dr. Sarfati: - Thanks for inviting me. It’s a pleasure to be on Anchored by Truth today. Introductory comments. VK: Dr. Sarfati, during our last few episodes we have been discussing several key points demonstrate that the earth and universe are much younger than conventionally assumed. First, there are significant scientific problems with the way dates have been traditionally been assigned to the age of the universe and the earth. Second, there is a considerable body of scientific evidence that supports the ages for creation and the earth derived from Genesis. Third, the Noahic flood dispels the need for a long-age uniformitarianism to explain the geological configuration of the earth. A long age time period is absolutely essential to placing any confidence in – as you put it - a particles-to-people concept of evolution. But there are other problems with the notion that life arose from non-life and blind, random forces produced all the brilliant diversity we see on the earth today. But before we get too deep into our discussion the term “evolution” is often given widely varying meanings. What does the term “evolution” actually mean? Dr. Sarfati: Comments on the varying ways “evolution” is used by its advocates VK: Thank you. That was very helpful. So let’s delve more deeply into some of the issues associated with natural selection and evolution. Question List: a. Can you comment a little more on the fact that Christian scientists had considered the possibility of natural selection as a mechanism for the creation of new species before Darwin wrote The Origin of Species? If so, what was Darwin’s contribution to science? b. What does “natural selection” mean and how does it operate? c. Is it fair to say that the critical factor that precludes random, undirected activity, even at the molecular level, from enabling simpler life forms to “evolve” into more complex life forms is the inability of random activity to create the additional information within the cell that enables all complex life to function? d. How can the loss of genetic information actually contribute to enhanced survival of a species in some circumstances? e. Can genetic mutations ever create new information? Would it ever be possible for a single-celled ancestor to create all the genetic information present in humans and other higher orders of animals? f. What resources would you recommend for Christians who want to study the scientific problems with evolution? g. In your opinion what are the three or four of the most important facts that Christians should know that demonstrate that particles-to-people evolution is not supported by actual scientific evidence? VK: So the big takeaway from our discussion today is that evolutionists consistently commit the logical fallacy of equivocation and use the term “evolution” to create a veneer of scientific respectability to defend an anti-supernatural secularism. This reinforces the conclusion that we have seen through this Truth in Genesis series. There are significant problems with common consensus that the universe is billions of years old and that the evolutionary hypothesis has been proven scientifically. Methods for assigning ancient days to long past events are not as reliable as normally thought. And the Genesis flood explains geological phenomena that are observed around the globe. So if a billions of years age for the earth is not necessary to explain either geological or paleontological discoveries maybe we should begin considering an alternative. This means that the conclusion we get from Genesis – that God created all the various “kinds” of animals – is amply supported by empirical observations and scientific evidence. Dr. Sarfati, we’d really like to thank you for joining us on Anchored by Truth today. Just as a reminder this show, as well as all Anchored by Truth episodes will be available by podcast shortly after the broadcast airing. So any listener today who has a friend or study group that could benefit from Dr. Sarfati’s depth of knowledge can go to their favorite podcast app and search on Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books. Today for our closing prayer, since we may often be the only one who can be the voice of God to bring God’s truth to our friends, how about today that we pray for those friends? ---- Prayer for Friends, radio version. VK: We hope you’ll be with us next time when we’ll continue our discussion with Dr. Sarfati. And we hope you’ll take some time to encourage some friends to tune in too, or listen to the podcast version of this show. If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not famous but our Boss is!” (Bible Quotes from the English Standard Version) Isaiah, chapter 45, verses 18 and 19, English Standard Version Revelation, chapter 4, verse 11, English Standard Version https://creation.com/3-rs-of-evolution https://creation.com/divine-engineer-sarfati-by-design-review https://creation.com/the-evolution-trains-a-comin

Episode 261 – Dinosaur Duplicity – An Interview with Dr. Jonathan Sarfati Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script Notes: Look at Behemoth, which I made along with you and which feeds on grass like an ox. What strength it has in its loins, what power in the muscles of its belly! Its tail sways like a cedar; the sinews of its thighs are close-knit. Its bones are tubes of bronze, its limbs like rods of iron. It ranks first among the works of God, yet its Maker can approach it with his sword. Job, chapter 40, verses 15 through 19, New International Version I will not fail to speak of Leviathan’s limbs, its strength and its graceful form. Who can strip off its outer coat? Who can penetrate its double coat of armor? Who dares open the doors of its mouth, ringed about with fearsome teeth? Its back has rows of shields tightly sealed together; each is so close to the next that no air can pass between. They are joined fast to one another; they cling together and cannot be parted. Its snorting throws out flashes of light; its eyes are like the rays of dawn. Flames stream from its mouth; sparks of fire shoot out. Smoke pours from its nostrils as from a boiling pot over burning reeds. Job, chapter 41, verses 12 through 20, New International Version ******** VK: VK: Hi! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. Today we are pressing forward with our series that we call The Truth in Genesis. To help us in our exploration of one of the most fascinating – and controversial – parts of scripture, we’ve invited Dr. Jonathan Sarfati to be our guest in the studio. Dr. Sarfati is the lead scientist for Creation Ministries International. He has written a number of widely selling books that bring an understandable, yet comprehensive, scientific perspective on what empirical observations actually tell us about the age of the earth and the origin of life. Dr. Sarfati has sold hundreds of thousands of books such as Refuting Evolution volumes 1 and 2, By Design, The Greatest Hoax on Earth and The Genesis Account. During this series Dr. Sarfati is addressing a wide variety of topics that pertain to a proper understanding of scientific evidence that conflicts with the conventional view that the earth is billions of years old. Today we’ll be exploring some of the most fascinating parts of that evidence because we’ve devoted today’s show entirely to dinosaurs. Specifically, today we’re going see that recent discoveries about dinosaur fossils are at odds with the hypothesis that these fossils are tens or hundreds of millions of years old. But before we get too far into our discussion, Dr. Sarfati would you like to say a word of greeting to the Anchored by Truth listeners and maybe tell us a little bit about yourself and how you became involved with Creation Ministries International? Dr. Sarfati: - Thanks for inviting me. It’s a pleasure to be on Anchored by Truth today. Introductory comments. VK: Dr. Sarfati, in our first couple of episodes of our Truth in Genesis series you addressed some of the major problems that affect the validity of dating methods that are used to support the belief in an ancient earth. Last time we saw that the world-wide flood described in Genesis casts further doubt on the reliability of many of the popular claims about the old age of the universe and earth. Would you like to give us a brief overview of a few of the observations that you made? Dr. Sarfati: Review comments for evidence of a young earth VK: Thank you. That was very helpful. As we observed last time - it’s very important to note that the dates developed from geology depend entirely on the assumption that the current appearance of the earth reflects processes that have been consistent and continuous throughout the earth’s history. Yet this assumption is unproven and unprovable. But another problem is that geologists often look to paleontologists to corroborate their determinations. Ironically, though, paleontologists often do the reverse and look to geologists for date determinations. Do I have that correct? Dr. Sarfati: Introductory comments on the geology-paleontology circle. VK: So let’s delve more deeply into what we actually learn by studying dinosaurs. Question List: a. Do dinosaurs prove that the earth is billions or millions old? b. How does much of the evidence that is available from studying dinosaur fossils actually demonstrate that Biblical time frame is more accurate? c. How does the presence of blood cells, elastic blood vessels, intact cells, animal proteins and DNA, found in dinosaur skeletons demonstrate that such skeletons could not be as old as the conventional dating theories assert? d. Could dinosaurs have been present on Noah’s ark? Is there evidence to suggest that dinosaurs lived on the earth for some time after the flood waters had abated? e. Is there evidence to suggest that dinosaurs may have lived in proximity to people at one time? f. How do preconceptions affect paleontologists when they assign long age time periods to dinosaur skeletons? g. Are there any Christian paleontologists who support a literal reading of Genesis and what that mean about dinosaurs? That dinosaurs were created on the sixth day, accompanied Noah on the ark, and existed for some period of time before becoming extinct as millions of other species have. h. In your opinion what are the three or four of the most important facts that point out that Christians can view dinosaur skeletons without surrendering any belief in a literal genesis? i. What resources would you recommend for Christians who want to study more about what dinosaurs really tell us about the earth, it’s age and history? VK: So the big takeaway from our discussion today is that dinosaur remains and dinosaur skeletons do not provide evidence for a long dated age of the earth. This reinforces the conclusion that we saw last time: that the Genesis flood explains geological phenomena that are observed around the globe. So if a billions of years age for the earth is not necessary to explain either geological or paleontological discoveries maybe we should begin considering an alternative. This means that the conclusion we get from Genesis – that the earth is thousands rather than billions of years old – is amply supported by empirical observations and scientific evidence. Dr. Sarfati, we’d really like to thank you for joining us on Anchored by Truth today. Just as a reminder this show, as well as all Anchored by Truth episodes will be available by podcast shortly after the broadcast airing. So any listener today who has a friend or study group that could benefit from Dr. Sarfati’s depth of knowledge can go to their favorite podcast app and search on Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books. Today for our closing prayer, since so many of our children study dinosaurs in school, how about if we pray a prayer for any of our kids who may be preparing to take a test. ---- Prayer before taking a test, radio version. VK: We hope you’ll be with us next time when we’ll continue our discussion with Dr. Sarfati. And we hope you’ll take some time to encourage some friends to tune in too, or listen to the podcast version of this show. If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not famous but our Boss is!” (Bible Quotes from the New International Version) Job, chapter 40, verses 15 through 19, New International Version Job, chapter 41, verses 12 through 20, New International Version https://creation.com/how-did-dinosaurs-grow-so-big https://creation.com/3-rs-of-evolution https://creation.com/divine-engineer-sarfati-by-design-review https://creation.com/the-evolution-trains-a-comin

Episode 260 – A Flood of Biblical Proportions – An Interview with Dr. Jonathan Sarfati Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script Notes: In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights. Genesis, chapter 7, verses 11 and 12, New King James Version Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters. And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered. The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered. Genesis, chapter 7, verses 17 through 20, New King James Version ******** VK: VK: Hi! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. Today we are continuing our series that we call The Truth in Genesis. To help us do that we’ve invited a gifted scientist and logic expert, Dr. Jonathan Sarfati, to be our guest in the studio. Dr. Sarfati has written a number of widely selling books that bring a clear and comprehensive scientific perspective on what empirical observations actually tell us about the age of the universe and the origin of life. Dr. Sarfati has sold hundreds of thousands of books such as Refuting Evolution volumes 1 and 2, By Design, The Greatest Hoax on Earth and The Genesis Account. During this series Dr. Sarfati is addressing a wide variety of topics that pertain to a proper understanding of the opening chapters of the book of Genesis including evidence that the earth’s surface provides abundant evidence of a world-wide flood. Today we’ll be exploring that evidence in greater detail. But just as a refresher for where we are in the Truth in Genesis series, in our last couple of episodes we learned that there are a number of very significant scientific problems with the dating methods methodologies that are typically used to assign ancient dates to the age of the earth. We also learned that there is a substantial volume of empirical observations that fit perfectly with the timeframes found in Genesis. Today we’re going to add to these earlier observations by taking a look at how a catastrophic world-wide flood also calls into question many of the dating assumptions so prevalent in popular discussions. But before we get too far into our discussion, Dr. Sarfati would you like to say a word of greeting to the Anchored by Truth listeners and maybe tell us a little bit about yourself and how you pursued your interest in logical argumentation? Dr. Sarfati: - Thanks for inviting me. It’s a pleasure to be on Anchored by Truth today. Introductory comments. VK: As I mentioned, in our last couple of episodes of Anchored by Truth you addressed some of the major problems that affect the validity of dating methods. You also showed us that there are some scientific facts that are completely at odds with the hypothesis that the earth is millions or billions of years old such as the recovery of intact soft tissue, such as blood vessels, from the skeletons of dinosaurs. Would you like to give us a brief overview of a few of the observations that you made? Dr. Sarfati: Review comments for evidence of a young earth VK: Thank you. That was very helpful. It’s very important to note that when it comes to assigning dates most conventional geologists today depend entirely on the assumption that the current appearance of the earth reflects processes that have been consistent and continuous throughout the earth’s history. Yet this assumption is unproven and unprovable. And the man who originally popularized this view, Charles Lyell was not a geologist. He was in fact a lawyer and his argument was not based on empirical observations. In fact, it was the creation scientists of his day who were committed to the use of empirical observations to support their views. Do I have that correct? Dr. Sarfati: Introductory comments on uniformitarianism vs catastrophism. VK: So let’s explore the scientific support for a flood that was literally of Biblical proportions. Question List: a. First, can we be sure that the flood described in chapters 6 through 9 of Genesis was a worldwide flood? Can the Genesis text be reasonably interpreted to permit a more localized flood? b. What geological evidence demonstrates that at one point in its past the earth was entirely inundated by the flood waters? c. What paleontological evidence demonstrates that at one point there was a rapid and sudden deposit of enormous amounts sediments and minerals? Is there any reasonable, scientific hypothesis that does not require a worldwide deluge that could also account for certain phenomena we see in the fossil record? d. How does the Biblical description of the flood differ from flood accounts passed down in other cultures? Why can we be certain that the Biblical account was the accurate and original one and that the other floor narratives are accounts that have been distorted or mythologized through the years? e. How does the “catastrophic plate tectonics” hypothesis explain geological observations that cannot be explained by conventional plate tectonics or other forms of geological uniformitarianism? f. How many and what kinds of animals did Noah actually bring on the ark? Is it true that Christian scientists had considered the possibility of natural selection as a mechanism for the creation of new species? g. How do we account, Biblically, for biodiversity and the worldwide distribution of animals? h. In your opinion what are the three or four of the most important facts that point out that the Biblical flood account may be accepted as literal history without compromising a belief in science or empirical observations? i. Could you briefly summarize the things Christians should keep in mind when they hear arguments disputing the Biblical flood account? j. What resources would you recommend for Christians who want to study the scientific dimension of the Genesis flood? VK: So the big takeaway from our discussion today is that there is a substantial body of scientific observation that can best be explained by a catastrophic world-wide inundation of the type we heard about in our opening scriptures. The Genesis flood explains geological phenomena that are observed around the globe. Therefore a billions-of-years age for the earth is not required for a valid understanding of geological formations. This means that the conclusion we get from Genesis – that the earth is thousands rather than billions of years old – is amply supported by empirical observations and scientific evidence. Dr. Sarfati, we’d really like to thank you for joining us on Anchored by Truth today. Just as a reminder this show, as well as all Anchored by Truth episodes will be available by podcast shortly after the broadcast airing. So any listener today who has a friend or study group that could benefit from Dr. Sarfati’s depth of knowledge can go to their favorite podcast app and search on Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books. Today for our closing prayer how about if we pray a prayer where we confess all the times we have departed from the truth of God’s word and our need to return to the truth found in holy scripture. ---- Prayer of Corporate Confession, radio version. VK: We hope you’ll be with us next time when we’ll continue our discussion with Dr. Sarfati. And we hope you’ll take some time to encourage some friends to tune in too, or listen to the podcast version of this show. If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not famous but our Boss is!” (Bible Quotes from the New King James Version) Genesis, chapter 7, verses 11 and 12, New King James Version Genesis, chapter 7, verses 17 through 20, New King James Version https://creation.com/noahs-flood-questions-and-answers

Episode 259 – Younger Than You Think – An Interview with Dr. Jonathan Sarfati Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script Notes: You alone are the Lord, Creator of the heavens and all the stars, Creator of the earth and those who live on it, Creator of the ocean and all its creatures. You are the source of life, praised by the stars that fill the heavens. Nehemiah, chapter 9, verse 6, Contemporary English Version Because of our faith, we know that the world was made at God's command. We also know that what can be seen was made out of what cannot be seen. Hebrews, chapter 11, verse 3, Contemporary English Version ******** VK: VK: Hi! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. Today we are continuing our series that we call The Truth in Genesis. To help us do that we’ve invited one of the premier scientists and experts on the question of origins, Dr. Jonathan Sarfati, to be our guest in the studio for the next several weeks. He’s written a number of widely selling books that challenge the conventional views of what chemistry, geology, and paleontology say about the age of the universe and the origin of life. Dr. Sarfati has sold hundreds of thousands of books such as Refuting Evolution, By Design, The Greatest Hoax on Earth and The Genesis Account. During this series Dr. Sarfati is addressing a wide variety of topics during this series including problems with conventional dating methods, affirmative evidence that the universe is actually fairly young, scientific challenges to life arising from non-living chemicals, and evidence that the earth’s surface provides abundant evidence of a world-wide flood. We are even going to do an entire show just on dinosaurs and what the latest dinosaur research actually tells us about the earth’s history. In our last episode we learned that there are a number of very significant scientific problems with the dating methodologies that are typically used to assign purported dates to events of the distant past. Today we are going to build on that discussion and learn that there is a substantial volume of empirical observation that actually indicate that the earth is much younger than traditionally assumed. But before we get too far into our discussion, Dr. Sarfati would you like to say a word of greeting to the Anchored by Truth listeners and maybe tell us a little bit about yourself and how you came to be persuaded that so much of what is typically taught about the age of the universe and earth isn’t supported by real science? Dr. Sarfati: - Thanks for inviting me. It’s a pleasure to be on Anchored by Truth today. Introductory comments. VK: As I mentioned in our last episode of Anchored by Truth you addressed some of the major problems that affect the validity of dating methods such as the use of radiometric dating. Would mind briefly reminding our listeners of the major points that you made? Dr. Sarfati: Review comments for problems with dating methodologies VK: Thank you. That was very helpful. It’s so important to be very clear about the fact that there’s a difference between scientific evidence and the interpretation of that evidence. Contrary to popular belief not all scientists are unanimous that the universe and earth are billions of years old. There are many highly qualified scientists who have pointed to empirical observations that can only be explained by an earth that is thousands of years old. Dr. Sarfati: Introductory comments on the evidence that the earth is thousands of years old. VK: So let’s expand on the basic point that you’re making. Question List: a. What types of evidence exist that would place the age of the earth and the universe in the range of thousands rather than millions or billions of years old? In short - let’s assume uniformitarianism is true. But if uniformitarianism were true it would – in fact – undercut own foundations, wouldn’t it? b. What is carbon 14 and how does its presence in diamonds and other substances indicate that the earth cannot be as old as traditionally assumed? c. What is the faint young sun paradox and how does it demonstrate that the sun cannot be millions or billions of years old? d. Why do short period comets pose such a challenge to the belief that the universe is billions of years old? e. What examples are there of empirical observations that are typically used to support an ancient universe that are actually better explained by Biblical time periods? f. In your opinion what are the three or four of the most important facts that point out that the conventional age assigned to the universe is unlikely to be true? g. Could you briefly summarize the evidence that demonstrates that the universe is actually much younger than normally assumed? h. What resources would you recommend for Christians who want to study the scientific basis for believing in a “young” earth and universe? VK: So the big takeaway from our discussion today is that there is a substantial body of scientific observation that can only be explained by an earth and universe that are substantially younger than is typically thought. This means that the conclusion we get from Genesis – that the earth is thousands rather than billions of years old – is amply supported by scientific evidence. Dr. Sarfati, we’d really like to thank you for joining us on Anchored by Truth today. Just as a reminder this show, as well as all Anchored by Truth episodes will be available by podcast shortly after the broadcast airing. So any listener today who has a friend or study group that could benefit from Dr. Sarfati’s depth of knowledge can go to their favorite podcast app and search on Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books. Today for our closing prayer how about if we pray a prayer of adoration for the Father who is the one who spoke the heavens and earth into existence. ---- Prayer of Adoration for the Father, radio version. VK: We hope you’ll be with us next time when we’ll continue our discussion with Dr. Sarfati. And we hope you’ll take some time to encourage some friends to tune in too, or listen to the podcast version of this show. If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not famous but our Boss is!” (Bible Quotes from the Contemporary English Version) Nehemiah, chapter 9, verse 6, Contemporary English Version Hebrews, chapter 11, verse 3, Contemporary English Version https://creation.com/age-of-the-earth

Episode 258 – Disappointing Dating – An Interview with Dr. Jonathan Sarfati Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script Notes: When Lamech was one 182, he had a son. Lamech said, “I'll name him Noah because he will give us comfort, as we struggle hard to make a living on this land that the Lord has put under a curse.” 0Lamech had more children and died at the age of 777. After Noah was 500 years old, he had three sons and named them Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Genesis, chapter 5, verses 28 through 32, Contemporary English Version But first you must realize that in the last days some people won't think about anything except their own selfish desires. They will make fun of you and say, “Didn't your Lord promise to come back? Yet the first leaders have already died, and the world hasn't changed a bit.” They will say this because they want to forget that long ago the heavens and the earth were made at God's command. First Peter, chapter 3, verses 3 through 5, Contemporary English Version ******** VK: VK: Hi! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. Today we want to continue our discussion series that we’re calling The Truth in Genesis and to help us do that we’ve invited one of the premier scientists and experts on the question of origins, Dr. Jonathan Sarfati, to be our guest in the studio for the next several weeks. Dr. Sarfati has sold hundreds of thousands of books such as Refuting Evolution, By Design, The Greatest Hoax on Earth and The Genesis Account. During this series Dr. Sarfati will be addressing a wide variety of topics that are pertinent to the question of the origin of the earth and the universe. During the series he will be providing us with insight into the extensive body of scientific evidence that supports the truth of the Genesis text. Along the way he will be addressing a number of subjects, including problems with conventional dating methods methodologies, affirmative evidence that the universe is actually fairly young, scientific challenges to life arising from non-living chemicals, and evidence that the earth’s surface provides abundant evidence of a world-wide flood. In our last episode we learned that, contrary to many claims, the text of Genesis is actually very clear that God created the entire earth and universe in just six, normal 24 hour days. We are well aware that this position is at odds with the claims of contemporary culture. Yet, surprisingly enough, there is an enormous body of empirical observations that reinforces the Bible’s declaration and refutes the cultural consensus. But before we get too far into our discussion, Dr. Sarfati would you like to say a word of greeting to the Anchored by Truth listeners and maybe tell us a little bit about yourself and Creation Ministries International? Dr. Sarfati: - Thanks for inviting me. It’s a pleasure to be on Anchored by Truth today. Introductory comments. VK: As I mentioned in our last episode of Anchored by Truth you addressed why the Genesis text actually rules out the possibility that God performed His work of creation in six successive stages of indeterminate duration. Would mind briefly reminding our listeners of the major points that you made? Dr. Sarfati: Review comments for the meaning of the Genesis text VK: Thank you. That was very helpful. It’s so important to be very clear about a proper understanding of the opening verses of Genesis is essential because any other view of the creative period would require the existence of animal and human death before Adam’s sin? This would undermine God’s declaration of the unspoiled creation being “very good.” It would also undermine the clear link scripture makes between sin and death. And there is no good reason for Christians to attempt to fit scripture into a framework that sees the universe as being ancient as opposed to being young, is there? Dr. Sarfati: Introductory comments on problems with conventional dating methods. VK: So let’s expand on the basic point that you’re making. Conventional dating methods have fatal flaws that compromise their reliability for assigning dates to the distant past Question List: a. Well then, what are the most common methods used to assign dates to geological and paleontological phenomena and materials? b. What problems are present in these dating methodologies? c. Why do these dating methodologies result in unreliable results? d. Are there examples of ancient dates that were assigned to rocks of known recent origin? e. If conventional dating methodologies aren’t reliable, are there any methods for assigning dates in which believers can invest confidence? f. How do preconceptions affect attempts to assign dates to long past events? g. Why is it essential that the conventional scientific establishment defend the billions-of-years age assigned to the universe? h. In your opinion what are the three or four of the most important facts that point out that the conventional age assigned to the universe is unlikely to be true? i. Could you briefly summarize the things Christians should keep in mind when they hear arguments supporting a billions-of-years age for creation? j. What resources would you recommend for Christians who want to study the scientific problems with a billions-of-years age for the universe? VK: So the big takeaway from our discussion today is that conventional dating methods have fatal flaws that compromise their reliability for assigning dates to the distant past. This means that the conclusion we get from Genesis – that the earth is thousands rather than billions of years old – is amply supported by scientific evidence. Dr. Sarfati, we’d really like to thank you for joining us on Anchored by Truth today. Just as a reminder this show, as well as all Anchored by Truth episodes will be available by podcast shortly after the broadcast airing. So any listener today who has a friend or study group that could benefit from Dr. Sarfati’s depth of knowledge can go to their favorite podcast app and search on Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books. Today for our closing prayer how about if we pray for the restoration of the worship of the one True God throughout our land and world. ---- Prayer for the restoration of the worship of the one true God, radio version. VK: We hope you’ll be with us next time when we’ll continue our discussion with Dr. Sarfati. And we hope you’ll take some time to encourage some friends to tune in too, or listen to the podcast version of this show. If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not famous but our Boss is!” (Bible Quotes from the Contemporary English Version) Genesis, chapter 5, verses 28 through 32, Contemporary English Version First Peter, chapter 3, verses 3 through 5, Contemporary English Version https://creation.com/how-dating-methods-work

Episode 257 – Creation According to Genesis – An Interview with Dr. Jonathan Sarfati Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script Notes: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.” And evening passed and morning came, marking the first day. Genesis, chapter 1, verses 1 through 5. New Living Translation “Haven’t you read the Scriptures?” Jesus replied. “They record that from the beginning ‘God made them male and female.’” And he said, “‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’ Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together.” The Gospel of Matthew, chapter 19, verses 4 through 6. New Living Translation ******** VK: VK: Hi! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. Today we want to continue our discussion series that we’re calling The Truth in Genesis and to help us do that we’ve invited one of the premier scientists and experts on the question of origins, Dr. Jonathan Sarfati, to be our guest in the studio for the next several weeks. For those who aren’t familiar with Dr. Sarfati’s work we would encourage listeners to check out his impressive body of writing. He’s written a number of widely selling books that challenge the conventional views of what chemistry, geology, and paleontology say about the age of the universe and the origin of life. Dr. Sarfati has sold hundreds of thousands of books such as Refuting Evolution, By Design, and The Greatest Hoax on Earth and The Genesis Account. During this series Dr. Sarfati will be addressing a wide variety of topics that are pertinent to the question of the origin of the earth and the universe. He will be providing us with insight into the extensive body of scientific evidence that supports the truth of the Genesis text. Along the way he will be addressing a number of subjects, including problems with conventional dating methods, affirmative evidence that the universe is actually fairly young, scientific challenges to life arising from non-living chemicals, and evidence that the earth’s surface provides abundant evidence of a world-wide flood. We will even be doing an entire show just on dinosaurs and what the latest dinosaur research actually tells us about the earth’s history. But before we get too far into our discussion, Dr. Sarfati would you like to say a word of greeting to the Anchored by Truth listeners and maybe tell us a little bit about yourself? Dr. Sarfati: - Thanks for inviting me. It’s a pleasure to be on Anchored by Truth today. Introductory comments. VK: Is it fair to say, Dr. Sarfati that you believe that what some have termed the “Battle for the Beginning” is one of the most significant challenges facing the church today especially in America and in much of the developed world? Dr. Sarfati: Opening comments VK: It sounds as though you have a real heart to increase what we might call an awareness of the truth in Genesis to our culture today. So that sounds like you believe that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God which is a point of view we definitely share on Anchored by Truth. Is it fair to say that one of the reasons it’s so important to be very clear about a proper understanding of the opening verses of Genesis is because any view of creation other than a literal 6 24-hour day understanding of Genesis would require the existence of animal and human death before Adam’s sin? This would undermine God’s declaration of the unspoiled creation being “very good” and the clear link scripture makes between sin and death. Dr. Sarfati: Comments VK: So let’s amplify on that essential truth for our listeners. Question List: a. You strongly believe that the six days of creation described in Genesis chapter 1 must be understood as literal 24-hour periods? Why? b. The Hebrew word yom can be used to mean longer periods than a 24 hour day. Is interpreting yom to mean “age” rather than day a possible interpretation? c. The “gap” theory of creation posits a gap of an indeterminate time between creation and the subsequent events in Genesis and thereby could permit the earth to be millions or billions of years old. Is this possible? d. Some Biblical commentators argue that the “seventh” day of creation in which God rested is still going on. If so, that means that at least one of the days of creation wasn’t 24 literal hours. Doesn’t that mean that the earlier six days might also be of an indeterminate length? e. From a Biblical standpoint what is the age of the universe and earth? f. How is this age calculated? g. When and how did you arrive at the conviction that a proper interpretation of Genesis requires viewing creation as 6 24-hour days and the age of the universe as being thousands, rather than billions of years old? h. What resources would you recommend for Christians who want to study a correct interpretation of the Book of Genesis? VK: So the one of the big takeaways from our discussion today is that any view of creation other than a literal 6 24-hour day understanding of Genesis would require the existence of animal and human death before Adam’s sin. This would undermine God’s declaration of the unspoiled creation being “very good” and the clear link scripture makes between sin and death. This position implies that the earth is thousands rather than billions of years old. Dr. Sarfati, we’d really like to thank you for joining us on Anchored by Truth today. Just as a reminder this show, as well as all Anchored by Truth episodes will be available by podcast shortly after the broadcast airing. So any listener today who has a friend or study group that could benefit from Dr. Sarfati’s depth of knowledge can go to their favorite podcast app and search on Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books. Today for our closing prayer how about if we pray that everyone would come to a saving knowledge of the God of the Bible who is our one sure anchor to truth. ---- Prayer for the spiritually lost, radio version. VK: We hope you’ll be with us next time when we’ll continue our discussion with Dr. Sarfati. And we hope you’ll take some time to encourage some friends to tune in too, or listen to the podcast version of this show. If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not famous but our Boss is!” (Bible Quotes from the New Living Translation) Genesis, chapter 1, verses 1 through 5. New Living Translation The Gospel of Matthew, chapter 19, verses 4 through 6. New Living Translation https://creation.com/gods-days https://creation.com/how-did-dinosaurs-grow-so-big https://creation.com/3-rs-of-evolution https://creation.com/divine-engineer-sarfati-by-design-review https://creation.com/the-evolution-trains-a-comin

Episode 256 – Competing Truth Claims About Genesis Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script: (Bible quotes from the New Living Translation) “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much. Who determined its dimensions and stretched out the surveying line? What supports its foundations, and who laid its cornerstone as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?” Job Chapter 38, verses 4 through 7, New Living Translation “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see... Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together it.” Colossians Chapter 1, verses 15 through 17, New Living Translation ******** VK: Hi! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. I’m here today with RD Fierro, author, founder of Crystal Sea Books, and part-time interior designer. He arranges the books in the display case in the lobby. And speaking of arranging things, we have arranged a very special series on Anchored by Truth that will begin next week. Starting next week and for several weeks in a row we will doing a very special series and to help us do that we will have a VERY special guest. RD, do you want to tell us about this extra special series that we’re introducing today on Anchored by Truth? RD: I do indeed. Today we’re going to launch a series of shows I’m calling “The Truth in Genesis.” Obviously, Anchored by Truth is all about demonstrating that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. We start every show with that proclamation. But I think one of the big challenges that most Christians face today who believe that the Bible is the word of God is how to sustain that belief in a relativistic world and culture that bombards us constantly with the message that there is no such thing as absolute truth and that there is no way to know whether any book, including the Bible, can be shown to be the word of God. And certainly for Christians in contemporary culture one of the most immediate challenges that is placed before us is right at the beginning of the Bible in Chapter 1 where the Bible tells us that God created the heavens, the earth, and everything that exists on the earth including all living creatures and most especially, us. Supposedly, that claim is at odds with what contemporary science tells us about the universe and life. So, for a Christian to maintain their faith in the Bible today culture they must immediately confront the cultural challenge to the Bible’s proclamation about creation. VK: And your contention is that it is a cultural challenge more than a scientific one. Your view is that there is substantial scientific evidence that absolutely supports, as you are saying, the truth in Genesis. And that’s what this series of radio episodes is going to be about. We are going to review some of the scientific evidence that pertains to the age of the universe and earth and the origin and development of life. We believe that conducting this review listeners will be able to see how objective, scientific observations fit very well with a proper understanding of the Genesis text. And to help us do that for most of the shows we have a very special, invited guest to help. But before we provide the details about our upcoming special guest or get too much farther into our discussion about the serious stuff, we’d like to start by just reminding the folks about how the Bible tells us that God did go about creating the heavens and earth. To do that we want to play a portion of Crystal Seas’ upcoming poetic series called the Genesis Saga. For today, let’s listen to Part 1 of the Genesis Saga which we call Seven Days of Wonder. ---- SEVEN DAYS OF WONDER VK: I know I’m biased but I just love the simple beauty of the descriptions contained in that piece. The piece is visual and emotional but it also gives us a description of each day of creation that is absolutely faithful to Chapter 1 of Genesis. RD: And that was certainly our goal. In fact it’s always our goal at Crystal Sea and Anchored by Truth. We want people to always be drawn back to the Bible for their own inspiration and edification. Particularly when it comes to creation the best that we can do today is look at to evidence that can be found in the world around us and see where the evidence points insofar as origins are concerned. But the Bible provides us an eyewitness account of creation from the only One who was there when it all took place: God. Because God, in fact, was not only there, He was the One who did the creating. VK: But of course, that’s the part that’s to so much disagreement today or outright disbelief and criticism. Today, a great many people go to science to get their explanation for the origin of the universe, the earth, life, and people. RD: And in a certain sense that’s ok – provided we always remember that it’s the scientific evidence we should look to – as opposed to simply accepting certain interpretations of that evidence. Everyone – including you, me, and scientists approach the world with an established set of axioms, a lens if you will, through which we will view issues or evidence that comes before us. There is a tendency, however, in our day and age to somehow believe that - if someone calls himself or herself a scientist – that they have set aside all preconceptions and are somehow now operating in an objective, dispassionate fashion without such a set of preconceptions or axioms. While I don’t doubt that the vast majority of scientists are genuinely interested in trying to better understand the world and universe it would be a mistake to not understand that scientists are people complete with agendas, aspirations, and viewpoints that will affect how they approach evidence. VK: Can you give us an example of what you’re thinking about? RD: Sure. There are massive fossil beds - graveyards of thousands and even millions of fish, dinosaurs, and mammals that are found in North America, Europe, and Africa. The same is true of plants. From Utah-Colorado north to Alberta-Saskatchewan, Canada, thousands of dinosaurs are found in certain beds such as the Morrison Formation. These sites reveal that great quantities of animals were buried together rapidly. The rapid burial resulted in excellent preservation of the remains and the position of mammals suggests death by drowning. In Brazil there is a large plateau where fish fossils are found with the skin, muscles, organs etc. all preserved. The fish look like they had just been caught but they are petrified and hard as stone. They are abundant and distributed over several thousand square miles. The plateau where these fossils are found is well above sea level and a good 500 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. This is remarkable because experiments with fresh dead fish have shown that dead fish in water will disintegrate and their skeletons will fall apart in less than one week. Only catastrophic conditions would have enabled the preservation of such an extensive collection of animals and plants so exquisitely preserved. A world-wide catastrophe involving water is a very reasonable explanation for these observations. But a geologist or paleontologist who rejects the Biblical flood account will come to the same evidence but will provide a different explanation for the evidence. VK: Such as? RD: Well they might believe there have been catastrophic floods in the past, just not a world-wide one. They might believe in a more localized flood perhaps based on a catastrophe caused by an asteroid strike or an immense undersea volcanic eruption that caused a massive tsunami. VK: So your point is that different people can approach the same body of evidence and arrive at very different conclusions. And a part of their determination will be based on the set of axioms that they use to approach either life in general or in the practice of their profession. And we see that kind of variation in the results of decision making every day in the world around us. Two different financial analysts look at exactly the same set of financial statements or business presentations and one says a company’s stock is a buy and the other says it’s a sell. Two different forensic examiners look at the same evidence and one might say it points to the innocence of a defendant and the other believes it points to guilt. RD: Exactly. And that’s one of the reasons we wanted to do a series on the book of Genesis because so often today the only discussion people hear about the earth’s past is very one sided. Today, almost without exception, we are told that all scientific evidence points to a universe and earth that are billions of years old and that life on earth began without an intelligent cause – or as I would say God. So, we wanted to do a series of Anchored by Truth episodes that examine some of the latest scientific discoveries and see whether or not the only reasonable conclusion is that science contradicts Genesis. That’s the reason we’re calling this series The Truth in Genesis. VK: And to help us do that we’ve invited one of the premier scientists and experts on the question of origins, Dr. Jonathan Sarfati, to be our guest in the studio for the next several weeks. For those who aren’t familiar with Dr. Sarfati’s work we would encourage listeners to check out his impressive body of writing. He’s written a number of widely selling books that challenge the conventional views of what chemistry, geology, and paleontology say about the age of the universe and the origin of life. Dr. Sarfati has sold hundreds of thousands of books such as Refuting Evolution, By Design, and The Greatest Hoax on Earth. Dr. Sarfati will be addressing a wide variety of topics during this series including problems with conventional dating methodologies, affirmative evidence that the universe is actually fairly young, scientific challenges to life arising from non-living chemicals, and evidence that the earth’s surface provides abundant evidence of a world-wide flood. We will even be doing an entire show just on dinosaurs and what the latest dinosaur research actually tells us about the earth’s history. RD: I think this will be a truly amazing series especially for listeners who have never had the chance to do any personal investigation into what science actually reveals about the key questions of the age of the universe and how life on the earth began. And I’d like to emphasize that while we will not be shy about discussing the Bible in connection with these important topics, this series really will be top heavy with science. Dr. Sarfati’s title is the Lead Scientist for Creation Ministries International. He has a Ph.D. in physical chemistry and he is an internationally ranked chess champion. He’s well known for playing up to chess with up to 12 players simultaneously while he is blindfolded. VK: He sounds pretty impressive but what about your earlier warning that scientists are just people and that we shouldn’t necessarily accept their opinions just because they are scientists? RD: And I’m standing by that warning. I don’t think anyone should accept Dr. Sarfati’s analyses just because they come from him any more than I think that we should blindly place our trust in any human source. The point of my earlier observation is that we can and should listen to people who are acknowledged experts in their fields whether it’s a geologist, paleontologist, medical doctor, or auto mechanic. But we should always employ our own reasoning skills to examine what they’re telling us and make our own determination about whether what they’re telling us makes sense, especially if they start telling us that their point of view is the only reasonable or even possible one - which is something that evolutionary adherents have been saying for decades. VK: So what you’re saying is that when someone says, “Evolution is not a theory. It is a fact,” that what they’re really trying to do isn’t to examine the evidence for or against the evolutionary hypothesis. The real intent is shut down debate. They’re trying to avoid any need to consider evidence that doesn’t support their position. RD: Yes. All too often that’s what happens. Conventional science has embraced the evolutionary hypothesis for so long that a great many scientists, as well as their lay followers, are no longer willing to consider any alternatives. But despite these assertions, the truth is that “goo to you,” “particles to people,” “the sea to me” position on evolution is not a proven fact. So, people who believe in believe in Biblical creationism simply want to point out that since it is not a proven fact evolution as the solution for the origin of life should not be promoted dogmatically. But throughout the halls of schools and colleges everywhere as well as in the popular press and media it is. Phillip Johnson in his groundbreaking work Darwin on Trial devoted an entire chapter to discussing what Johnson called the “Darwinist Religion.” In other words, all too often today the scientific problems with evolution are simply dismissed because the evolutionary paradigm is deemed to be so sacrosanct no forms of dissent are tolerable. VK: But one of the ironies that we are going to cover during the series is the fact that some of the evidentiary elements that are often offered in support of evolution actually point in the opposite direction. For instance, the fossil record is often touted as demonstrating that there is empirical evidence for evolutionary development. But even Charles Darwin recognized that the fossil record at his time didn’t support his theory. He famously wrote, “Geology assuredly does not reveal any such finely-graduated organic chain; and this, perhaps, is the most obvious and serious objection which can be urged against the theory.” Darwin hoped that with further exploration gaps in the fossil record would be closed and so called “intermediate species” would be identified. Yet despite the fact that over 100,000 species are now known from the fossil record there are only a handful of truly viable candidates that are known to be possible intermediates. RD: And that’s just one example of the scientific problems that plagues the evolutionary hypothesis and it’s a great example of the kinds of topics we hope to discuss during the series. And since time is running out on this episode of Anchored by Truth I’d like to cover one final point. During this series we are going to be contrasting Biblical creationism vs. “molecules to men” evolution. I am well aware that there are various positions regarding origins and biological development that try to straddle the obvious gaps between those two positions. VK: Such as so-called theistic evolution where God created life but then used evolution to form the species that we see existing today? RD: Yes. Theistic evolution is an attempt to resolve the tension between Biblical creationism and evolution. Just like the Day-Age approach is an attempt to reconcile the differences in the time scales we get from the Bible and from conventional science. I think there are significant problems with both of those approaches and other middle-of-the-road type of strategies. For instance, one of the problems with theistic evolution is that it places death before sin in the chronology of the history and I think that’s problematic given the entirety of scripture. So, because of the limited time we’ll have for addressing a large variety of topics we’re going to concentrate on how science supports the orthodox view of Biblical creationism because that’s the view that gets the least time in most discussions about these issues. VK: And one of the biggest reasons we want to that is that we want to be respectful of our listeners time. All of us have a lot going on so we want to be sure that if listeners are kind enough to tune into the show or the podcast we want their time to be rewarded with information that will help them develop in their own investigation of scripture and development of their faith. Since we’ve begun a focus on the first chapter of Genesis, how about if today we hear a prayer of adoration for the Creator? ---- PRAYER OF ADORATION FOR THE CREATOR (radio version) VK: We’d like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.” We hope you’ll be with us next time as we are joined by Dr. Jonathan Sarfati to begin our in depth look at the truth in Genesis. If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not famous but our Boss is!” (Bible Quotes from the New Living Translation) The Book of Job, chapter 38, verses 4 through 7 The epistle to the Colossians, chapter 15 verses 1 through 17 https://creation.com/right-perspective-interpreting-data https://creation.com/gods-days https://creation.com/how-did-dinosaurs-grow-so-big https://creation.com/3-rs-of-evolution https://creation.com/divine-engineer-sarfati-by-design-review https://creation.com/the-evolution-trains-a-comin

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Episode 248 – Archeology and the Bible – Part 4 – Amazing Accuracy Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script: Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah: “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! 2 Kings, Chapter 18, verse 28, English Standard Version ******** VK: Hello! Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. I’m Victoria K. Today we’re moving on in the series we began a few episodes ago called “Archeology and the Bible.” Archeology as a science can be very helpful to show an unbelieving world that that the Bible is true. The Bible is a book that is firmly set in place and time. It contains a large body of history and, despite the doubts of some, the history contained in the Bible has been shown repeatedly to be reliable. And one way the reliability of the Bible’s history has been demonstrated is through archeological finds and artifacts. So, to help us continue our discussion today in the studio we have RD Fierro, who is an author and the founder of Crystal Sea Books. RD, one of the big points that we are trying to make in this that archeological finds can be a valuable source of support for the accuracy of the history that the Bible reports. Can you give us an example of that? RD: Absolutely. But before I do that I would also like to say “hi” to everyone and welcome them to Anchored by Truth. So, here is a quick example that will lead us into today's discussion. Most people who have read the Bible know that the books of 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles are historical books. They describe the history of the nation of Israel after the period of the judges ended. VK: As a quick refresher just about everybody knows that at one time the Hebrews lived in Egypt for a period of hundreds of years. Then around 1445 BC, plus or minus a few years, Moses led the Hebrews out of Egypt. After a period of 40 years of wandering in the desert the Hebrews finally entered Palestine and displaced many of the Canaanites who had been living there. Well, for the first 400 or so years after they entered Palestine the Hebrews lived a loose confederation of tribal states under a succession of judges. And the book of Judges in the Bible describes this time period. But around 1100 BC Saul was anointed king and the Hebrews lived in a monarchial system for the next 500 years or so. Under Saul, David, and David’s son, Solomon, Israel had a united kingdom. But after Solomon died the kingdom split into the northern and southern kingdoms. The northern kingdom was called Israel and the southern kingdom was called Judah. RD: Yes. Well, chapter 17 of the book of 1 Samuel describes the epic encounter between David and Goliath. The encounter took place in the Valley of Elah which is very near the boundary between the Philistines and Israel. Today there is a site called Khirbet Qeiyafa which is the site of an ancient fortress city overlooking the Elah Valley of Israel. It’s about 20 miles southwest of Jerusalem and 7 miles from Goliath’s hometown of Gath. Since 2007, excavations by Yosef Garfinkel of The Hebrew University and Saar Ganor of the Israel Antiquities Authority, have uncovered a large number of artifacts at Qeiyafa. One of the artifacts they found was a jar with the name “Eshbaal” on it. Eshbaal was one of the sons of Saul. 1 Chronicles 8:33 says “Ner became the father of Kish; and Kish became the father of Saul; and Saul became the father of Jonathan, and Malchishua, and Abinadab, and Eshbaal.” VK: And what is interesting is that Garfinkel has dated the find to about the time that Saul would have been the king. But you’re not asserting that this jar actually belonged to Saul’s son, are you? RD: No. But what the find does point out is that the name “Eshbaal” was in use around that time. Furthermore, Garfinkel thinks it likely that the evidence at this site is indicative of a stronger government and nation at that point in Israel’s history than has been commonly thought. Part of the reason they think this is because the excavators at the site found out that the city at the site had two gates. According to an article on PatternsofEvidence.com “This has caused them to propose that the site was biblical Shaaraim, which means “two gates” in Hebrew and this settlement/fortress is also mentioned as being near the site of the David vs. Goliath confrontation in the Bible’s account.” The English Standard Version of 1 Samuel 17:52 says this “And the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath and the gates of Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron.” We’ll put a link to the article in the notes that accompany the podcast version of this episode. VK: So, these archeological finds are entirely consistent with the Biblical record of the encounter between David and Goliath and they are consistent with the timing and location of the encounter. As we’ve said before, this does not rise to the level of conclusive proof but it does mean that there is evidence that what the Bible says about the confrontation between the Philistines and the Hebrews, and the fight between David and Goliath, has significant historical support. RD: Right. And that’s a good lead into what I wanted to talk about today. Names and titles tend to change through times and they vary from nation to nation and culture to culture. So, if we find out that a writer uses names and titles correctly, that their use is consistent with the time, place, and surroundings, we can have confidence that the writer has been accurate in their reporting. VK: For instance at one time Elsie was a very common woman’s name in America and Horatio was a common men’s name. Horatio Alger was one of the best known authors of the late 19th century. But you never hear of parents naming their children “Elsie” or “Horatio” today. So, if you see those names you can be pretty sure they weren’t born in the late 20th century or early 21st century. Same thing is true with titles. In England the highest governmental executive officer is called the “Prime Minister.” In American the title “President” is used. So, if a writer were to write an account and call an American office holder the “Prime Minister” we could be reasonably sure that some, if not most, of their account was inaccurate. In ancient Egypt the ruler was called “Pharaoh.” In Rome before Julius Caesar came to power the leaders of the Roman government were called “counsels.” After Julius Caesar made himself dictator most of the men who succeeded him also went by the title Caesar. We could date the reign of Roman rulers at least somewhat by what title applied. Names and titles tend to be location, time, and culturally dependent. RD: Right. So, let’s take a look at a specific example of a Biblical account that gets even obscure titles right. In 701 BC the southern kingdom of Judah was threatened by the Assyrian Empire under their king named Sennacherib. Sennacherib is a name found in 3 books of the Bible: 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles, and Isaiah. Sennacherib began to reign 710 BC and even though he only reigned a few years he was prominent in the Bible because of his threats to Judah. VK: Hezekiah who was the king of Judah at the time had freed Judah from the Assyrians. As a consequence Sennacherib marched an army against him, and took all the strong cities of Judah except Jerusalem. Hezekiah, realized the predicament he was in and sent ambassadors with tribute to Sennacherib [SIN-AT-CHUR-RIB], who at the time was besieging and destroying another city in Judah. Sennacherib accepted his tribute, but refused to depart, and he sent some of his senior officials with an insulting message to Jerusalem. Hezekiah then prayed to the Lord, who sent a destroying angel against the Assyrian army, and killed a 185,000 of the Assyrians in one night. Sennacherib then retreated to his capital city of Nineveh. But two or three years after his return from Jerusalem he was murdered by two of his sons. RD: Right. All of that history is contained in the Bible. But the Bible’s account has been confirmed by records that were found in the ruins of Nineveh. The ruins of Nineveh are in a mound called Kouyunijik, which is outside the current city of Mosul, Iraq. The mound has been explored and excavated and the excavation has uncovered the remains of a huge palace of the type that would have been built by a powerful king. Inside the palace are huge stone tablets which formed the walls of its various apartments. These tablets are covered with bas-reliefs and inscriptions and while they have suffered over time some large portions remain intact. The fragments that remain are very important. One series of tablets recounts the Sennacherib exploits, who calls himself "the subduer of kings from the upper sea of the setting sun to the lower sea of the rising sun." In our language that would be from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf. VK: For those of us who are interested in the Bible the most important of these mural pages recount the history of Sennacherib’s war against Syria and the Jews, in the third year of his reign. In his campaign region he fought with an Egyptian army, sent to help King Hezekiah. Sennacherib defeated the Egyptians and conquered a number of cities in Judah. One inscription on a tablet says "Hezekiah king of Judah, who had not submitted to my authority, forty-six of his principal cities, and fortresses and villages dependent upon them, of which I took no account, I captured, and carried away their spoil. The fortified towns, and the rest of his towns which I spoiled, I severed from his country, and gave to the kings of Askelon, Ekron, and Gaza, so as to make his country small. In addition to the former tribute imposed upon their countries, I added a tribute the nature of which I fixed." RD: Now it’s importance to note that in this boast Sennacherib does not claim to have conquered Jerusalem itself. He claims to have carried away Hezekiah's family, servants, and treasures, with a tribute of thirty talents of gold and eight hundred talents of silver. The amount of gold Sennacherib mentions is the same reported in the Bible narrative. The amount of silver claimed by Sennacherib differs from the amount in scripture. Scripture just mentions three hundred talents of silver. So, it is possible that Hezekiah gave Sennacherib 300 talents of silver because that was all the silver money he had. The five hundred additional talents claimed in the Ninevite record may include the temple and palace treasures that Hezekiah gave when he tried to buy Sennacherib off. VK: The Bible describes these events this way, “In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. So Hezekiah king of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish: ‘I have done wrong. Withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand of me.’ The king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. So Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal palace. At this time Hezekiah king of Judah stripped off the gold with which he had covered the doors and doorposts of the temple of the Lord, and gave it to the king of Assyria.” That’s 2 Kings, chapter 18, verses 13 through 16 from the New International Version. You know it’s interesting that the Bible doesn’t record Hezekiah seeking help from the Lord until Jerusalem itself was threatened. RD: That is interesting and I think it points out something important. From archeological records and artifacts we can learn much of what happened in history. But it’s only from the Bible that we can see the interactions between God and his people. Of course it’s important to have confidence that the history in the Bible is accurate but it’s more important to know what God wants us to learn from that history. Hezekiah and Judah endured a lot of loss before Hezekiah finally sent some of his court officials to the prophet Isaiah to ask the Lord for help. VK: 2 Kings, chapter 19 verses 5 through 7 say, “When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, Isaiah said to them, ‘Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Listen! When he hears a certain report, I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.” Then in verses 32 and 33 the Lord tells Hezekiah through Isaiah “He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it. By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city …” Those quotes are from the New International Version. RD: This is a great lesson for us all. At one point the southern nation of Judah was subject to the dominion of the Assyrian Empire. Hezekiah’s father, Ahaz, had put them in that position because Ahaz had asked the Assyrians to help him against a confederation that was composed of the kings of the northern nation, Israel and one of the neighboring states, Aram. The Bible tells us that Ahaz was a wicked, ungodly king. Ahaz was so wicked he even practiced child sacrifice. So, rather than seeking help from the Lord, Ahaz looked to the wicked pagan power of Assyria for help for Judah. He got the help but it made Judah subject to Assyria. VK: But unlike his wicked father the Bible tells us that Hezekiah was a righteous king. Hezekiah led a reformation within Judah and eventually Hezekiah was able to achieve a measure of independence for Judah. The Bible tells us that for 14 years of Hezekiah’s reign the Assyrians did not attack. But then this new Assyrian king, Sennacherib, ascended the throne and he appears to have resented the fact that Judah had broken away. So, he attacked Judah. And despite that fact that Hezekiah was a very good king he apparently did not seek the Lord’s help until the Assyrian campaign had progressed quite a bit. RD: And that may be because in the years after he assumed the throne and before the Assyrians attacked Hezekiah appears to have formed a relationship or an alliance with Egypt and Ethiopia. Hezekiah may have been counting on his earthly alliances more than his heavenly father. Again, this is a lesson for us. As it’s sometimes put, we need to make “prayer our first response and not our last resort.” In Hezekiah’s case he appears to have made an appeal to the Lord his last resort because he didn’t send his officials to Isaiah until Sennacherib had conquered much of Judah and was threatening Jerusalem. VK: I think a lot of us are like that – even many Christians. We think God is there or at least we hope He is. But when troubles come our way we almost behave as if He isn’t. We try to handle our problems using our own resources, strength, and plans. All too often we don’t immediately go to prayer and start petitioning the Lord for Him to intercede. And, all too often we certainly have been consulting with the Lord before we got into trouble to ask him what we should be doing that might have kept us out of trouble to begin with. RD: And part of the reason we permit this to happen is because we haven’t studied the Bible to see how God has dealt with His people throughout history. This is a serious weakness in the faith of the modern church. We attempt to build our faith on what we think the Bible says and not on what it actually does say. But I am persuaded that a large part of the reason we treat our faith this way is because too many Christians really aren’t persuaded that the Bible is the inspired word of God. At least that what the surveys tell us. VK: Ligonier Ministries and Lifeway Books collaborate every two years and do surveys to determine what they call the “state of theology.” One of the statements they test is: “The Bible, like all sacred writings, contains helpful accounts of ancient myths but is not literally true.” In 2014 only 41% of adult Americans agreed with this statement. In 2022 53% of adults agreed with the statement. That’s an alarming trend. RD: Less than half of adult Americans think that the Bible is literally true. I don’t know for sure but I suspect when I was a kid in the 1960’s the percentage would have been in the 70’s or even 80%. And part of the reason the percentage of adult Americans who believe the Bible is literally true is because the Bible has been under an unrelenting assault. That’s why seemingly arcane details about archeology are important. These details help us to assure ourselves, first and foremost, that the Bible is true and then they help us to convey that to others. We won’t rely on our faith if we’re not confident in our faith. And we’re not going to be confident in our faith if we don’t have assurance that the written source of our faith, the Bible, is true. An assured faith is a faith that will turn to God in trouble and frankly will please that God more than a faith that is built on 2nd hand knowledge. So let’s go to one final example today of how the Bible has been validated by archeology. VK: We heard in our opening scripture that it was not the king of Assyria that spoke directly to the residents of Jerusalem in making his threats, but one of his designated officials. And as we mentioned at the start of our episode getting the names and titles right when reporting history gives us confidence the writer was reporting things accurately. Well, archaeology has validated the biblical terms used for the Assyrian officials who confronted Hezekiah. RD: Right. From the Judean city of Lachish, Sennacherib sent some of his high-ranking men, together with a delegation of his army, to Jerusalem. They presented a message to Hezekiah as a means of intimidation. Three Assyrian officers who brought Sennacherib’s message are listed: “the Tartan, the Rab-saris, and the Rabshakeh” That’s 2 Kings 18:17. Up until the ruins of Nineveh were explored these titles were obscure and puzzling to Bible commentators. But all three terms have since been found in ancient Assyrian records. The Assyrian records mentions the Tartan—the senior military commander who ranked next to the king. They also mention the slightly lower-ranked Rabshakeh, which means ‘chief of princes’. The Rab-saris, another of the king’s close officials (possibly chief eunuch), is mentioned in a small contract document. VK: And while we don’t know everything about the exact duties performed by these officers, the preservation of their titles is one of many examples where the details in Scripture, though otherwise lost from secular history, have been verified by archaeological discoveries. RD: Right. And let’s remember from the opening scripture we heard that the chief spokesman for the Assyrians when they threatened Jerusalem was the Rabshakeh, a slightly lower officer – not the military commander. This is very similar to what we see in today’s governments where announcements are usually made by designated spokesman, not the actual leader. Think about the press briefings that are conducted in the White House or Pentagon. VK: And it is interesting to hear that the spokesman for the Assyrians was like a lot of political spokesmen today. He didn’t just confine himself to asking the Hebrews to surrender. Instead he can’t help but do some boasting. He actually said: “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you out of my hand. … And do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you by saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” Has any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?’” That’s 2 Kings, chapter 18, selected verses from 28 through 33. But the Lord did deliver Jerusalem from the hands of the Assyrians. They made a big mistake when they exhibited disdain for the almighty God. They treated the almighty, everlasting God as if he were just one of the other gods – who were not gods at all but just idols made by human hands. That was not smart. And just as Isaiah had prophesied Sennacherib never conquered Jerusalem and was murdered a short while later. RD: Right. Sennacherib and the Assyrians were like all people who oppose the Lord. They enjoy some earthly success for a while but they are long term losers. Less than a hundred years later the Assyrians were conquered by the Babylonians - and as we have discussed – disappeared so completely that for 2,000 years nobody even new where Nineveh (their capital) once stood. But Hezekiah and the people who trusted in the Lord survived. So, the details of this encounter show the precision and reliability of the Biblical record. You know it’s one thing for records to be able to get the “big” names and titles right. People remember the names of famous kings or queens or the titles of rulers. But it’s another thing when the writers get the titles of lesser officials right. That demonstrates an attention to detail and a concern for accuracy. But that’s what we see in the Bible. And it’s why the assertions that the Bible is not true, filled with myth and fairy tales, or was written hundreds of years after the events that it records are so easily shown to be wrong. VK: And that is what we wanted to point out in this episode and in this series. Archeological discoveries have repeatedly supported the history contained in the Bible. And when they supposedly don’t – when purportedly a discovery shows how the Bible is wrong - we need to stop and think. As we discussed in a previous episode in this series we need to examine the worldview and axioms of the group making the discovery and they need to research and consider the Biblical alternative. All archeologists look at evidence in present and try to determine what it says about the past. Often later discoveries will result an initial opinion being revised. Quite often when that happens we find out the Bible had it right the whole time. Well, This sounds like a great time to pray. Today let’s listen to a prayer that our communities and nations would repent of our departure from the worship of the One True God. The God that saved Hezekiah and the Hebrews from the Assyrians still rules today and He will still help all those who turn in trust to Him. ---- PRAYER FOR RESTORATION OF THE WORSHIP OF THE ONE TRUE GOD VK: We’d like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.” If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not perfect but our Boss is!” (Bible Quotes from the English Standard Version and New International Version) 2 Kings, Chapter 18, verse 28, English Standard Version David Battles Goliath: Is There Evidence That David Won (patternsofevidence.com) When God rescued King Hezekiah, part 2 (creation.com) Topical Bible: Sennacherib (biblehub.com)

Episode 247 – Archeology and the Bible – Part 3 – Archeological Axioms Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script: Noah was 600 years old when he went into the boat to escape the flood, and he did everything the LORD had told him to do. His wife, his sons, and his daughters-in-law all went inside with him. Genesis, Chapter 7, verses 5 through 7, Contemporary English Version ******** VK: Hello! Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. I’m Victoria K. Today we’re going to be doing the third episode in a new series that we are calling “Archeology and the Bible.” Some scholars estimate that there are over 4,000 different religions in the world. With that many religions out there it’s reasonable to ask whether we can be sure which of those religions, if any, is true. The good news is that we can reasonably differentiate among the competing truth claims made by the various religions using logic, reason, and evidence. And one source of evidence that demonstrates that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God is archeology. Archeology helps us to show an unbelieving world that that the Bible contains a large body of reliable history. So, to help us continue our discussion today in the studio we have RD Fierro, who is an author and the founder of Crystal Sea Books. RD, one of the big points that we are trying to make in this that archeological finds can be a valuable source of support for the accuracy of the history that the Bible reports. In fact, the Bible’s history has been shown to be accurate even when doubted by secular historians and we talked about that in our last episode of Anchored by Truth, right? RD: Right. But before I get to a reminder of what we discussed last time I would also like to say “hi” to everyone and welcome them to Anchored by Truth. At Anchored by Truth we often say that there are four lines of evidence, at a minimum, that will help people understand that the Bible may be differentiated from all other books that claim to be the word of God. Those four lines of evidence are reliable history, remarkable unity, fulfilled prophecies, and redeemed destinies. And one way we can show that the Bible’s historical reports are accurate is through archeological finds. And there have been some pretty graphic examples of the Bible getting history right even when skeptics for centuries dismissed the Bible’s report. A case in point is the Bible’s report on the existence of the ancient kingdom of Assyria and its famous capital city, Nineveh. Nineveh and the Assyrian Empire literally disappeared beneath the sands of time in the 6th century BC and for over 2,000 years physical evidence of the once-mighty empire was missing. VK: Nineveh disappeared so completely that a Greek writer, Lucian of Samosata ([who lived from] A.D. 120-180), once lamented: "Nineveh has perished. No trace of it remains. No one can say where once it existed" ... This lack of visible evidence caused many scholars and historians as late as the 19th century to doubt that the Assyrian Empire even existed, much less was once the dominant military power on earth. RD: Yes. But then all that changed. The online Encyclopedia Britannica has this to say about the rediscovery of Nineveh. “The first person to survey and map Nineveh was the archaeologist Claudius J. Rich in 1820, a work later completed by Felix Jones and published by him in 1854. … Sir Henry Layard during 1845–51 discovered the palace of Sennacherib and took back to England an unrivalled collection of stone bas-reliefs together with thousands of tablets inscribed in cuneiform from the great library of Ashurbanipal.” VK: But while secular history had lost sight of Nineveh and the Assyrians the one witness to their existence that never wavered was the Bible. The Old Testament books of Kings, Chronicles, Isaiah, Nahum, and Jonah always contained a clear record of the existence of the Assyrians even preserving names of some of its rulers and officials, the name of its capital, and even records of its conquests. Once the clay tablets were recovered from the great library by Henry Layard the Bible’s accounts were vindicated. RD: Right. No serious historian today doubts that the Assyrian Empire at one time dominated the Mideast, was a very successful military power, and posed a grave and mortal threat to kingdoms of Israel and Judah. The Bible always contained a plain record of those facts and today scholars worldwide accept those facts. So, one subject I want to discuss today is why – at one time – there was so much doubt about the Bible’s reports about Assyria and Nineveh despite the fact that the Bible record was true and accurate. VK: Well, I suppose many, maybe most people, would say “before Rich, Layard, and the others who unearthed the ruins of Nineveh from the Iraqi desert there wasn’t any evidence that the Bible’s account was accurate.” RD: I think you’re quite right –. VK: Thank you. RD: - And that’s what I want to talk about. Why do so many people doubt the Bible until one of the Bible’s accounts is confirmed by an extra Biblical source? The Bible is an ancient record – but there are a lot of ancient records from about that same time period. The Greeks in particular had some well-known historians such as Herodotus and Xenophon. The Romans had historians such as Tacitus and Pliny. The Jews had a particularly well-known historian called Josephus. But when secular scholars read those ancient historians they don’t automatically doubt their accounts unless another source or archeological find confirms it. But all too many people automatically doubt the Bible’s records unless there is an extra-Biblical source that comes along and shows the Bible is right. VK: Oh. I see the point you’re making. Even before Rich and Layard discovered the physical remains of Nineveh and the Assyrians there was in fact very good evidence of their existence - because the Bible contained a record of their existence. But today the tendency is to discount the Bible’s record as having evidentiary value unless another source is available to confirm what the Bible says. Your point is that among a lot of scholars today there seems to be an anti-Biblical bias that says, in effect, “Sure it’s in the Bible. But how do we know the Bible is true.” Yet, those same scholars don’t bring that same attitude to other historical records from the Biblical times. The way the academic community, the journalists, and the media treat the Bible is exactly the opposite of the way they treat other ancient sources. The skeptics and critics will regard other records as being accurate on their face but they regard the Bible as being inaccurate unless confirmed. This is either ironic because, in fact, the Bible is what inspired many, if not most, of those early Middle Eastern archeologists to go on their expeditions. They saw Bible as being true so they were willing to stake time and money to look for the ancient cities the Bible said had been there. If they had had the same attitude as many people today have they would never have set on their expeditions. RD: Right. A belief in the Bible’s accuracy inspired much, if not most, of the early archeological exploration in Egypt, Israel, Iraq, Jordan, etc. Some of the greatest finds in archeological history, such as the rediscovery of the city of Petra in modern day Jordan, might never have been brought to light if it weren’t for the fact that explorers knew it must be there because the Bible said it was. Petra in Greek means “rock like” or “stony” and it is, quite literally, a city carved out of rock. In the Bible that location is identified with Edom. The Edomites were the descendants of Esau, who was the brother of the patriarch Jacob (also known as Israel). Esau was red haired and the city occupied by his descendants was known for the distinctly red color of the stone in that area. So, it is interesting that when it was rediscovered so much of the Bible’s text was vividly confirmed. At any rate, the point is that there is often the tendency to doubt the Bible unless confirmed, whereas the opposite attitude is taken with respect to other ancient documents. The histories compiled by Herodotus, Xenophon, etc. are accepted as being generally reliable until inaccuracies are shown. VK: Well, as you say that wasn’t the case a hundred years ago or maybe even thirty or forty years ago. So, why is it that way now. RD: In my opinion it’s because of the concerted pushback that has been occurring against Christianity and the Bible in recent decades in the west. Christianity’s values and ethics have been under attack in the western societies for a wide variety of reasons. But to effectively dispense with Christianity’s values you must dispense with the source of those values: the Bible. So, there has been a concerted effort in academia, the media, and popular culture to characterize the Bible as being filled with myth and fairy tale. Once that idea is established, whether it is true or not, much of the Bible’s magisterial authority has been eliminated. VK: This is not only sad, it is dangerous. The Bible contains the special revelation that God has given to mankind. We can no more dispense with that revelation safely and without danger than the patient can ignore the mechanic who has just told him that he has an issue with his car or truck which he should attend to. The driver can ignore the mechanic’s advice but not without risking catastrophe. With respect to ignoring the Bible it’s even more dangerous. Mechanics are human. They can be wrong. The Bible was inspired by God and God is never wrong. RD: Well said. What people need to realize is that all people, all of us, approach our lives using a set of axioms. These axioms form a lens through which we see the world. Sometimes these axioms are obvious and reasonable. Most of us tend to see the advice given to us by professionals as being useful and helpful. This means we will accept and follow the advice. But not all people operate by this axiom. VK: Recent events in America and other western nations have unfortunately caused previous trusting people to begin to doubt the advice they previously wouldn’t have questioned. This may be medical advice, advice about nutrition and health, or prescriptions involving social, political, or cultural norms. Hmmm. I see why we need to talk about this. The widespread confusion over the virus and how to deal with it has caused a lot of people to no longer trust medical advice they once would have never questioned. And sadly, tragically, something similar has happened in our culture with respect to the Bible. 20, 30, or 40 years ago you could have settled a discussion by quoting the Bible. Today, if you quote the Bible people are quite likely to say “so what?” RD: Right. We all view life through a set of axioms. Quite often those axioms have put into our lives by our families or cultures and we don’t even question them. The set of axioms that surround us tend to shape what many scholars or theologians will call our worldview. I don’t want to spend too much time on worldview today - because that would be the subject for a whole show or even series. But the collection and aggregation of our foundational axioms form our worldview. For most of us the ideas that form our worldview are unspoken and un-thought-of. Most of them seem almost self-evident. Well, interestingly enough these unseen, unspoken axioms can have a powerful role in areas of study like archeology. VK: What are you thinking about? RD: Let’s take a specific example. Chapters 6 through 9 of the book of Genesis clearly describe a worldwide flood. Despite the attempts of some critics to say that this flood was a localized, limited flood, the Genesis language is pretty clear. The flood endured by Noah and his family was worldwide and essentially reshaped the entire surface of the earth. And based on the time periods that we can derive by studying the genealogies elsewhere in Genesis we can confidently say that this worldwide flood occurred about 4,500 years ago. VK: The Amplified Bible, Genesis, chapter 7, verses 19 and 20 say this: “The waters prevailed so greatly and were so mighty and overwhelming on the earth, so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered. [In fact] the waters became fifteen cubits higher [than the highest ground], and the mountains were covered.” RD: Yes. That’s pretty clear language. But, of course, despite the clarity of the language today there are a great many people, including scientists, who deny that such a flood ever happened. Deep time, uniformitarianism, and evolutionary thought rule the halls of academia, the discussions at most so-called science institutions, and popular thought. Thus, it has become a widely accepted axiom in archeological thought that the flood never happened. So, let’s think about this. If there was a worldwide flood about 4,500 years ago that reshaped the earth’s surface and deposited huge amounts of sedimentary material all of the earth then no structures that we can find on the earth today would be older than 4,500 years. VK: It’s not impossible that some artifacts or parts of buildings might be found in one of the layers deposited by all the water moving around – but with the kind of flood described in the Bible nothing would have survived intact. RD: Right. So, an archeologist who accepts the Bible’s flood account as being historical will rarely, if ever, be tempted to assign a date to ruins or an artifact older than 2,500 BC. One of the axioms which would form a part of their approach to their craft would include the presence of the flood in ancient history. They wouldn’t have any reason to try to put a date on an artifact earlier than 2,500 BC. But an archeologist who denies the historicity of the Bible’s flood account has no problem dating ruins or artifacts as being much older than 2,500 BC. And there are a number of sites around the world that have been assigned dates older than 2,500 BC. And similar older dates would be assigned to artifacts found in those ruins. Bible denying archeologists have an axiom in their worldview that says people have been around for hundreds of thousands of years and therefore ruins as old as 5,000 or 10,000 BC (or even older) are possible. The difference in the starting axioms between these two groups is going to lead to widely differing possibilities in assigning dates to ancient ruins, artifacts, or civilizations. VK: Let’s remind our listeners of something that we’ve talked about before. Historical science is not the same as operational science. In operational science hypotheses can be tested and results of experiments repeated and affirmed or refuted. One scientist boils water at sea level at 212 degrees Fahrenheit and other scientists around the world can replicate those results. That’s operational science. But that is not true for historical sciences like archeology, cosmology, paleontology, or the certain elements of geology that pertain to age. All any scientist can do is look at evidence available in the present and attempt to provide an explanation for what that evidence says about the past. And there is just about no way to dispositively confirm that explanation. The best scientists can do is provide explanations that can be tested against the evidence and determine whether that explanation is consistent or inconsistent with the evidence. RD: Agreed. Historical science can never reach the same level of certainty as operational science. Moreover – and this is really important – the number of scientists, historians, or archeologists who may accept a particular explanation does not determine the truth of that proposed explanation. VK: Or, said slightly differently, truth is not determined by majority opinion. We’ve talked before on Anchored by Truth that today geologists acknowledge that many of the great river valleys all over the world were created by truly epic floods. David R. Montgomery, a geology professor at the University of Washington, labeled the floods that created these river valleys “Noah-like” in a 2012 article for Discover magazine. But in that same article Montgomery noted that the first geologist to propose that the river valleys of eastern Washington were caused by such floods was J. Harlan Bretz. But when Bretz initially proposed his explanation in the 1920’s he was met with widespread. Yet the recognition that Bretz was correct is so widespread today that, at the age of 97, Bretz was awarded the Geological Society of America’s highest honor. When Bretz first proposed his explanation for the origin of river valleys in eastern Washington he was a minority of one. But today it is widely acknowledged that Bretz was right. RD: Exactly. And that same thing can be true for the axioms that archeologists or other scientists bring into their profession. Just because one, many, or most archeologists believe that there has never been a worldwide flood has no bearing on the truth of whether a flood actually occurred. What is important for listeners to note is that this rejection of the flood of Noah will greatly affect many of the explanations that flood-deniers offer. A specific instance of this that we will cover in greater depth is the ruins at Göbekli Tepe in south eastern Turkey. Secular archeologists date these ruins to about 11,000 – 12,000 years BC. Their assigned dating is largely due to the results of radiocarbon dating. VK: But there are well known problems with the accuracy of radiocarbon dating. Creation Ministries International has several excellent articles on their website that discuss these problems. So, we won’t go into them today, but we will mention one. Radiocarbon dating depends on a comparison between the amount of carbon-14 present in a sample such as a wood fragment with the amount of carbon-14 that is assumed to have been present when the sample was first formed. One basic problem is that we have no idea how much carbon-14 was originally present. The starting value to which the current amount is present is always an assumption. There is no way to know for sure what that starting value was. That’s one reason we say that dates to artifacts or ruins are always “assigned” not discovered. There is never any way to prove that assumptions that went into the assigned date are accurate. And it is quite common for different dating methods to differ widely in the assigned dates. RD: Yes. So, largely based on radiocarbon dating the ruins at Göbekli Tepe have been dated far older than possible when considering the date for the Noahic flood. This points out the importance of the date assigners underlying set of starting axioms. VK: So, how can we know who and what to believe? RD: By doing what we always recommend – consider the evidence and apply logic and reason. In the case of whether the Genesis flood occurred there is an abundance of scientific and historical evidence that it did. And we have covered that evidence in depth a couple of times on Anchored by Truth. And the series that discuss the flood of Noah are available from our website: crystalseabooks.com. In the case of the dating of the ruins of Göbekli Tepe one simple question to ask is whether the ruins are more consistent with a hunter-gatherer society (which is what secular archeologists tell us existed at that time) or a society that possessed some level of mathematical and construction sophistication. In the case of the ruins we now know that they were laid out with a level of mathematical precision that would be inconsistent with a society that had not supposedly even entered a settle agricultural phase. But they are consistent with a community that possessed the kind of technological sophistication described in Genesis chapters 4 through 6. VK: Let’s remember that in chapter 1 of the book of Genesis the Bible tells us that Adam was created with a sophisticated knowledge of many subjects. He possessed language, a knowledge of biology and botany, and the ability to reason and analyze comparative attributes. And, of course, Noah in the pre-flood environment was able to undertake a large naval architecture project. So, his descendants after the flood would have retained much of this knowledge. By contrast an evolutionary viewpoint says that man’s predecessors knew nothing of math and technology and had to discover everything? So, in this case what we know from the ruins is more consistent with a Biblical explanation than the alternative RD: Exactly. This line of reasoning cannot reach the level of absolute certainty but following it, in the case of the ruins at Göbekli Tepe we can make the case that the Biblical explanation for their existence and dating is at least as compelling as the flood-denying alternative. And that is what we wanted to point out in this episode. When people see reports of new and sensational archeological discoveries in the news or on the internet – that purportedly show how the Bible is wrong - they need to stop and think. They need to examine the worldview and axioms of the group making the discovery and they need to research and consider the Biblical alternative. When they do they are going to find out that the Bible holds its own in every situation. VK: Well, This sounds like a great time to pray. Today let’s listen to a prayer that all of us would receive the ability to discern truth from the Holy Spirit who is the only One that can truly illuminate the human mind. God created the human mind and it would be far better for us to receive the least little bit of his infinite wisdom to guide our lives than anything that world can provide. ---- PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT VK: We’d like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.” If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not perfect but our Boss is!” (Bible Quotes from the Contemporary English Version) Genesis, Chapter 7, verses 5 through 7, Contemporary English Version

Episode 246 – Archeology and the Bible – Part 2 – The Resurrection of Nineveh Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script: One day the LORD told Jonah, the son of Amittai, to go to the great city of Nineveh and say to the people, “The LORD has seen your terrible sins. You are doomed!” Jonah, Chapter 1, verses 1 and 2, Contemporary English Version ******** VK: Hello and welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. I’m Victoria K. All of us at Anchored by Truth are excited to be with you at the start of a New Year and a new series. As we often talk, the Christian faith in America has been subjected to more challenges in the last couple of decades than it was in the first 225 years of the country’s existence. One comment that we hear frequently in the popular media – that is completely false – is that the Bible is a book filled with “myth and fairy tales.” Nothing could be further from the truth and this is a claim that is easily refuted. And one way it can be refuted is by knowing that the Bible contains a large body of reliable history. And one way to demonstrate that the history the Bible contains is reliable is by pointing to archeological discoveries. So, RD has entitled this series “Archeology and the Bible” and we have RD, who is an author and the founder of Crystal Sea Books, in the studio today. RD, in our first episode in this series you pointed out that archeological finds can be a valuable source of support for the accuracy of the history that the Bible reports. Despite the fact that popular culture has tried to dismiss the connection the truth is the relationship between the Bible and archeology has been mutually supportive. Many scholars, including ones who weren’t Christian, have used the Bible as a source document when planning or conducting their excavations. The Bible was and is widely regarded as an important source of information about ancient peoples and cultures. The trend to dismiss the Bible’s accuracy in matters of dates and places in the Mideast has become popular among skeptics but it is completely out of sync with how the Bible was viewed among professionals. In fact, the Bible’s history has been shown to be accurate even when doubted and you said that’s something you wanted to illustrate today, right? RD: Absolutely. But before we get into that I would also like to welcome the listeners to our show. Anchored by Truth’s sole purpose is to equip believers to be able to answer the question “how can we be sure the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God.” And one way to do that is to use confirmed archeological discoveries to show that the Bible’s historical reports are accurate even when they have been doubted by secular scholars. Today I want to revisit one of the most famous examples of the Bible getting history right even when skeptics for centuries dismissed the Bible’s report. VK: So, since our opening scripture was from the book of Jonah I’m guessing that today you want to talk about the discovery of the city of Nineveh in the 19th century. Nineveh was the capital of Assyrian empire and was one of the most prominent cities in the ancient world. You wouldn’t think that a city as important as Nineveh could get lost in history but it did. An article on the United Church of God’s website says this: “Nineveh, the capital city, fell to the Babylonians in 612 B.C. About 50 years after its peak, [the Assyrian Empire had] collapsed and virtually vanished from history. By the time of Jesus Christ and the apostles, no physical evidence of Nineveh could be seen. Lucian of Samosata ([who lived from] A.D. 120-180), a Greek writer, lamented: "Nineveh has perished. No trace of it remains. No one can say where once it existed" ... Such a lack of visible remains led some scholars of the 19th century to express skepticism that Nineveh or any part of the Assyrian Empire even existed, much less dominated a significant part of the world.” RD: Yes. From around 900 BC to 600 BC the Assyrian Empire was the dominant military power in the Mideast. Some scholars believe that during this time period it was the most formidable military power in the world. But as you just quoted, in the waning years of the 7th century BC, Assyria began to weaken and it ultimately fell to the Babylonians under King Nabopolassar. The fall of the Assyrian Empire isn’t all that remarkable because if we learn anything from history it’s that all empires, regardless of their power during their peak years, always weaken and ultimately fall. The Assyrians fell to the Babylonians, the Babylonians to the Persians, the Persians to the Greeks, and the Greeks to the Romans. And even the mighty Roman Empire which lasted even longer than the Assyrians or any of its predecessors ultimately collapsed under the weight of social decay and external pressures. What is somewhat remarkable is that the Assyrians disappeared so completely that secular history completely lost sight of them. VK: But, let’s be clear, in addition to the Bible recording the existence and greatness of the Assyrian Empire the Bible also had prophesied the destruction and disappearance of the Assyrian Empire. The Bible prophesied that God would use the Assyrians to punish His people because of their drift into idolatry. But at the same time God also told the Assyrians they would be punished in turn because of their arrogance. For instance, Isaiah, chapter 10, verses 15 through 19 record God saying to the Assyrians, “But can the ax boast greater power than the person who uses it? Is the saw greater than the person who saws? Can a rod strike unless a hand moves it? Can a wooden cane walk by itself? Therefore, the Lord, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, will send a plague among Assyria’s proud troops, and a flaming fire will consume its glory. The LORD, the Light of Israel, will be a fire; the Holy One will be a flame. He will devour the thorns and briers with fire, burning up the enemy in a single night. The LORD will consume Assyria’s glory like a fire consumes a forest in a fruitful land; it will waste away like sick people in a plague. Of all that glorious forest, only a few trees will survive — so few that a child could count them!” That’s from the New Living Translation. RD: And Isaiah was not the only Old Testament prophet to warn Assyria of their coming destruction. Why don’t you read Nahum, chapter 2, verses 11 through 13? VK: Those verses say, “Where now is that great Nineveh, that den filled with young lions? It was a place where people—like lions and their cubs— walked freely and without fear. The lion tore up meat for his cubs and strangled prey for his mate. He filled his den with prey, his caverns with his plunder. ‘I am your enemy!’ says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. ‘Your chariots will soon go up in smoke. Your young men will be killed in battle. Never again will you plunder conquered nations. The voices of your proud messengers will be heard no more.” RD: Listen to the last portion of what you read from Isaiah. God told the Assyrians that their “glorious forest” would be reduced to so few trees that a child could count them. Then in Nahum God said, “the voices of your proud messengers will be heard no more.” These are essentially poetic ways of God telling the Assyrians they would be utterly destroyed and they were. But what we want to focus on today is that after those prophesies were fulfilled, and Nineveh was destroyed by the Babylonians, it wasn’t just reduced to a vassal state – as often happened. Nineveh and the Assyrians were so devastated that they disappeared. This huge city that was located in modern day Iraq literally disappeared into the sands. As the Greek writer you quoted said, “Nineveh has perished. No trace of it remains. No one can say where once it existed." Lucian lived in the 2nd century AD – almost 1,900 years ago. At least at that time secular history remembered Nineveh. But by the 19th century AD even that memory had disappeared – or at least it was greatly doubted. The one source, though, that unequivocally preserved the memory of the Assyrians and Nineveh was the Bible. VK: Well, one reason some secular historians may have begun to doubt the existence of an actual Nineveh was because one Bible book in which Nineveh plays a prominent role is the book of Jonah. Jonah may be the most famous of the Minor Prophets because his book contains one of the best known stories in the Bible – a man is saved from drowning by being swallowed by an extremely large sea creature and then tossed up on land. That same man later preaches to a pagan city and in 3 days converts the whole city including the king. That story sound mythical. So, maybe historians reasoned that the whole book of Jonah was mythical including the existence of Nineveh and the Assyrian empire? RD: And that’s certainly possible even though Nineveh and the Assyrian Empire are also mentioned in several other books of the Bible. But one thing the skeptics could take comfort from was that until the mid-19th century there was no physical evidence of Nineveh’s existence. Physically, Nineveh had just vanished. And archeology, as we know it today, was just beginning to emerge in the 19th century. And for the opening decades of the 19th century Nineveh still remained undiscovered. But then all that changed. The online Encyclopedia Britannica has this to say about the discovery of Nineveh. “The first person to survey and map Nineveh was the archaeologist Claudius J. Rich in 1820, a work later completed by Felix Jones and published by him in 1854. Excavations have been undertaken intermittently since that period by many persons. … Sir Henry Layard during 1845–51 discovered the palace of Sennacherib and took back to England an unrivalled collection of stone bas-reliefs together with thousands of tablets inscribed in cuneiform from the great library of Ashurbanipal.” VK: So, at least one of the names you just read should be familiar to any student of the Bible, right? RD: Right. Sennacherib was one of the most famous of the kings of Assyria and is mentioned in several places of the Bible. VK: Such as in the historical books of Kings and Chronicles. RD: Yes. Sennacherib is well known to Bible readers because at one point he invaded the kingdom of Judah with the intent to make it part of the Assyrian Empire. VK: Let’s remind listeners that during the time that David and his son, Solomon, were the kings of Israel the nation was unified. But when Solomon’s son took over the kingdom split in two. After that the northern kingdom was called Israel and the southern kingdom was called Judah. The northern kingdom was ruled by a series of idolatrous kings and was eventually conquered by the Assyrians in 722 B.C. The Assyrians deported the Israelites and resettled some other people into that territory. Judah remained an independent kingdom although it paid annual tributes to the Assyrians. But around 701 BC the Assyrians invaded Judah. 2 Chronicles, chapter 32, verse 1 says that the Assyrian king “laid siege to the fortified cities, thinking to conquer them for himself.” RD: Right. The Assyrian king who laid siege to the cities of Judah was Sennacherib which the Bible tells us. But until the middle of the 19th century secular historians weren’t even sure that Sennacherib was a historical figure. But as the entry from the Encyclopedia Britannica told us once Sir Henry Layard discovered the great library of Assurbanipal all that changed. That library contained thousands of clay cuneiform tablets, including tablets that described Sennacherib’s invasion of Judah. And those tablets provided clear confirmation of the accuracy of the Bible’s text. VK: That same article from the United Church of God’s website says this. “Assyrian records of these events quote the King … of Assyria boasting of his devastating invasion of Judah: ‘Forty-six of [Hezekiah's] strong walled towns and innumerable smaller villages...I besieged and conquered...As for Hezekiah, the awful splendor of my lordship overwhelmed him’ … [the Assyrian records] noted that [the king] had made Hezekiah ‘a prisoner in Jerusalem, his royal residence, like a bird in a cage.’” RD: Right. The article goes on to say, “The biblical record agrees with Sennacherib's account of the Assyrian invasion and notes the desperation of the kingdom of Judah as the Assyrians laid siege to Jerusalem, their last surviving stronghold. However, the Bible continues the story where the Assyrian records are silent. With Jerusalem facing imminent destruction, the people of Judah, led by King Hezekiah, prayed fervently to God (Isaiah 37:15-20) and were miraculously delivered against overwhelming odds.” In both the books of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles the Bible tells us that Hezekiah and the people’s prayers brought deliverance. VK: 2 Kings, chapter 19, verses 32 through 37 say this. “Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria: ‘He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it. By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city, declares the Lord. I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.’ That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! So [the] king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there. One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god … his sons … killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.” [EH-SAHR-HEH-DOHN] RD: And the records that were brought back from the great library confirmed this account. Sennacherib carefully recorded a list of the cities he captured and destroyed, but one city is conspicuously absent—Jerusalem. Sennacherib talks about besieging Hezekiah in the city—not of taking it or Hezekiah, Judah's king. So, after almost 1,900 years of silence that prompted the secular world to doubt the authenticity of the Bible the Bible’s record was again proven to be true. The cuneiform tablets unearthed from Assurbanipal’s great library confirmed the Bible’s record of Sennacherib’s interactions with Judah exactly as described. VK: So, this reinforces one of the big points that we made in our first episode on “Archeology and the Bible.” One very important role archeology plays with respect to the Bible is to help affirm the reliability of the Bible’s historical reports. That’s what happened when archeologists began excavating at the site of the ancient city of Nineveh. At first they just found the ruins of the city. But when Henry Layard found the library the tablets in the library confirmed many of the details contained in the Bible’s historical records. These included the names of kings from both countries, the fact that Assyria invaded Judah and conquered many Judean cities, and that the Assyrians never conquered Jerusalem. The Assyrian records also confirmed that the invading king was murdered by two of his own sons and that a 3rd son inherited the empire. RD: Yes. Even though secular history lost sight of Nineveh for almost 2 millennia the Bible never did. But, let’s get back to the book of Jonah. We started out noting that one of the books of the Bible in which Nineveh features prominently is Jonah but some of the other elements of Jonah are so unusual that it made the book seem more fiction. But let’s show that even one of the historical details contained in book of Jonah was shown to be accurate. In Jonah, chapter 3, verse 3, Jonah gives us a detail about the city that seems unlikely. VK: Jonah, chapter 3, verse 3 says, in part, “This time Jonah obeyed the LORD’s command and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all.” That’s from the New Living Translation. The New International Version says, “Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it.” What you’re saying is that that seems like a very large city if it takes 3 days for a person to walk across it. There aren’t that many modern cities that you couldn’t walk across in a day or two. So, a city that takes 3 days to cross seems improbable. RD: But, as improbable as it may seem, archeology has shown that even this detail from the book of Jonah is correct. Genesis, chapter 10, verses 11 and 12 tell us about the founding of Nineveh. It says, “From that land Nimrod went to Assyria, and built Nineveh, and Rehoboth-Ir, and Calah, 12and [Nimrod built] Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah; all these [combined to form] the great city [Nineveh].” That’s from the Amplified Bible. A Wikipedia article on the city of Nineveh notes that “The ruins of Kuyunjiq, Nimrud, Karamlesh, and Khorsabad for the four corners of an irregular quadrilateral. . The ruins of the ‘great city’ Nineveh, … [is] included within the parallelogram [formed] by lines drawn from the one to the other, [the Biblical reference in Jonah is] generally regarded as consisting of these four sites.” Furthermore, excavations have revealed that, as was common in ancient times, there were defensive fortifications in the area that lay well outside the walls of the Nineveh proper. These defensive fortifications were probably like outposts that could be used both to slow the advance of an oncoming army as well as give early warning to the main city. In walking from the outposts on one side of the region to the other archeologists found that it did indeed take a few days to cross from one outer ring of fortifications to the one on the opposite side. VK: Also, even in our day it’s common to refer to a large area by the name of a city that dominates it. If you look at a map we know that the New York City includes Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, Staten Island, and so forth. But no one would bat an eye is someone from Florida just told their friends they were travelling to New York even though they might wind up in the Bronx. So, when the Hebrew writer said that Nineveh was a very great city that it took three days to cross the writer was just using the same kind of descriptive language we use today. RD: Agreed. In fact, the use of that kind of informal descriptive language adds to the authenticity of the book of Jonah. If someone had been contriving a pious fraud about a man being miraculously delivered by a fish from drowning before converting the capital city of his enemies it’s unlikely they would have been cavalier about describing the people who were to be converted. But someone recording a true, though remarkable, tale of conversion, whether the writer was Jonah or someone else, will write using the conversational conventions of their day. VK: What we’ve been talking about in this episode of Anchored by Truth is summed up well in the article from the United Church of God. The article says, “the only historical source in those days that verified the existence of the empire was the Bible. The Old Testament histories and prophecies spoke about Assyria. Jesus proclaimed the existence of Nineveh as a historical fact (Matthew 12:41). Yet some scholars disputed the testimony of Jesus and the prophets—that is, until ‘one spectacular decade in the middle of the nineteenth century...[when] Austen Henry Layard and Paul Emile Botta rediscovered in northern Iraq the ancient remains of three Assyrian cities [including Nineveh] and evidence of the military panoply that had crushed all resistance from the Tigris to the Nile. The Assyrian empire...in all its awesome power had been resurrected through archaeology.’” RD: So, the book of Jonah and the other books that mention Assyria and Nineveh provide a clear and easily understandable example of archeology producing evidence that demonstrated the truth of the Bible’s history – even when evidence had disappeared for a long time. Secular historians had concluded that the absence of evidence was evidence of absence. But it wasn’t. VK: The point you’re making is that is important to not discount the reliability of the Bible just because secular culture or so-called experts would like to do so. RD: Exactly. The Bible is the Word of God and as such it is trustworthy. But God has not asked us to suspend the use of ordinary human tools such as archeology, science, and logic in our pursuit of understanding the Bible. It is not unreasonable to for an honest skeptic to ask the question, “what evidence is there that the Bible is the Word of God?” That’s not an unreasonable question. What is unreasonable is for us to provide example after example of scientific fact or archeological discoveries supporting the Bible only for the skeptic to contend that the evidence doesn’t exist. There comes a point where a request for evidence dissolves into a simple unwillingness to accept what the evidence is saying. VK: So, when we encounter a book like Jonah it’s not unreasonable to approach certain parts of it – a man being swallowed and kept alive by a giant fish or whale – with an initial skepticism. Men being swallowed by giant fish isn’t an everyday occurrence for us. But the fact that it is unusual does not mean it’s impossible. And when we begin looking at elements within the book of Jonah that we can test directly we find out that a fair test tells us that the writer of Jonah was writing history not myth. RD: Right. In our first episode in this series we pointed out that another amazing story contained in the Bible, that of David and Goliath – that might on first blush look legendary – in fact is historically accurate in the details it reports. The book of Jonah reinforces the points we made in our first episode in this series. Archeology can play two very important roles in our study of the Bible and that’s why we’re doing this series. Archeology can help skeptics see that the Bible is not, in fact, a book of “myth and fairy tale.” It is a book firmly set in place and time and its reports of those places and times are trustworthy. Archeology can also help us expand our understanding of the places and times of the Bible and of the people, societies, and cultures that the Bible describes. This helps us understand the Bible’s messages more clearly. VK: Well, This sounds like a great time to pray. Today let’s listen to a prayer for our friends and neighbors who have not yet come to know Christ as their savior. Just as God converted the people of Nineveh through Jonah’s preaching, we can pray that the Lord will convert the lost of our day through our own preaching. Only God can change the human heart but He most often does it by using human instruments, like us, as part of His great work of redemption. ---- PRAYER FOR THE SPIRITUALLY LOST VK: We’d like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.” If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not perfect but our Boss is!” (Bible Quotes from the Contemporary English Version) Jonah, Chapter 1, verses 1 and 2, Contemporary English Version A Staggering Archaelogical Discovery: The Mighty Assyrian Empire Emerges From the Dust | United Church of God (ucg.org) Nineveh | History, Map, & Significance | Britannica Topical Bible: Ashurbanipal (biblehub.com) Nineveh - Wikipedia

Episode 245 – Archeology and the Bible – Part 1 - Affirmation Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script: Goliath … wore a bronze helmet, and [a] bronze coat of mail ... He also wore bronze leg armor, and he carried a bronze javelin on his shoulder. … The shaft of his spear was … heavy and thick … His armor bearer walked ahead of him carrying a shield.” 1 Samuel, Chapter 17, verses 5 through 7, New Living Translation ******** VK: Hello and Happy New Year! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. We’re excited to be with you at the start of this New Year and we pray that this year will be a year of joy and blessings to all our listeners. We pray especially that this year will see us all grow in our knowledge and adoration of our Lord Christ Jesus. Today on Anchored by Truth we’re going to start the new year with a new series. As just about everyone knows, the Christian faith in America has been subjected to more challenges in the last decade than probably in the first two centuries of the country’s existence. So, as we open up this New Year we want to revisit a subject that has particular relevance in our day and time –being able to demonstrate that the Christian faith has a firm basis in reason and evidence. RD has entitled this series “Archeology and the Bible.” So, we have RD who is an author and the founder of Crystal Sea Books, in the studio today. RD, why did you decide we need to take a special look at the topic of archeology? RD: Well, I’d also like to say Happy New Year to everyone who is joining us here today. As we begin a new year I wanted to take several episodes of Anchored by Truth focusing on archeology because it seems like in the last few years the number of times I’ve heard the Bible criticized as a book of “myth and fairy tales” has increased dramatically. This is sad but it’s also silly because it is a criticism that is so easily disproved. The Bible is a book that is set in place and time. While the Bible contains a large variety of literary genres, a large part of the Bible is the history of those places and times. As such we can validate the accuracy of the Bible’s reporting through other ancient documents that also contain reports about the same places and times. And we can also affirm much of the Bible’s reporting through the findings of archeology. VK: As Anchored by Truth listeners know at Crystal Sea Books we believe that there are two criteria that would have to be true for any book that claims to be the word of God. First, the book would have to be consistent with what we know about human and natural history. How could you trust a book that claims to be the product of a divine and infinite mind if it contains easily demonstrable errors? Second the book would have to contain evidence of supernatural inspiration. After all, humans write books all the time. And even human beings can produce books that accurately report history and contain meaningful insights about life and society. RD: Yes. There are other criteria that some people might think are appropriate when considering whether a particular book is the word of an almighty, everlasting God but we would submit that those two criteria would have to be true at a minimum. And we would urge that anyone who is trying to decide whether one book or another is God’s word should apply their minds as well as their hearts to the decision. Many people think that faith is believing in something in spite of reason and evidence, but it’s not. Becoming a Christian and embracing faith in Christ Jesus doesn’t require us to suspend the use of our minds. To the contrary, knowing and loving Jesus means we should increase our efforts to grow in knowledge as well as trust. Real faith is far more likely to arrive by placing trust in something or Someone after careful consideration of the truth claims at issue. This includes being able to explain why some truth claims are true but others false. Reason and evidence are an essential part of doing that. VK: So, just to ensure that’s clear, at Anchored by Truth we believe that any book claims to be the word of God must be consistent with what we know about human and natural history and must contain marks of supernatural inspiration. Well, we also believe that are four lines of evidence that demonstrate that the Bible meets those two criteria and is, therefore, the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. First, the Bible is historically reliable. Second, the Bible displays a remarkable unity for a book that was composed by over 3 dozen human authors who wrote over a span of 1,500 years. Third, the Bible gives evidence of supernatural origin, especially through a large body of fulfilled prophecy. And the 4th line of evidence is that the Bible has resulted in an untold number of lives that have been positively changed by its transcendent message. So, what you are saying – and what we are going to be talking about during this series - is that archeology can be a useful to aid to helping affirm the historicity of the Bible. RD: Yes. For those of us who are concerned about helping people understand that the Bible is the inspired word of God archeology can have two roles. First, as we mentioned we started this discussion archeology can help demonstrate that the Bible is not, in fact, filled with myth and fairy tales. Archeology can help us demonstrate that Bible accounts of certain exploits that may seem legendary are historically accurate. VK: Why don’t you give us a quick example of what you’re thinking about? RD: Many people might think that the encounter between David and Goliath is some kind of myth and legend. VK: Because the idea of a short, teenage boy defeating a heavily armed and armored warrior with only a sling and stone does seem improbable doesn’t it? RD: It might but it’s not. And one of the reasons that we can have confidence about what the Bible says about the encounter is the large number of details that the Bible gives us about the fight. For instance, the Bible describes in great detail – as you put it – Goliath’s arms and armor. VK: And among many archeological finds that have confirmed the accuracy of the Bible’s description of Goliath’s equipment is a depiction of Philistine warriors in a temple in Egypt, right? RD: Right. Let’s start by reminding everyone that while the Bible is mostly concerned about the activity of the Philistines in their interactions with ancient Israel, the Philistines came into contact with all of the civilizations of the ancient Mideast including Egypt. The Egyptians fought the Philistines on many occasions. The Egyptians called the Philistines the “Sea Peoples” because the Philistines had come to Palestine from Mycenae which was located in modern day Greece. This means they would have arrived on the coast of Palestine by way of ships crossing the sea. VK: So, the Egyptians were very familiar with Philistine warriors like Goliath. RD: Yes. According to an article in Biblical Archeology Society website one of the most vivid depictions of the Philistine warriors is in a “mortuary temple at Medinet Habu in Thebes. The battle scenes depicted on the walls of this temple are our most precious and most graphic representation of the Sea Peoples’ dress, weaponry, chariotry, naval equipment, and battle tactics. The Philistine infantry is shown fighting in small phalanges of four men each; three men are each armed with a long, straight sword and a pair of spears, the fourth with only a sword.” Notice that the Egyptian drawings show the Philistine infantry armed with a pair of spears exactly like Goliath – although the Bible is more precise and notes that the second spear is a javelin which was used for throwing. The spear that Goliath carried in his hands was actually more like a long club. It was used for smashing and bashing … VK: Smashing and bashing … really? RD: Really. Every infantryman knows that one of the keys to victory is break through the enemy lines. And the David encounter notwithstanding, that’s what Goliath’s job was – to create holes in the enemy’s front lines that the soldiers behind him could exploit. Homer referred to such soldiers as “first men.” VK: That explains why the Bible tells us that Goliath’s spearhead weighed 15 pounds. A 15 pound piece of iron on the end of a heavy and thick spear – the Bible says it was as thick as a weaver’s beam – is to going to be good for, as you said, “smashing and bashing.” And it’s also important to note that in the Biblical description of Goliath’s armor his helmet and coat of mail are said to be made of bronze, as was his javelin. The battle between David and Goliath took place just as the Iron Age was beginning. At that time there would still have been a lot of bronze weapons and armor in use. Bronze had been in common use since about 2500 BC. Iron would later become far more common and the Philistines were very proficient at shaping and forming iron but this battle occurred before that transition was complete. And even at that time bronze was easier to form into weapons. Bronze has a much lower melting point than iron – about 1000 degrees Celsius. Iron’s melting point is closer to 1600 degrees Celsius. So, on first blush, the Bible’s description of the fight between David and Goliath might seem to be legendary but the details that the Bible provides and archeological discoveries show us that it is not. So, what is the second role that archeology plays for those who are interested in the Bible? RD: Archeology can help shed new light on the history the Bible contains and it can also help us understand the Bible text as well. We’ll get more into this as we move through the series, but one quick example of how archeological finds can improve our understanding of the Bible’s texts are clay tablets referred to as the Ugaritic texts. These came from an archeological excavation in Syria. The tablets dated over a thousand years before Jesus and contained cuneiform writing in a variety of languages. Cuneiform writing was a writing form common in ancient Mideast languages and used wedge shaped characters typically impressed into soft clay. The Ugaritic texts were helpful to Bible scholars because some of the tablets were written in an alphabetic script that recorded a northwest Semitic language that overlapped with Biblical Hebrew. The Ugaritic language shared a number of words with Biblical Hebrew so this has helped scholars better understand some words contained in the text of the Bible, especially words that occur only once in the Bible. VK: So, one important role that archeology plays is to help affirm the reliability of the Bible’s historical reports. And a second important role that archeology plays is actually to amplify our understanding of the Bible’s texts as well as increase our understanding of the times, cultures, and places recorded in the Bible This second role is true for those of us who accept the Bible as the inspired word of God as it is as for those who don’t regard the Bible as being inspired. The first role of archeology can be especially important in the Christian work of apologetics which is a defense of the Christian faith. But in this first role you say that it is important for Christians to not say things like, “archeology proves the truth of the Bible.” Why is that? RD: Yes. It is not proper to say that archeology proves the Bible is true because doing so carries the risk of both over claiming and under claiming at the same time. VK: Ok. Over claiming and under claiming at the same time would seem to be a bit of a mystery. Why is saying that “archeology proves the Bible is true” an “over claim?” RD: Archeology, like any human endeavor, has limits in the amount of certainty it can provide. Archeologists are always looking at artifacts from the past and they do their best to derive information from those artifacts. But, the archeologists were not present at the time the artifacts were created. So, their interpretation is exactly that. It’s an interpretation not a history based on first hand observation. And archeologists will differ in their interpretations and it is not at all uncommon for subsequent discoveries to necessitate revising previous opinions. None of this is to suggest that archeology is valuable and can’t be conducted with rigor. It certainly can. But archeology, while it can and does provide important support for the Bible, cannot “prove” the Bible is true. VK: That makes sense. The Miriam Webster online dictionary defines archeology as “the scientific study of material remains (such as tools, pottery, jewelry, stone walls, and monuments) of past human life and activities.” It’s important to note in that definition that archeology is concerned with “past human life and activities.” So, while we can do much to try and determine what actually happened in the past we will always fall short of absolute certainty. Why is saying that “archeology proves the Bible is true” an “under claim?” RD: Well, simply put the Bible is true because it is God’s word. It would be true regardless of whether any human being were to accept as being true or not. Now, I’m well aware that a critic would accuse me of circular reasoning in saying this. The Bible is God’s word and it is true because God is all-knowing and all-powerful. But it is the Bible that tells us that God is all-knowing and all-powerful. But that is not what I am saying. Anything that is true – that is that it corresponds to reality – is true regardless of agreement or acceptance of the truth. The man who decides he doesn’t like having cancer and rejects the doctor’s report will still have cancer regardless of whether he accepts the report. The Bible is or is not the inspired, revealed word of God regardless of whether we accept it as such. So, when we say that archeology “proves” the Bible we are, in effect, turning the truth of the Bible over to archeological judgment. Again, I’m not saying that archeology cannot be a valid and important venue for obtaining evidence that helps us understand the Bible but we don’t need archeology to establish the Bible’s truth. VK: I think I see the point you’re making. Some theologians will refer to the Bible as being self-authenticating. The Bible’s truth will pierce through all the fog and distractions of the world and the inward witness of the Holy Spirit will confirm its truth to us. Sometimes people will say, “most of the time we judge books, but the Bible is a book that judges us.” You’re not disagreeing with this position are you? RD: I’m not disagreeing with this position but I am trying to look at the question from all angles. One of the reasons I believe God will be able to hold all people accountable because He has given sufficient witness of Himself through His creation and His superintendence of history. The Bible tells us this explicitly in Psalm 19, verses 1 through 4 and in Romans, chapter 1, verse 20. God has given all humanity ample witness of His existence and attributes. Well, I believe something similar is true about the Bible. We can use reason and evidence to evaluate whether the Bible can be legitimately considered the word of God. We laid out our criteria and lines of evidence for doing so at the start of today’s episode. In considering those lines of evidence, especially whether the Bible contains reliable history, archeology can be an important source of information and support. But this role of archeology is ministerial not magisterial. If we made our opinion about whether the Bible is true based on the findings of archeology, that would make archeology magisterial not ministerial. VK: What you’re saying is that the Bible is true and was true before archeology ever entered the scientific dialogue. Like all science, when properly used and properly understood, archeology sheds important light on questions of truth. And there are literally thousands, or maybe tens of thousands of archeological findings, that confirm the accuracy of the Bible text and the history recorded in the Bible. So, saying archeology “proves the Bible is true” is an under claim because it suggests the Bible’s truth was uncertain until archeology came along. RD: Right. As we’ve said archeology can play two very important roles in our study of the Bible and that’s why we’re doing this series. Archeology can help skeptics see that the Bible is not, in fact, a book of “myth and fairy tale.” It is a book firmly set in place and time and its reports of those places and times are trustworthy. Archeology can also help us expand our understanding of the places and times of the Bible and of the people, societies, and cultures that the Bible describes. This helps us understand the Bible’s messages more clearly. VK: Regardless of how old anyone living is, the reality is that the Bible’s text was completed two thousand years before they were born. And the Bible was written in and to cultures and countries that are much different from those with which we are familiar. Archeological findings help us understand the people that the Bible was written to and about so we can get closer to standing in their shoes, seeing the sights they saw, and thereby know exactly what the Bible writers meant to communicate. RD: Yes. So, before we close, let’s go back to our David and Goliath example for just a second to amplify how archeology increases our confidence that this incident is accurate historically. One simple fact that has been confirmed by archeology is that Goliath’s home city of Gath was a real city. Gath was one of the 5 major cities of the Philistines. Its existence has been confirmed by Egyptian inscriptions. It is thought to be located at Tel Zafit (in Hebrew) which is located inside Tel Zafit National Park in modern day Israel. So, this is a finding of archeology that is consistent with the Bible. Another detail of the story that has been confirmed is the Bible’s description of Goliath’s armor. The Bible tells us that Goliath wore a coat of scale armor. The fact that Philistine warriors wore such armor coats has been confirmed by an archeological find. In 2006, bronze scale armor was discovered in a Mycenaean palace on the island of Salamis. Remember that the Philistines were thought to have originated in Mycenae. VK: This finding was especially relevant because some scholars who were critical of the Bible’s account of the fight between David and Goliath alleged that the story was just a fictional account probably made around the 6th or 7th century BC. Their assertion was that the story was concocted to make the Hebrews have a greater sense of national pride. The Hebrew pride supposedly needed a boost at that time because the Hebrews were either still captives in Babylon or had only recently returned to Israel. Part of the reason critics made that assertion was because the shirt of scale armor the Bible reports that Goliath wore was not thought to be typical of Mycenaean soldiers. Mycenaean soldiers were often armored by wide bronze bands connected by hinges. It was thought that scale armor had gone out of use before the Mycenaean heyday, around 1400 B.C.E. So, the critics alleged, that the Bible’s description of Goliath’s armor was inaccurate. But archeologists finding a coat of scale armor in a Mycenaean palace shows that their soldiers did use scale armor at least part of the time. RD: Yep. The Bible reported that Goliath wore a type of armored coat that had not been commonly associated with the Philistines. This was a detail that the Bible writer knew that would have been unknown to a writer who wrote three or four hundred years later. Writers in the 7th or 6th century would have had little to no idea how Philistine warriors had been armored in the earlier Bronze Age. So, this is another discovery from archeology that supports the Bible’s account of David and Goliath. And let’s mention just a couple of more items to complete our discussion. We now have prolific evidence that the kind of “contest between champions” was common in combat between Bronze Age armies. Single combat to determine the outcome of battles spared bloody casualties. The armies of the Bronze Age were willing to do this because wars were thought to actually be contests between the gods of the respective armies. The armies believed that each side’s god would fight on their behalf to determine the outcome that would have resulted anyway. Archeologists have unearthed texts from this time that provide numerous examples of this belief. Examples include the Egyptian account of Sinuhe, the Babylonian Epic Enuma Elish, and the famous duel between Paris and Menelaus in Homer´s Iliad. VK: And the Bible even records this detail in its account. In 1 Samuel, chapter 17, verse 43 the Bible says, “And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.” Then in verses 45 and 46 The Bible tells us that David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down.” RD: Yep. So, the big idea that we wanted to introduce today is that archeological finds can be a valuable source of support for the accuracy of the history that the Bible reports. Actually, for decades the relationship between the Bible and archeology has been mutually supportive. Many scholars, including ones who weren’t Christian, used the Bible as a source document when planning or conducting their excavations. The Bible was and is widely regarded as an important source of information about ancient peoples and cultures. This symbiotic relationship was well known. The trend to dismiss the Bible’s accuracy in matters of dates and places in the Mideast has become popular among skeptics but it is completely out of sync with how the Bible was viewed among professionals. The Bible’s history has been shown to be accurate even when doubted and we’ll get more into that in later episodes in this series. VK: Well, sounds like we’re in for quite a thought-provoking journey. Hopefully, listeners will let others know about this series. It really can be a valuable resource to the skeptic and the believer alike. This sounds like a great time to pray. Today let’s listen to a prayer of praise of Adoration for the Creator God who set the cosmos into motion and established a home on the earth for His people as He prepares them for an eternity with Him in heaven. ---- PRAYER OF ADORATION FOR THE CREATOR VK: We’d like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.” If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not perfect but our Boss is!” (Bible Quotes from the New Living Translation) 1 Samuel, Chapter 17, verses 5 through 7, New Living Translation https://www.baslibrary.org/biblical-archaeology-review/8/4/1 https://patternsofevidence.com/2018/10/26/david-battles-goliath/)

Episode 244 – Jesus and the Great Commission Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script Notes: The devil took [Jesus] to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” The Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 4, verses 8 through 10, New International Version ******** VK: Hi! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. I’m here today with RD Fierro, author and founder of Crystal Sea Books, and part-time event lighting technician. He straightens out the cords on the Christmas lights before we put them up. Today on Anchored by Truth we’re going to finish up our current series where we have focused on the life and historicity of Jesus. And we’re going to hear the last installment of our seven part, epic Christmas poem The Golden Tree: The Frost Lion. When we left off last time the koala bears who live in the arctic village that surrounds the Golden Tree had just encountered the Frost Lion for the first time in their history. The bears have lived in the valley surrounding the tree for many generations and had heard of the Frost Lion but this is the first time they have ever seen him. And they have only seen him now because the lion has chosen to come to their village. Why did the Frost Lion choose to come to their village now, RD? RD: Well, the biggest reason that the Frost Lion has chosen to enter the bears’ village at this time is because something else has happened to the bears for the first time in their generations around the tree. For the first time since the bears have lived in the village they have had visitors from their ancestral homeland. A bear named Roleb and his travelling companion had made an arduous journey to the north because they were concerned about the state of their village’s faith. Roleb’s travelling companion died just before they could reach the village. Roleb himself was almost at the point of death. They had known that their quest to travel to the great far north would be dangerous but they had made it because their homeland had lost its faith in the bears’ creator who they thought of as the Great White Koala Bear. To try to preserve their own tribe’s faith the two bears from down under had gone searching in the arctic even though they were mocked for doing so. Fortunately for them, two teenage bears from Golden Tree village had spotted Roleb just as he collapsed on the snowy wastelands outside their village. This had kicked off a search for Roleb’s friend. With the aid of a Great Ice Eagle, Gabriel, they had found the friend but he had just died. But when they brought the friend back to the village the Frost Lion was there. But no one knows what the Frost Lion can do – and no one knows what the Frost Lion will do … VK: So, it’s time to find out what happens to Roleb, and his travelling companion in this Christmas epic poem: The Golden Tree: The Frost Lion. ---- The Golden Tree: The Frost Lion – Part 7 VK: So, the Frost Lion was able to raise Roleb’s friend from the dead. But I hope that most listeners noticed that the Frost Lion didn’t just stop with restoring the life and health of the two bears down under. The Frost Lion began the process of addressing the deeper need – the fact that the bear clan down under was losing its faith. So just like Jesus did after His resurrection the Frost Lion commissioned missionaries from the Golden Tree village to carry the good news back with Roleb and his friend. Obviously, the message you are sending through this poem is that we live in a day and age when many people in our own clans are losing, or have lost, their faith. And we need to be missionaries to our family and friends. Because if we aren’t who will be? RD: Yes. And for any listeners who haven’t heard the previous episodes of The Frost Lion, they need to know that for the last six weeks we have been playing one section of The Frost Lion during each episode of Anchored by Truth. And since Anchored by Truth is available on most major podcasting apps listeners who want to hear those episodes can do so at any time. Unfortunately, we don’t have the time today to repeat those portions of the poem. But listeners who would like to hear all of the action and adventure that led up to today’s conclusion can listen to those episodes from their favorite podcast app or on our website, crystalseabooks.com. VK: And just as a reminder as of the time of the production of this broadcast and podcast in late 2022 The Frost Lion has not yet been made available for commercial release but that will happen in the early part of 2023. RD: That’s a good note. So, let’s amplify on the reason that the Frost Lion has now chosen to visit the bears, his disciples, in the village around the Golden Tree. For the first time since the bears had come to live near the Golden Tree they had now been presented with a missionary need. In other words, the Golden Tree village bears now knew that their ancestors had actually been saved generations ago for a reason – and that reason had now been brought to their attention in an unmistakable way. VK: Well, if we went back to the first part of the Golden Tree Tales which is The Golden Tree: Komari’s Quest we heard the heroine, Komari, say something significant which was quoted by Kodan in The Frost Lion. In her confrontation with the Demon Lord Komari said, “ For if not for the tree, which of us Would ever have even been born? The tree saved our forebears When they came upon it that morn. Ever since then, we’ve not been our own, Our lives bought for a price. This tree that was sown for you and me Was the Great White Bear’s sacrifice.” So, that’s part of the point you’re making with this whole epic saga. Those of us who know Christ as our Savior have been saved for a reason. RD: Right. So, in answer to the question of why did the Frost Lion appear now it was because the Frost Lion wanted to commission the Golden Tree village bears to begin what is sometimes termed “The Great Commission.” The Great Commission is the mission that Jesus gave to His followers in Matthew, chapter 28 and which we heard repeated in the section of the poem we heard today. After His resurrection Jesus told the followers who had been with Him throughout His earthly ministry that the time had come for them to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and [teach] them to obey everything I have commanded you.” That’s from the New International Version of Matthew, chapter 28, verses 19 and 20. VK: So, the reason that the Frost Lion appeared in the Golden Tree village at this time reminds us that there came and a time and place in history when the Lion of Judah entered world history to conduct His earthly ministry. And as we have talked about in other episodes of Anchored by Truth the time that Jesus entered world history as the God-Man wasn’t a random time. It was the time that had been chosen by the Father before the foundation of the world. Up to that time the world was being prepared for the arrival of the Messiah, the Anointed One, because it was at that time that the good news of salvation was going to be made available to a much larger audience. RD: Right. Before the incarnation it’s not that there weren’t Gentiles who had worshipped the One True God – there were. But up to Jesus’ arrival on the earth the primary audience for God’s message that He was going to provide a Savior had been the Jews. All that changed with Jesus’ life. After Jesus’ earthly life, death, and resurrection not only did Jesus issue the Great Commission to His first followers but we see other evangelical and apostolic giants such as the Apostle Paul come on the scene and begin a concerted outreach to the Gentile nations as well as continuing the spread of the gospel among the Jews. But, this outreach was not going to be easy. Jesus knew it wouldn’t be which is, I believe, He made it so plain that this was a mission He was now assigning His followers. It would have been easy, more natural, for them to want to just speak to their countrymen in Israel or even just to other Jews. The outreach to the Gentiles was going to be hard – but it was the right thing to do because that’s the reason God had preserved His chosen people for thousands of years. VK: That calls to mind a line out of the West Point cadet prayer that you mentioned to me a long time ago. The line says, “O God, our Father … Make us choose the harder right rather than the easier wrong and never to be content with a half-truth when the whole can be won.” RD: Exactly. God had selected and preserved a people for Himself because it was through that people that He was going to bring a Savior for the whole world. Jesus, of course, was that Savior. But even after proving that He was the Son of God and the Messiah through His earthly ministry Jesus still had to complete His mission and send His followers to carry that message to the rest of the world. Until the message of salvation was sent to the rest of the world the rest of the world was still under the burden and curse of sin. But the message of salvation could and did change that. VK: And that calls to mind Jesus saying in Matthew, chapter 11, verses 28 and 29 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Jesus’ promise is to help us bear our burdens not merely to dismiss them from our lives but we have to hear that good news for it to be effective in people’s lives. RD: Exactly right. So, living near the Golden Tree had brought many blessings to the bears in the arctic village. But it wasn’t enough for them to enjoy those blessings. They had a responsibility to share their blessings with others. VK: So, that brings us to another question. Couldn’t Roleb and his companion just go back to their village and told their friends and neighbors they had seen the Golden Tree, the Frost Lion, and the northern bears? RD: They could have but it would strengthen their witness to have others from the Golden Tree village support their testimony. That’s something anyone who has ever testified to their friends and neighbors will tell you. We all have a responsibility to give a reason for the hope that lies within us. That’s 2 Peter 3:15. But our witness is strengthened when we have others who will go with us and add their voices to our testimony. That’s one of the reasons it’s important to always engage in Christian fellowship with other believers. Sometimes we can put too much emphasis on that old admonition that “if it’s to be, it’s up to me.” Well, of course, we must do our part. But we should also seek the help of others in our own missionary activities. VK: That’s a really important point. As Christians we can get so caught up in struggling to be good believers, good workers, or good parents or family members that we can forget to turn to other believers for support and help. And we must always trust the Lord to support us and depend on the Lord to provide for us. There’s nothing wrong with hard work but ultimately if we think that our lives and destinies on this earth are all about us we are in danger of relying on our strength rather than the Lord’s. RD: Right. And again our model in how to approach struggles is Christ in his confrontation with Satan. Even Jesus didn’t depend on Himself to when He responded to the temptations presented by Satan. When Jesus needed strength to repel Satan Jesus went to scripture. VK: And most people may not realize that all of the scriptures Jesus used came from probably one of the least well-known books in the Bible, Deuteronomy. Christ quoted Deuteronomy, chapter 8, verse 3 in response to the first temptation Satan presented. He quoted Deuteronomy, chapter 6, verse 16 in response to the second temptation, and Deuteronomy, chapter 6, verse 13 in response to the third temptation. This certainly reinforces the need to study the entire Bible. Jesus certainly knew all of the Old Testament and used it in his life. RD: Right. Part of us fulfilling our role in the Great Commission is recognizing that the Lord is sovereign and we are not. Even Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane for the Father’s will to be done and not his own. We must be willing to witness and testify to others, kindly and gently, but ultimately the results are up to God. Only God can bring change to a human heart. VK: And that calls to mind James, chapter 1, verse 17. “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” So, in essence what you’re saying is that Jesus is not only the One who issued the Great Commission but Jesus is the One who enables us to fulfill it. We dare not try to undertake any part of the Great Commission or any other aspect of the Christian life on our own. We must always turn to, and trust in, Jesus to guide and provide. RD: Yes. Jesus is both the source of the instruction and the strength for the obedience. Turning to Jesus should be our first response but all too often I fear it’s our last resort. I always wince a little when I hear people say “the only thing I can do for you is to pray.” VK: Because as you say in your book Purposeful Prayers “the whispered prayer that stirs the hand of God dwarfs the most powerful force in the universe.” RD: Yes. The one big advantage that the bears who lived in the Golden Tree had over their southern relatives was that they had learned that ultimately the supply for their needs came from a source outside themselves. They had lived near the Golden Tree for generations. They knew there was a source of blessing outside of their own effort and that’s where they placed their trust. Anyone or anything that tempts you to place your trust in anything other than God cannot be of God. It’s not that we should not work hard to develop our own skills and abilities but we must keep them in proper perspective. VK: The Apostle Paul essentially affirmed this sentiment in the one of the best-known verses from the Bible: Philippians, chapter 4, verse 13. “For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength” RD: Exactly. We should learn from Golden Tree village bears’ example to be discerning when the world presents us with challenges or opportunities. Jesus is our sure and certain guide in this world and the primary way Jesus imparts wisdom to us is through the Bible. That’s why we must become so familiar with the Bible that we can immediately discern things or events in our lives that tempt us to depart from its teaching. There are a lot of things that will come our way that may not seem to be harmful, in and of themselves, but we can see that it what they offer or tempt us to do will not be consistent with scripture. At my age I’ve learned that the most important skill we can develop is spiritual discernment and we can only get that from the Bible and developing a strong network of mature Christian friends. VK: And while The Frost Lion doesn’t get into that level of detail it’s obvious from the poem that the bears had a strong regard for genuine wisdom and Kodan, Kojon, Koest and all the reset developed even more wisdom after their encounter with the Frost Lion. Christ came to bring us not only joy and peace but “life more abundantly.” But how can we enjoy that abundant life if we don’t ensure that as we travel through life we stay as close as humanly possible to the author of all life, peace, and joy. Staying close to Jesus means reading the Bible, developing a strong prayer life, and staying connected to other believers who can bless us and who we can bless in turn. Sounds like a great time for a prayer. Today since we’re so close to New Year’s Day let’s listen to a prayer for blessings to come to us in the new year. ---- Prayer for NEW YEAR’S DAY VK: We’d like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on our website or your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.” Also, we’d like to remind listeners that copies of the first part of the Golden Tree saga, The Golden Tree: Komari’s Quest, is available from our website. If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not perfect but our Boss is!” (Bible Quotes from the New International Version) The Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 4, verses 8 through 10, New International Version

Episode 243 – Jesus' Birth – The Dividing Line of History Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script Notes: After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” The Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 2, verses 1 and 2, New International Version ******** VK: Hi! I'm Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. I'm here today with RD Fierro, author and founder of Crystal Sea Books, and part-time event librarian. He straightens up the books on the book shelves when one falls over. Today on Anchored by Truth we're going to begin finishing up our current series where we have focused on the life and historicity of Jesus. And we're going to hear the next-to-last installment of our seven part, epic Christmas poem The Golden Tree: The Frost Lion. When we left off last time a group of small koala bears that lives in a valley in the arctic north was trying to save the life of a bear who had gotten lost. This bear had journeyed to the arctic not knowing that a group of koalas already lived in the far north near a Golden Tree that had saved a group of their ancestors. To find the lost southern bear the village bears had enlisted the aid of a great ice eagle. Unfortunately, by the time the village bears found the lost bear the southern bear had died? So, it doesn't look like it's going to be a happy Christmas for the Golden Tree villagers, does it RD? RD: No. It does not. As our last installment of The Golden Tree: The Frost Lion ended two of the villages' teenage bears, Koest and Kopaul, had flown with Gabriel, the great ice eagle. They had gone looking for the bear because earlier in the story Koest and Kopaul had saved the life of Roleb, another bear from the south. Roleb and his friend had made the journey to the north because their own village was in desperate trouble. Their fellow villagers in the south were in danger of losing their faith in their Creator, the Great White Bear. These southern bears knew that many generations ago a group of bears had travelled north but their legends had said that ancestral group had died. The southern bears had no idea the first group that travelled to the north – while they didn't find the Great White Bear – they had found the Golden Tree. Now the question is whether salvation is still available? VK: So, it's time to find out what happens to Roleb and his travelling companion in this Christmas epic poem: The Golden Tree: The Frost Lion. ---- The Golden Tree: The Frost Lion – Part 6 VK: Wow. So, now the village bears have met the great Frost Lion – the One who actually created the bears and the ice eagles. But Roleb's friend is still dead. And we still don't know what Roleb's fate is going to be. Is it just too late for the Frost Lion to do anything to help Roleb and his friend? Seems there are still a lot of unanswered questions. RD: Well, hopefully we'll get the answers to all these questions next week since next week is part 7 and there's only seven parts to this part of the Golden Tree saga. But part of what listeners should be listening for is why did the Frost Lion choose to appear at this time in the village bears' history. After all, they had lived near the Golden Tree for many generations? What was it about this situation that made the Frost Lion arrive in the village? Maybe we'll hear something about that next time too. VK: And that's a great lesson for why listeners should grab some friends and family and encourage them to tune in. It would be a good starting point for a discussion in a family setting, or a church youth group, or a home-school study project. The story can help kids learn about poetry as a form of literature, and also see how their imagination can be an important tool in getting immersed in the Bible. RD: Right. Classically some of the greatest poetry ever written like Milton's Paradise Lost was written under the inspiration of the Bible. We've lost some of that awareness but I firmly believe it can be reclaimed by again striving to honor the Lord in everything we do. VK: So, what's on tap for today as we are right on Christmas' doorstep? RD: I thought as our closeout topic for this series on Jesus it would be fitting to talk about the reason for the season: Christ's birth. It's been celebrated on December 25th for centuries, but unfortunately today even that fact has become a source of either criticism or else an outright attack on the historicity of Jesus. For instance, some critics will claim that the celebration of Christmas was an adaptation of the Roman festival of Saturnalia and that as such it casts doubt on the historicity of Jesus. VK: And it is true that the Roman celebration of the Roman god Saturn did occur around the same time on the Julian calendar. The celebration originally started on December 17th but it was eventually expanded so that it lasted until December 23rd. And there are certainly elements of the Roman celebration of Saturnalia that correspond to how we celebrate Christmas. Saturnalia included parties, giving gifts, and plenty of food and drink. Though, it did differ markedly in certain ways. A lot of the time Saturnalia probably resembled Mardi Gras more than Christmas. RD: And that's because the Roman god, Saturn, was the god of abundance and plenty but he was also thought of as the god of dissipation and dissolution. And it's also fair to say that some elements of the Christian celebration of Christmas were influenced by Saturnalia. In the fourth century AD, Pope Julius I (337–352) decided that Christ's birthday should be celebrated on 25 December, around the same time as the Saturnalia celebrations. Some commentators have speculated that part of the reason why he chose this date may have been because he was trying to create a Christian alternative to Saturnalia. Another possibility may have been that in 274 AD, the Roman emperor Aurelian had declared 25 December the birthdate of Sol Invictus and Julius I may have thought that he could attract more converts to Christianity by allowing them to continue to celebrate on the same day. So it's fair to say that the way in which we celebrate Christmas was probably influenced by Saturnalia, but that is quite a different thing from saying that just because the Roman god Saturn was mythological or fictional that Jesus was also. That would be the classic example of a non sequitur. VK: Non Sequitur: a conclusion that does not necessarily follow. In other words it's a logical fallacy to conclude that just because the god Saturn was a myth that Jesus must be a myth also just because there are some common elements in the way the two different figures were or are celebrated. RD: Exactly. VK: But, of course, that does raise the question of whether Pope Julius picked December 25th just because that was a time when there were already pagan celebrations going on, or whether there were other reasons for selecting that day? RD: And that is a great question. VK: I'm so glad you agree. So… RD: We need to start out by saying that the Bible does not tell us exactly when Jesus was born. As one scholar put it, “the early Christians were not so much concerned with the date of Christ's birth, as the fact of his birth.” And for those people who would like to take an in-depth look at when Jesus was born, there's a great little book called Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ by Harold W. Hoehner. Much of what we're going to talk about now comes from his book. The first question we need to address is not the day Jesus was born but the year. VK: I think most people generally think that Jesus was born in 1 AD. Doesn't AD stand for anno domini meaning the “year of the Lord?” RD: Yes, it does. And that was the original intent when a Scythian monk named Dionysius originally prepared a calendar for use by the Western church at the direction of Pope John I in 525 AD. Before that time the Alexandrian system of dating was being used but it used as it base the reign of Diocletian who was a persecutor of the early church. Dionysius did not want the reference date for the church to be based on a persecutor. So Dionysius used the Julian system, which had been established by Julius Caesar, for the organization of the year which ran from January 1st to December 31st. And the year 1 AD was set on January 1st of 754 A.U.C. – anno urbis conditae – from the founding of the city of Rome. At the time Jesus was thought to have been born on December 25th of the prior year. Remember that there is no “zero” year. The calendar goes straight from 1 BC (before Christ) to 1 AD. VK: But… RD: But subsequent scholarship has determined that Dionysius didn't get the translation between the AUC system and the system based on Christ's birth year right. As our scripture today from Matthew noted, King Herod was still alive when Jesus was born. At the time it was thought that Herod died in 754 AUC but we now know that the latest date for Herod's death was 750 AUC. VK: So that would mean Jesus was actually born 4 or 5 years earlier than previously thought. So he was born in 4 or 5 BC, not December 25th of 1 BC. Interesting. RD: Yes. But it's worth noting that scholars are not even agreed on that. VK: Because…? RD: Because we have two scriptures that serve as the outer boundaries for Jesus' birth. According to Matthew Jesus could not have been born later than Herod's death, but according to Luke Jesus was born after a census that had been taken by a Roman official named Quirinius. In Greek Quirinius would have been Kyrenius. Luke says that this was “This was the first census that took place while a Quirinius was governor of Syria.” One of the issues was there aren't any clear records about when this census took place. Josephus does not mention a census that took place during Herod's reign but he does mention one that took place in 6 or 7 AD. So scholars are not unified on the date that this previous census might have taken place. This is one of the more puzzling questions that still linger about the birth of Jesus. VK: So, does Dr. Hoehner discuss this question in his book? RD: He does and there is actually a wealth of discussion available from many sources on this first census of Quirinius. Here are a few things we know for certain. The Romans were well known to take censuses throughout their empire to establish what we might call the basis for taxation and it was common for them to take them about every 14 years. Second, the text from Luke that says that Quirinius was the governor of Syria does not actually use the normal word, legatus, that is translated as “governor.” It uses a more generalized term for being in charge or leading. Third, we know that Quirinius was in the mid-East from 12 B.C. to 2 B.C. successively suppressing rebellions taking place in modern day Turkey. Apparently, Quirinius was well known as a successful military leader. VK: So, it would make sense that he was given charge of an important task of taking a census even if was done as an extra duty. Also, it would make sense that Augustus would want a census taken in that part of the empire because Herod had fallen out of favor with Augustus around 7 or 8 BC and by then it was known that his health was failing and that his sons were quarrelling over who would succeed him. Herod changed his will 3 times in the year before his death, each time naming a different son. Augustus knew about the changes and the quarrels because Herod had to get Augustus' permission before making the changes. RD: Or executing one of his sons which Herod also did – again with Augustus' knowledge and consent. VK: So that helps show that Herod was the kind of a king who would order the murder of all boys, 2 years old and under, in and around Bethlehem to get rid of a child the Magi had described the “king of the Jews.” So, it looks very much like Quirinius might have been in charge of a census sometime in the latter part of Herod's reign around 5 BC. Herod died in 4 BC. But, what about the specific day? Did Pope Julius just pick that day because it roughly corresponded with Saturnalia? RD: We can't be entirely sure why Pope Julius picked December 25th but the traditional date for Jesus' birth had been around for at least 100 or 150 years before he set it officially within the church calendar. At a minimum an early church father named Hippolytus of Rome (ca 165-235 AD) had proposed that date. It is thought that Hippolytus might have had some greater insight about Jesus because he was associated with one of the early disciples of the Apostle John. There's not a lot of information in scripture itself to pin down the date, but the tradition of a midwinter date for his birth does date back to the very earliest of the church fathers. Also, it's fair to note that December 25th is the traditional day of celebration in the Western church but the Eastern church has traditionally used January 6th as the birthday and arrival of the Magi. VK: But some people object to the December date because a part of Luke that we didn't listen to today says the shepherds were keeping watch on their flocks which were out in the fields at night. It is generally known that the shepherds brought their sheep into enclosures from about November through March. So the thinking is that if the sheep were out in the field it couldn't have been December. RD: And that's a reasonable observation but it's not conclusive. First, it might have been a mild winter so there would have been less reason to keep the sheep enclosed. Second, the sheep were apparently in and around Bethlehem as opposed to being out in their spring and summer feeding grounds in the wilderness so this makes it far more likely the birth was in the winter. The shepherds had to be close enough to be able to get to family who were lodged in the stable in Bethlehem fairly quickly. Third, there are Jewish texts that say that the sheep that were going to be used for the Passover celebration were to be out in the field for at least 30 days before the celebration. Passover could have been as early as February so this would again reinforce a midwinter date as early as late December or early January. VK: The bottom line is that - again – when you look at the details of history and the gospel accounts it dispels completely the notion that even if there are superficial resemblances between the Christian celebration of Christmas and some pagan winter festivals that somehow diminishes the historicity of Jesus as a person. Or his birth in Bethlehem on a night over 2,000 years ago. Sounds like a great time for a prayer. Today since we're so close to Christmas let's listen to a prayer about that special day. ---- Prayer for Christmas VK: We'd like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.” Also, we'd to remind listeners that copies of the first part of the the Golden Tree saga, The Golden Tree: Komari's Quest, is available from our website. If you'd like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We're not famous but our Boss is!” (Bible Quotes from the New International Version) The Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 2, verses 1 and 2, New International Version

Episode 242 – Jesus’ Attributes Were Not “Borrowed” Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script Notes: “Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.” The Gospel of John, Chapter 11, verse 25, New Living Translation “Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” The Gospel of John, Chapter 14, verse 6, New Living Translation ******** VK: Hi! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. I’m here today with RD Fierro, author and founder of Crystal Sea Books, and part-time event planning consultant. He rearranges the chairs in the conference room when we have meetings. Today on Anchored by Truth, as we approach Thanksgiving and Christmas, we want to continue our series where we focus on the life and ministry of Jesus. And we want to continue listening to Crystal Sea’s epic Christmas poem The Golden Tree: The Frost Lion. Frost Lion is the third part of the Golden Tree trilogy. The first installment of the Golden Tree saga was The Golden Tree: Komari’s Quest and copies of it are available from our website which is crystalseabooks.com. Even though we’re playing Frost Lion on our broadcasts and podcasts it has not yet been released for people to get their own copy but that will happen in the near future. Today we’re coming to part five out of seven of the poem. So, we’re getting close to bringing it home, right RD? RD: We are indeed. For any listeners who weren’t able to be with us for our last couple of episodes we should tell them that The Golden Tree: The Frost Lion is a poem that is written in the style of some classic Christmas stories. It was written in seven parts and each part ends in a sort of cliffhanger. So, now that we’re at part five we’re pretty deep into the story. But just as a quick refresher The Golden Tree: The Frost Lion is about a group of small koala bears who live in the Artic in valley that’s green and warm because in the middle of the valley is a Golden Tree that keeps the valley warm and fertile. They’ve been there for several generations but just as Christmas season is approaching two teenage bears, Koest and Kopaul, were on a high hill near their town when the spotted a dark shape crossing the snow and ice. The strange shape turned out to be a bear named Roleb. Roleb came from the village their ancestors had left many generations ago and had travelled with a friend who got lost. Roleb and his friend were travelling to the arctic to search for help for their village which had lost its faith. Thanks to the wisdom of the village elders, Kodan and Kojon, the bears have been able to summon an ice eagle. But what can this ice eagle do? What will this ice eagle do … if anything? VK: Sounds like we’re getting to the good part. So, let’s continue with the story. Here’s part five of Crystal Seas’ Christmas epic poem: The Golden Tree, The Frost Lion. ---- The Golden Tree: The Frost Lion – Part 5 VK: Ok. So, the bears from the village have now found Roleb’s lost friend. But it’s too late. Roleb’s friend has died from the cold. So, it seems as if Roleb’s whole journey to the north has been for nothing. That seems very sad – if that was how the story ended. But, of course, it hasn’t ended yet. So, maybe all hope isn’t lost. And, knowing you, the answer to finding out whether anything can be done for Roleb and his friend is …to tune in next time. RD: That sounds like a brilliant suggestion. And maybe listeners could gather some family members to join them ... VK: Sounds even better. Listening to Golden Tree as a family could be a great way for parents or grandparents to connect with their kids and help them develop their faith. It would also make a great centerpiece for a home school study group or church youth group discussion about the role that courage and commitment play in the Christian faith – something that’s particularly relevant as we get closer and closer to Christmas. RD: Right. Somebody once said that the Christian faith is so simple that even children can comprehend enough about it to understand the plan of salvation. But even though we can begin with the faith of a child we should pursue the goal of developing a truly mature faith. God will meet us and help us wherever we are in our faith journey but He isn’t satisfied with leaving us at the starting line. Hebrews 12:2 says that Jesus doesn’t just initiate our faith. He also wants to perfect it. And part of perfecting our faith is ensuring that we understand what the Bible tells us about Jesus. VK: Well, so far we’ve seen that there are extra-Biblical sources that confirm that Jesus was a real historical figure who lived and died in Judea during the time period described by the Bible. But we’ve also seen that as helpful as it is to know that there are secular sources that confirm Jesus’ life that those sources aren’t enough to tell us everything that we need to know about Jesus. We can only get a complete revelation about Jesus from God’s special revelation to people, the Bible. And as we saw in our last episode, and again in today’s scriptures, Jesus’ statements about himself tell us something pretty important: that Jesus is not only fully human but also fully divine. RD: Yes. And so that takes us to the next subject that we need to talk about as we are focusing on the life of Jesus in preparation for celebrating his birth at Christmas. VK: And that is... RD: And that is - that because Jesus is the central figure not just of Christianity, but also the entire Bible, one of the criticisms that’s sometimes directed toward Jesus is that the attributes that the Bible assigns to Jesus were borrowed from other cultures or religious sources. So, Christians need to be familiar with some of the assertions that Jesus’ deeds, especially his miracles, were simply drawn from other religious myths or pagan characters. VK: Can you give us an example of what you’re thinking about? RD: Sure. It is has been alleged that Jesus’ miraculous conception isn’t a unique belief. For instance, critics will say that the mythological figure, Hercules, was also supposed to be the son of a divine father – in this case Zeus - and a mortal mother. VK: But, of course, there are significant differences between Hercules purported conception and Jesus. In the Greek legend Hercules mother was named Alcmene (ALK-MEN-EE). Zeus was supposed to have taken on the human form of Alcmene’s husband and deceived Alcmene and slept with her. And that’s how Hercules was conceived. That’s not nearly the same thing as Jesus being born of Mary while Mary was literally still a virgin. RD: The differences are even more pronounced. Hercules was actually the Roman name of a hero the Romans adapted from the Greek Heracles. According to the Greek legend, Heracles’ mother Alcmene was simultaneously pregnant with Heracles by Zeus and his half-brother Iphicles by her husband. And that’s only the beginning of the legendary aspects in Alcmene’s pregnancy with Heracles. So, as soon as you get beyond the superficial similarity and look at the details, the notion that Jesus’ conception was somehow an adaptation of the Heracles/Hercules myth falls apart. But this is a good example of one kind of obviously fallacious attack that’s directed against the historicity of Jesus. VK: So, what you’re saying is that one form of attack that’s leveled at Jesus has to do with a particular attribute of Jesus and then trying to find a parallel somewhere else in a different religion that is obviously false. The critics then try to discredit the life of Jesus by saying that if story A is false, then story B must be false also. RD: Right. But that makes as much sense as saying that if there are two $5 bills on the table and one is counterfeit, the other one must be also which is just silly. So, sometimes the supposed pagan origin of the details of Jesus earthly life and ministry are concerned with specific attributes of Jesus, such as his virgin birth. But sometimes the copycat thesis is less concerned with the specifics of Jesus life and more concerned with generalities that might be associated just about any supernatural figure. VK: Again, do you have any specific examples in mind? RD: For instance, since sickness and disease are obviously a plague on human existence... VK: No pun intended… RD: No pun intended… anyway, the ability to bring miraculous healing would be expected to be a staple of myths or legends. And it is. For example, Asclepius or Asklepios was a Greek demi-god who was the god of medicine. He was supposed to have raised Hippolytus from the dead, though he was killed by Zeus for doing so. Asclepius was supposed to be the son of the god Apollo and a human mother. Buddha was also supposed to have been able to cure the sick. VK: But again, these kinds of general miracle workings of mythological characters vary considerably from the information we have about the miracles that Jesus performed. For instance, in the case of Jesus curing Peter’s mother we have precise details of the location where the miracle was done, the people involved, and even a pretty close approximation to the timing. And many of Jesus’ healings involved specific details that conform to the religious and cultural conventions known to exist. Such as when he healed the lepers and then told them to go show themselves to a priest which was required by Jewish law. And Jesus’ healing miracles weren’t always the cause for celebration the way you would expect of a miracle like when Jesus restored the eyesight of the man born blind. The blind man was rejected by the religious leaders and cast out by them. RD: Exactly. The descriptions of Jesus’ miracles read like historical accounts because they are. Again, the key to drawing distinctions between Jesus’ miracles and those general sorts of miraculous powers that are associated with the pagan sources is in the details. The Bible accounts provide the details and in the majority of cases there are multiple eyewitness accounts. But the case of Buddha provides another way of refuting the claims that the Bible’s descriptions of Jesus are drawn from other sources. The earliest known account of Buddha’s life was written in the 2nd century AD so it came after Jesus and not before it. That’s also true for another supposed religious figure who supposedly served as the source for many of the details of Christ’s life, Mithra. In Mithra’s manifestation during the Roman period he was supposed to have been born on December 25th, had 12 disciples, performed miracles, had a final meal before he died, and rose from the grave after 3 days. VK: And since Mithra was a religious figure that was known to come from the Persian culture, modern day Iran, supposedly he was the inspiration for much of what the disciples taught about Jesus. Right? RD: Right. The earliest mention of Mithra is around 1400 BC so as a religious figure Mithra would pre-date Christ by a considerable time period. But the problem is that the attributes of the Iranian version of Mithra do not correspond to the Roman version. The Roman version of Mithra is best known for slaying a bull whereas there is no known connection to bull slaying in the Iranian version. And a lot of the supposed correspondences between Christ and Mithra appear in the Roman version and the dating of the correspondences is after Christ. VK: So, many scholars believe there might have been some cross pollination between Christ and the Roman version of Mithra but given the timing of the appearance of the similarities it’s far more likely that the legends of Mithra borrowed from Christianity and not vice versa. RD: And that would have been fair because there was one way that Christianity did borrow from Mithraism, in art. In the early part of the 3rd century AD (313), the Roman emperor Constantine issued the edict of Milan which accepted Christianity. Before then the Roman emperors had generally been very hostile to Christians. Within 10 years Christianity had become the official religion of the empire. But by then Mithraism seems to have also gained a strong foothold within the empire as well. In the third and fourth centuries, the Roman church officials seemed to have embarked on an effort to prove that their faith was the superior one, embarked on an advertising campaign. One commentator said their efforts were “reminiscent of our soft drink wars. Mithra was depicted slaying the bull while riding its back; the church did a lookalike scene with Samson killing a lion. Mithra sent arrows into a rock to bring forth water; the church changed that into Moses getting water from the rock at Horeb.” VK: That sounds suspiciously like the law of unintended consequences. The church officials in the 3rd and 4th century went on a campaign to prove that Christianity was superior to Mithraism and 1,600 years later the church now has to defend itself against the claim that Jesus’ life and ministry were the copycat version. RD: I think that’s an excellent observation. And let’s close out with one more, quick example. In Hinduism Krishna was also supposed to have had a miraculous conception so some critics point to that legend as a possible inspiration for the Christian tenant. VK: But in that case, Krishna’s ‘miraculous conception’ is his mom being impregnated by ‘mental transmission’ from his completely human father. Again, not remotely similar to the Bible’s description of how Mary became pregnant. RD: And to add to that – how credible is it that the first Christians, who were largely Jews from Palestine, would have borrowed a legend from a thousand miles away. At a minimum the Jews were fiercely monotheistic whereas Hinduism is distinctly polytheistic. So, this again points to the need to not only examine the varying details of alleged instances of borrowing but also consider the cultural factors that would have been in play. Often either chronological or cultural factors alone will be enough to refute the alleged possibilities. To go back to our earlier example with the money, when new bank tellers are being taught to spot counterfeit dollars they aren’t given lots of counterfeits to study. They’re given lots of real bills to feel and handle. The idea is that if the tellers get so used to touching and handling the real thing, the fakes will become instantly recognizable. That same approach will work when it comes to being able to answer many of the criticisms that are addressed at Christianity and Jesus. VK: And that’s a good lesson for all of us. The more time we spend studying scripture – and developing familiarity with the details of the people, the nations, the geography, the culture – not only will we be able to be confident in our own faith. But we will also be able to point other people to the truth. RD: Precisely. Myths and legends read like myths and legends. They have fantastic details that have little or no correspondence to things in the real world. Good common sense enables us to quickly see elements that don’t make sense in our experience. By contrast, the history contained in the Bible reads like good histories that we see elsewhere. There are specifics about people, places, times, and events and quite often either archeological finds or extra-Biblical records will provide information that helps confirm the Biblical record. VK: Sounds like a great time for a prayer. Today since we’re so close to Christmas let’s listen to a prayer about that special day. ---- Prayer for Christmas VK: We’d like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.” We hope you’ll be with us next time as we continue our discussion of the reality of Jesus’ life. We hope you’ll take some time to encourage some friends to tune in too, or listen to the podcast version of this show. Also, we’d to remind listeners that copies of The Golden Tree: Komari’s Quest are available from our website. If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not famous but our Boss is!” (Bible Quotes from the New Living Translation) The Gospel of John, Chapter 11, verse 25, New Living Translation The Gospel of John, Chapter 14, verse 6, New Living Translation The Gospel of John, Chapter 15, verse 5, New Living Translation (Sources used for this episode or other in this series) https://creation.com/pagan-copycat-thesis-refuted http://www.tektonics.org/copycat/pagint.php http://www.tektonics.org/copycat/mithra.php

- ManEpisode 241 – Jesus – Man and God Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script Notes: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” The Gospel of John, Chapter 6, verse 35, New Living Translation “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” The Gospel of John, Chapter 8, verse 12, New Living Translation ******** VK: Hi! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. I’m here today with RD Fierro, author and founder of Crystal Sea Books, and part-time pastry consultant. He buys the cookies we keep in the kitchen. Though to be fair I’m the one who makes sure we don’t run out of animal crackers. Anyway, today on Anchored by Truth, as we start to celebrate the Christmas season, we want to continue our series where we focus on Jesus. And we want to continue listening to Crystal Sea’s epic Christmas poem The Golden Tree: The Frost Lion. Today we’re coming to part four of the poem where we now hear about the seemingly unsolvable quandary that is confronting our bears. So do you want to tell us where we are in the story, RD? RD: I’d love to. For any listeners who weren’t able to be with us for our last few episodes we should tell them that The Golden Tree: The Frost Lion is a poem that is written in the style of some classic Christmas stories. It’s the third of the Golden Tree series. The first segment is called The Golden Tree: Komari’s Quest and the second part was called The Golden Tree: Eagle Enigma. Both of these earlier parts of the saga were also written using the model of the old-time movie serials that they used to play when I was a kid and you went to the theater on Saturday afternoons. Before the movie they’d give you the latest installment of an ongoing saga. Each episode would end with the heroes and heroines left in a precarious position so next week you’d come back and plunk down another quarter or two. So, to get ready for part four listeners need to know that the epic is all about a group of small koala bears who live in the arctic. Even though they are in the arctic they live near a Golden Tree that creates a peaceful and fertile valley. The bears’ ancestors discovered the Golden Tree after they had left their homes down under and went searching for their Creator that they called the Great White Koala Bear. The bears have lived near the Golden Tree for generations. In all that time they had never met another bear from the land their ancestors left – but that has now changed. A new, strange bear named Roleb was rescued by a pair of young bears, Koest and Kopaul, and brought to Koest’s home. Once there, Roleb told the bears he had friend who was traveling with him but that friend is now lost in the arctic wasteland. Two of village elders, Kodan and Kojon are trying to figure out if there is a way to save Roleb’s lost friend before it is too late … which it might already be. VK: Alright then. So, let’s continue with the story. Here’s part four of Crystal Seas’ Christmas epic poem: The Golden Tree, The Frost Lion – part four. ---- The Golden Tree: The Frost Lion – Part 4 VK: Wow. So, the bears figured out how to summon an ice eagle … but can this ice eagle help them? Will this ice eagle help them? It doesn’t seem like this ice eagle is all that friendly at this point. RD: I guess folks will just have to tune in next week and see what happens... VK: I’m starting to see why the movies played those serial episodes before they played the main feature. RD: Well, as a kid the trick was not to not eat all your popcorn during the serial. Otherwise, you didn’t have any left to enjoy during the feature. It helped if you had enough money to buy a large bag. No buckets in those days. VK: Today I think some of us need to worry about waistlines more than money… RD: No comment. VK: Anyway, maybe one of the lessons we can learn from the bears is that we need to understand that challenges to our faith can come to us at any time. We need to be prepared to intelligently respond to them. And Ephesians 6:17 does tell us that the sword of the Spirit is the Bible, the Word of God. That’s one of the big reasons we try to encourage people to develop the habit of staying in the Word. It’s the best way for us to cope with our own ice eagles. So, where do you want to go today as we resume our study of Jesus’ earthly life? RD: Well, in our last couple of episode on Anchored by Truth we talked about some examples of extra-Biblical sources that confirm that Jesus was a real person who lived and died in Judea during the early part of the first century AD. But, naturally, the only thing that the secular writers could write about was the human dimension of Jesus. If secular writers were our only source about the life of Jesus we could know some important details about him, but we would completely miss the most important fact about Jesus: that Jesus was not only fully human but that he was also fully divine. VK: And here is where a lot of headaches begin. How can one person be both God and man? I think it’s safe to say that many Christians – even serious and devout ones – have trouble with that concept. So, let’s go over some of the basics of historical, orthodox Christian theology – the Trinitarian nature of God and the dual nature of Jesus. A lot of confusion arises because people don’t understand what Christians mean when they refer to the Trinity or the dual nature of Christ. So, let’s start there. RD: Well, let’s acknowledge right at the start the limitations of human language and the incomprehensibility of God. Humans are finite. God is infinite. So, there is no way any human or group of humans is every going to be capable of exhaustively understanding or explaining the nature of the God or the mystery of the incarnation of Christ. That doesn’t mean we can’t know some true things about God and develop an awareness of the miracle of the incarnation, but it does mean that mysteries will always remain. But that the fact that mysteries will always remain doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t apply ourselves to develop a full-orbed understanding of God insofar as we are able. VK: And it also means that we should always approach these subjects in a spirit of reverence and prayer, right? I mean the one Person who can help us grow in our understanding is the very Person we’re seeking to understand. So, what does the doctrine of the Trinity refer to? RD: Orthodox, Christian theology believes that the Bible refers to one God, but acknowledges that God exists eternally as three divine Subsistences or Persons. The classic proof text for the Trinitarian view of the Godhead is Matthew 28:18 and 19 which says: “Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” A slightly different way of explaining this is that God is singular in nature but three in person. By contrast, Jesus, the 2nd Person of the Trinity, is singular in person but has two natures. Jesus is both fully human and fully divine. And the classic formulation of this that came out of the Council of Chalcedon is : ” Jesus Christ is truly God and truly man, having two natures inseparably united in one divine person without confusion, mixture, separation, or division. Each nature retains its own attributes.” VK: So, those views explain why Christians still believe in one God – we’re monotheistic – but we also believe that within the Godhead there are three distinct Persons who have a relationship with each other. Grappling with these concepts is challenging to say the least. RD: And that’s the reason we have to always be willing to acknowledge that even though the church has classic formulations like the Nicene and Apostles’ Creeds that help amplify the basics, these doctrines will always contain a certain amount of mystery for men. We’re back to the plain fact that finite man cannot fully understand or explain an infinite, Triune God. VK: So, how do our opening scriptures relate to this who discussion? At least on the surface, while Jesus is certainly providing some really comforting assurances to his disciples – such as that he will provide for them and protect them like a shepherd does his sheep – how do these verses demonstrate that Jesus was claiming to be God? RD: In English, the claim is not as obvious as it was in the language in which John originally recorded his Gospel, Greek. You see the Greek words that are translated as “I am,” in “I am the bread of life,” and in the other scriptures we heard are two Greek words: ego and eimi. And these are exactly the same words that God used when He made declarations about himself in the Old Testament. VK: As in the declaration that God made to Moses when Moses was standing before the burning bush recorded in Exodus 3:14? Let me read that part. But Moses protested, “If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what should I tell them?” God replied to Moses, “I Am Who I Am. Say this to the people of Israel: I Am has sent me to you.” God also said that Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: Yahweh, the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you. This is my eternal name, my name to remember for all generations.” RD: Exactly. The Septuagint translators when they translated the Hebrew “Yahweh” which came from the word for “I am” translated it by a combination of two different Greek words used for the verb “to be:” ego and eimi. So in Jesus’ time the phrase ego eimi came to be synonymous with the name for God. In Hebrew, Yahweh. In Greek, Jehovah. So, when the Apostle John recorded what Jesus said about Jesus being the bread of life or the light of the world, John used the phrase “ego eimi” for the words “I am.” Many scholars think that when Jesus identified himself with the “I am,” He was directly proclaiming to his followers that he was the same as the one who appeared to be Moses. But there are other references in the Old Testament to which Jesus may have been pointing to make the same point. Michael J. Krueger, who is a New Testament scholar and President of the Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, has shown that there are number of “I am” references in chapters 40 – 55 of the book of Isaiah that unmistakably point to God. Let’s listen to a couple of examples, Isaiah 41: 4 and 43:10: Isaiah 41:4 Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he (ego eimi). Isaiah 43:10 “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he (ego eimi). Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me. The “I am he” in these passages is translated in Greek by ego eimi. VK: So, when Jesus said he was the bread of life or the light of the world he was going beyond simply giving metaphors for the provisions that he was making for his people? He was saying that one of the reasons his followers could have confidence in the promises that he was giving was because he was God. And as God whatever he promised he had the irresistible power to fulfill. I’m starting to get another headache when I think about that. Imagine, listening to someone standing before you who was saying “I am the light of the world,” - meaning he would give you all the light and wisdom you would ever need – and then realizing that the one making the promise was the who made light to begin with. That’s a staggering thought. RD: And it gets even more staggering. Remember that on Anchored by Truth we have often talked about the fact that logic and empirical observations demonstrate that the universe was created by a self-existent Being. We call that Being God. We can arrive at the need for a self-existent Being to explain the existence of the universe and everything in it, just by making some informed observations. In other words, as people we have the ability to deduce the existence of a self-existent Being or God just by exercising our reason and intelligence. Well, when God said to Moses that his name, God’s name, was “I am” he was identifying himself by using the attribute of self-existence. God was simultaneously exalting Moses by saying “you’re standing in the presence of the One who made everything,” and God was condescending to the level of man by communicating to Moses in a way Moses could understand. God was also pointing out that Moses should be aware of His existence because Moses own intellect and intelligence would have revealed the need for God even God had never chosen to communicate with him directly. VK: And the same thing would have been true of the people listening to Jesus, wouldn’t it? Only now, rather than the people listening to a voice out of a burning bush, they’re hearing those words from a man standing in front of them. And many, if not most, of them would have seen Jesus perform miracles so they would have known that when Jesus spoke, he was speaking the truth. But I think you have one more point that you’re making with the line of reasoning aren’t you? RD: Exacatamundo… VK: Exactamundo, again ... RD: Ok. Precisely, if you prefer. Think about it. By making empirical observations and exercising a little logic and reason we can arrive at the conclusion that the universe was created by a self-existent Being – God. But where did we derive the ability to make those observations? Where did we get eyesight that could see the sun and stars? Where did we get the intellect and reasoning ability to design instruments that could amplify our own observational capabilities like telescopes or microscopes? Where did we get the reasoning ability to understand that an effect demands a cause and that the law of non-contradiction is an essential element in reasoning correctly? Where did we get the ability to write and use language and make and retain records so we could pass words and observations down over thousands of years? And not just the records of the Bible but the other records that we examined on Anchored by Truth the last couple of times by secular observers who affirmed that Jesus was a real man who lived in Judea at a particular time in history. VK: So the point you’re making is that the same God who designed and created the universe with all its marvelous complexity and order also created us in such a way that we could perceive Him. And you’re saying that that same God came to various men at different points in history – to Moses and Isaiah in the Old Testament, to Matthew, John and others in the New Testament – to leave us a record of His appearances in this world. So, you’re saying that God designed man so that man could recognize not only the design in nature but also the design in God’s plan for human history. The plan that we call the plan of creation, fall, and redemption. Oh, all that is either super scary or super exciting. RD: Rather like the disciples in the boat when Jesus calmed the storm or Moses when he was in front of the burning bush, an immediate confrontation with the undeniable presence of the Almighty is simultaneously terrifying and thrilling. Unfortunately, today too many people deny themselves that experience of reverential awe that comes from truly grappling with the authentic nature of God. VK: And only the Bible gives us what we need to understand that nature. And we all need to have a better understanding of that nature. Because when we gain it we will find out that God is not only an awesome and mighty God but He is also a loving and merciful God who has made provisions for us to have eternal fellowship with him by placing our faith in Jesus as our Savior. So let’s close with prayer. Today let’s listen to a prayer of adoration for the first person of the Trinity, our heavenly Father. ---- PRAYER OF ADORATION OF THE FATHER VK: We’d like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.” We hope you’ll be with us next time as we continue our discussion of the reality of Jesus’ life. We hope you’ll take some time to encourage some friends to tune in too, or listen to the podcast version of this show. Also, we’d to remind listeners that copies of The Golden Tree: Komari’s Quest and The Golden Tree: Eagle Enigma are available from our website. If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not perfect but our Boss is!” (Bible Quotes from the English Revised Version) The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 2, verses 1 through 6, English Revised Version The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 23, verses 44 through 47, English Revised Version (Sources used for this episode or other in this series) https://www.ligonier.org/about/who-we-are/what-we-believe/ https://www.michaeljkruger.com/why-does-jesus-use-the-phrase-i-am/ https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/10-things-yahweh-means

Episode 240 – Jesus Beyond the Bible Part 2 Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script Notes: Now it came to pass in those days, there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment made when Quirinius was governor of Syria. ... And Joseph also … to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David; to enroll himself with Mary, who was betrothed to him, being great with child. …while they were there… she [gave birth].” The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 2, verses 1 through 6, English Revised Version ******** VK: Hi! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. I’m here today with RD Fierro, author and founder of Crystal Sea Books, and part-time health consultant. He buys the cough drops we keep in the studio for people to use during recording. Today on Anchored by Truth, as we approach Thanksgiving and Christmas, we want to continue our series where we focus on the earthly life and ministry of Jesus. And we want to continue listening to Crystal Sea’s epic Christmas poem The Golden Tree: The Frost Lion. Today we’re coming to part three of the poem where the action starts to get a little more intense. Is that a fair statement, RD? RD: I think so. For any listeners who weren’t able to be with us for our last couple of episodes we should tell them that The Golden Tree: The Frost Lion is a poem that is written in the style of some classic Christmas stories. It was also written using the model of the old-time movie serials that they used to play when I was a kid and you went to the theater on Saturday afternoons. Before the movie they’d give you the latest installment of an ongoing saga. Each episode would end with the heroes and heroines left in a precarious position so next week you’d come back and plunk down another quarter or two. So, to get ready for part three listeners need to know that the epic is all about a group of small koala bears who live in a valley in the arctic. A group of the bear’s ancestors settled in the valley because in the center of the valley is a golden tree that transforms the valley into a place where they can live and thrive. They’ve been there for several generations but in the current Christmas season an unexpected challenge has come to their valley, the tree, and their lives. Two of the town’s teenage bears, Koest and Kopaul had gone to a hill to look at the northern lights. While on the hill they saw a new, strange bear staggering through the snow. At first they weren’t sure if this new bear posed a danger but since the new bear was so close to death they brought him back to Koest’s home where Koest’s mother, Koray, began attending to the bear. But they still don’t know anything about the new bear. Where did he come from and why is he here? And what does he want? VK: Alright then. So, let’s continue with the story. Here’s part three of Crystal Seas’ Christmas epic poem: The Golden Tree: The Frost Lion – part three. ---- The Golden Tree: Eagle Enigma – Part 3 VK: Ok. As the old timers … RD: Like me... VK: Right… used to say, “the plot commences to thicken.” The bears who live near the Golden Tree have found out that they have distant relatives who don’t know about the Golden Tree or even the Great White Bear. But a couple who still did believe in the Great White Bear decided to attempt the quest that others had tried long ago. But now their quest is in danger because one of them has almost died and the other one is lost in a vast arctic wilderness – a wasteland for anyone who’s not near the tree. RD: Right. And sometimes those of us who live in today’s post-modern culture can feel that way – that we are living in a wilderness that has lost sight of our true Creator. That’s why it’s such a good idea for mature believers to listen to or read stories to the kids or grandkids because they can introduce those kids or grandkids to the real struggles that life contains and help prepare to them to be overcomers. And of course the best strategy for being an overcomer is to be so familiar with the truth that lies and deception become immediately identifiable. VK: And of course that’s why we do Anchored by Truth – to remind people that the Bible, in the words of Psalm 46, is a “very present help in time of trouble.” But people aren’t likely to turn to the Bible to help them in times of trouble if they aren’t confident that the Bible is reliable and trustworthy. So that’s why we focus on using evidence and logic to demonstrate that we have very good reasons for believing that the Bible is the very Word of God. RD: Yes. Everybody, at some point in their life, is going to ask the question, “Why am I here?” It’s one of the most obvious questions that arise from the human experience. But, whether most people realize it or not, the answer to the question, “why am I here,” is inexorably tied to three other questions. Is there a God? If there is a God, does He communicate with people – or said slightly differently, “Is the Bible the Word of God.” And, if there is a God and the Bible is His word, can I learn about my life, my needs, and my purpose by studying the Bible? Of course at Anchored by Truth we think that the answer to all three questions is a resounding “yes.” But we would just as quickly admit that, unless people are convinced that the Bible is more than just an aggregated collection of fairy tales and myths, they are unlikely to find the Bible relevant to their lives. VK: I notice that you said “study the Bible” not just “read the Bible.” What you’re observing is that understanding the Bible, confidently and contextually, demands effort. Right? I mean that sort of runs against the old method of letting the Bible fall open and then reading the first verse that comes to your attention. RD: Well, I wouldn’t try to restrict the Lord’s ability to communicate to any particular person any way He chooses. But randomly or haphazardly reading selected portions of the Bible isn’t likely to help people answer the question, “Why am I here?” I am fully persuaded that the Lord will reveal Himself to anyone and everyone who seeks to truly know Him. But our relationship with the Lord – who is after all first and foremost a person – is just like our relationship with others in our lives. The quality of our relationship will be dependent on the quality and quantity of time we spend with the Lord. And because the Bible was written in a different time and era we need to do some study on the times, customs, and cultures that form its setting. And, unfortunately, because so much misinformation circulates in our own culture today about what the Bible is or isn’t, contemporary Christians need to arm themselves by being able to respond to certain common errors. VK: Such as the erroneous assertion that Jesus wasn’t a real person. That he didn’t live a real life, eat, walk, and sleep like normal human beings. And that, despite being fully human, he didn’t also demonstrate that he was fully divine by rising out of a stone tomb after being killed by the most powerful empire on the earth at the time. So, that takes us back to our review of some examples that Jesus’ earthly existence is confirmed by sources outside the Bible. Last time we took a look at two examples of other ancient historians who mentioned Jesus in their histories: the Roman historian Tacitus and the Jewish historian Josephus. Both are considered reliable historians. Both wrote their histories within a relatively short period after Jesus’ earthly life. And both wrote accounts that confirmed some of the details in scripture. Where do you want to start today? RD: Well, let’s take a look at another Roman historian, Suetonius. Suetonius was a Roman historian and annalist of the Imperial House under the Emperor Hadrian. His writings about Christians describe their treatment under the Emperor Claudius (41-54AD): “Because the Jews at Rome caused constant disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus [Christ], he [Claudius] expelled them from the city [Rome].” (Life of Claudius, 25:4) This expulsion took place in 49AD. In another work, Suetonius wrote about the fire which destroyed Rome in 64 A.D. under the reign of Nero. Nero blamed the Christians for this fire and he punished Christians severely as a result: “Nero inflicted punishment on the Christians, a sect given to a new and mischievous religious belief.” (Lives of the Caesars, 26.2) So from these quotes we can see that the awareness of Jesus had spread all the way to Rome less than 20 years after Jesus died. The awareness was so strong that the emperor had taken personal notice of Jesus’ followers and apparently felt the need to try to minimize their influence in the capital city. VK: And again, just to remind everyone of what we mentioned last time the fact that Roman historians and even Roman emperors would take notice of Jesus is remarkable. It wasn’t as if Jesus had led a conquering army that was threatening to lay siege to Rome or even one of his outlying provinces. And Suetonius’ observation that the Christians had a “new and mischievous religious belief” is particularly fascinating. When you think about the pantheon of gods with which the Romans were thoroughly familiar – not only their own gods but also the Greek gods and the gods of all the people they’d conquered – when you think about the vast variety of religious beliefs with which they were acquainted what could be considered “new and mischievous?” RD: Well, of course, many scholars believe that Suetonius was likely referring to the physical resurrection of Jesus. Obviously, the Romans were well familiar with various beliefs of life after death, but those belief systems never included a person – a flesh and blood man – walking around, talking, eating, and even touching other people after being crucified. That was new and novel. VK: Still is. I’ve never seen it though I thoroughly believed it happened. Who’s next? RD: Well, take a look at two sources who wrote about Jesus but for whom we don’t have any copies of their writings: Thallus and Phlegon. VK: Well, if there are no existing copies of their manuscripts how can we know what they wrote? RD: Because just like today, there were other writers who did read what they wrote and preserved some of their material by quoting it in documents they were preparing. Just like someone may not have attended a political event, but they can know part of what the speaker said by reading quotes in articles written by people who were there. In Thallus’ case, parts of his histories were preserved by Julius Africanus who wrote around 221 AD. In Phlegon’s case, not only did Julius Africanus record some of his material but so did Origen who was an early church scholar and theologian. VK: So what observation did Julius Africanus preserve from Thallus’ writings that pertain to Jesus? RD: Well let me read a quote from Julius Africanus: “On the whole world there pressed a most fearful darkness; and the rocks were rent by an earthquake, and many places in Judea and other districts were thrown down. This darkness Thallus, in the third book of his History, calls, as appears to me without reason, an eclipse of the sun.” (Julius Africanus, Chronography, 18:1) So Thallus had written more than one book of history but in at least one of his books he took note of the darkness and earthquake that accompanied Christ’s crucifixion. This parallels precisely the account that Matthew gave us in Chapter 27 of his Gospel. VK: And Luke also wrote about the darkness. The Gospel of Luke, chapter 23, verses 44 through 47 say: “And it was now about the sixth hour, and a darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, the sun's light failing: and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said this, he gave up the ghost. And when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly, this was a righteous man.” So, it is very interesting that a secular historian like Thallus would mention the same detail that is present in Matthew and Luke. And if I remember correctly Thallus’ observations are particularly important because many scholars believe he wrote around 52 AD. In fact, he may have been the earliest secular writer to comment on the events surrounding the crucifixion. Well, what about Phlegon? RD: Well let me read three quotes. This first is one preserved by Julius Africanus and the second two were preserved by Origen: “Phlegon records that, in the time of Tiberius Caesar, at full moon, there was a full eclipse of the sun from the sixth to the ninth hour.” (Africanus, Chronography, 18:1) “And with regard to the eclipse in the time of Tiberius Caesar, in whose reign Jesus appears to have been crucified, and the great earthquakes which then took place … ” (Origen Against Celsus, Book 2, Chapter 33) “Jesus, while alive, was of no assistance to himself, but that he arose after death, and exhibited the marks of his punishment, and showed how his hands had been pierced by nails.” (Origen Against Celsus, Book 2, Chapter 59) So in these quotes we several things of significance. First, Phlegon confirms the darkness mentioned by Matthew, Luke, and Thallus. Second, he confirms that Jesus was crucified and he gives us a specific time reference: during the reign of Tiberius. And third, he confirms the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus including that he showed the marks of his crucifixion to those to whom he appeared. VK: Well, that’s even more amazing because now we know that the secular historians of the 1st and 2nd century AD were not only aware of Jesus’ life and ministry but they were also familiar with many of the details that surrounded his death and resurrection. But that does raise a question. Since Julius Africanus and Origen were both admitted Christians is it possible that they fabricated the quotes they attributed to Thallus and Phlegon? RD: It’s not impossible, but why would they have done that? VK: I think critics would say they would have fabricated the quotes to make their case for the truth of Christianity stronger. RD: Well, if they had attempted to do that it would actually have had the opposite effect in their day and time. First, remember that even though copies of the writings from Thallus and Phlegon are no longer extant today, they were in existence at the time Julius Africanus and Origen wrote and quoted from them. So if they had fabricated quotes or deliberately misquoted them their fraud or errors would have been easily detectable. Second, Africanus and Origen were writing at a time when there was substantial official opposition to Christianity. In other words they were writing in a hostile world. As such, they would have taken even greater pains to be sure that they wouldn’t be subject to easily refuted assertions. Third, Origen’s quotes of Phlegon came from a work entitled Contra Celsum or in English Against Celsus. So Origen was writing a work to refute the claims of Celsus who wrote a work entitled The True Doctrine. The True Doctrine was likely written under the authority of a Roman emperor was critical of Christianity. Since accuracy was essential to his refutation of Celsus’ book, most scholars agree that Origen is a reliable source for what Phlegon said. Why would Origen have handed his opponent an easy method for dismissing Origen’s criticisms? VK: That all makes a lot of common sense and it points to a broader implication of the extra-Biblical sources that you’ve been citing. None of the observers themselves, including Thallus or Phlegon, were friendly to Christianity. So theirs were essentially the observations of hostile witnesses. As such, when they confirm details of the Biblical account their testimony of Jesus’ life has even greater weight. If they thought that Jesus was a fraud or a fabrication it would have been very easy for them just to not mention him. RD: And one more point to note before we close. In these episodes we haven’t been able to cover all the extra-Biblical sources that there are that confirm Jesus’ life, ministry, and death. There’s a book called The Historical Jesus by Dr. Gary Habermas that contains a much more exhaustive treatment of this subject. VK: And – again – we wanted to point listeners to all these resources, including the links we put on our podcast notes, to enable them to continue their own studies about the life and ministry of Jesus. As we said at the start of this episode, to answer the question “why am I here,” we need to understand why any of us are here. And how we got here. Those questions are directly related to what we think about God and Jesus. So let’s close with prayer. Today let’s listen to a prayer of the One who leads into a knowledge of truth, the Holy Spirit. ---- Prayer for Adoration of the Holy Spirit VK: We’d like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.” We hope you’ll be with us next time as we continue our discussion of the reality of Jesus’ life. We hope you’ll take some time to encourage some friends to tune in too, or listen to the podcast version of this show. Also, we’d to remind listeners that copies of The Golden Tree: Komari’s Quest are available from our website. If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not famous but our Boss is!” (Bible Quotes from the English Revised Version) The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 2, verses 1 through 6, English Revised Version The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 23, verses 44 through 47, English Revised Version (Sources used for this episode or other in this series) https://coldcasechristianity.com/writings/is-there-any-evidence-for-jesus-outside-the-bible/ https://www.reasonablefaith.org/writings/popular-writings/jesus-of-nazareth/the-evidence-for-jesus/ https://alwaysbeready.com/extrabiblical-historical-sources-corroborate-the-bible/ https://crossexamined.org/why-should-we-trust-the-extra-biblical-references-to-jesus/

Episode 239 – Jesus Beyond the Bible Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script Notes: But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf. Micha, Chapter 5, verse 2, New Living Translation Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. The Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 2, verse 1, New Living Translation ******** VK: Hi! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. I’m here today with RD Fierro, author founder of Crystal Sea Books, and part-time barista. He turns on the coffee maker and puts in those little cups. Today on Anchored by Truth, as we approach Thanksgiving and Christmas, we are continuing our series where we focus on the earthly birth and life of Jesus. In today’s culture, it seems as though just about everybody has heard about Jesus, but fewer and fewer people actually know much about him. Do you agree with that RD? RD: Yes. Jesus’ name is certainly well known in modern culture but unfortunately there is as much or more misinformation that circulates about him than there is actual fact. I’m afraid that more people get there information about Jesus more by watching television specials or dramatized movies than they do from reading the Bible or studying the many fine, well-documented books and articles that have been produced by excellent Christian scholars through the years. That’s the bad news. The good news is that for those who are truly interested in knowing the actual, historical Jesus it’s probably easier today than any time in history to get accurate information. But you do have to be careful about the sources you use. VK: So, today we want to continue to provide the listeners to Anchored by Truth with a head start on doing their own study about Jesus. As you have so often said, Jesus is the centerpiece of both the Bible and the plan of redemption. So, to be confident not only in our own faith but to help those who are still looking for anchors for their own lives it’s imperative we know the real Jesus of the Bible. But before we get too deep into our discussion how about telling us a little about the Christmas poem that we’re going to continue today? RD: I’d love to. As I mentioned in an earlier episode of Anchored by Truth, years ago when I worked in one of those big state agency buildings that are so common here I wanted to give Christmas presents to some of my co-workers but doing that in a state agency can sometimes be tricky. So, I decided that one present I could give was a little entertainment so I wrote this piece that was inspired by some of things that used to entertain the kids of my generation: Christmas poems and the short serial stories you used to see in the movie theaters before the main feature. Each of those film pieces would always leave you hanging so you had to come back every week to see what happened. So, I wrote a Christmas story in six parts and each part left you wondering what would come next. That story became The Golden Tree: Komari’s Quest. It was about a group of koala bears who had gone on a quest to the far north to find their creator that they called The Great While Koala Bear. The bears never found their creator but they did find a golden tree in the artic that made a valley a perfect place for them to live. Well, later on I created a new story that I called The Golden Tree: Eagle Enigma and we’ve followed that up now with another Golden Tree story – the Frost Lion. In part one of Frost Lion that we heard on our last episode we’ve learned that there are two young bears confronting a dilemma they believe might threaten their village. From a vantage point at the top of a tall hill near their town they have seen a strange shape out on the distant snow – but they don’t know who or what the shape is. VK: Alright then. So, let’s continue with the story. Here’s part two of Crystal Seas’ Christmas epic poem: The Golden Tree: The Frost Lion. ---- The Golden Tree: The Frost Lion – Part 2 VK: The drama is now building. What we’ve heard is that bears have enjoyed the peace and plenty in the valley for generations but now a new bear from a strange land is in their midst – and that bear is very near death. Worse this new bear has a friend who is still lost in the deep winter snow and may already have died. So, the bears are learning - just like in the real world – that there are always unexpected events in this world that may require us to respond. And it may take real courage to confront those events … RD: And commitment and sacrifice... VK: And it’s hard to have those virtues if we don’t know why we’ve been sent on our own quests, isn’t it? I mean, God’s grace has saved us just like the Golden Tree saved the bears. But as the Apostle Paul said to the Philippians they had to. “work hard to show the results of [their] salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in [them and us], giving [them and us]the desire and the power to do what pleases him.” God’s grace saves us but our sanctification requires effort on our part. RD: Right. The old song there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus than to “trust and obey.” Part of that obedience is to be able to tell others why we believe that Jesus was qualified to be our savior. And that starts with us being assured that Jesus was a real, historical figure – not a myth or some kind of pious concoction. In our day and age one of the semi-criticisms that’s hurled against the Christian faith is that the Jesus that Christians worship is either a mythological figure or – if he even existed – that we can’t trust the gospel accounts for information about him. VK: But the truth is that Jesus was a real person. And we see that from passages like the ones we used for our opening scriptures. In these passages we can see that the Bible tells us specific facts about Jesus like where he was born – in Bethlehem – and when – during the reign of a king named Herod. But beyond even what scripture tells us Jesus life is a fact that is even confirmed by sources outside the Bible isn’t it? And that’s what you wanted to focus on today, right – the fact that we have historical sources besides the Bible that confirm Jesus’ historicity and even confirm many of the details contained in the gospels about his life, death, and circumstances? RD: Right. In some earlier episodes of Anchored by Truth we’ve discussed the fact that you can use the existence of the physical universe and apply logic and reason to come to the conclusion that there is a self-existent being responsible for the creation of the universe and of living creatures. But that line of reasoning can only carry you so far in an understanding of God and it would give us almost no information about other attributes that are essential parts of the Christian faith such as the plan of redemption or Jesus’ role in it. For that, we need a special revelation from that self-existent being – God – and fortunately we have that in the Bible. But we need to be persuaded that that revelation is true and reliable and once again logic, reason, and evidence can play a role in validating the Bible’s claim that it is the inspired Word of God. And that’s where extra biblical sources can be helpful. Such sources don’t add anything to the Bible, but they can add to our individual confidence that the Bible is describing history accurately when it speaks of historical events. VK: So, today you want to take a brief look at some other historical sources that also confirm that Jesus was a real historical figure. You know when you think about it, it’s remarkable that there would be any other surviving sources outside the Bible who would mention Jesus. In his day and time – if Jesus hadn’t been the Son of God – he would have been just another obscure and unimportant itinerant preacher that had a brief public ministry in a distant Roman province. He never led an army, held a prominent government or political position, or even wrote a book. Plus, his public ministry only lasted about 3 years and he didn’t travel all that widely. His public ministry was all conducted within 100 miles of his home. And he died the death of a common criminal. So, if Jesus wasn’t who he claimed to be – the Son of the Almighty God – he should have faded from the pages of history as just another local crank. But he didn’t. He’s mentioned by some of the most important historians of his age, men who had far more earthly distinction that he did. Where do you want to start? RD: Let’s start by talking about a few examples of well-known Roman historians who are widely regarded as having written important histories of the Roman Empire and conquests. The examples that we’re going to use today came from an article available on the website coldcasechristianity.com entitled “is there any evidence for Jesus outside the Bible.” We’ll put a link to the article on the notes that accompany the podcast version of this show. But these examples are all widely known and can be found in any number of historical reference sources. So the first example we want to use is a quote from Cornelius Tacitus was well known for his analysis and examination of historical documents and is among the most trusted of ancient historians. He was a senator under Emperor Vespasian and was also proconsul of Asia. In his “Annals’ of 116 AD, he describes the Roman Emperor Nero’s response to the great fire in Rome and Nero’s claim that the Christians were to blame: “Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular.” So, in this account, Tacitus confirms that there was a man who lived in Judea, was known as Christ, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and who had followers who called themselves by his name and were persecuted for following him. VK: Well, this account is helpful because it directly confirms a number of details directly about Jesus. But it’s also important for another reason, isn’t it? A few episodes ago we talked about the fact that Luke and the other gospel writers were meticulous when it came to their historical recording and reporting. So much so that they got some obscure details right, even when other ancient historians got them wrong. So, this quote from Tacitus helps illustrate that point too, doesn’t it. RD: Very good. That’s pretty impressive. You noticed that Tacitus called Pontius Pilate the procurator of Judea not the prefect. VK: Thank you. I try. RD: And you’re absolutely right. As good a historian as Tacitus was he was human and in this case he did make a mistake. He got Pilate’s title wrong. For many years there were questions about the existence and the actual title of Pontius Pilate—the Roman governor who presided over the trial of Jesus. Later Roman writers, as well as almost all Bible reference works, referred to Pilate as the “procurator” of Judea but Luke and the other gospel writers called Pilate a “governor;” not a procurator. The fact that “governor” was the correct title was confirmed in 1961, when a two by three foot stone was discovered that had a Latin inscription. The translation of the inscription reads as follows: Pontius Pilate, Prefect of Judea, has presented the Tiberieum to the Caesareans. This find was not only archaeological confirmation for the existence of Pilate but it was also confirmation that Pilate was the Prefect, or governor, of Judea. VK: In fact, we now know that the title “Procurator” was not used at the time of Jesus’ trial for the Roman governors. This title only came into usage at a later time, during the reign of the emperor Claudius, A.D. 41-54. During Claudius’ reign the title of the Roman governors shifted from Prefect to Procurator. So although Tacitus was correct about the title in use for the Roman governor of Judea at the time he wrote – about 60 years later - strictly speaking that was not Pilate’s actual title when he supervised the trial and execution of Jesus. Pilate was a prefect, a governor, not a procurator – a fact the Bible writers got right. So, who’s next on the list of extra-Biblical writers? RD: Well, before we close for today we should probably take a quick look at one of the most famous of the ancient historians, Josephus, because he lived so close to the time of Jesus and during the period of early church’s formation. Josephus lived from 37 AD to 101 AD. The most widely accepted year for the crucifixion is 33 AD so he was born just four years after the crucifixion. He wrote an extensive history of the Jews in 93 AD called “the Antiquities of the Jews.” So today when you see people referring to it you often just hear people call it “Antiquities.” Josephus wrote about Jesus in more detail than any other non-biblical historian and Josephus himself was a really interesting character. He was a consultant for Jewish rabbis and became a Galilean military commander by the age of sixteen. He was an eyewitness to much of what he recorded in the first century A.D. As a Jewish military leader he initially fought against the Romans but later surrendered and he eventually became an adviser to the Roman emperor Vespasian. Under Vespasian, Josephus was allowed to write a history of the Jews. This history includes three passages about Christians, one in which he describes the death of John the Baptist, one in which he mentions the execution of James (and describes him as the brother of Jesus the Christ), and a final passage which describes Jesus as a wise man and the messiah. There is some legitimate controversy about the writing of Josephus, because of the timing of the discovery of his writing but why don’t you read a conservative scholarly reconstruction of one of Josephus’ most famous passages. VK: “Now around this time lived Jesus, a wise man. For he was a worker of amazing deeds and was a teacher of people who gladly accept the truth. He won over both many Jews and many Greeks. Pilate, when he heard him accused by the leading men among us, condemned him to the cross, (but) those who had first loved him did not cease (doing so). To this day the tribe of Christians named after him has not disappeared.” RD: Now there are some other ancient versions of Josephus’ writing which are even more explicit about the nature of Jesus’ miracles, life and his status as the Christ, but from even this conservative version we can conclude: Jesus lived in Palestine, was a wise man and a teacher, worked amazing deeds, was accused by the Jews, crucified under Pilate and had followers called Christians. Josephus’ observations are particularly compelling because at the time he wrote he was very close in terms of timing to when Jesus lived. Even though he wasn’t like the apostles who actually walked with Jesus he could see around him the effect of the early church’s spreading and he may even have had the opportunity to talk to Jews who had been in and around Judea when Jesus had his public ministry. VK: Well, those two examples are a good introduction to the fact that Jesus’ earthly life has confirmation outside the Bible. Next time we can take up a few more examples but before we close for today a few general observations would seem to be in order. And you said that the early church itself is a confirmation that Jesus was a real, historical figure? RD: Exactly. VK: I’m surprised you didn’t say what you do in some of the Life Lessons with a Laugh - exactamundo … RD: Ok. Exactamundo. Anyway, there is no dispute that in the first century AD Christians and the Christian church began to be an issue within the Roman Empire. They were so widely known that the emperor Nero blamed the great fire of Rome on them. Well, it would be impossible to explain the spread of a movement if there wasn’t something or someone who started the movement. Remember that the Romans weren’t known for being timid administrators of their provincial empire and in the first century AD they certainly weren’t friendly to Christians. So, something remarkable must have happened in the early part of the first century AD in Judea that animated so many people to continue carrying the same message throughout the empire despite the official opposition they encountered everywhere. There are two simple reasons for this phenomena. First, they were persuaded something truly remarkable had happened. A dead man had risen from the grave and walked around for 40 days. And second, they had a source of support and strength – the Holy Spirit – who sustained them as they carried their message to a world that needed it but didn’t want it. VK: Well, all that makes perfect sense. As Paul said to the Romans the same power that raised Jesus from the dead also empowers us and gives us the ability to carry on in his name. Sounds like a perfect time to go to prayer. Since we’re approaching Thanksgiving how about if today we listen to a prayer for that special day when we turn our attention to the goodness that God has shown to us. ---- Prayer for Thanksgiving – VK: We’d like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.” We hope you’ll be with us next time as we continue our discussion of the reality of Jesus’ life. We hope you’ll take some time to encourage some friends to tune in too, or listen to the podcast version of this show. Also, we’d to remind listeners that copies of The Golden Tree: Komari’s Quest are available from our website. If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not famous but our Boss is!” (Bible Quotes from the New Living Translation) Micha, Chapter 5, verse 2, New Living Translation The Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 2, verse 1, New Living Translation (Sources used for this episode or other in this series) https://coldcasechristianity.com/writings/is-there-any-evidence-for-jesus-outside-the-bible/ https://www.reasonablefaith.org/writings/popular-writings/jesus-of-nazareth/the-evidence-for-jesus/ https://alwaysbeready.com/extrabiblical-historical-sources-corroborate-the-bible/ https://crossexamined.org/why-should-we-trust-the-extra-biblical-references-to-jesus/

Episode 238 – A Necessary God Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script Notes: The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world. Psalm 19, verses 1 through 4, New Living Translation ******** VK: Hi! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. I’m here today with RD Fierro, founder of Crystal Sea Books, and part-time poet. Today on Anchored by Truth, as we approach Thanksgiving and Christmas, we are going to begin a new series where we focus on the central figure of the entire Bible: Jesus. That seems appropriate as we come to the time of year when we celebrate the Lord’s birth, doesn’t it RD? RD: Well, Christmas is certainly a time of the year when people begin to more naturally think about Jesus because the reminders of him start to appear more and more around us every day. But, of course, it’s important to remember that we really should focus on Jesus every day of the year. For Christians, Jesus should be the focus of our daily lives. And actually throughout our lives we should be on a quest to get to know God better each day that is granted to us. VK: I agree with that. So, today we’re going to start listening to a new Crystal Sea story. This time it’s one of our rhymed pieces that you wrote as a Christmas epic poem. This is actually the second installment of a story that you began a long time ago. You said you originally wrote the first installment because you wanted to give it as a gift to some co-workers? RD: I did. Years ago when I worked in one of those big state agency buildings that are so common here I wanted to give Christmas presents to some of my co-workers but doing that in a state agency can sometimes be tricky. So, I decided that one present I could give was a little entertainment so I wrote a piece that was inspired by some of things that used to entertain the kids of my generation: Christmas poems and the short serial stories you used to see in the movie theaters before the main feature. Each of those film pieces would always leave you hanging so you had to come back every week to see what happened. So, I wrote a Christmas story in six parts and each part left you wondering what would come next. VK: And then a few years ago you decided that the story needed to continue so you wrote the next installment of what is going to be, when completed, a poetic trilogy. The story began in Crystal Seas’ Christmas epic poem: The Golden Tree, Komari’s Quest. The story continued in The Golden Tree, Eagle Enigma. Today, we are beginning the final part of the trilogy. Here is part one of The Golden Tree, The Frost Lion. ---- The Golden Tree: The Frost Lion – Part I VK: I really like some of the lines from that part. “Where the lights soared in the vault overhead and proclaimed indescribable glory as if the heavens could not but proclaim their omnipotent Creator's story.” Not only are the lines lyrical but they also evoke such clear imagery. I can imagine kids sitting around their mom and dad … RD: Or grandmother and grandfather... VK: Or grandparents and listening to this recording with them - just like families used to sit around and listen to someone read The Night Before Christmas. Of course, that’s one of the reasons we wanted to put this poem out there. To give families an entertaining story that also would allow parents to discuss their faith with their kids. RD: Exactly. There are so many questionable choices these days that are advertised as being “family friendly” but they are based on a secularist view of the world. We wanted to be sure that there was a story that was available for “fireside” listening that directed everyone’s attention to the real “reason for the season.” VK: Well, there are a total of seven parts to Golden Tree: The Frost Lion. So, for the next six weeks we’ll be letting the story unfold as we continue to unpack insights into how the Bible is such an integral part of being able to frame a coherent world view. I mean the two fundamental attributes that you believe would have to characterize any book that would constitute a genuine special revelation of God are that that revelation would have to be consistent with the created order as it is observable by creatures within it – essentially us. And that revelation would have to display supernatural origin. RD: Right. As hard – or as exciting – as it may be to comprehend empirical observations, combined with logic, tell us that the visible universe does not – indeed cannot – provide an explanation for its own existence. The universe, as grand and vast as it is, has all the fingerprints of having a beginning in space and time. Also, the second law of thermodynamics, the law of entropy, tells us that it will have an ending. Anything that has a limited life span, no matter how long some people might conceive that light span to be, cannot be self-existent. Only a self-existent being or entity can account for its own existence or the existence of anything else. Some philosophers use the terms Necessary Being and Contingent Beings to describe the difference between the two. VK: And since the universe is not eternal it looks very much like it is contingent on something or someone outside itself to account for its existence – a Necessary Being upon which it is dependent. And we call that Necessary Being God. So just like the bears in our story when we see the northern lights or stars twinkling in a deep night sky we can know that that the starlight - and the night sky and especially our ability to see and understand all that grandeur - points to the need for a Creator. And we’ve seen that the bears we’ve just met aren’t the first bears who have lived in this land. It was actually their ancestors who left their home and shortly we’ll learn they were searching for the lair and throne of their Creator – who they thought of as the Great White Bear. RD: Yes. I think the symbolism for the story is already pretty plain but I would like to point out one thing - and that’s what I want to spend some time on today – is that the bears who set out on their quest wouldn’t ever have started out if they weren’t convinced that the Great White Bear existed. And that’s one of the problems that we see reflected so clearly in today’s very relativistic culture. Too many - far, far, far too many people today, both inside the church and out, are defeated in their own quests because they have been misled to believe that there is no Creator – no Great White Bear if you will. As a result, they see the world as fundamentally being either chaotic at best or outright meaningless at worst. VK: I think you need to expand on that thought a bit. You’re saying that God isn’t just a logical necessity to explain the existence of a contingent universe, but that an awareness of God is an essential component of us being able to comprehend our place in that universe? RD: To quote what I say in some of our humorous Life Lessons with a Laugh - exactamundo. VK: So you’re quoting yourself. Sounds like something only a writer would do… RD: Again, exactamundo. Anyway as the eminent theologian RC Sproul used to say, “Ideas have consequences.” The idea that the universe was framed by an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, and holy God carried with it the inextricable notion that the universe has been created intentionally and for a purpose. As such the universe would display design and order and the intelligent creatures within that universe – us – could perceive that design and order. VK: And that very concept formed the foundation for what we think of as science today. And that’s why many of the founders of modern science – like Sir Isaac Newton and Louis Pasteur were strong Christians. They were convinced that there was design, order, and logic in universe because the universe had been made by a being that was supremely purposeful and logical. As such, they were encouraged to go and discover that order and use the results of it to improve the lives of the people around them. Or said a little differently they were encouraged to go on their own quests to discover more about the creation and thereby appreciate even more the Creator. RD: So all that made perfect sense. If the universe had been created by a God of order, logic, and purpose then creation would be comprehensible. Those early giants of science took seriously the Biblical statement that man had been made in the image of God, so they felt sure that God would bless their efforts at applying themselves to understand what he had created. But one of the tragic effects of the success of their work and the amazing results they achieved is that over time – and now we’re talking about centuries not decades – the work of science became divorced from the original source of the inspiration for them to do the work. Scientists – not all, but a great many – became convinced that it was possible to understand creation while ignoring the Creator. VK: Or said slightly differently, they sought the blessing without regard to the Blesser. So, one of the points you’re making is that somewhere along the journey – the quest – for discovery, a lot of people forgot why the journey was begun in the first place. And that is reflected in our society and culture today. RD: Yes. And Christmas is a great example of that same phenomenon happening in our calendar and celebration of the common understanding that was the foundation of our communities. The word “Christmas” obviously derives from the words “Christ” and “mass.” And one of the big reasons that gift exchanges became a part of the celebration was in commemoration of the great gift that God had given the world in the birth of Jesus. And, of course, the whole reason that God gave us the gift of Jesus was because after the fall in the garden of Eden God had begun his great plan of redemption. So, in a very real way the history of all of mankind gives evidence of God’s plan unfolding in exactly the way God intended. VK: And you believe that even some of the more tragic of the things that we see around us provides evidence for the existence of God and the truth of scripture? RD: Yes. C.S. Lewis noted that one of the things that convinced him to become a Christian was that he couldn’t get over the idea that some things were right and some things were wrong. But then he realized for that idea to make sense – that there’s a difference between right and wrong – he had to have an explanation for where that idea came from. Why did he think that there was a real distinction? Of course, the only logical conclusion was because there was a Being – a God somewhere – who had established the whole moral and ethical scheme to begin with. That’s just as true today as it has ever been. VK: That’s a pretty remarkable idea when you think about it. The very notion that we have ethical sensibilities to begin with is dependent on there being a real difference between right and wrong. And not just a matter of personal convenience like preferring squash to broccoli. When people begin to assert that something is wrong they don’t just mean that they find it inconvenient. They mean that there is a determinable ethical distinction that compels – or should compel – our behavior. And we all know that. Anyone who doesn’t know that there is a difference between right and wrong we would describe as a sociopath. RD: And we would have good reason for doing so. Now in saying this we’re not saying that there is universal agreement on the precise details of what’s right or wrong and different societies at different times have arrived at varying conclusions about the specifics. But there’s never been a society that didn’t make some kind of a distinction regardless of what they did with the specifics. In some cultures the distinctions might have been ones that we would consider trivial – like acceptable dress for women and men. In other they would have been more profound or serious – like the relationship between a government and its people or whether private ownership of property is permitted or prohibited. The rules have varied but every culture, tribe, and nation has had rules of some sort. VK: And pretty much all people everywhere know that they have – at one point or another – violated those rules. Written or unwritten. Government or cultural. Religious or secular. We have an inherent awareness that as moral and ethical agents we have certain obligations that we are subject to. So we see that not only is there a physical order to the physical universe there is also an ethical order that applies to us as people. But without there being a God, a holy and purposive God, we would have no reasonable explanation for the existence either of the obligation or the sense that we need to be accountable the obligation. And that same sense that tells us that we are subject to the obligation tells us that we have all fallen short. RD: Right. We all know that we’re not perfect, but to know that means we know that somewhere there is a standard against which that determination can meaningfully be made. That’s why Jesus had to come and why the Christian claim that Jesus was perfect, was sinless, is so essential. Again, to refer to Sproul again, RC used to say that if he was in a discussion with someone who just refused to acknowledge the existence of God, one of the final questions he would ask such people is what they did with their guilt. VK: And we all have guilt. And some of us feel it far more keenly than others. If we don’t have Jesus, if we don’t know Jesus, then we’re the only ones who can shoulder that guilt. But the moment we understand that the Perfect Man, Jesus, has willingly taken our guilt onto his own shoulders, we can start to become free of that guilt. And that’s one of the keys to beginning and completing our own quests through life. As we talked about a long time ago on Anchored by Truth, understanding the Bible provides context and meaning to our lives. Knowing that God himself made a provision for our imperfection removes the need for us to continue to feel guilty forever. Knowing that Jesus is our savior is the truth that sets us free. RD: And that’s one of the things we really want to focus on as the days unwind toward Christmas. We want to take a close look at how we can be sure that Jesus isn’t a mythological figure, but instead is a real person who was born, walked and lived at a specific place and time, and died. But then he demonstrated that he was God’s atoning gift by walking out of the grave and appearing to a group of women first and then to his disciples. If Jesus wasn’t a real person who did those things we would have absolutely no hope for being justified before a perfectly holy God. A mythological figure, no matter how charming, couldn’t save anyone. But Jesus did and does. So, as we conduct our own quests through life, if we’re pursuing worthwhile ends we can be confident that they aren’t futile. There is a meaning to our individual lives even when those lives are set against the backdrop of an unimaginably grand cosmos. The Bible and Jesus give us that meaning. As Augustine famously said, “Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.” VK: Sounds like it’s a great time to have a prayer. Since we’re approaching Thanksgiving how about if today we listen to a prayer for that special day when we turn our attention to the goodness that God has shown to us. ---- Prayer for Thanksgiving – VK: We’d like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.” We hope you’ll be with us next time as we continue our discussion of the reality of Jesus’ life. We hope you’ll take some time to encourage some friends to tune in too, or listen to the podcast version of this show. Also, we’d to remind listeners that copies of The Golden Tree: Komari’s Quest and The Golden Tree: Eagle Enigma are available from our website. If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not perfect but our Boss is!” (Bible Quotes from the New Living Translation) Psalm 19, verses 1 through 4, New Living Translation (Sources used for this episode or other in this series) “Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.” Augustine, Confessions https://www.crossroadsinitiative.com/media/articles/ourheartisrestlessuntilitrestsinyou/ https://www.proginosko.com/2019/07/reforming-apologetics-common-notions/

In this episode of the Mark Moss Show, we deep dive into a pivotal moment in financial history: The 53rd anniversary of the Nixon Shock, the moment President Richard Nixon ended the gold standard. Unraveling the implications of this seismic shift in global economics, we'll look at how money and politics have intertwined, causing ripples throughout society. We'll also discuss the age-old debate around the true nature of money, Bitcoin's role in the future economy, and question the ethical dimensions of debt in today's world. As we discuss the complexities of the financial world through the lens of politics, finance, and technology, we aim to shed light on the misunderstood dynamics of money's true power.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today's episode, we're setting the record straight on some popular quotes people think are from one of the foundational works of Western Civilization but actually are not. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/revisionisthistory/support

Join Tiffany Coker and Pastor Jeff Cranston on Kitchen Table Theology as they explore the Pentateuch and discuss the importance of scripture in matters of weight and importance. Plus, take a quiz for a chance to win a Kitchen Table Theology mug. Come join us and listen in!!  [00:00 - 11:15] Join the Quest for Biblical Knowledge  Kitchen Table Theology seeks to understand the Bible's teachings on doctrine and theology John Knox believed that God's scriptures are the only foundation and substance Taking the quiz offers a chance to win a Kitchen Table Theology coffee mug    [11:16 - 25:49] Fun Facts About the Bible  The Pentateuch refers to the first five books of the Bible Esther is the only book in the Bible that does not mention God The shortest book in the Bible by verse count is Second John Manna means "what is it" in Greek and is mentioned in the Bible  Quotes:   " I went back to the original reason we started Kitchen Table Theology in April of 2020. And that was to help combat the biblical illiteracy that is in our churches and among our Christians today.” - Pastor Jeff Cranston     Join the Conversation      We love your feedback! If you enjoyed this episode, leave us a review. If you have any questions or comments on today's episode, email me at pastorjeff@lowcountrycc.org.      Visit my website https://www.jeffcranston.com and subscribe to my newsletter. Join me on Sunday mornings at LowCountry Community Church.       Check-in with us on Facebook or Instagram @pastorjeffcranston      Remember, the real power of theology is not only knowing it but applying it. Thanks for listening!

Episode 195 – Eternal Information – Part 3 – Laws of Information Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script: [Job] Do you know the laws that govern the heavens, and can you make them rule the earth?” Job, Chapter 38, verse 33, Contemporary English Version ******** VK: Hello! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. We’re very grateful that you are joining us on Anchored by Truth as we continue the series which we are calling “Eternal Information.” We wanted to do this series for one simple reason – to increase our listeners’ confidence in the Bible and in God. Today in the studio we have RD who is an author and the founder of Crystal Sea Books. RD, why do you believe that it is so important to help our listeners develop increased confidence in God and in the Bible? RD: Well, that’s a very good question. But before I answer it I’d also like to thank everyone joining us on Anchored by Truth today. 4 or 5 decades ago this kind of series might not have been necessary. In those days there was a far more widespread acceptance that God was real and that the Bible was God’s word. But those two ideas have been under constant attack during those decades. Today, it’s not uncommon to run into people who not only don’t believe in the Bible but who don’t even believe that God exists. Our culture has systematically removed God not just from educational settings and our public institutions but also from the public square. Part of what has permitted this to go on, largely unchecked, is the idea that belief in the God of the Bible is a sort-of remnant from a time when superstition reigned because people had not yet been enlightened by science. All that, of course, is nonsense but the trends have continued because individual Christians largely lost their ability to defend their faith from the standpoint of logic and reason. VK: As you say during the last several decades the slogan “you have faith but I have science” has come to be pervasive in our culture. We constantly point out on Anchored by Truth that this idea, as popular and widespread as it is, has no basis in reason or science. The Christian faith is a faith of facts. It is based on both historical and scientific realities. And what the world calls science – such as the General Theory of Evolution and the Big Bang Theory - do not nearly possess as much support from empirical observation as is widely believed. We have an entire series called “10 Facts Every Christian Needs to Know” that addresses many of the ideas that are supposedly scientific but, in fact, are in conflict with real science. RD: Exactly right. And the concept of information is one more area of genuine science that points squarely to the need for, and existence of, God. As we have been discussing in our first two episodes in this series the more we examine the concept of information we see that it is impossible to reasonably account for the existence of information if we do not acknowledge a source for intelligence that is outside matter, energy, time, and space. VK: Yet matter, energy, time, and space are all that atheists and those radically secular scientists have to work with. Atheists and radical secularists not only won’t consider the possibility of God existing, they rule Him out by the very way in which they try to define science. They attempt to confine science to the naturalistic elements which they can see, touch, or measure. God is, of course, supernatural. So, they attempt to limit science to the natural world because by doing so they can dismiss God by saying that, even if He existed, His existence cannot be verified. RD: Yes. By confining science to the so-called “natural world” they think they can erect a wall that keeps them safe on the inside while God must remain in an unseen and unknown realm. This is the height of silliness, of course. God most certainly is not and cannot be made prisoner of any human idea. But these radical secularists aren’t even consistent about applying their own rules. Atheists and secularists will say that because we can’t perceive God with our five senses we must doubt His existence. Yet those same people will proclaim that “dark matter” comprises 85% of the mass of the universe even though it cannot be seen and it does not interact with electromagnetic fields. It is supposedly “dark” because it cannot be detected. Yet they do not doubt its existence because its presence is needed for the math of the Big Bang and other astronomical phenomena to work. VK: In other words they say “dark matter” must exist because we detect certain effects that would be impossible without its existence. But when Christians say that we can be sure that God exists because we can see His effects within the visible cosmos they reject that line of reasoning. In their way of thinking dark matter is unseen but can known by its effects. By contrast, God is unseen but cannot be known by the effects that His presence would explain. It does seem very much like they have substituted “dark matter” for God. The secularists accuse Christians of inserting “God into the gaps.” In other words, they tell us we resort to God when we can’t explain all the details. But that is exactly what they have done with dark matter. Rather than put God in the gravitational gap that is necessary to explain star formation they have inserted dark matter. RD: Exactly right. The visible universe consists of matter, energy, time, and space and science has discovered much about how those four components relate to each other. The reason we have been able to do that is because God is a God of logic and order so when He created the universe He imparted His sense of order into His creation. This idea animated many of the founders of contemporary scientific disciplines such as astronomy and chemistry. VK: For example, Johannes Kepler’s gave us the three laws of planetary motion, which describe the way planets move around the sun. They were named after Kepler who lived from 1571 through 1630 and who discovered them. Kepler was a devout Lutheran and biblical creationist. Kepler also gave us the famous phrase that science is “thinking God’s thoughts after him.” Isaac Newton who lived from 1643 until 1727 and who is often regarded as the most influential scientist of all time. He explained the cause of Kepler’s laws in what are known as ‘Newton’s three laws of motion’ and his theory of universal gravitation—the law of gravity. In these he showed that the heavens obey the same laws of motion as the earth. Newton also has the fundamental unit of force named after him—the newton. Newton was a biblical creationist, who wrote far more on the Bible and theology than he ever did on science. RD: And Robert Boyle (1627–1691) is known as the father of modern chemistry. In his famous book, The Skeptical Chymist, Boyle overturned the then popular notion that everything is made up of four elements: fire, water, earth, and air. He redefined the term ‘element’ to give us our modern notion of an element—a substance that cannot be separated into simpler components by chemical methods. He is also known for Boyle’s Law, which states that a gas’s volume increases as its pressure decreases at a constant temperature. Boyle was a generous patron of missionary work, and wrote a number of books defending the Christian faith. He too was a biblical creationist. There are a number of good articles on the Creation Ministries International website that talk about the undeniable links between the founders of many modern scientific disciplines and their Biblical faith. VK: And that’s a good introduction for what you want to talk about today. We have coined the phrase “natural law” to speak about generalized maxims that tell us how the components of the universe operate and relate to one another. These natural laws include ones such as “Boyle’s Law” or the Law of Gravitation. Natural laws are statements of how parts of “nature” behave. We regard them as being universally applicable. As such, once identified and specified, they enable other work to be done without having to re-determine basic principles of how matter and energy behave. Well, it turns out that there are similar laws that govern the behavior of information. And that is probably a surprise for most people because as we have been talking about in this series information is a non-material component of the universe. RD: Yes. Dr. Werner Gitt who wrote the book In the Beginning was Information has identified four laws that apply to information. There are two excellent articles on the Creation Ministries International website that describe them. I would recommend the book to anyone who wants to pursue this subject further but the articles provide a great summary also. VK: So, let’s do a quick review of some of the essential elements that are inherent in “information” that we talked about in our first two episodes in this series. We just mentioned that information is “non-material.” Speaking technically, information is massless. Information is not created by and does not interact with matter, energy, time, or space although we can use matter and energy to transmit, receive, or store information. A chemical formula for apple pie or rocket fuel can be written on the same piece of paper using the same ink. The paper and ink do not create the formula, tell us what is in the formula, or affect the formula in the slightest. RD: And information contains specified sequences, elements, codes, and symbols. That are arranged or encoded for a specific purpose to produce specific effects. So, in addition to information being non-material another overarching concept that leaps out at us about information is that information is ordered, organized, and specified. We can be certain, then, that information is an expression of intelligence. It has to be. Information cannot be the product of mindless, random, or undirected activity of anything. Organization and randomness are the opposites of each other. Nothing random or chaotic is going to produce a sequence of codes or symbols that it intended to produce a specific effect. VK: So, all this fits perfectly with what Dr. Gitt’s refers to as the “Scientific Laws of Information.” Dr. Gitt’s first law is “A material entity cannot generate a non-material entity.” This is simply a straightforward expression of the observation that we made above. Or, as Dr. Gitt put it in one of the articles on the CMI website, “In our common experience we observe that an apple tree bears apples, a pear tree yields pears, and a thistle brings forth thistle seeds. Similarly, horses give birth to foals, cows to calves and women to human babies. Likewise, we can observe that something which is itself solely material never creates anything non-material.” RD: Right. And Dr. Gitt’s second law is that “Universal information is a non-material fundamental entity.” By “universal information” Dr. Gitt is referring to information that possesses five specific attributes or what he calls “levels of information.” The five levels are statistics, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, and apobetics. Statistics is simply raw data and counts of things. You can count the number of letters produced by a cat walking across a keyboard but that doesn’t give you any information. The next thing that is necessary for a sequence of letters to produce information is the syntax – the arrangement of the letters into words and the words into phrases, sentences, or something longer. In language there are structural rules that govern those arrangements and that is syntax. Semantics is “meaning.” I can write or say, “The dog waxed a pumpkin …” VK: “The dog waxed a pumpkin?” Really? That makes even less sense than … well, some of the things you’ve written …” RD: And that’s the point. The words are all real words and they are correctly arranged according to the rules of syntax for English. But there is no meaning. We can’t make any sense out of the sentence. That’s where semantics comes in. Strings of letters or words – even if they follow rules – don’t necessarily have meaning. Next is pragmatics. Pragmatics refers to action. Our non-sense sentence won’t produce any action but the phrase “put out the fire” hopefully will. VK: Well, I’d sure rather have someone putting out a fire than have a dog waxing a pumpkin. RD: And that brings us to the final level or attribute of information: apobetics. Dr. Gitt created this term from the Greek word that means result or consequence. So, apobetics means the goal, purpose, or result. Information serves a purpose. Asking someone to have their “dog wax a pumpkin” won’t do anybody any good, but telling them to put out a fire most certainly will. So, that’s how Dr. Gitt helps us sort between nonsense and information. The cat walking across the keyboard might produce letters on a screen and even the occasional real word but it will not produce what he has carefully labeled “universal information.” And what Dr. Gitt is telling us with his second law is that “universal information” is a fundamental component of the universe in which we live. You can no more have a universe without information than you can one without matter, energy, time, or space. VK: Dr. Gitt’s third law of universal information is that “universal information cannot be created by statistical processes.” He provides this explanation about this third law. The grand theory of evolution would gain some empirical support if it could be demonstrated, in a real experiment, that information could arise from matter left to itself without the addition of intelligence. Despite the most intensive worldwide efforts this has never been observed. To date, evolutionary theoreticians have only been able to offer computer simulations that depend upon principles of design and the operation of pre-determined information. These simulations do not correspond to reality because the theoreticians smuggle their own information into the simulations. RD: The point Dr. Gitt is making in this third law is that there are only two competing possibilities for explaining why the universe appears as it does. The first possibility is that an all-knowing, all-powerful self-existent Being made the universe and everything in it. The second possibility is that the universe is self-existent despite the fact that, at a minimum, the laws of thermodynamics tell us that it isn’t. And further that the matter, energy, time, and space of this self-existent universe not only happened to produce rocks, planets and stars – as remarkable as that would be, it also produced living creatures. And those living creatures exhibit certain characteristics among them not just the ability to reproduce but also the ability to carry out purposeful activities. This second idea says that living creatures randomly arose from non-living bits of matter (atoms and molecules) that chaotically collided in such a way that one day several thousands of millions of them alighted in a collective that started reproducing itself. That collective of “self-replicating” molecules had random but fortuitous mutations that turned the 500,000 base pairs of DNA in the simplest self-reproducing biological entity into a creature that has 3 Billion base pairs in its DNA. And that DNA is present in over 35 trillion cells so exquisitely organized that this final collection of molecules is then able to determine, intelligently, that the whole process started randomly. VK: Well, when you put it that way the whole idea of evolution does start to sound a bit preposterous. So, Dr. Gitt then moves from the third law of universal information to what is at this point a self-evident fourth law: “Universal information can only be produced by an intelligent sender.” It is here that the Merriam Webster online dictionary’s definition of information becomes so potent. The second definition that Merriam Webster provides for information says that “information is the attribute inherent in and communicated by one of two or more alternative sequences or arrangements of something (such as nucleotides in DNA or binary digits in a computer program) that produce specific effects.” RD: Yes. The fourth law of universal information as Dr. Gitt has framed it simply notes the obvious. Information is not present unless there is a sequence of characters that have been arranged according to specified structural rules and that sequence then contains significance, the possibility for meaningful action, to accomplish a result. Universal information demands the presence of an intelligent sender. And even Merriam Webster recognizes that the nucleotides in DNA are one form of information. VK: Therefore, there is a sound, scientific basis for noting that DNA, which contains information, must represent the activity of an intelligent Being who placed the information in the DNA. When you follow the line of reasoning the conclusion is obvious but that is certainly not anything that you hear in biology classes or science classes. RD: And that’s one of the big issues we want to point out in this series. Science should be about the pursuit of truth regardless of where that pursuit leads. And as the line of reasoning we’ve used above the existence of information points to the existence of God. And it does so logically and reasonably. Furthermore, it’s important to note that these laws that apply to information have the same function as other natural laws with which we are more familiar. VK: What are you thinking about? RD: Dr. Gitt notes that laws of nature are statements that are “consistently and repeatedly confirmed to be universally true …” and therefore they enjoy the highest level of confidence in science. Laws of nature don’t have any exceptions and they don’t change with time. Laws of nature exist prior to, and are independent of, their discovery and formulation. They are thus universally valid laws. Therefore, they can be applied in unknown situations. VK: What you’re saying is that no one questions if we drop a ball off a tall building whether that ball will fall to the ground. We know it will because the laws of gravity mean that the large mass of the earth is going to attract the small mass of the ball. We don’t wonder whether the earth will move up to the ball. We have a natural law that tells us what will happen. Same thing with laws of thermodynamics. Heat moves from a hot body to a cold body if they are left alone. That means the temperature will equalize in a closed environment if things are left alone. If we want to keep coffee hot while it sits on our desk we have to put it on a coffee warmer. The coffee warmer will inject heat into the cup because otherwise the coffee will simply cool off. These laws of nature are universally applicable and so they make our world predictable. RD: And that’s a major takeaway from these laws of information that Dr. Gitt has identified. He didn’t invent these laws. Like other natural laws these laws are simply statements about information behaves within our universe. VK: But, of course, the laws of information point to something quite important and in their own way staggering. As the fourth law of information says, “universal information can only be produced by an intelligent sender.” But DNA contains information. So, the only way we can account for the fact that DNA contains information is if DNA were created by an “intelligent sender.” It’s simple but profound. RD: Yes. Despite the claims of the evolutionists life on this earth cannot account for its own existence. The universe cannot account for its own existence. Our examination of information leads us back to God. In fact, a careful and thoughtful examination of other natural laws does the same but that idea has been lost in our day and time. But the relevant point for today is that we cannot deny that information is present in our cosmos. To deny the existence of information would mean you are attempting to communicate using information. It’s a self-defeating exercise. VK: So, information exists in the universe. No one seriously tries to deny that. Information is present in all living creatures because it is embedded in DNA. We’re going to talk more about that in a future episode in this series. The existence of information in DNA obliterates any attempt to assign DNA and its function to being the product of random and chaotic interaction of matter and energy. Matter and energy may store and transmit information but they do not and cannot create it. Thus, a study of information forms another powerful line of reasoning for the existence of God. In that sense information is part of an effective apologetic. RD: Yes. The nature of the physical universe itself points us to a power that must lie beyond the universe. Information is another one of the many attributes of the universe that supports that basic line of reasoning. It forms another and very powerful argument for the existence of God. That’s the big reason we opened with that scripture from Job. Notice in the scripture God says to Job, “Do you know the laws that govern the heavens, and can you make them rule the earth?” In pointing out the error that Job had made God immediately points out that there are “laws” that govern the heavens and the earth. As we’ve been talking about today there are laws that govern matter and energy. Science has recognized that fact for millennia. But we are now discovering that there are laws that govern the non-material portion of the universe which includes information. You can’t have laws without a Law Giver. Laws cannot just spring like fairy sprites out of the ether. Laws reflect the intelligent action of a Being that has both the intelligence to design the law and power to make it. Job had no doubt of God’s existence. He had that much going for Him. Job error was that he thought he was qualified to review God’s management of the universe. VK: Which he wasn’t – obviously. But today, many people aren’t even on the level where they recognize the necessity for God’s existence. So, in our next episode we’re going to spend some time discussing the strong link between information and other forms of apologetics. Again, the big idea that we are discussing throughout this “Eternal Information” series is that information is another line of evidence that proves that God exists. If God did not exist the universe could not possibly appear as we see it. Information requires intelligence. Even our DNA contains information. That information could only be present if it was created by an all-knowing, all-powerful God. This sounds like a great time to pray. Today let’s listen to a prayer that we would all receive illumination from the source of all intelligence and information – the Holy Spirit. ---- PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT VK: We’d like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.” If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not perfect but our Boss is!” (Bible Quotes from the Contemporary English Version) Job, Chapter 38, verse 33, Contemporary English Version Science name creationists Laws of information 1 (creation.com) Laws of information 2 (creation.com) We are less than dust (creation.com) https://www.josh.org/what-is-the-design-argument-for-gods-existence/

Episode 194 – Eternal Information – Part 2 – Information and God Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script: And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” Genesis, Chapter 1, verses 3 through 5, New International Version ******** VK: Hello! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. We’re excited to be with you at the start of a New Year. We pray that this year will bring everyone the joy of having a closer fellowship with our Lord Christ Jesus. Today on Anchored by Truth we’re continuing the series we began during our last episode which we are calling “Eternal Information.” I think most listeners to Anchored by Truth know that the Christian faith in America has been subjected to more challenges in the last couple of decades than in the preceding two centuries of existence. So, as we open up a New Year we want to again call attention to a subject that has special importance in our day and time – demonstrating that the Christian faith has a firm basis in reason and evidence. Today in the studio we have RD who is an author and the founder of Crystal Sea Books. RD, “information” is not a topic typically associated with Christian apologetics but you believe information is one of the most straightforward ways we can direct people to the necessary existence of a personal Creator. RD: Well, I’d also like to greet everyone joining us on Anchored by Truth. I became intrigued about the possibilities offered by the concept of information for demonstrating the existence of God when I ran across a book called In the Beginning was Information. The book was written by a German information specialist named Dr. Werner Gitt. VK: Dr. Gitt was a director and professor at the German Federal Institute of Physics and Technology and he was the head of the Department of Information Technology there. And just to remind everyone the word “apologetics,” is a broad umbrella term for what we’re talking about when we say that the concept of information points to the need for God to exist. Apologetics can broadly be defined as “a defense for our faith.” Apologetics comes from a compound Greek word. Greek, like English, has compound words made of two or more other words. In this case the Greek words are apo, primarily used to mean “from;” and logos, primarily meaning, in its most generic sense, “word.” Logos is also commonly used in an expanded way to mean “reason, the mental faculty of thinking, meditating, reasoning, and calculating.” The Greek philosopher Heraclitus first used the term Logos around 600 B.C. to designate the divine reason or plan which coordinates a changing universe. RD: The Apostle John’s used that same word, logos, in John 1:1. The Gospel of John, chapter 1, verse 1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Apologetics means “from the mind,” and, in the sense of John 1:1 it means “from the mind of God.” We now use the term “apologetics” to mean the defense of the Christian faith. when I heard about Dr. Gitt’s book I became intrigued because just hearing the title made me look at John 1:1 and Genesis 1:1 in a different light. It’s not just the title of Dr. Gitt’s book calls those verses to mind. It’s that understanding the nature and use of information gives us a whole new way of demonstrating to the unbelieving world that it is impossible to form a coherent view of life and the universe without acknowledging the existence of God. VK: So, how do we go about doing that? RD: Well, let’s take a look at a couple of definitions for the term “information” that we covered in our last episode. And then I want to propose my own definition for information which I think of as a sort of theological definition of information. VK: So, now you’re conjuring up your own definitions of words? RD: Well, what I try to do is to think carefully through concepts to see how they’re related and then reduce that down to one or two sentences where possible. The result resembles a definition so that’s what I’m going to call it. But before we get to mine let’s look at one from more authoritative sources. We covered this on our last episode but it’s important for this one too. Why don’t you start by reading the definition of information from the Merriam Webster Dictionary? VK: The online Merriam Webster Dictionary defines information as (1 ) knowledge obtained from investigation, study, or instruction; or (2 ) the attribute inherent in and communicated by one of two or more alternative sequences or arrangements of something (such as nucleotides in DNA or binary digits in a computer program) that produce specific effects. RD: Right. And as we pointed out in the last episode the second portion of the definition is particularly intriguing because even the Merriam Webster Dictionary takes notice of the fact that DNA, which is a component of the cells of all living creatures, contains information. One of the episodes that we are going to do during this “Eternal Information” series is going to focus on the information present in biological entities – in living creatures. Now let’s take a look at a definition for “information” that Dr. Gitt has developed. VK: In an article that Dr. Gitt produced for Creation Ministries International Dr. Gitt stated this: “…we developed an unambiguous definition of information: namely an encoded, symbolically represented message conveying expected action and intended purpose. We term any entity meeting the requirements of this definition as “universal information” (UI).” We’ll put a link to this article in the podcast notes that are available on certain podcasting apps. RD: So, immediately we see some common elements between the Merriam Webster definition and Dr. Gitt’s definition of information even though Dr. Gitt is being more technical for purposes he comes to later in his discussion. Merriam Webster talks about “alternative sequences or arrangements of something …that produce specific effects.” Dr. Gitt speaks about an “encoded, symbolically represented message.” Merriam Webster says that the sequence or arrangement of something is intended “produce specific effects.” Dr. Gitt says that the symbolically coded message is “conveying expected action and intended purpose.” So, both of these definitions are pointing to some essential elements that are inherent in “information.” Information contains specified sequences, elements, codes, and symbols. And those specified sequences, elements, codes, and symbols have been arranged or encoded for a specific purpose to produce specific effects. The overarching concept is that information is ordered, organized, and specified. VK: So, what is your definition for information? RD: My definition for information is “Information is the expression of God’s essential omniscience manifested in creation where it imposes order and enables life.” I know on first hearing that’s a lot to consume but we’re going to use the rest of this episode to go through it. So, let me repeat it. Information is the expression of God’s essential omniscience manifested in creation where it imposes order and enables life. VK: I can see why you said it was a sort of theological definition of information. What you’re doing is pointing out that there is nothing present in the created order that did not come from God. And God can only express what God possesses. Of course, God is omnipotent and omniscient so He pretty much possesses everything. But that’s the point isn’t it. As long as our worldview includes God as creator it’s easy to explain the existence of things that is impossible to explain coherently without Him. RD: Yes. Without acknowledging God you’re forced to conceive of the universe as having no superintending intelligence. As such you’re forced to trace everything that exists to somehow being generated by the random, chaotic, and undirected interaction of matter with matter, or matter with energy. Atoms might collide with other atoms and form molecules and even remain together if the right electromagnetic forces are present but in a God-less universe nothing helps those atoms and molecules do anything useful in an inanimate way much less create life. VK: It’s well known that simplest bacterial cell that doesn’t have a nucleus contains 100 billion atoms. Human cells are far more complex. Human beings have over 35 trillion cells. And all those cells have jobs. And there are thousands of protein machines within those cells that also have their own jobs – building the cell’s wall; bringing energy supplies in and taking waste products out; guiding the process of duplication and replication; repairing damage. The number of tasks performed by an ordinary human cell dwarfs the activity within an ordinary factory. When you consider those relatively simple facts it does stagger the mind that anyone believes that all that ordered, specified complexity could have arisen by chance. RD: Exactly. Without God the possibility of the simplest cell being assembled accidently is off the charts in terms of probability. Michael Denton who wrote the book Evolution: A Theory in Crisis points out that the task of randomly assembling a single protein, which contains thousands of atoms, is 1 in a number that is greater that the number of atoms in the known universe. VK: But, of course, with God all things are possible just as Jesus told his disciples in Matthew, chapter 19, verse 26. But that’s the point. An omnipotent God overcomes the need to envision chance as building the complex structures of the universe including life. And, frankly, without God there isn’t a coherent explanation for why atoms would exist in the first place. RD: Yes. So, my definition for information is designed to point to the fact that information is not itself just sort of a “feature” of the universe. Information arises from a source and that source would have to be intelligent because information is ordered, organized, and specified. The Merriam Webster definition says that the sequence or arrangement of something is intended “produce specific effects.” Dr. Gitt says that the symbolically coded message is “conveying expected action and intended purpose.” Therefore, information reflects both order and intent. But … and here is the big point of my definition – information was present at the very beginning of creation. And when we think carefully about that fact it points to information being in use by God prior to the creation of the physical universe. VK: I see where you’re going with this. Information is not just an undeniable feature of the physical order. It was present with God even before He created this physical universe. The Apostle Paul says as much. In Ephesians, chapter 1, verse 4, Paul say, “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.” That’s from the New Living Translation. But what that says very quickly is that God “chose us in Christ” even before God made the world. That means God was using information in His eternal realm even before He made the earth. RD: Yes. So, let’s think about this. God was “choosing,” as well as performing other activities before He made the earth – which was the first thing He did in creating the universe. Remember the first verse of the Bible says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” But God was using information before that. To choose “us” – “us” meaning His children, believers – He had to already have identified us by name. Revelation 13:8 refers to the “Lamb’s Book of Life” which was available before the foundation of the world. Writing names in a book, however God did that in the eternal, heavenly realm is an activity involving information. We are not told how much planning God did of the created order before He began actually created matter, energy, time, and space but it seems likely He did some. Even before matter, energy, time, and space were actually present God had already laid out their boundaries, how they would function, how they would relate to each other, etc. All that involves the use of information. VK: This is one of those lines of reasoning that starts to give you headaches. RD: Well, we might think of them as “holy headaches.” We are using our brains to try to see our God at the time He was forming our universe. VK: Holy maybe but headaches, nonetheless. But I see what you’re saying. God was using information in His eternal realm even before He began using information in His own creative activity. In Job, chapter 38, verses 4 through 7, God asks Job: Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone— while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? God asks Job who marked off the dimensions of the earth’s foundation. The question is rhetorical but nevertheless it involves the clear use of some kind of information. God’s reference to dimensions, measuring lines, cornerstones all call to mind that God knew the answers but Job did not. Job could not. God had the information that Job lacked. But God clearly had “information.” RD: Exactly. And God used that information – as my definition points out – “to impose order and enable life.” There is a certain sense, then, that information is a feature of both the spiritual realm and the physical realm. Last time we talked about the fact that information is non-material, or speaking precisely, information is massless. But we were clear that information was different from other massless parts of the physical universe. Photons are massless but they can be generated by matter and interact with matter. Information is neither generated by matter nor does it interact with matter. We use matter and energy to transmit, receive, and store information but the information itself is indifferent to, and unaffected by, the matter and energy employed. A chemical formula remains the same whether it is sent via email, mailed via a postcard, carved on a wax tablet, embossed in Braille dots, or sent using sign language. The matter and energy used to communicate the information do not generate the information and do not contain or constrain the information. VK: But what you’re saying is that the “non-material” attribute of information does not make it automatically a part of the spiritual realm. Information is still quite real in the physical universe. But now you are saying that information appears to be the one part of the physical universe that was also available in the spiritual realm because God was clearly using information even before He created the physical universe. Yikes. Like we said last time, “information is a tricky thing.” RD: Yes. It might be reasonable to think of information as the one component of God’s eternal realm that He imparted into the physical realm. But of course God couldn’t do that if God didn’t possess information. And since God possesses information God is also the source of information – all information. Nothing exists apart or separate from God. So, my definition points out that information is one expression of God’s innate omniscience. Omniscience, of course, means all-knowing. We sometimes think that means that God knows everything about the physical creation and us. And He does. But God’s knowledge doesn’t stop there. God not only knows everything that is known about the physical world but also the spiritual world. VK: God knows the names of all the angels. God knows where they are in space and time or where they are if they are presently in the spiritual realm. God knows the names and locations of the demons currently confined in the abyss that Jude refers to in Jude, verse 6. The book of Jude is only one chapter so we only need the verse number. What you’re saying is that God not only knows everything about everything that exists, God knows everything about anything that could exist. God knows everything that can be known not just what might be known about this creation. That’s what omniscience really means. RD: Yes. And as a part of His “knowing” God uses information. Though no human knows how the three Persons of the Trinity communicate with one another, we know that they do communicate. In that sense they employ information. The point of all this is that when we begin to ponder the role of information within the physical universe we begin to see that information is not confined to the physical universe. It is not. In that sense information may be distinguished from the other components of the physical universe: matter, energy, time, and space. In a poetic sense we might say that information pierces the veil that separates time and eternity. In doing so, it points to the fact that there is a need for an origin for this rather unique component of the created order. VK: God creates all information. God uses information for whatever purposes His sovereign will wants. God was doing that before he laid the foundation of our world or put the sun and moon in their place. And when God chose to create a creature that would bear His image, man, one attribute that God communicated to that creature was the ability to recognize and employ information. RD: Yes. The big reason we are undertaking this series on information is not just to have a philosophical discussion about information but to point out that information points undeniably to existence of the God of the Bible. As we’ve been discussing information is always the product of intelligence. So, if information is present as a component of the observable universe that means that intelligence must be also. Let’s say this a little differently. Our contemporary culture views the universe as being a construct composed of matter, energy, time, and space. The most radical among us say that that is all that is present anywhere and by doing so they are trying to exclude the possibility of God’s existence as a reasonable proposition. VK: But God refuses to be excluded doesn’t He? You don’t have to be a poet to perceive that God left His fingerprints all over creation. Psalm 19, verses 1 and 2 famously say, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.” Declaration, proclamation, revealing knowledge – those are all forms of communicating information. God designed this universe in such a way that His omnipotence would be revealed by the size and scope of the universe. But He also designed in such a way that our ability to understand that even the physical universe contains non-material components point to His omniscience. RD: Yes. We frequently mention the fact that not only do logic, reason, and evidence – and science - affirm God’s existence but the notion that God doesn’t exist always runs into irreconcilable conflicts and logical fallacies. This discussion of information is simply pointing to another one of those conflicts and fallacies. The universe as we see it around us contains, and must contain, information. So, we may be absolutely sure that when the skeptics and atheists tell us that God can’t be real we can’t see or touch Him they are wrong. The skeptics automatically assume that the material portion of the universe gives rise to such non-material phenomena such as information. But that makes no sense at all. How can atoms and molecules, electricity and heat create the very awareness that we possess that atoms and molecules, electricity and heat exist. VK: What people need to recognize is that the observable universe goes beyond the material. Yet, that very fact is rarely acknowledged in so-called scientific discussions. In all the discussions about the Big Bang and evolution you never hear anyone go beyond theories about how matter and energy behave. Conventional science wants to confine the universe to the material elements because that’s all that they can claim jurisdiction over. But real science simply follows the evidence where ever it leads. And the evidence clearly leads to the fact that even the physical universe gives testimony that limiting our understanding of reality to matter, energy, time, and space is neither sound science or good logic. And next time we’re going to see that a careful examination of information shows that it is possible to formulate “laws of information” that closely resemble other natural laws with which we’re more familiar – like gravitation, electricity, or thermodynamics. RD: Yep. The universe we see around us is more than just matter, energy, time, and space. I sometimes ask people what I call a “trick question.” The question is whether physics plus chemistry can produce biology. That’s the notion that undergirds the entire idea of evolution. The basic idea is that some chemical components eons ago randomly collided with each other. There was an energy source, though no one knows quite what it was, that somehow activated the chemical elements and voila – life started. The question confuses most people – not because they don’t understand it but because thinking about it points out the error of evolution. Chemistry plus physics do not equal biology. They can’t. Chemistry plus physics plus information equals biology. And information points to intelligence. And that’s the idea that materialists can’t stand. Matter and energy are material components of the universe and the space-time continuum defines the boundaries within which matter and energy interact. But, at a bare minimum, those four components by themselves could never give rise to life, even if they could somehow explain all of the inanimate elements of the universe. VK: So, again, the big idea that we are discussing is that information is another line of evidence that proves that if God did not exist the universe could not appear as we see it. Information is non-material and information always exhibits order, organization, specificity, and purpose. And those things require intelligence. Well, our thought-provoking journey continues. This sounds like a great time to pray. Today let’s listen to a prayer of praise that those who do not yet know Christ as their savior will be brought to saving faith in Him. He set the cosmos into motion, established a home on the earth for His people, and continues to prepare them for an eternity with Him in heaven. ---- PRAYER FOR THE SPIRITUALLY LOST VK: We’d like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.” If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not perfect but our Boss is!” (Bible Quotes from the Good News Translation) Genesis, Chapter 1, verses 3 through 5, New International Version Laws of information 1 (creation.com) Laws of information 2 (creation.com) We are less than dust (creation.com)

Episode 193 – Eternal Information – Part 1 – What is Information Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script: In the beginning the Word already existed; the Word was with God, and the Word was God. From the very beginning the Word was with God. The Gospel of John, Chapter 1, verses 1 and 2, Good News Translation ******** VK: Hello and Happy New Year! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. We’re excited to be with you at the start of this New Year and we pray that this year will bring joy and blessings to all our listeners, especially the joy of having a closer fellowship with our Lord Christ Jesus. Today on Anchored by Truth we’re going to start the new year with a new – and frankly novel series. As just about everyone knows, the Christian faith in America has been subjected to more challenges in the last decade than probably in the first two centuries of the country’s existence. So, as we open up this New Year we want to discuss a subject that has particular relevance in our day and time –being able to demonstrate that the Christian faith has a firm basis in reason and evidence. RD has entitled this series “Eternal Information.” So, we have RD who is an author and the founder of Crystal Sea Books, in the studio today. RD, why did you decide we need to take a special look at the topic of “information?” RD: Well, I’d also like to say Happy New Year to everyone who is joining us here today. I wanted to spend a few episodes of Anchored by Truth focusing on information in part because of a book I came across not too long ago called In the Beginning was Information. The book was written by a German information specialist named Dr. Werner Gitt. VK: Dr. Gitt was a director and professor at the German Federal Institute of Physics and Technology and he was the head of the Department of Information Technology there. Obviously, Dr. Gitt knows a thing or two about information. RD: Obviously. And just obviously the title of Dr. Gitt’s book is a play on Genesis, chapter 1, verse 1 and the Gospel of John, chapter 1, verse 1 which we heard in our opening scripture today. VK: In the New International Version, Genesis, chapter 1, verse 1 reads, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Those are certainly two of the most famous verses in the Bible. RD: Yes, they are. So, when I heard about Dr. Gitt’s book I became intrigued because just hearing the title made me look at those two verses in a different light. It’s not just the title calls to mind Genesis, chapter 1, verse 1 and John, chapter 1, verse 1. It’s that it made me start thinking about how the undeniable existence of information gives us a whole new way of demonstrating to the unbelieving world that it is impossible to form a coherent view of life and the universe without acknowledging the existence of God. VK: And helping spread the awareness that you must acknowledge God to have a coherent worldview is one of the ideas that we focus on here at Anchored by Truth. And it’s become increasingly important even with the church. We live in an age where our historical cultural consensus has shifted. Some commentators have said that we are now living in a “post-Christian” world. For people who are not believers this means that they live in a world that has gone “beyond” the constraints and “narrowness” of Christianity. Fewer people, as a percentage of the population, belong to churches than in generations past, and many of the mainline churches are experiencing declines not only in membership, but in influence on society, government, education, family, and the culture as a whole. As we look around us we see that young people are far more consumed by the death of an entertainer than the death and resurrection of Jesus. We also see that more people are consumed by concern for temporary pleasures than their eternal destiny. This is obviously is dangerous to individual destinies but it is also dangerous to the destiny of our communities and nation. RD: Exactly. People within the church have been warning of the danger we’re facing for decades but the danger has only grown during those decades. We want to point people back to the eternal truth that there is a God and that God has a plan not only for people but for communities, nations, and the world. But we don’t want to just proclaim the truth, though that is obviously where we must start. We also want to explain the evidence and reasons behind our belief. And it turns out that the concept of information forms an extremely powerful line of evidence that points to the fact that God existence can’t be reasonably denied without abandoning any claim of living a life guided by logic and reason. You know it’s not enough to simply point out the danger that comes from abandoning God. We have to do what we can to turn people away from the danger. VK: And the danger posed by abandoning God has been recognized for quite a while now. Almost 3 decades ago, in their 1994 book, Handbook of Christian Apologetics, Peter Kreeft and Ronald Tacelli [TA-CHEL-EE], who are both professors of the philosophy of religion at Boston College, said the following: “Western civilization is for the first time in its history in danger of dying. The reason is spiritual. It is losing its life, its soul; that soul was the Christian faith. The infection killing it is not multiculturalism – other faiths – but the monoculturalism of secularism – no faith, no soul. Our century has been marked by genocide, sexual chaos and money-worship. Unless all the prophets are liars, we are doomed unless we repent. . .The church of Christ will never die, but our civilization will. If the gates of hell will not prevail against the church, this world certainly won’t. We do apologetics not to save the church, but to save the world.” VK: Well, before we go too much farther we want to acknowledge someone who has been very important to our show, Dr. Gregg Alexander. Dr. Alexander practiced medicine in Tallahassee, Florida for over 4 decades but more importantly for us, he led a Sunday school class in his church for more than 25 years. Dr. Alexander is extremely thoughtful and insightful. We are indebted to him because his counsel and insight especially about apologetics has been extremely valuable and elements of it are going to appear throughout this series. We may not always have time to acknowledge a particular example of his contributions so we just want acknowledge his importance and value right up front. So, how do you want to start? RD: Well, let’s take a look at a seemingly innocuous example of something you hear every day that actually has profound implications. How often do you say to someone or have someone say to you “Send me your information.” VK: I imagine that phrase “send me your information” is probably said thousands or millions of times a day all around the world. RD: But what does it mean? VK: For most people it means send me your “contact information” such as phone number, email address, possibly your job or office information and – these days rarely – your mailing address. In other words, “send me your information” is another way of saying tell me how I can get a hold of you. RD: I agree. We ask for people to give us their information without a second thought. And similarly we don’t think very much about the way they are going to send that information. These days it will probably be electronically more often than not but even with electronic transmission the actual media will vary. Some people might use email, others text messages, and in some cases the two people won’t have to do anything at all. If they are close enough some cell phones might automatically exchange information with other phones. VK: And, again, rarely people might send a card, business card, or even a letter to a physical address that would provide the information. RD: Agreed. But the key thing to notice about any and all of these possibilities is that the thing that everyone wants, the information, has nothing to do with the form of transmission. The information will remain the same regardless of whether it’s emailed, sent via the post office or messenger, or even whether someone sent it using smoke signals, Morse code, or carved it on a clay tablet and dropped it off? The information, the object of the transmission, is completely independent of the mode of transmitting it from one party to another. VK: So, what you’re saying is that the content of the information has nothing to do with the method of transmission. And, to carry that thought a little further, the information content has nothing to do with the matter or energy that goes into its production, transmission, or retention. We can type one set of characters on a keyboard and say one thing, and we can type another set of characters on that same keyboard and say something completely different. The same set of plastic, copper, and glass can produce a recipe for tiramisu or the instructions for building a nuclear bomb. We can use a pen and paper to send someone our address and phone number or to give them the location of buried treasure. RD: Exactly. The nature or content of the information has nothing to do with the chemistry or physics used to produce, transmit, or store the information. The same chemistry or physics can produce treasure maps, diagrams for building houses or airplanes, or a formula for a life-saving medicine. You get the idea. So, the question arises then – exactly what is information? VK: I see where you’re going. Information is real. Information has content. Information tells us what is going on in the worlds of chemistry, physics, or biology. But information is not dependent on any of those things. Information can affect chemistry or physics but it is not arise from chemistry or physics. I suppose another way of saying the same thing is that information is not dependent on the matter or energy but matter and energy are used in the transmission or reception of information. When you start to look at it closely information is a tricky sort of thing. RD: Information is a tricky sort of thing because the information itself is non-material but we can perceive it, record it, store it, and transmit it by material means. The fact that information is non-material is a very important attribute to note. Information may be transmitted, stored, and received by material means but none of that affects the information itself. Nor does the type of material being used to transmit or store the information matter. The same chemical formula can be written on paper, appear on a computer screen, be etched into stone, or simply memorized by a person but the formula, the information, remains the same. The non-material nature of information is going to be key fact that we will revisit frequently during this series. VK: Well, here is an obvious question. If information is non-material does that mean it’s spiritual? Christians, of course, acknowledge the reality of the spiritual realm. Ephesians, chapter 6, verse 12 is one of the best known verses in the Bible and it says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm.” RD: When we say that information is non-material we are definitely not saying that it is spiritual. By saying it is non-material we are noting that information as a component of the created order is present and evident in what we might call the natural world. It’s just that in the natural world information cannot be measured by any one of the same units that are used to measure and express the attributes of matter or energy. VK: According to one of the articles that Dr. Gitt wrote for Creation Ministries International a physical magnitude is a “System of units that has seven base units: mass, length, electric current, temperature, amount of substance, luminous intensity and time. All physical quantities can be expressed in terms of one of these base units (e.g. area = length x length) or by a combination (by multiplication or division) of several base units (e.g. momentum = mass x length / time). This is not possible in the case of information and therefore information [does not possess] physical magnitude!” RD: Exactly. Speaking precisely, information does not have any mass. It is massless. All matter involves mass which can be weighed in a gravitational field. Similarly, information, though it can be transmitted by energy, is not created by energy nor does it interact with energy. Thus, information can be distinguished from other massless entities such as photons, which are massless but which can be generated by matter and do interact with matter in the physical domain. We know from Einstein’s famous formula that matter and energy have a direct relationship with one another. VK: You’re referring to Einstein’s famous formula from the Theory of Relativity “e=mc2.” RD: Yes. But, so while information is non-material it is present and an integral part of the observable universe. But the spiritual realm that Bible recognizes is not part of the observable universe. In effect, there is a veil that separates the spiritual portion of God’s creation and the physical portion. We would not know about the spiritual portion if God had not chosen to reveal its existence in His special revelation, the Bible. This is quite different from information where we cannot avoid acknowledging its presence in the observable universe. VK: In fact, if someone wanted to deny that information exists they would be using information to try to make their denial. Denying the existence of information is itself a form of information. As we have discussed at other times on Anchored by Truth the concept of information is self-affirming. It cannot be denied without at the same time being used. So, that answers the question of how information – even though it is non-material – is not the same as a spiritual entity. Information’s existence is easily, and non-deniably, discernible from observations of the physical universe. The spiritual dimension can only be known by a revelation from a spiritual being which God is. The Gospel of John, chapter 4, verse 24 tells us that “God is spirit.” So, where do you want to go from here? RD: Well, I always think a good place to start when you’re looking at a concept is with defining some terms. So, let’s take a look at a couple of definitions for the term “information.” Why don’t you start by reading the definition of information from the Merriam Webster Dictionary? VK: The online Merriam Webster Dictionary defines information as (1 ) knowledge obtained from investigation, study, or instruction; or (2 ) the attribute inherent in and communicated by one of two or more alternative sequences or arrangements of something (such as nucleotides in DNA or binary digits in a computer program) that produce specific effects. RD: Right. That second portion of the definition is particularly intriguing because even the Merriam Webster Dictionary takes notice of the fact that DNA, which is a component of the cells of all living creatures, contains information. One of the episodes that we are going to do during this “Eternal Information” series is going to focus on the information present in biological entities – in living creatures. But for now let’s note that Merriam Webster notes that information is “inherent in and communicated” by “sequences” or “arrangements of something” and that those sequences or arrangements “produce specific effects.” Now let’s take a look at a definition for “information” that Dr. Gitt has expressed. VK: In an article that Dr. Gitt produced for Creation Ministries International Dr. Gitt stated this: “…we developed an unambiguous definition of information: namely an encoded, symbolically represented message conveying expected action and intended purpose. We term any entity meeting the requirements of this definition as “universal information” (UI).” We’ll put a link to this article in the podcast notes that are available on certain podcasting apps. RD: So, immediately we see some common elements between the Merriam Webster definition and Dr. Gitt’s definition of information even though Dr. Gitt is being more technical for purposes he comes to later in his discussion. Merriam Webster talks about “alternative sequences or arrangements of something …that produce specific effects.” Dr. Gitt speaks about an “encoded, symbolically represented message.” Merriam Webster says that the sequence or arrangement of something is intended “produce specific effects.” Dr. Gitt says that the symbolically coded message is “conveying expected action and intended purpose.” So, both of these definitions are pointing to some essential elements that are inherent in “information.” Information contains specified sequences, elements, codes, and symbols. And those specified sequences, elements, codes, and symbols have been arranged or encoded for a specific purpose to produce specific effects. So, in addition to the non-material nature of information another overarching concept that leaps out at us about information is that information is ordered, organized, and specified. We can be certain, then, that information is an expression of intelligence. It has to be. Information cannot be the product of mindless, random, or undirected activity of anything. Organization and randomness are the opposites of each other. Nothing random or chaotic is going to produce a sequence of codes or symbols that it intended to produce a specific effect. VK: Your cat might walk across your computer keyboard and generate a series of letters on the screen and might even hit a button that generates a print command. But that does not mean that the series of letters or characters you see on the screen or the printed piece of paper constitutes information. The product of your cat’s activity on the keyboard is gibberish or nonsense. If the cat does enough walking on the keyboard it might by chance generate a recognizable word like “eat” or “to.” But that still does not make the cat’s production information. Information, as a component of the physical universe, possesses order, structure, specificity, and meaning. So, we’ve covered some important concepts today but is there anything else we need to discuss before we close for today. RD: Yes. The big reason we are undertaking this series on information is not just to have a philosophical discussion about information but to point out that information points undeniably to existence of the God of the Bible. As we’ve been discussing information is always the product of intelligence. So, if information is present as a component of the observable universe that means that intelligence must be also. Let’s say this a little differently. Much of the time our contemporary culture views the universe as being a construct composed of matter, energy, time, and space. The most radical among us say that that is all that is present anywhere and by doing so they are trying to exclude the possibility of God’s existence as a reasonable proposition. VK: One of the most common objections to acknowledging God is that if God can’t be seen or heard or touched then there is no evidence of God’s existence. That’s a common assertion today and is the attitude, usually unspoken, that underlies the assertion, “you have faith, but I have science.” RD: Yes. Christians, by contrast, point out that not only do logic, reason, and evidence – and science - affirm God’s existence but the notion that God doesn’t exist always runs into irreconcilable conflicts and logical fallacies. This discussion of information is simply pointing to another one of those conflicts and fallacies. If it could be shown that the universe were the result of just matter, energy, time, and space ideas like the Big Bang theory and the General Theory of Evolution might be sensible. But as we have been discussing the universe cannot be reduced to being the product of just matter, energy, time, and space. The universe as we see it around us contains, and must contain, information. VK: In effect, you’re saying that the observable universe goes beyond the material elements in its composition. That’s very similar to the question you sometimes ask about whether physics plus chemistry can produce biology. That’s the notion that undergirds the entire idea of evolution. The basic idea is that some chemical components eons ago randomly collided with each other. There was an energy source, though no one knows quite what it was, that somehow activated the chemical elements and voila – life started. But as you point out so frequently, chemistry plus physics does not equal biology. Chemistry plus physics plus information equals biology. RD: Yep. The universe we see around us is more than just matter, energy, time, and space. Matter and energy are material components of the universe and the space-time continuum defines the boundaries within which matter and energy interact. But, at a bare minimum, those four components by themselves could never give rise to life, even if they could somehow explain all of the inanimate elements of the universe. VK: So, the big idea that we wanted to introduce today is that information and its presence in the universe is another line of evidence that proves that if God did not exist the universe would not appear as we see it. Information is non-material and information always exhibits order, organization, specificity, and purpose. And those things require intelligence. Well, sounds like we’re in for quite a thought-provoking journey. Hopefully, not too many headaches. This sounds like a great time to pray. Today let’s listen to a prayer of praise of Adoration for the Creator God who set the cosmos into motion and established a home on the earth for His people as He prepares them for an eternity with Him in heaven. ---- PRAYER OF ADORATION FOR THE CREATOR VK: We’d like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.” If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not perfect but our Boss is!” (Bible Quotes from the Good News Translation) The Gospel of John, Chapter 1, verses 1 and 2, Good News Translation Laws of information 1 (creation.com) Laws of information 2 (creation.com) We are less than dust (creation.com)

Episode 192 – Jesus and the Great Commission Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script Notes: The devil took [Jesus] to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” The Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 4, verses 8 through 10, New International Version ******** VK: Hi! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. I’m here today with RD Fierro, author and founder of Crystal Sea Books, and part-time event lighting technician. He straightens out the cords on the Christmas lights before we put them up. Today on Anchored by Truth we’re going to finish up our current series where we have focused on the life and historicity of Jesus. And we’re going to hear the last installment of our seven part, epic Christmas poem The Golden Tree: The Frost Lion. When we left off last time the koala bears who live in the arctic village that surrounds the Golden Tree had just encountered the Frost Lion for the first time in their history. The bears have lived in the valley surrounding the tree for many generations and had heard of the Frost Lion but this is the first time they have ever seen him. And they have only seen him now because the lion has chosen to come to their village. Why did the Frost Lion choose to come to their village now, RD? RD: Well, the biggest reason that the Frost Lion has chosen to enter the bears’ village at this time is because something else has happened to the bears for the first time in their generations around the tree. For the first time since the bears have lived in the village they have had visitors from their ancestral homeland. A bear named Roleb and his travelling companion had made an arduous journey to the north because they were concerned about the state of their village’s faith. Roleb’s travelling companion died just before they could reach the village. Roleb himself was almost at the point of death. They had known that their quest to travel to the great far north would be dangerous but they had made it because their homeland had lost its faith in the bears’ creator who they thought of as the Great White Koala Bear. To try to preserve their own tribe’s faith the two bears from down under had gone searching in the arctic even though they were mocked for doing so. Fortunately for them, two teenage bears from Golden Tree village had spotted Roleb just as he collapsed on the snowy wastelands outside their village. This had kicked off a search for Roleb’s friend. With the aid of a Great Ice Eagle, Gabriel, they had found the friend but he had just died. But when they brought the friend back to the village the Frost Lion was there. But no one knows what the Frost Lion can do – and no one knows what the Frost Lion will do … VK: So, it’s time to find out what happens to Roleb, and his travelling companion in this Christmas epic poem: The Golden Tree: The Frost Lion. ---- The Golden Tree: The Frost Lion – Part 7 VK: So, the Frost Lion was able to raise Roleb’s friend from the dead. But I hope that most listeners noticed that the Frost Lion didn’t just stop with restoring the life and health of the two bears down under. The Frost Lion began the process of addressing the deeper need – the fact that the bear clan down under was losing its faith. So just like Jesus did after His resurrection the Frost Lion commissioned missionaries from the Golden Tree village to carry the good news back with Roleb and his friend. Obviously, the message you are sending through this poem is that we live in a day and age when many people in our own clans are losing, or have lost, their faith. And we need to be missionaries to our family and friends. Because if we aren’t who will be? RD: Yes. And for any listeners who haven’t heard the previous episodes of The Frost Lion, they need to know that for the last six weeks we have been playing one section of The Frost Lion during each episode of Anchored by Truth. And since Anchored by Truth is available on most major podcasting apps listeners who want to hear those episodes can do so at any time. Unfortunately, we don’t have the time today to repeat those portions of the poem. But listeners who would like to hear all of the action and adventure that led up to today’s conclusion can listen to those episodes from their favorite podcast app or on our website, crystalseabooks.com. VK: And just as a reminder as of the time of the production of this broadcast and podcast in late 2022 The Frost Lion has not yet been made available for commercial release but that will happen in the early part of 2023. RD: That’s a good note. So, let’s amplify on the reason that the Frost Lion has now chosen to visit the bears, his disciples, in the village around the Golden Tree. For the first time since the bears had come to live near the Golden Tree they had now been presented with a missionary need. In other words, the Golden Tree village bears now knew that their ancestors had actually been saved generations ago for a reason – and that reason had now been brought to their attention in an unmistakable way. VK: Well, if we went back to the first part of the Golden Tree Tales which is The Golden Tree: Komari’s Quest we heard the heroine, Komari, say something significant which was quoted by Kodan in The Frost Lion. In her confrontation with the Demon Lord Komari said, “ For if not for the tree, which of us Would ever have even been born? The tree saved our forebears When they came upon it that morn. Ever since then, we’ve not been our own, Our lives bought for a price. This tree that was sown for you and me Was the Great White Bear’s sacrifice.” So, that’s part of the point you’re making with this whole epic saga. Those of us who know Christ as our Savior have been saved for a reason. RD: Right. So, in answer to the question of why did the Frost Lion appear now it was because the Frost Lion wanted to commission the Golden Tree village bears to begin what is sometimes termed “The Great Commission.” The Great Commission is the mission that Jesus gave to His followers in Matthew, chapter 28 and which we heard repeated in the section of the poem we heard today. After His resurrection Jesus told the followers who had been with Him throughout His earthly ministry that the time had come for them to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and [teach] them to obey everything I have commanded you.” That’s from the New International Version of Matthew, chapter 28, verses 19 and 20. VK: So, the reason that the Frost Lion appeared in the Golden Tree village at this time reminds us that there came and a time and place in history when the Lion of Judah entered world history to conduct His earthly ministry. And as we have talked about in other episodes of Anchored by Truth the time that Jesus entered world history as the God-Man wasn’t a random time. It was the time that had been chosen by the Father before the foundation of the world. Up to that time the world was being prepared for the arrival of the Messiah, the Anointed One, because it was at that time that the good news of salvation was going to be made available to a much larger audience. RD: Right. Before the incarnation it’s not that there weren’t Gentiles who had worshipped the One True God – there were. But up to Jesus’ arrival on the earth the primary audience for God’s message that He was going to provide a Savior had been the Jews. All that changed with Jesus’ life. After Jesus’ earthly life, death, and resurrection not only did Jesus issue the Great Commission to His first followers but we see other evangelical and apostolic giants such as the Apostle Paul come on the scene and begin a concerted outreach to the Gentile nations as well as continuing the spread of the gospel among the Jews. But, this outreach was not going to be easy. Jesus knew it wouldn’t be which is, I believe, He made it so plain that this was a mission He was now assigning His followers. It would have been easy, more natural, for them to want to just speak to their countrymen in Israel or even just to other Jews. The outreach to the Gentiles was going to be hard – but it was the right thing to do because that’s the reason God had preserved His chosen people for thousands of years. VK: That calls to mind a line out of the West Point cadet prayer that you mentioned to me a long time ago. The line says, “O God, our Father … Make us choose the harder right rather than the easier wrong and never to be content with a half-truth when the whole can be won.” RD: Exactly. God had selected and preserved a people for Himself because it was through that people that He was going to bring a Savior for the whole world. Jesus, of course, was that Savior. But even after proving that He was the Son of God and the Messiah through His earthly ministry Jesus still had to complete His mission and send His followers to carry that message to the rest of the world. Until the message of salvation was sent to the rest of the world the rest of the world was still under the burden and curse of sin. But the message of salvation could and did change that. VK: And that calls to mind Jesus saying in Matthew, chapter 11, verses 28 and 29 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Jesus’ promise is to help us bear our burdens not merely to dismiss them from our lives but we have to hear that good news for it to be effective in people’s lives. RD: Exactly right. So, living near the Golden Tree had brought many blessings to the bears in the arctic village. But it wasn’t enough for them to enjoy those blessings. They had a responsibility to share their blessings with others. VK: So, that brings us to another question. Couldn’t Roleb and his companion just go back to their village and told their friends and neighbors they had seen the Golden Tree, the Frost Lion, and the northern bears? RD: They could have but it would strengthen their witness to have others from the Golden Tree village support their testimony. That’s something anyone who has ever testified to their friends and neighbors will tell you. We all have a responsibility to give a reason for the hope that lies within us. That’s 2 Peter 3:15. But our witness is strengthened when we have others who will go with us and add their voices to our testimony. That’s one of the reasons it’s important to always engage in Christian fellowship with other believers. Sometimes we can put too much emphasis on that old admonition that “if it’s to be, it’s up to me.” Well, of course, we must do our part. But we should also seek the help of others in our own missionary activities. VK: That’s a really important point. As Christians we can get so caught up in struggling to be good believers, good workers, or good parents or family members that we can forget to turn to other believers for support and help. And we must always trust the Lord to support us and depend on the Lord to provide for us. There’s nothing wrong with hard work but ultimately if we think that our lives and destinies on this earth are all about us we are in danger of relying on our strength rather than the Lord’s. RD: Right. And again our model in how to approach struggles is Christ in his confrontation with Satan. Even Jesus didn’t depend on Himself to when He responded to the temptations presented by Satan. When Jesus needed strength to repel Satan Jesus went to scripture. VK: And most people may not realize that all of the scriptures Jesus used came from probably one of the least well-known books in the Bible, Deuteronomy. Christ quoted Deuteronomy, chapter 8, verse 3 in response to the first temptation Satan presented. He quoted Deuteronomy, chapter 6, verse 16 in response to the second temptation, and Deuteronomy, chapter 6, verse 13 in response to the third temptation. This certainly reinforces the need to study the entire Bible. Jesus certainly knew all of the Old Testament and used it in his life. RD: Right. Part of us fulfilling our role in the Great Commission is recognizing that the Lord is sovereign and we are not. Even Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane for the Father’s will to be done and not his own. We must be willing to witness and testify to others, kindly and gently, but ultimately the results are up to God. Only God can bring change to a human heart. VK: And that calls to mind James, chapter 1, verse 17. “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” So, in essence what you’re saying is that Jesus is not only the One who issued the Great Commission but Jesus is the One who enables us to fulfill it. We dare not try to undertake any part of the Great Commission or any other aspect of the Christian life on our own. We must always turn to, and trust in, Jesus to guide and provide. RD: Yes. Jesus is both the source of the instruction and the strength for the obedience. Turning to Jesus should be our first response but all too often I fear it’s our last resort. I always wince a little when I hear people say “the only thing I can do for you is to pray.” VK: Because as you say in your book Purposeful Prayers “the whispered prayer that stirs the hand of God dwarfs the most powerful force in the universe.” RD: Yes. The one big advantage that the bears who lived in the Golden Tree had over their southern relatives was that they had learned that ultimately the supply for their needs came from a source outside themselves. They had lived near the Golden Tree for generations. They knew there was a source of blessing outside of their own effort and that’s where they placed their trust. Anyone or anything that tempts you to place your trust in anything other than God cannot be of God. It’s not that we should not work hard to develop our own skills and abilities but we must keep them in proper perspective. VK: The Apostle Paul essentially affirmed this sentiment in the one of the best-known verses from the Bible: Philippians, chapter 4, verse 13. “For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength” RD: Exactly. We should learn from Golden Tree village bears’ example to be discerning when the world presents us with challenges or opportunities. Jesus is our sure and certain guide in this world and the primary way Jesus imparts wisdom to us is through the Bible. That’s why we must become so familiar with the Bible that we can immediately discern things or events in our lives that tempt us to depart from its teaching. There are a lot of things that will come our way that may not seem to be harmful, in and of themselves, but we can see that it what they offer or tempt us to do will not be consistent with scripture. At my age I’ve learned that the most important skill we can develop is spiritual discernment and we can only get that from the Bible and developing a strong network of mature Christian friends. VK: And while The Frost Lion doesn’t get into that level of detail it’s obvious from the poem that the bears had a strong regard for genuine wisdom and Kodan, Kojon, Koest and all the reset developed even more wisdom after their encounter with the Frost Lion. Christ came to bring us not only joy and peace but “life more abundantly.” But how can we enjoy that abundant life if we don’t ensure that as we travel through life we stay as close as humanly possible to the author of all life, peace, and joy. Staying close to Jesus means reading the Bible, developing a strong prayer life, and staying connected to other believers who can bless us and who we can bless in turn. Sounds like a great time for a prayer. Today since we’re so close to New Year’s Day let’s listen to a prayer for blessings to come to us in the new year. ---- Prayer for NEW YEAR’S DAY VK: We’d like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on our website or your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.” Also, we’d like to remind listeners that copies of the first part of the Golden Tree saga, The Golden Tree: Komari’s Quest, is available from our website. If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not perfect but our Boss is!” (Bible Quotes from the New International Version) The Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 4, verses 8 through 10, New International Version

Episode 191 – Jesus’ Birth – The Dividing Line of History Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script Notes: After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” The Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 2, verses 1 and 2, New International Version ******** VK: Hi! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. I’m here today with RD Fierro, author and founder of Crystal Sea Books, and part-time event librarian. He straightens up the books on the book shelves when one falls over. Today on Anchored by Truth we’re going to begin finishing up our current series where we have focused on the life and historicity of Jesus. And we’re going to hear the next-to-last installment of our seven part, epic Christmas poem The Golden Tree: The Frost Lion. When we left off last time a group of small koala bears that lives in a valley in the arctic north was trying to save the life of a bear who had gotten lost. This bear had journeyed to the arctic not knowing that a group of koalas already lived in the far north near a Golden Tree that had saved a group of their ancestors. To find the lost southern bear the village bears had enlisted the aid of a great ice eagle. Unfortunately, by the time the village bears found the lost bear the southern bear had died? So, it doesn’t look like it’s going to be a happy Christmas for the Golden Tree villagers, does it RD? RD: No. It does not. As our last installment of The Golden Tree: The Frost Lion ended two of the villages’ teenage bears, Koest and Kopaul, had flown with Gabriel, the great ice eagle. They had gone looking for the bear because earlier in the story Koest and Kopaul had saved the life of Roleb, another bear from the south. Roleb and his friend had made the journey to the north because their own village was in desperate trouble. Their fellow villagers in the south were in danger of losing their faith in their Creator, the Great White Bear. These southern bears knew that many generations ago a group of bears had travelled north but their legends had said that ancestral group had died. The southern bears had no idea the first group that travelled to the north – while they didn’t find the Great White Bear – they had found the Golden Tree. Now the question is whether salvation is still available? VK: So, it’s time to find out what happens to Roleb and his travelling companion in this Christmas epic poem: The Golden Tree: The Frost Lion. ---- The Golden Tree: The Frost Lion – Part 6 VK: Wow. So, now the village bears have met the great Frost Lion – the One who actually created the bears and the ice eagles. But Roleb’s friend is still dead. And we still don’t know what Roleb’s fate is going to be. Is it just too late for the Frost Lion to do anything to help Roleb and his friend? Seems there are still a lot of unanswered questions. RD: Well, hopefully we’ll get the answers to all these questions next week since next week is part 7 and there’s only seven parts to this part of the Golden Tree saga. But part of what listeners should be listening for is why did the Frost Lion choose to appear at this time in the village bears’ history. After all, they had lived near the Golden Tree for many generations? What was it about this situation that made the Frost Lion arrive in the village? Maybe we’ll hear something about that next time too. VK: And that’s a great lesson for why listeners should grab some friends and family and encourage them to tune in. It would be a good starting point for a discussion in a family setting, or a church youth group, or a home-school study project. The story can help kids learn about poetry as a form of literature, and also see how their imagination can be an important tool in getting immersed in the Bible. RD: Right. Classically some of the greatest poetry ever written like Milton’s Paradise Lost was written under the inspiration of the Bible. We’ve lost some of that awareness but I firmly believe it can be reclaimed by again striving to honor the Lord in everything we do. VK: So, what’s on tap for today as we are right on Christmas’ doorstep? RD: I thought as our closeout topic for this series on Jesus it would be fitting to talk about the reason for the season: Christ’s birth. It’s been celebrated on December 25th for centuries, but unfortunately today even that fact has become a source of either criticism or else an outright attack on the historicity of Jesus. For instance, some critics will claim that the celebration of Christmas was an adaptation of the Roman festival of Saturnalia and that as such it casts doubt on the historicity of Jesus. VK: And it is true that the Roman celebration of the Roman god Saturn did occur around the same time on the Julian calendar. The celebration originally started on December 17th but it was eventually expanded so that it lasted until December 23rd. And there are certainly elements of the Roman celebration of Saturnalia that correspond to how we celebrate Christmas. Saturnalia included parties, giving gifts, and plenty of food and drink. Though, it did differ markedly in certain ways. A lot of the time Saturnalia probably resembled Mardi Gras more than Christmas. RD: And that’s because the Roman god, Saturn, was the god of abundance and plenty but he was also thought of as the god of dissipation and dissolution. And it’s also fair to say that some elements of the Christian celebration of Christmas were influenced by Saturnalia. In the fourth century AD, Pope Julius I (337–352) decided that Christ’s birthday should be celebrated on 25 December, around the same time as the Saturnalia celebrations. Some commentators have speculated that part of the reason why he chose this date may have been because he was trying to create a Christian alternative to Saturnalia. Another possibility may have been that in 274 AD, the Roman emperor Aurelian had declared 25 December the birthdate of Sol Invictus and Julius I may have thought that he could attract more converts to Christianity by allowing them to continue to celebrate on the same day. So it’s fair to say that the way in which we celebrate Christmas was probably influenced by Saturnalia, but that is quite a different thing from saying that just because the Roman god Saturn was mythological or fictional that Jesus was also. That would be the classic example of a non sequitur. VK: Non Sequitur: a conclusion that does not necessarily follow. In other words it’s a logical fallacy to conclude that just because the god Saturn was a myth that Jesus must be a myth also just because there are some common elements in the way the two different figures were or are celebrated. RD: Exactly. VK: But, of course, that does raise the question of whether Pope Julius picked December 25th just because that was a time when there were already pagan celebrations going on, or whether there were other reasons for selecting that day? RD: And that is a great question. VK: I’m so glad you agree. So… RD: We need to start out by saying that the Bible does not tell us exactly when Jesus was born. As one scholar put it, “the early Christians were not so much concerned with the date of Christ’s birth, as the fact of his birth.” And for those people who would like to take an in-depth look at when Jesus was born, there’s a great little book called Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ by Harold W. Hoehner. Much of what we’re going to talk about now comes from his book. The first question we need to address is not the day Jesus was born but the year. VK: I think most people generally think that Jesus was born in 1 AD. Doesn’t AD stand for anno domini meaning the “year of the Lord?” RD: Yes, it does. And that was the original intent when a Scythian monk named Dionysius originally prepared a calendar for use by the Western church at the direction of Pope John I in 525 AD. Before that time the Alexandrian system of dating was being used but it used as it base the reign of Diocletian who was a persecutor of the early church. Dionysius did not want the reference date for the church to be based on a persecutor. So Dionysius used the Julian system, which had been established by Julius Caesar, for the organization of the year which ran from January 1st to December 31st. And the year 1 AD was set on January 1st of 754 A.U.C. – anno urbis conditae – from the founding of the city of Rome. At the time Jesus was thought to have been born on December 25th of the prior year. Remember that there is no “zero” year. The calendar goes straight from 1 BC (before Christ) to 1 AD. VK: But… RD: But subsequent scholarship has determined that Dionysius didn’t get the translation between the AUC system and the system based on Christ’s birth year right. As our scripture today from Matthew noted, King Herod was still alive when Jesus was born. At the time it was thought that Herod died in 754 AUC but we now know that the latest date for Herod’s death was 750 AUC. VK: So that would mean Jesus was actually born 4 or 5 years earlier than previously thought. So he was born in 4 or 5 BC, not December 25th of 1 BC. Interesting. RD: Yes. But it’s worth noting that scholars are not even agreed on that. VK: Because…? RD: Because we have two scriptures that serve as the outer boundaries for Jesus’ birth. According to Matthew Jesus could not have been born later than Herod’s death, but according to Luke Jesus was born after a census that had been taken by a Roman official named Quirinius. In Greek Quirinius would have been Kyrenius. Luke says that this was “This was the first census that took place while a Quirinius was governor of Syria.” One of the issues was there aren’t any clear records about when this census took place. Josephus does not mention a census that took place during Herod’s reign but he does mention one that took place in 6 or 7 AD. So scholars are not unified on the date that this previous census might have taken place. This is one of the more puzzling questions that still linger about the birth of Jesus. VK: So, does Dr. Hoehner discuss this question in his book? RD: He does and there is actually a wealth of discussion available from many sources on this first census of Quirinius. Here are a few things we know for certain. The Romans were well known to take censuses throughout their empire to establish what we might call the basis for taxation and it was common for them to take them about every 14 years. Second, the text from Luke that says that Quirinius was the governor of Syria does not actually use the normal word, legatus, that is translated as “governor.” It uses a more generalized term for being in charge or leading. Third, we know that Quirinius was in the mid-East from 12 B.C. to 2 B.C. successively suppressing rebellions taking place in modern day Turkey. Apparently, Quirinius was well known as a successful military leader. VK: So, it would make sense that he was given charge of an important task of taking a census even if was done as an extra duty. Also, it would make sense that Augustus would want a census taken in that part of the empire because Herod had fallen out of favor with Augustus around 7 or 8 BC and by then it was known that his health was failing and that his sons were quarrelling over who would succeed him. Herod changed his will 3 times in the year before his death, each time naming a different son. Augustus knew about the changes and the quarrels because Herod had to get Augustus’ permission before making the changes. RD: Or executing one of his sons which Herod also did – again with Augustus’ knowledge and consent. VK: So that helps show that Herod was the kind of a king who would order the murder of all boys, 2 years old and under, in and around Bethlehem to get rid of a child the Magi had described the “king of the Jews.” So, it looks very much like Quirinius might have been in charge of a census sometime in the latter part of Herod’s reign around 5 BC. Herod died in 4 BC. But, what about the specific day? Did Pope Julius just pick that day because it roughly corresponded with Saturnalia? RD: We can’t be entirely sure why Pope Julius picked December 25th but the traditional date for Jesus’ birth had been around for at least 100 or 150 years before he set it officially within the church calendar. At a minimum an early church father named Hippolytus of Rome (ca 165-235 AD) had proposed that date. It is thought that Hippolytus might have had some greater insight about Jesus because he was associated with one of the early disciples of the Apostle John. There’s not a lot of information in scripture itself to pin down the date, but the tradition of a midwinter date for his birth does date back to the very earliest of the church fathers. Also, it’s fair to note that December 25th is the traditional day of celebration in the Western church but the Eastern church has traditionally used January 6th as the birthday and arrival of the Magi. VK: But some people object to the December date because a part of Luke that we didn’t listen to today says the shepherds were keeping watch on their flocks which were out in the fields at night. It is generally known that the shepherds brought their sheep into enclosures from about November through March. So the thinking is that if the sheep were out in the field it couldn’t have been December. RD: And that’s a reasonable observation but it’s not conclusive. First, it might have been a mild winter so there would have been less reason to keep the sheep enclosed. Second, the sheep were apparently in and around Bethlehem as opposed to being out in their spring and summer feeding grounds in the wilderness so this makes it far more likely the birth was in the winter. The shepherds had to be close enough to be able to get to family who were lodged in the stable in Bethlehem fairly quickly. Third, there are Jewish texts that say that the sheep that were going to be used for the Passover celebration were to be out in the field for at least 30 days before the celebration. Passover could have been as early as February so this would again reinforce a midwinter date as early as late December or early January. VK: The bottom line is that - again – when you look at the details of history and the gospel accounts it dispels completely the notion that even if there are superficial resemblances between the Christian celebration of Christmas and some pagan winter festivals that somehow diminishes the historicity of Jesus as a person. Or his birth in Bethlehem on a night over 2,000 years ago. Sounds like a great time for a prayer. Today since we’re so close to Christmas let’s listen to a prayer about that special day. ---- Prayer for Christmas VK: We’d like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.” Also, we’d to remind listeners that copies of the first part of the the Golden Tree saga, The Golden Tree: Komari’s Quest, is available from our website. If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not famous but our Boss is!” (Bible Quotes from the New International Version) The Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 2, verses 1 and 2, New International Version

Episode 190 – Jesus’ Attributes Were Not “Borrowed” Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script Notes: “Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.” The Gospel of John, Chapter 11, verse 25, New Living Translation “Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” The Gospel of John, Chapter 14, verse 6, New Living Translation ******** VK: Hi! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. I’m here today with RD Fierro, author and founder of Crystal Sea Books, and part-time event planning consultant. He rearranges the chairs in the conference room when we have meetings. Today on Anchored by Truth, as we approach Thanksgiving and Christmas, we want to continue our series where we focus on the life and ministry of Jesus. And we want to continue listening to Crystal Sea’s epic Christmas poem The Golden Tree: The Frost Lion. Frost Lion is the third part of the Golden Tree trilogy. The first installment of the Golden Tree saga was The Golden Tree: Komari’s Quest and copies of it are available from our website which is crystalseabooks.com. Even though we’re playing Frost Lion on our broadcasts and podcasts it has not yet been released for people to get their own copy but that will happen in the near future. Today we’re coming to part five out of seven of the poem. So, we’re getting close to bringing it home, right RD? RD: We are indeed. For any listeners who weren’t able to be with us for our last couple of episodes we should tell them that The Golden Tree: The Frost Lion is a poem that is written in the style of some classic Christmas stories. It was written in seven parts and each part ends in a sort of cliffhanger. So, now that we’re at part five we’re pretty deep into the story. But just as a quick refresher The Golden Tree: The Frost Lion is about a group of small koala bears who live in the Artic in valley that’s green and warm because in the middle of the valley is a Golden Tree that keeps the valley warm and fertile. They’ve been there for several generations but just as Christmas season is approaching two teenage bears, Koest and Kopaul, were on a high hill near their town when the spotted a dark shape crossing the snow and ice. The strange shape turned out to be a bear named Roleb. Roleb came from the village their ancestors had left many generations ago and had travelled with a friend who got lost. Roleb and his friend were travelling to the arctic to search for help for their village which had lost its faith. Thanks to the wisdom of the village elders, Kodan and Kojon, the bears have been able to summon an ice eagle. But what can this ice eagle do? What will this ice eagle do … if anything? VK: Sounds like we’re getting to the good part. So, let’s continue with the story. Here’s part five of Crystal Seas’ Christmas epic poem: The Golden Tree, The Frost Lion. ---- The Golden Tree: The Frost Lion – Part 5 VK: Ok. So, the bears from the village have now found Roleb’s lost friend. But it’s too late. Roleb’s friend has died from the cold. So, it seems as if Roleb’s whole journey to the north has been for nothing. That seems very sad – if that was how the story ended. But, of course, it hasn’t ended yet. So, maybe all hope isn’t lost. And, knowing you, the answer to finding out whether anything can be done for Roleb and his friend is …to tune in next time. RD: That sounds like a brilliant suggestion. And maybe listeners could gather some family members to join them ... VK: Sounds even better. Listening to Golden Tree as a family could be a great way for parents or grandparents to connect with their kids and help them develop their faith. It would also make a great centerpiece for a home school study group or church youth group discussion about the role that courage and commitment play in the Christian faith – something that’s particularly relevant as we get closer and closer to Christmas. RD: Right. Somebody once said that the Christian faith is so simple that even children can comprehend enough about it to understand the plan of salvation. But even though we can begin with the faith of a child we should pursue the goal of developing a truly mature faith. God will meet us and help us wherever we are in our faith journey but He isn’t satisfied with leaving us at the starting line. Hebrews 12:2 says that Jesus doesn’t just initiate our faith. He also wants to perfect it. And part of perfecting our faith is ensuring that we understand what the Bible tells us about Jesus. VK: Well, so far we’ve seen that there are extra-Biblical sources that confirm that Jesus was a real historical figure who lived and died in Judea during the time period described by the Bible. But we’ve also seen that as helpful as it is to know that there are secular sources that confirm Jesus’ life that those sources aren’t enough to tell us everything that we need to know about Jesus. We can only get a complete revelation about Jesus from God’s special revelation to people, the Bible. And as we saw in our last episode, and again in today’s scriptures, Jesus’ statements about himself tell us something pretty important: that Jesus is not only fully human but also fully divine. RD: Yes. And so that takes us to the next subject that we need to talk about as we are focusing on the life of Jesus in preparation for celebrating his birth at Christmas. VK: And that is... RD: And that is - that because Jesus is the central figure not just of Christianity, but also the entire Bible, one of the criticisms that’s sometimes directed toward Jesus is that the attributes that the Bible assigns to Jesus were borrowed from other cultures or religious sources. So, Christians need to be familiar with some of the assertions that Jesus’ deeds, especially his miracles, were simply drawn from other religious myths or pagan characters. VK: Can you give us an example of what you’re thinking about? RD: Sure. It is has been alleged that Jesus’ miraculous conception isn’t a unique belief. For instance, critics will say that the mythological figure, Hercules, was also supposed to be the son of a divine father – in this case Zeus - and a mortal mother. VK: But, of course, there are significant differences between Hercules purported conception and Jesus. In the Greek legend Hercules mother was named Alcmene (ALK-MEN-EE). Zeus was supposed to have taken on the human form of Alcmene’s husband and deceived Alcmene and slept with her. And that’s how Hercules was conceived. That’s not nearly the same thing as Jesus being born of Mary while Mary was literally still a virgin. RD: The differences are even more pronounced. Hercules was actually the Roman name of a hero the Romans adapted from the Greek Heracles. According to the Greek legend, Heracles’ mother Alcmene was simultaneously pregnant with Heracles by Zeus and his half-brother Iphicles by her husband. And that’s only the beginning of the legendary aspects in Alcmene’s pregnancy with Heracles. So, as soon as you get beyond the superficial similarity and look at the details, the notion that Jesus’ conception was somehow an adaptation of the Heracles/Hercules myth falls apart. But this is a good example of one kind of obviously fallacious attack that’s directed against the historicity of Jesus. VK: So, what you’re saying is that one form of attack that’s leveled at Jesus has to do with a particular attribute of Jesus and then trying to find a parallel somewhere else in a different religion that is obviously false. The critics then try to discredit the life of Jesus by saying that if story A is false, then story B must be false also. RD: Right. But that makes as much sense as saying that if there are two $5 bills on the table and one is counterfeit, the other one must be also which is just silly. So, sometimes the supposed pagan origin of the details of Jesus earthly life and ministry are concerned with specific attributes of Jesus, such as his virgin birth. But sometimes the copycat thesis is less concerned with the specifics of Jesus life and more concerned with generalities that might be associated just about any supernatural figure. VK: Again, do you have any specific examples in mind? RD: For instance, since sickness and disease are obviously a plague on human existence... VK: No pun intended… RD: No pun intended… anyway, the ability to bring miraculous healing would be expected to be a staple of myths or legends. And it is. For example, Asclepius or Asklepios was a Greek demi-god who was the god of medicine. He was supposed to have raised Hippolytus from the dead, though he was killed by Zeus for doing so. Asclepius was supposed to be the son of the god Apollo and a human mother. Buddha was also supposed to have been able to cure the sick. VK: But again, these kinds of general miracle workings of mythological characters vary considerably from the information we have about the miracles that Jesus performed. For instance, in the case of Jesus curing Peter’s mother we have precise details of the location where the miracle was done, the people involved, and even a pretty close approximation to the timing. And many of Jesus’ healings involved specific details that conform to the religious and cultural conventions known to exist. Such as when he healed the lepers and then told them to go show themselves to a priest which was required by Jewish law. And Jesus’ healing miracles weren’t always the cause for celebration the way you would expect of a miracle like when Jesus restored the eyesight of the man born blind. The blind man was rejected by the religious leaders and cast out by them. RD: Exactly. The descriptions of Jesus’ miracles read like historical accounts because they are. Again, the key to drawing distinctions between Jesus’ miracles and those general sorts of miraculous powers that are associated with the pagan sources is in the details. The Bible accounts provide the details and in the majority of cases there are multiple eyewitness accounts. But the case of Buddha provides another way of refuting the claims that the Bible’s descriptions of Jesus are drawn from other sources. The earliest known account of Buddha’s life was written in the 2nd century AD so it came after Jesus and not before it. That’s also true for another supposed religious figure who supposedly served as the source for many of the details of Christ’s life, Mithra. In Mithra’s manifestation during the Roman period he was supposed to have been born on December 25th, had 12 disciples, performed miracles, had a final meal before he died, and rose from the grave after 3 days. VK: And since Mithra was a religious figure that was known to come from the Persian culture, modern day Iran, supposedly he was the inspiration for much of what the disciples taught about Jesus. Right? RD: Right. The earliest mention of Mithra is around 1400 BC so as a religious figure Mithra would pre-date Christ by a considerable time period. But the problem is that the attributes of the Iranian version of Mithra do not correspond to the Roman version. The Roman version of Mithra is best known for slaying a bull whereas there is no known connection to bull slaying in the Iranian version. And a lot of the supposed correspondences between Christ and Mithra appear in the Roman version and the dating of the correspondences is after Christ. VK: So, many scholars believe there might have been some cross pollination between Christ and the Roman version of Mithra but given the timing of the appearance of the similarities it’s far more likely that the legends of Mithra borrowed from Christianity and not vice versa. RD: And that would have been fair because there was one way that Christianity did borrow from Mithraism, in art. In the early part of the 3rd century AD (313), the Roman emperor Constantine issued the edict of Milan which accepted Christianity. Before then the Roman emperors had generally been very hostile to Christians. Within 10 years Christianity had become the official religion of the empire. But by then Mithraism seems to have also gained a strong foothold within the empire as well. In the third and fourth centuries, the Roman church officials seemed to have embarked on an effort to prove that their faith was the superior one, embarked on an advertising campaign. One commentator said their efforts were “reminiscent of our soft drink wars. Mithra was depicted slaying the bull while riding its back; the church did a lookalike scene with Samson killing a lion. Mithra sent arrows into a rock to bring forth water; the church changed that into Moses getting water from the rock at Horeb.” VK: That sounds suspiciously like the law of unintended consequences. The church officials in the 3rd and 4th century went on a campaign to prove that Christianity was superior to Mithraism and 1,600 years later the church now has to defend itself against the claim that Jesus’ life and ministry were the copycat version. RD: I think that’s an excellent observation. And let’s close out with one more, quick example. In Hinduism Krishna was also supposed to have had a miraculous conception so some critics point to that legend as a possible inspiration for the Christian tenant. VK: But in that case, Krishna’s ‘miraculous conception’ is his mom being impregnated by ‘mental transmission’ from his completely human father. Again, not remotely similar to the Bible’s description of how Mary became pregnant. RD: And to add to that – how credible is it that the first Christians, who were largely Jews from Palestine, would have borrowed a legend from a thousand miles away. At a minimum the Jews were fiercely monotheistic whereas Hinduism is distinctly polytheistic. So, this again points to the need to not only examine the varying details of alleged instances of borrowing but also consider the cultural factors that would have been in play. Often either chronological or cultural factors alone will be enough to refute the alleged possibilities. To go back to our earlier example with the money, when new bank tellers are being taught to spot counterfeit dollars they aren’t given lots of counterfeits to study. They’re given lots of real bills to feel and handle. The idea is that if the tellers get so used to touching and handling the real thing, the fakes will become instantly recognizable. That same approach will work when it comes to being able to answer many of the criticisms that are addressed at Christianity and Jesus. VK: And that’s a good lesson for all of us. The more time we spend studying scripture – and developing familiarity with the details of the people, the nations, the geography, the culture – not only will we be able to be confident in our own faith. But we will also be able to point other people to the truth. RD: Precisely. Myths and legends read like myths and legends. They have fantastic details that have little or no correspondence to things in the real world. Good common sense enables us to quickly see elements that don’t make sense in our experience. By contrast, the history contained in the Bible reads like good histories that we see elsewhere. There are specifics about people, places, times, and events and quite often either archeological finds or extra-Biblical records will provide information that helps confirm the Biblical record. VK: Sounds like a great time for a prayer. Today since we’re so close to Christmas let’s listen to a prayer about that special day. ---- Prayer for Christmas VK: We’d like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.” We hope you’ll be with us next time as we continue our discussion of the reality of Jesus’ life. We hope you’ll take some time to encourage some friends to tune in too, or listen to the podcast version of this show. Also, we’d to remind listeners that copies of The Golden Tree: Komari’s Quest are available from our website. If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not famous but our Boss is!” (Bible Quotes from the New Living Translation) The Gospel of John, Chapter 11, verse 25, New Living Translation The Gospel of John, Chapter 14, verse 6, New Living Translation The Gospel of John, Chapter 15, verse 5, New Living Translation (Sources used for this episode or other in this series) https://creation.com/pagan-copycat-thesis-refuted http://www.tektonics.org/copycat/pagint.php http://www.tektonics.org/copycat/mithra.php

Episode 189 – Jesus – Man and God Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script Notes: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” The Gospel of John, Chapter 6, verse 35, New Living Translation “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” The Gospel of John, Chapter 8, verse 12, New Living Translation ******** VK: Hi! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. I’m here today with RD Fierro, author and founder of Crystal Sea Books, and part-time pastry consultant. He buys the cookies we keep in the kitchen. Though to be fair I’m the one who makes sure we don’t run out of animal crackers. Anyway, today on Anchored by Truth, as we start to celebrate the Christmas season, we want to continue our series where we focus on Jesus. And we want to continue listening to Crystal Sea’s epic Christmas poem The Golden Tree: The Frost Lion. Today we’re coming to part four of the poem where we now hear about the seemingly unsolvable quandary that is confronting our bears. So do you want to tell us where we are in the story, RD? RD: I’d love to. For any listeners who weren’t able to be with us for our last few episodes we should tell them that The Golden Tree: The Frost Lion is a poem that is written in the style of some classic Christmas stories. It’s the third of the Golden Tree series. The first segment is called The Golden Tree: Komari’s Quest and the second part was called The Golden Tree: Eagle Enigma. Both of these earlier parts of the saga were also written using the model of the old-time movie serials that they used to play when I was a kid and you went to the theater on Saturday afternoons. Before the movie they’d give you the latest installment of an ongoing saga. Each episode would end with the heroes and heroines left in a precarious position so next week you’d come back and plunk down another quarter or two. So, to get ready for part four listeners need to know that the epic is all about a group of small koala bears who live in the arctic. Even though they are in the arctic they live near a Golden Tree that creates a peaceful and fertile valley. The bears’ ancestors discovered the Golden Tree after they had left their homes down under and went searching for their Creator that they called the Great White Koala Bear. The bears have lived near the Golden Tree for generations. In all that time they had never met another bear from the land their ancestors left – but that has now changed. A new, strange bear named Roleb was rescued by a pair of young bears, Koest and Kopaul, and brought to Koest’s home. Once there, Roleb told the bears he had friend who was traveling with him but that friend is now lost in the arctic wasteland. Two of village elders, Kodan and Kojon are trying to figure out if there is a way to save Roleb’s lost friend before it is too late … which it might already be. VK: Alright then. So, let’s continue with the story. Here’s part four of Crystal Seas’ Christmas epic poem: The Golden Tree, The Frost Lion – part four. ---- The Golden Tree: The Frost Lion – Part 4 VK: Wow. So, the bears figured out how to summon an ice eagle … but can this ice eagle help them? Will this ice eagle help them? It doesn’t seem like this ice eagle is all that friendly at this point. RD: I guess folks will just have to tune in next week and see what happens... VK: I’m starting to see why the movies played those serial episodes before they played the main feature. RD: Well, as a kid the trick was not to not eat all your popcorn during the serial. Otherwise, you didn’t have any left to enjoy during the feature. It helped if you had enough money to buy a large bag. No buckets in those days. VK: Today I think some of us need to worry about waistlines more than money… RD: No comment. VK: Anyway, maybe one of the lessons we can learn from the bears is that we need to understand that challenges to our faith can come to us at any time. We need to be prepared to intelligently respond to them. And Ephesians 6:17 does tell us that the sword of the Spirit is the Bible, the Word of God. That’s one of the big reasons we try to encourage people to develop the habit of staying in the Word. It’s the best way for us to cope with our own ice eagles. So, where do you want to go today as we resume our study of Jesus’ earthly life? RD: Well, in our last couple of episode on Anchored by Truth we talked about some examples of extra-Biblical sources that confirm that Jesus was a real person who lived and died in Judea during the early part of the first century AD. But, naturally, the only thing that the secular writers could write about was the human dimension of Jesus. If secular writers were our only source about the life of Jesus we could know some important details about him, but we would completely miss the most important fact about Jesus: that Jesus was not only fully human but that he was also fully divine. VK: And here is where a lot of headaches begin. How can one person be both God and man? I think it’s safe to say that many Christians – even serious and devout ones – have trouble with that concept. So, let’s go over some of the basics of historical, orthodox Christian theology – the Trinitarian nature of God and the dual nature of Jesus. A lot of confusion arises because people don’t understand what Christians mean when they refer to the Trinity or the dual nature of Christ. So, let’s start there. RD: Well, let’s acknowledge right at the start the limitations of human language and the incomprehensibility of God. Humans are finite. God is infinite. So, there is no way any human or group of humans is every going to be capable of exhaustively understanding or explaining the nature of the God or the mystery of the incarnation of Christ. That doesn’t mean we can’t know some true things about God and develop an awareness of the miracle of the incarnation, but it does mean that mysteries will always remain. But that the fact that mysteries will always remain doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t apply ourselves to develop a full-orbed understanding of God insofar as we are able. VK: And it also means that we should always approach these subjects in a spirit of reverence and prayer, right? I mean the one Person who can help us grow in our understanding is the very Person we’re seeking to understand. So, what does the doctrine of the Trinity refer to? RD: Orthodox, Christian theology believes that the Bible refers to one God, but acknowledges that God exists eternally as three divine Subsistences or Persons. The classic proof text for the Trinitarian view of the Godhead is Matthew 28:18 & 19 which says: “Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” A slightly different way of explaining this is that God is singular in nature but three in person. By contrast, Jesus, the 2nd Person of the Trinity, is singular in person but has two natures. Jesus is both fully human and fully divine. And the classic formulation of this that came out of the Council of Chalcedon is : ” Jesus Christ is truly God and truly man, having two natures inseparably united in one divine person without confusion, mixture, separation, or division. Each nature retains its own attributes.” VK: So, those views explain why Christians still believe in one God – we’re monotheistic – but we also believe that within the Godhead there are three distinct Persons who have a relationship with each other. Grappling with these concepts is challenging to say the least. RD: And that’s the reason we have to always be willing to acknowledge that even though the church has classic formulations like the Nicene and Apostles’ Creeds that help amplify the basics, these doctrines will always contain a certain amount of mystery for men. We’re back to the plain fact that finite man cannot fully understand or explain an infinite, Triune God. VK: So, how do our opening scriptures relate to this who discussion? At least on the surface, while Jesus is certainly providing some really comforting assurances to his disciples – such as that he will provide for them and protect them like a shepherd does his sheep – how do these verses demonstrate that Jesus was claiming to be God? RD: In English, the claim is not as obvious as it was in the language in which John originally recorded his Gospel, Greek. You see the Greek words that are translated as “I am,” in “I am the bread of life,” and in the other scriptures we heard are two Greek words: ego and eimi. And these are exactly the same words that God used when He made declarations about himself in the Old Testament. VK: As in the declaration that God made to Moses when Moses was standing before the burning bush recorded in Exodus 3:14? Let me read that part. But Moses protested, “If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what should I tell them?” God replied to Moses, “I Am Who I Am. Say this to the people of Israel: I Am has sent me to you.” God also said that Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: Yahweh, the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you. This is my eternal name, my name to remember for all generations.” RD: Exactly. The Septuagint translators when they translated the Hebrew “Yahweh” which came from the word for “I am” translated it by a combination of two different Greek words used for the verb “to be:” ego and eimi. So in Jesus’ time the phrase ego eimi came to be synonymous with the name for God. In Hebrew, Yahweh. In Greek, Jehovah. So, when the Apostle John recorded what Jesus said about Jesus being the bread of life or the light of the world, John used the phrase “ego eimi” for the words “I am.” Many scholars think that when Jesus identified himself with the “I am,” He was directly proclaiming to his followers that he was the same as the one who appeared to be Moses. But there are other references in the Old Testament to which Jesus may have been pointing to make the same point. Michael J. Krueger, who is a New Testament scholar and President of the Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, has shown that there are number of “I am” references in chapters 40 – 55 of the book of Isaiah that unmistakably point to God. Let’s listen to a couple of examples, Isaiah 41: 4 and 43:10: Isaiah 41:4 Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he (ego eimi). Isaiah 43:10 “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he (ego eimi). Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me. The “I am he” in these passages is translated in Greek by ego eimi. VK: So, when Jesus said he was the bread of life or the light of the world he was going beyond simply giving metaphors for the provisions that he was making for his people? He was saying that one of the reasons his followers could have confidence in the promises that he was giving was because he was God. And as God whatever he promised he had the irresistible power to fulfill. I’m starting to get another headache when I think about that. Imagine, listening to someone standing before you who was saying “I am the light of the world,” - meaning he would give you all the light and wisdom you would ever need – and then realizing that the one making the promise was the who made light to begin with. That’s a staggering thought. RD: And it gets even more staggering. Remember that on Anchored by Truth we have often talked about the fact that logic and empirical observations demonstrate that the universe was created by a self-existent Being. We call that Being God. We can arrive at the need for a self-existent Being to explain the existence of the universe and everything in it, just by making some informed observations. In other words, as people we have the ability to deduce the existence of a self-existent Being or God just by exercising our reason and intelligence. Well, when God said to Moses that his name, God’s name, was “I am” he was identifying himself by using the attribute of self-existence. God was simultaneously exalting Moses by saying “you’re standing in the presence of the One who made everything,” and God was condescending to the level of man by communicating to Moses in a way Moses could understand. God was also pointing out that Moses should be aware of His existence because Moses own intellect and intelligence would have revealed the need for God even God had never chosen to communicate with him directly. VK: And the same thing would have been true of the people listening to Jesus, wouldn’t it? Only now, rather than the people listening to a voice out of a burning bush, they’re hearing those words from a man standing in front of them. And many, if not most, of them would have seen Jesus perform miracles so they would have known that when Jesus spoke, he was speaking the truth. But I think you have one more point that you’re making with the line of reasoning aren’t you? RD: Exacatamundo… VK: Exactamundo, again ... RD: Ok. Precisely, if you prefer. Think about it. By making empirical observations and exercising a little logic and reason we can arrive at the conclusion that the universe was created by a self-existent Being – God. But where did we derive the ability to make those observations? Where did we get eyesight that could see the sun and stars? Where did we get the intellect and reasoning ability to design instruments that could amplify our own observational capabilities like telescopes or microscopes? Where did we get the reasoning ability to understand that an effect demands a cause and that the law of non-contradiction is an essential element in reasoning correctly? Where did we get the ability to write and use language and make and retain records so we could pass words and observations down over thousands of years? And not just the records of the Bible but the other records that we examined on Anchored by Truth the last couple of times by secular observers who affirmed that Jesus was a real man who lived in Judea at a particular time in history. VK: So the point you’re making is that the same God who designed and created the universe with all its marvelous complexity and order also created us in such a way that we could perceive Him. And you’re saying that that same God came to various men at different points in history – to Moses and Isaiah in the Old Testament, to Matthew, John and others in the New Testament – to leave us a record of His appearances in this world. So, you’re saying that God designed man so that man could recognize not only the design in nature but also the design in God’s plan for human history. The plan that we call the plan of creation, fall, and redemption. Oh, all that is either super scary or super exciting. RD: Rather like the disciples in the boat when Jesus calmed the storm or Moses when he was in front of the burning bush, an immediate confrontation with the undeniable presence of the Almighty is simultaneously terrifying and thrilling. Unfortunately, today too many people deny themselves that experience of reverential awe that comes from truly grappling with the authentic nature of God. VK: And only the Bible gives us what we need to understand that nature. And we all need to have a better understanding of that nature. Because when we gain it we will find out that God is not only an awesome and mighty God but He is also a loving and merciful God who has made provisions for us to have eternal fellowship with him by placing our faith in Jesus as our Savior. So let’s close with prayer. Today let’s listen to a prayer of adoration for the first person of the Trinity, our heavenly Father. ---- PRAYER OF ADORATION OF THE FATHER VK: We’d like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.” We hope you’ll be with us next time as we continue our discussion of the reality of Jesus’ life. We hope you’ll take some time to encourage some friends to tune in too, or listen to the podcast version of this show. Also, we’d to remind listeners that copies of The Golden Tree: Komari’s Quest and The Golden Tree: Eagle Enigma are available from our website. If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not perfect but our Boss is!” (Bible Quotes from the English Revised Version) The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 2, verses 1 through 6, English Revised Version The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 23, verses 44 through 47, English Revised Version (Sources used for this episode or other in this series) https://www.ligonier.org/about/who-we-are/what-we-believe/ https://www.michaeljkruger.com/why-does-jesus-use-the-phrase-i-am/ https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/10-things-yahweh-means

Episode 188 – Jesus Beyond the Bible Part 2 Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script Notes: Now it came to pass in those days, there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment made when Quirinius was governor of Syria. ... And Joseph also … to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David; to enroll himself with Mary, who was betrothed to him, being great with child. …while they were there… she [gave birth].” The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 2, verses 1 through 6, English Revised Version ******** VK: Hi! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. I’m here today with RD Fierro, author and founder of Crystal Sea Books, and part-time health consultant. He buys the cough drops we keep in the studio for people to use during recording. Today on Anchored by Truth, as we approach Thanksgiving and Christmas, we want to continue our series where we focus on the earthly life and ministry of Jesus. And we want to continue listening to Crystal Sea’s epic Christmas poem The Golden Tree: The Frost Lion. Today we’re coming to part three of the poem where the action starts to get a little more intense. Is that a fair statement, RD? RD: I think so. For any listeners who weren’t able to be with us for our last couple of episodes we should tell them that The Golden Tree: The Frost Lion is a poem that is written in the style of some classic Christmas stories. It was also written using the model of the old-time movie serials that they used to play when I was a kid and you went to the theater on Saturday afternoons. Before the movie they’d give you the latest installment of an ongoing saga. Each episode would end with the heroes and heroines left in a precarious position so next week you’d come back and plunk down another quarter or two. So, to get ready for part three listeners need to know that the epic is all about a group of small koala bears who live in a valley in the artic. A group of the bear’s ancestors settled in the valley because in the center of the valley is a golden tree that transforms the valley into a place where they can live and thrive. They’ve been there for several generations but in the current Christmas season an unexpected challenge has come to their valley, the tree, and their lives. Two of the town’s teenage bears, Koest and Kopaul had gone to a hill to look at the northern lights. While on the hill they saw a new, strange bear staggering through the snow. At first they weren’t sure if this new bear posed a danger but since the new bear was so close to death they brought him back to Koest’s home where Koest’s mother, Koray, began attending to the bear. But they still don’t know anything about the new bear. Where did he come from and why is he here? And what does he want? VK: Alright then. So, let’s continue with the story. Here’s part three of Crystal Seas’ Christmas epic poem: The Golden Tree: The Frost Lion – part three. ---- The Golden Tree: Eagle Enigma – Part 3 VK: Ok. As the old timers … RD: Like me... VK: Right… used to say, “the plot commences to thicken.” The bears who live near the Golden Tree have found out that they have distant relatives who don’t know about the Golden Tree or even the Great White Bear. But a couple who still did believe in the Great White Bear decided to attempt the quest that others had tried long ago. But now their quest is in danger because one of them has almost died and the other one is lost in a vast arctic wilderness – a wasteland for anyone who’s not near the tree. RD: Right. And sometimes those of us who live in today’s post-modern culture can feel that way – that we are living in a wilderness that has lost sight of our true Creator. That’s why it’s such a good idea for mature believers to listen to or read stories to the kids or grandkids because they can introduce those kids or grandkids to the real struggles that life contains and help prepare to them to be overcomers. And of course the best strategy for being an overcomer is to be so familiar with the truth that lies and deception become immediately identifiable. VK: And of course that’s why we do Anchored by Truth – to remind people that the Bible, in the words of Psalm 46, is a “very present help in time of trouble.” But people aren’t likely to turn to the Bible to help them in times of trouble if they aren’t confident that the Bible is reliable and trustworthy. So that’s why we focus on using evidence and logic to demonstrate that we have very good reasons for believing that the Bible is the very Word of God. RD: Yes. Everybody, at some point in their life, is going to ask the question, “Why am I here?” It’s one of the most obvious questions that arise from the human experience. But, whether most people realize it or not, the answer to the question, “why am I here,” is inexorably tied to three other questions. Is there a God? If there is a God, does He communicate with people – or said slightly differently, “Is the Bible the Word of God.” And, if there is a God and the Bible is His word, can I learn about my life, my needs, and my purpose by studying the Bible? Of course at Anchored by Truth we think that the answer to all three questions is a resounding “yes.” But we would just as quickly admit that, unless people are convinced that the Bible is more than just an aggregated collection of fairy tales and myths, they are unlikely to find the Bible relevant to their lives. VK: I notice that you said “study the Bible” not just “read the Bible.” What you’re observing is that understanding the Bible, confidently and contextually, demands effort. Right? I mean that sort of runs against the old method of letting the Bible fall open and then reading the first verse that comes to your attention. RD: Well, I wouldn’t try to restrict the Lord’s ability to communicate to any particular person any way He chooses. But randomly or haphazardly reading selected portions of the Bible isn’t likely to help people answer the question, “Why am I here?” I am fully persuaded that the Lord will reveal Himself to anyone and everyone who seeks to truly know Him. But our relationship with the Lord – who is after all first and foremost a person – is just like our relationship with others in our lives. The quality of our relationship will be dependent on the quality and quantity of time we spend with the Lord. And because the Bible was written in a different time and era we need to do some study on the times, customs, and cultures that form its setting. And, unfortunately, because so much misinformation circulates in our own culture today about what the Bible is or isn’t, contemporary Christians need to arm themselves by being able to respond to certain common errors. VK: Such as the erroneous assertion that Jesus wasn’t a real person. That he didn’t live a real life, eat, walk, and sleep like normal human beings. And that, despite being fully human, he didn’t also demonstrate that he was fully divine by rising out of a stone tomb after being killed by the most powerful empire on the earth at the time. So, that takes us back to our review of some examples that Jesus’ earthly existence is confirmed by sources outside the Bible. Last time we took a look at two examples of other ancient historians who mentioned Jesus in their histories: the Roman historian Tacitus and the Jewish historian Josephus. Both are considered reliable historians. Both wrote their histories within a relatively short period after Jesus’ earthly life. And both wrote accounts that confirmed some of the details in scripture. Where do you want to start today? RD: Well, let’s take a look at another Roman historian, Suetonius. Suetonius was a Roman historian and annalist of the Imperial House under the Emperor Hadrian. His writings about Christians describe their treatment under the Emperor Claudius (41-54AD): “Because the Jews at Rome caused constant disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus [Christ], he [Claudius] expelled them from the city [Rome].” (Life of Claudius, 25:4) This expulsion took place in 49AD. In another work, Suetonius wrote about the fire which destroyed Rome in 64 A.D. under the reign of Nero. Nero blamed the Christians for this fire and he punished Christians severely as a result: “Nero inflicted punishment on the Christians, a sect given to a new and mischievous religious belief.” (Lives of the Caesars, 26.2) So from these quotes we can see that the awareness of Jesus had spread all the way to Rome less than 20 years after Jesus died. The awareness was so strong that the emperor had taken personal notice of Jesus’ followers and apparently felt the need to try to minimize their influence in the capital city. VK: And again, just to remind everyone of what we mentioned last time the fact that Roman historians and even Roman emperors would take notice of Jesus is remarkable. It wasn’t as if Jesus had led a conquering army that was threatening to lay siege to Rome or even one of his outlying provinces. And Suetonius’ observation that the Christians had a “new and mischievous religious belief” is particularly fascinating. When you think about the pantheon of gods with which the Romans were thoroughly familiar – not only their own gods but also the Greek gods and the gods of all the people they’d conquered – when you think about the vast variety of religious beliefs with which they were acquainted what could be considered “new and mischievous?” RD: Well, of course, many scholars believe that Suetonius was likely referring to the physical resurrection of Jesus. Obviously, the Romans were well familiar with various beliefs of life after death, but those belief systems never included a person – a flesh and blood man – walking around, talking, eating, and even touching other people after being crucified. That was new and novel. VK: Still is. I’ve never seen it though I thoroughly believed it happened. Who’s next? RD: Well, take a look at two sources who wrote about Jesus but for whom we don’t have any copies of their writings: Thallus and Phlegon. VK: Well, if there are no existing copies of their manuscripts how can we know what they wrote? RD: Because just like today, there were other writers who did read what they wrote and preserved some of their material by quoting it in documents they were preparing. Just like someone may not have attended a political event, but they can know part of what the speaker said by reading quotes in articles written by people who were there. In Thallus’ case, parts of his histories were preserved by Julius Africanus who wrote around 221 AD. In Phlegon’s case, not only did Julius Africanus record some of his material but so did Origen who was an early church scholar and theologian. VK: So what observation did Julius Africanus preserve from Thallus’ writings that pertain to Jesus? RD: Well let me read a quote from Julius Africanus: “On the whole world there pressed a most fearful darkness; and the rocks were rent by an earthquake, and many places in Judea and other districts were thrown down. This darkness Thallus, in the third book of his History, calls, as appears to me without reason, an eclipse of the sun.” (Julius Africanus, Chronography, 18:1) So Thallus had written more than one book of history but in at least one of his books he took note of the darkness and earthquake that accompanied Christ’s crucifixion. This parallels precisely the account that Matthew gave us in Chapter 27 of his Gospel. VK: And Luke also wrote about the darkness. The Gospel of Luke, chapter 23, verses 44 through 47 say: “And it was now about the sixth hour, and a darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, the sun's light failing: and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said this, he gave up the ghost. And when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly, this was a righteous man.” So, it is very interesting that a secular historian like Thallus would mention the same detail that is present in Matthew and Luke. And if I remember correctly Thallus’ observations are particularly important because many scholars believe he wrote around 52 AD. In fact, he may have been the earliest secular writer to comment on the events surrounding the crucifixion. Well, what about Phlegon? RD: Well let me read three quotes. This first is one preserved by Julius Africanus and the second two were preserved by Origen: “Phlegon records that, in the time of Tiberius Caesar, at full moon, there was a full eclipse of the sun from the sixth to the ninth hour.” (Africanus, Chronography, 18:1) “And with regard to the eclipse in the time of Tiberius Caesar, in whose reign Jesus appears to have been crucified, and the great earthquakes which then took place … ” (Origen Against Celsus, Book 2, Chapter 33) “Jesus, while alive, was of no assistance to himself, but that he arose after death, and exhibited the marks of his punishment, and showed how his hands had been pierced by nails.” (Origen Against Celsus, Book 2, Chapter 59) So in these quotes we several things of significance. First, Phlegon confirms the darkness mentioned by Matthew, Luke, and Thallus. Second, he confirms that Jesus was crucified and he gives us a specific time reference: during the reign of Tiberius. And third, he confirms the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus including that he showed the marks of his crucifixion to those to whom he appeared. VK: Well, that’s even more amazing because now we know that the secular historians of the 1st and 2nd century AD were not only aware of Jesus’ life and ministry but they were also familiar with many of the details that surrounded his death and resurrection. But that does raise a question. Since Julius Africanus and Origen were both admitted Christians is it possible that they fabricated the quotes they attributed to Thallus and Phlegon? RD: It’s not impossible, but why would they have done that? VK: I think critics would say they would have fabricated the quotes to make their case for the truth of Christianity stronger. RD: Well, if they had attempted to do that it would actually have had the opposite effect in their day and time. First, remember that even though copies of the writings from Thallus and Phlegon are no longer extant today, they were in existence at the time Julius Africanus and Origen wrote and quoted from them. So if they had fabricated quotes or deliberately misquoted them their fraud or errors would have been easily detectable. Second, Africanus and Origen were writing at a time when there was substantial official opposition to Christianity. In other words they were writing in a hostile world. As such, they would have taken even greater pains to be sure that they wouldn’t be subject to easily refuted assertions. Third, Origen’s quotes of Phlegon came from a work entitled Contra Celsum or in English Against Celsus. So Origen was writing a work to refute the claims of Celsus who wrote a work entitled The True Doctrine. The True Doctrine was likely written under the authority of a Roman emperor was critical of Christianity. Since accuracy was essential to his refutation of Celsus’ book, most scholars agree that Origen is a reliable source for what Phlegon said. Why would Origen have handed his opponent an easy method for dismissing Origen’s criticisms? VK: That all makes a lot of common sense and it points to a broader implication of the extra-Biblical sources that you’ve been citing. None of the observers themselves, including Thallus or Phlegon, were friendly to Christianity. So theirs were essentially the observations of hostile witnesses. As such, when they confirm details of the Biblical account their testimony of Jesus’ life has even greater weight. If they thought that Jesus was a fraud or a fabrication it would have been very easy for them just to not mention him. RD: And one more point to note before we close. In these episodes we haven’t been able to cover all the extra-Biblical sources that there are that confirm Jesus’ life, ministry, and death. There’s a book called The Historical Jesus by Dr. Gary Habermas that contains a much more exhaustive treatment of this subject. VK: And – again – we wanted to point listeners to all these resources, including the links we put on our podcast notes, to enable them to continue their own studies about the life and ministry of Jesus. As we said at the start of this episode, to answer the question “why am I here,” we need to understand why any of us are here. And how we got here. Those questions are directly related to what we think about God and Jesus. So let’s close with prayer. Today let’s listen to a prayer of the One who leads into a knowledge of truth, the Holy Spirit. ---- Prayer for Adoration of the Holy Spirit VK: We’d like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.” We hope you’ll be with us next time as we continue our discussion of the reality of Jesus’ life. We hope you’ll take some time to encourage some friends to tune in too, or listen to the podcast version of this show. Also, we’d to remind listeners that copies of The Golden Tree: Komari’s Quest are available from our website. If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not famous but our Boss is!” (Bible Quotes from the English Revised Version) The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 2, verses 1 through 6, English Revised Version The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 23, verses 44 through 47, English Revised Version (Sources used for this episode or other in this series) https://coldcasechristianity.com/writings/is-there-any-evidence-for-jesus-outside-the-bible/ https://www.reasonablefaith.org/writings/popular-writings/jesus-of-nazareth/the-evidence-for-jesus/ https://alwaysbeready.com/extrabiblical-historical-sources-corroborate-the-bible/ https://crossexamined.org/why-should-we-trust-the-extra-biblical-references-to-jesus/

Episode 187 – Jesus Beyond the Bible Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script Notes: But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf. Micha, Chapter 5, verse 2, New Living Translation Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. The Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 2, verse 1, New Living Translation ******** VK: Hi! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. I’m here today with RD Fierro, author founder of Crystal Sea Books, and part-time barista. He turns on the coffee maker and puts in those little cups. Today on Anchored by Truth, as we approach Thanksgiving and Christmas, we are continuing our series where we focus on the earthly birth and life of Jesus. In today’s culture, it seems as though just about everybody has heard about Jesus, but fewer and fewer people actually know much about him. Do you agree with that RD? RD: Yes. Jesus’ name is certainly well known in modern culture but unfortunately there is as much or more misinformation that circulates about him than there is actual fact. I’m afraid that more people get there information about Jesus more by watching television specials or dramatized movies than they do from reading the Bible or studying the many fine, well-documented books and articles that have been produced by excellent Christian scholars through the years. That’s the bad news. The good news is that for those who are truly interested in knowing the actual, historical Jesus it’s probably easier today than any time in history to get accurate information. But you do have to be careful about the sources you use. VK: So, today we want to continue to provide the listeners to Anchored by Truth with a head start on doing their own study about Jesus. As you have so often said, Jesus is the centerpiece of both the Bible and the plan of redemption. So, to be confident not only in our own faith but to help those who are still looking for anchors for their own lives it’s imperative we know the real Jesus of the Bible. But before we get too deep into our discussion how about telling us a little about the Christmas poem that we’re going to continue today? RD: I’d love to. As I mentioned in an earlier episode of Anchored by Truth, years ago when I worked in one of those big state agency buildings that are so common here I wanted to give Christmas presents to some of my co-workers but doing that in a state agency can sometimes be tricky. So, I decided that one present I could give was a little entertainment so I wrote this piece that was inspired by some of things that used to entertain the kids of my generation: Christmas poems and the short serial stories you used to see in the movie theaters before the main feature. Each of those film pieces would always leave you hanging so you had to come back every week to see what happened. So, I wrote a Christmas story in six parts and each part left you wondering what would come next. That story became The Golden Tree: Komari’s Quest. It was about a group of koala bears who had gone on a quest to the far north to find their creator that they called The Great While Koala Bear. The bears never found their creator but they did find a golden tree in the artic that made a valley a perfect place for them to live. Well, later on I created a new story that I called The Golden Tree: Eagle Enigma and we’ve followed that up now with another Golden Tree story – the Frost Lion. In part one of Frost Lion that we heard on our last episode we’ve learned that there are two young bears confronting a dilemma they believe might threaten their village. From a vantage point at the top of a tall hill near their town they have seen a strange shape out on the distant snow – but they don’t know who or what the shape is. VK: Alright then. So, let’s continue with the story. Here’s part two of Crystal Seas’ Christmas epic poem: The Golden Tree: The Frost Lion. ---- The Golden Tree: The Frost Lion – Part 2 VK: The drama is now building. What we’ve heard is that bears have enjoyed the peace and plenty in the valley for generations but now a new bear from a strange land is in their midst – and that bear is very near death. Worse this new bear has a friend who is still lost in the deep winter snow and may already have died. So, the bears are learning - just like in the real world – that there are always unexpected events in this world that may require us to respond. And it may take real courage to confront those events … RD: And commitment and sacrifice... VK: And it’s hard to have those virtues if we don’t know why we’ve been sent on our own quests, isn’t it? I mean, God’s grace has saved us just like the Golden Tree saved the bears. But as the Apostle Paul said to the Philippians they had to. “work hard to show the results of [their] salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in [them and us], giving [them and us]the desire and the power to do what pleases him.” God’s grace saves us but our sanctification requires effort on our part. RD: Right. The old song there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus than to “trust and obey.” Part of that obedience is to be able to tell others why we believe that Jesus was qualified to be our savior. And that starts with us being assured that Jesus was a real, historical figure – not a myth or some kind of pious concoction. In our day and age one of the semi-criticisms that’s hurled against the Christian faith is that the Jesus that Christians worship is either a mythological figure or – if he even existed – that we can’t trust the gospel accounts for information about him. VK: But the truth is that Jesus was a real person. And we see that from passages like the ones we used for our opening scriptures. In these passages we can see that the Bible tells us specific facts about Jesus like where he was born – in Bethlehem – and when – during the reign of a king named Herod. But beyond even what scripture tells us Jesus life is a fact that is even confirmed by sources outside the Bible isn’t it? And that’s what you wanted to focus on today, right – the fact that we have historical sources besides the Bible that confirm Jesus’ historicity and even confirm many of the details contained in the gospels about his life, death, and circumstances? RD: Right. In some earlier episodes of Anchored by Truth we’ve discussed the fact that you can use the existence of the physical universe and apply logic and reason to come to the conclusion that there is a self-existent being responsible for the creation of the universe and of living creatures. But that line of reasoning can only carry you so far in an understanding of God and it would give us almost no information about other attributes that are essential parts of the Christian faith such as the plan of redemption or Jesus’ role in it. For that, we need a special revelation from that self-existent being – God – and fortunately we have that in the Bible. But we need to be persuaded that that revelation is true and reliable and once again logic, reason, and evidence can play a role in validating the Bible’s claim that it is the inspired Word of God. And that’s where extra biblical sources can be helpful. Such sources don’t add anything to the Bible, but they can add to our individual confidence that the Bible is describing history accurately when it speaks of historical events. VK: So, today you want to take a brief look at some other historical sources that also confirm that Jesus was a real historical figure. You know when you think about it, it’s remarkable that there would be any other surviving sources outside the Bible who would mention Jesus. In his day and time – if Jesus hadn’t been the Son of God – he would have been just another obscure and unimportant itinerant preacher that had a brief public ministry in a distant Roman province. He never led an army, held a prominent government or political position, or even wrote a book. Plus, his public ministry only lasted about 3 years and he didn’t travel all that widely. His public ministry was all conducted within 100 miles of his home. And he died the death of a common criminal. So, if Jesus wasn’t who he claimed to be – the Son of the Almighty God – he should have faded from the pages of history as just another local crank. But he didn’t. He’s mentioned by some of the most important historians of his age, men who had far more earthly distinction that he did. Where do you want to start? RD: Let’s start by talking about a few examples of well-known Roman historians who are widely regarded as having written important histories of the Roman Empire and conquests. The examples that we’re going to use today came from an article available on the website coldcasechristianity.com entitled “is there any evidence for Jesus outside the Bible.” We’ll put a link to the article on the notes that accompany the podcast version of this show. But these examples are all widely known and can be found in any number of historical reference sources. So the first example we want to use is a quote from Cornelius Tacitus was well known for his analysis and examination of historical documents and is among the most trusted of ancient historians. He was a senator under Emperor Vespasian and was also proconsul of Asia. In his “Annals’ of 116 AD, he describes the Roman Emperor Nero’s response to the great fire in Rome and Nero’s claim that the Christians were to blame: “Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular.” So, in this account, Tacitus confirms that there was a man who lived in Judea, was known as Christ, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and who had followers who called themselves by his name and were persecuted for following him. VK: Well, this account is helpful because it directly confirms a number of details directly about Jesus. But it’s also important for another reason, isn’t it? A few episodes ago we talked about the fact that Luke and the other gospel writers were meticulous when it came to their historical recording and reporting. So much so that they got some obscure details right, even when other ancient historians got them wrong. So, this quote from Tacitus helps illustrate that point too, doesn’t it. RD: Very good. That’s pretty impressive. You noticed that Tacitus called Pontius Pilate the procurator of Judea not the prefect. VK: Thank you. I try. RD: And you’re absolutely right. As good a historian as Tacitus was he was human and in this case he did make a mistake. He got Pilate’s title wrong. For many years there were questions about the existence and the actual title of Pontius Pilate—the Roman governor who presided over the trial of Jesus. Later Roman writers, as well as almost all Bible reference works, referred to Pilate as the “procurator” of Judea but Luke and the other gospel writers called Pilate a “governor;” not a procurator. The fact that “governor” was the correct title was confirmed in 1961, when a two by three foot stone was discovered that had a Latin inscription. The translation of the inscription reads as follows: Pontius Pilate, Prefect of Judea, has presented the Tiberieum to the Caesareans. This find was not only archaeological confirmation for the existence of Pilate but it was also confirmation that Pilate was the Prefect, or governor, of Judea. VK: In fact, we now know that the title “Procurator” was not used at the time of Jesus’ trial for the Roman governors. This title only came into usage at a later time, during the reign of the emperor Claudius, A.D. 41-54. During Claudius’ reign the title of the Roman governors shifted from Prefect to Procurator. So although Tacitus was correct about the title in use for the Roman governor of Judea at the time he wrote – about 60 years later - strictly speaking that was not Pilate’s actual title when he supervised the trial and execution of Jesus. Pilate was a prefect, a governor, not a procurator – a fact the Bible writers got right. So, who’s next on the list of extra-Biblical writers? RD: Well, before we close for today we should probably take a quick look at one of the most famous of the ancient historians, Josephus, because he lived so close to the time of Jesus and during the period of early church’s formation. Josephus lived from 37 AD to 101 AD. The most widely accepted year for the crucifixion is 33 AD so he was born just four years after the crucifixion. He wrote an extensive history of the Jews in 93 AD called “the Antiquities of the Jews.” So today when you see people referring to it you often just hear people call it “Antiquities.” Josephus wrote about Jesus in more detail than any other non-biblical historian and Josephus himself was a really interesting character. He was a consultant for Jewish rabbis and became a Galilean military commander by the age of sixteen. He was an eyewitness to much of what he recorded in the first century A.D. As a Jewish military leader he initially fought against the Romans but later surrendered and he eventually became an adviser to the Roman emperor Vespasian. Under Vespasian, Josephus was allowed to write a history of the Jews. This history includes three passages about Christians, one in which he describes the death of John the Baptist, one in which he mentions the execution of James (and describes him as the brother of Jesus the Christ), and a final passage which describes Jesus as a wise man and the messiah. There is some legitimate controversy about the writing of Josephus, because of the timing of the discovery of his writing but why don’t you read a conservative scholarly reconstruction of one of Josephus’ most famous passages. VK: “Now around this time lived Jesus, a wise man. For he was a worker of amazing deeds and was a teacher of people who gladly accept the truth. He won over both many Jews and many Greeks. Pilate, when he heard him accused by the leading men among us, condemned him to the cross, (but) those who had first loved him did not cease (doing so). To this day the tribe of Christians named after him has not disappeared.” RD: Now there are some other ancient versions of Josephus’ writing which are even more explicit about the nature of Jesus’ miracles, life and his status as the Christ, but from even this conservative version we can conclude: Jesus lived in Palestine, was a wise man and a teacher, worked amazing deeds, was accused by the Jews, crucified under Pilate and had followers called Christians. Josephus’ observations are particularly compelling because at the time he wrote he was very close in terms of timing to when Jesus lived. Even though he wasn’t like the apostles who actually walked with Jesus he could see around him the effect of the early church’s spreading and he may even have had the opportunity to talk to Jews who had been in and around Judea when Jesus had his public ministry. VK: Well, those two examples are a good introduction to the fact that Jesus’ earthly life has confirmation outside the Bible. Next time we can take up a few more examples but before we close for today a few general observations would seem to be in order. And you said that the early church itself is a confirmation that Jesus was a real, historical figure? RD: Exactly. VK: I’m surprised you didn’t say what you do in some of the Life Lessons with a Laugh - exactamundo … RD: Ok. Exactamundo. Anyway, there is no dispute that in the first century AD Christians and the Christian church began to be an issue within the Roman Empire. They were so widely known that the emperor Nero blamed the great fire of Rome on them. Well, it would be impossible to explain the spread of a movement if there wasn’t something or someone who started the movement. Remember that the Romans weren’t known for being timid administrators of their provincial empire and in the first century AD they certainly weren’t friendly to Christians. So, something remarkable must have happened in the early part of the first century AD in Judea that animated so many people to continue carrying the same message throughout the empire despite the official opposition they encountered everywhere. There are two simple reasons for this phenomena. First, they were persuaded something truly remarkable had happened. A dead man had risen from the grave and walked around for 40 days. And second, they had a source of support and strength – the Holy Spirit – who sustained them as they carried their message to a world that needed it but didn’t want it. VK: Well, all that makes perfect sense. As Paul said to the Romans the same power that raised Jesus from the dead also empowers us and gives us the ability to carry on in his name. Sounds like a perfect time to go to prayer. Since we’re approaching Thanksgiving how about if today we listen to a prayer for that special day when we turn our attention to the goodness that God has shown to us. ---- Prayer for Thanksgiving – VK: We’d like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.” We hope you’ll be with us next time as we continue our discussion of the reality of Jesus’ life. We hope you’ll take some time to encourage some friends to tune in too, or listen to the podcast version of this show. Also, we’d to remind listeners that copies of The Golden Tree: Komari’s Quest are available from our website. If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not famous but our Boss is!” (Bible Quotes from the New Living Translation) Micha, Chapter 5, verse 2, New Living Translation The Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 2, verse 1, New Living Translation (Sources used for this episode or other in this series) https://coldcasechristianity.com/writings/is-there-any-evidence-for-jesus-outside-the-bible/ https://www.reasonablefaith.org/writings/popular-writings/jesus-of-nazareth/the-evidence-for-jesus/ https://alwaysbeready.com/extrabiblical-historical-sources-corroborate-the-bible/ https://crossexamined.org/why-should-we-trust-the-extra-biblical-references-to-jesus/

Episode 186 – A Necessary God Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script Notes: The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world. Psalm 19, verses 1 through 4, New Living Translation ******** VK: Hi! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. I’m here today with RD Fierro, founder of Crystal Sea Books, and part-time poet. Today on Anchored by Truth, as we approach Thanksgiving and Christmas, we are going to begin a new series where we focus on the central figure of the entire Bible: Jesus. That seems appropriate as we come to the time of year when we celebrate the Lord’s birth, doesn’t it RD? RD: Well, Christmas is certainly a time of the year when people begin to more naturally think about Jesus because the reminders of him start to appear more and more around us every day. But, of course, it’s important to remember that we really should focus on Jesus every day of the year. For Christians, Jesus should be the focus of our daily lives. And actually throughout our lives we should be on a quest to get to know God better each day that is granted to us. VK: I agree with that. So, today we’re going to start listening to a new Crystal Sea story. This time it’s one of our rhymed pieces that you wrote as a Christmas epic poem. This is actually the second installment of a story that you began a long time ago. You said you originally wrote the first installment because you wanted to give it as a gift to some co-workers? RD: I did. Years ago when I worked in one of those big state agency buildings that are so common here I wanted to give Christmas presents to some of my co-workers but doing that in a state agency can sometimes be tricky. So, I decided that one present I could give was a little entertainment so I wrote a piece that was inspired by some of things that used to entertain the kids of my generation: Christmas poems and the short serial stories you used to see in the movie theaters before the main feature. Each of those film pieces would always leave you hanging so you had to come back every week to see what happened. So, I wrote a Christmas story in six parts and each part left you wondering what would come next. VK: And then a few years ago you decided that the story needed to continue so you wrote the next installment of what is going to be, when completed, a poetic trilogy. The story began in Crystal Seas’ Christmas epic poem: The Golden Tree, Komari’s Quest. The story continued in The Golden Tree, Eagle Enigma. Today, we are beginning the final part of the trilogy. Here is part one of The Golden Tree, The Frost Lion. ---- The Golden Tree: The Frost Lion – Part I VK: I really like some of the lines from that part. “Where the lights soared in the vault overhead and proclaimed indescribable glory as if the heavens could not but proclaim their omnipotent Creator's story.” Not only are the lines lyrical but they also evoke such clear imagery. I can imagine kids sitting around their mom and dad … RD: Or grandmother and grandfather... VK: Or grandparents and listening to this recording with them - just like families used to sit around and listen to someone read The Night Before Christmas. Of course, that’s one of the reasons we wanted to put this poem out there. To give families an entertaining story that also would allow parents to discuss their faith with their kids. RD: Exactly. There are so many questionable choices these days that are advertised as being “family friendly” but they are based on a secularist view of the world. We wanted to be sure that there was a story that was available for “fireside” listening that directed everyone’s attention to the real “reason for the season.” VK: Well, there are a total of seven parts to Golden Tree: The Frost Lion. So, for the next six weeks we’ll be letting the story unfold as we continue to unpack insights into how the Bible is such an integral part of being able to frame a coherent world view. I mean the two fundamental attributes that you believe would have to characterize any book that would constitute a genuine special revelation of God are that that revelation would have to be consistent with the created order as it is observable by creatures within it – essentially us. And that revelation would have to display supernatural origin. RD: Right. As hard – or as exciting – as it may be to comprehend empirical observations, combined with logic, tell us that the visible universe does not – indeed cannot – provide an explanation for its own existence. The universe, as grand and vast as it is, has all the fingerprints of having a beginning in space and time. Also, the second law of thermodynamics, the law of entropy, tells us that it will have an ending. Anything that has a limited life span, no matter how long some people might conceive that light span to be, cannot be self-existent. Only a self-existent being or entity can account for its own existence or the existence of anything else. Some philosophers use the terms Necessary Being and Contingent Beings to describe the difference between the two. VK: And since the universe is not eternal it looks very much like it is contingent on something or someone outside itself to account for its existence – a Necessary Being upon which it is dependent. And we call that Necessary Being God. So just like the bears in our story when we see the northern lights or stars twinkling in a deep night sky we can know that that the starlight - and the night sky and especially our ability to see and understand all that grandeur - points to the need for a Creator. And we’ve seen that the bears we’ve just met aren’t the first bears who have lived in this land. It was actually their ancestors who left their home and shortly we’ll learn they were searching for the lair and throne of their Creator – who they thought of as the Great White Bear. RD: Yes. I think the symbolism for the story is already pretty plain but I would like to point out one thing - and that’s what I want to spend some time on today – is that the bears who set out on their quest wouldn’t ever have started out if they weren’t convinced that the Great White Bear existed. And that’s one of the problems that we see reflected so clearly in today’s very relativistic culture. Too many - far, far, far too many people today, both inside the church and out, are defeated in their own quests because they have been misled to believe that there is no Creator – no Great White Bear if you will. As a result, they see the world as fundamentally being either chaotic at best or outright meaningless at worst. VK: I think you need to expand on that thought a bit. You’re saying that God isn’t just a logical necessity to explain the existence of a contingent universe, but that an awareness of God is an essential component of us being able to comprehend our place in that universe? RD: To quote what I say in some of our humorous Life Lessons with a Laugh - exactamundo. VK: So you’re quoting yourself. Sounds like something only a writer would do… RD: Again, exactamundo. Anyway as the eminent theologian RC Sproul used to say, “Ideas have consequences.” The idea that the universe was framed by an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, and holy God carried with it the inextricable notion that the universe has been created intentionally and for a purpose. As such the universe would display design and order and the intelligent creatures within that universe – us – could perceive that design and order. VK: And that very concept formed the foundation for what we think of as science today. And that’s why many of the founders of modern science – like Sir Isaac Newton and Louis Pasteur were strong Christians. They were convinced that there was design, order, and logic in universe because the universe had been made by a being that was supremely purposeful and logical. As such, they were encouraged to go and discover that order and use the results of it to improve the lives of the people around them. Or said a little differently they were encouraged to go on their own quests to discover more about the creation and thereby appreciate even more the Creator. RD: So all that made perfect sense. If the universe had been created by a God of order, logic, and purpose then creation would be comprehensible. Those early giants of science took seriously the Biblical statement that man had been made in the image of God, so they felt sure that God would bless their efforts at applying themselves to understand what he had created. But one of the tragic effects of the success of their work and the amazing results they achieved is that over time – and now we’re talking about centuries not decades – the work of science became divorced from the original source of the inspiration for them to do the work. Scientists – not all, but a great many – became convinced that it was possible to understand creation while ignoring the Creator. VK: Or said slightly differently, they sought the blessing without regard to the Blesser. So, one of the points you’re making is that somewhere along the journey – the quest – for discovery, a lot of people forgot why the journey was begun in the first place. And that is reflected in our society and culture today. RD: Yes. And Christmas is a great example of that same phenomenon happening in our calendar and celebration of the common understanding that was the foundation of our communities. The word “Christmas” obviously derives from the words “Christ” and “mass.” And one of the big reasons that gift exchanges became a part of the celebration was in commemoration of the great gift that God had given the world in the birth of Jesus. And, of course, the whole reason that God gave us the gift of Jesus was because after the fall in the garden of Eden God had begun his great plan of redemption. So, in a very real way the history of all of mankind gives evidence of God’s plan unfolding in exactly the way God intended. VK: And you believe that even some of the more tragic of the things that we see around us provides evidence for the existence of God and the truth of scripture? RD: Yes. C.S. Lewis noted that one of the things that convinced him to become a Christian was that he couldn’t get over the idea that some things were right and some things were wrong. But then he realized for that idea to make sense – that there’s a difference between right and wrong – he had to have an explanation for where that idea came from. Why did he think that there was a real distinction? Of course, the only logical conclusion was because there was a Being – a God somewhere – who had established the whole moral and ethical scheme to begin with. That’s just as true today as it has ever been. VK: That’s a pretty remarkable idea when you think about it. The very notion that we have ethical sensibilities to begin with is dependent on there being a real difference between right and wrong. And not just a matter of personal convenience like preferring squash to broccoli. When people begin to assert that something is wrong they don’t just mean that they find it inconvenient. They mean that there is a determinable ethical distinction that compels – or should compel – our behavior. And we all know that. Anyone who doesn’t know that there is a difference between right and wrong we would describe as a sociopath. RD: And we would have good reason for doing so. Now in saying this we’re not saying that there is universal agreement on the precise details of what’s right or wrong and different societies at different times have arrived at varying conclusions about the specifics. But there’s never been a society that didn’t make some kind of a distinction regardless of what they did with the specifics. In some cultures the distinctions might have been ones that we would consider trivial – like acceptable dress for women and men. In other they would have been more profound or serious – like the relationship between a government and its people or whether private ownership of property is permitted or prohibited. The rules have varied but every culture, tribe, and nation has had rules of some sort. VK: And pretty much all people everywhere know that they have – at one point or another – violated those rules. Written or unwritten. Government or cultural. Religious or secular. We have an inherent awareness that as moral and ethical agents we have certain obligations that we are subject to. So we see that not only is there a physical order to the physical universe there is also an ethical order that applies to us as people. But without there being a God, a holy and purposive God, we would have no reasonable explanation for the existence either of the obligation or the sense that we need to be accountable the obligation. And that same sense that tells us that we are subject to the obligation tells us that we have all fallen short. RD: Right. We all know that we’re not perfect, but to know that means we know that somewhere there is a standard against which that determination can meaningfully be made. That’s why Jesus had to come and why the Christian claim that Jesus was perfect, was sinless, is so essential. Again, to refer to Sproul again, RC used to say that if he was in a discussion with someone who just refused to acknowledge the existence of God, one of the final questions he would ask such people is what they did with their guilt. VK: And we all have guilt. And some of us feel it far more keenly than others. If we don’t have Jesus, if we don’t know Jesus, then we’re the only ones who can shoulder that guilt. But the moment we understand that the Perfect Man, Jesus, has willingly taken our guilt onto his own shoulders, we can start to become free of that guilt. And that’s one of the keys to beginning and completing our own quests through life. As we talked about a long time ago on Anchored by Truth, understanding the Bible provides context and meaning to our lives. Knowing that God himself made a provision for our imperfection removes the need for us to continue to feel guilty forever. Knowing that Jesus is our savior is the truth that sets us free. RD: And that’s one of the things we really want to focus on as the days unwind toward Christmas. We want to take a close look at how we can be sure that Jesus isn’t a mythological figure, but instead is a real person who was born, walked and lived at a specific place and time, and died. But then he demonstrated that he was God’s atoning gift by walking out of the grave and appearing to a group of women first and then to his disciples. If Jesus wasn’t a real person who did those things we would have absolutely no hope for being justified before a perfectly holy God. A mythological figure, no matter how charming, couldn’t save anyone. But Jesus did and does. So, as we conduct our own quests through life, if we’re pursuing worthwhile ends we can be confident that they aren’t futile. There is a meaning to our individual lives even when those lives are set against the backdrop of an unimaginably grand cosmos. The Bible and Jesus give us that meaning. As Augustine famously said, “Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.” VK: Sounds like it’s a great time to have a prayer. Since we’re approaching Thanksgiving how about if today we listen to a prayer for that special day when we turn our attention to the goodness that God has shown to us. ---- Prayer for Thanksgiving – VK: We’d like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.” We hope you’ll be with us next time as we continue our discussion of the reality of Jesus’ life. We hope you’ll take some time to encourage some friends to tune in too, or listen to the podcast version of this show. Also, we’d to remind listeners that copies of The Golden Tree: Komari’s Quest and The Golden Tree: Eagle Enigma are available from our website. If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not perfect but our Boss is!” (Bible Quotes from the New Living Translation) Psalm 19, verses 1 through 4, New Living Translation (Sources used for this episode or other in this series) “Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.” Augustine, Confessions https://www.crossroadsinitiative.com/media/articles/ourheartisrestlessuntilitrestsinyou/ https://www.proginosko.com/2019/07/reforming-apologetics-common-notions/

Episode 32 – Ken Connor Interview Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script Notes: (dramatic opening music)(music under voice over) O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, The Book of Psalms, chapter 8, verses 1 through 6. English Standard Version For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. The Book of Romans, chapter 1, verses 16 through 20. English Standard Version ******** VK: Hello! Welcome to another episode of Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. I’m Victoria K in the studio today with Ken Connor, noted attorney, author, activist, and former Chairman of the Family Research Council and the Center for a Just Society. Before we begin our interview though we’d like to take a few minutes to meditate on one of God’s most important attributes – His holiness. We’re going to do that by using a devotional extract from RD Fierro’s book on prayer entitled Purposeful Prayers. This happens to be day number 3 from the 30 day devotional study. ----------- Purposeful Prayers Devotion, Day Number 3, Holiness VK: Well, I think meditating on God’s holiness sets the stage pretty well for days discussion. By way of a slightly longer introduction of Ken, listeners should know that Ken has practiced law for over 40 years and has been at the forefront of some of the most important issues confronting our nation and culture pretty much throughout that time. Governor Bush asked Ken to represent Terry Schiavo in her family’s fight to keep Terry alive. Furthermore, as a former president of Florida Right to Life and two national organizations involved in major cultural issues Ken has unique insights on the challenges facing Christians in America and in our day and time. Also, though he’s too modest to tell anyone Ken was good friends with some of the most important Christian leaders in the last half century including Chuck Colson and RC Sproul among others. Ken, Thanks for being here today to share some of your unique insights. Ken: Thanks for inviting me. It’s always a pleasure to be back in Tallahassee. VK: Ken you’ve been at the forefront of many of the social and cultural issues confronting Christianity in America for the last … well, several years? Ken: Decades actually. VK: Well, long enough for you to not only have been prominent in many of issues at the national level but also long enough for you to form some thought about the major issues facing a culture that many think is abandoning its Judeo-Christian origin. Would you mind sharing a few of your thoughts about where we are today as a nation and as the church within the nation. Question List: 1. You were the first person I remember talking about the dangers posed judicial activism. Do you still see that as a problem in America? Has it improved in the 30 years since you first began talking about it? Or gotten worse? 2. You were also one of the first people to talk about the fact that the life issues included more issues than just abortion. Could you expand a little bit on what you meant and where you see those issues standing today? 3. One of the reasons RD founded Crystal Sea Books was to be a part of reclaiming the arts and entertainment parts of culture for the cause of Christ. He admired the influence that great Christian fiction writers like CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien had on the broader culture through their brilliant fiction and allegory. What do you think about that as a vision? Do you share RD’s concerns? 4. What do you think are some of the most important discussions going on within the broader culture as they affect the church? 5. You were asked to represent Terry Schiavo. Tell us about that. What were the issues involved? What did you learn from that? 6. At one point you decided to run for the Governor of Florida. Tell us something about that. Why did you decide to run? How did the race affect your life and family? Would you recommend seeking public office to other Christians? 7. You have said that it was reading the works of Francis Schaeffer that animated you to become involved in public policy and life. What was it that you read and how did it influence you? VK: Today for our closing prayer how about if we pray that everyone would come to a saving knowledge of the God of the Bible who is our one sure anchor to truth. ---- Prayer for the spiritually lost, radio version. VK: We hope you’ll be with us next time when we’ll continue our discussion with Ken. And we hope you’ll take some time to encourage some friends to tune in too, or listen to the podcast version of this show. If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not famous but our Boss is!” (Bible Quotes from the English Standard Version) The Book of Psalms, chapter 8, verses 1 through 6. English Standard Version The Book of Romans, chapter 1, verses 16 through 20. English Standard Version

Keep believing, Beloved.Faith is the substance of things hoped for- Hebrews 11:1

A prayer for you, Beloved.

A prayer for you, Beloved.Remember, you are loved and fully known.

Episode 151 –Interview with Jamie and Cheri with AWPC Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script Notes: For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139, verses 13 and 14, New International Version ******** VK: Hello! Welcome to another episode of Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. I’m Victoria K in the studio and today we’re going to hear from two truly special ladies who are on the front lines of defending life every day. As long time Anchored by Truth listeners know we believe that there are four lines of evidence that demonstrate that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. First, the Bible is historically reliable. Second, the Bible displays a remarkable unity for a book that was composed by over 3 dozen human authors who wrote over a span of 1,500 years. Third, the Bible gives evidence of supernatural origin especially through a large body of fulfilled prophecy. And the 4th line of evidence is that the Bible has resulted in an untold number of lives that have been positively changed by its transcendent message. So today we’re going to hear from two ladies who find their source of strength and faith in the Bible. Today in the studio we have Jamie Brown who is the Executive Director of A Women’s Pregnancy Center in Tallahassee, Florida. We are also joined by Cheri West, the Director of Development for the center. Among other stories that we want to talk to Jamie and Cherie about is a very important upcoming event that is sponsored by A Women’s Pregnancy Center – their annual WALK for LIFE. This is a wonderful event that brings people from all over the Tallahassee community together to remind everyone how precious life is and how important it is to promote its preservation. So let’s welcome Jamie and Cheri to Anchored by Truth. Jamie and Cheri would you each like to say a word of greeting to the Anchored by Truth audience and maybe tell us a little about your background? Jamie: Thank you for inviting us to join you on Anchored by Truth. - Introductory comments by Jamie Cheri: We really appreciate this opportunity to be on Anchored by Truth especially at this time of year when the WALK for LIFE is just around the corner. - Comments by Cheri VK: Thank you Ladies for setting stage for today’s discussion for us. I’m sure our listeners would love to hear just a little about how you came to be involved with A Women’s Pregnancy Center. Since both of you are very strong Christians I’m sure that your faith played a major part in your desire to serve the Lord in a crisis pregnancy center. Could you tell us a little about how you developed a heart to serve women facing a crisis pregnancy and save vulnerable babies? Jamie: Jamie testimony/history Cheri: Cheri testimony/history VK: Well, I think that one of the things we can all draw from your stories is that when the Lord enters a life that life is going to change. In Isaiah 55:11 God tells us that His word will not return to Him empty or void. When God sends forth His word it will accomplish what He intends and it sounds very much like His word is accomplishing His purpose in your lives. While I’m sure that many of our Tallahassee listeners are familiar with A Women’s Pregnancy Center, some may not be. Jamie, would you mind telling us a little about AWPC? Jamie: Comments about mission and services of AWPC. VK: Obviously AWPC is providing services that are essential to the Tallahassee community. So, I think it’s fair to say that providing those services requires substantial resources. Cheri, how does A Women’s Pregnancy Center go about raising the funds necessary to continue providing these services that are literally life-saving? Cheri: Comments about AWPC funding and introduction to WALK for LIFE event. VK: So, the WALK for LIFE is an annual event and will be taking place shortly on Saturday, March 26th. And just to reiterate for the benefit of the listeners the WALK for LIFE will be on Saturday, March 26, 2022. This sounds like a great opportunity for anyone in Tallahassee who cares about mothers and children to get involved in defending and protecting life. How can anyone who is interested in being involved get more information? What is the best way for them to get started? Jamie or Cheri (or both): Comments about getting information about the WALK and how to sign up. VK: Well, just to be clear for those who may already have commitments for that day but still want to get involved in protecting vulnerable babies what is the best way for them to do that? Does AWPC need or take volunteers or additional donations of money or baby supplies? Jamie or Cheri (or both): Comments about ongoing needs at AWPC. VK: As I’m sure both of you can tell our listeners, working in the crisis pregnancy center can be very demanding on both staff and volunteers. I’m sure you see things on a regular basis, perhaps daily sometimes, that are very difficult to absorb. I’m also sure that it is your faith in a sustaining God that keeps you going forward. Are there any Bible verses that are particular favorites of either of you? Does the staff at the Center have any regular times where you meet for prayer or Bible study? Jamie or Cheri (or both): Comments about Bible/prayers. VK: Well Ladies, before we close out for today I think it’s important to note that your work with A Women’s Pregnancy Center gives you the chance to come into contact with some very well-known figures. For instance, I know that at one of your recent banquets former Presidential candidate and Housing and Urban Development Secretary, Dr. Ben Carson came to town to give the keynote address. What observations have you made about how these figures approach their faith that might be helpful to the Anchored by Truth audience? Jamie or Cheri (or both): Comments about faith of people who support AWPC. VK: Well I think that is a pretty powerful testimony. And I want you to know that here at Anchored by Truth and Crystal Sea Books we definitely share your feelings about the need for everyone to embrace the Bible and for the importance of prayer. That’s why our Founder, RD Fierro, wrote his book Purposeful Prayers – because so many people had told him that while they knew they needed to pray more they just didn’t know how. They especially felt uncomfortable if they participated in public prayer and many absolutely refused to lead a public prayer. So, RD went to the Bible and diligently tried to see how the great figures in the Bible approached prayer. And he wrote Purposeful Prayers to help anyone who felt the struggle. We also have some pre-recorded prayers available through our website, crystalseabooks.com to help people even more. For a nominal amount people can download prayers for a wide variety of situations that typically provoke prayer like for an upcoming surgery or for a friend who is sick. You know I think it might be helpful for Cheri to go over the AWPC websites one more time for the listeners. VK: Jamie or Cheri, do you have any final thoughts for the Anchored by Truth audience for today - perhaps thoughts about things for which you’re particularly grateful? Jamie or Cheri: Final thoughts VK: Thank you for providing those. I think that will be very helpful. It’s obvious that A Women’s Pregnancy Center is doing very important work for the kingdom of Christ. In Jeremiah, chapter 1, verse 5 God told the prophet “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart…” That is such a powerful thought. The God who framed the galaxies and set the stars ablaze is such a personal God that he forms each of us in our mother’s wombs – and he knows us. He sets us all apart. A lot of people today may not feel like God has much use for them but that’s just wrong. God can use anybody and He wants to use everybody. As someone once said, the only ability of ours that God needs is our availability. The truth of that observation is certainly present in Jamie and Cheri’s lives. They made themselves available and God took that availability and is using it to literally save lives. What could be more mind boggling than to know that God can do that with each of us? God can save lives through us if we will let Him. God can save eternal destinies through us – if we will just let Him. And maybe one way God can start using some new people is by going to the WALK for LIFE and seeing what God wants to start in your life. Our God is a God of surprises. We can never be sure how much He will use us until we turn our lives over to Him and trust Him to bring His will to fruition. VK: We’d really like to thank Jamie Brown and Cheri West from A Women’s Pregnancy Center for being our guests on Anchored by Truth today. I think we can all be inspired by the kind of faith that they display in their service to Christ Jesus. And while we didn’t get a chance to talk as much as we’d like about Jamie and Cheri’s lives and service it’s obvious their faith is yielding a bountiful harvest for the Lord and continues to yield blessings to a great many even today. Their story, and the story of all the volunteers and staff at AWPC is just one more example of how sacred scripture –the Bible – continues to demonstrate its supernatural nature through lives that are changed for the better for all eternity by its saving power. Today for our closing prayer how about if we pray that everyone would come to a saving knowledge of the God of the Bible who is our one sure anchor to truth. ---- Prayer for the spiritually lost, radio version. VK: We’d like to let our listeners know that while many of our episodes are linked together in series of topics. Today’s episode was a special one. But for any listeners who would like to hear today’s episode one more time to get the information they can go to their favorite podcast app. And, of course, if they missed any episodes in any of our series, or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.” If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not perfect, but our Boss is!” (Bible Quotes from the New International Version) Psalm 139, verses 13 and 14, New International Version Home - A Women's Pregnancy Center (awomenspregnancycenter.com) Donor Website: www.lifeisprecious.net WALK for LIFE website: www.joinwalkforlife.com Prayer for babies AWPC website: www.prayforbabies.com/awpc Prayer for babies Mosaic website: www.prayforbabies.com/mosaic

Reminding you of God's promises to you found in Psalm 121.

A prayer for you to help you get through; I love you: God loves us most.

A prayer for you, Beloved.

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