From Movements.net by Steve Addison: India Christianity made it to India during or soon after the apostolic age. There is good reason to believe it was the Apostle Thomas who brought it there. There have been followers of Jesus in India for 2,000 years. Today Christians account for less than 3% of the population, but …
Continue reading An example of the difference Christianity makes in the world
Young-Earth creationists commonly assert that until the 1700s, the almost universal interpretation of Genesis 1 was six consecutive literal 24-hour days about 6000 years ago. They say that the only reason that Christian scholars since then have suggested alternative interpretations was because they have sought to impose science on Scripture. Justin Taylor, on his Between …
Continue reading The doctrine of creation before Westminster and before Darwin
I recently read two quotes by H.G. Wells, one written before World War II, and the other after. Can we doubt that presently our race will more than realize our boldest imaginations, that it will achieve unity and peace, and that our children will live in a world made more splendid and lovely than any …
The ESV Study Bible is a theologically conservative Evangelical work, and is certainly one of the most comprehensive study Bibles ever produced. It has been out for only three years, but it looks like it will be a highly influential reference work for decades to come.One potential positive impact of the ESVSB relates to its …
Continue reading The ESV Study Bible on creation — Dinosaurs in Job?
What should Congress cut? According to a recent Pew Research Center poll, American Evangelicals are most likely to favor reducing funding for the following items in the federal budget: Aid to the world's poor Unemployment Environment Health care Scientific research Aid to U.S. poor In each of these cases, Evangelicals were more likely than non-Evangelicals …
American researchers have completed the second deepest Antarctic ice core ever drilled. Analysis of dust and entrapped air bubbles give a picture of the Earth's atmosphere and climate over the past 100,000 years. From the National Science Foundation: Ice Cores Yield Rich History of Climate Change -- Research project completes drilling for the year, reaching …
Continue reading Antarctic ice cores: a window to ice age climate change
Two petroleum articles from Yahoo News... The first article is about declining petroleum outputs from Saudi Arabia: WikiLeaks: Saudis running out of oil The latest startling revelation to come via documents leaked to Julian Assange's muckraking website and published by The Guardian should give pause to every suburban SUV-driver: U.S. officials think Saudi Arabia is …
Warning: the following statement is anecdotal and not the result of any sort of formal research: Christian kids who are home schooled all the way from pre-school through high school are only about fifty percent likely to retain their Christian faith once they finish high school. As I said, this "statistic" is not the result …
Continue reading Creationism, home schooling, and falling away from the Christian faith
Romans 14 is primarily about how Christians should handle differences over "disputable matters" (v. 1, NIV 1984). In this chapter, the apostle Paul writes about issues that were important to the church of the first century A.D., such as dietary questions and observance of special days, such as the Sabbath. Paul urged the believers to …
Christianity Today has released its book awards for 2011 (meaning, of course, books that came out in 2010). I haven't read a single one of them! Do you have any suggestions for one that I really ought to read? Or are there any that you really liked or disliked? Some of the books listed here …
Welcome readers from Skepchick. I invite you to look around; a good place to start would be my Best of The GeoChristian page, which is only partially complete.There are newer posts beneath this one. Ever since eighteenth century geologists suggested that the Earth might be older than 6000 years, Biblical scholars have attempted to reconcile …
I was recently asked, "What one thing bothers you most about the world?" Here was my reply: The world isn't the way it is supposed to be. Rather than being a place of beauty, peace, and abundance, it is a place of desecration, conflict, and poverty. What bothers you most about the world? Grace and …
Continue reading What one thing bothers me most about the world?
The mega-storm that has affected over 100,000,000 people in the United States turned out to be somewhat wimpy here in St. Louis. At our house we got lots of rain, then about 0.25 inches of ice, followed by two inches of sleet, topped by a few inches of snow (hard to tell exactly how much …
From the ESRI Map Book Online volume 25: What if all the polar ice melted? The description from the ESRI Map Book: This map is a depiction of Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts/Cape Cod inundated by a 67-meter (73-yard) sea level rise resulting from a total melting of the polar ice caps. Although an unlikely …
Helping the poor and caring for the creation often go hand in hand. From Scott Sabin of Plant With Purpose: The Connection Between the Poor and the Earth. Here are a couple quotes: I frequently get asked how we, as Christians, choose between caring for the poor and caring for creation, as if we have …
The rover Opportunity has been on the surface of Mars for over seven years now. From Astronomy Picture of the Day for January 29th: Opportunity at Santa Maria Crater. The panorama is much more detailed on the APOD site. The description from APOD: Celebrating 7 years on the surface of the Red Planet, Mars exploration …
The ESV Study Bible is a theologically conservative Evangelical work, and is certainly one of the most comprehensive study Bibles ever produced. It has been out for only three years, but it looks like it will be a highly influential reference work for decades to come. One potential positive impact of the ESVSB relates to …
Continue reading The ESV Study Bible on creation — Noah’s flood
Mountain lion in St. Louis County! -- This doesn't happen too often. A night-time wildlife camera captured a mountain lion in suburban St. Louis, less than ten miles from our home. We're a little more used to opossums, raccoons, deer, and wild turkeys around here. I don't worry too much about mountain lions when hiking …
I've had a number of young-Earth creationists ask me, "Why can't you just believe the Bible?" My answer is, "I do believe the Bible. I just don't believe Answers in Genesis." Their assumption is because I don't believe the Earth is only 6000 years old, or that Noah's flood created most of Earth's geological features, …
"It's OK if someone is a Christian, as long as they aren't fanatical about it." We all know what they are talking about. Religion is OK to most people (except to Richard Dawkins and kin), as long as people don't get fanatical about it. Fanatics make the news, and it isn't pretty. Fred Phelps and …
Continue reading The problem with fanaticism — it’s not what you think
GeoChristian 