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Volume 1, Issue 12
| November 6, 2011 |
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The terrible 7.2 earthquake that hit eastern Turkey the same day as my last newsletter was centered not far from Mt. Ararat. NAMI's climbing team led by Parasut has rescued many in the hard hit city of Ercis, where many of their relatives live. Digging in the cold rain and snow and lacking sufficient tents for shelter, some of the team members became ill. Still, their experience digging among rocks under harsh conditions helped them pull out many alive. Keep everyone there in your prayers.
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The surprising power of truth
Greetings,
Welcome new readers who I met at last week's apologetics conference.
My colleague Reuben Dedmondt was surprised there by anger from a few questioners as he explained why NAMI's Ark site cannot have been fabricated. Even if his interlocutors did not agree, why were they angry? If the accusers do not believe that NAMI has actually found Noah's Ark, why not just let this die as have the many past claims? Reuben noted the comparatively open reception and mild challenges that claims based on the flimsiest evidence have previously received from the Creationist communities.
As we reflected, we realized that it is precisely the convincing power of NAMI's evidence that is responsible. Those angry were seeing their commitments to other theories and claims demolished by the truth. Though it may surprise you, I actually prefer these strong reactions to those who are just not interested in a fact that can change the attitude of our whole world towards the Bible. At least, they are impacted by truth. As a young man, the Apostle Paul was angry at Jesus's disciples. After his eyes were opened, he became the most devoted of them all.
If the Bible is true, it ought to have great power for explaining our world and for explaining history. Of course, it has no such power until we actually believe its words. As I explain in the Archaeological Evidence, until we believe the Bible, it is as an unpowered light bulb, regardless if it also be a good and sound bulb. Only when we actually believe the words of Scripture do they become a light for guiding our life and for searching archaeology and history.
In my last newsletter, I mentioned Karl Popper's criterion for determining theories that are truly scientific. To have that status, they must make specific predictions. That way they can be tested. I note in my book that, though neither a skeptical world nor anxious "believers" like to admit it, the Bible has the same power as the best of scientific theories. If we take the Bible's words at face (literally), they are specific enough to make testable predictions. Of course that means the Bible (theoretically) might also turn out to be false! To a worldly mind, it seems the riskiest of things to believe the Bible because it makes so many specific and amazing claims however wonderful if true. That is why a hard-hearted world will never believe the Bible.
I used the testable character of the Bible in my search for Noah's Flood. I considered what had to be true if Noah's Flood is historical and what would not be true if the Flood is not in fact historical. I looked for disappearance of the earth's population just prior to about 4,000 years ago. I also looked for a new dispersion of mankind that was completely different in character from the earlier population. I also considered the evidence of continuity of civilizations beyond this time, which many claim disproves the Flood. Due to the muddled state of mankind's present knowledge, it seemed, as has been the case of other searchers, that the Flood did not in fact take place. The Bible's account of Noah's Flood hung over my faith as a dark and depressing cloud.
How surprised I was to accidentally discover that archaeologists have already noticed the sudden change in archaeological population and culture due to Noah's Flood. Of course, they have failed to recognize the cause. For years, I trembled as I studied the matter of the Flood, supposing that I might eventually find my theory refuted. As I discovered the true character of the ancient burials that are presently given a religious interpretation, I gained confidence in my theory. I came to understand that the Bible wasn't just right about its account of the Flood. It proved right in all its details surrounding that event.
I now have a powerful light for studying archaeology, geology, biology, cosmology, and ancient history. This ancient document explains so clearly what the world now sees as mankind's dark and muddled past. It will continue to seem that way to the world until they use the proper light. Currently, there are two main lights that are used for studying these subjects. Much of the world uses the evolutionary "light." As I explain below, evolution doesn't really give us any light because it doesn't predict anything specific. It is only a way of explaining rather than predicting. The other light used for explaining the past is that of the Creationists who use Noah's Flood as a way of explaining 24-hour Creation days. Again, it doesn't make predictions as to what might actually be found. What it does predict - that little or no evidence of the antediluvian world will ever be found - is in fact false.
I also experienced trepidation when I first explored NAMI's discovery. I knew that by endorsing their discovery, I would be risking the credibility of twenty years work on Noah's Flood and ancient history. My archaeological judgement would be remembered for that. The truth seems risky proportionately to what will become its surprising power to help us see. What I saw in NAMI's evidence had the same power as my own discoveries. Made up theories are like idols and false gods: someone must constantly defend them. The truth can defend itself. Truth has power both to demolish and build.
Best regards,
Philip Williams
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New recipients
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Testing the source of light: is it light from, or light on?
Are we getting light from the fossil record or just shining some kind of light on the fossil record? Likewise, are we using the light of Scripture to understand, or shining someone else's light upon the Scriptures?
How do we know that we are getting our light from the evidence, or whether we are shining a light that we already have upon the evidence? Similarly, are we getting our light from the Scriptures, or just putting some external light on the Scriptures? That's the problem of hermeneutics (interpretation).
One way that we can know if we are putting our light on the subject is that we already know what we will find. Our light is just a way of interpreting. We never learn anything surprising or useful. But if the light is in fact coming either from the evidence or from the Scriptures, the more we study, the more we will discover. Receiving light from the source that we are studying requires us to be humble about what we think we already know about the Scriptures and about the evidence. As we get more light, what we learn will contradict what we previously believed! Else, we get no new light from what we study.
In the articles below, I explain that the modern world's two major ways of understanding the past - evolution and Creationism - are both modern lights that are imposed both on the evidence and the Scriptures. Because these lights are imposed, neither the evidence nor Scripture will ever contradict these theories. This need not be the case. If we allow the Scriptures to be the light in our study of the evidence, we will discover things that constantly increase our understanding of ancient history.
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| The Darwinian light
An agnostic mathematician explains why Darwinian theory in fact gives little light
 | | Dr. David Berlinski Interview |
Surprisingly, when I began my search for the Flood, I was a theistic evolutionist! In contrast to Noah's Flood, it didn't seem difficult to fit theistic evolution with the account of creation in Genesis' first chapter. Like many others, I supposed that God created through the evolutionary process. That, of course, is not the most straightforward way of interpreting Genesis. But what caused me to reject evolution was getting familiar with the evidence for evolutionary theory. Almost nothing I had been taught about evolution was true. Was I angry!
If the evidence is actually against it, how do we explain the dominance of evolutionary theory today? One reason is that everyone knows that life somehow came into being. For those who do not believe the Bible, this is the only naturalistic explanation. Another reason is that it is believed because it is so widely believed by those assumed to be familiar with the evidence. This is not in fact the case. If people really examined what is currently taught about natural history, no one would believe it.
The other reason is that today, evolution is assumed to be the chief alternative for those who reject Creationist science. Though I can still remember when most conservative Christians believed in an old earth, that tends to be forgotten. Ironically, Creationist Science keeps Darwinism alive, while Darwinists themselves prefer to promote Creationist science as the teachings of the Bible. To the contrary, the teachings of the Bible are: the teachings of the Bible.
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 The Archaeological Evidence
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The Archaeological Evidence of Noah's Flood is available from many online booksellers. We notice that the fastest and most reliable way of obtaining the book is from our website which can be accessed by clicking the book icon at right.
Price: $34.95
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NAMI's Ark documentary
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 (Documentary)
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| The Creationist light
Historian Ronald Numbers explains the roots of the what is in fact a modern theory
 | | Dr. Ronald Numbers Interview |
Today, most evangelicals who believe in a worldwide Flood have adopted the Creationist theology of interpreting the fossil evidence and for interpreting the Scriptures. They probably suppose it to be ancient. In fact it was first put forth by Seventh Day Adventist founder, Ellen G. White and adopted to geology by her disciple, George Frederick Price. Evangelicals adopted Price's theory in the latter half of the 20th century after it was incorporated (without due credit given) into Henry Morris's and John Whitcomb's Genesis Flood.
The theory is simple: coal, oil, gas, and fossils are not from ancient deposits but were created by a Flood that destroyed the earth's surface. Consequently, all human remains must date subsequent to the Flood. Creationist science amounts to an imposition of that view on the evidence. The term Creation Science actually dates to the 1980's. In an attempt to get this theory adopted in public schools, the proponents of Price's theory renamed it Creation Science.
At a time when mainline Christians were adopting the German criticism that sought to eliminate the Old Testament roots of Christianity, Seventh Day Adventists insisted on keeping them alive. Biblical scholars are just now catching up. When conservative Christians were accepting a local Flood, Price's New Geology (now called Creationist Science) maintained the biblical teachings of a worldwide Flood. In a time when most Christians apply most all of biblical prophecy either to the distant past or future, Adventists have delightfully held to the biblical way of applying these prophecies to Christian history.
Still, as in the case of Augustine, Luther, Calvin, and Wesley, some of Ms. White's theology and theories were rooted in the problems and thinking of her day. In truth, the biblical account of the Flood addresses more the issues of a wicked human civilization and continues with the history of Noah's family, but has little to say about the creation of coal, oil, and gas for use by modern man, as maintained by Creation Science. Because this Creationist Science account cannot explain the remains of early man in the light of the Bible, it is probably time for it to be retired. If we actually look at the evidence in the light of the words of the Bible, the worldwide Flood is plain.
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About Us
Christian Leaders & Scholars is the newsletter and publication site of Philip Ernest Williams, author of The Archaeological Evidence of Noah's Flood (2011). The site is also a ministry not only to Christian leaders and scholars but all who are interested in the more difficult issues pertaining to the Bible and its implications for science and history. (Read more) |
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