A big stir was aroused in the media when the eminent British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking argues that God did not create the universe and the "Big Bang" was an inevitable consequence of the laws of physics in his new book "The Grand Design," co-authored with U.S. physicist Leonard Mlodinow. Hawking claims a new series of theories made a creator of the universe redundant, as he writes:

"Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist." "It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going."

Ironically, Hawking is the Cambridge University's Lucasian Professor of Mathematics, a position once held by Sir Isaac Newton, considered by many the greatest physicist of all time, and credited with the discovery of the Law of Gravity. Newton was also known to be a devout Christian and Bible student who wrote about the prophecies of Daniel. Stay tuned ... I will tell you more about Newton vs. Hawking and let you decide who is more believable.

Hawking's latest comments suggest he has become more skeptical of the existence of God. Previously, he wrote that the laws of physics meant it was simply not necessary to believe that God had intervened in the Big Bang, as quoted in his best selling 1988 book "A Brief History of Time." "If we discover a complete theory, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason -- for then we should know the mind of God."

Now in his latest book, Hawking said the 1992 discovery of a planet orbiting another star other than the Sun helped deconstruct the view of the father of physics Isaac Newton that the universe could not have arisen out of chaos but was created by God.

"That makes the coincidences of our planetary conditions -- the single Sun, the lucky combination of Earth-Sun distance and solar mass, far less remarkable, and far less compelling evidence that the Earth was carefully designed just to please us human beings," he writes.

Let me stress an important comment here about believability. The news you receive from the newspapers, TV, science journals, etc. are all biased toward believing what modern scientists tell us. They announce a discovery of a planet outside our solar system that is orbiting a distant star. Then they proclaim that life likely exists on this planet! This conclusion is drawn from the presupposed model of how life could form by chance, which is based on the evolutionary model of life arising on Earth. Remember this is a model and not actual scientific fact as you are led to believe. Now, if you examine Hawking's statements closely you will see his underlying philosophy behind the facts. Even if other planets exist orbiting other suns; does that make life on Earth any less unique? I think not. The remarkable, probability defying combination of physical, chemical and biological factors, any of which being altered would make life on Earth impossible ... remain unexplainable without an intelligent cause. In order to reject the need for God, Hawking needs you to believe there is nothing special about our Earth and its location in the universe. There is nothing special about the life here on Earth, either. Note also that we are considered self-centered bad guys for thinking we are special. Can you see how this parallels the modern sociological paradigm shift in America?

There are basically two philosophical models for the existence of the universe ... I call them philosophical because we do not have any actual proven or verified scientific model ... either the universe was created or came into being by itself. Accepting a Big Bang model rules out the ancient Hindu belief in an eternal or steady state universe, because the universe must have had a beginning. First, let's look at the Big Bang, including quotes form Hawking. Note he admits to his theory being an assumption.

"Now at first sight, all this evidence that the universe looks the same whichever direction we look in might seem to suggest there is something special about our place in the universe. In particular, it might seem that if we observe all other galaxies to be moving away from us, then we must be at the center of the universe. There is, however, an alternate explanation: the universe might look the same in every direction as seen from any other galaxy too. This, as we have seen, was Friedmann's second assumption. We have no scientific evidence for, or against, this assumption. We believe it only on grounds of modesty: it would be most remarkable if the universe looked the same in every direction around us, but not around other points in the universe!" Why the big bang: Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time, p. 42:

'However we are not able to make cosmological models without some admixture of ideology. In these earliest cosmologies, man placed himself in a commanding position at the centre of the universe. Since the time of Copernicus we have been steadily demoted to a medium sized planet going round a medium sized star on the outer edge of a fairly average galaxy, which is itself simply one of a local group of galaxies. Indeed we are now so democratic that we would not claim that our position in space is specially distinguished in any way. We shall, following Bondi(1960), call this assumption the Copernican principle'[emphasis added]. The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time, Stephen Hawking and George Ellis.

We see how these cosmology models are driven by Darwinian evolution in this quote: 'The Copernican revolution taught us that it was a mistake to assume, without sufficient reason, that we occupy a privileged position in the Universe. Darwin showed that, in terms of origin, we are not privileged above other species. Our position around an ordinary star in an ordinary galaxy in an ordinary supercluster [the local group of galaxies] continues to look less and less special. The idea that we are not located in a special spatial location has been crucial in cosmology, leading directly to the [big bang theory]. In astronomy the Copernican principle works because, of all the places for intelligent observers to be, there are by definition only a few special places and many nonspecial places, so you are likely to be in a nonspecial place' J. Richard Gott, III, "Implications of the Copernican Principle for our Future Prospects," Nature 363:315-319, 1993. So just how believable is the Big Bang? You probably thought it was believable because it was based on our most advanced scientific data ... but it is based upon an assumed model and conclusions drawn from a limited amount of observational data. In a nutshell you are asked to believe.... that nothing produced something. It appears to me more reasonable to believe the old adage "from nothing, nothing comes." How believable is evolution? Something that is believable can be shown to be logically true based on experience and observation. How believable is creation? My next article will look at both creation and evolution in terms of three factors: Logic, Historical Fact, and Scientific Fact.

Larry Kisner, AzOSA Secretary and Board Member

Creation Worldviews Part 4. Biblical Creationism by Larry Kisner, M.S. Physics

Biblical Creationism

The basic tenants of Creation Science are summarized as follows:

The Bible reveals God’s creation; the Genesis account is true
Research reveals evidence for a young earth
Evidence claiming that evolution is a fact can be refuted

Creation scientists are not ashamed to make the bold proclamation that God is the Creator of all things. First of all, God has made Himself know through His creation. All you have to do is look up into the vast heavens and see all the stars, or look at the beauty of all the plants and animals on the earth, and you will see the handiwork of God.

For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him. Col 1:16

Creation scientists believe God’s Word is true; that He created everything in 6 days, as stated in Ex 20:11, that we are a special creation apart from the animals, created in God’s image, that man sinned and brought the curse of death upon all men, that God sent a great flood to destroy the world, but Noah and his wife and his sons and their wives were spared. Therefore we should see evidence a Noah’s flood, and we do. We should see genetic evidence that we are all descended from the sons of Noah, and we do in DNA studies. We will explore these things and much more in subsequent blogs.

We are held accountable for our beliefs. The Bible says in Romans 1 that we are without excuse for not believing in our Creator God.

Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, Rom 1:19-22

By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.
Ps 33:6-9

Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. Heb 11:3

Why is it important to believe in Biblical Creationism? If we adopt a comprised worldview and accept evolution, we must say that the Bible is not really God’s Word , but that the Genesis account of creation is just an allegory written to ignorant men long ago who couldn’t understand the science we know today. The Book of Genesis not only tells us about creation, but about sin, death, marriage, worship, love, and many more important doctrines of the faith. If we deny creation, which is the foundation for all other doctrines, then how can we defend all the rest of the Bible? Ultimately, how do we defend the teachings of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who affirmed the Genesis account of creation? The answer is, we can’t.

Creation Worldviews Part 3. Gap Theory by Larry Kisner, M.S. Physics

The Gap Theory

The gap theory is an attempt by Christian theologians to reconcile the time scale of world history found in Genesis with the popular belief that geologists provide "undeniable" evidence that the world is exceedingly old. The gap theory is described as follows:

“In the far distant dateless past, God created a perfect heaven and perfect earth. Satan was ruler of the earth, which was peopled by a race of "men" without any souls. Satan, rebelled by desiring to become like God. Because of Satan's fall, sin entered the universe and brought on the earth God's judgment in the form of a flood. All the plant, animal, and human fossils upon the earth today date from this "Lucifer's flood" and do not bear any relationship with the plants, animals, and fossils living upon the earth today. Some versions of the gap theory state that the fossil record (geologic column) formed over millions of years, then God destroyed the earth with a catastrophe that left it "without form and void.“ This all happened between Gen 1:1-1:2.

Some of the inconsistencies in the gap theory are as follows:

God says He created everything in 6 days and that it was good. No gap is mentioned in the Bible.

The gap theory puts sin, death, and disease before the fall of man. The Bible says that sin, death, and disease are the result of the fall of Adam.
The gap theory accepts the geologic column with the long ages of earth, extinction of the dinosaurs, etc. A literal interpretation of creation in the Bible is inconsistent with a literal interpretation of the geologic column.

The gap theory replaces Noah’s flood with a “satanic” catastrophe. Some even deny Noah’s flood was global for fear of ridicule by geologists who believe in a global flood on Mars but not on Earth!

Gap theory proponents say Gen 3:3 and Rom 5:12 refers to spiritual death, but this
Contradicts Gen 3:22-23 and 1 Cor 15. In placing on man the curse of physical death, God provided a way to redeem man through the person of His Son Jesus Christ.

Creation Worldviews Part 2. Theistic Evolution and Progressive Creation by Larry Kisner, M.S., Physics

Theistic Evolution/Progressive Creation

Those who embrace Theistic Evolution or Progressive Creationism accept the following evolutionary timescale of creation:

About 16 billion years ago the universe came into being out of a big bang. Then, about 4.billion years ago the earth evolved. About 3.5 billion years ago life evolved on earth. Finally, humans evolved from ape-like creatures 1-2 billion years ago.

Basically, the Theistic Evolution worldview is based on the acceptance of the current big bang theory and resultant stellar evolution of galaxies and planets, then biological evolution. In other words the big bang was initiated by God and then everything was left to natural processes. In terms of interpreting the scientific data, evolutionists and theistic evolutionists believe the current theories set forth by the evolution model. Therefore the Theistic Evolution worldview is a compromise because the Bible cannot be taken as the literal word of God. The creation days must be accepted as long periods of time.

Progressive Creationism also accepts the evolutionary time scale, big bang, stellar evolution, life on earth evolving up to pre-adamic apemen. The progressive creationist professes to believe in God, and believe in Jesus Christ as Savior; however, when it comes to science they accept the current evolutionary theory. Thus they deny the literal Bible account of creation, saying the stars and sun evolved out of the big bang, so the earth started out as a fiery mass, not as water and land, the stars and sun must have been created before the earth, and the birds could not have been created before the reptiles because the birds supposedly evolved from bird ancestors. They also deny the literal six days of creation and take each day as billions of years to accommodate the supposed evolutionary time scale.

Thus Progressive Creationism, in an attempt to appease the scientific community, denies what God clearly says in Genesis 1-11 and Exodus 20:11, and what Jesus affirmed in the New Testament about creation. Do you want to put your faith in the Bible, which is unchanging, or in the latest theories of science that continually change.

AzOSA President Joseph Kezele has received an invitation to go Latvia in September and to the Ukraine in late September to teach Creation Evangelism in churches and in universities there. In addition, he would also be teaching the same material in Smolensk, Russia, as part of a mission team, immediately following the time in the Ukraine. Since 1995 he has made a total of 6 trips to Russia and additional trips to Armenia (twice), Bosnia, Lithuania, Latvia and Mexico (twice) for the express purpose of teaching Creation Science Evangelism. This total does not include medical or standard evangelical mission trips. Altogether these add up to 21 foreign mission trips, all paid for out of his own pocket.

Grand total cost for this trip is approximately $5,000, but there are still several variables not yet set. This trip relates directly to AzOSA Objective #1 "To promote Creation Science in churches, in schools, and in our culture in general." but not in this country. Resources and people available to conduct this type of ministry are scant in eastern Europe; Objective #2 "To relate the Bible of the Christian faith to the sciences and disciplines in the educational world and in industry" (trip applies directly to the educational world in universities and possibly high schools but probably not industry); Objective #3 "To raise up and equip people to present Creation Science and the authority of God's Word." by presenting the material in Mike Riddle's Christian Teacher/Leader Training, which I am currently teaching in my Sunday school class at Black Mountain Baptist Church ; and Objective #4 "To promote research to study Creation Science and Biblical Creation." (although not addressed directly, research could develop as fruit from this trip could lead to that.

In all three countries there is an overwhelming need to overcome decades of atheistic indoctrination, to place before people the foundational understanding of creation so that they see the need for salvation, just as Paul did in Acts 17.

Dr. Kezele has received permission from the AzOSA Board of Directors to put this request before our membership and interested people to give them the opportunity to contribute to the cost of this mission trip for this reason: in the space of two days three Christian brothers, unknown to each other told him to make this opportunity available for others who cannot go this themselves, but can participate through prayer and financial support. Please send contributions to International Commission, 260 West Continental Drive, Lewisville, Texas 75067. Designate it separately for Russia Project 2010 - Joseph Kezele.



The International Commission website (www.ic-world.org) states that "International Commission being a 501C3 non-profit organization and this being an evangelistic effort rather than a vacation or tour, all funds paid directly to IC are gifts and are receipted as charitable contributions. All gifts are non-refundable but can be transferred to another participant or future project". Thank you for your prayers and participation.

In this article we will begin to explore several creation worldviews or belief paradigms:
Intelligent Design
Theistic Evolution
Progressive Creationism
Gap Theory or Ruin-Restoration Theory
Biblical Creationism
First, we will look at the basic questions of life. You can ignore these questions and just live your life the way you want, but you are traveling down a slippery slope toward destruction. Pr 14:12 There is a way which seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

Who am I? An animal with higher intelligence evolved from the primordial soup? Am I made in the image and likeness of God? Am I fearfully and wonderfully made, or just a cosmic accident? Do you believe Gen 1:27, Ps 139:14 or your Biology teacher?
Why am I here? Does my existence have a purpose? Is there really a God and he loves me? Can I trust in the Bible verses John 3:16, Romans 5:8, Titus 3:4-7?
What is going to happen to me when I die? Is this all there is: struggle, suffering, maybe a few happy days, then you die? Is there any way I can know how to go to heaven? Do I need to believe in Jesus to be saved? Can I believe the Bible’s answer? Rom 3:23, Rom 6:23, John 3:3, John 14:6, 1 John 5:13

You basically have two worldview choices: creation or evolution. However many people try to mix these worldviews, but we shall see that these mixed worldviews are all compromises. The Bible says God formed man out of the dust of the earth; evolution says we evolved from apes. How can you believe in God and evolution at the same time? As we shall see, you must twist the Bible interpretation of days, add gaps, or have ape-creatures before Adam was created. Let's look at some creation worldviews. First Intelligent design:

Intelligent Design Points to Creation but not the Bible
Intelligent Design avoids bringing God or the Bible into consideration. Many intelligent design proponents do not believe in God. Most intelligent design proponents believe in some type of directed evolution.

The arguments for intelligent design are very compelling, for example the irreducible complexity of a bacterial flagellant. The complex cells could not have evolved by random chance; they must have been designed.
Scientists have trained multitudes of telescopes toward the heavens searching for signs of extraterrestrial life. If they receive a signal with a little information, for example a set of numbers in a geometric progression, 1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21 it would prove an intelligent being sent the message.

Meanwhile, in the genetics lab, scientists find an intelligent, non-random, reproducible code in our DNA and conclude there is no intelligent design in life and fight to keep this information out of the classroom.

I attended an Intelligent Design conference at Arizona State University and at the end of the conference a student asked, “Is the Intelligent Designer the God of the Bible?” The professor said, “Oh No, we do not want to offend anyone by bringing religion into the discussion.” So we see this is a compromised worldview. We must lead people to God or all this scientific discovery will be meaningless. We can however use a lot of information from Intelligent Design to refute evolution before we present the case for creation.

My next Blog will discuss Theistic Evolution.

Larry Kisner, M.S. Physics, Secretary and Board Member, AzOSA

The Creation of the World

1In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

My View: God created the entire scope of the earth in six, 24 hour literal days.

Why:

• Supernatural God.
• Historical exegetical view of Genesis.
• Linguistic study of the word day.
• Bracketing of each day by morning and evening.

The belief of a literal 6-day creation week comes from Scripture not from science.

The Supernatural ability of God in Scripture regularly operates outside the known scientific facts of our world.

Faith cannot be removed while trying to understand the Scriptures.

Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Isaiah 55:6-11 6(A) "Seek the LORD while he may be found;

call upon him while he is near;

7let the wicked forsake his way,

and the unrighteous man his thoughts;

let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him,

and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

8For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.

9(B) For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

10(C) "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven

and do not return there but water the earth,

making it bring forth and sprout,

(D) giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

11so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;

it shall not return to me empty,

but(E) it shall accomplish that which I purpose,

and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

John 3:12 12If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

UNDERSTANDING THE USE OF THE WORD DAY

There are three different translations of the Hebrew word day:

• A 12 hour period of light: Gn. 1:5, 14, 16, 18.
• A 24 hour period. Gn. 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31.
• The entire creative week. Gn. 2:4.

Note: There is nothing contextually to give the impression of a day is equal to millions of years.

Note: However long the “days” were, they were all the same length contextually, which translates to the reader to take as literal.

Note: The longest time period for a “day” in the text and context of the creation is 6 literal days.

SCRIPTURE DOES USE THE WORD “YOM” TO REFER TO A MUCH LONGER THAN 24 HOUR DAY.

Psalm 90:4. 4For a thousand years in your sight

are but as yesterday when it is past,

or as a watch in the night.

2 Peter 3:8. 8But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

These verses contextually portray to us the power and patience of God, not an amount of time He requires to do a day’s work.

The most common use of the word “yom” is a 24 hour period of time.

MOSES CHOSE TO BRACKET EACH PERIOD OF TIME WITH A REFERENCE TO MORNING AND EVENING.

Scripture continued through revelation to maintain a 6, 24 hour literal creation:

Exodus 20:11. 11For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Exodus 31:17. 17 It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that(B) in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and(C) on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.'"

THE CONTINUED REVELATION OF SCRIPTURE MAINTAINS THAT GOD’S POWER WAS CERTAINLY POTENT ENOUGH TO CREATE ALL THAT HAD BEEN CREATED IN SIX TWENTY-FOUR HOUR DAYS!!!

Creation was spoken by God:

6By(A) the word of the LORD the heavens were made,

and by(B) the breath of his mouth all(C) their host.

7He gathers the waters of the sea as(D) a heap;

he(E) puts the deeps in storehouses.

8Let all the earth fear the LORD;

let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!

9For(F) he spoke, and it came to be;

he commanded, and it stood firm.

Colossians 1:16-17. 16For by him all things were created,(A) in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether(B) thrones or(C) dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created(D) through him and for him. 17And(E) he is before all things, and in him all things(F) hold together.

Jeremiah 51:15. 15(A) "It is he who made the earth by his power,

who established the world by his wisdom,

and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.

Ed, I wanted to share this with you and thank you for your passion to have an understanding of God’s word. Hopefully this will help us to defend the Word and to lead people to Christ with an intellectual and scientific viewpoint. Obviously, you can tell I need to change my answer to question # 5. Lo l

Love you brother, God bless and thanks again for challenging me so God could change me!!!!

Pastor Billy

By Mike Riddle, Director of Education for AzOSA and Full time staff at Answers in Genesis

2 Timothy 2:15

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Christian scholarship (study, learning) is not just necessary for church leaders, but to every Christian. As Christians we have a mandate to have ready answers (2 Peter 3:15), to be discerning (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22), teach all nations (Matthew 28:19-20) and be doers of the Word (James 1:22).

If we are going to be effective in proclaiming the Gospel to a nation that has abandoned biblical authority, we must study and rightly know how to handle the Scriptures. There are at least three reasons Christian scholarship is necessary in our endeavors to proclaim the Gospel.

First, it is necessary for evangelism. Without knowledge how can someone believe? A very little knowledge is often sufficient for someone to believe, but some knowledge must be there. If someone is to trust Christ, they must know something about Him. God has provided two sources of knowledge: His Word and His creation (Romans 1:19-20). A “simple faith” is not enough for evangelism. Advocates of a “simple faith” miss the opportunity to build believers into effective Christians. Christian scholarship is important in order that we can tell the whole story of Jesus - Creator and Savior (rightfully handling the Word of God).

Second, it is necessary for a defense of the faith (apologetics). There are people in the church that teach that no defense of the faith is necessary. Christianity that avoids defending the faith is not the Christianity of the New Testament. The writings of Paul are full of argument in defense of the faith. The words of Jesus are full of argument in defense of the truth. Many of the parables of Jesus are argumentative in character. The Bible mandates all Christians to know how to defend their faith (1 Peter 3:15, Jude 3, Col 4:5-6, Titus 1:9). It is ineffective to proclaim a Gospel that people cannot hold to be true. We are living in a time of great conflict against the authority of God’s Word. It is not easy to defend the faith against the forceful attacks from proponents of evolution and the secular media. Therefore, knowledge of the truth is necessary (study to show thyself approved).

Third, it is necessary for building up the church. Paul, the great evangelist, thrived in preaching the Gospel in places where it not been heard. Yet his writings are full of edification and building up those who had already been won. There is a great need in the church today to return to solid instruction. We need teachers whose instruction goes beyond teaching current events and social issues and focuses on Christian doctrine (A workman that needs not be ashamed).

For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. (Hebrews 5:12)