The Bulletin
of the
Church of Christ at
New Georgia
Tim Johnson, editor
July 28, 2002
In
This Issue:
Blind
Faith and the Eye of the Octopus
By
Steve Klein
A
Summary of Old Testament
Books
from
Focus Magazine
Blind Faith and the Eye of the Octopus
"A startling coincidence" and "amazing almost beyond belief." These are the words which evolutionary scientists use to describe the similarity between the eye of the octopus and the eye of man. According to evolutionists, the octopus and the human are about as far apart on the evolutionary tree as two species can get. Supposedly, their only common ancestor was some primitive organism that existed millions and millions of years ago. Yet their eyes are amazingly similar. What are the chances of that happening? Just imagine -- the marvelous human eye, evolving from pond scum, not once, but twice!
It is interesting to see the way evolutionists ignore facts and mathematical probability when it comes to things like the eye of the octopus. In The Life of the Ocean, a book published by McGraw Hill and written by evolutionists, the authors admit that the eye of the octopus and the eye of man "are more than just similar--they are virtually identical in every detail." They say that "either of these eyes, considered by itself, is one of the most wonderful of all objects in the natural world. That evolution could produce such an object twice is amazing almost beyond belief" (pgs. 68-69).
Evolutionists indeed believe that the creation of a human-like eye occurred twice through evolutionary chance. They admit that this is "amazing almost beyond belief," and yet they believe it anyway. Then they turn around and accuse Christians of having "blind faith." Whose faith is really blind? If the evolutionist would open his eyes to the facts, he could see the plainly visible holes in the general theory of evolution. Even an octopus could see them.
by Steve Klein
How well do you know your Old Testament? Here is a review of Old Testament books.
Genesis -- Beginnings of the human race: 4 events (creation, fall, flood, nations), 1-11; Beginning of the Hebrew race: 4 people (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph), 12-50
Exodus -- Moses; plagues in Egypt; departure; Red Sea; Sinai; the Ten Commandments; the Tabernacle; and the Law
Leviticus -- Priests' handbook. Sacrifice, tabernacle worship, ritual purity, feast days
Numbers -- census of fighting men; departure from Sinai; the guiding cloud; murmuring; the spies; wandering 40 years in the wilderness
Deuteronomy -- the "second" giving of the Law; follows the Hittite suzerainty treaty "pat-tern Moses' last words
Joshua -- Conquest and partition of the land of promise
Judges -- Dark ages of Israelite history; continuous cycles of sin, servitude, supplication, and salvation; "Judges" were deliverers; "In those days there was no king..."
Ruth -- love story of a foreign ancestor of David (and Jesus); focus in Bethlehem
I Samuel -- transition between Judges and United Monarchy - king Saul, rise of David
II Samuel -- reign of David: the good, bad and ugly
I Kings - - prominence of Solomon; beginnings of a Divided Kingdom
II Kings - - Divided kingdom; captivity for both north and south
I Chronicles -- post-captivity history and genealogy of Israel; focus on Davidic institutions
II Chronicles -- history of the United and Divided kingdoms from post-captivity Judahite perspective
Ezra -- rebuilding respect for the Law after the return from exile
Nehemiah -- rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem
Esther -- staving off extermination; lesson of divine providence
Job -- problem of human suffering
Psalms -- national hymnbook of Israel
Proverbs -- wisdom for life (especially valuable for teenagers)
Ecclesiastes -- meaning and purpose of life
Song of Songs -- romantic love (possibly among newlyweds)
Isaiah -- Judahite crisis at the end of the 8th century B.C.; projections of comfort after the coming Babylonian captivity; glimpses of Messianic glory
Jeremiah -- downfall of Jerusalem and spiritual commentary
Lamentations -- funeral dirge for a fallen people
Ezekiel -- apocalyptic message for a people facing a long captivity
Daniel -- a picture of captivity from inside the royal courts; a peek at the distant future for God's people
Hosea -- Northern Israel an unfaithful adulteress and God's punishment: Assyrian captivity
Joel -- Locust plague and its apocalyptic dimensions
Amos -- Judgment pronounced on Israel; much like Hosea, but from the mouth of a "southern" herdsman
Obadiah -- Woe to Edom, an unfaithful "brother"
Jonah -- running away from God (ch. 1); to God (2); with God (3); and ahead of God (4)
Micah -- contemporary of Isaiah, with much the same emphasis
Nahum -- Judgment pronounced against Nineveh of Assyria, historic enemy of God's people
Habakkuk -- focuses on God's judgment, using Babylonian power, against Judah; questions God's justice
Zephaniah -- parallel to Jeremiah; fall of Jerusalem and apocalyptic dimensions of future restoration
Haggai -- catalyst to rebuilding the Temple
Zechariah -- exhortations after the return from exile, and the apocalyptic/messianic dimensions
Malachi -- cleaning up abuses in the Temple; prediction of a new era with the coming of "Elijah"
Focus Magazine, April 2001