Facts & Faith

1991 Volume 5, No. 3
Fall

* Due to copyrights, original graphics and tables may not appear in these articles

Science in the News: Dinosaurs' Disappearance No Longer a Mystery

By Hugh Ross

When I was a graduate student in astronomy at the University of Toronto, three colleagues and I stayed up late one night calculating the frequency with which asteroid and comet impacts and nearby novae and supernovae would have wiped out Earth's large land animals. Based on the data we had gathered in our studies, we concluded that large-scale extinctions should occur at least once every ten million years. The thought then entered my mind that such astronomical disasters could explain many of the gaps we see in the fossil record. It seemed obvious, too, that some kind of divine intervention was necessary to explain the sudden reappearance of new species.

Several years later when I was researching material for my booklet Genesis One: A Scientific Perspective I found an article in Science titled "Extraterrestrial Cause for the Cretaceous-Tertiary Extinction" (v. 208, n. 4448, pp. 1095-1108). The authors of this article proposed that a six-mile-diameter asteroid caused the extinction of the dinosaurs that occurred 65 million years ago. In 1980 such an idea was treated by paleontologists as supermarket tabloid stuff. Only the prestige of the four authors, Nobel laureate Luis Alvarez and three other respected scientists from Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and the University of California at Berkeley, kept the paper from being ignored.

Berkeley team's discovery

Here is the story behind the development of the Berkeley team's research. Geologist Walter Alvarez, after returning from a field trip to Italy, mentioned to his father, Luis, his difficulty in coming up with a model to explain how a pencil-thin layer of gray clay at the top of the Cretaceous sediments may have been deposited. Luis suggested that Walter first measure the quantity of iridium in the clay to determine the time span over which the clay was deposited.

Iridium is an element of the platinum group. Though relatively abundant in the earth's core and in certain kinds of meteorites, it is an extremely rare element in the outer crust of the earth. What little does exist in the earth's crust, Luis reasoned, must have come from meteorite dust. Assuming that the quantity of iridium being deposited at the Cretaceous period is approximately the same as it is now, a measure of the amount of iridium in any given sedimentary layer helps determine the time scale for the sedimentary process in forming that layer.

The Berkeley team was shocked to discover that the amount of iridium in that clay layer exceeded by thirty times the amount that would be expected by even the slowest sedimentation imaginable. Thus, they hypothesized that the iridium was deposited all at once as a result of a six-mile-diameter asteroid's collision with the earth. The impact of such a large object (the size was calculated based on the quantity of iridium) would generate a global dust cloud that in a few years would drop a layer of iridium all over the world.

asteroids v. volcanoes

After the publication of the Berkeley team's paper, researchers found huge quantities of iridium worldwide in the top layer of Cretaceous deposits. However, not all researchers were convinced that the iridium necessarily came from a huge asteroid. Many argued that a large number of enormous volcanoes may have spewed enough material from deep within the earth's mantle (where iridium is abundant) to account for the unusual iridium deposit, and that this volcanic activity gradually brought about the extinction of the dinosaurs. The fact that the extinction time for the dinosaurs could be stretched out in the volcano scenario proved attractive to some evolutionists.

For ten years the debate raged, with contributions coming from nearly every discipline of science. Besides the volcano-asteroid debate, there was controversy over whether the catastrophe took place on land or in the ocean. Discoveries made in the last several months have ended both debates.

an object from space

What began to tip the scales toward an asteroid (or comet) collision was the measuring of the abundances of other platinum-group elements in the layer under investigation. The ratios among these other elements and iridium is radically different for meteorite material than for volcanic dust, in some cases 500 times different. In every case, the measurements confirmed meteorite rather than volcanic activity.

Once these findings were understood, researchers began to took for other clues of an extraterrestrial impact. They noticed that a considerable quantity of shocked quartz shows up in the clay layer. Quartz can only be shocked by the high pressures of a large, sudden impact. Volcanic eruptions, no matter how violent, cannot yield this result.

Recently, a large and sudden change in the strontium isotope ratio of seawater at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary was detected.1,2 This change has been explained as a consequence of highly acidic rain that would have resulted from reagents (e.g. nitric acid) produced by the shock heating of the atmosphere. The cause? The impact of a large extra-terrestrial object.

The discovery of small diamonds in this same layer of clay not only provides additional evidence of a collision, it even permits the identification of the kind of extraterrestrial object that struck.3 The diamond to iridium ratio in the clay is close to the value found in a particular type of meteorite (a C2 chondritic meteorite, to be exact). Such meteorites probably originate from stony asteroids, but the comet possibility is not entirely ruled out.

impact site

The discovery of the shocked quartz led some researchers to begin searching for the impact site. What they uncovered is an extensive ejecta layer in the region around the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. The grains of shocked quartz in the Caribbean area are much larger and more numerous than those found in other areas. Also, tektites, eighth-inch- to quarter-inch-diameter glassy spheres, have been found throughout the Caribbean, but not elsewhere. Since tektites result only from a large impact, this provides additional evidence that the Cretaceous period was terminated by an extra-terrestrial collision. The tektites also indicate that the crater from that enormous collision must exist somewhere in the environs of the Caribbean.

One of the Caribbean Islands, Haiti, has an ejecta layer (at the Cretaceous- Tertiary boundary) more than 25 times thicker than that found anywhere else. Also, measurements of certain rare earth elements that differ between land and ocean point to a partly ocean floor and partly continental impact site, but a lot more ocean floor than continental. Thus, the impact must have taken place on the edge of an ocean basin.

With things narrowed down so specifically, one would think it a simple matter to locate the crater. The problem is that tectonic plate movements will subsume over half the sea floor into the earth's mantle in 65 million years. Moreover, in most cases, 65 million years' worth of erosion will erase most of a crater's features.

In an attempt to find additional clues, geologists began searching for evidence of tidal wave damage. Since a large impact even partly in the ocean would generate waves more than a mile high moving at several hundred miles per hour, the sea shores around the impact site should show some effects, including debris deposits. Such deposits are indeed found in abundance along the shorelines that existed at the end of the Cretaceous period all along the Gulf of Mexico and to a lesser degree along the Colombian Basin. The focal point of this wave damage is off the shores of the Yucatan Peninsula.

A search of the area has turned up a crater about a hundred miles in diameter near the small village of Chicxulub. The discovery of shocked quartz at the site confirms that this crater was created by an impact, and fossils there place the age of the crater within 5 million years of the Cretaceous-Tertiary event. The exact features and age of this crater have yet to be measured; nevertheless, many geologists are convinced that the mystery is solved.

connection with extinctions

A larger question has been answered in the minds of all the research participants: extraterrestrial catastrophes must have played a very significant role in the mass extinctions observed in the fossil record. In fact, the expected frequency of large asteroid collisions and nearby supernovae indicate that many more extinctions have yet to be documented. (the fossil record is still more than 90% incomplete.) It is possible that novae, supernovae, and major collisions with astronomical objects caused virtually all the large-scale extinctions.

To say "mass extinctions" is not to exaggerate. About 65% of the earth's species died off as a result of the asteroid/ comet collision that occurred 65 million years ago. An earlier event, the Permian extinction, saw the demise of 95% of all species.

species replacement

One of the remaining mysteries surrounding these mass extinctions is how new creatures, some similar to the extinct ones and some very different, could have appeared soon after the catastrophes. Collision models demonstrate that life on earth would be unsupportable, at least for larger animals, for two to ten years. Such a small time window is far beyond the capacity of paleontologists to discern in looking back tens of millions of years. However, new species are evidenced as soon after the mass extinctions as can possibly be detected.

To me the most obvious answer to this mystery of the rapid replacement of life would be the intervention of the Creator. Many evolutionists already admit that there is no known natural cause for the origin of life.4 In my most recent radio debates with well-known evolutionary biologists, not one would argue that point. The search for a natural explanation for fife's origin has come up empty handed.

My point is that if we acknowledge (or allow ourselves to consider) a cause (or Causer) beyond the natural realm for the first life forms, why should we be restricted to natural cause for subsequent life forms? One problem is that the idea of divine replacement is "scientifically" (i.e. philosophically) unacceptable to many biologists.

A natural-cause hypothesis called punctuated equilibria has been proposed. Originated by Stephen Jay Gould and Niles Eldredge, the concept is that species at low population levels and under extreme environmental stress will experience rapid mutational advance, advance so rapid and at such low population levels that no evidence of the stages of advance will show up in the fossil record. One of the best responses I have heard to this hypothesis came from a group of evolutionary biologists I met on one of my trips to Africa. As proponents of gradualism (the hypothesis that all the changes in life forms take place very gradually), they argued convincingly that for species of low population suffering environmental stress the probability for mutational advance is utterly remote. Those interested in the details of their case will find them in our two-tape cassette, "Species Development: Natural Process or Divine Action."

What I find fascinating is that the proponents of gradualism have the evidence to crush the punctuated equilibria hypothesis, while the now solid evidence for mass extinctions by frequent astronomical catastrophes crushes the gradualism hypothesis. In light of the fact that God created life in the first place, I see no reason to doubt Genesis 1 and Psalm 104 as viable statements of what occurred: during His six days of creation (i.e. the period of the fossil record), God intervened in different ways as He saw fit to create and to replenish life on the earth.

References

  1. Palmer, Martin, "Acid Rain at the K/T Boundary," Nature, vol. 352 (1991), p. 758.
  2. Martin, E. E. and J. D. Macdougall, Earth and Planetary Sciences Letters, vol. 104 (1991), pp. 166-180.
  3. Carlisle, David Brez and Dennis R. Braman, "Nanometre-Size Diamonds in the Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary Clay of Alberta," Nature, vol. 352 (1991), pp. 708-709.
  4. Shapiro, Robert. Origins: A Skeptic's Guide to the Creation of Life on Earth., New York: Summit Books, 1986.

Let Us Reason: The Reach of the Gospel

Part Eleven in a Series

No Christian I know would deny that the Bible is the primary and most complete revelation of how a human being can enter into a saving relationship with his Creator. An issue of controversy, however, is whether or not it is possible for an individual to receive salvation without first reading (or hearing) and comprehending the words of the Bible.

Those scholars who say no quote verses such as Acts 4:12--Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved--and Romans 10:14--How can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard? And bow can they hear without someone preaching to them?

Those scholars who say yes quote verses such as Romans 1:20--For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--His eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse--and Colossians 1:23--This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven.

Corollary questions that often arise in this discussion have to do with how God can fairly judge those who have never been exposed to a Bible and what happens to children (or mentally handicapped people) who die before they reach an age (or mental capacity) at which they could read and understand the Bible.

Perhaps it goes without saying, but I will say it anyway, the Bible itself does not save people. I know many people who read Scripture, and I'm sure you can think of some too, who see it as a literary work, some say a "beautiful" one and some say a "horrible" one, but they do not accept it as a communication from God.

Faith, by which people do enter an eternally life-giving relationship with God, is made up of two basic components, conviction and action. The words of the Bible provide revelation of who God is, information from which convictions can be formed, and it tells what action constitutes holy living. It is the work of God's Holy Spirit to motivate an individual to embrace that knowledge, submit his/her life to Christ, and obey those instructions for living.

A second point needing clarification is that the words of the Bible are not identically equivalent to "the word of God." The words of the Bible are, of course, the inspired and inerrant word of God. But, the words of the Bible are not the only words that God speaks. According to John 1, Hebrews 1, and many other passages, Jesus Himself is the Word of God in living form. Psalm 19 says that the words of God are written upon the heavens, that the heavens themselves pour forth His speech. Thus, I sometimes refer to the facts of nature as the 67th book of the Bible.

In our consideration of Acts 4:12, it is important to remember that the Messiah has many names. The second person of the triune Godhead takes on 88 names in the Old Testament alone. Each of these names, including the name Jeshua (Jesus), describes some attribute of God or some aspect of God's ministry in redeeming human beings to Himself. In fact, a study of all of the names of the Messiah used in the Bible provides an excellent description of Christ's work with respect to mankind. Clearly, what is essential for salvation is not the spelling of a particular name but rather a knowledge of the existence of a divine redeemer, a knowledge of His character attributes, His powers and capacities, and of the means by which He desires to restore our sin-broken relationship to the Father. Though the words of the Bible provide the most extensive and specific statement of this information, they are not the sole source of it. God knows how to communicate to all men everywhere.

The question comes down to how much and what parts of the word of God are essential for salvation. The answer is that it depends on how submitted to the work of the Holy Spirit a particular individual may be. One friend of mine needed 35 years of studying both the Bible and the scientific evidence for creation before he was ready to commit his life to Christ. I took a little less time, but not much less. However, another friend of mine became a Christian after reading just the first five chapters of Matthew's gospel.

The most amazing cases show up in missions annals. Amy Carmichael recounts how a young girl in India came to know the Lord, a knowing which brought her severe persecution, after hearing only two verses from the Bible, neither of which contained the words "believe" or "repent." Don Richardson, a member of our board of reference, has written a book entitled Eternity in Their Hearts in which he documents how 32 different people groups discerned critical doctrines about salvation though they had never been exposed to a Bible or a missionary.

Perhaps the most familiar illustration of the Spirit's revealing truth to the humble hearted is the story of Job and Elihu. Both men independently managed to discern the key elements of the gospel of grace and to preach that gospel to Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, making reference simply to the word of God as revealed in the record of nature. In each of these remarkable cases, we encounter people of rare humility and childlike faith. Job, for example, is listed as among the three most righteous men of Old Testament times (Ezekiel 14). Most of us fall far short. Our foolish pride is such that we need repeated exposure to the gospel message through all the different revelations that God has provided.

Through his extensive research on evangelism and missions Professor Engels of Wheaton College concludes that, on the average, people (worldwide) need to hear the gospel explained in seven different ways before they will be willing to receive Christ as their Lord and Savior. This finding tells one of our purposes in forming Reasons To Believe--to provide the unsaved with a fact-based presentation of the gospel different from any presentation to which they may have been previously exposed. A large segment of our population (40% in the U.S., 85% in Canada, 99.5% in Japan) seem immune to traditional evangelistic appeals but are proving receptive to the approaches we are developing. Please pray that we will continue to be sensitive to their needs.

Such questions as whether or not the unregenerate mind of man is capable of recognizing truth in general and the truth of the gospel in particular will have to wait for our next issue. If you want a head start, read Romans 7 and 8, Paul's discussion of four spiritual laws.

--Hugh Ross For further discussion of this issue, let me recommend the following materials: 1) Don Richardson's book, Eternity in Their Hearts, 2) a single-cassette tape entitled Job and the Gospel According to Creation, and 3) the ten-tape album Biblical Paradoxes: New Tools from Science for Resolving Doctrinal Conflict, with booklet containing copies of the accompanying overhead transparencies. See the resources section and the order panel at the back of this newsletter.

From the President's Desk

Dear friends,

When Reasons To Believe was launched, I anticipated that our message might provoke some attacks, especially from adamant atheists and agnostics, but I didn't expect quite as much harassment from fellow believers as we have received in recent months both in print and in the broadcast media. Often I have been "straightened out" on my astrophysics by people who have no degrees in science, and my stated beliefs on the authority and inerrancy of the Bible have been ignored. Some attackers have even tried to convince audiences that astrophysicists (Christian and non-Christian) have banded together in a secret conspiracy to "deceive an unsuspecting public."

To me the most troubling aspect of these public onslaughts is that they divert me from doing the work of an evangelist, from helping people resolve their doubts about the God of the Bible and about the scientific accuracy of the Bible. Instead I am forced to deal with the angry, denigrating charges of fellow Christians who proffer their views on peripheral issues as if those were "the faith."

One charge that I feel most urgently needs a response is the suggestion that I hold the word of God and the work of the Holy Spirit to be unnecessary elements in an individual's conversion. In one piece I read, three sentences were pulled (out of context) from The Fingerprint of God to support this interpretation of my views. The sentences were cited from a chapter which gives a very brief summary of my response to the question, "What about those who have never heard the gospel? How can God judge them?" I'm still not sure how my critic could have construed them as he did, but that is not what I believe.

Long ago I was scheduled to deal with this matter of "those who have never heard" as part of our "Let Us Reason" series on frequently encountered objections to the Christian faith. It would have come up in our discussion of objection #9 on the list, but my editor has asked me to address it now. Though I can never express myself as well as I would like, I trust that God will use this ongoing series of articles as a tool for ending conflict among Christians over this issue and for convincing unbelievers of the perfect fairness of the God of the Bible.

Sincerely,

Hugh Ross

Pray-ers' Closet

By Kathy Ross

My six-year-old son, Joel, asked me a good question the other day. I imagine you've heard it or asked it yourself at some time: "If God knows everything already, why do we need to pray?"

What a challenge to answer that one without parroting clichés! My words seemed a meaningless babble until I asked him, "How do you feel about getting a phone call from Andrew or Jesse [friends] after school?"

Now I'm going to ask all you pray-ers to make a phone call for me. You know the number already, you will not get a busy signal, and the person on the other end of the line will be pleased to hear from you. I promise. Would you please tell God how we appreciate His knowing exactly where Reasons To Believe will find adequate facilities for ministry? Then ask Him to point us in the right direction at the right time, in such a way that we see His signature on whatever arrangements are made.

If you will do this for us (and with us), we will all jump for joy when the answer comes, and we will experience more than ever the unique bond of oneness we have in Christ Jesus, now and forever. Thanks.

P.S. We hope you will plan to join us November 9 for a day of praise and prayer and fasting. The day concludes with songs and communion and a light supper together.

Special Feature: When the Bible Speaks on Science

The relationship between science and Scripture--as we see it--may need some clarification for those who are new to the Reasons To Believe constituency. We have spoken and written much on the subject, but perhaps the most eloquent summary of our views is the one prepared by the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy. It first appeared in a pamphlet and later with all the background material in a book titled Hermeneutics, Inerrancy, and the Bible, edited by Earl Radmacher and Robert Preus (Grand Rapids: Acadamie Books, 1984). These affirmations and denials express the convictions of all our staff and directors:

We affirm that any pre-understandings which the interpreter brings to Scripture should be in harmony with scriptural teaching and subject to correction by it.

We deny that Scripture should be required to fit alien preunderstandings, inconsistent with itself, such as naturalism, evolutionism, scientism, secular humanism, and relativism.

We affirm that since God is the author of all truth, all truths, biblical and extra biblical, are consistent and cohere, and that the Bible speaks truth when it touches on matters pertaining to nature, history, or anything else. We further affirm that in some cases extra biblical data have value for clarifying what Scripture teaches, and for prompting correction of faulty interpretations.

We deny that extra biblical views ever disprove the teaching of Scripture or hold priority over it.

We affirm the harmony of special revelation with general revelation and therefore of biblical teaching with the facts of nature.

We deny that any genuine scientific facts are inconsistent with the true meaning of any passage of Scripture.

We affirm that Genesis 1-11 is factual, as is the rest of the book.

We deny that the teachings of Genesis 1-11 are mythical and that scientific hypotheses about earth history or the origin of humanity may be invoked.

Meet Our Board

By Daphne Trager

The newest member of the RTB board of directors is David Brobeck, an attorney who has long been interested in logical answers to Biblical questions and theological matters. This year's vice chairman of the board, he says he is excited to be part of a fast-growing ministry that seeks to develop and provide these answers.

A native southern Californian, David attended the University of Southern California as an undergraduate and completed his studies in law at the California Western School of Law. He has been practicing in Orange County for twenty years as a partner in the firm of Beam and Brobeck, specializing in civil litigation.

David first met Hugh through an event organized by the Laguna Christian Fellowship, an interdenominational evangelistic outreach he (David) helped lead. Hugh spoke at one of the outreaches; David was appreciative of the fact-based approach and impressed with the response of the audience.

Some time after becoming acquainted with Hugh, David discovered that his good friend of many years, Alex Metherell, was also a friend of Hugh's and an ardent supporter and leader of the ministry of Reasons To Believe. Between Alex and Hugh, David received a double invitation to participate on the board of directors.

David makes frequent use of RTB materials and outreaches, especially in starting and following up conversations with fellow attorneys. Recently he was encouraged when six not-yet-believers from his firm joined him and Hugh at a breakfast meeting of the Christian Businessmen's Committee.

Though he rejected Christ during his high school years at a Christian school, David turned around and gave his life to the Lord through the ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ during his years at USC. Also at USC he met Gaye, his wife of 26 years. The Brobecks have three children: Holly, 24, is married and lives in Orange County. Heather, 21, sustained serious injuries, including severe brain damage, in a car-bicycle collision at age 8 and lives in a neuro-care facility. "She is sustained and we are sustained by the Lord," says David. "I am glad to tell you that through her we have had opportunities to lead people to know Him." Their son David, 18, has just begun his freshman year at Seattle Pacific University.

David and Gaye are actively involved in their church and community. Gaye does some fashion modeling and likes working with pre-schoolers. Both enjoy skiing, antique collecting, and traveling. David has recently resumed surfing, a sport he enjoyed during his high school and college days, and finds that it's just like riding a bicycle--once you learn, you don't forget. Fortunately, no board meetings are scheduled for the crack of dawn.

Current Events Commentary: Prophetic Implications of Recent Changes in the Soviet Empire

By Hugh Ross, September 21, 1991

Who Is Magog?

The key to linking current events in the Soviet Union with Bible prophecy lies in determining whether or not Russia is the Magog of Ezekiel 38 and 39. Many Bible scholars say yes. A few say no. Most people are familiar with the yes because of notes in the Scofield Reference Bible and because of the case stated by Hal Lindsey in his immensely popular book The Late Great Planet Earth. Lindsey argues that Ezekiel's Rosh = Russia, Meshech = Moscow, and Tubal = Tobolsk and concludes, then, that Magog = Russia.

Recently, the errors in this line of argument have been exposed by history professor Edwin Yamauchi in his book titled Foes from the Northern Frontier. For reasons which I explained in some detail on Sunday evening, September 8, at Sierra Madre Congregational Church (for tapes of that talk see order form at the back), I must accept Yamauchi's critical analysis, but I believe there are other bases for concluding that Russia is, indeed, identifiable as Magog.

the Ezekiel scenario

Magog must be an enormously powerful and populous nation. In addition to arming itself, it supplies arms to the Arab African and black African nations, including Libya and Ethiopia (Cush), and to nations identified as Persia, Gomer, and Togarmah. Its opponents are identified as Sheba, Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish. Through careful cross-referencing with Ezekiel 39:6, Daniel 11 and 12, Joel 2 and 3, Zechariah 14, and Revelation 9 and 16, these peoples can be identified as the east Asians and the Europeans dwelling in Europe and on distant islands and continents. In the context of any present or foreseeable geopolitics, a Russian alliance (or possibly an alliance of Russia and east-central Europeans) seems the only possible candidate to fit the description of Magog.

Ezekiel's details (in chapter 39) of the destruction of Magog's fighting force makes clear that this force must be larger than any previously assembled. Millions of Jews work continuously for seven months to bury the bodies (39:11-16). Again, an alliance dominated by Russia seems the only confederation that could or would conceivably assemble, equip, and transport such a large army into Israel.

Further evidence comes from the use of the Hebrew phrase, yarka sapon (Ezekiel 38:6, 38:15, and 39:2) to refer to the location of Magog. According to the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament the word yarka refers to "the farthest part of anything," and sapon, "north." Magog must be in the farthest north place relative to Israel. A look at an atlas confirms that Russia is located to the extreme north of Israel.

explaining the failed coup

Given that some kind of Russian empire is the Magog of Ezekiel, how then do we understand the failed coup and the subsequent reforms? If the coup had been successful, the Soviet Union would have been doomed to several more years of Brezhnev-style stagnation. The gap between the Soviets and the West would widen both economically and militarily, thus delaying for many years the possibility of a Russian alliance facing down the rest of the world by quickly transporting into Israel the largest-ever military force. Delayed, too, would be the amalgamation of all the world's nations into a ten-nation confederacy (see Facts & Faith, volume 4, nos. 3 and 4, and volume 5, no. 1). At least a temporary experiment with democracy and free market principles would seem essential for Western nations to become willing to embrace Russia as a partner in a future confederacy.

I sense a strange euphoria in the West about the post-coup reforms. Business leaders and politicians alike now seem eager to pour huge sums of money and technology into the Soviet republics. The assumption is that once a nation becomes democratic and adopts free market principles it becomes inoculated against totalitarianism and imperialistic ambitions. However, history reveals that this inoculation only takes effect when the people of a nation also feel politically, economically, and spiritually secure.

a dose of reality

Politically and historically, the Russians have felt hemmed in and isolated by their geography. Economically, rapid adoption of free market principles can only lead to foreign domination, for few Russians have had occasion to develop entrepreneurial skills and, depending on the occupation, worker efficiency runs from 15 to 35 percent of what is typical in the West. Spiritually, I'm concerned about an "over-openness"--inadequate preparation to discern truth from error (the cults are beating a path!)--and about what seems a strong tide of anti-intellectualism (by that I mean a bias against thinking and reasoning, even in studying and applying Scripture) in Russia's evangelical churches.

Another force to be reckoned with is the spirit of the nationalists. During my ministry trip to Kiev last year, my translator informed me that several of the demonstrators for Ukrainian independence carried placards reading, "Death to all communists, Jews, and Christians." Such sentiments are held by nationalists in other republics, as well.

In short, I believe that it is only a matter of time until those in control of Russian society revert to their old ways. Bible prophecy may be fulfilled through the West's giving the Soviet empire the economic and technological muscle it needs to become the Magog of Ezekiel.

window of opportunity

But, I also believe that a window of spiritual opportunity exists such as never before to win Soviet and former bloc peoples to Christ and through them, perhaps, to reach those in adjoining and nearby Muslim nations.

Please join me in praying:

  • that Christians everywhere will work "while it is still day" to bring the gospel to some of the most spiritually hungry people on the planet today,
  • that the trend towards subjectivism/anti-intellectualism in Russian and East European churches will be reversed,
  • that missionaries and indigenous Christians will reach out to, and not ignore, the leaders, the professionals, and the academics,
  • that the faulty science apologetics now flooding into these countries will be countered in time with Biblically and scientifically sound arguments for the Christian faith,
  • that the spirit of openness and freedom will extend into the Muslim dominated republics so that the gospel can be received there without fear of reprisal, and
  • that Christians everywhere will see the urgent need to provide the necessary resources before the window closes.

time left for ministry

If I am correct in my analysis, then not much time remains to spread the gospel to other nations currently closed to that opportunity. Just as God has opened a door into the Russian empire, He also will open doors into other closed (politically or ideologically) regions such as China, Mongolia, Japan, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, North Africa, and Western Europe. Scripture tells us that the Great Commission must be fulfilled before Magog invades Israel.

Prior to the failed coup I thought I had adequate time to develop and complete my ministry goals. Now as never before I sense the urgency to recruit others to work with me in preparing Reasons To Believe to meet the coming challenges and opportunities and to ask for your prayers.

Please pray that:

  • mission agencies will recognize that Japan, Western Europe, and some social strata of Latin America remain unreached not because of spiritual deadness but because of a failure to use the right tools,
  • we at Reasons To Believe will be able to package useful tools for effective use by missionaries and indigenous Christians in such places,
  • resources will be raised up for us to accept some of the ministry requests now accumulating from the Soviet Union, England, North Africa, Mongolia, India, Japan, and Australia, for translating and broadcasting our materials in these places and others, for developing new apologetics materials, and for building the necessary infrastructure to maintain the ministry,
  • we will be wise and sensitive in our attempts to remove stumbling blocks that Christians have unwittingly erected for unbelievers, and
  • all of us at Reasons To Believe will continue to be aware that the ministry God has given us is as much for our spiritual benefit as it is for that of the people we reach.

For a closer look at how current events foretold in the Bible are pointing to the return of the Lord, you may wish to obtain our eight-tape album entitled End-Times Prophecy. See the resources section and the order panel at the back of this newsletter.

Letters

"... Let me introduce myself as a physicist recently retired from service at the University of Idaho. My formative years were at Berkeley, and with Luis Alvarez as a major professor...

"I am a Christian and have read with great interest your pioneering book, The Fingerprint of God. I am entirely in sympathy with the approach you make--let me thank you for jumping in and doing it. There has been so much denigration of the big bang idea... The worst of this is for me that Christians who follow such teachings cannot praise God for this recognition of His creation and are forced to be suspicious of almost all modern scientific findings...

--Lawrence, Moscow, ID

"Words cannot express how beneficial your Focus on the Family interview was in my older son's life. He's 13 and all testing indicates a high level of intelligence. He has always been interested in the scientific. Although we'd been church-goers all our lives it has only been six months since my younger son and I were born again. I've been totally awestruck at the metamorphosis within me and of course wanted to claim both my sons for Christ. My brilliant 13-year-old seemed difficult to reach...

"An evening presented itself to let both kids hear your interview, and the flood gates opened. We never did listen to the second side. My older son raved on and on--he knew it had to work somehow but hadn't been able to reconcile Biblical teachings with what he'd been taught in science at school. He had told me once that he could accept Jesus but was unsure about the rest of Scripture, Genesis in particular. Now he, too, is born again and the transformation of his spirit is, as always, miraculous.

"He also has discovered that he can study and enjoy science without compromising his faith..."

--Mimi, Danville, IL

"I am writing to request your book, The Fingerprint of God. We write to hundreds of men and women who are in prisons all over the United States, and the number one question we get from these people is 'How can you prove God exists?' This book will obviously be of great value to us."

--Ralph, Houston. TX

"Thank you so much for writing The Fingerprint of God. For many years I have been dissatisfied with the 'young earth' theory for creation but was unaware that there was any other explanation that Christians could believe without compromise. Thank you so much for making this material available to 'ordinary folk'- those of us who don't know our photons from our baryons! (Of course, I do now that I've read your book!!)..."

--Joy, Victoria, B.C.

"...I appreciate how your efforts have helped me speak and live for God. I will be supporting Reasons To Believe on a monthly basis until next summer when I will be moving to Romania...

"I hope we will still be able to fellowship through Facts & Faith until He comes again.

"I first went to Romania with Peninsula Bible Church, Palo Alto/Cupertino, four years ago and have returned every year since. So our brothers and sisters are becoming acquainted with Hugh, and many of your books, tapes, and papers have been very helpful to my English-speaking friends there as they are established in scientific truth as well as spiritual truth.

--Jim, Santa Clara

"...Ever since I was a young person in school (I am now 70 years old), I have loved astronomy and received my best grades in that subject. But until now, no one has clarified what you have told on TV about the universe as to how it really relates to the Bible's teaching. How I love your accurate and meaningful explanations.

"I will admit I do not understand all of your book, but I reread and reread parts of it, and it becomes more and more clear--enough that it helps me as I'm sure it would anyone who is truly interested..."

--Betty, Fond du Lac, WI

"...Four years ago you spoke to the college group at Lake Avenue Congregational Church. My daughter had just finished her freshman year. As the family took their seats for lunch that day in a local coffee shop she said, 'I have something to tell you.' All looked at her expectantly because of the tone in her voice.

"'The Bible is true,' she said emphatically.

"She has continued to grow spiritually but that was the turning point. She is now a graduate of Azusa Pacific University and takes part in leading the college group at church."

--Beth, Pasadena, CA

Puzzles & Paradoxes

Here is a simple mathematical puzzle which requires no math beyond beginning algebra. It is presented as a reminder that sometimes problems (including Biblical ones) appear complicated at first glance but really are not. The reverse can also be true, of course.

(√a)(a-1)=a

Solve this equation for a. Find two answers, please.

The paradox presented in our summer issue is as follows: The Bible tells us that God poured out His wrath against sin upon His Son as Jesus hung on the cross. Christ paid the full penalty for all our sin, past, present, and future. And yet the Bible also says that the wrath of God is yet to be poured out, that the day of God's wrath against man's wickedness is coming. How can this paradox be unraveled?

The metaphor used to describe the expression of God's response to evil, the "pouring out" of His wrath, is perhaps the source of the trouble here. These words present to our minds the picture of a finite quantity of something, as liquid in a glass. When it's gone, it's gone. But God's wrath is not a quantitative thing. It's an attitude, a response, necessitated by His holiness. His justice requires that it be expressed, but His mercy requires that it be expressed in such a way as to protect all those who come to God in humble-hearted repentance. Thus, it was expressed in full, not in part, toward the sacrificial lamb of God so that there is nothing left for us to pay, except homage and an eternal debt of love. And it will be fully expressed later on toward the enemies of God (whose hatred and defiance toward Him become a passion to destroy His people--and themselves, in the process (see Revelation 9:20, 12:17, and 20:1-10, among many other passages). His wrath ultimately restrains them, according to their need.

Field Report

The summer ministry of Reasons To Believe centered in the southwest and yet reached audiences nationwide, thanks to the airwaves. You'll see a list below of the many radio and television broadcasts in which we had a part, some on Christian stations, others on secular. We are pleased that our team of speakers expanded to include three of our hotline volunteers, Frank Britton, Mark Clark, and Miguel Endara. Frank conducted a home outreach in Glendale and was interviewed by Tim Barrons on KBRT radio in Los Angeles. Mark assisted Hugh with a Sunday evening service at Sierra Madre Congregational Church, fielding questions about changes in the Soviet Union. Miguel led outreaches for Bible study groups at University Bible Church (near U.C.L.A.), Pasadena Covenant, and Lake Avenue Congregational.

As in years past, much time this summer was spent in strategy sessions with leaders of other ministries and of special projects. Plans are in various stages of development for outreaches in northern Africa, England, Australia, and parts of Asia. A film producer from Great Britain has proposed a documentary on The Fingerprint of God and is about to begin raising capital for it.

A highlight for Hugh and our many helpers, both staff and volunteers, was the opportunity to participate in the annual convention of the Christian Home Educators Association (CHEA). Our booth in the exhibit hall was visited by hundreds of families, and Hugh presented two workshops on the teaching of origins, one geared for junior highers and the other for high schoolers. Both sessions were packed, the latter to standing room only. The response was overwhelmingly positive, not only form the parents and young people who attended, but also from the convention organizers.

Other opportunities to share our message included the following:

  • Radio - "World View Perspectives," a syndicated program originating from Phoenix and aired on about 80 stations, broadcast an interview with Eugenie Scott, Executive Director of the National Center for Science Education, and with Hugh on the topic "Is Science Religious?" (for a tape, see order panel at the back); in California, interviews, debates, and dialogues with callers on a wide range of topics were heard over KFI, KGER, KBRT, KKLA, and KPRZ; on KNIS, Carson City, the topic was the RTB Hotline; on KPOF, Denver, it was UFO'S; on KGW, Portland, Hugh was asked to define "Apologetics" and to present some of the new evidences for the God of the Bible; WYLI, Chicago, the discussion touched on science, Scripture, and current issues relevant to both.
  • Television - taping was completed at the TBN studios for the first seven segments of a thirteen-week series called "Reasons To Believe." The final six shows will be taped in the next few weeks, and locally the program will be aired over Channel 40 Wednesdays at 9 P.M. beginning October 23. Hugh also appeared as a guest on P.T.L., once with host Jeff Sinholt, and another time with Laverne Tripp. A flood of encouraging calls and letters followed each broadcast.
  • Businessmen's and Women's Groups - the annual Gideons International Convention in Phoenix and a regional Gideons convention in Spokane; Christian Businessmen's Committee outreach breakfasts in Newport Beach and Santa Ana; Priority Living early bird outreaches in Irvine; Businesswomen in Christian Fellowship luncheon outreach in Pasadena, and Open Forum for skeptics, also in Pasadena.
  • Internationals - an International Students Incorporated tour group from the Southeast, passing through southern California; a retreat in the mountains north of Tucson for international students and scholars, most from the University of Arizona.
  • Church Groups - a three-part Sunday evening series on science and the Bible (attended by many guests from Caltech and elsewhere) at Lake Avenue Congregational Church; a seminar at Forest Home family camp with groups from many southern California churches; a Sunday evening service at Sierra Madre Congregational Church; a Wednesday evening outreach at South Coast Community Church, Irvine; and a men's breakfast at First Baptist Church of La Crescenta.

News from RTB Africa

A call from David and Liz Block informs us that a one-hour version of our TBN special, "New Reasons To Believe," recently appeared on national television in South Africa. Additional exciting news is that David has applied for more observing time in Hawaii, and if the answer is yes, he will be spending a few weeks with us here in California to conduct some outreaches.

News from RTB Australia

Our liaison, Bruce Ogden, recently in town again for World Vision directors meetings, is looking for ways and means to convert the "New Reasons To Believe" videotape into the appropriate format for showing in Australia. He says the demand is high, and he would love to help meet it.

As I See It: Ideology: the Enemy of Truth

From the failed coup of August 1991 and the subsequent collapse of what we knew as the Soviet Union, I see a valuable lesson for Christians. We need to understand more about what "ideology" means. The textbook definition of ideology is "visionary theorizing; a systematic body of concepts especially about human life or culture" (Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary). My study of political history and my experience in apologetics tells me that ideology is something more than this dictionary definition suggests.

Karl Marx's original theory was just that: theory. It was an attempt to explain certain phenomena. Marx was attempting to explain the mechanics of change, particularly from one set of socio-economic relationships to another (e.g. from slavery to feudalism, from feudalism to capitalism, etc.) From what he thought to be the correct model of change and its mechanics, he postulated that the next change would be toward the utopian version of communism--each individual working for the good of all, shared ownership of property, etc.

Marx's model fit the definition of a theory well enough: it described initial conditions, identified a point of view (frame of reference), explained mechanics, and made a prediction. Unlike theories based on repeatable experiments, the test of Marx's theory would have to be its accuracy in predicting socio-political change.

The country Marx predicted as most likely to move toward communism was Germany. When Germany developed democratic institutions instead, Marx's adherents simply reinterpreted the facts rather than reexamine the theory.

Later, when the Bolsheviks brought "communism" to Russia, the place least likely to develop communism (according to Marx), the facts were again reinterpreted or ignored. That theory had become an -ism by now, in this case Marxism- Leninism; an ideology had emerged from the theory.

Marxism-Leninism lost any usefulness as a theory and indeed shed all pretense of being a scientific theory (i.e. open to observation, verification, and, if necessary, radical adjustment). Its enforcers constantly reinterpreted the facts of political and economic reality to further their own purposes.

Ideology showed itself to be a rigid set of views impervious to the influence of facts. Unfortunately, ideologies tend to gather followers, sometimes masses of them. These followers typically take a militant attitude toward those who challenge their views with contradictory data. Such challengers are labeled "the enemy."

The worldwide communist movement fed upon fear of the enemy--the greedy, imperialistic capitalist states. This "threat" was the lie that kept the communists in power. In the case of the Soviet Union, the real danger was not so much the military might of the United States as the success of the U.S. political and economic system. This success exposed the lie of Soviet communism.

The connection I see between these events of history and Christianity is this: we must guard against making our faith an ideology. Since there is nothing in this world (or beyond) that can truly threaten our God or our relationship to Him (Romans 8:38-39), and since our God, the Creator of the universe and the Author of the Bible, never lies, we can always be open to truth. Our understanding always has room to grow.

Herein resides, to my thinking, the value of Reasons To Believe. In it and through it we are boldly challenged to submit our beliefs to tests of verification--Biblical, scientific, and historical--and to share the results with those who have not yet put their trust in Jesus Christ, also with those who have.

We would be wise to consider that in sharing our findings we may be reacted to as "the enemy." Ideologies abound, inside the church and outside, in cults, sects, religions, and philosophical systems (such as secular humanism and neo-darwinism). Some of these ideologies arise from unsuccessful struggles to resolve Biblical paradoxes. Others are based on unwillingness to face uncomfortable truth, and/or on pride.

Patience is important. So, too, is study and preparation. Here, as in other matters, the Bible speaks authoritatively to the point of how we should deal with those who are bound in ideologies: "...but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to every one who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence" (I Peter 3:15 NASB).

Dr. Clark, one of our apologetics hotline volunteers, serves as an Assistant Professor of Political Science and as Director of the National Security Studies program at California State University, San Bernardino. He earned his Ph.D. in International Relations at the University of Southern California.

This page, and all contents, are Copyright © 1991 by Reasons To Believe.