|
|
Creation |
22% |
|
Intelligent Design |
17% |
|
Evolution |
48% |
|
Don't know |
13% |
For details see the BBC website.
Hephzibah Meeting in Cumnor, Oxford on 14 January 2005
Hephzibah is a network of Messianic study groups that meet about once a month in various places in the South of England. The name Hephzibah is a Hebrew word that means "My delight is in her" and it appears in Isaiah 62:4 to describe God's love for Israel.
We had a good time at the meeting at Cumnor Village Hall, where I spoke on the subject of "Impossible Theology: The Christian Evolutionist Dilemma". About 55 people turned up, which is quite good for a meeting of this type in non-Christian England. First I spoke about how evolution could not possibly have happened, from the viewpoint of microbiology and thermodynamics as I have explained in my book. Then I spoke about how evolution depends on a continuous cycle of life and death, and it undermines Christian theology because it says that death is part of the natural order and has nothing to do with sin. If this is to be accepted, it means there is no reason why Jesus should rise from the dead, and there is also no reason for the resurrection of believers or unbelievers in the end times. I went through a sequence of end-time events (related to the Jewish wedding customs) in which the believers are resurrected first, and then there is the seven-year reign of Antichrist known as the tribulation. People continue being saved during that time and they are known as the "tribulation saints". Many of them are killed during the tribulation, but they are resurrected when Jesus returns and overthrows the Antichrist. Then there is the thousand year rule of Messiah, known as the "Millennium", a time of peace when Satan is bound in the bottomless pit. Then Satan is released for a short time and deceives the nations, but this time he is thrown into the lake of fire. Then the unbelievers are raised for the Final Judgement, and they are also thrown into the lake of fire. Then there is a New Heaven and New Earth, and the New Jerusalem with the Tree of Life, where the believers will live for ever. In this place, the perfect conditions of the Garden of Eden will be fully restored.
This sequence of end-time events, and any other sequence that involves the resurrection of the dead, will be impossible if death is part of the natural order as evolution demands. In that case, those who believe in evolution are messing about with the Book of Revelation, and they will be given the plagues that are written in the book, and they will lose their part in the Book of Life, according to Revelation 22:18-19.
The meeting ended with a very lively question and answer session, although it was mostly on matters of detail and nobody seriously disagreed with the substance of what I was saying. This was a very pleasant surprise because it means there are many Christians, including many who couldn't get to the meeting, who are prepared to stand up for the truth and say that the true Gospel does not accommodate evolution.
Youth Meeting in Frimley, Surrey on 4 November 2004
There are no problems teaching Creation History to young people. All you have to do is make it interesting. I spoke to a group aged 14-18 in Frimley, Surrey and they had a great time learning about how Greek mythology is related to early Biblical events. Click here for more details.
Ireland,
October 2004
I had a great time in Ireland. I stayed with Nathan and Jeanette Pyles at their home in Bandon, near Cork, where there is never a dull moment because there are always lots of visitors, mostly from the church. It was like a trip back in time, and they have a coal fire which is typical in all the houses in Ireland. It was a pleasure to get up one morning and light it myself, something I haven't done since I was a kid.
People in Ireland have lots of time for each other, and they don't go home after a church service like English people do. Instead they stick around chatting and playing music for about two hours, occasionally going across the road to get snacks and drinks.
I spoke about the history of Ireland at three meetings:
- On Saturday 16 October at Calvary Chapel, Cork, we had an
in-depth meeting, going through a number of versions of the Irish
history, from the Annals of Clonmacnoise, John of Fordun's History
of the Scottish Nation, and Geoffrey Keating's History of Ireland.
In cases where the histories differed, it was possible to show how
they have been affected by the exaggerated Egyptian chronology,
because some of the Scythian migrants were in Egypt before they
arrived in Ireland. It was also possible to show that, although the
histories differ on some issues, they are all agreed that the Irish
are descended from Magog, the grandson of Noah.
Note: Calvary Chapel Cork has been re-named "Liberty Christian Church" since December.
- On Monday we had a meeting for a wider audience at Jury's Hotel, Cork. I missed out some of the material that was specifically geared towards Christians (for example why Christians should be interested in creation), and also some of the variant histories, and stuck with Geoffrey Keatings History of Ireland as this gives the most comprehensive view. The conclusions were basically the same, emphasising the Irish descent from Magog, and the reliability of the Bible as the basis of world history.
- On Wednesday I was at Crosspoint, Dublin, which is part of the Calvary Chapel network of churches. On this occasion I went through the history according to Keating, similar to Monday, but geared it towards a Christian audience.
At all the meetings people showed great enthusiasm and asked me lots of questions afterwards. People in Ireland are hungry for the truth and I found that this visit was a great opportunity to emphasise the authority of the Bible. Even when the trip was finished, and I was on my way home, the opportunities continued as people asked me if I had been on holiday in Ireland and I said "No, I've been on a speaking tour, telling the Irish people that they are descended from Magog the Grandson of Noah".
Thanks to all of you who have been praying for Nathan and Jeanette's daughter Maebh, and especially thanks to God. Maebh was in the neo-natal unit when I was in Ireland because she had been born three months too early but now she is back home with Mum and Dad and is doing well. For the latest news of the Pyles family, see their news page.
Mike Gascoigne
Anno Mundi Books
