Words of Caution 
2 Comments Why Do I Believe?
First off, let me get something really clear. Like many Filipinos, I am conservative. By the definitions of the USA or “the West”, most Filipinos are conservative in dress, social issues, conduct around family, and financial matters. It is our culture and our heritage. Life in the Philippines teaches you to be tough and financially tight. When poverty is sky high, you learn to make do and value what you have.
Am I a Catholic? No, I am not. I am a Christian. I believe in what is said in the Bible. But there is a key point to be made here.
My faith is not determined by the opinions of others but by the facts and lessons proven in the Bible. Doctrine of any denomination is a collection of opinions of people. Doctrine can never replace what the Bible says. Also, following doctrine or the declarations of people has led to many bad events in the past.
The Crusades were launched by the Papacy before the general population was literate and had access to the Bible. Those Crusades did not conform to the teachings of the Bible but of the opinions of the leaders of the Papacy back then. This is a difficult thing for some who are not Christians to comprehend. Christianity is not defined by the actions of the people but by the content and instructions found in the Bible.
There are a few facts of life one must remember though.
- People will lie, deceive, or distort any facts if it can give them control over people for power, wealth or fame. We must always be on our guard against manipulators. They come from all areas of life including the religious world, business world, politics, entertainment, medical and more.
- Unless you can unconditionally trust, understand and communicate with someone (spouse is preferred), you have to figure out what are the facts and opinions on your own. Depending on someone else to tell you leaves you open for deception.
- The Bible was not written in English. I cannot read the Ancient Hebrew & Greek. Combine that with the knowledge of most Filipinos that languages rarely translate over completely means studying the Bible brings with it some challenges. There are some books to assist but there are limits to translation of a book when you are not able to view the writings in the context of the times they were written in. (I wasn’t there.)
Following the teachings in the Bible is the biggest test of Reading Comprehension. You have to follow what the intent of the author is and not insert your own opinion. I’ve been practicing on that form of test for an exam and that is my number one problem.
It is also a major problem in the USA o kahit sa ibang bansa. The population is taught to value opinions over facts. The public schools teach Evolution while empirical evidence says it is impossible. My hubby can give a major presentation going into that. He sums it up by saying “Before the first person was here, there was no one here to observe how things came about. No observational info means science stops as that is the first step. It is all belief.” We weren’t there so it is all a guess. We don’t know the answer and have no way of knowing. You choose what to believe in.
I know what I believe. I also know it is hard to pass the reading comprehension test of the Bible much less stop my own ego enough to follow it. But it holds up to real science and historical facts. I’ll go with the proven facts and do my best to understand and live the
Basic
Instructions
Before
Leaving
Earth manual.
Thank you,
Anah
“But it holds up to real science and historical facts.”
Care to give an example?
@Stephen
Oh Stephen, you asked for it.
When your hubby is a science nerd who does in depth 4 year studies and gives presentations on this, it is easy to have the information available. Let me do my best to channel his words.
Real science is the process of observation, making a hypothesis, experimentation to prove the hypothesis, and analyzing the data. If you do not prove it to be true, it will only be a guess. The greatest flaw of both sides regarding the origin of life is incredibly simple. Before the first person was alive, no observation was possible. Before the first person was alive to record it, all things are outside of history. History goes back only 5000 years. Anything before that is pre-history and is a guess.
Evolution requires one to “imagine” and extensive guesses. There is no observational data to show life came from a rock and became a person. The Eury-Miller test was invalid as they trapped out the Oxygen which would have formed lethal ammonia. Stanley Miller spent the next 50 years of his life trying to find a real scientific experiment to prove abiogenesis and failed. With no observational data, no experimental data and only guesses and imagination, evolution is not much different than Star Wars or any other highly written about science fiction.
Observational data and experimental data which make hard empirical data do exist to disprove the possibility of evolution and the entire geologic time scale. Quite simply, there is no time for evolution to have happened.
Carbon 14 has been found to exist in diamonds (an uncontaminated source) which means natural formed diamonds must be less than 90,000 year old and not 1-2 billion years old.
http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2005/1107rate.asp
The old earth group holds the position Alaska wasn’t frozen during the time of dinosaurs. The existence of frozen dinosaur bones negates the old age.
http://www.christiananswers.net/dinosaurs/alaska/
The “rock” the duck billed dinosaur eggs were found in was hard dirt movable with a paintbrush. The location meant a large flood happened in landlocked South Dakota and buried the hadrosaur fossils and eggs between 3,000-70,000 years ago not 65+ million.
http://www.scienceagainstevolution.org/v3i12f.htm
Tests and mathematics trace the rate of genetic change in humans to a common ancestor of all to 6000-6500 years ago.
http://www.answersingenesis.org/tj/v12/i1/eve.asp
Here is a detailed report on the finding of much information supporting a young earth.
http://www.icr.org/i/pdf/research/RATE_ICC_Baumgardner.pdf
Red blood cells were found from a T-Rex bone from a nearby dig site in South Dakota. Red blood cells cannot exist for more than a few thousand years at best. This means – T-Rex was walking North America not too long ago.
http://www.scienceagainstevolution.org/v3i8f.htm
Either the river cut through rock to follow the dinosaur tracks for the length of the river or the dinosaurs followed the river. The Paluxy River has been in its current course for only a few thousand years tops. The most probable is the latter as we observe that today.
http://www.scienceagainstevolution.org/v4i9f.htm
The tax records of King Herod validate that Jesus of Nazareth along with Joseph and Mary registered in Bethlehem as noted in the Bible. Historical records of not only Jewish but Roman and as far off as India validate that a Rabbi known as Jesus of Nazareth was an exceptional individual who met with a death on the cross.
Further, Roman records show that the Centurions stationed outside the tomb of Jesus were paid money to not speak of the events that led to the body of Jesus being taken while they were on guard. Centurions were never paid when they failed an assignment. They were executed if they failed.
Do I really need to retype his 4 hour presentation?
Perhaps if you flushed out the awful public school and university garbage out of your mind, you will follow history and science the correct way. Do not put opinion over the facts. Follow the facts first.
Evolution is not a fact it is science fiction.