The Human Factor: A man of science face Darwin and the Deity(Book by Head of Human Genome Project)

Weekly Standard ^ | 08/06/2006 | David Klinghoffer

[Matchett-PI]

"Our belief in God appears to have begun at the same time as Biblical scholars believe man was created, approximately 10,000 years ago."

I think - contextually, it is more correctly translated, "Adam" (a particular individual) rather than "man".

[Blueflag]

thelogian = theologian.

oops.

[Mark Felton]

Actually the verse in John says "God is A spirit".

"God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." - John 4:24

"But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." -- Romans 8:9

"For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God." -- 1 Corinthians 2:11

"Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God." -- 1 Corinthians 2:12

"Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:" -- 1 John 4:2

"

[Mark Felton]

forgot to mention, the above verses ar "King James"

[SirLinksalot]

SirLinks -- have you read the book? just curious ...

Still in the middle of it. Too many things going on to finish it.

[muawiyah]

Definitely ~ Darwinists have also drank from the fountain of "gaps" attributing to some mystical force they call "Natural Selection" to explain why certain features came to be.

Unbeknownst to them, genes were shuffling about, or being added to (through duplication, and possibly "mutation"), all on their lonesome and without any illeffect on the critters.

It's really not necessary that Darwinists and Creationists use the exact same metaphysical logic, although they do.

[SirLinksalot]

Here are the details of Jerry Bergman's educational background :

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Dr. Bergman is an adjunct associate professor at Medical University of Ohio and also teaches biochemistry, biology, chemistry and physics at Northwest State Community College in Ohio. He has taught at the college level for 35 years including 7 years at Bowling Green State University, 6 years at the university of Toledo, and 20 years at Northwest State. He started as a graduate student in biochemistry at Medical College of Ohio in 1985, and was later hired as an adjunct instructor and research associate in the experimental pathology department and he still is still on the faculty at MCO (now named Medical University of Ohio). He has also worked for several years as a therapist at various psychological clinics including Arlington Psychological associates in Toledo, Ohio. Bergman has nine academic degrees. He obtained an Associate in Arts degree in Biology and Behavioral Science, from Oakland Community College, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan in 1967, a BSc from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan in 1970 where he had majors in sociology, biology, and psychology, from where he also obtained an M.Ed. in counseling and psychology in 1971 and studied for a PhD in measurement and evaluation, minor in psychology from Wayne State. Bergman received an M.A. in social psychology from Bowling Green State in 1986.

In 1992 Bergman received his Ph.D. in human biology from Columbia Pacific University, a now defunct nontraditional distance learning school. Columbia Pacific University lost its state approval to operate in 1995 and was ordered to close permanently in October 2000 by the State of California. A court invalidated all degrees awarded after 1997 and ordered the student fees refunded. Bergman has written a detailed perspective on the school's fall from grace.

Bergman also received a Master of Science degree in biomedical science, from the Medical College of Ohio, Toledo, Ohio, 1999. In 2001 he obtained a Master of Public Health degree from the Northwest Ohio Consortium for Public Health (consisting of the Medical College of Ohio, the University of Toledo and Bowling Green State). In 2004 he received another MA from Medical College of Ohio. Dr. Bergman has also completed coursework at the University of Wisconsin, Miami University in Oxford Ohio (where he was accepted into the doctoral program in chemistry, so far completing 33 semester hours) and the University of California, Berkeley. He now has over 700 publications in a variety of scientific and popular journals, plus 20 books and monographs. His work has now been translated into 12 languages and he has spoken widely in the United States, Canada and Europe on his research.

He is a member of MENSA, and received the 1998 Edgar Langsdorf award for excellence in writing.

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May I add though, that the important thing is to address HIS ARGUMENTS. His educational background, while helpful, does little to address the validity of what he presents.

[SirLinksalot]

Ooops. I apologize for posting the above reply regaring Jerry Bergman on the wrong thread. sorry.

[GarySpFc]

I believe God may have chosen that particular line of hominids to be transformed. It is a "spirit" that God incorporated into a hominid.

The Hebrew word "bara" for created rules out your position.

[TXnMA]

A further clarification: Adam was not created; his physical body was made from pre-existing (created) materials ("formed from the dust of the earth"...).

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God then endowed the completed (finally "evolved" in both body and brain?) physical proto-man that He had made (Adam) with his Spirit, and, at that point -- and for the first time in untold millions of years of developmental history since Creation of the universe -- a man existed truly "in the Image of God'. God (Spirit) ensouled man with a like sprit -- and, finally man (plus spirit) was truly "in the image of God".

Man's (Adam's) physical body (including brain) was finally formed (developed, matured, ?"evolved"?) to the point of being suitable as a "temple of the Holy Spirit". And that body was designed to survive in (and "have dominion over" God's (earthly, at least) creation .

Nowhere in Scripture (Michaelangelo, et al. notwithstanding) is God described as normally inhabiting a physical body even remotely resembling man's. In fact, Jesus Himself had to "take upon Himself the form of a man" by being incarnated here.

[curiosity]

Indeed. I will ping my list when my machine with my list finally arrives at my new place. Moving cross country can be such a pain!

[betty boop]

Obviously in the background here, and the foreground too, is the Intelligent Design debate. Darwin and his followers advocate an unguided and purely material mechanism of natural selection operating on random genetic variation. Intelligent Design claims to find positive evidence that the mechanism was, indeed, guided--in short, that the software in the cell (DNA) did not write itself.

Hi TXnMA!!!! That the software in the cell "did not write itself" is the real clincher for me. No software ever writes itself. Period. Some neo-Darwinists simply refuse to acknowledge this. Thus all their following arguments rest on thin air.

It will be argued, perhaps, that computer programs can be self-structuring, or self-evolving. But that continues to miss the point: That capability or function must be "loaded in" by the software designer in the first instance.

Nothing that exists is sui generis, self-caused. Not even man. But we "forget this at every sound."

Thanks for the ping to this great article. The Language of God sounds like a great book -- I'll be putting it on my little list....

[TXnMA]

The surviving original texts all lack the 1611 English 2-stage translation's article, "A" at that point.

Likewise, none of the earliest MSs have the Jehovah's Witnesses' "New World Translation"'s article, "A" in, John 1: "...and the Word was "A" [G]od".

[TXnMA]

Exactly. As I'm fond of asking, "Who wrote the "kernel" of the OS?"

[SirLinksalot]

As I'm fond of asking, "Who wrote the "kernel" of the OS?"

Of course, the modern answer would be -- GIVE IT A FEW BILLION YEARS AND YOU'LL SEE WHAT KIND OF KERNEL YOU'LL GET. :)

[sine_nomine]

That's a hoot. Your certainty inspires awe, but not faith.

God created Adam and Eve through His Word. Deal with it.

[betty boop]

Of course, the modern answer would be -- GIVE IT A FEW BILLION YEARS AND YOU'LL SEE WHAT KIND OF KERNEL YOU'LL GET. :)

Sure. But it ought to be clear that this is not really an answer to the question; rather, it is an evasion of it.

[hosepipe]

[ Nothing that exists is sui generis, self-caused. Not even man. But we "forget this at every sound." / Thanks for the ping to this great article. The Language of God sounds like a great book -- I'll be putting it on my little list.... ]

As an old programmer, very old.. There were very few computer programmers when I became one (in the hundreds).. A computer language must be written by someone.. Having written (and developed) a few of them myself.. It don't happen by accident.. Takes thought and experimentation to do it..

DNA(rna) is a computer language except not for a computer, exactly.. To think it developed itself is silly in the extreme.. It takes planning toward a plan.. God does not make bluebirds, bluebirds do.. according to plan..

Mans DNA runs the computer(body), mans software is his spirit.. for whatever its worth both are needed the computer and the software.. DNA is the electronics, the spirit allows the computer to function.. Amazing that this concept escapes the so-called super sophisticated computer people.. There is a metaphorical imprint.. Computers are a good metaphor.. up to a point.. Computers are so primitive... and cannot be "born again".. Born again "beyond" DNA.. which is obviously a language lacking much.. To be remedied soon hopefully..

Maranatha Jesus...

[itsahoot]

God IS Spirit - not "a" spirit. Big difference.

I Am that I AM<(•¿•)>

[Elsie]

And St. Paul continued in this thought, too!

1 Cor 6:9