1) Early Christian writers such as Justin Martyr and Clement believed that God created the world out of unformed or shapeless matter, not from nothing. They viewed creation as organizing preexisting materials.
2) Philosophical ideas from Plato and others led some later Christians to develop the doctrine of creation ex nihilo, or from nothing. This view became dominant but was not the original belief of early Christians.
3) Ancient Jewish sources such as the Book of Job describe the first man, Adam, as being "born" or "brought forth," rather than directly created by God. This implies a view of human origins different than the Genesis account.
Unit-IV; Professional Sales Representative (PSR).pptx
Chapter 14 creation september 5 2014
1. Chapter 14 - The Creation
P a g e |
1
Chapter 14 - The Creation
Plain and Precious Truth
Earth is an orbiting classroom. Everything seems designed to teach, enlighten, test and
inspire mankind...(see Moses 6:63).
“From this distant vantage point, the Earth might not seem of particular interest. Look
again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you
know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever
was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering,
thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic
doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every
creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every
young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child,
inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt
politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint
and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of
dust suspended in a sunbeam.
The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena “Do you take time to discover each
day how beautiful your life can be? How long has it been since you watched the sun set? The
2. Chapter 14 - The Creation
P a g e |
2
departing rays kissing the clouds, trees, hills, and lowlands good night, sometimes
tranquilly, sometimes with exuberant bursts of color and form. What of the wonder of a
cloudless night when the Lord unveils the marvels of His heavens–the twinkling stars, the
moonlight rays–to ignite our imagination with His greatness and glory? How captivating to
watch a seed planted in fertile soil germinate, gather strength, and send forth a tiny,
seemingly insignificant sprout. Patiently it begins to grow and develop its own character
led by the genetic code the Lord has provided to guide its development.
With care it surely will become what it is destined to be: a lily, crowned with
grace and beauty; a fragrant spearmint plant; a peach; an avocado; or a beautiful blossom with
unique delicacy, hue, and fragrance. When last did you observe a tiny rosebud form? Each day
it develops new and impressive character, more promise of beauty until it comes a majestic
rose. You are one of the noblest of God’s creations. His intent is that your life be gloriously
beautiful regardless of your circumstances. As you are grateful and obedient, you can become
all that God intends you to be. (Richard G. Scott, Ensign, May 1996).
Under the direction of Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ created the heavens and the earth.
By his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.
(Genesis 1; 2 Hebrews 1:1-2; Richard G. Scott – You are Gods Noblest Creation)
Teachings of Jesus and the Apostles: The Creation
(Gen. 1:26;Gen. 2:5; Gen. 2:7; Gen. 2:22; Ex. 31:17; Job 38:4; Ps. 51:10; Ps. 102:25; Isa. 48:13 ;
Isa. 51:13 ; Zech. 12:1; Ps. 136:6; Ps. 148:5; Eccl. 11:5; Isa. 40:28; Isa. 42:5; Isa. 43:15; Isa. 64:8;
Jer. 31:22; John 1:3; John 1:10 ; Acts 17:24; 1 Cor. 11:9; Eph. 3:9; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:2; Heb. 11:3;
2 Pet. 3:5; Rev. 3:14; Rev. 4:11).
Early ChristianWritings:The Creation
The earliest Jewish and Christian
commentaries on the Creation assumed that God
had organized the world out of preexisting
materials, emphasizing the goodness of God in
shaping such a life-sustaining order. This is much like
the Teleological argument for intelligent design.
(The First Apology of Justin, in Roberts and
Donaldson, Ante-Nicene Fathers, 1:165; see also
Frances Young, “‘Creatio Ex Nihilo’: A Context for the
Emergence of the Christian Doctrine of Creation,” Scottish Journal of Theology 44, no. 1 [1991]:
139–51; Markus Bockmuehl, “Creation Ex Nihilo in Palestinian Judaismand Early Christianity,”
Scottish Journal of Theology 66, no. 3 [2012]: 253–70).
3. Chapter 14 - The Creation
P a g e |
3
But the encroachment of new philosophical ideas in the second century led to the
development of a doctrine that God created the universe ex nihilo—“out of nothing.” This
ultimately became the dominant teaching about the Creation within the Christian world.
(See Gerhard May, Creatio Ex Nihilo: The Doctrine of ‘Creation out of Nothing’ in Early
Christian Thought (2004).
In order to emphasize God’s power, many theologians reasoned that nothing could
have existed for as long as He had. It became important in Christian circles to assert that God
had originally been completely alone. (See Terryl L. Givens, When Souls Had Wings: Pre-Mortal
Existence in Western Thought (2010).
The belief in ex nihilo creation was not held by the first Christians or Plato. In contending
for the existence of God, theists often employed the teleological argument. “Teleology” has
reference to purpose or design. Thus, this approach suggests that where there is purposeful
design, there must be a designer.
Plato's Timaeus (427 – 347 BC) – Philosophical Belief in
A Divine Purposeful Creator and Creation
In the Timaeus Plato presents an elaborately wrought account of the formation of the
universe. Plato is deeply impressed with the order and beauty he observes in the universe, and
his project in the dialogue is to explain that order and beauty. The universe, he proposes, is the
product of rational, purposive, and beneficent agency. It is the handiwork of a divine Craftsman
(“Demiurge,” dêmiourgos, 28a6), who, imitating an unchanging and eternal model, imposes
mathematical order on a preexistent chaos to generate the ordered universe (kosmos). The
governing explanatory principle of the account is teleological: the universe as a whole as well as
its various parts are so arranged as to produce a vast array of good effects. It strikes Plato
strongly that this arrangement is not fortuitous, but the outcome of the deliberate intent of
Intellect (nous), anthropomorphically represented by the figure of the Craftsman who plans and
constructs a world that is as excellent as its nature permits it to be. (Stanford Encyclopedia of
Philosophy; First published Tue Oct 25, 2005; substantive revision Wed Mar 13, 2013)
Justin Martyr (110—165 AD) – Creation out of Unformed Matter
4. Chapter 14 - The Creation
P a g e |
4
“We have been taught that He in the
beginning did of His goodness, for man’s sake,
create all things out of unformed matter” (The
First Apology of Justin, in Roberts and Donaldson,
Ante-Nicene Fathers, 1:165; see also Frances
Young, “‘Creatio Ex Nihilo’: A Context for the
Emergence of the Christian Doctrine of Creation,” Scottish
Journal of Theology 44, no. 1 [1991]: 139–51; Markus Bockmuehl, “Creation Ex Nihilo in
Palestinian Judaism and Early Christianity,” Scottish Journal of Theology 66, no. 3 [2012]: 253–
70; see also Gerhard May, Creatio Ex Nihilo: The Doctrine of ‘Creation out of Nothing’ in Early
Christian Thought (2004).
Greek philosophical ideas intruded on Christian doctrine.
Justin Martyr – Earth made out of Substance according
to Preexistent Form
“By the word of God the whole world was
made out of the substance spoken of before by
Moses.” (First Apology of Justin," in Chapter 59 Ante-
Nicene Fathers, edited by Philip Schaff Christian
Literature Publishing Co., 1886)1:182
[the earth,] “which God made according to the pre-
existent form.” Hortatory to the Greeks," in Chapter
30 Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by Philip Schaff
(Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1886)1:286.
“And His Son, who alone is properly called Son, the Word who also was with Him and
was begotten before the works, when at first He created and arranged all things by Him, is
called Christ, in reference to His being anointed and God's ordering all thing; through Him...”(
First Apology of Justin," in Chapter 10 Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by Philip Schaff; Christian
Literature Publishing Co., 1886)1:165.
Justin Martyr said, “We have been taught that He in the beginning did of His goodness, for
man’s sake, create all things out of unformed matter” (italics added, The First Apology of Justin,
in Roberts and Donaldson, Ante-Nicene Fathers, 1:165; see also Frances Young, “‘Creatio Ex
Nihilo’: A Context for the Emergence of the Christian Doctrine of Creation,” Scottish Journal of
Theology 44, no. 1 [1991]: 139–51; Markus Bockmuehl, “Creation Ex Nihilo in Palestinian
Judaism and Early Christianity,” Scottish Journal of Theology 66, no. 3 [2012]: 253–70).
5. Chapter 14 - The Creation
P a g e |
5
Clement – Made out of a shapeless mass of Matter (Matter Unorganized)
"Hymn to the Paedagogus":
Out of a confused heap who didst
create This ordered sphere, and from the
shapeless mass Of matter didst the universe
adorn. Clement, "Hymn to the Paedagogus," Ante-
Nicene Fathers, edited by Philip Schaff (Christian
Literature Publishing Co., 1886)2:296.
Paul the Apostle (5-67 AD)
Argues in Romans 1:18-20, that because it has been made plain to all from what has
been created in the world, it is obvious that there is a God.
Marcus Minucius Felix (late 2nd to 3rd century AD)
"Supposing you went into a house and found everything neat, orderly and well-kept,
surely you would assume it had a master, and one much better than the good things, his
belongings; so in this house of the universe, when throughout heaven and earth you see the
marks of foresight, order and law, may you not assume that the lord and author of the universe
is fairer than the stars themselves or than any portions of the entire world?" (Marcus Minucius
Felix (2010). The Octavius of Minucius Felix. OrthodoxEbook. pp. 359–361)
Augustine of Hippo (354–430 AD)
"well-ordered changes and movements", and "the fair appearance of all visible things"
was evidence for the world being created, and "that it could not have been created save by
God". Augustine of Hippo, City of God, Book XI, Chapter 4
1 Clement –Substrate is an Everlasting Fabric
"Thou . . . didst make manifest the everlasting fabric of the world. Thou, Lord, didst
create the earth." 1 Clement 60, in J. B. Lightfoot, The Apostolic Fathers, ed. J. R. Harmer (1891;
repr., Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book, 1956), 1:176.
Lightfoot translates this text as: "Thou through Thine operations didst make manifest
the everlasting fabric of the world" (1:303).
The terms used here by Clement are significant. He asserts that God did "make
manifest" (ἐϕανεροποίησας) the "everlasting fabric of the world" (Σὺ τὴν ἀέναον του κόσμου
σύστασιν). He is referring to an eternal substrate that underlies God's creative activity. Clement
is important because he is at the very center of the Christian church as it was then developing.
His view assumed that God had created from an eternally existing substrate, creating by
"making manifest" what already existed in some form. The lack of argumentation or further
6. Chapter 14 - The Creation
P a g e |
6
elucidation indicates that Clement was not attempting to establish a philosophical
position; he was merely maintaining a generally accepted one.
However, the fact that such a view was assumed is even more significant than if
Clement had argued for it. If he had presented an argument for this view, then we could
assume that it was either a contested doctrine or a new view. But because he
acknowledged it as obvious, it appears to have been a generally accepted belief in the early
Christian church. Blake T. Ostler, "Out of Nothing: A History of Creation ex Nihilo in Early
Christian Thought (review of Review of Paul Copan and WilliamLane Craig, "Craftsman or
Creator? An Examination of the Mormon Doctrine of Creation and a Defense of Creatio ex
nihilo," in The New Mormon Challenge: Responding to the Latest Defenses of a Fast-Growing
Movement, edited by Beckwith, Mosser, and Owen)," FARMS Review 17/2 (2005): 253–320.
See Oscar de Gebhardt and Adolphus Harnack, Patrium Apostolicorum Opera: Clementis
Romani (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1876), 1:100.
Matthew Roper- Job describes Adam as brought forth or Born
In contrast to the Genesis account of the creation, the first man in Job is described in
the text as having been born or brought forth rather than “created” (Genesis 1:27; Proverbs
8:23, 25 ) or “formed”(Gen 2:7; Job 15:7), ). In a recent study of the first man mythology in the
Book of Job Dexter Callender notes, “In these words of Eliphaz, we learn that the first human
was thought to have been born before the hills. The verbal root here is hwl which means `to
dance or writhe’. It is used in connection with birth imagery, denoting writhing in travail; and
hence can render the meaning `to bear or bring forth.’” The meaning of the verb is clear in the
parallelismhere with yld as in Isaiah 51:2. In other words, “The first human is described as
having come into existence through natural means, that is through birth.” This usage points to
an event which precedes the formation of man from the dust of the earth in Genesis 2:7.
(Dexter E. Callender, Adam in Myth and History: Ancient Israelite Perspectives on the Primal
Human (Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns, 2000), 141.Best of FAIR 6: Adam in Ancient Texts
and the Restoration).
Pre Existence of Adamand the Role of Gods Council in the Creation - Howard
Schwartz’s “Tree of Souls:the mythology of Judaism”
Many traditions predated the revelations received by Joseph Smith, that attest to the
ancient belief of the pre-existence of the soul and righteous spirits counseling and participating
with God in the Creation. The souls of the righteous existed long before the creation of the
world. God consulted these souls in creating the universe, as it is said, they dwelt there in the
king’s service (I Chron. 4:23). God called upon the souls of the righteous, who sat on the council
with the Supreme King of Kings, to come together. He then took counsel with them before He
brought the world into being, saying, “Let us make man” (Gen. 1:26). So too did they help
Him with His work. Some assisted in planting and some helped create the borders of the
sea, as it is said, Who set the sand as a boundary to the sea (Jer. 5:22). Nor does God make any
7. Chapter 14 - The Creation
P a g e |
7
important decision without consulting the Council of Souls. So too did God take counsel
with the souls of the righteous. He asked them if they were willing to be created. And
that is how the souls of the righteous, including the souls of Abraham and the other
patriarchs, came into being.(see also Abraham 3:22-24)
While there are traditions that God took council with the angels or a divine partner
such as Adam in creating the world, here the phrase, “Let us make man” from Genesis 1:26 is
said to refer to a Council of Souls (nefashot shel Tzaddikim), with whom God consulted before
creating the world. These souls of the righteous are said to have existed before the creation of
the world...
Further, they not only give their consent for the creation of the world, but they
participate in it, assisting God in planting and creating the boundaries of the sea. Rabbi Levi
Yitzhak of Berditchev interprets God’s consulting with the souls of the righteous to
mean that He asked them if they were willing to be created. Evidence of a divine council can be
found in several biblical passages, such as Psalms 82:1, which states that God stands in the
divine assembly; among the divine beings He pronounces judgment. Here the term for the
divine assembly is “adat el.”
In Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic, Frank Moore Cross describes this council as the
Israelite counterpart of the Council of El found in Canaanite mythology, referring to El, the
primary Canaanite god. It would thus seemthat this obscure Jewish tradition is directly drawn
from the Canaanite. Psalm82 adds a strange twist to this myth: God appears to condemn
the gods of the Council of Gods to death: “I had taken you for divine beings, sons of
the Most High, all of you; but you shall die as men do, fall like any prince” (Ps. 82:6). This
might be interpreted to mean that monotheism declares the death of polytheism. Jeremiah
23:18 also describes a divine council: But he who has stood in the council of Yahweh, and seen,
and heard His word—He who has listened to His word must obey.. By pre-existing, these souls
become identified as primordial gods, such as are found in other Near Eastern mythologies.
By calling them together as a council, God implicitly recognizes their power.
It must be assumed that the council of souls gave its approval for the creation of the
universe, since God proceeded with it after that.
Another possible explanation would be to identify “the souls of the righteous” in
this midrash with the angels. In other sources, God is said to have consulted with the
angels before creating man, and there are traditions and countertraditions of the notion
that the angels somehow participated in the creation of the world itself. (See “Creation
by Angels,” p. 116; see also Genesis Rabbah 8: 7; Maggid Devarav le-Ya’akov 1; No’am
Elimelekh, Bo 36b. Studies: Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic by Frank Moore Cross, pp. 36-43,
186-190. “The Council of Yahweh in Second Isaiah” by Frank Moore Cross. “The Council of
Yahweh” by H. Wheeler Robinson. “God and the Gods in Assembly” by Matitiahu Tsevat.
Assembly of the Gods: The Divine Council in Canaanite and Early Hebrew Literature by E.
Theodore Mullen).
8. Chapter 14 - The Creation
P a g e |
8
Loss of Plain and Precious Truth:The Creation
The concept of creation ex nihilo began to be adumbrated (foreshadowed) in
Christian circles shortly before Galen's time (130—200 AD). The first Christian thinker to
articulate the rudiments of a doctrine of creation ex nihilo was the Gnostic theologian Basilides,
who flourished in the second quarter of the second century. Basilides worked out an elaborate
cosmogony (theory concerning the coming into existence (or origin) of either the cosmos (or
universe)) as he sought to think through the implications of Christian teaching in light of the
platonic cosmogony.
Basilides
He rejected the analogy of the human maker, the craftsman who carves a piece of
wood, as an anthropomorphism that severely limited the power of God. God, unlike mortals,
created the world out of ‘non-existing’ matter. He first brought matter into being through the
creation of ‘seeds’, and it is this created stuff that is fashioned, according to His will, into the
cosmos. (Edwin Hatch, The Influence of Greek Ideas and Usages upon the Christian Church,
195–196).
Thus, the doctrine of creation ex nihilo was first advanced by a Gnostic (a heretical
branch of Christianity), and did not appear until more than a century after the birth of Christ.
Literary and Scientific Commentary onthe Creation
Screwtapesuggests to Wormwood thathe must at all costs keep his “patient’s”
attention fixed on immediate sensory experience and not on abstractmatters of
reasoning or philosophy:
Jargon, not argument, is your best ally in keeping him from the Church. Don’t
wastetime trying to make him think that materialism is true! Make him think it is
strong, or stark, or courageous —that it is the philosophy of the future. That’s the
sortof thing he cares about. The trouble about argumentis that it moves the
whole struggleonto the Enemy’s own ground. By the very act of arguing, you
awakethe patient’s reason; and once it is awake, who can foresee the result?
Aboveall, do not attempt to use science (I mean, the real sciences) as a defence
against Christianity. They will positively encourage him to think about realities he
9. Chapter 14 - The Creation
P a g e |
9
can’t touch and see. There have been sad cases among the modern
physicists. If hemustdabble in science, keep him on economics and
sociology…
Read more: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/daylightatheism/essays/the-
screwtape-letters/#ixzz3CTHgjECC
Darwin– If I had tolive my life Again…
“I have said that in one respect my mind has changed during the last twenty or thirty
years. Up to the age of thirty, or beyond it, poetry of many kinds,
such as the works of Milton, Gray, Byron, Wordsworth, Coleridge,
and Shelley, gave me great pleasure, and even as a schoolboy I
took intense delight in Shakespeare, especially in the historical
plays. I have also said that formerly pictures gave me
considerable, and music very great delight.
But now for many years I cannot endure to read a line of
poetry: I have tried lately to read Shakespeare, and found it so
intolerably dull that it nauseated me. I have also almost lost any
taste for pictures or music.-Music generally set me thinking too
energetically on what I have been at work on, instead of giving
me pleasure. I retain some taste for fine scenery, but it does not
cause me the exquisite delight which it formerly did.
This curious and lamentable loss of the higher aesthetic tastes is all the odder, as books
on history, biographies and travels (independently of any scientific facts which they may
contain), and essays on all sorts of subjects interest me as much as ever they did. My mind
seems to have become a kind of machine for grinding general laws out of large collections of
facts, but why this should have caused the atrophy of that part of the brain alone, on which the
higher tastes, depend, I cannot conceive. A man with a mind more highly organized or better
constituted than mine, would not I suppose have thus suffered; and
…if I had to live my life again I would have made a
rule to read some poetry and listen to some music
at least once every week; for perhaps the parts of
my brain now atrophied could thus have been kept
active through use. The loss of these tastes is a loss
of happiness, and may possibly be injurious to the
intellect, and more probably to the moral
character, by enfeebling the emotional part of our
nature”. (Improvement Era 1935)
10. Chapter 14 - The Creation
P a g e |
10
Hugh Nibley
"The tone of science at Cambridge in 1932 was the tone of Rutherford. [They had
discovered the planetary structure of the atom.] Magniloquently boastful, creatively
confident, generous, argumentative, and full of hope. [What more could he ask?] . . . He
enjoyed a life of miraculous success." "But I am sure that even late in life he felt stabs of
sickening insecurity."
The author goes on to talk about the other giants at Cambridge: "Does anyone really
imagine that Bertrand Russell, G. H. Hardy, Rutherford, Blackett and the rest were bemused by
cheerfulness as they faced their own individual state? In the crowd, they were leaders; they
were worshipped. But by themselves they believed with the same certainty that they believed
in Rutherford's atom that they were going after this life into annihilation. Against this, they only
had to offer the nature of scientific activity; its complete success on its own terms. It itself was
a source of happiness. But it is whistling in the dark when they are alone." C. P. Snow,
Chronicles of Cambridge University, cited in Hugh W. Nibley, "Science Fiction and the Gospel,"
Latter-day Science Fiction, ed. Benjamin Urrutia (Ludlow, MA: Parables, 1985)
Carl Sagan
“The Miller-Urey experiment is now recognized as
the single most significant step in convincing any scientists
that life is likely to be abundant in the cosmos.” (Carl Sagan,
quoted in Shapiro’s Origins-A Skeptics Guide to the Creation
of Life on Earth, 1986, p.99)
Dammon
“Stanley Miller cooked up many of the molecules
necessary to life. Because the conditions inside his apparatus imitated conditions on early
Earth, his experiment supports the hypothesis that life could have originated in the early seas
under lightening filled skies.” (Discovering Biology, Cain, Dammon, et al. New York: Norton,
2007, 8.)
In the past forty years, Miller’s experiment has been replicated many times, using
electrical sparks, heat, ultraviolet radiation, shock waves, high energy chemical catalysts, all
under tightly tuned controls. And indeed, almost all of the twenty naturally occurring types of
amino acids have been detected in origin-of-life experiments.
But in every case, the results were much the same as Miller: glycine and alanine. When
occasional other amino acids have occured, they have been in highly insignificant trace
amounts. Remember that these rather pitiful results have come as a result of experiments
designed to optimize the production of the building blocks. Everything has been arranged
perfectly!
11. Chapter 14 - The Creation
P a g e |
11
Michael Behe
“As an analogy, suppose a famous chef said that random natural processes could
produce a chocolate cake. In his efforts to prove it, we would not begrudge him taking
whole plants—including wheat, cacao, and sugar cane—and placing them near a hot
spring, in the hope that the heated water would extract the right materials and cook them.
“But we would become a little wary if the chef bought refined flour, cocoa, and sugar at the
store, saying he didn’t have time to wait for the hot water to extract the components from the
plants. We would shake our heads if he then switched his experiment from a hot spring to an
electric oven, to ‘speed things up.’ And we would walk away if he then measured the amounts
of the components carefully, mixed them in a bowl, placed them in a pan, and baked them in
his oven. The results would have nothing to do with his original idea that natural processes
could produce a cake.” (Michael Behe Professor of Biochemistry at Lehigh University)
Robert Shapiro
“The very best Miller-Urey chemistry, as we have seen, does not take us very far along
the path to a living organism. A mixture of simple chemicals, even one enriched in a few amino
acids, no more resembles a bacterium than a small pile of real and nonsense words, each
written on an individual scrap of paper, resembles the
complete works of Shakespeare.” (Dr. Robert Shapiro chemistry
prof. New York Univ. Not by Chance!, 116)
Dose
“More than 30 years of experimentation have led to a
better perception of the immensity of the problem of the origin
of life on Earth rather than to its solution. At present all
discussions on principal theories and experiments in the field
either end in stalemates or in a confession of ignorance” (Dose, K., "The Origin of Life: More
Questions Than Answers," Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, Vol. 13, No. 4, 1988, p.348).
Paul Davies
Theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and astrobiologist. Currently professor at Arizona
State.
12. Chapter 14 - The Creation
P a g e |
12
"When I set out to write this book I was convinced that
science was close to wrapping up the mystery of life's origin....
but we are a very long way from comprehending how [it
happened]. This gulf in understanding is not merely ignorance
about certain technical details, it is a major conceptual lacuna. I
am not suggesting that life's origin was a supernatural event, only
that we are missing something very fundamental about the whole
business. ...something truly amazing is happening in the universe,
something with profound philosophical ramifications. My personal
belief, for what it is worth, is that a fully satisfactory theory of the origin of life demands some
radically new ideas" (The Fifth Miracle: The Search for the Origin of Life, Penguin: Ringwood
NSW, Australia, 1998, pp.xvi-xvii)
Francis Crick - Nobel Prize winning co-discoverer of the double
helix shape of DNA
“An honest man, armed with all the knowledge available
to us now, could only state that in sum, the origin of life appears
at the moment to be almost a miracle, so many are the
conditions which would have had to have been satisfied to get it
along.” (Life Itself, Its Origin and Nature, Futura: London, 1982.)
George Wald - Nobel Prize winning Harvard biochemist
“One has only to contemplate the magnitude of this task to concede that the
spontaneous generation of a living organismis impossible. Yet we are here - as a result, I
believe, of spontaneous generation.” “When it comes to the origin of life there are only two
possibilities: creation or spontaneous generation. There is no third way. Spontaneous
generation was disproved 100 years ago, but that leads us to only one other conclusion, that of
supernatural creation. We cannot accept that on philosophical grounds; therefore we choose to
believe the impossible: That life arose spontaneously by chance!” (“The Origin of Life,”
Scientific American 191:48).
Chris Williams
“Few people outside of genetics or biochemistry realize that evolutionists still can
provide no substantive details at all about the origin of life, and particularly the origin of genetic
information in the first self-replicating organism. How did huge information-rich molecules arise
before natural selection? Exactly how did the genetic code linking nucleic acids to amino acid
sequence originate? Clearly the origin of life – the foundation of evolution - is still virtually all
speculation, and little if no fact” (Chris Williams, Ph.D., Biochemistry, Ohio State)
Nikola Tesla
13. Chapter 14 - The Creation
P a g e |
13
“The gift of mental power comes from God, Divine Being, and if we concentrate
our minds on that truth, we become in tune with this great power. My Mother had taught
me to seek all truth in the Bible.”
Nikola Tesla
Invented the means to transfer and to distribute
electricity over long distances, once said, “If you want to find
the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency
and vibration.”
String Theory-
The Elegant Universe NOVA - Transcript
According to string theory, absolutely everything in the
universe—all of the particles that make up matter and forces—is
comprised of tiny vibrating fundamental strings. Moreover,
every one of these strings is identical. The only difference
between one
string and
another, whether it's a heavy particle that
is part of an atom or a massless particle
that carries light, is its resonant pattern,
or how it vibrates.
All objects, not just fundamental strings,
have resonant patterns associated with
them. Pluck the string of a violin and you
hear mainly one tone. This is the string's fundamental resonant pattern, or frequency. And the
instrument's resonance doesn't stop there. The body of the violin has resonant frequencies,
which work to amplify the sound created by the vibrating string. There's resonance in objects
that aren't musical, too. Your desk has resonant frequencies, and so does a flagpole, and so
does the Earth. (Aired 7/11, 7/18, and 7/25, 2012 on PBS)
One of the crowning achievements of 20th century science is that all the laws of physics, at a
fundamental level, can be summarized by just two formalisms: (1) Einstein’s theory of gravity,
which gives us a cosmic description of the very large, i.e. galaxies, black holes and the Big Bang,
and (2) the quantum theory, which gives us a microscopic description of the very small, i.e. the
microcosm of sub-atomic particles and radiation.
14. Chapter 14 - The Creation
P a g e |
14
But the supreme irony, and surely one of Nature’s cosmic jokes, is that they look
bewilderingly different; even the world’s greatest physicists, including Einstein and
Heisenberg, have failed to unify these into one. The two theories use different
mathematics and different physical principles to describe the universe in their respective
domains, the cosmic and the microscopic. Fortunately, we now have a candidate for this
theory. (In fact, it is the only candidate. Scores of rival proposals have all been shown to be
inconsistent.) It’s called “superstring theory,” and almost effortlessly unites gravity with a
theory of radiation, which is required to solve the problem of quantum wormholes. The
superstring theory can explain the mysterious quantum laws of sub-atomic physics by
postulating that sub-atomic particles are really just resonances or vibrations of a tiny string. The
vibrations of a violin string correspond to musical notes; likewise the vibrations of a superstring
correspond to the particles found in nature. The universe is then a symphony of vibrating
strings. An added bonus is that, as a string moves in time, it warps the fabric of space around it,
producing black holes, wormholes, and other exotic solutions of Einstein’s equations. Thus, in
one stroke, the superstring theory unites both the theory of Einstein and quantum physics into
one coherent, compelling picture.
Pure Energy
Scientific experiments in Quantum Physics and
particularly those at the European Organization for Nuclear
Research — CERN — at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in
Geneva, Switzerland, continue to demonstrate that once we
break everything down to its core, pure energy is behind
everything. When we go down to the sub-atomic level we do
not find matter, but pure energy. Some call this the unified
field or the matrix. Others talk about pure potentiality: all being
energy.
Vibrating Field
This pure energy vibrates a field around it. A vibrating field of energy, which attracts —
like a magnet — and attaches to energy of the same vibrating frequency. The more vibrating
energy that is compressed into this field of energy, the more intense the vibration gets within
that field. Eventually the energy field manifests into matter: particle-by-particle. As the father
of Quantum Physics, Max Planck, once said, “All the physical matters are composed of
vibration.”
Illusion
A table may look solid and still, but within the table are billions and billions of subatomic
particles “running around” and “popping” with energy. The table is pure energy and movement.
15. Chapter 14 - The Creation
P a g e |
15
Everything in this universe has its own vibrational frequency. It is the law of vibration in
action. However we can’t see it so it appears separate and solid to us. This is actually an
illusion! Our frequency of perception of electro-magnetic waves defines what we can and
cannot see within the visible spectrum of light. However, at a different frequency, like X-
rays, the entire solid object would appear to be completely like a sieve.
Unified Field
Every object in the Universe moves and vibrates — everything is vibrating at one speed or
another. Nothing rests. Everything we see around ourselves is vibrating at one frequency or
another and so are we. However, our frequency is different from other entities in the universe,
hence it seems like we are separated from what we see around ourselves — people, animals,
plants, trees and so on. But we are not separated — we are in fact all living in a continuous
ocean of energy. We are all connected at the highest level: the unified field.
Frequency Control
At the very leading edge of biophysics today, scientists are recognizing that the
molecules in our bodies are actually controlled by these frequencies. In 1974, Dr Colin W F
McClare, an Oxford University Bio-Physicist, discovered that frequencies of vibrating energy are
roughly one-hundred times more efficient in relaying information within a biological system
than physical signals, such as hormones, neurotransmitters, other growth factors and
chemicals.
Vibration as Sound and Light
What’s most interesting is that, if a frequency is
vibrating fast enough, it’s emitted as a Sound and if it is
vibrating much faster, it is emitted as a colour of Light. If
we wanted to convert Sound to Light, we would simply
raise its frequency by forty octaves. This results in a vibration in the trillions of cycles per
second. So, if a pianist could press a key way above the eighty-eight keys that exist on a piano,
that key would produce Light. This could create a chord of Light in the same way they can
create a chord of sound. And it would be seen as colours of Light because it would be moving
at the speed of Light.
16. Chapter 14 - The Creation
P a g e |
16
Resonance
When two frequencies are brought together, the lower will always rise to meet the
higher. This is the principle of resonance. So, when a piano is tuned, a tuning fork is
struck, and then brought close to the piano string that carries that same musical tone. The
string then raises its vibration automatically and attunes itself to the same rate at which the
fork is vibrating. This principle of resonance works for biological systems too. (DK Matai,
Chairman: mi2g, ATCA 5000, The Philanthropia)
Musical Vibrations- Ballam
Simply defined, music is sound that has been organized, Ballamsaid.
"Sound is vibration. Vibration is movement. Movement requires energy and energy is the
source of life," he said. "Music is life."
Thousands of years ago, Greek philosophers hypothesized that music held the heavens and
earth together.
"Plato and Aristotle described the fact that the universe itself is held in order by music. Now
that was a pretty statement to have said thousands of years ago. The interesting thing is that
they're right," he said.
Researchers in the 1950s were able to calibrate the vibrations -- or music -- of the earth and the
planets in our solar system, he said, and their findings show that some planets' vibrations were
octaves apart.
"The universe is held by vibration in its order. Someone must have put it there," he said.
"Someone who understands music because it comes from him."
Isaiah taught that the whole creation, including rocks, will sing at Christ's second coming, which
isn't hard for Ballam to believe as research indicates that they already are.
Music has profound spiritual implications, he said, which reach farther than many realize.
Christ's birth was attended by singing angels, and his Second Coming will be accompanied in a
similar fashion. Jesus and his apostles also sang together in an upper room before the Last
Supper. These songs aren't just to provide some sort of rest hymn, he said, but because music
itself has power to invite the spirit. The music of Handel and Bach, for instance, was clearly
composed with the light of Christ, he said, and invites all who listen to it to do good.
Ballam's address was filmed and will be broadcast on BYUTV the week of Sept. 20-24.
It is the same power that created our earth and the whole universe" ... I came across some info
on http://www.ufoc.org/ that Michael Ballam
17. Chapter 14 - The Creation
P a g e |
17
Music is a fundamental part of worship, and was even more so anciently than it is today.
Before the printed word made the sacred word so accessible to the masses, it was passed
on from generation to generation orally. But this was not just the spoken word. In order
for the word to be remembered and said the same way over and over again, over decades
and centuries, a mnemonic device was employed to facilitate the reciter. This device was
music. The sacred word, every word, was put to music.
This can be seen in the way the Bible is written in Hebrew, one of the oldest languages in the
world. In Hebrew, particularly the Hebrew Bible, there are cantillation marks that specify how
the text should be sung: Cantillation is the ritual chanting of readings from the Hebrew Bible in
synagogue services.
Dan McCollam - The Physics of Heaven
Physicists claimthat the universe is in a constant state of vibratory motion. String theory
claims that there are tiny vibrating strands of energy at the center of all matter. Genesis and
the leading authority on creation research tell us that the Holy Spirit vibrated over nuclear
matter to energize it, giving it the ability to be shaped and formed. Colossians tells us that God
created all visible and invisible things and that, “…By Him all things consist.” Are you seeing the
picture? All created things vibrate and the Creator initiated this vibration in the Genesis account
of creation.
Let’s add another piece to our sound puzzle. Dr. John Beaulieu is a psychologist,
musician, and practitioner of naturopathic medicine who has proposed an interesting
application of quantum field theory. Quantum field theory, as Dr. Beaulieu applies it, suggests
that the quantum field in a scientific experiment is more significant than its manifestation.
Simply put, the cause is greater than the effect it produces.
If one were to apply this principle to vibration and creation you might say that created
matter is only the response to a greater field, in this case a vibration. Beaulieu proposes that
trees, plants, rocks, and people are perhaps music that has taken on visible form. Assuming the
application of this theory has merit, one would be led to ask, “Where then is the voice or music
coming from that shapes creation?”
C. S. Lewis must have imagined a similar concept in his acclaimed children’s fiction, The
Magician’s Nephew, from the Chronicles of Narnia series. Here, Lewis pictures the great lion
Aslan singing Narnia into existence. Polly and Digory are two young children who watch in
amazement as everything the lion sings takes on the shape, character, and color of his song.
Now it’s quite obvious that C.S. Lewis was writing children’s fiction, not establishing quantum
theory or systematic theology, but Beaulieu’s principle and Lewis’s fiction could easily make
one wonder if all that we see and enjoy in creation is simply a visible form of the “Lion’s song.”
Not only does it appear that there is certainly a vibration at the center of all creation,
but that same vibrating strand may be what holds the universe together.
18. Chapter 14 - The Creation
P a g e |
18
We know from the Genesis account that God spoke creation into existence, but
according to the book of Hebrews, his powerful word is still what is holding the universe
together. “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being,
sustaining all things by his powerful word.” (Hebrews 1:3)
I believe that the string or vibration at the center of all matter in the universe is in
fact the sound wave from the word God spoke over each created thing at its entry into
existence. His voice, that God vibration, is the glue holding all creation together. Colossians 1:17
states, “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
The words that God speaks live forever and supersede our material reality. “Heaven and
earth will pass away but my words will never pass away.” (Luke 21:33) Like the quantum field
theory we examined earlier, we see that God’s words shape physical matter but the words
themselves are a greater reality than what they create because they “never pass away.”
Johannes Brahms –Creation of Music through inspired vibrations
When asked where his inspiration came from, Johannes Brahms said, "I immediately
feel vibrations that thrills my whole being. These are the Spirit illuminating the soul power
within, and in this exalted state, I see clearly what is obscure in my ordinary moods: Then I feel
capable of drawing inspiration from above, as Beethoven ... Straighway the ideas flow in upon
me, directly from God, and not only do I see distinct themes in my mind's eye but they are
clothed in the right forms, harmonies, and orchestration. Measure by measure, the finished
product is revealed to me when I am in those rare, inspired moods." "The powers from which
all truly great composers like Mozart, Schubert, Bach and Beethoven drew their inspiration is
the same power that enabled Jesus to work his miracles. It is the same power that created our
earth and the whole universe" ("Talks with Great Composers", Arthur M. Abell)
Aristotle
"Music has the power of producing a certain effect on the moral character of the soul, and if it
has the power to do this, it is clear that the young must be directed to music and must be
educated in it."
MUSIC & THE MIND
Developing "neural circuits" or pathways of synaptic response which causes and retains
learning |
"Last October researchers at the University of Konstanz in Germany reported that
exposure to music rewires neural circuits. In the brains of nine string players examined with
magnetic resonance imaging, the amount of somatosensory cortex dedicated to the thumb and
fifth finger of the left hand - the fingering digits -was significantly larger than in non players.
How long the players practiced each day did not affect the cortical map. But the age at which
they had been introduced to their muse did.
19. Chapter 14 - The Creation
P a g e |
19
"The younger the child when (he or) she took up the instrument, the more cortex
(he or she) devoted to playing it. Like other circuits formed early in life, the ones for music
endure. Wayne State's Chugani played the guitar as a child, then gave it up. A few years
ago he started taking piano lessons with his young daughter. She learned easily but he
couldn't get his fingers to follow his wishes. Yet when Chugani recently picked up a guitar,
he found to his delight that "the songs are still there," much like the muscle memory for
riding a bicycle".
The musical Brain: Learning window 3 to 19 years. What we know: String players have a
larger area of their sensory cortex dedicated to the fingering digits on their left hand. Few
concert-level performers begin playing later than the age of 10. It is much harder to learn an
instrument as an adult. What we can do about it: Sing songs with children. Play structured,
melodic music. If a child shows any musical aptitude or interest, get an instrument into (his or)
her hand early. NEWSWEEK, February 19,1996 pages 57-61
Plain and Precious TruthRestored:The Creation
The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a
God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea and its
motion, yea and also all the planets which move in their regular form do
witness that there is a Supreme Creator. (Alma 30:40)
Under the direction of Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ created the
heavens and the earth (see Mosiah 3:8; Moses 2:1). From scripture revealed
through the Prophet Joseph Smith, we know that in the work of the Creation, the
Lord organized elements that had already existed (see Abraham 3:24). He did not create the
world “out of nothing,” as some people believe. Elder James E. Talmage, “within the gospel of
Jesus Christ there is room and place for every truth thus far learned by man, or yet to be made
known.”
The scriptures also teach that Adam was “the first man of all
men” (Moses 1:34). God created Adam and Eve in His own image and in
the image of His Only Begotten (see Moses 2:26–27). The Creation is an
integral part of Heavenly Father’s plan of salvation. It gives each of us the
opportunity to come to the earth, where we receive a physical body and
exercise our agency.
Russell M. Nelson
I testify that the earth and all life upon it are of divine origin. The Creation did not
happen by chance. It did not come ex nihilo (out of nothing). And human minds and hands able
20. Chapter 14 - The Creation
P a g e |
20
to build buildings or create computers are not accidental. It is God who made us and not
we ourselves. We are His people! The Creation itself testifies of a Creator. We cannot
disregard the divine in the Creation. Without our grateful awareness of God’s hand in the
Creation, we would be just as oblivious to our provider as are goldfish swimming in a bowl.
With deep gratitude, we echo the words of the Psalmist, who said, “O Lord, how manifold
are thy works! In wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.” Elder
Russell M. Nelson, The Creation, Ensign (CR), May 2000, p.84
Brigham Young
“The whole object of the creation of this world is to exalt the
intelligences that are placed upon it, that they may live, endure, and
increase for ever and ever” (Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham
Young, 57).
Bruce R. McConkie
“We know that Jehovah-Christ, assisted by ‘many of
the noble and great ones’ (Abr. 3:22), of whom Michael is
but the illustration, did in fact create the earth and all forms
of plant and animal life on the face thereof. But when it
came to placing man on earth, there was a change in
the Father himself became personally involved. All
things were created by the Son, using the power delegated
by the Father, except man. In the spirit and again in the flesh,
man was
created by the Father. There was no
delegation of authority where the crowning
creature of creation was concerned” (Bruce
R. McConkie, The Promised Messiah, 62).
Bruce R. McConkie
“This earth was created first
spiritually. It was a spirit earth. Nothing then
lived on its face, nor was it designed that
anything should. Then came the physical creation, the paradisiacal creation, the creation of the
earth in the Edenic day and before the fall of man. …
21. Chapter 14 - The Creation
P a g e |
21
“Man and all forms of life existed as spirit beings and entities before the
foundations of this earth were laid. There were spirit men and spirit beasts, spirit fowls
and spirit fishes, spirit plants and spirit trees. Every
creeping thing, every herb and shrub, every amoeba
and tadpole, every elephant and dinosaur—all
things—existed as spirits, as spirit beings, before
they were placed naturally upon the earth” (Bruce R.
McConkie, The Millennial Messiah, 642–43).
Joseph Smith
“In the beginning, the head of the Gods called a council of the Gods; and they came
together and concocted a plan to create the world and people it” (Joseph Smith, Teachings of
the Prophet Joseph Smith, 349).
“Now, the word create came from the word baurau which does not
mean to create out of nothing; it means to organize; the same as a man
would organize materials and build a ship. Hence, we infer that God had
materials to organize the world out of chaos—chaotic matter, which is
element, and in which dwells all the glory. Element had an existence
from the time he had. The pure principles of element are principles
which can never be destroyed; they may be organized and re-organized,
but not destroyed. They had no beginning, and can have no end” (Smith,
Teachings, 350–52).
Joseph Fielding Smith- Who participated in the Creation?
“It was Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, who, under the direction of his Father, came down
and organized matter and made this planet. …
“… It is true that Adam helped to form this earth. He labored with
our Savior Jesus Christ. I have a strong view or conviction that there
were others also who assisted them. Perhaps Noah and Enoch; and
why not Joseph Smith, and those who were appointed to be rulers
before the earth was formed? …
“… The account of creation in Genesis was not a spirit creation, but it
was in a particular sense, a spiritual creation. …
“… The account in Genesis one and two, is the account of the physical creation of the
earth and all upon it, but the creation was not subject to mortal law until after the fall. It was,
therefore, a spiritual creation and so remained until the fall when it became temporal, or
mortal” (Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 1:74–77).
22. Chapter 14 - The Creation
P a g e |
22
Parley P. Pratt – The earthwas formed ina paradisiacal state
An earth was then organized (Abr. 5:4). Adam and Eve in a paradisiacal state were
the first man and the first woman (Moses 1:34; 3:5, 7; 6:3-10, 22, 59)
...It becomes
necessary for us to take a view
of creation, as it rolled in purity
from the hand of its creator,
and if can discover the true
state in which it then existed,
and understand the changes
that have taken place since,
then we shall be able to
understand what is to be
restored:
...we hear the Lord God pronounce the earth, as well as
everything else, very good. From this we learn that there was neither
deserts, barren places, stagnant swamps, rough broken and rugged
hills; nor vast mountains covered with eternal snow; and no part of it
was located in the frigid zone, so as to render its climate dreary and
unproductive, subject to eternal frost or everlasting chains of ice...its climate was delightfully
varied, with moderate changes of heat and cold, of wet and dry, which only tended to crown
the varied years with the greater variety of productions, all for the good of man, animal and
fowl , or creeping thing ; while from the flowery plain or spicy grove, sweet odors were wafted
on every breeze; all the vast creation of animated beings breathed not but health, and peace
and joy....everything that grew was just calculated for the food of man, beast, fowl and
creeping thing; and their food was all vegetable. ...the lion ate straw like the ox, the wolf dwelt
with the lamb ...all was peace and harmony and nothing to hurt nor disturb in all the holy
mountains.
And to crown the whole, we behold man created in the image of
God, and exalted in dignity and power, having dominion over all the vast
creation of animated beings which swarmed through the earth, while at
the same time he inhabited a beautiful and well watered garden in the
midst of which stood the tree of life, to which he had free access; while
he stood in the presence of his maker, conversed with Him face to face,
and gazed upon his glory, without a dimming veil between.
23. Chapter 14 - The Creation
P a g e |
23
O reader, contemplate for a moment, this beautiful
creation, with peace and plenty; the earth teeming with
harmless animals, rejoicing over all the
plain; the air swarming with
delightful birds, whose never ceasing
notes filled the air with varied melody;
and all in subjection to their rightful sovereign, who rejoiced over
them ; while in a beautiful garden, the capital of creation man was
seated on the throne of this vast empire, swaying his scepter over
all the earth with undisputed right; while legions of angels
encamped round about him and joined their glad voices in grateful
songs of praise and shouts of joy. (Parley P. Pratt - A Voice of Warning, p.110-113) Abr.3:24
The Teleological or Intelligent DesignArgument
A teleological or physico-theological argument, also known as an argument from design,
is an argument for the existence of God or, more generally, for an intelligent creator "based on
perceived evidence of deliberate design in the natural or physical world". (Oxford English
Dictionary, Phrase P3 for Design: "argument from design n. Theol. an argument for the
existence of an intelligent creator (usually identified as God) based on perceived evidence of
deliberate design in the natural or physical world).”
Atheist Richard Dawkins
“The more statistically improbable a thing is, the
less we can believe that it just happened by blind chance.
Superficially, the obvious alternative to chance is an
intelligent Designer” (1982, p. 130, emp. added). That is
the very conclusion theists have drawn from the
available evidence—in keeping with the law of
rationality. The statistical improbability of the Universe
“just happening by blind chance” is staggering. The only
alternative is an Intelligent Designer—God.
The Earth’s Orbit around the Sun
The sun of our solar systemis powered by the Son. It is difficult for us to comprehend
the amount of heat, energy, and light that emanate from this one celestial orb. Science tells us
24. Chapter 14 - The Creation
P a g e |
24
that the temperature at the surface of the sun is 5800 degrees Kelvin, while the core of
the sun measures 15,600,000 degrees Kelvin.
"The Sun's energy output (3.86e33 ergs/second or 386 billion billion megawatts) is
produced by nuclear fusion reactions. Each second about 700,000,000 tons of hydrogen
are converted to about 695,000,000 tons of helium and 5,000,000 tons (=3.86e33 ergs) of
energy in the form of gamma rays." (http://www.nineplanets.org/sol.html)The Sun is like a
giant nuclear engine. It gives off more energy in a single second than mankind has produced
since the Creation. It converts 8 million tons of matter into energy every single second, and has
an interior temperature of more than 20 million degrees Celsius (see Lawton, 1981)The Earth is
rotating on its axis at 1,000 miles per hour at the equator, and moving around the Sun at 70,000
miles per hour (approximately 19 miles per second), while the Sun and its solar systemare
moving through space at 600,000 miles per hour in an orbit so large it would take over 220
million years just to complete a single orbit. Interestingly, however, as the Earth moves in its
orbit around the Sun, it departs from a straight line by only one-ninth of an inch every eighteen
miles. If it departed by one-eighth of an inch, we would come so close to the Sun that we would
be incinerated; if it departed by one-tenth of an inch, we would find ourselves so far from the
Sun that we would all freeze to death (Science Digest, 1981, 89[1]:124).
The Moon and Tides
The Earth is poised some 240,000 miles from
the Moon, whose gravitational pull produces ocean
tides. If the Moon were moved closer to the Earth by
just a fifth, the tides would be so enormous that twice
a day they would reach 35-50 feet high over most of
the Earth’s surface.
25. Chapter 14 - The Creation
P a g e |
25
Asimov - The Ocean
The oceans provide a huge reservoir of moisture that is constantly evaporating and
condensing, thus falling upon the land as refreshing rain. It is a well-known fact that water
heats and cools at a much slower rate than a solid
land mass, which explains why desert regions can
be blistering hot in the daytime and freezing cold
at night. But water holds its temperature longer,
providing a natural heating/air-conditioning
system for the land areas of the Earth.
Temperature extremes would be much more erratic than they are, were it not for the
fact that approximately four-fifths of the Earth is covered with water. In addition, humans and
animals inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. On the other hand, plants take in carbon
dioxide and give off oxygen. We depend upon the world of botany for our oxygen supply, yet
approximately 90% of that oxygen comes from microscopic plants in the seas (see Asimov,
1975, 2:116). If our oceans were appreciably smaller, we soon would be out of air to breathe.
Fibonacci Code, GoldenSegment and the Logarithmic Spiral
The logarithmic spiral is found everywhere in nature. The logarithmic spiral based on a
simple mathematical ratio is found everywhere in nature. It appears in seashells. It allows the
horns of animals to grow, each horn spiraling in an opposite direction. It appears in the
26. Chapter 14 - The Creation
P a g e |
26
arrangement of seeds in flowers, in the
arrangement of limbs on trees, in their height from
one another, and in the way they are arranged on
the stem at just the right angle to catch the most
light. Spirals of one kind or another are found from
the smallest virus to the largest galaxy. Where
living things must change size and maintain shape the
logarithmic spiral appears.
Scribe an arc through a square formed inside a
rectangle, continue it in a smaller one and the next and
you form a spiral, a logarithmic spiral with precise
mathematical proportions of the golden segment and
quite remarkable properties.
In the 12th century, Leonardo Fibonacci discovered a simple numerical series that is the
foundation for an incredible mathematical relationship behind phi.
Starting with 0 and 1, each new number in the series is simply the sum of the two before
it.
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144 . . .
The ratio of each successive pair of numbers in the series approximates phi (1.618. . .),
as 5 divided by 3 is 1.666..., and 8 divided by 5 is 1.60.
1.618033988749895
If a simple rectangle is formed so that the short side has the same proportional
relationship to the long side as the long side does to both sides put together, it has a precise
mathematical ratio of 1.618.
The relationship of those two segments to one another was known anciently as the
golden segment, and is referred to in literature as the "divine proportion," for it embodies
qualities of both precision and beauty. It is an infinite proportional relationship, which
continues forever, much as the mirrors in the sealing
room of the temple form a corridor of diminishing
images which goes out of sight and on into infinity.
Somehow this proportion activates that part of
human nature which responds to beauty. "Beauty is in
the eye of the beholder" (Hungerford). There is
something in that eye, that human eye, which is
pleased with shapes which embody that proportion.
Whether angular, spherical, conical, or of spiral
27. Chapter 14 - The Creation
P a g e |
27
dimension, it is felt to be beautiful. The musical words harmony, symmetry, rhythm, and
balance are used to describe paintings and statues and also buildings and creations of
every kind which embody this proportion. They are regarded as beautiful. Why? Because
there is some interconnection between the perception of man and that mathematical
proportion. (Boyd K. Packer, The Law and the Light)
Some of the greatest mathematical minds of all ages, from Pythagoras and Euclid in
ancient Greece, through the medieval Italian mathematician Leonardo of Pisa and the
Renaissance astronomer Johannes Kepler, to present-day scientific figures such as Oxford
physicist Roger Penrose, have spent endless hours over this simple ratio and its properties. But
the fascination with the Golden Ratio is
not confined just to mathematicians.
Biologists, artists, musicians, historians,
architects, psychologists, and even
mystics have pondered and debated the
basis of its ubiquity and appeal. In fact, it
is probably fair to say that the Golden
Ratio has inspired thinkers of all
disciplines like no other number in the
history of mathematics. Mario Livio, The
Golden Ratio: The Story of Phi, The
World's Most Astonishing Number, p.6
DNA
The examples are everywhere, some as small as the double helix of DNA, others as large
as the orbits of celestial bodies. (Boyd K. Packer, The Law and the Light)
Since 1991, several researchers have proposed connections between the golden ratio
and human genome DNA. Perez, J.-C. (September 2010). "Codon populations in single-stranded
whole human genome DNA are fractal and fine-tuned by the Golden Ratio 1.618".
Interdisciplinary Sciences: Computational Life Science 2 (3): 228–240.
The Human Body
28. Chapter 14 - The Creation
P a g e |
28
Actually, you need look no further than your own physical body to find an
application of the golden segment. An example is as close as your own hand. Whether you
are short or tall, slimor stout,
the second and third bone in
your finger equal the length of
the longer one…the Golden
ratio is 1.618. That is just the
beginning. This body of ours
embodies that golden segment in
dozens of ways …With billions of us
on this earth no two of us is exactly
alike.
The Human Hearts Dimensions and Ventricles reset to the Rhythm of the Fibonacci code
The Journal of the American College of Cardiology recently published the following
findings from their studies of cardiac imaging. We determined that there is a constant ratio
between the overall cardiac ventricle and transvers dimension similar to the golden ratio of
1.618 in the healthy heart of young … male adults. The use of the golden ratio may help us
determine deviations from normalcy quickly and easily. We can therefore manage and treat the
patient before irreversible changes occur. (JACC Vol. 62/18/Suppl. C, Oct. 26-29 2013)
The prominent parts of an
electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) are the P
wave, a deflection caused by the current
originating in the atrium; the QRS complex,
showing the passage of the electrical activity
into the ventricles; and the T wave, as the
ventricles reset themselves. The
electrocardiograms (ECG or EKG) of human
heartbeats vary considerably depending on a
variety of factors.
The Human Eye – Darwin
One of the best examples of design within the human body is
the eye. Even Charles Darwin struggled with the problem of
how to explain how such a complex organ as the eye could
have “evolved” through naturalistic processes. In The Origin of
Species he wrote:
29. Chapter 14 - The Creation
P a g e |
29
To suppose that the eye with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to
different distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and for the correction of
spherical and chromatic aberration, could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I
freely confess, absurd in the highest sense (1859, p. 170, emp. added).
Evolutionist Robert Jastrow once wrote:
The eye is a marvelous instrument, resembling a telescope of the highest quality, with a
lens, an adjustable focus, a variable diaphragm for controlling the amount of light, and optical
corrections for spherical and chromatic aberration. The eye appears to have been designed; no
designer of telescopes could have done better. How could this marvelous instrument have
evolved by chance, through a succession of random events? (1981, pp. 96-97, emp. added).
How indeed? Though Dr. Jastrow argued that “the fact of evolution is not in doubt,” he
confessed that “…there seems to be no direct proof that evolution can work these miracles.… It
is hard to accept the evolution of the eye as a product of chance” (1981, pp. 101,97,98, emp.
added). Considering the extreme complexity of the eye, it is easy to understand why Jastrow
would make such a comment. In his book, Does God Believe in Atheists?, John Blanchard
described just how complex the eye really is.
The human eye is a truly amazing phenomenon. Although accounting for just one
fourth-thousandth of an adult’s weight, it is the medium which processes some 80% of the
information received by its owner from the outside world. The tiny retina contains about 130
million rod-shaped cells, which detect light intensity and transmit impulses to the visual cortex
of the brain by means of some one million nerve fibres, while nearly six million cone-shaped
cells do the same job, but respond specifically to colour variation. The eyes can handle 500,00
messages simultaneously, and are kept clear by ducts producing just the right amount of fluid
with which the lids clean both eyes simultaneously in one five-thousandth of a second (2000, p.
313).
Werner Gitt
In his book, The Wonder of Man, Werner Gitt explains how the retina is a masterpiece
of engineering design.
One single square millimetre of the retina contains approximately 400,000 optical
sensors. To get some idea of such a large number, imagine a sphere, on the surface of which
circles are drawn, the size of tennis balls. These circles are separated from each other by the
same distance as their diameter. In order to accommodate 400,000 such circles, the sphere
must have a diameter of 52 metres... (1999, p. 15).
Alan L. Gillen also praised the design of the retina in his book, Body by Design.
30. Chapter 14 - The Creation
P a g e |
30
The most amazing component of the eye is the “film,” which is the retina. This
light-sensitive layer at the back of the eyeball is thinner than a sheet of plastic wrap and is
more sensitive to light than any man-made film. The best camera film can handle a ratio of
1000-to-1 photons in terms of light intensity. By comparison, human retinal cells can
handle a ratio of 10 billion-to-1 over the dynamic range of light wavelengths of 380 to 750
nanometers. The human eye can sense as little as a single photon of light in the dark! In
bright daylight, the retina can bleach out, turning its “volume control” way down so as not to
overload. The light-sensitive cells of the retina are like an extremely complex high-gain amplifier
that is able to magnify sounds more than one million times (2001, pp. 97-98, emp. added).
Alan Gillen explained it best when he wrote: “No human camera, artificial device, nor
computer-enhanced light-sensitive device can match the contrivance of the human eye. Only a
master engineer with superior intelligence could manufacture a series of interdependent light
sensitive parts and reactions” (p. 99, emp. added). That master engineer was God. The writer of
Proverbs knew this when he wrote, “The hearing ear and the seeing eye, the Lord has made
them both” (20:12).
Earth, Dirt and Mud-(See Helaman 12: 6-12)
There is a testament to law right under our feet. The very mud upon which we walk,
when dried, cracks into three angles-each 120 degrees. Together that adds up to 360 degrees-a
perfect circle, a compass. (Boyd K. Packer, The Law and the Light)
Magnetic Resonance
In 2010, the journal Science reported that the golden ratio is present at the atomic scale
in the magnetic resonance of spins in cobalt niobate crystals."Golden ratio discovered in a
quantum world". Eurekalert.org. 2010-01-07. Retrieved 2011-10-31 (Note: Light is
electromagnetic resonance)
Fractals
Many objects in nature aren’t formed of squares or triangles, but of more complicated
geometric figures. Trees, ferns, clouds, and mountains are shaped like fractals. Other examples
include snowflakes, crystals, lightning, river networks, cauliflower or broccoli, and systems of
blood vessels and pulmonary vessels. Coastlines may also be considered as fractals in nature. As
fractals are self-similar patterns that reveal greater complexity as it is enlarged, they portray
the notion of worlds within worlds.
Trees and ferns are fractals in nature. They can be modeled on a computer by using a
recursive algorithm:
31. Chapter 14 - The Creation
P a g e |
31
"The power of recursion evidently lies in the possibility of defining an infinite set of
objects by a finite statement. In the same manner, an infinite number of computations can
be described by a finite recursive program, even if this program contains no explicit
repetitions." (Wirth, Niklaus (1976). Algorithms + Data Structures = Programs. Prentice-Hall. p.
126).
Standard examples of single recursion include list traversal, such as in a linear search, or
computing the factorial function, while standard examples of multiple recursion include tree
traversal, such as in a depth-first search, or computing the Fibonacci sequence.
This recursive nature is obvious in these examples—a branch from a tree or a frond
from a fern is a miniature replica of the whole: not identical, but similar in nature. The
connection between fractals and leaves are currently being used to determine how much
carbon is contained in trees.
Abraham - Birthof Man and Woman
Abraham received the priesthood, from the line of authority all the way back to Adam,
who was the firstborn or first man. Jesus was the only begotten in the mortal flesh. Adam was
born of Heavenly parent spiritual and as a paradisiacal man. When he partook of the fruit of the
tree of knowledge of good and evil blood formed in his veins and he became mortal the first
fallen man on this earth.
2 …I became a rightful heir, a High Priest, holding the right belonging to the fathers.
3 It was conferred upon me from the fathers; it came down from the fathers, from the
beginning of time, yea, even from the beginning, or before the foundation of the earth, down
to the present time, even the right of the firstborn, or the first man, who is Adam, or first
father, through the fathers unto me. (Abr. 1:3)
32. Chapter 14 - The Creation
P a g e |
32
First Presidency
It is held by some that Adam was not the first man upon this earth and that the
original human being was a development from lower orders of the animal creation. These,
however, are the theories of men. The word of the Lord declared that Adam was “the first
man of all men” (Moses 1:34), and we are therefore in duty bound to regard him as the primal
parent of our race.
Man is the child of God, formed in the divine image and endowed with divine
attributes, and even as the infant son of an earthly father and mother is capable in due time of
becoming a man, so the undeveloped offspring of celestial parentage is capable, by experience
through ages and aeons, of evolving into a God. (Joseph F. Smith, John R. Winder, Anthon H.
Lund) “The Origin of Man,” Ensign, Feb 2002, 26.
The First Presidency said in part: Adam was Begotten By his Father in
Heaven
...that our father Adam --that is our earthly father the progenitor of the
race of man, stands at the head being ‘Michael the Archangel, the ancient
of days,’ and that he was not fashioned from the earth like adobe, but
begotten by his Father in Heaven . (20 Feb. 1912; quoted in full in Man his
Origin and Destiny [1954] p.344-45).
Joseph F. Smith - Adam our earthly parent was also born of woman
The Son, Jesus Christ, grew and developed into manhood the same as you or I, as
likewise did God, His Father grew and developed to the Supreme Being that He now is. Man
was born of woman; Christ the Savior was born of woman; and God the Father was born of
woman. Adam our earthly parent was also born of woman into this world the same as Jesus
and you and I. (Joseph F. Smith, Deseret Evening News, 27 December 1913, section 111, p.7)
Brigham Young – Man made of Adobe is an Idle Tale
33. Chapter 14 - The Creation
P a g e |
33
Here let me state to all philosophers of every class upon the earth, when you tell
me that Father Adam was made as we make adobes from the earth, you tell me what I
deem as idle tale. When you tell me that the beasts of the field were produced in that
manner, you are speaking idle words devoid of meaning. There is no such thing in the
eternities where Gods dwell. (JD - Brigham Young, 7:285-86)
Parley P. Pratt – Man is the Offspring of Diety
Man molded from the earth, as a brick! Woman, manufactured from a rib
...O Man! When wilt thou cease to be a child in knowledge? Man as we have said, is the
offspring of deity. (Key to Theology – Parley P. Pratt [1943ed.] p.55-56)
Bruce R. McConkie -Dust
Those natural elements that make up the physical earth are sometimes referred to in
the scriptures as dust. Thus Adam was created from the dust of the ground meaning that the
physical body which he received was created from the elements of the earth (Gen. 2:7; Moses
3:7; Abr. 5:7 D&C 77:12). Similarly all men are created from the dust of the earth; that is, the
elements are organized into a mortal body are assembled together through the birth process.
(Moses 6:59; MD - ‘Dust’)
Boyd K. Packer
No lesson is more manifest in nature than that all living things do as the Lord
commanded in the Creation. They reproduce “after their own kind.” (See Moses 2:12, 24.) They
follow the pattern of their parentage. Everyone knows that; every four-year-old knows that! A
bird will not become an animal nor a fish. A mammal will not beget reptiles, nor “do men
gather … figs of thistles.” (Matt. 7:16.)
In the countless billions of opportunities in the reproduction of living things, one kind does not
beget another. If a species ever does cross, the offspring cannot reproduce. The pattern for all
life is the pattern of the parentage.
This is demonstrated in so many obvious ways, even an ordinary mind should understand it.
Surely no one with reverence for God could believe that His children evolved from slime or
from reptiles. (Although one can easily imagine that those who accept the theory of evolution
don’t show much enthusiasm for genealogical research!) The theory of evolution, and it is a
theory, will have an entirely different dimension when the workings of God in creation are fully
revealed.
34. Chapter 14 - The Creation
P a g e |
34
Since every living thing follows the pattern of its parentage, are we to suppose that God
had some other strange pattern in mind for His offspring? Surely we, His children, are not,
in the language of science, a different species than He is? (October 1984;The Pattern of
Our Parentage)
The Remarkable Human Body
Elder Russell M. Nelson- Faith in Jesus Christ as a Creator
Thinkof the genesisof ahumanbody.It beginswiththe unionof tworeproductive cells—one
fromthe motherandone from the father.Together,these cellscontainall of the new individual’s
hereditaryinformation,storedinaspace so small itcannot be seenbythe nakedeye.Twenty-three
chromosomesfromeachparentunite inone new cell.These chromosomescontainthousandsof genes
whichdetermine the physical characteristicsof the unbornperson.Approximately22days afterthese
cellsunite,atinyheartbeginstobeat.At 26 days,bloodbeginstocirculate.Cellsmultiplyanddivide.
Some become eyesthatsee;othersbecome earsthathear or fingersthatfeel the wondrousthings
aboutus.
Each organ is an amazingcreation.The eye hasa self-focusinglens.Nervesandmusclesallow
twoeyesto make a single three-dimensional image.The earconvertssoundwavesintoaudible tones
perceivedinthe brain.
The heart has fourdelicate valvesthatcontrol the directionof bloodflow.Theyopenandclose
more than 100,000 timesa day—36 milliontimesayear.Unlessalteredbydisease,theyare able to
withstandthisstressalmostindefinitely.Noman-madematerial canbe flexedsofrequentlyandsolong
withoutbreaking.Eachday,the adultheartpumpsenoughfluidtofill a2,000-gallon(7,570-L) tank.At
the crest of the heartisa source of electricitythattransmitsenergydownspecial lines,causingmyriads
of muscle fiberstoworktogether.
Thinkof the body’sbackupsystems.Each paired organ has instantbackupavailable fromthe
otherof the pair. Single organs,such as the brain,the heart,and the liver,are nourishedby two routes
of blood supply.Thisprotectsthe organif bloodflow shouldbe impededthroughone of those routes.
Thinkof the body’scapacityto defenditself.Toprotectitfrom harm, the bodyperceivespain.In
response toinfection,itgeneratesantibodies.Theynotonly helptocombatan immediate problem,but
theypersisttobolsterresistance toanyfuture infection.
Thinkhowthe body repairsitself.Brokenbonesmendandbecome strongagain.Skin
lacerationsheal themselves.A leakinthe circulationcanseal itself. The bodyrenewsitsownoutdated
cells.
The body regulatesitsownvital ingredients.Levelsof essential elementsandconstituentsare
adjustedcontinuously.Andregardlessof wide fluctuationsintemperature of the environment,the
temperature of the bodyiscarefullycontrolledwithinnarrow bounds.
Throughyears of experience,Ihave learnedthathealingoccursonlywhenall of the laws
relevanttothat blessingare obeyed.The structure andfunctionof the bodyare governedbylaw.A
35. Chapter 14 - The Creation
P a g e |
35
verse of scripture sostates:“Unto everykingdomisgivenalaw;and untoeverylaw there are
certainboundsalsoand conditions.”
Spiders
Sometimes we find evidence in the animal kingdom. Take the golden orb spider for
instance. Pound for pound, the dragline silk of this spider is five times stronger than steel,
and is twice as strong as the material that currently makes up SWAT teams’ bulletproof vests. In
fact, due to its amazing strength and elasticity, it has been said that you could trap a jumbo jet
with spider silk that is the thickness of a pencil. As of 2008, at least 43,678 spider species,[2]
and 109 families have been recorded by taxonomists (Platnick, Norman I. (2009). "The World
Spider Catalog, version 9.5". American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 2009-04-25).
How many species of animals are there in the earth?
The earth is teeming with an endless variety of
plants and animals. What kind of God pays attention to
such Beauty, perfection, diversity and detail?
sources vary as to how many species of animals
insects and life forms exist on the earth. About 8.7
million (give or take 1.3 million) is the new, estimated
total number of species on Earth -- the most precise
calculation ever offered -- with 6.5 million species on
land and 2.2 million in oceans. Announced by the Census of
Marine Life, the figure is based on a new analytical technique. The number of species on Earth
had been estimated previously at 3 million to 100 million. (ScienceDaily: Your source for the
latest research news).
More than 200 years after biologists began naming and classifying the world´s plants
and animals, they still do not know how many species exist. Estimates range from 3 million to
100 million or even more.
36. Chapter 14 - The Creation
P a g e |
36
Taxonomists--biologists who specialize in identifying and classifying life on the
planet--have named approximately 1.7 million species so far. Each year, about 13,000
more species are added to the list of known organisms. While scientists continue to turn
up surprises--new species of whales, monkeys and deer within the past few years, for
instance--a large portion of the world´s mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and
flowering plants are named. In
contrast, the lion´s share of unknown
species are small, mostly microscopic
organisms that live in some of Earth´s
least-accessible habitats: beneath the
ground, in the deep sea, in the crowns
of tropical trees, and on the backs or
in the guts of other creatures. Such
insects, worms, mites, fungi, bacteria
and other tiny life forms are what
Harvard University biologist Edward O.
Wilson calls "the black hole of
taxonomy." Unimaginably abundant,
their numbers could alter overall
species totals by a factor of 10 or
more.( Laura Tangley is an associate
editor for U.S. News & World Report).
Even after centuries of effort, some 86 percent of Earth's species have yet to be fully
described, according to new study that predicts our planet is home to 8.7 million species. (See
"'Encyclopedia of Life' to Catalog All Species on Earth.")
The best estimate we have of the number of known plant species is around 400,000.
Plants
Flowering plants (angiosperms) 281,821
Conifers (gymnosperms) 1,021
Ferns and horsetails 12,000
Mosses 16,236
Red and green algae 10,134
37. Chapter 14 - The Creation
P a g e |
37
Total Plants 321,212
Others
Lichens 17,000
Mushrooms 31,496
Brown algae 3,067
Total Others 51,563
Mathematics and Creation
Galileo changed all that in the early 17th century. Eschewing the Greeks' attempts to
explain why a pebble falls when you drop it, Galileo set out to determine how. The "great book"
of the universe is written in the language of mathematics, he famously declared, and unless we
understand the triangles, circles, and other geometrical figures that form its characters, he
wrote, "it is humanly impossible to comprehend a single word of it [and] one wanders in vain
through a dark labyrinth."
Heliotropism
Heliotropic flowers track the sun's motion across the sky from east to west. During the
night, the flowers may assume a random orientation, while at dawn they turn again toward the
east where the sun rises. The motion is performed by motor cells in a flexible segment just
below the flower, called a pulvinus. The motor cells are specialized in pumping potassium ions
into nearby tissues, changing their turgor pressure. The segment flexes because the motor cells
at the shadow side elongate due to a turgor rise. Heliotropism is a response to light from the
sun.