3. But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up
his voice, and said unto them,Ye men of Judaea,
and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known
unto you, and hearken to my words… let all the
house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath
made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified,
both Lord and Christ.
Acts 2:14-36 (KJV)
4. Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye
men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too
superstitious. 23 For as I passed by, and beheld your
devotions, I found an altar with this inscription,TO
THE UNKNOWN GOD.Whom therefore ye ignorantly
worship, him declare I unto you. 24 God that made the
world and all things therein… And the times of this
ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all
men every where to repent:
Acts 17:22-30 (KJV)
5. Peter addresses the
men of Jerusalem
Uses prophets and
theology to build case
Jewish audience had a
background inTorah
Paul addresses the
men of Athens
Uses philosophy and
logic to build his case
Greek audience had
history of philosophers,
reasoning, knowledge
6. Traditionalism
• Pre-1700s
• History took precedence
• Church and state were
unquestioned authorities
Modernism
• 1700s – 1950s
• Scientific method (Locke)
• Logic is the way to reach
ultimate truth
Post-modernism
• 1950s to present??
• What is truth?
• Pluralist society
7. THE MODERNIST
Asks, “can you prove that
your religion isTHE truth?”
Looking for facts, logic,
debate
The response, “because
the Bible tells me so!” is
debated; what if the Bible
is wrong?
THE POST-MODERNIST
Asks, “can you even prove
there is an ultimate truth?”
Looking for humility and
compassion
The response, “because
the Bible tells me so!” is
completely rejected;
ultimate truth is denied
8. Modernism is rooted in the Scientific Method
To convince the Modernist, one must provide
a reason for one’s belief
Science, logic, and philosophy are the
evangelist’s best tools
9. Has rejected Modernism due to historical
failures (eg., Communism, technology)
Largely influenced by Eastern thought (such
as Hinduism) which supports many paths to
UltimateTruth (Nirvana)
Looking for an “Unknown God”
10. Begins with the question of truth, not
pragmatic experience.
Intelligently engages the modern
(and postmodern) skeptic.
Stresses the uniqueness of Christ without
ridiculing other religious figures.
Netland, et al.
11. Engages in the right kind of dialogue:
“serious conversation with someone from
another religious tradition, marked by
a genuine willingness to listen and learn from
the other, and respect for him or her as a
person.”
Netland, et al.
12. Is supported by a life that is consistent
with the truth.
Is bathed in prayer.
Netland, et al.
13. But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and
be ready always to give an answer to every
man that asketh you a reason of the hope
that is in you with meekness and fear:
1 Peter 3:15 (KJV)
18. Concept:
Put in methane (CH4),
ammonia (NH4), water
(H2O), and hydrogen gas (H2)
Compress, heat, and provide
an electric spark (lightning)
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Miller-Urey_experiment-
en.svg#mediaviewer/File:Miller-Urey_experiment-en.svg
19. Results:
Produced glycine, α-
alanine, β-alanine
Possibly produced
aspartic acid and GABA
Miller, et al.
20.
21. Life in aTestTube?
•“Eppi” tube containing
Pyruvate Kinase and
Lactate Dehydrogenase
•<0.5 mL represents about 3
hours of work
22. Just two steps in one
pathway with very
durable “molecular
machines”
Still difficult!
We think it
worked???
23. Problems:
Water causes breakdown (hydrolysis) of proteins
Produced cyanide – horrible for life!
Purified proteins would have to be removed from
the primordial sea, but then they would have been
baked to a brown tar
24. 4 D.N.A. nucleotides…
…which encode 20
essential amino acids…
…which build every
protein in your body
Bujacz, et al.
25. Crohn’s Disease is a
genetic disorder
Caused by mutations
in the receptor IL-10
15 kb, 558 a.a.
Leads to inflammation,
nausea, bleeding
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Protein_IL10RA_PDB_1j7v.png
27. The human genome (all D.N.A.) is >3,200 MB
Over 20,000 protein-encoding genes
Each cell contains the entire genome
Consider a red blood cell:
In the average adult, 2.4 million new blood cells are
produced EVERY SECOND
each cell matured, lost its nucleus, and will now live
for ~100 days before being recycled by the spleen
28. “The simplicity that was once expected to be
the foundation of life has proven to be a
phantom; instead, systems of horrendous,
irreducible complexity inhabit the cell. The
resulting realization that life was designed by
an intelligence is a shock to us in the
twentieth-century.”
Behe, 2006.
30. “For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I
might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win
Jews.To those under the law I became as one under the … that I might
win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one
outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of
Christ) that I might win those outside the law.To the weak I became
weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people,
that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the
gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.”
I Corinthians 9:19-23
31. Christians must “become all things to all
people”, in love and humility
Engage the Modernist and Post-Modernist
for the sake of the kingdom
32. Begins with the question of truth, not
pragmatic experience.
Intelligently engages the modern
(and postmodern) skeptic.
Stresses the uniqueness of Christ without
ridiculing other religious figures.
Netland, et al.
33. Engages in the right kind of dialogue:
“serious conversation with someone from
another religious tradition, marked by
a genuine willingness to listen and learn from
the other, and respect for him or her as a
person.”
Netland, et al.
34. Is supported by a life that is consistent
with the truth.
Is bathed in prayer.
Netland, et al.
35. Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye
men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too
superstitious. 23 For as I passed by, and beheld your
devotions, I found an altar with this inscription,TO
THE UNKNOWN GOD.Whom therefore ye ignorantly
worship, him declare I unto you. 24 God that made the
world and all things therein… And the times of this
ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all
men every where to repent:
Acts 17:22-30 (KJV)
36. Behe, M. J. (2006). Darwin’s Black Box:The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution (2nd edition). NewYork: Free Press.
Bujacz, A. (2012). Structures of bovine, equine and leporine serum albumin. Acta Crystallogr.,Sect.D, 68, 1278–1289.
http://doi.org/10.1107/S0907444912027047
DeMassa, J. M., & Boudreaux, E.A. (2013). Formic Acid:A Significant but Ignored Product in the Miller-Urey Experiment.
Creation Research Society Quarterly, 49(3), 211.
Grundtner, P., Gruber,S., Murray,S. S.,Vermeire, S., Rutgeerts, P., Decker,T., … Gasche, C. (2009).The IL-10R1 S138G loss-
of-function allele and ulcerative colitis. Genes & Immunity, 10(1), 84–92. http://doi.org/10.1038/gene.2008.72
McKee,T., & McKee, J. (2011). Biochemistry:The Molecular Basis of Life (5 edition).Oxford ; NewYork:Oxford University
Press.
Miller, S. L., & Urey, H. C. (1959). Organic Compound Synthes on the Primitive Eart Several questions about the origin of
life have been answered, but much remains to be studied. Science, 130(3370), 245–251.
http://doi.org/10.1126/science.130.3370.245
Netland, H.A. (1995). Modernity, pluralism, and apologetics. [microform] : implications for missions. 1995.
Ninfa, A. J., Ballou, D. P., & Benore, M. (2009). Fundamental Laboratory Approaches for Biochemistry and Biotechnology (2
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