Prophecy Matters Blog

Emphasizing the miracle of Israel's modern rebirth.


Simple

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I was thinking the other day about how many attacks there are against Israel, Bible prophecy, and Bible study.

 On the one hand, we have Emergent theology, which is making huge inroads into the evangelical world.

Then there are the old standbys: Replacement Theology; British Israelism; Liberation Theology; Higher Criticism; Word-Faith; Dominionism.

I mention Word-Faith in that group because there are aspects of that community very similar to liberal communities, and we wouldn't always see that connection.

I'm speaking of the tendency to spiritualize OT passages that speak about Israel and the Jews.

The remedy to all this is to simply read your Bible. Read it. If we take the newspaper at face value, why wouldn't we do the same with the Bible? Quite ironically, our news is often filtered through bias before it reaches us. Conversely, the Bible comes to us as it is, and we apply our biases to it.

The point I'm trying to make is that if there are numerous passages that speak of an end-time movement of the Jews back to their ancestral homeland (for example), and they have done that...why do most people miss it?

They miss it because wicked teachers want to bring chaos to Bible study, by conjuring abhorrent theologies and doctrines.

But read it for yourself. You'll find the truth.

jim@prophecymatters.com 


The Pied Piper

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In Genesis 4, we are told that a man named Jubal, whose father was Lamech, was "the father of all such as handle the harp and organ." Of course, in our crazy world today, it is controversial to believe that the biblical chronology is correct, and the earth is less than 10,000 years old. Actually, Jubal would have lived about 5,000 years ago.

But a story broke yesterday that archaeologists have discovered a 35,000 year-old flute in a cave in Germany.

This story has broad ramificiations, because someone is wrong.

Later in Genesis, we read that Noah's three sons left the ark and "fanned-out" around the region; Japeth's descendants settled in what is today Europe.

So, if I believe the Bible is true, some descendant of Noah's son settled in the northern regions, taught his offspring the art of music, and at some point, someone crafted a flute. This flute was then discovered in the 21st century A.D.

But according to evolutionary theory — and it is quite amazing that Darwin's theory spread from biology to every other field of science, including archaeology. We now interpret even archaeological sites within a framework of naturalism.

We have just learned in Ken Ham's new book, Already Gone, that people age 20-30, who attended Sunday school as youngsters, A) no longer attend church at all and B) no longer believe the Bible is true!

As Ham has pointed out, we teach our children Bible stories. Then they go to school and learn about Earth history from Darwinian philosophers who masquerade as teachers.

This disconnect is killing our culture and although my view is thought of as simplistic, fundamentalist, and stupid, I stand by my contention that Jubal's descendants were responsible for the flute in Germany, not a grunting, knuckle-dragging hominid.

There is a vast difference in interpretation here, and here is what's at stake:

By teaching our children that a hominid crafted the flute 35,000 years ago, we present a false view of history that also eliminates the Ten Commandments, the origin of the Jews, predictive prophecy, and, whether we like to admit it or not, the "New Testament."

This alternate history is destroying our children. It's past time that we took a firm stand for the historicity of Genesis, and by extension, all of world history.

jim@prophecymatters.com 

 


PM gaining exposure

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We here at Prophecy Matters are pleased to announce new venues where you can read our blogs.

 A new weekly blog for PM has been set up at OneNewsNow, the news arm of the American Family Association. Click on "Blogs" at the top of the home page and it will take you to us; there will be a new PM blog each Monday.

Additionally, Jim is now writing a weekly column for WorldNetDaily — "Writer's Bloc" — which will be a look at the publishing industry and the cultural shifts that are affecting that industry. We'll also do some book reviews. You can find "Writer's Bloc" on WND's "Diversions" page.

We are also ramping-up the pieces we write for the Jerusalem Post's Christian edition (magazine), and will continue to provide blogging for the JPost's "Christian World" section online.

Remember to give us your feedback and send along the writings to your friends.

Thanks! 

  


The Judenrein Tour

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I'm becoming increasingly uncomfortable as I notice various Christian ministries and individuals make pilgrimages to Israel...and seem to miss the Jews.

During World War II, the Germans fine-tuned their hobby of abusing Jews by emptying entire regions of them. This concept-turned-reality brought the word "Judenrein" into the vocabulary; it means "Jew-free."

Lately, I've talked with friends and observed ministries that take the typical Christian tour of Israel. They go to the "Christian" sites (made so by the first Christians, who were Jews). They boat on the Sea of Galilee. They purchase trinkets from Palestinian Christians, and listen to their earnest stories of suffering at the hands of the Israelis.

Then the pilgrims come home and circulate the photos of Christian sites, and pass out the trinkets. And they talk about how "difficult" the Israelis are. Terse. Abrasive.

Of course, the Arabs are a different story. They're SO MUCH friendlier! 

The Arabs are friendlier because they are old hands at conning gullible Americans.

The ministries I refer to are seeing the value of offering "Holy Land" tours, because like the mega-churches, they know that they have to appeal to everyone in order to bring the cash in. In other words, if Ministry X, which promotes an agenda of Y, is going to keep the light bill paid, it has to appeal not only to evangelicals, mainline and Catholic folks, but also to those fundamentalist rubes who want to see the Holy Land before they die. By the way, labeling them "Holy Land" tours are a convenient way to avoid saying "Israel."

 I am most annoyed by ministries that have Replacement Theology types in their midst, or ones who are indifferent to Israel or Bible prophecy. 

Off-message a bit here, but one example comes to mind. Not so long ago, while the editorial staff of Christianity Today magazine published article after article either subtly dissing Bible prophecy proponents, or bashing them over the head with obvious disdain...the magazine ran prominent ads from Tyndale House Publishers, which was promoting the latest Left Behind novel.

Hypocrisy is nothing if not common in Christian circles.

I'm reminded of the 1998 cover story in CT, in which several Bible prophecy proponents, along with then-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, were caricatured on the cover. The story itself was a shop-worn hatchet job on Dispensationalism, and it masqueraded as an even-handed piece by a scholar who simply disliked Israel and Bible prophecy.

Back to the subject.  If you are contemplating a tour of Israel, try and connect with a ministry that actually understands what's going on. Bridges for Peace; the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem, and others love the Jewish people and understand their monumental significance.

So if a ministry invites you to go on a tour with them, ask a few questions. Ask them what they believe about Bible prophecy. Ask what they think of the Jews. Ask them if they believe God is finished with the Jews.

Then, hopefully, you'll go on a tour of the modern Jewish state, and there you will breathe the air of millenia and understand that because the Jews have re-entered history, we can be confident that their God will finish bringing them home.

jim@prophecymatters.com 


The joke's on them

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Things are heating up, folks. I was interviewed this week by Charlie Butts of American Family Radio, on the heels of Benjamin Netanyahu's first official visit with Barack Obama. The Israeli premier, let's be honest, met a hostile American president. 

As Yogi Berra would say, it was deja vu all over again for Netanyahu, who contended not only with Bill Clinton, but also Hillary Clinton, a decade ago. The Clintons are old-line liberals and Hillary's pals in the PLO always knew they could count on her for support.

Obama will be much worse. He has none of the baggage or lack of discipline that Bill Clinton had. He is focused on reshaping the world in his image.

Add to this the dynamic going on in the evangelical community regarding Israel. The Jewish state's supporters are openly worried about the survival of Israel. Her enemies who call themselves evangelicals (a clever strategy of people like Brian McLaren and the Christianity Today editorial staff) say peace, peace, but there is no peace. A favorite pastime of the Left for decades has been to pledge their support for Israel's security while simultaneously calling for a Palestinian state.

 Well, which is it? You can't have both. Either Israel lives securely, or Palestine is established. Large chunks of the Middle East Arab population is barbaric, a throwback to the seventh century. The drive to use diplomacy and the international community to establish peace in the Middle East is the purest form of insanity. Even its proponents know it won't work. But it is a practical way to put off our own destruction; the thinking goes that if you placate the Arabs by offering Israel on a silver platter, Islam will leave you alone.

Wrong.

Ironically, moral cowardice only emboldens your enemies. It enables them and places us in the odd position of drafting and signing our own death warrant.

The Leftist Christians who peddle their peace porridge are not dumb. They're smart people. McLaren is a sharp guy. The problem is, his world view is deadly. 

I don't for a minute believe people who say they are concerned for Israel's security, then in the next breath pine for Palestine. They are being disingenuous.

Yet biblically, the joke's on them. If you don't accept the Bible as metaphor/myth/fiction/fantasy/legend/coincidence/contradiction, then there is a very clear story: God will fight for the Jews. Her enemies, He says, will eat their own flesh because He will make them eat it.

Harsh? I guess. True? Bingo.

I believe that God will utterly destroy the Jews' enemies, for this simple reason: He said He will. I happily and enthusiastically embrace the "God said it, I believe it" concept, even though it invites derision from the Leftist evangelical eggheads who muse about theology and philosophy and the state of the world...while sipping exotic coffees.

They are simply wrong on an epic scale.

Israel cannot and will not be defeated. She will not be destroyed. If the Bible is true, then Israel will survive. 

Jesus, the Jew, is not some dope-smoking, barefoot spiritual guide who teaches Buddhist philosophy. The Bible describes Him as THE path to reconciliation with God. And He is also coming soon as THE conquering King, full of wrath and fury.

Do Leftists think I'm an idiot? Of course. Do I care? Not at all.

Here is the message we should familiarize ourselves with and repeat endlessly to a lost world: the Messiah is coming soon and we should get ready. All the liberal philosophy and mocking in the world won't change that.

Supporters of Palestine: the joke's on you.

jim@prophecymatters.com 


"Evacuation Theology"

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The Emergents are at it again. The group identifying itself as, I suppose, progressive evangelicals are intent on picking a fight with Bible-believing Christians. Particularly those who hold to the validity of Bible prophecy.

Now Rob Bell has joined the witch hunt, labeling classic dispensationalism as "evacuation theology." In an interview with Christianity Today editor Mark Galli, Bell evidently felt it necessary to coin his own phrase for what Brian McLaren has already termed an "eschatology of abandonment."

Basically, they are claiming that Christian supporters of Israel and Bible prophecy are so focused on the next world that they are no good for this one. More than that, really: they are now openly claiming that Christian Zionists are dangerous. Amazing.

Bell, of course, is the popular pastor of Mars Hill Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and the driving force behind the "Nooma" videos. In these mini-films, Bell muses about some concept, in a variety of settings. At first glance, Nooma DVDs are intriguing, even gripping. But when one gets a dose of Bell's theology, the novelty wears off. Unfortunately, he is impacting legions of young people, as youth ministers around the country promote him. It's easier to pop in a Nooma and have a free-for-all discussion afterward than it is to study and teach the Bible, something desperately needed today.

Members of the Emergent community (and they now dislike the term; change agents love "change" and predictably often change labels in order to stay a step ahead of confused onlookers) have decided that in the war they have declared on Bible believers, the first line of battle is eschatology — the study of last things.

Like the ancient Greeks, members of "Emergent" love to discuss philosophy endlessly and reject the idea of settled truth. For them, it is always evolving. In fact, evolution makes them positively giddy (check out McLaren's website in order to see said giddiness).

I'll repeat what I've said many times: I don't know any Bible believers who practice "evacuation theology." On the contrary, they are deeply concerned about this world and in fulfilling the Great Commission, a mandate from Jesus Christ Himself that Emergent types loathe. My Bible prophecy friends — ministry heads and students — are responsible, people-loving servants. Besides, the blessed hope of the Christian, as expressed by no less than Paul himself, is the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It does little good to appeal to the Emergent community's goodwill in their irresponsible witch-hunt against prophecy students. They want to demonize Christian Zionists, creationists, etc. They know exactly what they are doing. So since they've declared war, we should realize we are in a fight and pledge to confront their own bad theology with the truth. 

Emergent leaders also want to appear to be reasonable, loving, committed social activists. Consider yourself warned; those who believe the Bible is the very Word of God are the targets of their wrath and character assassinations. Book it.

jim@prophecymatters.com 


A Titanic deception

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This week, I had a radio interview with USA Radio, to promote my new book, It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine). The host asked me why more people are not aware of the amazing accuracy of Bible prophecy.

 The answer, of course, is biblical illiteracy. 

This is evident everywhere, from politics to entertainment. An interesting example of the latter will air this coming Wednesday night on the SciFi Channel. The show "Ghosthunters" will explore the Titanic exhibit, and the alleged ghosts who haunt it.

 "Ghosthunters" is almost unintentionally comical. The premise is that a team of paranormal researchers explore locations that experience "hauntings." No real evidence of "ghosts" is found, but there are a lot of double-takes and gasps as "something" brushes past the researchers.

No doubt the Titanic special will feature plenty of archival photographs and re-enactments. And gasps.

But here's the problem: there's no such thing as "ghosts."

That reality is not understood by most people because they've been more influenced by the world than by the Bible. That's why there is massive funding for projects like SETI, the search for intelligent life somewhere else in the universe. And by intelligent life, we are talking about aliens, let's be clear.

Humans want to find the mysterious: the Loch Ness Monster, Big Foot, ET, Clark Gable's ghost knocking around Hollywood mansions.

Our culture is so lost that most people try to find meaning in things that don't exist, rather than meaning in Existence: Jesus Christ, Creator of everything.

Back to our original thought. Why do people believe in ghosts? A lot of reasons. We like to be scared. We want to reach out to loved ones who have died. All sorts of reasons.

But what if ghosts aren't real? Should we be looking for them, trying to contact them?

The Bible says no. "Necromancy," the attempt to communicate with the dead, is expressly prohibited. Why?

Because God reveals to us that there are dark spiritual forces at work in our world. If the Bible is true, then a third of heaven's angels rebelled with Lucifer and those angels — those demons — have extraordinary powers that are dangerous for gullible humans.

In the fourth chapter of the book of Job, there is a fascinating exchange between Eliphaz and a spirit that visited him in the night. There are important details given in the scene: Eliphaz says the spirit swept past him and stopped, but he couldn't make out its form. He was afraid.

The spirit told Eliphaz — in a hushed voice — that there was a world that mere man cannot see:

 "Can a mortal be just and upright before God? Can a person be pure before the Creator? If God cannot trust his own angels and has charged some of them with folly, how much less will he trust those made of clay! Their foundation is dust, and thye are crushed as easily as moths. They are alive in the morning, but by evening they are dead, gone forever without a trace. Their tent collapses; they die in ignorance."

Very interesting.

The spirit exhibits traits that Jesus tells us Satan has (he is a liar). There is a mixture of truth and error.

Yes, man is limited in his relationship with his Creator. Yet the Creator has given a way for man to be reconciled to Him — in the person of Jesus Christ. This reconciliation is not available to angels.

And of course man is appointed to die a physical death, but his essence lives on, so that he is not gone forever without a trace.

What we have here is a demonic spirit "complaining" to a mere man. Complaining about God's judgement on the prideful angels who rebelled and who are now forever beyond redemption.

Notice the bitterness. Notice the contempt for man.

Now, the Bible does tell us of "familiar spirits," those demons who pose as souls that want to communicate with man.

Because man exists in this world of pain and love, we are susceptible to the lure of "ghosts."

Ten years after my father's death, I went home to wrap-up my grandmother's affairs. What I found in her dining room broke my heart. My godly grandmother had missed her son so much that she had attempted to communicate with him. There in a teacup I found coupons for a session with a local "medium." Not content with reuniting in the afterlife, she wanted to talk to him right away.

When we step into this trap, we endanger ourselves. Reality is no longer available to us and so, in the hunt for ghosts, we open ourselves up to the deception that has gripped Oprah Winfrey and her spiritual guests. We begin to listen to deceiving spirits.

Ironically, we live in a time when the assertion that ghosts don't exist is thought to be insane. In fact, the real insanity is believing that friendly spirits wish to communicate with us! But this is only true if the Bible is true!

Hopefully, Eliphaz knew enough to recognize the spirit's lies mixed with truth. Hopefully he had that discernment.

We can also hope that there will be some who watch Wednesday's SciFi special who will understand the truth.

The "ghost" of John Jacob Astor — the gozillionaire who went down with the Titanic and 1,500 other souls — does not walk the earth in unrest. Astor, like all humans, went to one of two potential  destinations after death. 

If you are interested in this subject, contact me at jim@prophecymatters.com 


The painful world of Sal Tessio

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Remember Abe Vigoda's character in "The Godfather"? Sal Tessio was a loyal lieutenant for the Corleone crime family for many years. Until he decided to sell-out Michael, who was taking over his father's role as "godfather."

 Vito told Michael how to recognize the man who would betray him; he would be the fellow who would set-up a meeting between Michael and his rival.

The transformation of Al Pacino's "Michael" is chilling, to say the least, and he traps both his rivals and poor Sal.

 Emerging from the Corleone home for the meeting, Sal is followed to the car by Tom Haden, the Corleone's adopted son and attorney. When met by other goons, Sal turns to Tom, realizing the jig is up. The betrayer has been betrayed. With his sad eyes, Sal asks Tom if he can get him out of his fate, which of course is a gruesome death.

 Tom shakes his head as if to say, Sorry, no.

The Corleone capos escort Sal to a waiting car; no doubt his body was never found.

Why mention this dark film? Simply because Sal Tessio's plea to his old friend seems somehow appropriate — at least to me — of this weekend, when mankind's gruesome condition can meet a different fate and indeed find a way out.

For all the colored eggs and chocolate rabbits, there is still the only important message we can take from Resurrection Sunday; this weekend recalls the sacrifice that Jesus of Nazareth made on the Cross.

As God's highest creation, man nevertheless gropes about in desperation, with his sad eyes, as he looks for a way out of his lost spiritual condition. This lostness unfortunately extends past this life.

But the message of this weekend is that Jesus came to Earth as a human male, went to the Cross as a substitute for us, as God's holiness demands that someone pay the penalty for the sin that man brought into this world. Dying an indescribably brutal death, Jesus was sealed into a rock tomb.

But on the third day, His grave was empty. You probably know the story.

Jesus is no Tom Haden. When we look about with hollow, sad eyes, and those eyes meet His...Jesus doesn't say, no, sorry, I can't help you. Instead, He rescues us as individuals. As the famous convert, Paul, said, if we believe that God sent Jesus in the flesh and raised Him from death, we are no longer hopeless.

This is a mean world. In the film "Solaris," George Clooney's character insists that God came from the minds of men. In real-life, Clooney has lamented the pain of this life and concludes that this is a mean life.

He's correct about that. He's wrong about God.

If you feel like Sal Tessio, or George Clooney — if you are overwhelmed by sadness — call out to Jesus. He will hear you and meet you there. He will not let evil have you.

In this mean life, how marvelous that we can rely on Jesus and are not left to the mercy of Tom Haden.

 


Tulsa Prophecy Conference

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The 15th Annual Tulsa Prophecy Conference, sponsored by Thy Kingdom Come Ministries, is seeing record crowds.

This morning, my great friend, Dr. Thomas Sharp of Creation Truth Foundation, spoke on "Creation and the Second Coming of Christ." I consider this to a watershed moment for apologetics/Bible prophecy. Doc is one of the few ministry heads who see the critical link between the issues of origins and predictive prophecy. He wowed the crowd and received a standing ovation.

 It's nice to get out of the world for a few days, so to speak, and fellowship with Bible believers. The world is starting to show its fangs to Bible-believing Christians and Jews/Israel. On my Facebook page, someone posted this morning and asked if I'd seen anyone with "pointy ears" yet at the conference. Ha ha. Sigh. No, I replied, the Trekkers are down the hall. You see, a lot of comedians (and I'm speaking here of Church members) pile-on and make fun of Bible prophecy advocates — because it's so easy to do. The Zeitgeist, the "Spirit of the Age" is against Bible-believers. To admit you actually believe in predictive prophecy or, worse, the Genesis accounts of origins, invites scorn.

Fortunately, I don't care.

I only see the tragedy of a culture that is dying because of the turning away from the Bible. In elementary school, my first and second-grade teachers read us Bible stories and prayed with us. After that, my teachers wore mini-skirts. The Bible was out the window. We are reaping the horrifying consequences.

A recent episode of the sit-com, "The Office," saw paper salesman/sociopath Dwight Schrute lament that he was not able to travel to South America — he had passport problems — because "The Shoah Foundation" objected. Get it? The dirty Jews are at it again; if Dwight was visiting his uncle in South America, a Nazi uncle, that wouldn't be permitted.

Also, last week, I heard someone laugh about the fact that they had played the "Who's a Jew?" game. On and on it goes. The people whom God says are His chosen people — the very ethnic group that He created for a special reason — are the objects of ridicule, scorn, and outright hatred. And I'm just talking about the Christian community.

Several of the speakers at this conference get it. Doc, evangelist Mike Gendron, evangelist Roger Oakland. They are courageous fellows. We should support them and pray for them. 

As I listened to these men take a stand for truth and proclaim the truth of the Bible, I thought of the moral cowards who contrast with them so sharply. The Emergent community, which loves the adulation of the world. Et cetera.

A real separation point is coming. Bible-believers and Everyone Else/Emergent are getting ready to see who was right after all: is the Church building God's Kingdom here on Earth, or is God preparing a rescue operation before we destroy ourselves? 


Clash of the Cave-guys

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Right now, I'm watching a History Channel episode entitled "Clash of the Cavemen." Visually, of course, it's quite impressive; HC has plenty of money for re-enactments, expert interviews, etc. The theme of the show is the interaction between Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons. 

Neanderthals, of course, are allegedly the transitional link between hominids and humans. Cro-Magnon Man is allegedly a "smarter" version.

I well remember being taught this even in elementary school decades ago. It is a fascinating story; gripping, actually. Watching hominids evolve into modern humans is an intriguing story.

Unless it's wrong.

A few years ago, I read a story about wooden spear handles being discovered in Europe. The date assigned to these wooden handles was 400,000 years. I'm not very smart, but I know that if I stumbled on a wooden ax handle left by my great-grandfather on the farm where I live, not much would be left of it.

Why do evolutionists assign such fantastic ages to artifacts such as this? Because they need long ages for evolution to be true. A collection of arrow points was found recently in Colorado and they were alleged to be more than 30,000 years old. I can locate very similar arrow and spear points in the creek-bed below my house and know they are about 200 years old, shaped by the Osage Indians who inhabited this place.

Back to the History Channel.

I want to convey to you the seriousness of an historical error in which the story of mankind on Earth is wrong. We have whole generations of students who now believe this story, which directly conflicts with the Bible, particularly Genesis. Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis summed this up perfectly with the following quote:

"The Gospel of Jesus Christ is predicated on the story of Adam and Eve being true."

Wow. Do you understand the implications of this? At a time when most Christian leaders see no problem compromising with evolutionary timelines, it's good to be reminded that our very faith depends on the truthfulness of the biblical records. Jesus and the apostles all emphasized the fact that Adam, Eve, and the biblical patriarchs were real people. Despite the contentions of various liberal Christian leaders and scholars today (and, sadly, growing numbers of evangelicals), biblical chronology and evolutionary chronology are incompatible and in fact "enemies."

The Bible speaks of cave-dwelling people, and we know that "Neanderthal" fossils have been found in Israel and in Jordan. Why can we not accept that these remains are fully human, and lived only thousands of years ago? We don't accept it because, as John Morris of the Institute for Creation Research has said, "Most people believe in evolution because most people believe in evolution."

There you have it. Evolution is a made-up story, irrational, and destructive to faith in God. Yet it has washed over our culture like a flood.

We often hear that "creation scientists" are uneducated fools ("crackpots" as Richard Dawkins would say). Yet there are in fact thousands of them who are legitimate scientists. For the purposes of our discussion today, you should check out a classic book published by Master Books: Buried Alive, written by Jack Cuozzo.

Cuozzo, an orthodontist, studied the actual Neanderthal fossils in the world's most famous natural history museums, and concluded that they are in fact simply very old humans. Notice how this aligns with the ages of the patriarchs as outlined in Genesis. I won't go into Cuozzo's research here, in the interests of time and space, but you should really get a copy and absorb his fascinating research.

If man was "becoming fully human" 30,000 years ago, or 120,000 years ago, or eleventy trillion years ago, the Bible is destroyed. The Genesis timeline is critical for understanding our faith and our world today. Either Adam and Eve existed in real time a few thousands years ago, or Cro Magnons and Neanderthals existed together tens of thousands of years ago. One or the other.

 It matters.

Circling back around, we can easily see that if the Genesis records are myth or metaphor, then so are the rest of the Old Testament books: Israel is a tribal myth. God's promises to the Jews are either Hebrew fiction or in fact promises He really meant for the Church (another fantastic lie that is diabolical).

The History Channel special tells us that Cro Magnon Man was named for the place in France where the fossils were found. It is part of evolutionary lore.

But you might not be familiar with another story.

The first "Neanderthal" fossils were found in Germany's Neander Valley, in 1859; ironically, near the time of the publication of Darwin's On the Origin of Species.

However, you might not know that the valley was named for Joaquim Neander (1650-1680), a Christian hymn writer who used to compose songs while hiking through the picturesque valley. One of those hymns, "Praise to the Lord, the Almight," contains this line: "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!"

The King of Creation. What a lovely thought. And comforting.

Quite unlike the cold void of a story told by evolutionists. In that story, we are here for no special reason and we are going nowhere when we die.

Americans in particular are very trusting people, a trait no doubt developed from our great freedoms over two centuries. Yet we err tragically when we blindly accept the philosophy of naturalism, which aggressively seeks to get rid of the God it hates so passionately. There can be no harmony between that story and the story told in the Bible.

My hope is that some will emerge from the dark, dank cave of evolutionary hopelessness and step into the light of the Lord of History, who upholds the universe itself and at the same time loves each of us as individuals.