It is a verse that all of us who are involved in apologetics have grown to love and cherish. 1 Peter 3:15 is the New Testament's mandate for being always ready to offer a rational defense for the Christian worldview. It is unfortunate, however, that we have come to be so familiar with this verse that we miss its full significance, for the text teaches far more than the need to … [Read more...]
A Simple Reason Why The Qur'an Cannot Be The Word of God
The Islamic religion claims that the Qur'an, revealed allegedly by the angel Gabriel to the prophet Muhammad beginning in 610 A.D., is the inspired and inerrant word of God. Such an assertion, however, is highly problematic, and many, many arguments could be given to convincingly refute it. In this article, I am going to offer one of those reasons, which I perceive to be the … [Read more...]
The Feeding of the Five Thousand: Did It Really Happen?
It’s a story which we have all grown up with. We are all familiar with the famous story of Jesus miraculously feeding the five thousand from five loaves and two fish, with no fewer than twelve basketfuls of leftovers. The story is recounted by all four gospel writers: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. But just how historical is this story? In this article, I attempt to highlight … [Read more...]
The God Question: A TV Series Investigates the Relationship Between Science and Faith
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ThxrHkO-Mk The God Question, a TV series bringing together world renowned contributors on both sides of the debate on God and science, explores the question of whether there is design evident in the universe. The series, a Scottish venture that promises to reach 170 million potential viewers internationally, features figures of note in the … [Read more...]
The Flagellar Filament Cap: "One of the Most Dynamic Movements in Protein Structures"
Imagine you are an archaeologist surveying the remains of a formerly technologically advanced civilization. You stumble across the device depicted in the figure above. With its pentagon-shaped plate and its carefully crafted leg-like extensions, it looks like it came from some sort of machine. Immediately, you intuitively infer that the device was designed intentionally, for a … [Read more...]
Exon Shuffling: Evaluating the Evidence
Yesterday, I introduced the subject of exon shuffling and gave a few reasons why such a mechanism cannot explain the origins of the earliest, most ancient proteins. Now I want to offer an evaluation of the arguments, pro and con, for the role of exon shuffling in accounting for the subsequent origins of novel protein folds. … [Read more...]
Exon Shuffling, and the Origins of Protein Folds
A frequently made claim in the scientific literature is that protein domains can be readily recombined to form novel folds. In Darwin's Doubt, Stephen Meyer addresses this subject in detail (see Chapter 11). Over the course of this and a subsequent article, I want to briefly expand on what was said there. … [Read more...]
Chronological Snobbery and the Resurrection of Jesus
When discussing the historical basis for the resurrection, one often encounters a popular misconception that the ancient world was far more gullible about claims of resurrection than people are today. This common presumption amounts to what C.S. Lewis called “chronological snobbery.” People imagine that, while our post-enlightenment modern world treats claims of resurrection … [Read more...]
The Remarkable Design of the Eukaryotic Cell Cycle
Have you ever wondered how the eukaryotic cell knows when to transition from one phase of its cycle to the next? How does the cell know to begin DNA replication (S phase) or mitosis (M phase), or to enter the two "gap phases" (G1 and G2) that separate them? How are previous phases halted and new phases initiated? What quality-control measures are in place to minimize … [Read more...]
ATP Synthase, an Energy-Generating Rotary Motor Engine
Discovery Institute recently released a stunning animation (different from the one above) of the mechanics of ATP synthase, a biomechanical power generator found almost ubiquitously across life. The video above offers another glimpse of the engineering prowess of this amazing molecular machine. There exists three main types of membrane-embedded ATPases: F-type, V-type and … [Read more...]