Can truth be known?

There Is Actually a Great Deal of Evidence for the Christian Worldview

BY JUSTIN STECKBAUER

It is true that a theistic God exists? Go ahead, and test your knowledge.

Can Christianity be proven? Contrary to popular belief that the Christian faith is based on unproven assumptions, there is actually a great deal of evidence for the Christian worldview. This is a 12 point reasoning process, in extremely short form, indicating a reasoning route beginning at "Can truth be known?"

1. Truth about reality is knowable.

• a. The phrase "all truth is relative" actually contradicts itself, the statement is making an objective claim while at the same time suggesting that all ideas must be relative. That is an obvious contradiction. (Road-runner tactic)
• b. All sorts of facts are knowable, such as: mathematics, history, science, rules of logic, finances, and systems of law. The whole world functions on objective truths; philosophy and religion don't become "relative" just because it's intellectually convenient.
• c. We don't need absolute proof to take action, we only need proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

2. The law of non-contradiction indicates that what is opposite of true must be false.

3. It is true that a theistic God exists.

• a. The fine tuning of the universe proves God exists
• b. The fact of a cosmic beginning shows that God exists
• c. The order and design in nature and human DNA proves that God exists
• d. The reality of good and evil and objective morality proves that God exists
• e. Only an infinite God with infinite power could create the universe, time, space and humanity. ( An infinite God is singular, in that multiple gods could not all be infinite, only one God is needed, an infinite God, therefore God must be a theistic God, one God. )

4. If God exists then miracles are possible.

• a. An infinite God can interact within the universe He created in any way he desires, so miracles are not a problem for this theistic God.

5. Miracles are useful as evidence and confirmation of a message from God.

6. The Bible is historically reliable.

• a. Over 5,000 manuscripts validate the Bible as unaltered and historically reliable
• b. Archaeological evidence agrees with biblical descriptions of history.
• c. Respected ancient historians cite facts that match with the biblical narrative

7. The New Testament says that Jesus claimed to be God.

• a. "I and the Father are one." –John 10:30 ESV
• b. Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am." –John 8:58 ESV
• c. "So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath." –Mark 2:28 NIV

8. Jesus' claim to be God was miraculously confirmed by:

• a. His fulfillment of many prophecies about Himself
• b. His sinless and miraculous life
• c. His crucifixion and resurrection

9. Therefore, Jesus is God.

10. Whatever Jesus (Who is God) teaches must be true.

• a. If Jesus Christ is God, then anything Jesus teaches must be absolutely true, given the requirements for God include infinite knowledge, infinite ability, moral purity, and a living embodiment of the truth.

11. Jesus taught that the Bible is the word of God.

• a. "For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished," Matt. 5:18 NASB
• b. "The Scripture cannot be broken" –John 10:35b NASB
• c. "Your word is truth" –John 17:17b NASB

From a basis of imperative (necessity) the greatest question of life itself must be: How can we overcome death? The clock is after all ticking for all of us. Well, there is only one who has successfully overcome death.If Jesus Christ is really God, then the Bible must be the word of God, because Jesus considered the Bible the word of God. Given these 12 points, Christianity is true beyond a reasonable doubt.

How should you respond? First step, do more research. Second step, think about it. Third step, actually pray about it and ask God to reveal Himself to you.

Did Jesus Christ really rise from the dead? If Jesus Christ really did rise from the dead, then He can do the same for us, as God, and for that reason, eternal life, the holy grail itself becomes available to us!

If the reasoning is sound, and you've come to believe that these facts are true, then commit your life to Jesus Christ, commit to serve Him and live by His standards put forth in the New Testament. And you will live forever. It's as simple as that. Believe on Jesus Christ, believe God raised Him from the dead, and commit your way to His teachings. If the goal is to believe what is actually true, then you ought to believe Christianity.

Note: The 12 points discussed are drawn from Dr. Norman Geisler and Frank Turek's book I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist. Some additions and adjustments were made by Justin Steckbauer.

Biological Miracles of Frozen Wood Frogs and Alligators

Brumation vs. hibernation

Alligators Stuck in Frozen Swamps Surviving The Winter

https://www.sciencealert.com/this-how-alligators-stuck-frozen-swamps-spending-winter-brumation-hibernation

Like snorkelers who picked a particularly bad time to take a dip, these alligators at Shallotte River Swamp Park in North Carolina are trapped in frozen waters – and in these hostile, icy conditions, an ancient survival mechanism is kicking in.

Ordinarily, these alligators would be spending their time sun-bathing or resting along the bottom of their swamp, but in a video captured by staff at the Swamp Park, we can see the animals adopting a very different pose on account of the punishing cold spell currently blasting the US.

What they're doing is called brumation, which is similar to hibernation, and involves the reptiles' metabolism slowing down dramatically and going into a lethargic state, in response to very cold temperatures.

Usually, these alligators would brumate at the bottom of their swamp, coming up at least once a day for air. These are not usual times, however.

In the aftermath of a bomb cyclone, it looks like the alligators are adopting a different survival strategy, positioning themselves – or at least their snouts – at the surface of their frozen swamp, giving them ready access to air while the bitter winter persists...

In Alaska, wood frogs freeze for seven months, thaw and hop away
http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-alaskan-frozen-frogs-20140723-story.html

Biological Miracle
Biological Miracle - Gates Of The Arctic National Park & Preserve (U.S. National Park Service)
(videos in the above link.)

Freezing Solid

The most remarkable thing about wood frogs happens not in the summer when they transform from tadpoles to frogs, but in the winter when they hibernate.

...Most frogs survive northern winters by hibernating deep under water, in ponds, lakes and streams—they are cold and dormant but their body temperature never falls below freezing.

Wood frogs have a different strategy. They hibernate by nestling down into the leafy litter on the forest floor. The leaves, duff and overlying snow give some insulation from extreme cold, but the frogs are not protected from subfreezing temperatures as they would be if they chose the underwater strategy.

...For most other animals, survival depends on protecting themselves from any condition that could freeze their flesh. Why is freezing so dangerous? Several things can happen: If ice crystals form inside an animal they can puncture blood vessels. When blood freezes, there is no mechanism to deliver oxygen and nutrients to organs, so extreme metabolic damage occurs. And ice severely injures cells by drawing out water and causing dehydration, scrambling the interior structure of cells and fracturing the cell walls. The result is pervasive and deadly internal damage.

..Yet wood frogs have evolved?? ways to freeze solid for up to eight months each year. They’ve accomplished what would seem to be a biological miracle. How do they pull this off?

At the beginning of winter, ice quickly fills the wood frog’s abdominal cavity and encases the internal organs. Ice crystals form between layers of skin and muscle. The eyes turn white because the lens freezes.

At the same time, the wood frog’s liver produces large amounts of glucose that flushes into every cell in its body. This syrupy sugar solution prevents the cells from freezing and binds the water molecules inside the cells to prevent dehydration.

So on the one hand, the wood frog’s body allows ice to form around the outsides of cells and organs; and on the other hand, it prevents ice from forming inside the cells--thus avoiding the lethal damage suffered by most animals when they freeze.

What does a hibernating wood frog look like? There is no muscle movement. No heartbeat. No breathing. For the entire winter, the wood frog is like a lump of hard, frigid, icy stone carved in the shape of a frog. But it’s alive, in a state of suspended animation.

In spring, the wood frog thaws from the inside outward. First the heart starts beating. Then the brain activates. Finally, the legs move.

Nobody yet understands what starts the wood frog’s heart after being frozen and inert for the entire northern winter. Once the frog is fully thawed, it heads off through the woods to find a breeding pond or other suitable water.

The wood frog is completely undamaged by conditions that would be fatal to nearly all other animals...

Wood Frogs and Humans

Glucose in the wood frog's blood keeps it from freezing during the extreme arctic winter temperatures. This is the same as the blood sugar in all vertebrate animals, including humans.

Hibernating wood frogs can tolerate blood sugar levels 100 times higher than normal without the damage suffered by human diabetics when their blood sugar is only 2 to 10 times above normal. Understanding how frogs can do this might provide valuable knowledge to help in the management of high blood sugar in people with diabetes.

Also, the wood frog's ability to withstand freezing may help researchers discover how human organs used for transplants could be frozen and thawed without damage. This would increase the allowable time between removing an organ from a donor and implanting it within the recipient, which could make many more transplants possible.

Researchers are also interested in how the wood frog's body can stop blood circulation and start it again many months later without blood clots or other injuries. Understanding the mechanism which allows this could be valuable for treating people after their blood flow is temporarily halted by heart attack or stroke.

( my comment:) How those almost frozen solid dead wood frogs restart their engines ( hearts) and thaw themselves in the spring, is really amazing! Only their Creator God can pull out this biological trick, don't you think? Those of you who firmly believe in Evolution theory, could you tell me how those smart wood frogs have researched and developed with the best strategy to freeze themselves but maintaining high glucose level 100 times than normal to safeguard their blood not totally frozen? Think about it, before they could find this amazing solution and evolve, their species would have all perished as we all know any researches are very time consuming. Nevertheless, no matter how amazing these phenomena are, many just use a leap of faith and assume that the wood frogs "evolve" ( a magic word indeed). see also the link below.

• Atheism is a Leap of Faith! You Tube by Frank Turek. PhD

A toad easting up a bat, unusual photo captured.