Tag Archives: Science

Creation Care

Christians Can No Longer Overlook the Disastrous Consequences of Climate Change

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What’s the most pressing political issue Christians should care about today? There are many answers to that question, and different Christians have different priorities, but I want to argue that all Christians should put climate change very high on that list, if not at the top? The climate crisis impacts everything else.

Do you think the economy is important? Climate change will ruin it unless stopped. You think migration is an important issue? Climate change will cause billions of people to flee from their home. Does any other political issue have the top priority for you, like abortion, education or law and order? Climate change might ruin all modern civilizations and all the societal orders connected to them?

As stewards of God’s creation, Christians are called to protect and preserve the earth for future generations. In the face of accelerating global warming, the urgent need for climate action becomes not only a responsibility but a divine mandate. The current state of our planet, marked by rising temperatures, melting ice caps, and increasingly severe weather patterns, underscores a critical moment in human history. It is a moment that demands a collective response grounded in faith, compassion, and justice.

The Biblical Foundation for Environmental Stewardship

The Bible is rich with references that underscore the importance of caring for the environment. Genesis 2:15 teaches us, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” This verse highlights our God-given role as caretakers of the earth, entrusted to us to nurture and protect.

Psalms 24:1 further reminds us, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” This psalm beautifully articulates the concept of stewardship, emphasizing that we do not own the earth; rather, we are caretakers of God’s creation.

Continue reading Christians Can No Longer Overlook the Disastrous Consequences of Climate Change →
Spirituality

Proof that Prayer Works

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Article published in the Christian Post.

Can prayer be scientifically measured? In 1872, English intellectual Francis Galton, cousin of Charles Darwin, attempted to test the effects of prayer in a famous experiment. He hypothesized that the royal family, whose health the faithful prayed for every Sunday in Anglican parishes, would live much longer than the rest of the British population.

He found that the contrary was true, and concluded that prayer doesn’t work.

The royal diet and lifestyle did not factor into his equation, nor did Galton question the hierarchical theology of God favoring those privileged enough to command an entire nation to pray for them.

In more recent times, Richard Dawkins has hailed the “Great Prayer Experiment” as the definitive proof against prayer efficiency. The Experiment was a 2006 study conducted by Herbert Benson and team, showing that cardiac bypass patients who received prayer did not suffer from less complications after surgery than those who didn’t. In fact, the opposite was true! Continue reading Proof that Prayer Works →

Nonviolence

No, the Bible Doesn’t Claim that the Israelites Killed All the Canaanites

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Quite a few media outlets have recently claimed that science has disproven the Bible. They point to a recent study showing that the DNA of modern Lebanese people match 90 % with the DNA of five Canaanites that died 3 700 tears ago. They then go on claiming that the Bible says that all the Canaanites were killed as Joshua and the Israelites conquered their land.

The titles of the articles show that their authors think that according to the Bible, Canaanites were “wiped out”. The Telegraph states “Study disproves the Bible’s suggestion that the ancient Canaanites were wiped out”. The Independent agrees: “Bible says Canaanites were wiped out by Israelites but scientists just found their descendants living in Lebanon”. And the Daily Mail argues “Bronze Age DNA disproves the Bible’s claim that the Canaanites were wiped out: Study says their genes live on in modern-day Lebanese people”

There’s only one problem. The Bible doesn’t say that the Canaanites were wiped out. 

Judges, you know the book that comes right after Joshua, clearly states that there were “Canaanites living in the hill country, the Negev and the western foothills” (Jud 1:9) and “Canaanites living in Hebron” (v. 10). Canaanites were around in Israel around the time of Solomon (1 Kings 9:16) and even in the time of Jesus (Matt 15:22). Continue reading No, the Bible Doesn’t Claim that the Israelites Killed All the Canaanites →

Interviews, Spirituality

Can Science Prove Miraculous Healing?

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Previously published at Jesus Army.

Elijah Stephens is a former Vineyard pastor and spiritual coach belonging to Bethel Church in Redding, California. Since 2015, he has been working on a documentary about medically verified miracles. Micael Grenholm asked him a few questions.

WHAT is a medically verified miracle?

That is a good question. When it comes to miracles, we are talking about when God enters the world and does something. What makes something a miracle is God’s activity.

This is why you can’t study miracles scientifically, but what you can do is to find cases where people have prayed and there’s “before and after” medical evidence. For example, a person has a tumor, one day there is prayer, the next day the tumor disappears.

What you want to do is to corroborate miracles with medical evidence. So that’s what we’re attempting to do with the movie; finding cases where miracles have been corroborated by medical evidence. Continue reading Can Science Prove Miraculous Healing? →