Sunspots 684

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: Benjamin L. Corey compares "Trumpianity" with Christianity.

Relevant reports that Billy Graham had no problem with evolution.


Health: New Scientist reports on a study that says that people who see the same doctor over and over live longer.

Politics: Environmental Protection Agency director Scott Pruitt, who has been accused of numerous ethics violations, and seems bent on turning the agency into something that does not protect the environment, asked fuel company executives, and lobbyist, to recommend people for positions in the EPA, according to Gizmodo.

(Sort of) Gizmodo also reports on continuing "sonic attacks," or some kind of attack, on US embassies in other countries.

FiveThirtyEight discusses the small number of elected Republican women.

Science: New Scientist reports that men are more likely to be referred to by their surnames (Trump, for example) and women by their first names (Hillary, for example) and that this gives men advantages in many ways.

Scientific American reports that Enceladus, a moon of Saturn, has some complex organic molecules, and may have living things.

Gizmodo reports on the intelligence of crows.

Thanks for looking!

Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 666

Yes, I know that the number 666 may have some special significance. But, in this case, it is being

used because it comes after 665, and, I hope, before 667. We'll see what happens next week.


Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: A report on the death of Billy Graham, from National Public Radio. Also, reflections on Graham's life, in Christianity Today. Sojourners has a timeline of Graham's life.

Weekend Fisher discusses penitence.


Computing: Gizmodo reports on the possibilities of artificial intelligence being used for bad purposes.

Gizmodo also reports that Russia hacked the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Humor: (or, possibly, food) Grammarphobia on whether "fart" is a word that should be used in polite society.


Politics: Gizmodo, and other outlets, report that the Florida state legislature has declared pornography a health risk, but voted not to consider any controls on guns or gun sales, a few days after the latest Florida school mass shooting.

FiveThirtyEight considers the matter of how many people Kim Jong Un has to please, in order to stay in power.

Science: Gizmodo shows video of a male cardinal that's yellow, not red. Amazing!

Earther reports on the new heat records being set in the Arctic.


Thanks for looking!

Image source (public domain)

Calladium leaf, Billy Graham Library grounds, Charlotte, NC

 

The leaf pictured above has long since withered and died, and so will I. The photo was taken on the grounds of the Billy Graham Library, in Charlotte, North Carolina. Mr. Graham died recently. He will be buried on the Library grounds, beside his late wife.

Graham had his faults -- who doesn't? -- but he was apparently a humble, Christ-honoring man. I have profited from reading his books, and some of my family attended two of his rallies, back when he was holding them.

The photo was taken June 8, 2009. It should serve as a link to a larger version. Thanks for looking!

Sunspots 599

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: Relevant says that the U. S. is not now, or soon won't be, a Christian nation, and suggests how to react to this.

Relevant also has a post on reasons why we don't actually have a quiet time, even though we know we should.

Listverse gives us 10 common misconceptions about the separation of church and state.

From the National Association of Evangelicals, brief statements on "Biotechnology and Bioethics," "Sanctity of Life," and "Bioethics and Stem Cell Research." (These are not new, one going back to 2005, but they seem to be current."

Billy Graham turned 98 a few days ago. Christianity Today (which Graham founded) looks back over his life, which was characterized by "chastity, integrity, sincerity, ambition, humility, and, above all, hope."


Humor: (or something) The BBC reports on giant natural snowballs in Siberia.


Politics: The Presidential election is supposed to be over by now. But the New York Times examines the effectiveness, or not, of fact-checking.

Science: A graphic, showing all of the rivers, and their tributaries, in the 48 US states.

Scientific American reports that one-celled organisms that act like both plants and animals are much more important to ocean life than we had known.

Scientific American also reports on the reason why first-born children make more money than later children.






Image source (public domain)

Billy Graham on origins

Billy Graham is not necessarily divinely inspired, of course, but his views have been widely respected, and rightly so. I was led to a passage where he was asked his views on origins.

David Frost says that he wished to know how Billy Graham interpreted scripture, and what he thought of evolution. Graham responded that he didn't think anyone could be an absolutely strict literalist, and gave the example of Lazarus, who couldn't have been in Abraham's bosom. Then Graham went on to say this:
Oh, I don't think that there's any conflict at all between science today and the Scriptures. I think that we have misinterpreted the Scriptures many times and we've tried to make the Scriptures say things they weren't meant to say, and I think we have made a mistake by thinking the Bible is a scientific book.
The Bible is not a book of science. The Bible is a book of Redemption, and of course I accept the Creation story. I believe that God did create the universe. I believe that God created man, and whether it came by an evolutionary process and at a certain point He took this person or this being and made him a living soul or not, does not change the fact that God did create man.

Frost asked a further question, and Graham indicated that he hadn't finished his response to the previous one. Graham went on:
. . . I personally believe that it's just as easy to accept the fact that God took some dust and blew on it and out came a man as it is to accept the fact that God breathed upon man and he became a living soul and it started with some protoplasm and went right on up through the evolutionary process. Either way is by faith and whichever way God did it makes no difference as to what man is and man's relationship to God.
Billy Graham: Personal Thoughts of a Public Man, 1997. (Colorado Springs, Colorado: Cook Communications, 1997. p. 72-74) The book indicates that this is taken from the transcript of an interview of Graham by Frost on BBC-2, in 1964. Frost is given as the author of the book, which is said to be excerpts from interviews with Graham over three decades. The first one was in 1964, and may have been the interview above.

I plan no posts, except maybe a Sunspots, and a Charles Wesley Hymn, over the next couple of weeks, because of travel and church responsibilities.

Thanks for reading.

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October 14, 2007: I have just discovered a post by Steve Martin, entitled "Made in God's Image or Evolved from Apes?" which is related to the quotations from Billy Graham (but makes no mention of Graham).