GLOBULAR CLUSTER DATA IMPACTS DESIGN ARGUMENTS. One of the arguments for the fact that the creation cannot be a product of chance is the statistical impossibility of all of the variables necessary for life to exist taking place at the same point and time in space. In the past 100 years, there have been two major scientific discoveries that have impacted this argument. The first has been that there are more and more factors that have been discovered that are critical for life to exist. A recent Hubble image of globular star cluster 47 Tucanae has added another factor, and that is that this globular cluster at least, shows no sign at all of having any planets. Thirty-five thousand stars have been examined and while over 100 variable stars have been seen, none indicate the presence of a planet. It appears that the conditions for planet formation may be much more complicated than previously thought, and that the number of planets in the cosmos is much smaller than formally believed.

WWF OPPOSED BY CWF. You cannot watch TV without seeing ads portraying the sex and violence pushed upon the public by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). To offer an alternative to the WWF a man named Rob Vaughn has started the Christian Wrestling Federation (CWF). If you want to see what they are doing, look up www.christianwrestling.com. It is interesting to see all the ways that alternatives can be made to the negative things pushed at young people by the world around us. Christian music has offered an alternative to destructive mass music forums, and now a group of athletes have an idea that might also be an alternative.

NEW MAGAZINES RELATED TO APOLOGETICS. One of the encouraging things going on the world today is the emergence of new magazines that offer new approaches to the field of apologetics. Most of these are nondenominational, and some are essentially deist publications that are trying to offer alternatives to atheism and agnosticism. One new one is titled Research News and Opportunities in Science and Theology. This is a very general program espousing faith in a general way, but not distinguishing between Christianity, Hindu, Moslem and Buddhist beliefs as well as other systems.  What it does do is present intellectual programs,  arguments, and approaches for the existence of a supreme being.  The magazine's address is 415 Clarion Drive, Durham NC 27705; email: demandcpm@hotmail.com.

A different type of magazine is Touchstone, which is subtitled "A Journal of Mere Christianity."  This is definitely a Christian journal in the tradition of C. S. Lewis.  It is highly theological and philosophical in nature, but has many good writers and a lot of interesting ideas. It is available from PO Box 3000 Denville NJ 07834.

Still a dirrerent type of magazine is Christian Research Journal.  This is a highly denominational magazine, with the belief of its president Hank Hanegraff pushed as gospel.  The value of the journal is that it takes on cults and basic apologetics in a bold and useful way.  Its weakness is that it becomes highly denominational in its religious thrust instead of just presenting facts.  In spite of this there is probably no publication that does a more exhaustive expose of modern cults and scams than CRJ.  It is availble from 30162 Tomas, Rancho Santa Margarita CA 92688-2124.

FCC RUMOR HAS NINE LIVES--MAYBE 900. Despite the best errorts of many of us to get people to understand that Madalyn O'Hair is dean and that there is no attempt being made to take religious programming off of TV and radio, the petition nonsense continues to pop up on the web and in countless mailouts.  The FCC now has a history of the whole situation and once again clearly shows they are not entertaining such a petition.  It is available from the Federal Communications Commision, Mass Media Bureau, 445 12th St. SW Washington DC 20554 (ask for "FCC Consumer Facts").  It is also available on line at http://www.fcc.gov/mmb/asd/decdoc/into.html http://www.fcc.gov/mmb/asd/decdoc/letter/1975--08--13--religious.html http://www.fcc.gov/cib/consumerfacts/religious.html.

We know that concerned people sincerely believe this is valid, and certainly the government is capable of this, but this claim has been proven false for so long that it needs to be laid to rest.  Please help us do that.

ERRORS IN SCIENCE TEXTBOOKS. A recent study to examine that accuracy of science books funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation has compiled 500 pages of errors. Some of the ones listed are unbelievable--like a map showing the equator cutting through the southern United States.  When I taught Earth Science, I always gave extra credit for mistakes students found in the book, and I frequently found myself giving a lot more points than I would have ever imagined.  The point is that textbooks are written by people who make mistakes--not by God--and children need to learn to question what is in the book and learn how to check out data that is given. (A. P., January 15, 2000)

KANSAS REINSTATES EVOLUTION.  After a long and poorly handled series of statements and counter-statements, the state board of education in Kansas voted 7-3 to reinstate evolution in Kansas schools.  The problem from the beginning in this debacle has been that no one is defining what they mean by evolution or trying to find common ground and work out constructive dialogue.

CELL STRUCTURES IN SPACE. The media is at it again, claiming that science has found cell walls in interstellar gas clouds. What has really happened is that researchers have found that when they expose molecules known to exist in interstellar clouds to ultraviolet light in carefully controlled laboratory environments, the molecules arrange themselves in shapes resembling cell membraines.  We will treat this discovery in later issues of this journal.

Back to Contents Does God Exist?, MayJun01.