Why do fetuses have hair? Why do many scientists deny a Creator?

Why do babies grow hair before they are born which they later lose? Doesn’t this prove we have a common ancestor with apes?

This is the gist of an argument presented by Jerry Coyne. He mentions that hair keeps mammals warm, which is true. He points out that human babies have hair in the womb where they are not exposed to the cold, suggesting that this hair serves no purpose in humans. He then insists that the only way to understand this phenomenon is to believe that humans evolved from other mammals, implying the hair is an evolutionary leftover.

However, if we look closely at what this hair is, the timing of its appearance, and other related factors, this argument by Coyne is seen to be quite presumptuous.

Bystrova (2009) gives reasons for believing that this hair allows for sensory stimulation in utero that affects the growth rate of the baby. Additionally, this prenatal sensory stimulation is considered somewhat analogous to postnatal sensory input, as in a mother touching her baby, which is considered important for healthy development.

This points to a bigger question. Why do some scientists declare class warfare against anything that could possibly point to a Creator? While others are truly productive scientists? Productive scientists look at known details in living things and tend to assume that the structures and processes they observe have a function. This leads to improved understanding and medical advances. The argument by Coyne is not scientific and can be traced back to a philosophy, one intended to deny that there is a Creator.

(Excerpted from A hairy subject; Egg on our faces?, by Jean K. Lightner, published in Creation Matters, a publication of Creation Research Society, Volume 16, Number 2, March/April 2011, to appear at http://www.creationresearch.org/creation_matters/pdf/2011/CM16%2002%20low%20res.pdf)

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References (selected)


Bystrova, K. 2009. Novel mechanism of human fetal growth regulation: a potential role of lanugo, vernix caseosa and a second tactile system of unmyelinated low-threshold C-afferents. Medical Hypotheses 72(2):143–146.

A Muslim Tribal Chief is Bringing Jesus to His People

"Like most people in my tribe, when I was a young boy I went to the madrasah (Islamic school) for training in the Quran and preparation for jihad (holy war). As I read the Quran, I noticed that it talks about Jesus in ways that are different from other prophets; I was curious and confused. I left the madrasah and went to another city. There a friend of mine introduced me to a committed follower of Jesus who taught from the Bible. I liked his stories about Jesus and saw that he prayed to God in Jesus’ name, but I didn’t really think that it was for me. I didn’t see how Jesus could be for Muslims.

A couple of years later, my school class went on a picnic outing by the sea. As part of the field trip, we went out boating, and many of the students were jumping in the water to swim. I didn’t know how to swim. But I thought, “My people are from the mountains; we are the bravest people. Why are all these other, weaker students not afraid to go in the water, but I am?” To prove my bravery, I jumped in the water, too. Because I didn’t get too far away from the boat, I was fine. Then I decided to jump in a second time. This time I jumped farther. I quickly realized that I wasn’t okay—I was sinking! I called out, praying in the way I learned as a boy, and nothing happened. Then I remembered how that teacher prayed in Jesus’ name, and I thought, “I have nothing to lose; I’m about to drown.” So I cried out “Jesus, save me!” Then I blacked out. When I woke up again, I was back on the boat. My friends said that they had seen me sink, but they knew they couldn’t reach me in time. But then they said that something had held me up until they could get to me. I knew that was Jesus.

As soon as possible, I went back to meet the man who taught about Jesus and told him what had happened to me. I said I wanted to commit my life to Jesus. I studied more in-depth about Jesus and the Bible with him for two years and even changed my religious identity. I liked my new life, but I felt like God wanted more for me. As I prayed and sought the Lord, I felt him calling me, “Go back to your own people and village to tell them about me.” I explained to a friend how God was calling me, and he agreed to pray for me. I went back to my home village, my tribe. I shared about Jesus with many in my tribe on various short trips. At first, it was hard work. Then, after I had shared many times with the tribal leader, he finally had a dream about Jesus and decided to follow him. Later, when this leader was on his deathbed, he called me to his bedside. He took off his turban from his head and put it on mine in front of everyone there, which meant that I was the new tribal leader. I was shocked. I thought the next leader would be one of his sons. But, after the period of mourning was over, the other leaders confirmed that it was me, so I accepted the responsibility.

I wanted to lead the tribe in a way that everyone could see that devotion to Jesus had made a difference in my life. So, whenever there were issues that came up, I used the Bible in my rulings. One time a woman was brought before me who was going to be stoned for adultery. I based my ruling on a passage from the Gospel, and challenged her accusers, “If any of you are without sin, you be the one to strike her down.” None of them could do anything, and the woman was saved.

Over time, the other tribes heard that I was using the Bible to lead my tribe, and that I was telling others to trust in Jesus. Some of the other leaders were very upset, and they set an ambush for me. When I walked by where they were waiting for me, they began shooting at me with machine guns. I started to run. I could feel bullets hitting my body, but I kept running until I was far away. When I stopped, I saw the holes in my shirt, and felt pain where the bullets had hit me. But, as I looked closer, I saw that the bullets had only wounded the surface of my skin. Only one had fully entered my body, into my leg. I understood that God had protected me. I was also reminded so clearly that it is only because of the God’s work in my heart that I am not violent like the men shooting me. It made me so grateful for His protection and His provision.

While I was recovering in the hospital, the men who had set the ambush found out that I had survived. They became afraid for their lives. They knew that I had the right in our tribal culture to send men after them to kill them. But I knew that the Bible teaches that you should forgive your enemies. After I had left the hospital, I called them to me and told them, “Because I follow the teachings of Jesus, I forgive you.” They were so relieved. Through this, I was able to share more with them about Jesus. Today, their tribe is one of our most passionate groups of Jesus-followers.

As I have continued leading my tribe in a biblical way and share with others about Jesus, we have seen more and more put their trust in him. There are now thousands of home groups of those who have given their lives to Jesus, with each group serving about ten families. It is my passion to see all Muslims following Jesus within Islam. Starting from our tribe, we have shared our story with many other tribes in our country, and are trusting God to continue to spread the good news about Jesus throughout the rest of the Muslim world. We want to see Jesus welcomed into his rightful place within Islam. This is my greatest dream.

(reposted from Mir-Ibn-Mohammad, A Muslim Tribal Chief is Bringing Jesus to His People, Mission Frontiers May-June 2011)

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A Sandbar in the Middle of Land? Old Earth Geologists cannot explain...

The Meridian Sandbar is a massive outcrop stretching from southwestern from Alabama to east-central Mississippi, a distance of approximately 80 miles. It is approximately 12 miles wide and up to 100 ft thick (Wermund, 1965). It is white to light gray, coarse-to-fine-grained quartzose sand.

Secular geologists would use the modern Gulf Coastal Plain and Gulf of Mexico continental shelf to explain the formation and development of the massive sandbar. However, they have never identified any of the expected components (e.g., rivers, sandy delta, and coastline) necessary to define the history of this feature!

The global flood of Noah as recorded in Scripture simplifies the understanding of its formation....

Notice that the distance from the edge of the southern Appalachian metamorphic/crystalline core rocks to the center point along the Meridian Sand is approximately 250 miles. Scientific analysis that takes biblical data into account would show that it was likely formed during the Lower Division of the Flood Event Timeframe (see Figure 2). Sand carried away from the rising Appalachians was transported and deposited onto the submerged continental shelf.

A combination of water movement and large waves likely formed the sand into the massive sandbar during the Middle Division of the Flood Event when water currents were established across the North American continent (i.e., epeiric sea; Froede, 1995a) following uplift of the Appalachians (Froede, 2006; 2009). With the loss of water energy, the sandbar was locked in place and buried by mud and clay.

Old earth geologists are stumped - yet here is another successful explanation by Creation Scientists based on evidence from the Bible!

(Excerpted from The Meridian Sandbar and the Flood, by Carl R. Froede Jr., published in Creation Matters, a publication of Creation Research Society, Volume 16, Number 2, March/April 2011, to appear at http://www.creationresearch.org/creation_matters/pdf/2011/CM16%2002%20low%20res.pdf.)

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References (selected)

Froede, C.R., Jr. 1995a. Late Cretaceous epeiric sea or retreating Floodwater? CRSQ 32(1):13–16.

Froede, C.R., Jr. 2006. Neogene sand-to-pebble size siliciclastic sediments on the Florida Peninsula: Sedimentary evidence in support of the Genesis Flood. CRSQ 42:229–240.

Froede, C.R., Jr. 2009. From the Appalachians to the Keys: An update on the Florida gravels. Creation Matters 14(3):1–3.

Wermund, R.G. 1965. Cross-bedding in the Meridian Sand. Sedimentology 5:69–79.

High Caste Hindus who Embrace Jesus

My name is Ventakesh and my home is India. I was brought up in a strict, high caste Hindu family, and we had our own pooja room where we had daily prayers to the Hindu gods. We maintained all the Hindu festivals and were very diligent to fulfill all the requirements of our Hindu faith and religion.

My father was a highly-placed government official and very orthodox in all his practices. He treated with disdain the religion of the Christians because of their habits of smoking, drinking and dancing. He viewed them as unclean. His overall impression of the Christianity of the West was molded by what he saw in the Western movies, especially from America.

When I returned to the USA, I met another Hindu man who told me that he followed Jesus. He was not a practicing Christian who went to church, but he maintained his own Hindu culture and social habits, and he loved Jesus and read the Bible and he knew it very well. He explained to me that he was a Hindu by his first birth and was proud of this heritage which was from God and showed me Acts 17:26, where God is explained as the one who determines where and when we are born. Then he explained how he had experienced a second birth, when he became one of God’s children and a member of His kingdom. This second birth was not a physical birth but a spiritual birth and as God’s Spirit lived in us we would gradually become very attractive people who cared for others and helped them in their troubles. He showed me John 1:12 "Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God" - and so I decided to believe in Jesus. As a result I became one of His children and knew that my past was forgiven and that I had a great hope after I died.

Immediately I Skyped my sister in India and told her what was happening to me. She too has now experienced Jesus in her life and no longer prays to the Hindu gods. The changes in her attitude have touched my mother and father, who are now showing a lot of interest.

I have since returned to India, and I am very much part of our Hindu community. I am engaged in all the activities of our family and extended family. There are many discussions about Jesus, and I am sharing the Bible with many people in our community. Because of my academic qualifications and the good job I now have, I have a very good standing in our community, and so people listen to me. I continually explain to them that I am not trying to “convert” them to Christianity but to “convert” them to Jesus as they live out their lives in the Hindu community. Now I have quite a few friends who are also following Jesus, and we meet regularly to pray together and share the Scriptures and to encourage each other. We sense that God is going to cause many people in our community to know and love Him. We are claiming the verse Isaiah 60:22 that a little one shall become a thousand and that a small one will become a mighty nation and that God will hasten all this in His time. This is already beginning to happen.

(excerpted from K. Venkatesh, Living and Discipling in the Hindu World, Mission Frontiers May-June 2011)

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Roberta Winter Institute: fighting Satan on the battlelines of disease

"Our mission: To champion the cause of disease eradication for the glory of God."

As a result of his belief in an intelligent evil having a destructive influence on God's good creation, and in honor of his first wife who died of cancer in 2001, Ralph Winter founded the Roberta Winter Institute to advance the cause of disease eradication. Ralph devoted much of the final decade of his life to the RWI, seeing disease eradication and our response to evil in general as overlooked frontiers in mission. The institute seeks to mobilize believers to fight the origins of disease, thereby defeating the works of Satan and glorifying God.

For more info, see http://robertawinterinstitute.org/.

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