Written by NT ( Navhind Times) Network  Published on  Monday, 12 October 2009- (The writer is a resident of Merces.) Readers were invited to send their views on current topics - It needs no elaboration to state that man has been able to scale new heights in scientific exploration, primarily due to his ingenuity and of course due to nature’s generosity. It is this relentless spirit of man, ever to unearth things those were obscure hitherto, that has enabled him to discover new things unceasingly. India’s moon voyage through Chandrayan-I is yet another pointer in this direction. We embarked on a space mission and entered the select band of noted few countries to explore the lunar surface. And though the mission had to be abandoned after the space control lost trace of the spacecraft resulting in its premature death. One of the 11 payloads on board the aircraft, Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3), belonging to America’s NASA, spotted water molecules on the moon. Immediately thereafter our scientists were quick to state that the water traces were also discovered by our own Moon Impact Probe (MIP) on board the Chandrayan-I, just 22 days after the mission launch. It was weird though that only after the American scientists went public with the discovery that our scientists went vocal. It cannot be denied that it was more by coincidence than design that this path-breaking discovery of ascertaining traces of water on the moon was made, which had eluded mankind for almost five decades, since the space revolution was set in motion by the Americans and the then USSR. That is what we mean when we use the term ‘nature’s generosity’. Yet the name of India’s Chandrayan-I will go down in history in achieving this unique goal. In the backdrop of this new outcome, once again the origin of the universe that dates back to billions of years was brought to light. And yet we are made to listen to our religious scriptures, through the readings in the Church services that things like the sun, moon and the stars were created after the earth and just a few thousand years ago. How long will we be made to listen to these tales? Imagine the plight of children who learn in science about the origin of the universe, which has evolved over billions of years and then listening to the liturgy, that the whole universe and everything in it was created in just six days. What is our objective? Is it to blindly accept the things that were written some thousand years ago or to acknowledge the facts through a scientific temperament? A few days ago we had a report in this very daily (Sept 27) entitled ‘Expert predicts next phase of evolution’ wherein evolution of life was traced to billions of years ago. There are findings that first man-like creature was found on the earth about 200 million years ago. That is the story of evolution. In this background should we blindly accept the tale that man was created through soil when the Creator breathed life into it and thereafter he was put to sleep and a rib was taken out of his body and a woman was created therefrom? Can the church not dispense with such irrelevant text or at least exclude them from any readings forming the liturgy. The sad thing is that these readings constitute the main part of the liturgy in important celebrations like Easter and weddings. We only make mockery of our scriptures. When we say that God is the embodiment of truth we should spare no means to ensure that truth is upheld. That can be done by eliminating fictitious things which might have been written in the past, in ignorance but find no place in the present context. If despite knowing the facts we are trying to conceal the truth then it is a great tragedy. That brings us to the last question: What would happen if only the first three chapters are eliminated from the very first book of the Bible? (The writer of above is a resident of Merces.  Note: No Name was Mentioned)

My Answer to This was published by  Navhind Times on Friday,
16 October 2009  -Read on...

Scientific exploration and religious retrogradation ( Published on  Navhind Times on Friday, 16 October 2009 ) Written by: Eduardo Manuel Sequeira   God’s astonishing purpose for man—has been withheld from the world.  A complete seduction has taken place, and all the world’s religions have played a part in it. Knowledge of your incredible future—your awesome potential—has been kept from you! Many wonder and worry about the unknown—and what their future holds. Others fear they do not even have a future. If only humanity knew what God has in store for it!   A correct understanding of the true gospel reveals crucial knowledge. It contains a dimension of understanding that cannot be discovered by scientific inquiry.  Scientists cannot discover God's Plans through laboratory analysis. Astronomers, microbiologists, and others honest with the facts acknowledge that God exists, but are unable to prove. Philosophers cannot discern it through meditation or discussion. Divinely revealed answers cannot be obtained by studying books written by normal men. And who is behind this suppression of knowledge? To the unlearned, the Bible is a book of shocking statements. It reveals startling truths, completely unknown even to those who profess to understand it. But there are few statements more astonishing than that found in Revelation 12:9. This verse directly states that Satan the devil—who does exist!—“deceives the whole world.” As “prince of the power of the air” (Eph. 2:2), Devil has influenced, guided, controlled, and completely deceived the unsuspecting masses. Devil demonstrated that he could not be governed by God. Therefore, a successor had to qualify to replace him, Christ had successfully qualified!   Most assume that things are the way they are because mankind has evolved to its present state or condition. This thinking permeates modern education but it is a false—an entirely wrong—premise. Evolution is a fiction created by men who have been led to this theory by the one who seeks to blind all the inhabitants of Earth to God’s awesome plan—His staggering purpose for mankind. This is spiritually revealed knowledge, unattainable to all whom God has not called to understand His truth. Men are not part of the animal kind.   Evolutionists are stymied—completely trapped—within the boundaries of their theory. Evolutionists see no greater reason for the birth of a human than of a puppy or a elephant. If, as they assert, human beings are merely the highest of animals, and products of blind, dumb evolution, it is impossible for them to simultaneously believe in a transcendent, God-ordained PURPOSE for human life. The two positions are opposites. No one can honestly accept both! Though often of great intelligence, the evolutionist’s dependence on human reasoning, accompanied by rejection of revealed knowledge, leaves him utterly incapable of knowing God’s great purpose for humanity. He has literally shut himself out of true understanding! Animals possess instinct. No evolutionist has ever successfully explained why this is or how it is even possible. Why would bees return to their hive day after day, generation after generation, making honey in the same way they did thousands years ago, unless they were designed to do this? How would all bears “know” to eat enough food to survive hibernation all winter—and how would all bears even know to hibernate, unless this was built into their instinctive behavior? Why do baby cows and horses stand up almost immediately after birth? It was programmed into them—through instinct. Why do all wolves hunt the same way—in packs—and eat the same things? Why does almost every bird have its own distinct nest-building design? There was once a test conducted with weaver birds. Five successive generations were deprived of nest-building materials. The fifth generation was given the materials but had never seen a nest. It immediately proceeded to make nests that looked exactly like all weaver bird nests. This was because they were designed to do so. As marvelous as is this instinctive capability, it is dwarfed by the capacity and power of human intellect. Humans are able to acquire knowledge. They can reach the moon and create super-computers. They can design skyscrapers and discover secrets of the atom. Animals have no such capability. Men do not instinctively know everything that they need to know to operate successfully throughout their lives. They must acquire ever more knowledge as they grow older and as more demands are placed upon them. Men were given the capacity to reason out and design these and many other highly complex, technical inventions. The importance of this knowledge—this truly crucial understanding—cannot be overstated. God designed human beings with minds that could create, devise, reason, observe, and experiment. Through this inherent ability to reason, physical knowledge could be processed. The physical knowledge of how to work with matter and physical things, and the spiritual knowledge necessary for people to develop personal relationships with both God and their fellow man.Men is created for an infinitely greater purpose. Men were created to become like God in every aspect of  life. Remember, God is reproducing Himself in people by building spiritual character in them! Every sophisticated or technical device or product comes with an instruction manual. Without this, the owner would find the object useless. He would not know how to properly operate it. Nor could he repair or maintain it. God gave an Instruction Manual—the Bible—that contains vital revealed knowledge, otherwise unattainable. Unlike the modern system of education, it teaches how to live, not just how to earn a living. It explains history, prophecy, important knowledge of doctrine, and thousands of other points and principles that govern every aspect of life. Those who hold to the evolutionary theory are prevented—actually blocked!—from comprehending why conditions on Earth are as they are. And many statesmen, leaders, and thinkers do feel trapped by trends and conditions, and the general flow of world events, unable to do anything about them. Indeed, they are trapped. However, cut off from the right channel and path of spiritually understood cause and effect and from God’s revealed law, man still possesses the power of physical, human reasoning, which, sadly, has led to weapons of mass destruction and terror, cruelty, slavery, repression, pollution, crime, religious confusion, and so much more. Hence, man’s misery and woes compound and mount at every turn.But remember, God’s process of spiritual creation is still in progress. It is not complete!   By Eduardo Manuel Sequeira

Click here to View NewsPaper Creation or Evolution? Part 2