Footprints on the Sands of Time – W. N. “Bill” Jackson (1929-1991)

“I am almost shouting-happy to learn that you mean to give your life to preaching the gospel” reads a September 12th, 1944 letter from Gus Nichols to a just-turned fifteen year old “Billy” Jackson. (His birthday was September 5th.) The letter concerned brother Jackson’s request for a copy of the Nichols-Weaver debate, which brother Nichols said he would happily send to brother Jackson for one dollar and fifty cents. Evidently, this letter was special to brother Jackson; he preserved both it and the envelope in which it came.

Thirty-seven years later, I met brother Bill Jackson in Austin, Texas after he accepted the full-time preaching work at the Southwest church of Christ in June of 1981. I was only thirteen years old and had just become a Christian earlier that year. Not too long after this (April 1982), Bill had a heart attack. My father and I went to visit him in the hospital while he underwent further tests. I’ll never forget how strange “the preacher” looked in a hospital gown. We took him a western paperback novel by Louis L’amour. He expressed his fondness for this genre. I knew he was a pretty good fellow then.

Born on September 5th, 1929, Bill Jackson grew up in Sheffield, Alabama. He enlisted in the Marine reserves in the late 1940s and served in Korea in 1951. After his return, he married Jean Newton, also of Sheffield, on August 3rd, 1952. He began preaching while still in the military in 1953. However, after rising to the rank of Captain in the United States Marine Corp, Bill Jackson was honorably discharged and began preaching on a full time basis in 1956. He was educated at the University of Alabama, the Naval Law School (he had enough credits to become a lawyer), and obtained a degree from David Lipscomb College on May 30th, 1958. He majored in Bible and minored in speech. At graduation, he was given an award Bible and designated “the representative gospel preacher of the graduating class.”

His preaching work took him to Florence, South Carolina; Fulton, Amory, and Columbus, Mississippi; Ipswich, England; and then to Austin, Texas. During these years, brother Jackson raised two boys, Larry and Barry, who continue to remember him for his discipline, sense of humor, and patience. It is a testament to brother Jackson’s faithfulness that his two children are productive members of society. Larry works for Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, and Barry works for Texas A&M University in College Station, TX.

I remember brother Jackson best for his work in Austin, Texas where I was (and am) a member. Always gracious and gentlemanly, His inaugural bulletin article began: “In this, the first issue of the Southwesterner for which we write, we’d like to express appreciation for the wonderful welcome you have given to us.” In Austin, Brother Jackson continued his work with the Southwest congregation for just under ten years. In addition to his regular preaching duties, He taught classes in the Southwest School of Bible Studies, wrote bulletin articles, conducted the congregation’s radio program, appeared on a weekly television program, visited the sick on a regular basis, was always present on congregational work days, held six to ten gospel meetings per year, preached regularly on brotherhood lectureships, and penned numerous articles for various brotherhood periodicals. He exemplified Jesus’ command in Mark 16:15. Bill was also an avid book collector. His library in Austin, housed at the Southwest church of Christ, contains thousands of books on a variety of topics.

In 1981 brother Jackson announced the inauguration of the Annual Southwest Lectures, which is now in its 29th year. The first lectures were held April 15-18, 1982 and the theme was “Truth and Error in Conflict.” Regarding this first lectureship, he wrote: “Here is something that can be of the greatest benefit to each of us, as well as to the church throughout the area—and to the whole brotherhood, to the extent that they will accept our invitation to come.” Those were exciting times for a boy of 13+ years old, and I remember diligently preparing the building and grounds in anticipation for this great event. Some of my fondest childhood memories hark back to the various lectures presented by faithful brethren such as Thomas B. Warren, Guy N. Woods, Andrew Connally, Wendell Winkler, and Bert Thompson. Brother Jackson went on to direct the lectureship until the year of his death in 1991, and edited the volumes of lectureship books that those years produced.

As a writer, brother Jackson was prolific. He wrote at least one, many times two, and sometimes three articles for the weekly bulletin, The Southwesterner. His writing was prudent, pithy, and always Bible based. He had an uncanny knack for boiling down difficult topics to their essentials. His articles also appeared in various brotherhood periodicals such as Contending for the Faith, the Firm Foundation, and the Gospel Advocate. After the congregation acquired the Christian Worker, he became its co-editor along side of David P. Brown. His articles were a healthy mixture of positive exhortation, and reproof and rebuke (2 Timothy 4:2). He was not afraid to tackle the bellwether issues of the day including such topics as homosexuality, abortion, and marriage, divorce, and remarriage. His pen was a constant clarion call for truth, sound doctrine, and righteous living (Titus 2:1). He wrote several books including commentaries on First and Second Corinthians, a guide for new Christians titled That Ye May Grow, and a booklet on the elder and his work.

Brother Jackson’s work as a debater was remarkable. He held sixteen debates on a variety of topics. In his last few years, I was privileged to hear some of these discussions. His debate with John L. Edwards “On the Meaning of Adultery,” was conducted in Austin, Texas January 25th-26th, 1988. Don Tarbet published the proceedings as The Jackson-Edwards Debate later that year. Edwards affirmed and Jackson denied the following proposition: “RESOLVED, the action of adultery in Matthew 19:9 is the action of divorcing and remarriage, and the parties remarried do not continue in adultery as long as they are together.” Brother Jackson also debated Baptists, Pentecostals, skeptics, and Atheists. The last debate he held was with a Baptist by the name of Bob Ross. The debate was conducted in a local school building, and I was privileged to attend. Brother Jackson’s demeanor was unflappable while Ross and his moderator became more and more perturbed as the debate progressed. Nevertheless, while brother Jackson strongly disagreed with his opponents, he was always the commensurate gentleman. After his death, Bob Ross wrote to the congregation to express his sympathy. He praised brother Jackson for the fact that he was a man of integrity and character who could disagree with you without being disagreeable. We would do well to emulate such a balance of qualities today that we may stand for truth, yet earn the respect of our enemies (Proverbs 16:7).

Brother Jackson kept a cross-stiched poem, “The Clock of Life,” written by Robert H. Smith, which is currently on display in his library.

The clock of life is wound but once,

And no man has the power.

To tell just when the hands will stop,

At late or early hour.

Now is the only time you own,

Live, love, toil with a will.

Place no faith in tomorrow for

The clock may then be still.

Bill Jackson’s mortal clock stopped on April 5th, 1991, due to his heart problems; he was driving home when he passed. He was sixty-one years old. Brothers David P. Brown, and Ira Y. Rice, Jr., conducted the memorial services for brother Jackson after his passing. He was later eulogized in the June, 1991 issue of the Christian Worker by: Garland Elkins, Guy N. Woods, his son Barry Jackson, David P Brown, his brother Lloyd Jackson, Robert R. Taylor, Jr., Dub McClish, Jerry Moffitt, Ira Y. Rice, Jr., Paul Sain, and his secretary for many years, Midge Siebert. I was privileged to have known him in my most formative years, from the time I was thirteen to the time I was twenty-three. His preaching, teaching, life, and work, made an enormous impact upon me. I am thankful to have known him, and grateful to the Lord for sending him my way. I look forward to seeing him again in eternity.

Kevin Cauley is a teacher for the Southwest School of Bible Studies in Austin, Texas. He is a 1989 graduate of the Southwest School of Bible Studies, a 1994 graduate of the University of Texas at Austin (B.A.), and 2010 graduate of St. Edwards University (M.L.A.). He is married and has four boys. He resides in Buda, Texas. He may be reached for comment at k.cauley@swsbs.edu.

Footprints on the Sands of Time – W. N. “Bill” Jackson (1929-1991)

“I am almost shouting-happy to learn that you mean to give your life to preaching the gospel” reads a September 12th, 1944 letter from Gus Nichols to a just-turned fifteen year old “Billy” Jackson. (His birthday was September 5th.) The letter concerned brother Jackson’s request for a copy of the Nichols-Weaver debate, which brother Nichols said he would happily send to brother Jackson for one dollar and fifty cents. Evidently, this letter was special to brother Jackson; he preserved both it and the envelope in which it came.

Thirty-seven years later, I met brother Bill Jackson in Austin, Texas after he accepted the full-time preaching work at the Southwest church of Christ in June of 1981. I was only thirteen years old and had just become a Christian earlier that year. Not too long after this (April 1982), Bill had a heart attack. My father and I went to visit him in the hospital while he underwent further tests. I’ll never forget how strange “the preacher” looked in a hospital gown. We took him a western paperback novel by Louis L’amour. He expressed his fondness for this genre. I knew he was a pretty good fellow then.

Born on September 5th, 1929, Bill Jackson grew up in Sheffield, Alabama. He enlisted in the Marine reserves in the late 1940s and served in Korea in 1951. After his return, he married Jean Newton, also of Sheffield, on August 3rd, 1952. He began preaching while still in the military in 1953. However, after rising to the rank of Captain in the United States Marine Corp, Bill Jackson was honorably discharged and began preaching on a full time basis in 1956. He was educated at the University of Alabama, the Naval Law School (he had enough credits to become a lawyer), and obtained a degree from David Lipscomb College on May 30th, 1958. He majored in Bible and minored in speech. At graduation, he was given an award Bible and designated “the representative gospel preacher of the graduating class.”

His preaching work took him to Florence, South Carolina; Fulton, Amory, and Columbus, Mississippi; Ipswich, England; and then to Austin, Texas. During these years, brother Jackson raised two boys, Larry and Barry, who continue to remember him for his discipline, sense of humor, and patience. It is a testament to brother Jackson’s faithfulness that his two children are productive members of society. Larry works for Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, and Barry works for Texas A&M University in College Station, TX.

I remember brother Jackson best for his work in Austin, Texas where I was (and am) a member. Always gracious and gentlemanly, His inaugural bulletin article began: “In this, the first issue of the Southwesterner for which we write, we’d like to express appreciation for the wonderful welcome you have given to us.” In Austin, Brother Jackson continued his work with the Southwest congregation for just under ten years. In addition to his regular preaching duties, He taught classes in the Southwest School of Bible Studies, wrote bulletin articles, conducted the congregation’s radio program, appeared on a weekly television program, visited the sick on a regular basis, was always present on congregational work days, held six to ten gospel meetings per year, preached regularly on brotherhood lectureships, and penned numerous articles for various brotherhood periodicals. He exemplified Jesus’ command in Mark 16:15. Bill was also an avid book collector. His library in Austin, housed at the Southwest church of Christ, contains thousands of books on a variety of topics.

In 1981 brother Jackson announced the inauguration of the Annual Southwest Lectures, which is now in its 29th year. The first lectures were held April 15-18, 1982 and the theme was “Truth and Error in Conflict.” Regarding this first lectureship, he wrote: “Here is something that can be of the greatest benefit to each of us, as well as to the church throughout the area—and to the whole brotherhood, to the extent that they will accept our invitation to come.” Those were exciting times for a boy of 13+ years old, and I remember diligently preparing the building and grounds in anticipation for this great event. Some of my fondest childhood memories hark back to the various lectures presented by faithful brethren such as Thomas B. Warren, Guy N. Woods, Andrew Connally, Wendell Winkler, and Bert Thompson. Brother Jackson went on to direct the lectureship until the year of his death in 1991, and edited the volumes of lectureship books that those years produced.

As a writer, brother Jackson was prolific. He wrote at least one, many times two, and sometimes three articles for the weekly bulletin, The Southwesterner. His writing was prudent, pithy, and always Bible based. He had an uncanny knack for boiling down difficult topics to their essentials. His articles also appeared in various brotherhood periodicals such as Contending for the Faith, the Firm Foundation, and the Gospel Advocate. After the congregation acquired the Christian Worker, he became its co-editor along side of David P. Brown. His articles were a healthy mixture of positive exhortation, and reproof and rebuke (2 Timothy 4:2). He was not afraid to tackle the bellwether issues of the day including such topics as homosexuality, abortion, and marriage, divorce, and remarriage. His pen was a constant clarion call for truth, sound doctrine, and righteous living (Titus 2:1). He wrote several books including commentaries on First and Second Corinthians, a guide for new Christians titled That Ye May Grow, and a booklet on the elder and his work.

Brother Jackson’s work as a debater was remarkable. He held sixteen debates on a variety of topics. In his last few years, I was privileged to hear some of these discussions. His debate with John L. Edwards “On the Meaning of Adultery,” was conducted in Austin, Texas January 25th-26th, 1988. Don Tarbet published the proceedings as The Jackson-Edwards Debate later that year. Edwards affirmed and Jackson denied the following proposition: “RESOLVED, the action of adultery in Matthew 19:9 is the action of divorcing and remarriage, and the parties remarried do not continue in adultery as long as they are together.” Brother Jackson also debated Baptists, Pentecostals, skeptics, and Atheists. The last debate he held was with a Baptist by the name of Bob Ross. The debate was conducted in a local school building, and I was privileged to attend. Brother Jackson’s demeanor was unflappable while Ross and his moderator became more and more perturbed as the debate progressed. Nevertheless, while brother Jackson strongly disagreed with his opponents, he was always the commensurate gentleman. After his death, Bob Ross wrote to the congregation to express his sympathy. He praised brother Jackson for the fact that he was a man of integrity and character who could disagree with you without being disagreeable. We would do well to emulate such a balance of qualities today that we may stand for truth, yet earn the respect of our enemies (Proverbs 16:7).

Brother Jackson kept a cross-stiched poem, “The Clock of Life,” written by Robert H. Smith, which is currently on display in his library.

The clock of life is wound but once,

And no man has the power.

To tell just when the hands will stop,

At late or early hour.

Now is the only time you own,

Live, love, toil with a will.

Place no faith in tomorrow for

The clock may then be still.

Bill Jackson’s mortal clock stopped on April 5th, 1991, due to his heart problems; he was driving home when he passed. He was sixty-one years old. Brothers David P. Brown, and Ira Y. Rice, Jr., conducted the memorial services for brother Jackson after his passing. He was later eulogized in the June, 1991 issue of the Christian Worker by: Garland Elkins, Guy N. Woods, his son Barry Jackson, David P Brown, his brother Lloyd Jackson, Robert R. Taylor, Jr., Dub McClish, Jerry Moffitt, Ira Y. Rice, Jr., Paul Sain, and his secretary for many years, Midge Siebert. I was privileged to have known him in my most formative years, from the time I was thirteen to the time I was twenty-three. His preaching, teaching, life, and work, made an enormous impact upon me. I am thankful to have known him, and grateful to the Lord for sending him my way. I look forward to seeing him again in eternity.

Kevin Cauley is a teacher for the Southwest School of Bible Studies in Austin, Texas. He is a 1989 graduate of the Southwest School of Bible Studies, a 1994 graduate of the University of Texas at Austin (B.A.), and 2010 graduate of St. Edwards University (M.L.A.). He is married and has four boys. He resides in Buda, Texas. He may be reached for comment at k.cauley@swsbs.edu.

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Hearing the Still Small Voice

After Elijah’s contest with the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel, Jezebel threatened to kill him on sight (1 Kings 19:2).  So Elijah high tailed it out of Israel, ran down to Mt. Sinai, and camped out in a cave.  There God said to Elijah, “What are you doing here?”  Elijah replied that Jezebel was trying to kill him and so he thought it best to get out of Dodge.  God responded with three demonstrations of power.  First God sent a wind so great that it tore the rocks off the side of the mountain.  Second, God caused an earthquake to come and shake the mountain.  Finally, God made a fire.  Each of these items contained great power and fury.  However, the text says: “The LORD was not in the wind.” “The LORD was not in the earthquake.”  “The LORD was not in the fire.”  There was, however, a fourth phenomena after the fire, “a still small voice.”

There are some who would turn this passage into some kind of mystical text and suggest that we must listen for some kind of supernatural “still small voice” of God during meditation or prayer.  Those who seek to understand it in that way simply reveal their subjective predispositions toward Bible interpretation.  In contrast, what God is teaching Elijah is that God’s power is not in some great event such a wind, earthquake, or fire, but in the simple spoken word, the still small voice.

Elijah’s efforts at preaching and teaching God’s message to the largely apostate nation of Israel were feeble compared with the great power wielded by King Ahab and Queen Jezebel.  But Elijah had something that they did not have: the truth of God’s word.  That truth is more powerful than any physical phenomena because it has the capability to change the hearts and lives of men.  It isn’t in the great manifestations of power that God does his greatest work, but in the small but free movements of the human heart that is taught His truth.

When seeing natural disasters and calamities that occur around us, many today will be quick to point out “God’s judgment.”  It certainly is not beyond God’s power to so judge and God has executed justice in these ways upon some wicked people.  There is no proof, however, that God so judges today, though many seem to desire such a display from Him.  Such desires are misguided.  They are misguided because they focus on the outward and physical instead of the inward and spiritual.  They are misguided because they lend to characterizing God as a capricious, malevolent, and punitive dictator.  Such desires are also inconsistent with the nature and message of God’s greatest revelation, His Son, Jesus (John 1:18).

In the message of the cross, we do not find a vengeful and vindictive God, but One who is forgiving, compassionate and loving toward those who so act as His enemies.  You won’t find this message proclaimed with boisterous and noisy phenomena of magnificent proportions, but with the still small voice of God’s people as they seek to live that message in their lives on a daily basis.  It is also proclaimed in the still small voice of those who lift up His message in the pulpits and classrooms across our nation.  It may be a still small voice, but it is the voice that God has chosen for His message to be spread today (Matthew 28:19).

God’s greatest accomplishments come when individual people hear that still small voice – His word – and change accordingly.  That is not the boisterous and radical change that is fomented upon us by the change agents in the world today who would create political unrest, societal upheaval, and economic instability in order to foster their version of “the gospel.”  Those individuals substitute the wisdom of men for the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18).  What is that power?  It is the gospel (Romans 1:16-17) and it provides for us all of the righteousness we need – in its own still small way—as individuals to transform the world.

“For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe” (1 Corinthians 1:21).

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“The Fool Hath Said in his Heart there is No God.”

Kevin Cauley

Atheism, as the name implies, is primarily a negative philosophy; it is first and foremost a denial of the existence of God and of all things supernatural.  Strict atheists claim to know that God does not exist.  Many atheists have now seen the folly in making such a claim and no longer so argue.  Nevertheless, they can be classified as practical atheists in the sense that while they claim technical ignorance of God’s existence, they live their lives consistently with their disavowal of God.  These are the most common atheists today and fall under the definition of atheist as offered by Baron d’Holbach:

An atheist is someone who destroys human chimeras in order to call people back to nature, experience and reason.  He is a thinker who, having meditated on matter, its properties and ways of behaving, has no reason to imagine ideal forces, imaginary intelligences or rational beings in order to explain the phenomena of the universe or the operations of nature – which, far from making us know nature better, merely make it capricious, inexplicable and unknowable, useless for human happiness.[1]

So while they plead technical ignorance regarding the question of the existence of God, they see the concept of the existence of God itself as useless so far as making any real contributions to the betterment of society.

In large part, most atheists hold that belief in God has brought more harm upon the world than good.  Atheists may distinguish between the major religions, but beyond that, they do not draw distinctions between religious groups.  They react largely against Calvinism as the predominant Christian belief and paint most religious beliefs with this broad brush.  Such arguments can be truly classified as straw men since the majority of those who profess to be Christians do not adhere to Calvinistic theology.  Nevertheless, atheism presses forward and continues to press for freedom from religion in all aspects of society.

D’Holbach’s statement truly fits the statement of the “fool” in Psalm 14:1.  Perhaps the best thing that can be done in regard to atheism is to point out its true implications.  What does it mean to say, “There is no God?”  What does this imply?  In this article we will look at three basic implications of atheism as pointed out by atheists themselves and in so doing will see how Psalm 14:1 is truly vindicated.

It is foolish to say there is no God because that implies no purpose of life.

To say God does not exist implies that there is no ultimate purpose of life.  The name of this philosophy of purposelessness is called “Nihilism” and it was championed specifically by the 19th century atheistic philosopher Frederick Nietzsche who rightly realized that if God did not exist, then one could not claim any objective absolute purpose of life.  “The end of the moral interpretation of the world, which no longer has any sanction after it hast tried to escape into some beyond, leads to nihilism.  ‘All lacks meaning.’” [2]

Some atheists have tried to get around this by claiming that there are purposes in life.  This is simply a rouse.  To say that there are purposes in life reduces the purpose of life to one’s creating his own purposes in life, a self-contradiction.  Jean Paul Sartre wrote:

If man as existentialists conceive of him cannot be defined, it is because to begin with he is nothing.  He will not be anything until later, and then he will be what he makes of himself.  Thus, there is no human nature since there is no God to conceive of it.  Man is not only that which he conceives himself to be, but that which he wills himself to be, and since he conceives of himself only after he exists, just as he wills himself to be after being thrown into existence, man is nothing other than what he makes of himself. [3]

Richard Dawkins has weighed in on this matter in his book River Out of Eden.  He writes,

In a universe of blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, and other people are going to get lucky; and you won’t find any rhyme or reason to it, nor any justice.  The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is at the bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good.  Nothing but blind pitiless indifference. [4]

One cannot consistently uphold the notion that there is no purpose in life without adopting a self-destructive nihilistic attitude.  Such was the attitude of the atheist Ernest Hemingway who after realizing that he could not escape his purposelessness decided to end his life with his favorite hunting rifle.  Such is the utter folly of those who, along with Sartre, say “even if God were to exist, it would make no difference.” [5]

It is foolish to say there is no God because that implies no absolute values in life.

To say that there are no absolute values means that each person may create his own values as he sees fit.  This was the situation in the period of the Judges when “every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25).  If there are no absolute values, then all actions become morally equal and everything is permitted.  The atheist Sartre accepted this when he wrote: “Dostoyevsky once wrote ‘If God does not exist, everything is permissible.’ This is the starting point of existentialism.  Indeed, everything is permissible if God does not exist, and man is consequently abandoned.” [6] He then wrote: “If, however, God does not exist, we will encounter no values or orders that can legitimize our conduct.” [7] In another one of Sartre’s works he wrote: “… nothing, absolutely nothing, justifies me in adopting this or that particular value, this or that particular scale of values.  As a being by whom values exist, I am unjustifiable.” [8] Nothing justifies the atheist in adopting any value or any particular scale of values.  The wholesale abandonment of absolute values is utter foolishness.  It implies that there is no absolute obligation to do what is right in any given circumstance.

Such was the position taken by atheist Dan Barker when he said “If we choose, and you don’t have to, I don’t think there is a moral imperative, but if we do choose to be moral, then those of us who intend to act in ways that minimize harm are the ones that can be called moral or ethical people.” [9] Morality is just a choice we make like deciding whether to have Combo #1 or Combo #2 at McDonalds.  Lack of moral imperative means that anyone may decide to act in any way he or she chooses at any given moment.  Now, is that foolishness or what?

Nietzsche agrees.  “Finally, at the highest stage of morality until now, he acts according to his standard of things and men; he himself determines for himself and others what is honorable, what is profitable.” [10] Sartre also agrees.  “….we remind man that there is no legislator but himself; that he himself, thus abandoned, must decide for himself….” [11] What utter foolishness, yet this is atheism.

It is foolish to say there is no God because one cuts oneself off from faith, hope, and love.

There can be no doubt that atheism seeks to undermine and destroy religion, the basis of faith, hope, and love.  As Karl Marx wrote: “Atheism is humanism mediated with itself through the supersession of religion….” [12] For the atheist, there is no God in whom to believe, there is no ultimate destiny for which to hope, and there is no objective basis upon which to love one’s fellow man.  Atheism produces nothing but doubt, despair, and selfishness.  Sartre opines: “There is no other universe except the human universe, the universe of human subjectivity.” [13] When faith, hope, and love are removed, one cannot help but agree with Sartre’s conclusion in his play “No Exit,” “Hell is other people.”  What a pessimistic view of life and horrendous attitude to have toward one’s fellow.  Such a view is borne out of one’s doubts, despairs, fears, and contempt of one’s fellow man.  What a foolish attitude!  How much greater is the Apostle Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 13:12-13 “And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”  Atheism cannot admit of any pure altruism because the doctrine of organic evolution implies personal and selfish adaptative advantage in every individual behavior.  What a truly foolish world that would be.

Atheism is a foolish philosophy because it implies that there is no purpose of life, that there are no values above our own creation, and that there is no reason to have faith, hope, or love in one’s life.  Madeline Bunting summed up what atheism has offered over the past century when she said:

There’s an underlying anxiety that atheist humanism has failed.  Over the 20th century, atheist political regimes racked up an appalling (and unmatched) record for violence.  Atheist humanism hasn’t generated a compelling popular narrative and ethic of what it is to be human and our place in the cosmos; where religion has retreated, the gap has been filled with consumerism, football, Strictly Come Dancing and a mindless absorption in passing desires. [14]

“A mindless absorption in passing desires” – utter foolishness!

[1] Paul Heinrich Dietrich d’Holbach as quoted in Alister McGrath. The Twilight of Atheism. Double Day: New York, 2004. p.30.

[2] Frederick Nietzsche as quoted in Walter Kaufmann. Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sartre. Meridian: New York, 1975.  p.131.

[3] Jean Paul Sartre. Existentialism Is a Humanism. Yale: New Haven, 2007. p.22.

[4] Richard Dawkins. River Out of Eden. Basic Books: New York, 1995. p.133.

[5] Ibid.n.3. p.53.

[6] Ibid. n.3. p.29.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Jean Paul Sartre. Being and Nothingness. Washington Square Press: New York, 1956. p.76.

[9] Dan Barker. Oral Speech. University of Minnesota, October 19th, 2006.

[10] Friedrich Nietzsche. Human, All Too Human: a Book for Free Spirits trans. by Marion Faber, Stephen Lehmann. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1996. p.65.

[11] Jean Paul Sartre, Existentialism and Humanism trans. Philip Mairet (Brooklyn: Haskell House Publishers Ltd., 1977), 23-56.

[12] Karl Marx, The Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts, trans. Gregor Benton (Paris, 1844).  Accessed online at <http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/epm/3rd.htm> 29 May 2009.

[13] Jean Paul Sartre, Existentialism and Humanism trans. Philip Mairet (Brooklyn: Haskell House Publishers Ltd., 1977), pp. 23-56.

[14] Madeleine Bunting. “No Wonder Atheists Are Angry: They Seem Ready to Believe Anything,” Guardian, January 7, 2006, a review of The Root of All Evil? (UK TV Channel 4).  Accessed 9 June 2009. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2006/jan/07/raceandreligion.comment>

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The City of Nazareth Makes Headlines Yet Again

“And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth” (Luke 2:39)

According to the Bible, the town of Nazareth was situated in Galilee (Matthew 21:11).  Located in the dimpled center of a hilly area North of the Esdraelon Valley (the Old Testament Jezreel Valley), it was the place where Joseph and Mary made their home (Luke 2:39).  It was the town where Joseph was known as the carpenter (Mark 6:3).  Here, the angel Gabriel announced to Mary the coming of Jesus (Luke 1:26).  It was where He grew up as a child and a young adult (Luke 2:51).  It was where the family participated in Synagogue worship (Luke 4:16).  The town was unrecognized amongst the Jewish aristocracy as there is scant information in Jewish literature of its import, but when the people started talking about the prophet, Jesus of Nazareth, that got their attention (Matthew 21:11).  After Jesus, Nazareth was no longer unknown.

On December 22nd, 2009, while most of us were doing last minute Christmas shopping or making travel plans for the holidays, the Israel Antiquities Authorities issued a press release regarding the discovery of an ancient house in Nazareth near the edifice known as the Church of the Annunciation.  While excavating the foundation for a new structure, archaeologists uncovered several walls and some pottery fragments.  These discoveries were dated to the early Roman period and contained several chalk type vessels.  Due to Jewish purity restrictions, only certain types of vessels could be reused after they became ritually unclean (Leviticus 11:33, 36).  Chalk vessels were among the approved.  This discovery archaeologically confirms that Jewish settlers lived in Nazareth at the time of Jesus.

Archaeology had found evidence for the existence of the city of Nazareth prior to its destruction under Assyria around 720 B.C.  There have also been archaeological confirmations of the city’s existence during the third and fourth centuries A.D. when it was settled by post Constantinian Christians.  However, there was no archaeological evidence of its existence during the early Roman period and the time of Jesus.  Moreover, since Jewish literature, including Josephus, made no references to the city, this led some religious skeptics to doubt the existence of the city altogether.

Of course, this news comes as no surprise to Christians who have long known of the existence of the city of Nazareth by means of New Testament revelation.  Some atheists, however, will now be redacting their writings to accommodate the new archaeological finds.  This discovery provides one more piece in the archaeological puzzle that corroborates the New Testament as being what Christians knew it was all along: God’s truth.  The historical claims of Christianity are once again vindicated.

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Science and Evolution

Kevin Cauley

There may be no two words loaded with more assumptions than “science” and “evolution.”  What do these concepts entail?  Are they compatible?  Two aspects of science relate to how we understand “evolution.”

First, science concerns itself with things that are observable, repeatable, and demonstrable.  A scientist may observe a rainbow.  He may artificially create a rainbow.  He may demonstrate how a rainbow is made through the refraction and diffusion of light.  A rainbow is an observable, repeatable, and demonstrable phenomenon.

Second, science is concerned with extending such observations to draw general conclusions about the world through the inductive method.  The inductive method entails formulating hypotheses and devising experiments to test these hypotheses.  In an open system, hypotheses can only be falsified.  In a closed system, hypotheses can be both falsified and verified.

The word “evolution” simply means change, but it entails two concepts that lineup with the two aspects of science discussed above.  First, there are those processes of evolution (change) that are observable, repeatable, and demonstrable.  Microevolution is a genetic change that does not result in the emergence of an organism genetically incompatible with its state prior to the change.  Creationists do not doubt these processes.

Second, there is the hypothesis of evolution (known as macroevolution), which refers to extending observable processes of evolution inductively to historical biology.  This hypothesis entails a series of genetic mutations that randomly and chaotically occurs over very long periods of time, resulting in the eventual emergence of all genetically incompatible organisms (i.e., life on earth).  Evolutionists want us to think that observable evolution (microevolution) and the hypothesis of evolution (macroevolution) are both the same process; but this is the assumption that evolutionists must demonstrate!

Consider the potential logical fallacy of extending something that is observable, repeatable, and demonstrable beyond the immediate conclusion.  The ancient astronomer Ptolemy did exactly this.  The phenomenon of the Moon going around the Earth was an observable, repeatable, and demonstrable phenomenon.  This phenomenon in the ancient world was confirmed through observation of lunar and solar eclipses.  However, the same concept was then extended to the Sun, the planets, and all of the stars as well.  Ptolemy then drew the unwarranted conclusion of geocentrism (i.e., the idea that the Earth is the center of the solar system).

This is the same fallacy evolutionists make.  They observe, repeat, and demonstrate small changes in the genetic code, and then conclude that these small changes are responsible for the “creation” of all life from a single organism.  Such may be a hypothesis, but it does not fall within our first category of science.  Such changes are not observable, repeatable, and demonstrable precisely because such changes are said to be historical. Unless scientists have invented a time machine, they still cannot observe, repeat, and demonstrate history.

Moreover, the evolutionary hypothesis rests upon an invalid logical premise as well.  As noted, science concerns itself with the inductive method.  In an open system, conclusions using the inductive method can be falsified, but they cannot be verified.  Historical genetic changes are part of an open system.  The best scientists can do in such a system is to conclude that nothing has falsified the hypothesis.  The bottom line, though, is that the hypothesis is still a hypothesis, and a hypothesis is not the same thing as an inductively verified fact.  It is an invalid conclusion to state that the evolutionary hypothesis is a verified fact from an open inductive system.

What is disturbing about macroevolution, however, is that evolutionists permit no historical information to falsify their theory.  But if no falsification is allowed, that places the conclusion of the evolutionary hypothesis outside of the inductive method.  And if those conclusions are outside of the inductive method, they are outside of the realm of science.

Any way you look at it, the evolutionary hypothesis is not scientific.  It is not observable, repeatable, or demonstrable.  Nor is it a verified conclusion from the inductive method.  Moreover, historical evidence can be brought forth that falsifies the hypothesis of evolution, but such is beyond the scope of this article.  Other historical evidence that claims to prove evolution to be true has also been falsified.  If you would like to see some of that evidence, please visit http://www.apologeticspress.org.

Kevin Cauley is a graduate and instructor at the Southwest School of Bible Studies.  He is also a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin (B.A.) and a Master’s candidate at St. Edward’s University.  You may contact him at k.cauley@swsbs.edu.

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