Magic Mirror

Creation Moments

Magic Mirror

November 21, 2024 • Ian Taylor

It’s a widely accepted modern myth in our computer-driven, technological age that people today are in some way more advanced than people of thousands of years ago.

The biblical picture is that man has always been man. He has the same emotions, cares and needs today that he has always had. He has always been as curious about his world as he is today. The biblical measure of man is not technological, but moral.

Most of these points are difficult to prove. However, occasionally modern man discovers ancient evidence that reveals amazing technology and inventiveness. The makyo, or magic mirror, was invented in China centuries ago. It’s a mirror made of polished bronze that has a design cast into the back. When the mirror is used to reflect light onto a screen, the image on the back of the mirror appears on the screen. Why does the makyo do that? The first scientific paper on the subject was published in 1877. Modern scientists have studied the mirrors using the most sophisticated metal analysis methods known. Yet, they have not been able to figure out the mirror’s secret. That nameless Chinese inventor who designed the makyo centuries ago was a genius, indeed.

Man is ever curious and inventive. However, the true measure for each of us centers on the forgiveness of sins that has been won for us by Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary.

1 Corinthians 13:12

“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”

Prayer: Father in heaven, forgive me for those times when I have forgotten that we are measured in terms of our sin and the forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ, not in terms of our cleverness. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Notes: Dietrick E. Thompson. “Inscrutable.” Science News, vol. 125, Jan. 14, pp. 30-31. Photo: Makyo mirror, Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Purpose? To Glorify God!

November 20, 2024 • Ian Taylor

God has created us with a strong desire to know the purpose of things. Evolutionists generally believe that if a feature doesn’t serve a purpose, it should not have evolved. On the other hand, the Bible tells us that purpose is given by God. He gives the woodpecker its incredible tongue because it helps the woodpecker to make its living. In addition, this wondrous design glorifies its Creator. At other times it seems that the Creator has produced some living thing for which there is no apparent purpose other than to glorify Himself. These are the features that give evolutionists the most difficulty. Male antelopes show a vast array in the designs of their horns. Males may have spears, spirals, curves, twists or simply short daggers. These differences in design suggest that differences in purpose caused the horns to evolve, but that doesn’t make sense. Even stranger is the fact that female antelopes generally have smaller horns that are much more like daggers. Evolutionists are stumped about why female antelopes would evolve short horns while males evolved such a variety. As Bible-believing Christians, we have no difficulty accepting that the variety of designs in male horns, and the similarity in design of female horns, all serve to glorify the Creator and show that evolutionary explanations don’t really explain anything. Psalm 115:1 “Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, [and] for thy truth's sake.” Prayer: I thank You, dear Father, for the variety and beauty You have created in the living world. I also thank You that these features glorify You in so many ways. Help my life and words glorify You and bear clear witness to the salvation You have provided for us in the forgiveness of sins through Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen. Photo: Impala antelope, Envato.

Unscientific Source?

November 19, 2024 • Ian Taylor

Most Christians have been told, “Creation isn’t scientific because it comes from the Bible!” Does the source of an idea make the idea unworthy of science? Many believe that the only truly scientific ideas come to people dressed in white smocks working in laboratories. Experience shows, however, that scientific discoveries can come in the most unusual ways. Friedrich Kekule discovered the theory of atomic valency in a vision while traveling on the top deck of a London bus. A new, natural insecticide was also discovered in what might be considered an unscientific fashion. Mechanics working at a University of Georgia field research station used a soap called Dirt Squad. Dirt Squad is a grease cutter made from orange peels. The mechanics had dumped some of the cleaner on a fire ant hill. Listeners who are familiar with fire ants know that these nasty members of the insect kingdom are hard to kill. However, the cleaner killed all the ants. Hearing this, one of the scientists used the cleaner on his cat, who had fleas. The soap killed all the fleas. This led scientists at the research station to investigate the oils in citrus peels. They discovered a natural chemical in citric oil that is harmless to vertebrates but deadly to insects. Any idea, from any source, including the Bible, needs to be considered before it can be accepted or rejected as scientific. Psalm 119:140 “Thy word [is] very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it.” Prayer: I thank You, Lord, that Your Word is worthy and true. I also thank You that the Bible tells us about much more than can be tested by our experience and science. And I thank You for those who are showing that where the Bible talks about things that can be studied by science, Your Word stands true! Amen. Photo: Citrus fruit display, Envato.

The Parting of the Red Sea

November 18, 2024 • Ian Taylor

The parting of the Red Sea as the Israelites escaped Egypt is one of the most attacked miracles in the Bible. Much of scholarly opinion says that the Israelites didn’t really escape through the sea. They simply went through a nearby marsh, called the Reed Sea. In the first place, how could the Israelites, loaded down with their own possessions plus the spoils of Egypt, have traveled through a marsh? Second, how could an entire army drown in a swamp? An article in the bulletin of the American Meteorological Society shows that the Red Sea could have parted just as the Bible describes. In making their case, meteorologists used sophisticated computer simulations and the Bible’s description of the event. Because the extension of the Gulf where the Israelites crossed is so long and shallow, the strong east wind described in Exodus 14, could have lowered the water level by ten feet. The Israelites could then cross on an underwater ridge, with water on both sides of them. The water backed up into the wider portion of the Red Sea could return within a matter of minutes after the wind stopped, drowning pharaoh and his army. So many of the miraculous events described in the Bible have been explained away by science as natural events and this may just be another case. But all this means is that God can use natural events and that He is in control of when and where they occur. Exodus 14:21 “And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go [back] by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry [land], and the waters were divided.” Prayer: Dear Father in heaven, I thank You for those dedicated scientists who take Your Word seriously and use their talents to glorify You. Let their witness be heard, and move more of our Christian young people to study for the sciences. In Jesus’ Name. Amen. Photo: Distant Shores Media/Sweet Publishing, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.