Expert: LEBoyd - 8/13/2008

Question
QUESTION: Can you tell me about the Prodical Son and Darwin and Darwinism? I no nothing about Christianity but these stories interest me.

ANSWER: Ava,

The story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15 is a great story that describes the love of God.  In the story, God is the father.  Some believe the prodigal son represents those who have never obeyed God, while others believe it represents those who have obeyed God, became one of His children and then rejected God.  My personal belief is that it is the latter, since it is applied to the son.  When we obey God (through faith, baptism and living a righteous life), we always have the opportunity to reject Him (He never forces us to do anything, even when we are His children).  If we do reject Him, we also always have the opportunity to realize the many blessings He gives His children and return to Him.

Darwin and Darwinism might require a much longer answer, but I will give an initial brief answer.  I believe the Bible is right in the description of the creation of the universe (Gen 1 & 2).  However, those who do not believe in God must create answers to the question of "where did the universe come from?"  If one does not believe in creation, then the answer through Darwinism can seem to make the most logical sense.  The biggest argument I have against Darwinism (and why it drives me to believe even more in God) is that it puts forth that the universe was an accident.  We all easily see the orderliness of the universe.  What other accident resulted in such great orderliness?  

Even Newton's law is against Darwinism.  One of Newton's laws, which is also obvious, is that over time things deteriorate without some outside source maintaining or managing things so they get better.  This law applies to the smallest of particles.  And yet, Darwinism says that 'abnormalities' (where the offspring is different than the parents) sometimes resulted in the offspring being better than the parents.  That's not what we see if the universe.

Those are some brief answers to your questions.  I think the best way to learn a little about God is to read Genesis 1 & 2 (in the Old Testament), the book of Luke (in the New Testament) and the book of Acts (also in the New Testament).

Hope this helps some.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: How come in the Old and New Testament there are avreage names like Jeremiah, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Mark, Matthew, Luke, John, and James? What do those name mean? Is Genesis the beginning of the world and revelation the end?

Answer
Ava,

During the time of the Old Testament, Hebrew was the written and spoken language.  During the New Testament, the Jews spoke Aramaic but generally wrote in Greek (and some spoke in Greek to the Romans who all wrote and spoke in Greek).  So the Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew and the New Testament in Greek.

Naturally, the names for people and places is more difficult for English speakers if they were in their original form.  Therefore, when the Bible was translated to English (originally in 1611 for the King James Version of the Bible) the proper names were changed so it is easier for us.

For examples, Jeremiah in Hebrew (English letters) is Yirmeyah which means "Jah will rise".  Daniel was actually given a Babylonian name during captivity of Belteshazzar.  Daniel in Hebrew is Daniye'l, and means the "judge of God".  No one knows what the Babylonian name means.

Think of today.  If you know anyone name "John" who is from a Hispanic background, his name in Spanish is "Juan".

Yes, Genesis is the beginning of the universe.  It describes how God created the universe, the early development of man and then follows Abram (renamed Abraham by God in Gen. 17) and the development of the Jewish nation until they enter Egypt and the death of Joseph.

The book of Revelation is not the end of the universe, but the end of the Jewish nation.  While many try to use Revelation has some type of future prophecy about when the earth will end, it actually is a prophecy on the fall of Jerusalem and the Jewish nation in AD70.

Hope this helps.