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To the Children of the Modern Age and Beyond

By Alan Baylis

If I was to write an article called 'A modern guide to religion', it would go something like this. In 1945 mankind produced the first atomic explosion and proved that the implementation of scientific knowledge could make large scale changes to our world. Since then the magnitude of the forces produced have been steadily growing. Our level of understanding and control over these forces has also increased markedly. It would be very interesting to be around in another thousand years to see where this growth in scientific knowledge takes mankind. Already we are talking about terraforming Mars and how we might be able to make changes to its atmosphere. One sound but impractical theory suggests that we could use the gaseous by-products of millions of cattle to create the rudimentary beginnings of a working atmosphere around Mars. The movie 'Aliens' also uses the futuristic concept of huge atmospheric processors, so it is plausible that mankind will one day move to other planets, like Mars, and that they will require large scale terraforming before they will be fit for habitation. It is only logical then that we extend this theory further into the future to see that mankind will also have enough control over the known forces to rotate and move planetary bodies around or even possibly create them. It sounds like science fiction, but the more we learn about the physical world the less physical it appears to be. I could point out, for example, that when matter and anti-matter are joined they both cease to exist, but for the most part you will have to take it on faith that matter is just a manifestation of pure energy.

Given that we have found or have somehow created a planet, it would most likely need a little tweaking before it could support life. It would have to be shifted to an ideal position relative to the sun to set the overall temperature. It would then have to be set with just the right rotation so as to create the most temperate conditions over the largest portion of the planet. In their mature state, planets are composed of distinct layers ranging from molten iron at their core through to the lightest gases in the upper atmosphere. For example, if the surface of the Earth eroded away until it was the same height in all places then the oceans would cover the land to a depth of 90 miles. The planet to be terraformed would most likely be in this uniform state, so some sort of major event would have to occur that could raise parts of the surface layer if it was to support land based life. The good news is that all these planetary movements would have the side benefit of creating great disturbances within the planet and in the mantle layer, resulting in numerous volcanic eruptions and areas of land separated from the sea. We would then turn our attention to creating a working atmosphere. To do this we could employ machinery such as atmospheric processors, but we are quickly learning that biological processes are a lot more convenient and we would most likely employ a simple form of plant life that would convert the toxic atmosphere into one of that contains mostly oxygen. A problem then arises when too much oxygen is produced so we would have to add something to the planet that would balance the oxygen producing plant life. Again, the biological approach would be to introduce some very large animals that did nothing except eat and produce large quantities of carbon dioxide and other gases. After a period the gases in the atmosphere would reach a balance and we could retire the larger animals in favor of smaller, more diverse life forms. Which brings us to the purpose of the planet, to sustain life.

It is not uncommon for humans to want animals like cats and dogs around to keep them company, even other forms of life that are considered wild are protected to sustain the bio-diversity of the world. Obviously our knowledge of genetics would have progressed to such a high level that we could bring along a lot of the existing species to cohabit with, but with all this knowledge of genetics why not alter the species to make them more suited to life on the new planet. Or, if you will allow your reasoning to stretch this far, why not create a totally new species. To give an analogy, if we were to create a better computer we would not start with nothing, we would most likely start with an existing computer and modify it to make it better or suitable for a particular job. The same can be said for genetics, when making a new species why start from scratch, it is far better to take the genetic code from an existing species and make small calculated changes that result in major differences. This is the same with life on Earth, we ourselves share at least 98% of the genetic code of all other animals on the planet.

The Bible, and nearly all other religions, contain an account of the world and mankind having been created by a highly intelligent and powerful being. Are we to dismiss all of these accounts simply because we do not like the sound of it or because we don't want to submit to a higher authority. If you are a student of history you will clearly see that mankind has not even come close to governing himself to a satisfactory degree. It appears that any system that man implements is destined to fail because of greed and corruption. But the Bible and other sources of information clearly point out that we are beholden to God for our very existence and therefore he has the sovereign right to rule. Disagreeing with this state of affairs would be like a very young child arguing with their parents for the right to go it alone in the world. It would certainly be a mistake and not an idea that the parents would even contemplate.

It should not be surprising that we have so many religions in the world. Most of the religions are based on the same events, yet they all have different messages and standards. Some are overly liberal while others have turned almost everything into a mortal sin. The reason for this is that the whole plan for mankind was interfered with very early in our history. The human race was mixed with a foreign seed that produces something that appears to be human. But they are not of God. They are identical in appearance to God's children yet they can be seen for who they really are, you just need to look for the right things. They can be determined by their manner, clothes and their speech. They will revel in all that God's children have been taught to avoid, namely the seven deadly sins. Their manner is of pride and vanity and their clothes reflect this. They want to create jealousy within the community and will surround themselves with the trimmings of the rich to fool those with simple minds. They prey on the suffering of others and delight at causing pain. Their world is self centered, their only aim is to indulge their senses, and always to excess. Empathy is a foreign concept to them, though they fake it well enough to remain undetected and entrap others. They continually lie and use lies to create disharmony among others. It is their wish that the whole system put in place by God should fail. How better to do all of the above than to pose as a messenger of God's truth. They jump at the chance to be put in a position of power where they will be revered by those around them. The position is highly paid, comes with a nice wardrobe and they can dominate and manipulate the people with any lie they care to use. They only have to claim it is written in the Bible somewhere and add their own interpretation. This problem arises because people are not inspired to investigate the Bible for themselves. The Bible itself is portrayed as a practical joke, or fiction, a myth, the mass delusion of the authors, and more importantly, a boring read. But who exactly is giving the people this impression of the Bible before they have even read it?

Mat 13 : 24-30

Mat 13 : 37-43

Mat 12 : 33-37

Have a read of the first section of the Bible called Genesis and compare it with the hypothetical account above. You will see that despite age and errors during translation, the Bible still has a very convincing account of creationism. Do not be amazed that there are discrepancies in the Bible, be amazed that it remains to this day as intact as it is.