The Honeycomb                      

                                                  

                                                                                          WAS IT DESIGNED?

    HONEYBEES (Apis mellifera) construct their honeycombs with wax secreted from glands found on the underside of their abdomen. The honeycomb is regarded as an engineering marvel. Why?

Consider: For centuries, mathematicians suspected that partitions in the shape of hexagons were better than equilateral triangles or squares—or any other shape—for maximizing space with the least amount of building material. But they could not fully explain why. In 1999, Professor Thomas C. Hales provided mathematical proof for the advantage of what he termed “honeycomb conjecture.”He demonstrated that regular hexagons are the best way to divide a space into equal parts with minimal structural support. By using hexagonal cells, bees can make the best use of all the space available to them, produce a light but sturdy honeycomb with a minimum amount of wax, and store the maximum amount of honey in a given space. Not surprisingly, the honeycomb has been described as “an architectural masterpiece.” Today, scientists mimic the bees’ honeycomb to create structures that are both resilient and space efficient. Aircraft engineers, for example, use panels patterned after the honeycomb to build planes that are stronger and lighter and thus use less fuel.

What do you think? Did the superior

structure of the honeycomb

come about by evolution? Or was it

designed?                         

How Did Life Begin?

SOME might assume that a scientifically-minded person would

pick “evolution” and that a religious person would pick “creation.”

But not always.

Rama Singh, professor of biology at Canada’s McMaster University,

says: “The opposition to evolution goes beyond religious

fundamentalism and includes a great many people from educated

sections of the population.”

Consider Gerard, a professor of entomology who was taught

evolution at college. “When I took tests,” he says, “I would give

the professors the answers they wanted—but I did not believe it.”

Why is it that even some

scientifically-minded people

have trouble accepting evolution

as the origin of life? To

answer that, consider two

questions that baffle many researchers:

(1) How did life get

its start? and (2) How did living

things develop?

˙ Scientists can only speculate

about what conditions on earth

were like billions of years ago.

They have differing views about

where life began—for instance,

whether within a volcano or under

the ocean floor. Another belief

is that life’s building blocks

first formed elsewhere in the universe

and arrived here embedded

in meteors. But that does not answer

the question of how life began;

it just pushes the issue farther

into space.

˙ Scientists speculate about the

existence of molecules that preceded

genetic material as we

know it today. These molecules

are supposedly more likely to

arise spontaneously from inert

material and are self-replicating.

Yet, science has found no evidence

that such molecules ever

existed, nor have scientists been

able to create any such molecule

in a laboratory.

˙ Living things are unique in

the way they store and process

information. Cells convey, interpret,

and carry out instructions

contained within their genetic

code. Some scientists liken the

genetic code to computer software

and the chemical structure

of the cell to computer hardware.

But evolution cannot explain the

source of the information.

˙ Protein molecules are necessary

for the function of a cell. A

typical protein molecule consists

of hundreds of amino acids

strung together in a specific sequence.

Additionally, the protein

molecule must fold into a specific

three-dimensional shape for it

to be useful. Some scientists conclude

that the odds of even one

protein molecule forming spontaneously

are extremely improbable.

“Since a functioning cell requires

thousands of different

proteins,” writes physicist Paul

Davies, “it is not credible to suppose

they formed by chance

alone.”

CONCLUSION. After decades of research in virtually all branches

of science, the fact remains that life comes only from preexisting

life.

˙ Scientists have discovered within

each cell intricate molecular

machines composed of protein

molecules that cooperate to perform

complex tasks. These tasks

include transporting and converting

nutrients into energy, repairing

parts of the cell, and conveying

messages throughout the

cell. Could random mutations and

natural selection account for the

assembling and functioning of

such sophisticated components?

Many find that concept difficult to

accept.

˙ Animals and humans develop

from a single fertilized egg. Inside

the embryo, cells multiply

and eventually specialize, taking

on different shapes and functions

to form distinct parts of the body.

Evolution cannot explain how

each cell “knows” what to become

and where it should move

within the organism.

˙ Scientists now realize that for

one kind of animal to develop

into another kind of animal

would require that changes take

place within the cell, at the molecular

level. Since scientists cannot

demonstrate how evolution

can produce even the “simplest”

cell, is it plausible that random

mutations and natural selection

could be responsible for the different

kinds of animals on the

planet? Regarding the structure

of animals, Michael Behe, professor

of biological sciences, says

that while research “has revealed

unexpected, stunning complexity,

no progress at all has been made

in understanding how that complexity

could evolve by unintelligent

processes.”

˙ Human beings are conscious

and self-aware, have the ability to

think and reason, and possess

moral qualities such as generosity,

self-sacrifice, and a sense of

right and wrong. Random mutations

and natural selection cannot

explain the existence of these

unique qualities of the human

mind.

CONCLUSION. While many insist that an evolutionary origin of life

is an indisputable fact, others are not satisfied with the answers

that evolution provides regarding how life began and how life

developed.

AFTER considering the evidence, many people conclude

that life is the product of a superior intelligence.

Consider the example of Antony Flew, a professor

of philosophy who at one time was a leading

advocate of atheism. When he learned about the

staggering complexity of life and the physical laws of

the universe, Flew changed his opinion. Citing an ancient

approach to reasoning, he wrote: “We must follow

the argument wherever it leads.” For Professor

Flew, the evidence pointed to the existence of a

Creator.

Gerard, mentioned earlier in this series of articles,

came to a similar conclusion. Despite his advanced

education and his career in entomology, he said: “I

saw no proof that life arose spontaneously from nonliving

matter. The order and complexity of living

things convinced me that there has to be an Organizer

and Designer.”

Just as a person can learn about an artist by examining

his artwork, Gerard came to discern the Creator’s

qualities by studying the natural world. Gerard

also took time to consider a book attributed to the

Creator—the Bible. (2 Timothy 3:16) There he found

satisfying answers to questions about mankind’s

past and practical solutions to the problems facing

people today. He thus became convinced that the Bible

was also the product of a superior mind.

As Gerard found, the Bible’s answers are worth

considering. We encourage you to examine them for

yourself. ˛

The Amazing hemoglobin Molecule

A Miracle of Design

BREATHING – What could be more natural? Most of us rarely give it a thought. Breathing, however, could not keep us alive if it were not for the human Hemoglobin molecule, a complex molecular masterpiece is signed by our Creator.  

The Hemoglobin that is inside each of our 30 trillion red blood cells transports the Oxygen from the lung to the tissue throughout the body. Without Hemoglobin, we would die almost instantly.

In The Oxygen-rich  environment        After the First oxygen molecule binds,                Hemoglobin transports the oxygen

of the Lungs, an oxygen molecule     a slight change in the shape of Hemoglobin       molecules away from the  Lungs and then

will bind to the Hemoglobin           allows three more oxygen molecules                release them where they are needed in the body

                                                                 to bind rapidly

How do Hemoglobin molecules manage to pick up tiny oxygen molecules at the right time, hold them safely until the right time, and release them at the right time? Several amazing feats of molecular engineering are required.

Tiny Molecular “Taxis”

You might think of each Hemoglobin molecule in a cell as a tiny four-door taxi, with room for exactly four “passengers.” This molecular taxi does not require a driver, since it is riding inside a red blood cell, which could be described as a traveling container full of these hemoglobin molecules.

The journey for a Hemoglobin molecule begins when red blood cells arrive at the alveoli of the lungs—the “airport.” As we inhale air into our lungs, the huge crowds of tiny recently arrived oxygen molecules start looking for a ride in a taxi. These molecules quickly diffuse into red blood cells, the “containers.” At this point, the doors of the Hemoglobin taxis within each cell are closed. However, it does not take long before a determined oxygen molecule in the bustling crowd squeezes in and takes a seat in a Hemoglobin taxi.

Now something very interesting happens. Inside the red cell, the Hemoglobin molecule begins to change its shape. All four “doors” of the Hemoglobin taxi begin to open automatically as the first passengers get in, which allows the remaining passengers to hop aboard more easily. This process, called cooperatively, is so efficient that in the time it takes to draw a single breath, 95 percent of the “seats” in all the taxis in a red blood cell are taken. Together the more than one quarter of a billion Hemoglobin molecules in a single red blood cell can carry about a billion oxygen molecules! Soon the red blood cell containing all these taxis is off to deliver its precious supply of oxygen to body tissues that need it. But, you might wonder, ‘What keeps oxygen atoms inside the cell from getting out prematurely?’

The answer is that inside each hemoglobin molecule, oxygen molecules attach to waiting atoms of iron. You have probably seen what happens when oxygen and iron get together in the presence of water. The result is usually iron oxide, rust. When iron rusts, the oxygen is locked up permanently in a crystal. So how does the Hemoglobin molecule manage to combine and uncombined iron and oxygen in the watery environment of the red blood cell without producing rust?

Taking a Closer Look

To answer that question, let us take a closer look at the Hemoglobin molecule. It is made up of some 10,000 atoms of hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and oxygen that are carefully assembled around just 4 atoms of iron. Why do four iron atoms need so much support?

First, the four iron atoms are electrically charged and must be carefully controlled. Charged atoms, which are called ions, can do a lot of damage inside cells if they get loose. So each of the four iron ions is secured in the middle of a protective rigid plate.* Next, the four plates are carefully fitted into the hemoglobin molecule in such a way that oxygen molecules can get to the iron ions but water molecules cannot get to them. Without water, rust crystals are unable to form.

By itself the iron in the hemoglobin molecule cannot bind and unbind oxygen. Yet, without the four charged iron atoms, the rest of the hemoglobin molecule would be useless. Only when these iron ions are perfectly fitted into the hemoglobin molecule can the transport of oxygen through the bloodstream occur.

Releasing the Oxygen

As a red blood cell leaves the arteries and moves into the tiny capillaries deep in the body tissues, the environment around the red blood cell changes. Now the environment is warmer than in the lungs, and there is less oxygen and more acidity from the carbon dioxide surrounding the cell. These signals tell the Hemoglobin molecules, or taxis, inside the cell that it is time to release their precious passengers, oxygen.

When the oxygen molecules get out of the Hemoglobin molecule, it changes its shape once more. The change is just enough to “close the doors” and leave the oxygen outside, where it is most needed. Having the doors shut also prevents the hemoglobin from transporting any stray oxygen on the way back to the lungs. Instead, it readily picks up carbon dioxide for the return trip.

Soon the deoxygenated red blood cells are back in the lungs, where the hemoglobin molecules will release the carbon dioxide and be recharged with life-sustaining oxygen—a process that is repeated many thousands of times during a red blood cell’s life span of about 120 days.

Clearly, Hemoglobin is no ordinary molecule. It is, as stated at the beginning of this article, “a giant molecule of vast complexity.” Surely, we are awed and thankful to our Creator for the brilliant and meticulous micro engineering that makes life possible!

TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOUR HEMOGLOBIN!

            “Iron poor blood,” an expression common in some places, is really Hemoglobin-poor blood. Without the four essential iron atoms in a Hemoglobin molecule, the other 10,000 atoms in the molecule are useless. So, it is important to get enough iron by eating a healthful diet. Some good sources of iron are listed in the accompanying chart.

            Besides consuming foods rich in iron, we should heed the following advice: 1. Get regular and appropriate exercise. 2. Do not smoke. 3. Avoid secondhand smoke. Why are cigarette and other forms of tobacco smoke so dangerous?

            It is because such smoke is loaded with carbon monoxide, the same poison emitted as exhaust by automobiles. Carbon monoxide is the cause of accidental deaths and is also a means by which some people commit suicide. Carbon monoxide binds to iron atoms in Hemoglobin over 200 times more readily than oxygen does. So cigarette smoke quickly affects a person adversely by crowding out his intake of oxygen.

THE KING JAMES VERSION

(KJV)

How It Became Popular

Many celebrations were held in England this Year to commemorate the 400th anniversary of King James version of the Bible, otherwise known as the Authorized Version . These included special TV and Radio documentaries, as well as conferences, lectures , seminars. 

Prince Charles took a lead in celebrating the national treasure that bears the name of King James Version, published in May 1611, attain a  unique place in the hearts of English-speaking people.

Translation Gains Momentum

By the middle of the 16th century, a longing for knowledge of the teachings of the Bible had begun to sweep across Europe. Nearly two centuries earlier, about 1380, John Wycliffe had whetted the appetite of the Bible from Latin. In the following two centuries, his followers, the Lollards, circulated handwritten Bible texts countrywide.

Bible scholar William Tyndale’s New Testament was another milestone. It was translated from the original Greek into English by 1525.

Shortly afterward ,  in 1535, Miles Coverdale produced his complete English Bible. A year before that, Henry VIII broke relations with Rome and also made a strategic move. To strengthen his position as head of the Church of England , Henry VIII  authorized a translation of the Bible into English. It is was known  as a large volume in heavy Gothic type.

Puritans and other Protestant exiles from all over Europe settle in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1560 the Geneva Bible in easy-to-read type, was produced, with chapters divided into verses. It Europe and  quickly became popular. Eventually, in the 1576, Geneva Bible was also printed in England. Maps and marginal notes helped clarify its text. But some of its reader was irritated by its notes because these spoke against the papacy.

Meeting a Challenge

Because the Great Bible failed to gain general acceptance and the Geneva Bible contained contentious footnotes,  a revised Bible was decided upon. The Great Bible was chosen as its basis. The task was entrusted to Church of  England bishops, and in 1568 the Bishops’ Bible was published. This was a large volume, replete with many engravings. But Calvinists, who repudiated religious titles,  took exception to the word “bishop.” So the Bishops’  Bible was not generally accepted in England.

King James I, after ascending the English throne in 1603,* endorsed the making of a fresh Bible translation. He Stipulated that it should commend itself to all by omitting any offensive notes or comments. {* James was born in 1566 and was crowned in 1567 as James VI of Scotland. When he was crowned King James I of England in 1603, he became the ruler of both countries. In 1604 He took the title “King of Great Britain”}  

King James promoted the project. Eventually, 47 scholars in six separate groups across the country prepared sections of both Tyndale and Coverdale, these Bible scholars basically revised the Bishops’’ Geneva Bible and the Romans Catholic Rheims New Testament of 1582.

James himself was a respected Bible scholar, and the translation‘s dedication to “the most high and mighty prince, James” acknowledge his initiative. As head of the Church of England,   James was seen to be exerting his authority to bring the nation together.

A Literacy Masterpiece

The Clergy were pleased to receive from the hand of their king a Bible “appointed to be read in Churches.”  However, the question remained, how would the nation received this new Bible translation?

The translators, in their original extended preface, revealed their apprehensions as to whether this new translation would be accepted. However, King James Version fared well, even though it took some 30 years for it to supplant the Geneva Bible in the affections of the people.   

“By that time,” says The Bible and the Anglo-Saxon People, “it was the Authorized Version, though its only authorization had been its own excellence.”  The Cambridge History of Bible concludes: “It text acquired sanctity properly ascribable only to the unmediated voice of God; to multitudes of English-speaking Christians it has seemed little less than blasphemy to tamper with the words of the King James Version.”

To the Ends of the Earth

To early settlers from England who landed in North America brought with them the Geneva Bible. Later, however, the King James Version gained greater acceptance in America. As the British Empire expanded throughout the world, Protestant missionaries spread its use. Since many who translated the Bible into local languages were unfamiliar with Biblical History of Greek, the King James Version in English became the basis for these local translations.

Today according to the British Library, “The King James, or Authorized, version of the Bible remains the most widely published text in the English language.”  Some estimates put the number of copies of put the number of copies of the King James Version produced in print worldwide at over one billion!

Time for Change

Over the centuries, many have believed that the King James Version is “true” Bible. In 1870, work on a full revision of it started in England. Later a minor American revision of the resulting English Revised version was published as the American Standard Version*. {See the accompanying box “The American Standard Version”} In a more recent revision , in 1982, the preface to revised Authorized Version says that effort was made “to maintain that lyrical quality which is so highly regarded in the Authorized Version” of 1611.

Although the Bible remains the World’s best seller – and the King James Version is the most popular one – Professor Richard G. Moulton observed: “We have done almost everything that is possible with these Hebrew and Greek writings …. We have translated them and revised the translation …… There is yet one thing left to with the Bible: simply to read it.”

Without question the King James Version is a literary masterpiece, appreciated and valued for its unparalleled beauty of expression. But what about the importance message? The Bible’s inspired writing reveal the lasting remedy for the problem of our critical times.  

          

The Christmas Tree Its Pre-Christian Origin

The Christmas Tree

Its Pre-Christian Origin

In Many Parts of the world, the evergreen Christmas tree is a well-know symbol in holiday celebrations and commerce. The religious origin of the tree runs deep and stretches far back in human history.

This is evident in Bohuslan Province on the west coast of Sweden and in the nearby Province of Ostfold in Norway. In those areas, more than 75,000 individual rock carvings have been found at some 5,000 different sites. Archaeologist say that many of these rock carvings were made between about 1,800  and 500 B.C.E . 1

Rock Carvings suggest that pagan worship of the evergreen tree began before the time of Christ.

These remarkable carvings reveal something about the beliefs of people who lived a very long time before the birth of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. For Example, some researchers think that in early times in area of present-day Sweden and Norway, evergreen trees, such as spruces, were used as sacred symbols.

Why was it that people living in these far northern coastal areas of the world made rock carvings of spruce trees? Some scholars suggest it was partly because of the evident rarity of those trees during the Pre-Christian times when the carvings were made. Understandably, a tree that stays permanently green, or alive”, when other trees seemingly die in cold weather must have been somewhat of a mystery.

Trees have been symbols of life, survival, and immortality in many cultures worldwide. This fact may also help explain why tree images that clearly resemble evergreen spruce were carved into rocks in the of Bohuslan and Ostfold many centuries before that tree became a common sight there.

 The book Rock Carvings in the Borderlands, published in cooperation with the Swedish Natioal Heritage Board, says: “The images of trees in rock carvings illustrate that as early as the Bronze Age the southern Scandinavian region was part of a larger religious and cultural context that covered the whole of Europe and Large parts of Asia. Religion and cosmology were farming and animal husbandry. They largely worshipped the same gods, although the names of the gods varied”

The Rock Carving Tours, a booklet published by the Bohuslans Museum, further explain: “It was not the everyday world the rock carvers wanted to portray. We believe that their images perhaps were a form of prayers in vocation to the gods.” The booklet adds : “ Beliefs revolved around the eternal circle of Life, fertility, death and re-birth.”

Describing a unique collection of symbolic art, created long before the art of writing was introduce into northern Europe, National encyclopedia, the Swedish national reference encyclopedia, notes: “The marked presence of sexually charged depictions shows how important a fertility cult was in the religion of the Bronze Age people in the North”.

Evidently, custom involving evergreen trees spread and became part of life in many places. The Encyclopedia Britannica states regarding the Christmas tree: “Tree worship was common among the pagan Europeans and survived their conversion to Christianity.”  It did so in various rites and customs, including “ the custom… of placing a Yule tree at an entrance or inside the house during the midwinter holiday,”

The broad way leading the evergreen tree to modern popularity was paved in 1841 when the British royal family used a decorated spruce for their Christmas tree is recognized all over the world, and the demand for countless millions of natural and artificial Christmas trees seems endless. Meanwhile, Scandinavian rock carvings provide silent testimony, literally set in stone that the Christmas tree is not of Christian origin.

* Some of the Bohuslan rock-carving sites are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.