The primary mission of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST, seen in figure 1) is to investigate the early history of the universe. Of particular interest to researchers is the period known as the “cosmic dawn,” when starlight first illuminated the universe. This aptly named era extends from 0.2 billion to 1.2 billion years after the cosmic origin event. Figure 1: James Webb Space Telescope  The James Webb Space Telescope is 1.6 million kilometers (1 million miles) from Earth at the Lagrange 2 point along Earth’s orbit. Credit: NASA To observe the cosmic dawn, astronomers must look ..read more

Traditional Christians believe Jesus Christ is the long-awaited Jewish Messiah and the Savior of the world. This central and cardinal belief of historic Christianity ties together the identity of Jesus (divine-human Messiah) with his work of redemption on the cross (suffering and atoning Savior). Accordingly, Christians recognize him as the “suffering servant” prophesied in the book of Isaiah. But not all scholars hold this view. We’ll explore some of the details of the Isaiah passage and discuss alternative views, but first let’s consider the biblical basis for Jesus being the prophesied Jew ..read more

The day on which I’m writing this piece, April 2, 2024, has been designated by the United Nations General Assembly as World Autism Awareness Day. It’s also the start of an annual campaign, called #CelebrateDifferences, sponsored by the Autism Society of America, to highlight April as Autism Awareness Month. What better day for me to write about a subject so close to me as a person “on the Spectrum,” as the saying goes.  Last year I wrote an article on autism titled, Why Did God Create a World with Autism? In that article, I described my experience of autism, or Autism Spectrum ..read more

Global Hunger Crisis Beginning with the first chapter of the Bible (Genesis 1:28), God instructs human beings to take care of other people and be wise stewards of our world. Part of that mandate involves providing good answers to the issues and problems people face. One billion people in industrialized countries care greatly about carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and climate change. Three billion people, mostly in China and India, are focused on escaping poverty and achieving human flourishing at Western levels. Four billion people in the rest of the world are simply trying to survive. Feeding ..read more

According to recent satellite data, India, now the world’s most populous nation, ranks highest (as in worst) for particulate air pollution. Not surprisingly, Delhi, India’s capital city, with a metropolitan population of over 29,000,000, ranks as the world’s most air-polluted city.1 Such pollution is more than merely unpleasant for Delhi dwellers. It is deadly. Since 1998, an array of satellites has been tracking particulate air pollution levels all around the world. From 1998 to 2021, the average increase in such pollution over India, alone, measured 67.7%. Between 2013 and 2021, India was r ..read more

In my many years of being a Christian and working in evangelical Christian ministry I’ve encountered what I think are three common gospel distortions of how grace, faith, and works are to be understood in salvation. These are so common that I, at one time or another, have held all three of these unbiblical perspectives. And I still have to be careful and diligent so that I don’t fall back into the distortions. In this article, I’ll briefly introduce these three errors and then spend the latter part of my article discussing the meaning and importance of salvation by grace. Three Gospel Distort ..read more

Have you ever questioned if Jesus was really put to death and resurrected some 2,000 years ago? Outside the Bible, is there any evidence that supports his historical crucifixion? Or are the crucifixion and resurrection only some ancient version of today’s deepfakes? Despite growing up in Christian schools, I had assumed for decades that the Easter celebration was only about bunnies and eggs, and yes, the long spring break. Oddly, I was not able to associate Easter with the biblical story. And I had thought that the crucifixion and resurrection were just another fictional story. However, nothi ..read more

On the off chance that I ever come to question Christianity, I find it hard to think I would abandon my conviction that a Creator played a role in the origin and design of life. It’s hard to conclude anything else in the face of (1) the scientific challenges facing chemical evolution, and (2) the elegant and sophisticated architecture and operation of biochemical systems—which, in and of itself, powerfully evinces design. Based on my experience, many scientists are quick to agree with me. They observe no viable explanation for an evolutionary origin of life and the designs of biochemical syst ..read more

But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die. And if you say in your heart, “How may we know the word that the LORD has not spoken?”—when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously.  —Deuteronomy 18:20–22, ESV What is a prophet? I imagine that when asked this question, most people conjure up an image of ..read more

Read the March/April 2024 Reasons Newsletter RNL March/April The post March/April 2024 Newsletter appeared first on Reasons to Believe ..read more