The Evidence Bible (book)

Evidence Bible: Irrefutable Evidence for the Thinking Mind is an evangelical Christian book authored by Ray Comfort and endorsed by Josh McDowell and Franklin Graham.

Contents
The Evidence Bible contains books from the New Testament, in addition to Psalms and Proverbs from the Old Testament. Each chapter includes footnotes, annotations, and sections addressing certain questions, points, or objections.

Throughout this book, Ray tries to show the Bibilical scientific foreknowledge in the Bible and presents a case against evolution, skepticism, atheism, and non-Christian views. However, he uses many logical fallacies and creationist propaganda.

Questions and Answers

 * On page 82 in another Question and Answer bit, they ask the question: "Who made god?" And they answer with: "To one who examines the evidence, there can be no doubt that god exists. Every building has a builder. Everything made has a maker. The fact of the existence of the creator is axiomatic (self-evident). That's why the bible says, 'The fool has said in his heart there is no god' (Psalm 14:1). The professing atheist denies the common sense given to him by god, and defends his belief by thinking that the question 'who made god?' can't be answered. This, he thinks, gives him license to deny the existence of god."

"The question of who made god can be answered by simply looking at space and asking, 'Does space have an end?' Obviously it doesn't. If there is a brick wall with 'The end' written on it, the question arises, 'What is behind the brick wall?' Strain the mind though it may, we have to believe (have faith) that space has no beginning and no end. The same applies with god. He has no beginning and no end. He is eternal."

"The bible also informs us that time is a dimension that god created, into which man was subjected. It even tells us that one day time will no longer exist. That will be called 'eternity.' God himself dwells outside of the dimension he created (2Timothy 1:9, Titus 1:2). He dwells in eternity and is not subject to time. god spoke history before it came into being. He can move through time as a man flips through a history book. Because we live in the dimension of time, logic and reason demand that everything must have a beginning and an end. We can understand the concept of god's eternal nature the same way we understand the concept of space having no beginning and no end – by faith. We simply have to believe they are so, even though such thoughts put a strain on our distinctly insufficient cerebrum."


 * On page 117, they talk about what god supposedly has to say about abortion, and how "taking the life of the unborn is clearly murder." They say that, "god's word says that he personally made each one of us, and has a plan for each life: 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.' (Jeremiah 1:5)" If God knew us and has a plan, then he knew and planned every abortion and miscarriage. In Hosea 13:16: "The people of Samaria must bear their guilt, because they have rebelled against their god. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to the ground, their pregnant women ripped open."


 * On page 259 it asks: "There are contradictions in the resurrection accounts. Did christ appear first to the women or to his disciples?" Their answer: "Both Matthew and Mark list women as the first to see the resurrected christ. Mark says, 'He appeared first to Mary Magdalene" (16:9). But Paul lists Peter (Cephas) as the first one to see christ after his resurrection (1 Corr. 15:5). Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene, then to the other women, and then to Peter. Paul was not giving a complete list, but only the important one for his purpose. Since only men's testimony was considered legal or official in the first century, it is understandable that the apostle would not list the women as witnesses in his defense of the resurrection here.''"


 * On page 324 they ask: "Religion has caused more wars then anything else in history." They reply with stating that there have many people who have used religion for political gain. They say that, in John 16:2-3 that there will be some who, in their error, commit atrocities and murder in the name of god. However, they say, that these people are not true believers, and will be dealt with on judgment day."


 * Page 444 they try to answer another skeptics question: "Seeing is believing. If I can't see it, I don't believe it exists." They answer: "We believe in many things that we can't see. Ask a skeptic if he has ever seen the wind. Has he seen history? Has he ever seen his brain? We see the effects of the wind, but the wind is invisible. We have records of history, but it is by 'faith' that we believe certain historical events happened. Television waves are invisible, but an antenna and a receiver can detect their presence. The unregenerate man likewise has a 'receiver.' However, the receiver (his spirit) is dead because of sin (Ephesians 2:1). He needs to be plugged into the life of god; then he will come alive and be aware of the invisible spiritual realm."


 * On page 492 they pose as the skeptic and ask: "Christians can't use 'circular reasoning' by trying to prove the bible by quoting from the bible!" Their response: "The 'circular reasoning' argument is absurd. That's like saying you can't prove that the president lives in the white house by looking into the white house. It is looking into the white house that will provide the necessary proof. The fulfilled prophecies, the amazing consistency, and the many scientific statements of the bible prove it to be the word of god. They provide evidence that it is supernatural in origin." Their white house analogy is absurd. Of course you can look into the white house and see the president sitting.


 * On page 679 they ask the following: "Didn't the church persecute Galileo?" They argue the christian church therefore should not be blamed for his imprisonment. It was the Roman Catholic church that persecuted Galileo.


 * On page 808 they pose a skeptic's question and try to answer it: "How can people be happy in heaven, knowing that their unsaved loved ones are suffering in hell?" They respond: "Those who ask such questions fall into the category of those who asked jesus a similar question. The Sadducees said that a certain woman had seven consecutive husbands, so whose wife will she be in heaven (Mark 12:23)?" Jesus answered by saying that they neither knew the scriptures nor the power of god. The unregenerate mind has no concept of god's mind or his infinite power. If god can speak the sun into existence; if he can see every thought of every human heart at the same time; if he can create the human eye with it's 137,000,000 light sensitive cells, then he can handle the minor details of our eternal salvation. John writes that in heaven 'we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is'(1 John 3:2), so perhaps we will be fully satisfied that god is perfectly just and merciful, and that he gave every individual the opportunity to accept or reject him. However he works it out, god promises that there will not be sorrow or crying in heaven. Our focus in heaven won't be our own loss, but our own gain." Here they are merely speculating about what god might do, and how heaven might be, though where is their evidence? Even they are unsure, because they are using their own "language of speculation," with using the word "perhaps." But regardless of what the clearly fallible bible claims, Ray and Kirk's seemingly uncaring attitude is disturbing, saying that no one should care about their loved ones while they are burning for eternity. Claiming that those in heaven should just think about themselves, and no one else in hell, is just horrible and selfish.

Against Science

 * On page 130 it says: "At least six different radiometric dating methods are available. The assumed age of the sample will dictate which dating is used because each will give a different result."

Against Evolution

 * On page 80 Ray tries to disprove macro-evolution. They say. "While we do see what we call microevolution- variations within species (different types of dogs for instance)- we don't see any evidence of macroevolution- one species evolving into another species. Microevolution is observable, while macroevolution takes a tremendous leap of faith."


 * On page 92 they talk about why the peppered moth experiments did not prove evolution. The nocturnal peppered moth does not rest of the trunks of trees during the day. In fact, despite over 40 years of intense field study, only two peppered moths have ever been seen naturally resting on tree trunks! So where did all the evolution textbook pictures of peppered moths on different colored trees come from? They were all staged. The moths were glued, pinned, or placed onto tree trunks and their pictures taken. The scientists who used these pictures in their books to prove evolution all conveniently forgot to tell their readers this fact. If the best example of evolution is not true, how about all their other supposed examples? It makes you wonder doesn't it?" (Mark Varney) The comment that moths do not rest on trees that is false: Peppered moths do not rest exclusively on tree trunks, but they do rest there. Of the forty-seven moths one researcher found in the wild, twelve were on trunks and twenty were on trunk/branch joints. (The other fifteen were on branches). The numbers and proportion on trunks near light traps were even higher (Majerus 1998, 123). Photos showing moths on trunks were staged but only for purposes of illustration. The photographs depict what is found in the wild, whether trunk or branch. Furthermore, the photos played no part in the scientific research or its conclusions.


 * On page 210, they repeat the same old argument the blood clotting system is irreducibly complex proposed by Michael Behe: "To form a blood clot there must be twelve specific individual chemical reactions in our blood. If evolution is true, and if this 12-step process didn't happen in the first generation (i.e. if any one of these specific reactions failed to operate in their exact reaction and order), no creatures would have survived. They would all have bled to death!"


 * On page 485, they discuss their classic arguments about Piltdown Man, Nebraska Man, Java Man, Heidelberg Man, and Neanderthal Man, trying to convince people that this is some of the only evidence that evolution has ever come up with, or that some of these are not valid finds, as far as fossils are concerned, but there are some big problems with their claims.


 * On page 486 in the inset titled 'Missing Link Still Missing' they claim that Archaeoraptor was a fake. However, the missing link is not missing (and it has not been for a very long time) and Archaeoraptor was not ever published in any scientific journals.


 * On page 486 he quotes from Time' magazine, "Scientists concede that their most cherished theories are based on embarrassingly few fossil fragments and that huge gaps exist in the fossil record." TIME Magazine, Nov. 7, 1977. However, this quote is over 20 years old and many new discoveries have happened since then.


 * Ray states that the evidence for evolution is lacking. He mentions Kent Hovind's $250,000 prize to anyone who can prove evolution (page 580).


 * On page 780 they depict a picture from a creationist pamphlet, attempting to disprove evolution. The pamphlet is called Big Daddy? It is a small anti-evolution comic book tract by evangelist Jack Chick.

Against the Big Bang Theory

 * In a Questions and objections section, they ask: 'Doesn't the big bang theory disprove the genesis account of creation?' Ray responds "Try to think of any explosion that has produced order. Does a terrorist bomb create harmony? Big bangs cause chaos. How could a big bang produce a rose, apple trees, fish, sunsets, the seasons, humming birds, polar bears-thousands of birds and animals, each with its own eyes, nose and mouth? A child can see that there is 'grand design' in creation." This is a straw man. The big bang was not an explosion. It was an expansion. Some bombs can create order. Powerful explosions can compress carbon into diamond crystals, the most ordered arrangement. The Big Bang does not say suddenly trees, fishes, and such were made directly afterward. the big bang is not what caused life. That is a complete misunderstanding of the whole concept. Later on, once the universe formed, elements happened to come together and begin to evolve. The big bang has no real relevance to the evolution of plants and animals on this planet.

Against Atheists
'It takes no brains to be an atheist. Any stupid person can deny the existence of a supernatural power because man's physical senses cannot detect it. But there cannot be ignored the influence of conscience, the respect we feel for the moral law, the mystery of first life…or the marvelous order in which the universe moves about us on this earth. All of these evidence the handiwork of the beneficent deity…' - Dwight Eisenhower" This comment is ridiculous because if they claim that there must be a creator for something to exist, then there must also be a creator for their god. What created God? atheism does not hold a position that everything came from nothing. Creationists (Ray Comfort) believe everything came from nothing.
 * On page 48, Comfort talks about atheists: "It is much more reasonable to believe that this publication had no printer then to believe that there is no god. Who in his right mind would ever believe that no one compiled its pages, no one produced the graphic art, and no one printed it. The publication happened by chance...from nothing. There was no paper, no ink, no cardboard, and no glue. The paper just came into being (from nothing), and then trimmed itself into perfectly straight edges. All the words fell into place, forming coherent sentences, and then the graphic art appeared. The pages fell into numerical order, and finally the book bound itself. The fact that there was a printer is axiomatic (self-evident), so it would be intellectually insulting to even begin to argue for the case of the printers existence. For the same reason, the bible does not enter into the case for god's existence. It simply begins by stating, 'In the beginning…'

In Favor of Creation

 * On page 581, they ask a question which a skeptic might ask, then answer it: "Adam was a mythical figure who never really lived."

They respond with: "Adam is a key figure in scripture. He is described as the "first Adam," the one who brought sin into this world….If Adam and Eve were not real then ought to doubt whether their children were real too, and their children…and then we ought to doubt the first 11 chapters of genesis, and so on. All the genealogies accept Adam as being a literal person, so their children Cain and Abel must be real too. Jesus was descended from Adam, and it is impossible to be descended from a myth."

Scientific Facts of the Bible

 * "Only in recent years has science discovered that everything we see is composed of invisible atoms. Here scripture tells us that the "things which are seen were not made of things which do appear."


 * "Science has discovered that stars emit radio waves, which are received on earth as a high pitch. god mentioned this in Job 38:7: When the morning stars sang together."


 * "Most cosmologists (scientists who study structures and evolution of the universe) agree that the genesis account of creation, in imagining an initial void, may be uncannily close to the truth." TIME Magazine, Dec. 1976


 * "Science expresses the universe in five terms: time, space, matter, power, and motion. Genesis 1:1-2 revealed such truths to the Hebrews in 1450 b.c. " In the beginning [time] god created [power] the heaven [space] and the earth [matter]…And the spirit of god moved [motion] upon the face of the waters…"


 * "Look at the specific instructions god gave his people for when they encounter disease: "And when he that has an issue is cleansed of his issue; then he shall number to himself seven days to his cleansing, and wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in running water, and shall be clean. (Leviticus 15:13) Until recent years doctors washed their hands in a bowl of water, leaving invisible germs on their hands. However the bible says specifically to wash hands under "running water."


 * "The prophet Isaiah also tells us that the earth is round: 'It is he that sits upon the circle of the earth.' (Isaiah 40:22) This is not a reference to a flat disk, as some skeptics maintain, but to a sphere. Secular man discovered this 2,400 years later. At a time when science believed the earth was flat, it was the scriptures that inspired Christopher Columbus to sail around the world."

Defending Christianity

 * On page 183 in a Questions and Objections section, they say in to a common claim about the bible: "Christianity oppresses women by making them submit to their husbands." They then try to refute that claim with another Bible verse: "The bible does say,'Wives, submit to your own husbands, and to the lord, ' but it also instructs, 'Husbands, love your wives, even as christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.' (Ephesians 5:22,25). A man who understands that jesus christ sacrificed his life's blood for the church will likewise love his wife sacrificially and passionately. He will honor her, respect her, protect, love, and cherish her as much as he he does his own body, as he is instructed to do (Ephesians 5:28)…A godless world rejects the god given formula to make marriage work. It thinks it knows best, and suffers the heartbreaking consequences of destroyed marriages and ruined lives."


 * On page 204 they have a section on prayer and claims that, "god always answers prayer. Sometimes he says yes, sometimes he says no, and sometimes he says 'wait for a minute.' And since to the lord a day is a thousand years that could be a ten year wait for us."


 * On page 524, they bring up the "if there is a building, there must be a builder" argument, and in that same section they make the claim that, "no scientific evidence has been found that homosexuals are 'born that way.' They then spout their biblical nonsense that no sexual activity should be done, unless it is within marriage, and that "homosexuality goes against god's created order and expressed will."

Quote-Mining

 * On page 798 "The Evidence Bible claims that Sir Arthur Keith wrote the forward to the 100th edition of Origin of the Species, and wrote: ""Evolution is unproved and unprovable. We believe it only because the only alternative is special creation which is unthinkable." (Keith, Arthur, forward to 100th anniversary edition of Charles Darwin's Origin of Species, 1959) The quote that is attributed to Sir Arthur Keith is a figment of the creationists imagination. No library in the Atlanta metro area has this particular edition and neither Amazon nor Barnes and Noble has this edition. A search of the internet showed many references for this quote but every one of them was from a creationist site. It is also amazing because that Sir Arthur died in 1955 and the 100th anniversary edition would not have been issued until 1959.


 * They also quote a H.S. Lipson, who is a professor of physics (at least used to be- this quote is old from what info I can find, from 1980) at the University of Manchester, UK: "In fact, evolution became in a sense a scientific religion; almost all scientists have accepted it and many are prepared to 'bend' their observations to fit in with it." H Lipson spoke skeptically about evolution in 1980 or so; but he is not an evolutionist; and as far as can be gathered he had nothing to do with the Supreme Court in the US.