Something To Consider About Evolution

 Evolution's Central Claim Has Not Yet Been Observed - Evolution News & Views 

Evolution's Central Claim Has Not Yet Been Observed

Tom Bethell March 23, 2013 5:19 AM | Permalink Like 12

The other day, Stephen Batzer commented here on a great article by Vincent Torley posted at

Uncommon Descent (and that is indebted to David Berlinski), about the evolution of the

vertebrate eye. Here I shall ignore the eye, and focus -- no pun intended! -- on something that

Torley quoted in passing. He reminds us that Jerry Coyne once wrote:

When, after a Christmas visit, we watch grandma leave on the train to Miami, we

assume that the rest of her journey will be an extrapolation of that first quarter-

mile. A creationist unwilling to extrapolate from micro- to macroevolution is as

irrational as an observer who assumes that, after grandma's train disappears

around the bend, it is seized by divine forces and instantly transported to Florida.

(Nature 412:587, 19 August 2001.)

We do need to be reminded that Darwinism depends on extrapolation. According to Harvard's

longtime evolution expert Ernst Mayr [1904-2005], evolution across species "is nothing but an

extrapolation and magnification of the events that take place within populations and species."

Coyne's comment shows us that this extrapolation has not yet been demonstrated. If it had

been, believe me, we would never hear the end of it. He wouldn't have needed to put

grandma on that imaginary train.

Here's the background: In The Origin of Species, Darwin discussed the work of animal breeders,

pigeon fanciers in particular. They might vary in coloring or display, but at the end of the day,

as Darwin well knew, they all remained pigeons. Dogs vary greatly in size, but dogs they

remain.

Darwin said that varieties were "incipient species," thereby staking his claim to the belief they

were on their way to becoming something else. In short, he was extrapolating. But that was

philosophy, not science. He lacked the evidence to claim that the extrapolation had actually

been observed.

Ever since, evolutionists have assumed that it has been observed. But the Coyne quote

reminds us that it hasn't been. Grandma just keeps traveling on to Miami, he reassures us,

and it takes a "creationist" to raise doubts about that.

Darwin wrote in his 1844 Essay (a preliminary version of the Origin):

That a limit to variation does exist in nature is assumed by most authors, though

I am unable to discover a single fact on which this belief is grounded . . .

Well, I'm sorry, Charles, but it's up to you to demonstrate that unlimited variation has been

observed. It's no good complaining that "most authors" won't tell us why it hasn't been.

Almost 170 years later, it still hasn't been.

In the Origin, Darwin wrote that "by the repetition of this process [of micro-evolution] a new

variety might be formed, which would either supplant or co-exist with the parent form."

Might be, yes. But we don't know that yet.

Alfred Russel Wallace, the co-discoverer of natural selection, wrote in 1858 that his theory

could be summarized as "indefinite departure from the original type." "Indefinite departure" is

in fact the central claim of the theory of evolution by natural selection. But it still hasn't been

observed.

Richard Dawkins, Jerry Coyne and others keep trying to bully us into accepting that it is a

"fact." OK. Maybe it is. So give us the evidence. We have to read their books carefully to

realize how meager it is. They still haven't shown us that extrapolation. To an amazing extent,

their books are filled with tendentious anti-design arguments, not positive evidence of

evolution as a demonstrated fact.

In Darwinism: The Refutation of a Myth (1987), Soren Lovtrup wrote: "Neither in nature nor

under experimental conditions have any substantial effects ever been obtained through the

systematic accumulation of micromutations."

In his final book, What Evolution Is (2001), Ernst Mayr was evasive on the question of whether

extrapolation had been observed. He persistently obscures our vision by his references to

"population thinking." This is another way of asserting that micro-evolution is a reality. No one

doubts that. And from that premise he leads us to suppose that the observed variation is

continuous; all the way to Miami.

As to Coyne's metaphor about grandma's train ride, several people made critical comments, in

the replies to Torley's article. Here's just one:

It is really hard to know if grandma will ever arrive at Miami when she is laying

the track, randomly directed, one rail at a time, as she goes.

Good point. When you are relying on random variation, the track that Coyne presupposes

doesn't even exist. And if such parallel tracks could be created, and laid, they might lead

anywhere. Or nowhere.

Mark Twain on Prayer

A short story about prayer by none other than the cynical Mark Twain reminds us that prayer has consequences or implications, and those consequences or implications perhaps need to be kept in mind when we ponder our petitions. You may know Mark Twain’s mono-eyed “The War Prayer,” but if you don’t here’s a full version online.The short story is simple: folks have gathered to church to pray for their sons who have been called into war, they pray for victory for the country, and then a man enters to pray the implications of their prayers. Here is what the “aged stranger” prayed, filling in the lines left unnoticed by the Christians at prayer:The stranger touched his arm, motioned him to step aside–which the startled minister did–and took his place. During some moments he surveyed the spellbound audience with solemn eyes, in which burned an uncanny light; then in a deep voice he said:“I come from the Throne–bearing a message from Almighty God!” The words smote the house with a shock; if the stranger perceived it he gave no attention. “He has heard the prayer of His servant your shepherd, and will grant it if such shall be your desire after I, His messenger, shall have explained to you its import–that is to say, its full import. For it is like unto many of the prayers of men, in that it asks for more than he who utters it is aware of–except he pause and think.“God’s servant and yours has prayed his prayer. Has he paused and taken thought? Is it one prayer? No, it is two–one uttered, the other not. Both have reached the ear of Him Who heareth all supplications, the spoken and the unspoken. Ponder this–keep it in mind. If you would beseech a blessing upon yourself, beware! lest without intent you invoke a curse upon a neighbor at the same time. If you pray for the blessing of rain upon your crop which needs it, by that act you are possibly praying for a curse upon some neighbor’s crop which may not need rain and can be injured by it.“You have heard your servant’s prayer–the uttered part of it. I am commissioned of God to put into words the other part of it–that part which the pastor–and also you in your hearts–fervently prayed silently. And ignorantly and unthinkingly? God grant that it was so! You heard these words: ‘Grant us the victory, O Lord our God!’ That is sufficient. the whole of the uttered prayer is compact into those pregnant words. Elaborations were not necessary. When you have prayed for victory you have prayed for many unmentioned results which follow victory–must follow it, cannot help but follow it. Upon the listening spirit of God fell also the unspoken part of the prayer. He commandeth me to put it into words. Listen!“O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle–be Thou near them! With them–in spirit–we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it–for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen.(After a pause.) “Ye have prayed it; if ye still desire it, speak! The messenger of the Most High waits!”Not, I believe, what Jesus had in mind when he said “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

Jews and Genties in Christ

Geza Vermes on the Transition from Jewish Christians to Gentiles

Noah Wiener   •  11/09/2012A turning point in the Jesus movement, Peter baptizes the Roman centurion Cornelius, the first non-Jewish Christian, in Jerusalem (Acts 10), as shown in one of five baptism scenes on a 12th-century baptismal font in St. Bartholomew’s Church in Liège, Belgium. Image: Jean-Pol Grandmont.Today the concept of “Jewish Christians” may sound like a confusion of two religions. However, to understand the origin of Christianity, one must begin with the population of Jewish Christians who lived during Jesus’ lifetime. In the November/December 2012 issue ofBiblical Archaeology Review, Dead Sea Scrolls and early Christianity scholar Geza Vermes explores the origin of Christianity by examining the characteristics of the Jewish Jesus movement to see how it developed into a distinctly gentile religion.In the New Testament, Jesus only preaches to a Jewish audience. Geza Vermes describes the mission of the 11 apostles to preach to “all the nations” (Matthew 28:19) as a “‘post-Resurrection’ idea.” After the crucifixion, the apostles began to champion a new faith in Jesus and the ranks of the Jesus movement (known as “the Way” at the time) swelled to 3,000 Jewish converts. At first, these followers were distinctly Jewish, following Mosaic law, Temple traditions and dietary customs.Geza Vermes writes that “Acts identifies the demographic watershed regarding the composition of the Jesus movement. It began around 40 C.E. with the admission into the church of the family of the Roman centurion Cornelius in Caesarea (Acts 10). Later came the gentile members of the mixed Jewish-Greek church in Antioch (Acts 11:19–24; Galatians 2:11–14), as well as the many pagan converts of Paul in Syria, Asia Minor and Greece. With them the Jewish monopoly in the new movement came to an end. Jewish and gentile Christianity was born.” In the free eBook Paul: Jewish Law and Early Christianity, learn about the cultural contexts for the theology of Paul and how Jewish traditions and law extended into early Christianity through Paul’s dual roles as a Christian missionary and a Pharisee.  As gentiles joined the Jesus movement, focus on Jewish law decreased and we start to see the origin of Christianity as a distinct religion. Jewish Christians in Jerusalem participated in separate Jewish services from the gentile Christian population, and while the two groups agreed on Jesus’ message and importance, the separate rites and communities led to increasing division between the groups.The early-second-century Epistle of Barnabas is one of the earliest expressions of gentile Christianity and describes Jesus as quasi-divine. ©The British LibraryGeza Vermes presents the late first century C.E. Jewish Christian Didache as an important text for understanding the Jewish Jesus movement. The Christian document focuses on Mosaic Law and the love of God and the neighbor, and describes the observance of Jewish traditions alongside baptism and the recitation of “Our Father.” The Didache treats Jesus as a charismatic prophet, referring to Jesus with the term pais, a word for servant or child that is also used for King David, rather than the “Son of God.”By contrast, the early second century Epistle of Barnabas shows a distinctly gentile Christianity in its presentation of the Hebrew Bible as allegory instead of covenantal fact. The clearly divinized Jesus in this document is distanced from the Jewish Christians and the divide between the Christian communities continued to widen over time. Geza Vermes writes that after Hadrian’s suppression of the Second Jewish Revolt, the Jewish Christians quickly became a minority group in the newly established church. At this point we can see the origin of Christianity as a distinctly non-Jewish religion; late in the second century, the Jewish Christians either rejoined their Jewish peers or become part of the newly gentile Christian church.  For more on the origin of Christianity, read Geza Vermes’s “From Jewish to Gentile: How the Jesus Movement Became Christianity” as it appeared in Biblical Archaeology Review, Nov/Dec 2012, 53-58, 76, 78.  

The fig and the sycamore fig

Posted on September 13, 2011   Article by Ferrell Jenkins

A friend (he really is) on Facebook left this comment about yesterday’s post.

is the fig of the Bible the same as what we call figs? They used a fig dresser; we don’t.

He seems to be thinking of the fig mentioned in Amos 7:14.

Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, “I was no prophet, nor a prophet’s son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. (Amos 7:14 ESV)

Other English versions use the terms grower, tender, or took care of. Amos tended the sycamore fig — the ficus sycomorus.

The question results from some confusion in translating the various biblical words into English. According to Fauna and Flora of the Bible, the fig we showed yesterday is the ficus carica. The fig mentioned in Amos 7:14 is the ficus sycomorus.

The sycamore fig growing in the lowlands at Neot Kedumim. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

The description of the ficus sycomorus in Fauna and Flora of the Bible says,

The sycamore tree belongs to the Nettle family, like the mulberry and fig trees. It grows in many places in Palestine, especially in the plain, from Gaza to Jaffa and Haifa, and in the Jericho valley.…

The leaves are evergreen and heart-shaped, and the fruit looks like figs, but its taste is unpleasant. However, it was eaten by poor people, and Amos (7:14) was a gatherer of sycamore fruit. The Hb. [Hebrew] verb may indicate the way the sycamore fruits were eaten, so that the proper translation may not be ‘gatherer of sycamore fruit’, or ‘cultivator’, but ‘one who nips (with a nail or with iron) the fruits to make them edible’.

See more about the Sycamore fig and Zaccheus here.

Scotland Discovery

 Archaeologists Just Found Another British Noble Buried Under a Parking Lot - Adam Clark Estes - The Atlantic Wire 

Archaeologists Just Found Another British Noble Buried Under a Parking

Lot

BY ADAM CLARK ESTES | MAR 14, 2013

There's a sad lesson about urban planning in the trend of major archaeological finds turning up under parking lots in

the United Kingdom. Or maybe it's a happy lesson. It's hard to tell.

Archaeologists just announced the discovery of headstone bearing the marks of nobility at the site of a new building

being constructed in Edinburgh. Though they've yet to analyze the remains, they believe the knight was buried

sometime in the 13th century. "This find has the potential to be one of the most significant and exciting

archaeological discoveries in the city for many years, providing us with yet more clues as to what life was like in

medieval Edinburgh," said Richard Lewis, a member of the City of Edinburgh Council, in a statement.

Funnily enough, the site of the discovery is a parking lot once used by the University of Edinburgh's archaeology

department. This is even funnier when you consider the fact that the long lost remains of King Richard III showed up

underneath a parking lot in Leicester. On one hand, the tandem discoveries show that the Brits paved over a lot of

important piece of land to build parking lots. On the other hand, the fact that these remains were well preserved and

untouched in modern times also suggests that parking lots work as pretty good shields from earth movers.

It turns out that a lot of great archaeological treasures are found under parking lots. They are, after all, both

plentiful and protective. And the recent discovery also shows that the Brits are giving due diligence to having

archaeologists on hand when they break ground. While not everybody is thrilled about what historian Edward Tenner

refers to as an "exhumation craze," it's encouraging to see workers take care to treat the ground beneath historical

locations gingerly.

The Bible and Science

“Praise him, you highest heaven and the water above the sky. Let them praise the name of the Lord because they were created by his command. He set them in their places forever and ever. He made it a law that no one can break.” (Psalm 148:4-6)

“Great is God our Lord, great is His power and there is no end to His wisdom. Praise Him you heavens, glorify Him, sun and moon and you planets. For out of Him and through Him, and in Him are all things..... We know, oh, so little. To Him be the praise, the honor and the glory from eternity to eternity.” ― Johannes Kepler

Johannes Kepler was a famous German mathematician and key figure of the scientific revolution and physics  of the 1600's.A man, who saw in science, the glory of God. Yet, the Bible isn't meant to be a scientific textbook, and you don't study the Bible to build a rocket. It does not use scientific language, yet it never gives bad science! In fact, it is rather fascinating at the things the Bible describes from thousands of years ago, that men are just discovering today.

For example:

- For thousands of years, people believed that Earth was flat. But God said 2,600 years ago in Isaiah 40:22 that God is enthroned above the SPHERE of Earth.

- For thousands of years, people believed that the number of stars were finite. But Jeremiah 33:22 says the number of stars can’t be counted.

The book of Leviticus  describes the value of blood. (Lev.17:11) ‘For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.’ It carries water and nourishment to every cell, maintains the body’s temperature, and removes the waste material of the body’s cells. The blood also carries oxygen from the lungs throughout the body. In 1616, William Harvey discovered that blood circulation is the key factor in physical life.

The Bible describes biogenesis (the development of living organisms from other living organisms) and the stability of each kind of living organism. Gen.1:11,12,21,25 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good... So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.  The phrase “according to its kind” occurs repeatedly, stressing the reproductive integrity of each kind of animal and plant. Today we know this occurs because all of these reproductive systems are programmed by their genetic codes.

In 1861, during evolution's climb, a very famous book came out called “Fifty-one Incontrovertible Proofs that the Bible is Scientifically Inaccurate.” Yet today, you can’t find a single scientist that would agree with any one of those incontrovertible facts. They’ve all been disproved by science. Why?  Because the Bible reminds us, “Happy is the one whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, maker of heaven and earth, the seas and everything in them, forever the guardian of truth.." Psa.146:5,6  The second law of thermodynamics works because it was true and made by God.  Truth does not change.

Someone may have told you at some point that the Bible isn’t scientifically accurate. That person is wrong. Either they have never studied the Bible or never studied science. God sets up the laws of science; he made sure that his Word doesn’t contradict those laws.

Jim

Piece of Wool Leads To Discovery

SCRAP OF WOOL UNRAVELS CHRISTIAN CHURCH FIND

Last updated at 12:47, Friday, 08 March 2013

A tiny scrap of wool found during an archaeological dig in

Maryport has unlocked a piece of history.

Archaeologists revealed this

week that the dig at Camp Farm

last summer has unearthed what

appears to be a Christian

church, dating back to the 5th

or 6th century.

Experts believe the possible

church, built in an east-west

direction, was positioned so it

could be seen at Whithorn, the

cradle of Christianity in Scotland,

on the other side of the Solway

Firth.

They revealed their findings

exclusively to a Maryport

audience crowded into the

town’s Senhouse museum on

Tuesday night.

Tony Wilmott, site director, said

that volunteers on the dig had discovered what appeared to be

Christian long cist graves. In one they found fragments of bone

and a tooth.

Forensic work has since discovered that the remains may be of an

individual, possibly a girl, aged about 14 but was unable to

carbon date the remains.

He added: “However, one of the graduate students, Lauren

Proctor, discovered a small fragment of textile while processing

soil samples from one of the graves.

“It was a tiny piece of wool no bigger than my fingernail. The

remarkable thing was that it has survived all these centuries.”

Radiocarbon dating indicated that the fleece was probably

sheared between AD 240 and AD 340, placing it in a late Roman

context.

Dig director Professor Ian Haynes, of Newcastle University, said:

“This is big news. Maryport was already an important site.

“The discovery of pits containing altars in 1870 led to a belief that

these stones were ritually buried by the Roman army. This is

something that became accepted.

“What we discovered was that the altars were actually buried as

ballast to support the large posts used for the church buildings.”

He added that activity at the church site may well have begun

before 410 AD and that a Latin-using Christian community

occupied the hill top for some decades afterwards.

Mr Wilmott said: “In the end, the least unlikely explanation is

that the structures include a Christian church.”

First published at 12:42, Friday, 08 March 2013

Published by http://www.timesandstar.co.uk

Ferrell Jenkins Travel Blog

Jesus and the Sabbath

The Jews made charges that Jesus broke the Sabbath but they were not able to establish their charge. The basic

charge was that Jesus was working in violation of the Mosaic law (Leviticus 23:3). Here is a list of the specific

instances of events that took place on the Sabbath. Read the full accounts to see how Jesus responded.

Healed a man at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-9, 18; Jesus replied to accusations (John 7:21-24).

Healed the blind man (John 9:1-14).

Answered charges made against His disciples (Matthew 12:1-8; Mark 2:23-28; Luke 6:1-6).

Healed a man with a withered hand (Luke 6:6-11).

Healed the woman who was bent over (Luke 13:10-17).

He questioned the Pharisees regarding healing on the Sabbath and they could not answer Him. He healed the

man with dropsy (Luke 14:1-5).

He taught in the synagogue in His “home town” on the Sabbath (Mark 6:1-6).

The photo below shows the interior of the model synagogue at the Nazareth Village .

The account of Jesus reading in the synagogue at Nazareth is recorded in Luke 4:16-21, with the reaction in the

following verses.

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on

the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the

scroll and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to

proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the

blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And he rolled up the

scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And

he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:16-21 ESV)

Not Far From Any of Us!

"But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing." 

                                                                                                                                                  Jas 1:25

Prov.14:15  "An unthinking person believes everything, but the prudent one thinks before acting." Simply stated this proverb is so true, and evil and the one through whom all evil comes (Satan) loves that type of person. People who don't think, who don't study to see how to make themselves a better person, people who care nothing for God, or God's word. Satan doesn't even mind you going to Christian assemblies or Bible discussions and studies, as long as you don’t do anything with what you learn.

If we assume that just because we have heard, read or studied a truth,that we have internalized or "got" it, then we are a fool. Practically everything in life teaches us the direct opposite.  I have attended seminars where you are so busy going to the next session that you have no time to implement what you've learned. The colloquial expression is "In one ear and out the other."  You forget it almost as soon as you hear it. The fact is, without implementation, our efforts become   worthless. Jesus said, “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock” (Mt.7:24).

God’s blessing comes from obeying the truth, not just knowing it. He said, “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them” (Jn.13:17). Yet, in the midst of these words from the Lord Himself, we have those who say, "I don't need all that study." or "I get all the religion I need and only come once a week."  Yet others state, "I come all the time, but haven't learned anything new in years."   Paul stated in Act 17:27  "God did this so that people would look for him and perhaps reach out and find him although in fact, he is not far from each one of us," Perhaps then we are not learning, growing or progressing because we are not looking for God, or looking for what God puts right before us. 

The best way to become a doer of the Word is to always write out step to be accomplished as a result of your reading or reflection on God’s Word. Develop the habit of writing down exactly what you intend to do, based upon what you have just learned. It should be personal (involving you), practical (something you CAN do), and provable (with a deadline to do it). Every application should involve either your relationship to God, relationship to others, or your who you are.  Being a part of a small Bible study discussion group, coming to Wednesday night studies, Sunday morning study or services. We always learn from others things that we would never learn on our own. Other people will help us to  see insights we would miss and help us to learn to apply God’s truth in a practical way.

 What has God told you to do in his Word that you haven’t started doing yet? Start today! Start recording and following through with steps as part of your Bible study.

Jim

Dating Homer

 Geneticists Estimate Publication Date Of The 'Iliad' | LiveScience (ISNS) -- Scientists who decode

the genetic history of humans

by tracking how genes mutate

have applied the same

technique to one of the Western

world's most ancient and

celebrated texts to uncover the

date it was first written.

The text is Homer's "Iliad," and

Homer -- if there was such a

person -- probably wrote it in

762 B.C., give or take 50 years,

the researchers found. The

"Iliad" tells the story of the

Trojan War -- if there was such

a war -- with Greeks battling

Trojans.

The researchers accept the

received orthodoxy that a war happened and someone named Homer wrote about it, said

Mark Pagel, an evolutionary theorist at the University of Reading in England. His collaborators

include Eric Altschuler, a geneticist at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey,

in Newark, and Andreea S. Calude, a linguist also at Reading and the Sante Fe Institute in New

Mexico. They worked from the standard text of the epic poem.

The date they came up with fits the time most scholars think the "Iliad" was compiled, so the

paper, published in the journal Bioessays, won't have classicists in a snit. The study mostly

affirms what they have been saying, that it was written around the eighth century B.C.

That geneticists got into such a project should be no surprise, Pagel said.

"Languages behave just extraordinarily like genes," Pagel said. "It is directly analogous. We

tried to document the regularities in linguistic evolution and study Homer's vocabulary as a

way of seeing if language evolves the way we think it does. If so, then we should be able to

find a date for Homer."

It is unlikely there ever was one individual man named Homer who wrote the "Iliad." Brian

Rose, professor of classical studies and curator of the Mediterranean section at the University

of Pennsylvania Museum, said it is clear the "Iliad" is a compilation of oral tradition going

back to the 13th century B.C.

"It's an amalgam of lots of stories that seemed focused on conflicts in one particular area of

northwestern Turkey," Rose said.

The story of the "Iliad" is well known, full of characters like Helen of Troy, Achilles, Paris,

Agamemnon and a slew of gods and goddesses behaving badly. It recounts how a gigantic

fleet of Greek ships sailed across the "wine dark sea" to besiege Troy and regain a stolen wife.

Its sequel is the "Odyssey."

Classicists and archeologists are fairly certain Troy existed and generally know where it is. In

the 19th century, the German archeologist Heinrich Schliemann and the Englishman Frank

Calvert excavated what is known as the Citadel of Troy and found evidence of a military

conflict in the 12th century B.C., including arrows and 5 feet of burned debris around a buried

fortress. Whether it was a war between Troy and a foreign element, or a civil war is unknown,

Rose said.

The compilation we know as the "Iliad" was written centuries later, the date Pagel is

proposing.

The scientists tracked the words in the "Iliad" the way they would track genes in a genome.

The researchers employed a linguistic tool called the Swadesh word list, put together in the

1940s and 1950s by American linguist Morris Swadesh. The list contains approximately 200

concepts that have words apparently in every language and every culture, Pagel said. These

are usually words for body parts, colors, necessary relationships like "father" and "mother."

They looked for Swadesh words in the "Iliad" and found 173 of them. Then, they measured

how they changed.

They took the language of the Hittites, a people that existed during the time the war may have

been fought, and modern Greek, and traced the changes in the words from Hittite to Homeric

to modern. It is precisely how they measure the genetic history of humans, going back and

seeing how and when genes alter over time.

For example, they looked at cognates, words derived from ancestral words. There is "water" in

English, "wasser" in German, "vatten" in Swedish, all cognates emanating from "wator" in

proto-German. However, the Old English "hund" later became "hound" but eventually was

replaced by "dog," not a cognate.

"I'm an evolutionary theorist," Pagel said. "I study language because it's such a remarkable

culturally transmitted replicator. It replicates with a fidelity that's just astonishing."

By documenting the regularity of the linguistic mutations, Pagel and the others have given a

timeline to the story of Helen and the men who died for her -- genetics meets the classics.

In Search of Barnabas

 In search of Barnabas A recent article (here) in the York [Pennsylvania] Daily Record features the research of Messiah College professor Dr. Michael Cosby. Cosby received a Fulbright Grant to do this research in Cyprus, a place associated with the life of Barnabas.

Barnabas is best known to most of us because of his association with the Apostle Paul on the first missionary journey. He is mentioned more than 20 times in the Book of Acts. Other than that, he is mentioned 3 times in Galatians 2, and once each in 1 Corinthians and Colossians.

We understand from Luke’s account that Barnabas, also known as Joseph, was a Levite of Cyprus (Acts 4:36). The first stop on the First Journey was at Salamis on the eastern end of the Mediterranean island of Cyprus (Acts 13:1-5). There the preachers spoke in the synagogue of the Jews, and later on the western end of the island at Paphos.

When Paul and Barnabas had a dispute prior to the Second Journey, Barnabas took his cousin Mark and went to Cyprus (Acts 15:36-41).

Nothing else is mentioned in the Bible about Barnabas and the island of Cyprus. But a great amount of tradition has grown up on the island. It is this tradition that Prof. Cosby studied, and he researched the association of the tradition to the modern Greek Orthodox Church of Cyprus, and the privileges granted to the Cypriot archbishops.

Having just visited Cyprus last year I find this a fascinating article. Perhaps you will enjoy it.

According to a tradition dating back to 488 A.D., the sepulcher of Barnabas was discovered by Anthemios, the Archbishop of Constantia and placed in a church he built near the tomb. The photo below shows the now-empty church near the ruins of Roman Salamis.

The Church of Barnabas at Salamis. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Salamis is now located in the the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, or as the folks in the south of Cyprus say, “the occupied territory.”