Notes – La Vista Church of Christ

The Evidence of Nature

Jeffrey Hamilton — Sat, 08 Aug 2026 21:57:11 +0000

by Elton Trueblood, The Logic of Belief, p. 158-159
via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 22, No. 1, March 1996

“The chief strength of atheistic naturalism has lain in the notion that the material world needs no explanation, external to itself, that it is, indeed, a perpetual motion machine, which had no beginning and will have no end. But when we take the Second Law of Thermodynamics seriously, we can no longer hold to this doctrine. The universe as we know it, by the aid of modern science, could not have originated without the action of a creative Source of energy outside itself, and it cannot be maintained without it. But a creative Source of energy outside the natural order is God."

Found: A Legendary City that History Forgot

Jeffrey Hamilton — Sat, 08 Aug 2026 21:52:17 +0000

from U.S. News and World Report, December 4, 1995, p. 10
via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 22 No. 1, March 1996

They lived, legend said, more than 4,000 years ago, mining ore and worshiping a god that lived in their fabled capital, Urkesh. Modern history remembered their contemporaries—the Sumerians and the Semites—but it all but forgot the Hurrians and their rich city. In fact, many historians doubted that the Hurrians or Urkesh ever existed because only scant evidence had been found: a mention in the Old Testament, scattered references in ancient literature, and two unearthed bronze lions with the inscription Urkesh.

Last week, those doubts faded. After eight years of excavation, a team of archaeologists headed by UCLA’s Giorgio Buccellati reported locating Urkesh beneath the modern town of Tell Mozan in northeastern Syria. The diggers found clay pottery, metal tools, detailed drawings and seal imprints from the ancient civilization. Among the most striking: the signature seals of Urkesh’s king and queen. The discovery, Buccellati says, will help give Urkesh and the overlooked Hurrians their proper place in history. “The footnote will become a chapter.”

Note:

Scholars link the Hebrew word for Horite (Hori) to the Hurrians (Hurri) due to the similarity of the words. The Horites are mentioned in connection with Mount Seir and the Edomites (Genesis 14:6; 36:20-30; Deuteronomy 2:12, 22).

by Jeffrey W. Hamilton

Adventures with Alaskan Dinosaur Bones

Jeffrey Hamilton — Sat, 08 Aug 2026 21:36:53 +0000

by Margaret Helder, Creation Science Dialog, Vol. 21 No. 3
via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 22 No. 1, March 1996

Sponsored by Creation Research Science Education Foundation, five men went to Alaska in July 1994 to collect unfossilized dinosaur bones. They included John Whitmore (Associate Professor of Geology at Cedarville College, Ohio); Mike Liston (outdoor and rescue specialist); Buddy Davis (dinosaur sculptor and exhibitor); George Detwiler (high school science teacher); and Dan Specht (dentist). Permission to collect dinosaur bones had previously been obtained from the United States Department of the Interior.

As described in World by Design (P. O. Box 292, Columbus, Ohio 43216-0292 Vol. 2, #4 pp. 1-3), the men began their journey at Umiat, a ghost town 130 km south of the Arctic Ocean. It took them from July 12 to July 17, proceeding down the Colville River, to reach the vicinity of the dinosaur bed. On the way, they coped with incredibly hungry mosquitoes, leaks in their inflatable rafts, 30 cm high waves pushing them back upstream, and quicksand on the shore. En route, they discovered a fossilized duck-bill dinosaur jaw (Lambeosaurus) as well as limb bones. This is probably an unreported dinosaur locality. On Monday, July 18, they hiked two hours from their Liscomb bone bed, site of the most important and amazing dinosaur remains in Alaska. Fossilized and unfossilized bones were found in abundance, and about 60 kg were collected for further analysis. Some will be sent to a laboratory in Moscow for possible dating.

The story of the unfossilized dinosaur bones in Alaska began in 1961 when geologist R. L. Libscomb, working for Shell Oil Co., discovered the bone bed. As the bones were not fossilized, he assumed they were recent bison bones. In 1985, principal investigator William A. Clemens from the University of California at Berkeley reported the presence of abundant dinosaur bones at the site (abstract #78919, Geological Society of America abstract programs, vol. 17, p. 548). In 1987, one of Clemens' associates, Kyle L Davies, described the condition of the duck-bill dinosaur bones: "The quality of preservation is remarkable. The bones are stained a dark red brown but otherwise display little premineralization, crushing or distortion." (Paleontology, 61 # 1 p. 198). The bones are said to be about 70 million years old, although they are unfossilized and resemble recent bones (at most the last several thousand years).

Although news of the dinosaur bone bed in Alaska has been published a number of times in the media, the amazing condition of the bones is generally not reported. For example, the cover story article on dinosaurs in National Geographic, January 1992 said: "...a team led by Bill Clemens of the University of California at Berkeley and Carole Allison of the University of Alaska reported finding large numbers of Cretaceous dinosaur bones on Alaska's North Slope. That was astonishing..." (p. 36).

Apparently the even more remarkable condition of the bones (unfossilized after a supposed passage of 70 million years) was not considered newsworthy enough to mention. Might they have felt a little embarrassed at the unfossilized state of the bones? Might this condition have caused some among the public to question the supposed antiquity of these artifacts?

It is hoped by the Alaskan bone collectors that perhaps some collagen (protein) still remains in the unfossilized bones. If so, then carbon fourteen dating can be attempted. In addition, a new technique recently developed in Russia involves a comparison of the ratio of stable isotopes of carbon twelve and carbon thirteen in the fossil specimen with similar ratios in fossils of Cro Magnon man. The theory is that similar values can indicate a common biological environment, suggesting with a high probability that they lived at the same time. The Russian group has already carried out such studies on dinosaur bones from Northwest Siberia and Cro Magnon fossils from East Kazakhstan. (A. A. Ivanov, D. A. Kousnetsov, and H. R. Miller. 1992. Theory of Biofractionation of stable isotopes in paleochronology. Proceedings of the Fifth European Creationist Congress, pp. 35-41. For more info, write H. R. Miller, The Paleochronology Group, P. O. Box 2635, Columbus, Ohio 43216).

[My thanks to Steve Willis for posting this article on Markslist, a religious bulletin board. Steve believes that the unfossilized condition of the bones could be due to:

Not as old as previously thought;

the fossilization process not being correctly understood; or,

the cold climate preserved the bones in an unfossilized condition.

Kenny Chumbley]

Can Random Events Create Order?

Jeffrey Hamilton — Sat, 08 Aug 2026 20:58:05 +0000

by Michael Talbot, "Mathematical Evidence of the Existence of God," p. 195
via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 22 No. 1, March 1996

From Beyond the Quantum:

"David Ossekon chided his fellow mathematicians for ever popularizing the issue of monkeys and typewriters. The basic mathematics behind the notion that, given enough time, a group of monkeys would eventually type the works of Shakespeare may be simple, but the sheer enormity of such a task makes it meaningless as an explanatory principle. According to Osselton's calculations, it would take a million million monkeys roughly a million million years to type out only the name of William Shakespeare. And to obtain a paltry two lines from one of Shakespeare’s plays would require 10¹⁵⁰ strokes on a simplified fifty-two-character typewriter, or billions and billions of times more than the number of atoms in the whole universe. Ossekon concludes, ’The idea that in the fullness of time random events will ineluctably come up with the right combination is less potent than has commonly been supposed.'"

Loving God Leads to Loving Your Neighbor

Jeffrey Hamilton — Tue, 04 Aug 2026 15:55:42 +0000

"Again and again the message of the Old Testament is that if you choose the wrong gods you will end in social decay. Biblical monotheism, far from an abstract creed, affirms that only when God is properly honored will society be just and compassionate. Modern western society, reaping the fruit of two centuries of systematically excluding the living God from all practical public relevance, is now plagued by the loss of family stability, respect for property, social compassion, sexual integrity, and the sanctity of life. Those who will not love God soon find it irksome (or uneconomical) to love their neighbors."

Christopher J.H. Wright on Deuteronomy 27.15–28

Are Actions Alone Sufficient?

Jeffrey Hamilton — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 13:40:36 +0000

by Matthew W. Bates
from Salvation by Allegiance Alone, Baker Academic, 2017

Similarly, the gospel cannot be reduced to behaving in a cross-shaped manner or to social programs. Saint Francis of Assisi is often remembered to have said, “Preach the gospel at all times; use words if necessary.” This is a clever saying (although its origination with Saint Francis is historically dubious), because we all recognize that sometimes actions do speak more forcefully than words. But it is dreadfully wrongheaded to suggest that the gospel is best (or even adequately) proclaimed by actions unencumbered by words.

It is also off-base to think that Christian social activities, such as providing assistance to the poor, are the gospel—even though it is popular in some quarters to call such activities the “social gospel.” Such actions might serve to remind those who benefit of part of the gospel story once they hear it elsewhere or if they already know it. But the actions themselves only become a gospel proclamation derivatively when the recipient hears the full gospel elsewhere and then is able to make the link between the actions and the full narrative.

Because we are uncomfortable sharing the gospel, afraid that we will turn someone off or be perceived in the wrong way, we can convince ourselves that the gospel is best communicated with actions, not words. But the true gospel is not reducible to Christian activities.

A Center of Certitude

Jeffrey Hamilton — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 22:11:15 +0000

from A Place to Stand by Elton Trueblood
via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 4, December 1995

The most pragmatic reason for seeing that Christ is the most dependable reality is the evidence of changed human lives. When we consider Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus, we are in the realm of the empirical rather than the merely speculative. Saul said it was the Living Christ who had met him, and the person who seeks to deny this is confronted with the fact of a permanent change in Saul’s character. We cannot, of course, know whether a man is lying when he says ‘I believe,’ because belief is intrinsically internal and personal, but the evidence of changed lives is something which other people can observe. In Saul’s case, the change was so radical that it led to the production of some of the finest literature of the world, a literature which would not have been produced apart from the crucial encounter.

The evidence of lives changed by contact with Christ is so abundant that the full story can never be told; it is, indeed, of a kind not matched anywhere in any culture. The changed lives have come about, not primarily by a set of ideas or by acceptance of a doctrine, but by commitment to a Person...

The Christian takes his stand on the fact that lives can be made new through fellowship with Christ, and he knows of no other source of change and renewal equal to this. With George Fox, the Christian of each generation hears an inner voice which says, There is one, even Christ Jesus, who can speak to thy condition.’ We have learned that a mere inner direction, no matter how frantic or obsessive, is not sufficient for the new life we sorely need, for we do not have the power to save ourselves. My own life cannot be unified except by that to which I am devoted. But where shall I turn? A mere ‘ism’ will never suffice. Because persons are superior, in kind, not only to all things but even to all ideas, I need a person to whom I can give myself and thereby find myself. But not just any person will suffice...The Christian who uses the phrase ‘the mind of Christ’ is not using language in the same way as if he were to speak of the mind of Plato or Marx. We know something of the minds of these men because we can read what they wrote, but we mean something different in reference to Christ. We mean that Christ can be in us, and that His mentality can come to dominate ours. ‘Do you not realize,’ asks Paul, ‘that Jesus Christ is in you?’ (II Corinthians 13:5). Shocking as it sounds, it is really possible for a finite man, as he responds to Christ’s call, to have a measure of the spirit of Christ. The central purpose of the gospel is that Christ may be formed in us (Gal. 4:19) and that He may dwell in our hearts (Ephesians 3:17).

The Discovery of the Mount Sinai Manuscript

Jeffrey Hamilton — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 22:04:22 +0000

from True or False by David Otis Fuller, ed., p. 71
via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 4, December 1995

This famous Codex (with facsimiles of the handwriting and with an account of its discovery) is published in full in Dr. Scrivener’s work entitled 'A Full Collation of the Codex Sinaiticus’ (1864).

Constantine Tischendorf, a noted German scholar, who was indefatigable in the guest of old manuscripts, was visiting, in the year 1844, a monastery on Mt. Sinai, and in the course of that visit he chanced to find one day, among the waste, some leaves of vellum which, upon inspection, were found to contain parts of the Septuagint Version of the Old Testament in a script which indicated that the manuscript was of great antiquity.

In describing his famous discovery, Tischendorf says: ‘I perceived in the middle of the great hall a large and wide basket, full of old parchments; and the librarian informed me that two heaps of papers like this, moldered by reason of age, had been already committed to the flames. What was my surprise to find among this heap of documents a considerable number of sheets of a copy of the Old Testament in Greek, which seemed to me to be one of the most ancient I had ever seen.’

The monks allowed him to take forty-five of the sheets. But nothing more transpired until fifteen years later, when he again visited the monastery, this time under the direct patronage of the Czar of Russia. And then he was shown a bulky roll of parchment leaves, which included, among other manuscripts of lesser importance, the Codex now known as the Sinaitic.

Naturally enough, Dr. Tischendorf was highly elated by his discovery. Indeed, his enthusiasm was unbounded. He says, ‘I knew that I held in my hands the most precious Biblical treasure in existence,' and he considered this discovery to be ‘greater than that of the Koh-i-noor (diamond) of the Queen of England.’

The Impact of Jesus

Jeffrey Hamilton — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 21:43:52 +0000

Excerpted from If God Came by Jim McGuiggan, p. 101-102
via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 4, December 1995

Take a moment and think about it. How did the son of a Jewish carpenter manage to affect our world so powerfully? How many millions of church buildings and edifices have been erected to his name in the last 19 centuries? How many songs and poems have been written to glorify him? How many millions would y״u guess? How many thousands of millions of books have been published either in favor of him or against him? (For no one publishes countless thousands of books against one who doesn’t matter.) How much music has been written to lift the heart to thinking of him? How many hospitals, rest homes, orphanages, nursing homes, and health organizations have this Galilean inspired?

What can be said about the life of Jesus? Who can even touch the hem of the garment of the subject? How do we appraise one whose words have dominated the civilized world since their utterance? Whose word, at this very moment, in the space age when men have isolated the gene and photographed the atom, is the watchword and safeguard of our society? At this very moment, there are millions upon millions of people whose lives are dominated by the words of this Galilean. He is prayed to and prayed through by numberless millions in every generation. He stands astride the world like a colossus. Where his influence has not been, there is poverty, filth, and a cancerous naturalism. Where his principles are stifled, there is crime rampant, slums abounding, and vice prevailing. His name is sung in countless buildings set up to his glory. His name is the last on the lips of millions as they make their way into the other world. His book has no peer, his Church is deathless, his morality unprecedented, his code of ethics immeasurably above all the rest, his influence unbelievable, his authority universal, his love beyond knowledge, his followers unbeatable and uncountable, his benevolence incalculable.

Inerrancy and Figurative Language

Jeffrey Hamilton — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 17:15:46 +0000

by J. M. Boice
via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 21 No. 3, September 1995

"Some people say, 'If you believe in inerrancy, you have to take every statement in the Bible literally. (You must believe] that God has a heart, perhaps even that God has wings’ (Ps. 17:8). This is foolish... It is based on the error of supposing that for something to be true, it must be expressed in non-figurative language. This is just not so. The Bible uses poetical language at times, just as we do. We do not err just because we use it, nor does the Bible. Everyone understands the language to be poetical. In the same way, some biblical expressions are adaptations to the limits of human language, as, for example, those parts of the Bible that refer to the emotions of God...how can the Bible adequately tell us that we are deeply loved by God unless it tells us that his heart is moved, and uses other similar expressions?”

[Does Inerrancy Matter? p. 11]