NOAH’S ARK DROGUE STONES _______________ The Durupinar site in the Middle East has many landmarks that have been associated with Noah's Ark over the centuries. Among these are the Arzap drogue stones, which are large standing stones found near the site. These stones were believed to have been attached to the ark and used as sea anchors or drogue stones. They are heavy and flat with a hole for tying a line at one end. Drogue stones were the equivalent of a storm anchor on an ancient ship and kept it stable in rough seas. The stones were continually used in ancient times after the possible flood and can be found in places like Israel and the Nile River in Egypt. #grownostr #plebchain #apologetics #Bible #history _______________ If you find value in my notes and articles please like, boost or follow! Zaps are always appreciated!

THE CHAOS IN OUR LIVES DOES NOT DISPROVE A DESIGNER ______________ I saw a car wrecked on the side of the road.  It was a Ford.  There was much destruction, it was on fire, seeming chaos, and the people within lay dead.  Some fanatic came up, claiming the vehicle was built by Ford Motor Company.  I highly doubt that.  The vehicle came about by random chance and endless combinations of metallic parts.  I mean, if there really is a Ford Motor Company, one would expect them to build cars that work and are not smashed or on fire!  I just don't see any evidence for such a benevolent Company.  This crazy fanatic next to me claimed that the Company built the car just right, but that later the owner misused it, which led to the destruction.  I then asked, "Then why doesn't the Company just force all drivers to do exactly what the Company wants?"  He then said I would be complaining about the Company being tyrannical, if it did that.  What an idiot!  I think every scientific, free thinking, rational mind knows there is no such Company as Ford Motor Company.  I am totally willing to accept it, if there is such a Company, but I do not see ANY evidence for it.  What?  The Ford logo?  Well, again, that is just chance. Randomness that uneducated people see as creation and order and design?  What?  Ford logos on the leather and interior and under the hood?  Again, wonderful accident.  The beauty of randomness. ~ Anonymous People have the same argument that God doesn’t exist because there is chaos within our lives. Peace be with you! _______________ #grownostr #plebchain #Christianity #God #apologetics #Nostriches If you find value in my articles please like, boost, or follow! Zaps are always appreciated!

THE FIRST CAUSE ARGUMENT FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD _______________ The argument for the existence of God being the first cause of the universe is a fundamental element to apologetics. The idea that things that begin to exist must have a first cause was introduced into Christian theology by the Dominican priest, theologian, and philosopher, Saint Thomas Aquinas. Aquinas wrote his argument for the existence of God by causation in his dissertation called the Second Way. The Second Way is part of the grouping called The Five Ways in which Aquinas lays forth five arguments to prove the existence of God. In his in his book “Summa Theologica” he states: “The second way is from the nature of the efficient cause. In the world of sense we find there is an order of efficient causes. There is no case known (neither is it, indeed, possible) in which a thing is found to be the efficient cause of itself; for so it would be prior to itself, which is impossible. Now in efficient causes it is not possible to go on to infinity, because in all efficient causes following in order, the first is the cause of the intermediate cause, and the intermediate is the cause of the ultimate cause, whether the intermediate cause be several, or only one. Now to take away the cause is to take away the effect. Therefore, if there be no first cause among efficient causes, there will be no ultimate, nor any intermediate cause. But if in efficient causes it is possible to go on to infinity, there will be no first efficient cause, neither will there be an ultimate effect, nor any intermediate efficient causes; all of which is plainly false. Therefore, it is necessary to admit a first efficient cause, to which everyone gives the name of God.” [1] The Second Way addresses the argument that God exists by the way of causation. In that, all beings that exist are due to an efficient cause. No being that exists is due to its own cause, it needs an external cause to bring it into existence the “efficient cause”. Aquinas then argues that this causal chain cannot be extend back into infinity. Aquinas, then posits the need for a first efficient cause not unlike Aristotle’s “unmoved mover”. However, Aquinas makes the connection between the first efficient cause and the Judeo-Christian God. [1] Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1 (Fathers of the English Dominican Province, 2006) I, q.2, a.3. _______________ #grownostr #plebchain #Christianity #Bible #apologetics #philosophy If you enjoy my notes, please like, boost or follow! Zaps are always great too!

"1N73LL1G3NC3 15 7H3 4B1L17Y 70 4D4P7 70 CH4NG3." ~ 573PH3N H4WK1NG #grownostr #plebchain #science

“We are an impossibility in an impossible universe.” ~ Ray Bradbury #grownostr #plebchain #nostr #science #physics #apologetics If my notes bring value into your life please like, boost or follow! Zaps are always great too!

PASCAL’S WAGER _______________ Pascal's Wager is a philosophical argument presented by the French mathematician, philosopher, physicist, and theologian Blaise Pascal in the 17th century. It posits that human beings wager with their lives that God either exists or does not. Pascal argued that people can choose to believe in God or can choose not to believe, but the potential benefits of believing in God are so vast that it is rational to bet on theism. Pascal's Wager is a practical argument for belief in God that applies elements of game theory to show that belief in the Christian religion is rational. _______________ #grownostr #plebchain #apologetics #history #God If you find value in my notes and articles please like, boost or follow! Zaps are always appreciated!

Caravaggio, The Conversion of St. Paul, c. 1600-1601 #grownostr #plebchain #Christianity #paintings

FIVE NOTABLE BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDS _______________ (1) The Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered in the mid-20th century within a series of caves along the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea. They contain some of the earliest known copies of the Hebrew Bible and other Jewish texts.
 (2) The Nag Hammadi Library, discovered in 1945 hidden beneath a large boulder near the town of Nag Hammadi in Egypt. It contains a collection of early Christian texts within thirteen different volumes, including several lost Gnostic gospels.
 (3) The Tel Dan Stele, discovered in 1993, is a standing stone marker discovered in Tel Dan in the Upper Galilee in Israeli. On the stone is a Canaanite inscription that refers to the "House of David.” The stele provides evidence for the existence of the biblical King David. 
 (4) The Beit She'arim cemetery, excavated in 2022, contained an inscription on a grave marker referring to "Jacob the Proselyte.” A proselyte is a convert to Judaism usually from the Ancient Greek religion. The marker provides evidence for the existence of first century non-Jewish converts to Judaism in ancient Israel.
 (5) The discovery of a 10,500-year-old basket in 2021 within the caves along the Dead Sea. It is the oldest known basket in existence and is reminiscent of the baskets mentioned in the Bible, such as the one that held the baby Moses in Exodus and the basket from which Jesus fed the multitudes. _______________
 #grownostr #plebchain #nostr #Bible #Christianity #apologetics If you find value in my notes and articles please like, boost or follow! Zaps are always appreciated!

THE FINE TUNING OF THE UNIVERSE AND THE EXISTENCE OF GOD _______________ One of the strongest pieces of evidences for the existence of God is the apparent fine tuning of the universe. That is, the fine tuning that exists in numerous equations that govern physics. Take for instance the equation of Newton's Law of Gravitation. The Gravitational Constant  is the number in the equation the tunes the gravitational strength much like tuning a guitar. It's number determines the strength of attraction between two masses. The gravitational constant is tuned to such a degree that if gravity were stronger by 1 part in 10^40 (that is a 1 followed by forty 0s), the universe would be dominated by black holes and not stars. Making the universe inhabitable for life. This is a strong indication that the universe was created for life and not just an accident. The following video by Dr. William Lane Craig explains fine tuning in more detail. _______________ #grownostr #plebchain #physics #science #God If you find value in my notes and articles please like, boost or follow! Zaps are always appreciated!

WILLIAM BUCKLEY AND THE BUNYIP _______________ William Buckley was an escaped convict who lived with the Wathaurong aboriginal tribe in Australia for over 30 years in the early 19th century. During his time with the tribe, he encountered a creature known as the bunyip. According to Buckley's account, the bunyip was an "extraordinary amphibious animal" with grey feathers covering its back and about the size of a full-grown calf. Buckley also claimed that the bunyip was believed to have supernatural powers and was a common sight along the Barwon River. “He [the Bunyip] made his home in the deep waterholes and the rain forests, lurking in the gloom by day and roaming the earth by night during the time of darkness. He brought fear to the tribes, threatening to devour any human he might meet.” ~ William Buckley, The Life and Adventures of William Buckley, 1852 _______________  #grownostr #plebchain #cyptid #history If you find value in my notes and articles please like, boost or follow! Zaps are always appreciated! An illustration of William Buckley during his life with the aborigine tribes.

#grownostr #Christianity #Jesus

“PRESERVATION OF FAVORED RACES IN THE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE” _______________ You never hear that subtitle for “The Origin of Species” written by Charles Darwin. The outward racist beliefs of Darwin are never talked about or mentioned when genuflecting to his evolutionary theories. His views grew roots in the fertile soil of hatred in the twentieth century and allowed for the extermination of our fellow man because of a self appointed superiority. “At some future period, not very distant as measured by centuries, the civilized races of man will almost certainly exterminate and replace throughout the world the savage races. At the same time the anthropomorphous apes, as Professor Schaaffhausen has remarked, will no doubt be exterminated. The break will then be rendered wider, for it will intervene between man in a more civilized state, as we may hope, than the Caucasian, and some ape as low as a baboon, instead of as at present between the negro or Australian and the gorilla. ” ~ Charles Darwin, “Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex” “I could not have believed how wide was the difference between savage and civilised man… Viewing such men, one can hardly make oneself believe that they are fellow-creatures, and inhabitants of the same world. It is a common subject of conjecture what pleasure in life some of the lower animals can enjoy: how much more reasonably the same question may be asked of these barbarians!” ~ Charles Darwin, “Voyage of the Beagle” _______________ #grownostr #plebchain #nostr #evolution #philosophy If you find value in my notes, please like, boost or follow! Zaps are always great too!

POLYSTRATE PETRIFIED TREES _______________ Polystrate trees are fossilized tree trunks that are found protruding through multiple layers of rock strata. The question is how the tree fossilizes this way if the rock layers take millions of years to form? _______________ If you enjoy my posts, please like, boost or give me a follow! Zaps are always great too! #grownostr #plebchain #science #creation #apologetics

JESUS WALKS ON WATER _______________ Painting by Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky. (1817 - 1900) #grownostr #plebchain #Christianity #Bible #painting If you enjoy my posts, please like, boost or give me a follow! Zaps are always great too!

PIGEON POOP LEADS TO A UNIVERSAL DISCOVERY _______________ The biggest piece of evidence for the viability of the  Big Bang theory came in 1964 when Bell Labs scientists Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson were conducting research at the Bell Laboratory, Holmdel Horn Antenna. During their work recording the microwave radiation of the Milky Way galaxy, an unusually high background microwave radiation was detected. The source of the excess radiation could not be determined and they thought that it could be the leftover radiation from a high altitude nuclear explosion that was conducted a year earlier. However, the radiation measurements didn’t decrease as time passed so it was ruled out as a cause. Even the pigeon droppings that were all over the inside of the antenna, described as “white dielectric material” by Penzias, was cleaned out and examined to see if it was the cause of the excess radiation. In the end, no terrestrial cause of the radiation was found and it was determined that the radiation was coming from the universe itself. This radiation was the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) that was left over from the big bang event and was later shown to be almost uniform throughout the universe. This evidence placed the Big Bang Theory as the prominent theory of the origin of our universe and is dominant to this day. _______________ #grownostr #plebchain #physics #science #engineering If you find value in my notes and articles please like, boost or follow! Zaps are always appreciated! Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson at the Bell Laboratory, Holmdel Horn Antenna

THE COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD _______________ The Cosmological Argument is a philosophical argument for the existence of God and can basically be summed up by the following logical form: Premise 1: Everything that begins to exist has a cause of its existence. Premise 2: The universe began to exist. Conclusion: Therefore, the universe has a cause of its existence. Premise 1: States that for everything that has a definite point in time where it begins to exist, there must be a cause or another entity that brings forth that existence. For instance, if you have a seedling growing in your front yard there must have been another plant that initiated that seed that is spouting. Things in our universe just don’t pop into existence from nothing, it is contrary to the reality that we know. Premise 2: States that our universe has a definite beginning point where it began to exist. We know this by many reasons. First, the Big Bang Theory is evidence that points to this conclusion. Second, one can point to the increasing entropy of the universe, where the universe will eventually run out of usable energy making and infinite past is impossible because entropy would have run out an infinite time ago and we would not be here. Lastly, you can use the argument that Aquinas used in his Second Way that an infinite regression is absurd and doesn’t make sense.  The conclusion ties premise 1 and 2 together. The universe had a beginning, thus it had a cause. Some people take this part as an objection to the Cosmological Argument. They will say that it doesn’t prove the existence of the Judeo-Christian God. Yes, they would be right, it doesn’t. It is not meant to prove there is a God, only a cause sufficient to create the universe. Now, that cause would have some of the attributes of the Judeo-Christian God like all-powerful, timeless, and spaceless just to name a few. Another objection to the Cosmological Argument is the need for the first cause of the universe to have a cause. The answer to the question, “Who made God?”. I believe that to be a premise that doesn’t take all the facts of the situation into account. Remember in the preceding paragraph that the cause would have the attribute of timelessness? If you are timeless, how do you have a beginning or a cause? There is no time. If you cannot measure with the parameter of time then there is no beginning or end, everything exists in a timeless realm. Something we cannot even begin to comprehend, and we exclude from this kind of philosophical discussion. _______________ #grownostr #plebchain #apologetics #philosophy #God If you find value in my notes and articles please like, boost or follow! Zaps are always appreciated!

SCIENCE INCREASINGLY MAKES THE CASE FOR GOD _______________ Published in the Wall Street Journal on December 25, 2014 by Eric Metaxas illustrates a compelling case that science is increasingly making the case for a Creator of the universe. #grownostr #plebchain #Christianity #Bible #science

Eric Metaxas -

Science Increasingly Makes the Case for God - Eric Metaxas

The op-ed, “Science Increasingly Makes the Case for God,” was published in the Wall Street Journal on December 25, 2014. Since then, the articl...

THE UNIVERSE FROM NOTHING IS ABSURD _______________ Link to my first Habla article discussing how the explanation of the origin of our universe does not make sense without God. #grownostr #plebchain #nostr #apologetics #God #naturallaw #philosophy If you find value in my notes and articles please like, boost or follow! Zaps are always appreciated! https://tinyurl.com/2p8vrdds

Salvator Mundi (c. 1510) by Leonardo da Vinci #grownostr #plebchain #nostr #Christianity #paintings #art

THE SACRIFICE OF ST. DAMIEN OF MOLOKA’I _______________ St. Damien of Moloka'i, also known as Father Damien, was a Belgian priest who devoted his life to missionary work among the Hawaiian lepers in the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. Damien volunteered to take charge of the leper settlement of Kalaupapa on the island of Moloka'i in Hawaii. He served there for 16 years until his death on April 15, 1889. During his time serving the colony as their Pastor and physician, Father Damien cared for the sick in both their physical and spiritual needs. He also improved many of the colonies buildings and improved the water and food supplies. Father Damian was not afraid to do the one thing that the victims of leprosy never experienced, he touched them. This was his sacrifice to the people that he loved, people that were untouchable by regular society. In 1884, he contracted leprosy but refused to leave the colony. Father Damian choose to stay with his people and continued to care for them until his death. His remains were returned to Belgium in 1936 to be buried in Leuven which is close to the village where he was born. However, his right hand was returned to Moloka'i in 1995 to be buried in his original resting spot as a beautiful testament to the people that he touched with his compassion. “My greatest pleasure is to serve the Lord in his poor children rejected by other people.” ~ St. Damien of Moloka'i _______________ #grownostr #plebchain #nostr #Christianity If you find value in my notes and articles please like, boost or follow! Zaps are always appreciated!