Nature's Engineers v. Darwin.

Masters of Physics in the Living World
Evolution News | @DiscoveryCSC

Throughout the living world, cells, plants and animals display proficiency in dynamics — the physics of movement. Pulling off these successful moves often involves precise coordination of different physical laws.

Damselfly Elasticity

We all know about dragonflies (Günter Bechly’s specialty), those brilliant hovering insects that delight children and adults. Damselflies are similar, except slightly smaller and more slender. We could spend time talking about these amazing insects’ use of optical flow navigation, predictive hunting techniques, or other capabilities that inspire human engineers. Today, let’s learn about another trait requiring mastery of physics: the flexibility of the joints in their wings. A new paper in  PLOS ONE revealed an amazing protein that makes the wings springy and flexible. In “Morphological and mechanical properties of flexible resilin joints on damselfly wings,” they introduce the protein resilin:

The main focus of this study is on the flexible element that has been found on the wings of damselflies, called resilin. Resilin is the rubber-like protein found in specialized regions of the cuticle of most insects that gives low stiffness, high strain and efficient energy storage that functions in insect flight. Weis-Fogh first described resilin from the flight systems of locusts and dragonflies, it was described to be similar to swollen isotropic rubber, but its elastic behaviour is unlike any other natural or synthetic polymer. Additionally, resilin was shown to have remarkable mechanical properties where it is two decades [i.e., orders of magnitude] higher than for elastin, suggesting that resilin is a more mobile bio-polymer. 

An insect wing needs to achieve the optimum tradeoff of elasticity and durability. It cannot tear too easily in the wind, but it cannot be too stiff, either. The resilin protein has the ideal properties for flexibility and energy storage. It can deform and then pop back into position with a spring-like response. “Resilin functions as an elastic spring that demonstrates extraordinary extensibility and elasticity,” the four authors say. The springiness comes from the precise placement of the correct amino acids in the sequence.

Using atomic force microscopy and other techniques, the researchers measured the physical properties of resilin that give it such ideal properties, allowing wings to flex and get the most lift for amount of energy consumed. There’s more than just the availability of resilin to the insect. The researchers also found that the distribution of resilin varies throughout the wing, putting the flexibility where it is most needed. That’s a separate design principle from the material alone:

The structural analysis revealed that the flexibility of the wings varied from one area to another, and the resilin distribution pattern was the mechanism that controlled the characteristics of the wing…. Additionally, the AFM images revealed resilin nanostructures of varied sizes and enabled the calculation of elasticity values at each section of the wing; membrane, mobile and immobile joints in Rhinocypha spp…. While studies on silks and elastin received a lot of attention in the past decade, this has now change [sic] to focus on recombinant resilin; structure-mechanical properties of the resilin with potentially greater application in a variety of fields.

As is common in papers dealing with natural designs, biomimetics has overtaken evolution as the focus of interest. The authors are excited to think about how their discovery could help engineers use this “remarkable” springy protein for “greater application in a variety of fields.” Flubber, perhaps? Nature had it first!

High Jump Champs

Who could forget the remarkable gears of the planthopper we wrote about five years ago that store elastic energy for its rapid jumps? Well, Current Biology published an interesting “Quick Guide” to “Insect Jumping Springs” that shows there’s more than one way to leap. Although Sutton and Burrows don’t mention the gears, they do share some “Wow!” facts about planthoppers:

A planthopper can accelerate in less than 1 millisecond to a take-off velocity of 5 [meters per second], requiring a power output (energy per given time) of tens of thousands of Watts per kilogram of muscle.

How can they get such superpowers, when muscle can only generate 300 Watts per kilogram? There’s another physical limitation, too: the faster a muscle contracts, the less power it can generate, “exacerbating the problem.” Furthermore, for a jumping insect, the power can only operate when it’s in contact with the ground. A poor planthopper seems to have three strikes against it.

How do these insects do it? They jump by using springs; devices that allow energy to be stored gradually in mechanical deformations and then released abruptly.

In insects that use springs to jump, the legs are first moved into the same cocked position and the joints locked. The power-producing muscles then contract slowly over periods of 100 milliseconds to a few seconds without moving the legs; instead, the force generated distorts parts of the skeleton, which store mechanical energy. The sudden release of these loaded skeletal springs then powers the rapid propulsive movements of the legs. The elastic recoil of the spring returns the stored energy very quickly. The power is amplified because almost all the energy produced by the slow contraction of muscle is returned to the leg in a much shorter time, delivering the thousands of W kg–1 of mechanical power required for jumping.

The authors compare this to stretching an archery bow and releasing the stored energy rapidly. “Compare how far you can throw an arrow with how far you can fire it with a bow,” they comment. Known insects that use springs for jumping include fleas, grasshoppers, froghoppers, planthoppers, flea beetles, and “even in a cockroach,” but many more are likely to be discovered. If you see an insect achieving more than 300 Watts per kilogram of muscle, it’s probably using a spring mechanism. And now, once again, we find that protein resilin we just learned about:

These springs are a composite of hard, highly-sclerotized cuticle and the highly-elastic protein resilin. A hard material such as sclerotized cuticle can store considerable energy even if deformed by only a small amount, but is susceptible to fracture. Resilin, on the other hand, is much softer, stores much less energy when deformed a similar amount, but is resilient and able to strain large amounts if necessary. It returns quickly and reliably to its original shape upon repeated deformations.

What a remarkable thing: the same protein is used for completely different functions in the damselfly wing and in the froghopper leg. Notice, too, that resilin has to cooperate with the structures around it. By itself, it could neither fly nor jump. As with the previous article, the authors end with biomimetics — a design focus. Imitating the jumps of insects will require detailed research, showing that design is not a science stopper, but an inspiration for scientific understanding and application:

The shape and material composition of these biological springs are very different from man-made springs. If we wish to apply biological lessons to modern spring design we need to address three outstanding questions. First, how does the geometry of the biological springs affect their ability to bend, store and release energy? How are the different springs adapted to meet the specific needs of different insects? Finally, what contributions do the hard and soft component materials make to the properties of the springs that enable such reliable storage and release of energy?

That’s another example of what we said at the beginning: achieving these feats of dynamics “involves precise coordination of different physical laws.” In this case materials science, energetics, elasticity, acceleration, and more were involved. Even then, nothing would work without the brain programming to use it.

Plant Gyroscopes

Plants seem so passive, just blowing in the wind, with nowhere to go. We know, however, that certain plants can move rapidly by storing turgor pressure, such as the sensitive plant and the Venus flytrap. There’s one area in botany that really puts the dynamite in dynamics: seed dispersal. A fascinating new study from Pomona College and the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, reported by  Phys.org,  reveals a highly unusual example: a plant that has mastered the Frisbee toss! And it’s a most unlikely contender: the wild petunia Ruellia ciliatiflora — “not actually very closely related to petunias, though it does produce pretty flowers.” (Hey, it’s time to plant your garden annuals for spring color.) So how does this humble little flower disperse its seeds over large distances? Get ready for some more “Wow!” expressions, because we have another world record to share:

What is most striking about the plant is the way it disperses its seeds — by flinging them great distances when its fruit is exposed to water. But until now, little research has been done to find out how the flower flings them so far. To learn more, the researchers brought some of the plants into their lab and filmed seed dispersal using a high-speed camera.

The researchers discovered that there are multiple factors at play. One is the glue-like material that holds the seeds in place, another is the disc shape of the seeds. Little hooks behind the seeds also assist in launching them. Perhaps most importantly, spin develops due to the way the seed is flung. In slowing down the action, the researchers observed that the seeds spin up to 1,660 times per second, making them the fastest spinners known in nature.

Faster than a spinning Frisbee, this plant accelerates its seeds’ angular momentum to this incredible speed, faster than any animal can (including a human Frisbee champ), giving the seed more lift and farther distance. How does it do it? The authors did not say. They did find that the rapid spinning has a purpose: a surprising gyroscopic effect:

The videos offered evidence of the assist the seeds get from spinning — some of those ejected did not spin, and only traveled half as far as those that did. And those that did were able to travel as far as seven meters and were launched at speeds up to 22 miles per hour. Oddly, they spin vertically and counterclockwise, like a Frisbee on its side. The spin, the researchers found, resulted in a gyroscopic effect, keeping the seeds stabilized while the backspin produced less drag, keeping the seeds aloft longer and thus allowing them to fly farther.

That’s amazing. Who would have thought a plant could launch seeds at 22 mph with a spin of 1,660 rotations per second? Those seeds must have seemed like a blurry bullet passing by before the high-speed camera revealed the secret. Once again, we see that this plant had to utilize multiple laws of physics to succeed: properties of materials, gyroscopic effects, aerodynamics and hydrodynamics (since water is involved). How many mutations did that take?

These three examples show that there’s a world of design out there needing to be revealed. If you earn a degree in biomimetics or physics, never lose your inspiration at the ingenuity of living designs. They are the real PhDs. Scientists are their students.

The assault on Adam and Eve continues.

Adam and the Genome and the Mysterious Origin of De Novo Genes
Evolution News | @DiscoveryCSC

In his book in  Adam and the Genome, which we’ve been reviewing, a final case where biologist Dennis Venema deals with evidence that is irrelevant to the existence of Adam and Eve is his claim about ORFan genes. These are genes that don’t resemble genes in other organisms. They are “orphans.”

According to Venema, a theistic evolutionist associated with BioLogos, these genes are no problem for unguided evolution to explain. That is because they spontaneously arise “de novo” from non-gene-coding sequences in DNA.

Once again, as will not come as a surprise if you have followed the present review series, Venema’s target is intelligent design theorist Stephen Meyer. (Possible alternative title for this book: Adam and Steve.) Venema writes:


Though Meyer claims that “evolutionary biologists typically use the term ‘de novo origination’ to describe unexplained increases in genetic information” and that the term “does not refer to any known mutational process,” this is simply not the case.  De novo genes come from DNA sequences that are only a few mutational steps away from becoming a transcribed and translated gene.

(Adam and the Genome, p. 86)

Venema doesn’t provide enough context to show what Meyer actually wrote about de novo gene origination. Here’s what Meyer said in  Darwin’s Doubt on the subject:

Many other papers invoke de novo origination of genes. Long mentions, for example, a study seeking to explain the origin of an antifreeze protein in an Antarctic fish that cites “de novo amplification of a short DNA sequence to spawn a novel protein with a new function.” Likewise, Long cites an article in Science to explain the origin of two human genes involved in neurodevelopment that appealed to “de novo generation of building blocks — single genes or gene segments coding for protein domains,” where an exon spontaneously “originated from a unique noncoding sequence.” …

Another 2009 paper in the journal Genome Research was appropriately titled “Darwinian Alchemy: Human Genes from Noncoding RNA.” It investigated the de novo origin of genes and acknowledged, “The emergence of complete, functional genes — with promoters, open reading frames (ORFs), and functional proteins — from ‘junk’ DNA would seem highly improbable, almost like the elusive transmutation of lead into gold that was sought by medieval alchemists.” Nonetheless, the article asserted without saying how that: “evolution by natural selection can forge completely new functional elements from apparently nonfunctional DNA — the process by which molecular evolution turns lead into gold.”


(Darwin’s Doubt, p. 220)

What do we see? Meyer discusses sources that explain how de novo genes are thought to come from noncoding DNA sequences — “from ‘junk’ DNA” — just as Venema says they do. Venema suggests Meyer doesn’t acknowledge this possibility, yet, plainly, Meyer cites from papers on de novo gene origin that discuss this very idea. Meyer doesn’t miss the point that Venema accuses him of missing.


Meyer is correct to explain that the processes underlying de novo gene origination are mysterious and unestablished. Geneticist Michael Lynch, for one, writes:

[A] remarkable one-third of the predicted genes in the human genome have no identifiable homologue in any other well-characterized non-primate species, even other mammals (Dehal et al. 200L). This poorly understood genomic feature is not unique to humans (or primates), as it has been repeatedly found in the sequenced genomes of other metazoans. The source and functionality of these orphan genes remains unresolved. Many might simply be derivatives of ancestral coding sequences subject to unusually rapid rates of substitution and/or rearrangement, and relatively short proteins may fortuitously arise de novo from chance open reading frames in noncoding DNA that happen to be located near spurious transcription factor binding sites (Begun et al. 2006).


(Michael Lynch, The Origins of Genome Architecture, 2007, p. 49

Thus, Lynch admits that many mysteries surround the origin of de novo genes. No wonder the paper Meyer points to calls this process “Darwinian Alchemy.”


Of course, Meyer and many other ID proponents would be highly skeptical of claims that non-coding DNA could spontaneously transform into a functional gene. Indeed, one paper he cites notes that such an event is “highly improbable.” The problem is that proponents of de novo gene origins never address the likelihood of a patch of functionless “junk” DNA spontaneously mutating into a functional, useful gene. Again, here’s what Meyer writes, rebutting Long et al. 2003 who also invoke de novo gene origin:

Thus, ultimately, the scenarios featured in Long’s review essay do not explain the origin of the specified information in either genes or sections of genes. That would require a cause capable of solving the combinatorial inflation problem discussed in the previous chapters. But none of the scenarios discussed in Long’s article even addresses this problem, let alone demonstrates the mathematical plausibility of the mechanisms they cite.


(Darwin’s Doubt, p. 221)

This is the same problem we saw with Venema’s discussions of other evolutionary explanations for the origin of genes via gene duplication: no discussion is ever given to the likelihood of a noncoding region suddenly transforming into a functional gene. Venema might infer common ancestry between a gene and some noncoding region via sequence homology, but that does not demonstrate that an unguided evolutionary mechanism was likely to cause the conversion.


Unless Venema specifically addresses the likelihood of converting some non-coding “junk” sequence of DNA into a fully functional, useful orphan gene, he has not responded to Meyer’s argument.

Why we should all be grateful that the vertebrate eye was not designed by Darwinists.

Mystery of the reverse-wired eyeball solved
To be presented at the 2015 APS March Meeting in San Antonio, Texas, March 5

AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY


From a practical standpoint, the wiring of the human eye - a product of our evolutionary baggage - doesn't make a lot of sense. In vertebrates, photoreceptors are located behind the neurons in the back of the eye - resulting in light scattering by the nervous fibers and blurring of our vision. Recently, researchers at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology have confirmed the biological purpose for this seemingly counterintuitive setup.

"The retina is not just the simple detector and neural image processor, as believed until today," said Erez Ribak, a professor at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology. "Its optical structure is optimized for our vision purposes." Ribak and his co-authors will describe their work during the 2015 American Physical Society March Meeting, on Thursday, March 5 in San Antonio, Texas.

Ribak's interest in the optical structure of the retina stems from his previous work applying astrophysics and astronomy techniques to improve the ability of scientists and ophthalmologists to view the retina at high detail.

Previous experiments with mice had suggested that Müller glia cells, a type of metabolic cell that crosses the retina, play an essential role in guiding and focusing light scattered throughout the retina. To test this, Ribak and his colleagues ran computer simulations and in-vitro experiments in a mouse model to determine whether colors would be concentrated in these metabolic cells. They then used confocal microscopy to produce three-dimensional views of the retinal tissue, and found that the cells were indeed concentrating light into the photoreceptors.

"For the first time, we've explained why the retina is built backwards, with the neurons in front of the photoreceptors, rather than behind them," Ribak said.

Future research for Ribak and his colleagues includes using water-filled goggles to reduce corneal aberrations, allowing observers to gain a finer view of the retina at depth.

Patristic writings re;the immortality of the soul.

The skilled trades :still the smart choice IV

The design debate through the looking glass

Design through the Looking Glass

Evolution News & Views 

You don't have to hold an amino acid up to a mirror to see its mirror image. Amino acids (except for one, glycine) come in pairs, like gloves, on the real-world side of the looking glass. So do the sugars used in DNA and RNA; they are assigned a "handedness" based on conventional rules of describing their orientation in 3-D space. In all other physical respects, chemical and thermodynamic, they are identical in their activity. This makes them difficult to separate.

The phenomenon is known as chirality. The chiral "isoforms" are called enantiomers of each other. Left-handed enantiomers are preceded byL- (from Latin levo) as in L-alanine, while right-handed enantiomers are preceded by D- (fromdextro) as in D-ribose. A mixture of both hands is said to be racemic, or heterochiral. A pure mixture of one hand is called homochiral.

With only rare exceptions, all living things use just one "hand" of these molecular gloves: left-handed amino acids in proteins, and right-handed sugars in nucleic acids. How this came about has long been a mystery, as four Chinese scientists from Tsinghua University in Beijing explain in Nature Chemistry:

Despite biology's seemingly limitless diversity and the vastness of its territories that permeate into virtually every corner of the Earth, at the fundamental level of biochemistry, all known forms of life are narrowly defined by a single version of molecular machinery based on L-amino acids and D-ribose nucleic acids. Although rare examples of the use of D-amino acids, such as D-aspartic acid in animal brains, and L-sugars, such as L-arabinose in plants, do exist, the central dogma and most of the biological macromolecules have followed the homochirality established by life's earliest ancestors. Processes that led biology onto this particular chiral path have remained largely elusive, even though experimental evidence for breaking the mirror symmetry has been reported and many theoretical models have been proposed.[Emphasis added.]

As it stands, no experimental or theoretical model explains the origin of life's homochirality by natural processes. Some experimenters have produced a slight enantiomeric excess of one hand or the other, but usually with non-biological chemicals, and nothing approaching the purity of life's chiral molecules. Proteins and nucleic acids cannot work with mixed handedness. A single wrong-handed building block is enough to destroy DNA, RNA, and proteins. As we saw last year, checkpoints ensure that life's building blocks remain homochiral.

This purity of handedness baffles materialists, because their causal toolkit only includes natural law and chance. The probability of getting a single-handed polymer from racemic ingredients is comparable to getting a string of coin tosses coming up all heads. The longer the sequence, the more improbable it becomes -- quickly swamping the chance hypothesis. Yet as Wang et al. state, our knowledge of natural laws isn't helping solve the problem.

Recently, an in vitro selected catalytic RNA capable of incorporating nucleotides in a cross-chiral fashion without enantiomeric cross-inhibition was reported. The fact that no known laws of physics and chemistry preclude biology's use of either of the two chiral systems, mirror-image twins of one another, has led to an intriguing question as to whether a parallel mirror-image world of biology running on a chirally inverted version of molecular machinery could be found in the universe or be created in the laboratory.

Turning from origins to application, they describe their initial attempts to create mirror-image life:

We reasoned that towards synthesizing a mirror-image biological system, an imperative step would be to reconstitute a chirally inverted version of the central dogma of molecular biology with D-amino acid enzymes and L-ribose nucleic acids--although reconstituting a mirror-image, ribosome-based translation systemthrough the total synthesis of all the ribosomal RNA (rRNA) and protein building blocks is still beyond the current technology, the totalchemical synthesis of (small enough) mirror-image polymerases might be feasible. Here we set out to synthesize such a mirror-image polymerase and to test if two steps in the central dogma, the template-directed polymerization of DNA and the transcription into RNA, can be carried out in a synthetic mirror-image molecular system (Fig. 1a).

(For present purposes, we won't dispute the central dogma, although biologist Jonathan Wells has written extensively on its problems.)

These scientists did, in fact, succeed in getting some template-driven polymerization and transcription of opposite-handed amino acids. It was very slow, but it demonstrates that, in principle, life could exist in a mirror image of itself. Alice through the looking glass would appear identical to her mirror image, but would not be able to eat opposite-handed food!

Commenting on this work for Nature, Mark Peplow explains why synthetic mirror-image biomolecules have desirable properties:

In principle, looking-glass versions of these molecules should work together in the same way as normal ones -- but they might be resistant to attack by conventional viruses or enzymes that have not evolved in a looking-glass world.

That makes mirror-image biochemistry a potentially lucrative business. One company that hopes so is Noxxon Pharma in Berlin. It uses laborious chemical synthesis to make mirror-image forms of short strands of DNA or RNA called aptamers, which bind to therapeutic targets such as proteins in the body to block their activity. The firm has several mirror-aptamer candidates in human trials for diseases including cancer; the idea is that their efficacy might be improved because theyaren't degraded by the body's enzymes. A process to replicate mirror-image DNA could offer a much easier route to making the aptamers, says Sven Klussmann, Noxxon Pharma's chief scientific officer.

Wang et al. took the smallest known polymerase enzyme, just 174 amino acids long, and laboriously constructed a right-handed counterpart. They succeeded in getting it to extend a primer from 12 nucleotides to 18 nucleotides in 4 hours. Getting it to 52 nucleotides took 36 hours -- a "glacial pace," Peplow remarks. Nevertheless, it was an important discovery. Both the normal and mirror-image enzymes worked independently, without interference, when mixed in the same test tube.

The Design Inference

The researchers admit it would be a "daunting task" to build a mirror-image version of a ribosome where translation could take the left-handed RNA and translate it into a right-handed protein. Building a "looking glass cell" is a far-off dream. At this stage, though, we can draw some conclusions about chance and design.

Peplow confirms that homochirality remains a vexing problem. He surely would have said otherwise if a likely non-random cause were known.

In their research paper, the Tsinghua researchers also present their work as an effort to investigate why life's chirality is the way it is. This remains mysterious: it may simply be down to chance, or it could have been triggered by a fundamental asymmetry in nature.

But Steven Benner, at the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution in Alachua, Florida, says it's unlikely that creating a mirror form of biochemical life could shed any light on this question. Almost every physical process behaves identically when viewed in a mirror. The only known exceptions -- called 'parity violations' -- lie in the realm ofsubatomic physics. Such tiny differences would never show up in these biochemical experiments, says Benner.

Benner and Peplow just conceded that natural law cannot explain homochirality. To a materialist, that leaves chance. For a short polypeptide of 100 amino acids to have formed by chance would be ½ x ½ x ½ ... 100 times: 1 chance in 2100, which is approximately 1 in 1030. There aren't enough probabilistic resources to make this likely to happen in a primordial soup of racemic amino acids. But then, even if it did, homochiral DNA or RNA would have to form independently out of its own racemic building blocks. There's just no realistic chance of success in a materialistic world. Intelligence, by contrast, can easily select one hand over the other; consider how quickly an eight-year-old could sort a pile of coins into heads and tails.

Another conclusion from this paper is that homochirality as observed in life is contingent: i.e., it could exist in the opposite mirror-image form. There is no chemical or thermodynamic reason why proteins must be left-handed as opposed to right-handed, or why nucleic acids must be right-handed as opposed to left-handed. The experiments show that chemical reactions can proceed just as well in a mirror-image world. When a choice has been made one way to the exclusion of other possibilities, and it is beyond the reach of chance, it gives indication that intelligence has embedded information into the system.

Finally, these researchers demonstrate empirically how intelligence can embed information into a system. They purposefully selected building blocks of one hand to construct their polymerase. They had a goal, and a means of reaching it. If we rightly judge their work as a product of intelligent design -- as glacially slow as it was -- how much more the products of a cell that work rapidly and accurately, using machinery at a level of sophistication beyond our ability to imitate?

It's logical. If a system on the far side of the looking glass is intelligently designed, then the system on the near side is also intelligently designed. Only a fun-house mirror could distort that conclusion.

Sons of God.

Fire-Maker Is on Sale Now! Dr. Denton Shows How We Were Designed to Transform the Earth -- with Fire
David Klinghoffer 

Earth is not merely hospitable to human beings -- it would have to be, otherwise we wouldn't be here. It also appears to have been very precisely designed to be so, specifically for creatures like us, who were intended from the beginning of the cosmos.

This cosmic fine-tuning is the theme of biologist Michael Denton's book Nature's Destiny, but admittedly some aspects of that are a little abstract. Not so when it comes to the way our planet is designed for the use of fire. What could be more intimately relatable? From the automobile you drive, to the computer you're reading this on right now, to the stove you'll use later to make dinner -- there's almost no aspect of daily life untouched by it.

But even more strikingly, the design works two ways -- our planet was designed to be transformed by fire, and we were designed to accomplish this, with gifts unique to human beings. The new documentary from Discovery Institute, Fire-Maker: How Humans Were Designed to Harness Fire and Transform Our Planet, brings this fact powerfully home.  And Fire-Maker goes on sale today on Amazon!  See the trailer here:





We premiered it here in the Pacific Northwest earlier this month, and the film will have its Texas rollout tonight. I've pointed out the interesting confluence of themes between Fire-Maker and The Jungle Book, which I see is still at the top of the box office heap, and deservedly so. It's not for nothing that fire is a nearly universal, cross-cultural symbol of what makes human beings exceptional in nature.

Our friend and colleague Dr. Denton is a brilliant, charismatic thinker who sees the big picture -- the biggest picture -- in a way precious few other scientists do.  your copy of Fire-Maker now  and share it with friends!





We premiered it here in the Pacific Northwest earlier this month, and the film will have its Texas rollout tonight. I've pointed out the interesting confluence of themes between Fire-Maker and The Jungle Book, which I see is still at the top of the box office heap, and deservedly so. It's not for nothing that fire is a nearly universal, cross-cultural symbol of what makes human beings exceptional in nature.

Our friend and colleague Dr. Denton is a brilliant, charismatic thinker who sees the big picture -- the biggest picture -- in a way precious few other scientists do. Get your copy of Fire-Maker now and share it with friends!

On baptism:The Watchtower society's commentary.

BAPTISM

The Greek baʹpti·sma refers to the process of immersion, including submersion and emergence; it is derived from the verb baʹpto, meaning “dip.” (Joh 13:26) In the Bible, “to baptize” is the same as “to immerse.” In illustration of this, The Holy Bible, An Improved Edition, renders Romans 6:3, 4 as follows: “Or, are ye ignorant, that all we who were baptized (immersed) into Christ Jesus were baptized (immersed) into his death? We were buried therefore with him through our baptism (immersion) into his death.” (See also Ro; ED.) The Greek Septuagint uses a form of the same word for “dip” at Exodus 12:22 and Leviticus 4:6. (See NW ftns.) When one is immersed in water, one is temporarily “buried” out of sight and then lifted out.

We shall consider four different aspects of baptism, together with related questions: (1) John’s baptism, (2) water baptism of Jesus and his followers, (3) baptism into Christ Jesus and into his death, (4) baptism with fire.

John’s Baptism. The first human authorized by God to perform water baptism was John the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth. (Lu 1:5-7, 57) The very fact that he was known as “John the Baptist” or “the baptizer” (Mt 3:1; Mr 1:4) implies that baptism or water immersion came to the attention of the people especially through John, and the Scriptures prove that his ministry and baptism came from God; they were not of John’s origin. His works were foretold by the angel Gabriel as from God (Lu 1:13-17), and Zechariah prophesied by holy spirit that John would be a prophet of the Most High to make Jehovah’s ways ready. (Lu 1:68-79) Jesus confirmed that John’s ministry and baptism were from God. (Lu 7:26-28) The disciple Luke records that “God’s declaration came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. So he came . . . preaching baptism.” (Lu 3:2, 3) The apostle John states of him: “There arose a man that was sent forth as a representative of God: his name was John.”​—Joh 1:6.

Further understanding of the meaning of John’s baptism is gained by comparing various translations of Luke 3:3. John came “preaching baptism in symbol of repentance for forgiveness of sins” (NW); “baptism conditioned on repentance” (CB); “baptism whereby men repented, to have their sins forgiven” (Kx); “baptism in token of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (NE); “Turn away from your sins and be baptized, and God will forgive your sins” (TEV). These renderings make plain that the baptism did not wash away their sins, but the repentance and changing of their ways did, and of this, baptism was a symbol.

The baptism performed by John was therefore not a special cleansing from God through his servant John, but a public demonstration and symbol of the individual’s repentance over his sins against the Law, which was to lead them to Christ. (Ga 3:24) John thereby prepared a people to “see the saving means of God.” (Lu 3:6) His work served to “get ready for Jehovah a prepared people.” (Lu 1:16, 17) Such a work had been prophesied by Isaiah and Malachi.​—Isa 40:3-5; Mal 4:5, 6.

Some scholars try to read anticipation of John’s baptism and the Christian baptism in ancient purification ceremonies under the Law (Ex 29:4; Le 8:6; 14:8, 31, 32; Heb 9:10, ftn) or in individual acts. (Ge 35:2; Ex 19:10) But these instances bear no analogy to the real meaning of baptism. They were washings for ceremonial cleanness. In only one instance is there anything approaching a dipping of the body completely under water. This is in the case of Naaman the leper, and the plunging into water was done seven times. (2Ki 5:14) It did not bring him into any special relationship with God, but it merely cured him of leprosy. Besides, Scripturally, proselytes were circumcised, not baptized. To partake of the Passover or engage in worship at the sanctuary one had to be circumcised.​—Ex 12:43-49.

Neither are there any grounds for the assertion made by some that John’s baptism was probably borrowed from the Jewish sect the Essenes or from the Pharisees. Both of these sects had many requirements for ablutions to be performed often. But Jesus showed such to be mere commandments of men who overstepped the commandments of God by their tradition. (Mr 7:1-9; Lu 11:38-42) John baptized in water because, as he said, he was sent by God to baptize in water. (Joh 1:33) He was not sent by the Essenes or by the Pharisees. His commission was not to make Jewish proselytes but to baptize those who were already members of the Jewish congregation.​—Lu 1:16.

John knew that his works were merely a preparing of the way before God’s Son and Messiah and would give way to the greater ministry of that One. The reason for John’s baptizing was that the Messiah might be made manifest to Israel. (Joh 1:31) According to John 3:26-30, the Messiah’s ministry would increase, but John’s ministry was to decrease. Those who were baptized by Jesus’ disciples during Jesus’ earthly ministry and who therefore also became Jesus’ disciples were baptized in symbol of repentance in the manner of John’s baptism.​—Joh 3:25, 26; 4:1, 2.

Jesus’ Baptism in Water. The baptism of Jesus himself as performed by John must of necessity have had a meaning and purpose quite different from John’s baptism, as Jesus “committed no sin, nor was deception found in his mouth.” (1Pe 2:22) So he could not submit to an act symbolizing repentance. Undoubtedly it was for this reason that John objected to baptizing Jesus. But Jesus said: “Let it be, this time, for in that way it is suitable for us to carry out all that is righteous.”​—Mt 3:13-15.

Luke states that Jesus was praying at the time of his baptism. (Lu 3:21) Further, the writer of the letter to the Hebrews says that when Jesus Christ came “into the world” (that is, not when he was born and could not read and say these words, but when he presented himself for baptism and began his ministry) he was saying, in accord with Psalm 40:6-8 (LXX): “Sacrifice and offering you did not want, but you prepared a body for me. . . . Look! I am come (in the roll of the book it is written about me) to do your will, O God.” (Heb 10:5-9) Jesus was by birth a member of the Jewish nation, which nation was in a national covenant with God, namely, the Law covenant. (Ex 19:5-8; Ga 4:4) Jesus, by reason of this fact, was therefore already in a covenant relationship with Jehovah God when he thus presented himself to John for baptism. Jesus was there doing something more than what was required of him under the Law. He was presenting himself to his Father Jehovah to do his Father’s “will” with reference to the offering of his own “prepared” body and with regard to doing away with animal sacrifices that were offered according to the Law. The apostle Paul comments: “By the said ‘will’ we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time.” (Heb 10:10) The Father’s will for Jesus also involved activity in connection with the Kingdom, and for this service too Jesus presented himself. (Lu 4:43; 17:20, 21) Jehovah accepted and acknowledged this presentation of his Son, anointing him with holy spirit and saying: “You are my Son, the beloved; I have approved you.”​—Mr 1:9-11; Lu 3:21-23; Mt 3:13-17.

Water Baptism of Jesus’ Followers. John’s baptism was due to be replaced by the baptism commanded by Jesus: “Make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit.” (Mt 28:19) This was the only water baptism having God’s approval from Pentecost, 33 C.E., forward. Some years after 33 C.E., Apollos, a zealous man, was teaching correctly about Jesus, but he had an understanding of only John’s baptism. On this matter he had to be corrected, as did the disciples whom Paul met at Ephesus. These men in Ephesus had undergone John’s baptism, but evidently after its valid performance had ended, since Paul’s visit to Ephesus was about 20 years after the termination of the Law covenant. They were then baptized correctly in the name of Jesus and received holy spirit.​—Ac 18:24-26; 19:1-7.

That Christian baptism required an understanding of God’s Word and an intelligent decision to present oneself to do the revealed will of God was evident when, at Pentecost, 33 C.E., the Jews and proselytes there assembled, who already had a knowledge of the Hebrew Scriptures, heard Peter speak about Jesus the Messiah, with the result that 3,000 “embraced his word heartily” and “were baptized.” (Ac 2:41; 3:19–4:4; 10:34-38) Those in Samaria first believed Philip’s preaching of the good news, and then they were baptized. (Ac 8:12) The Ethiopian eunuch, a devout Jewish proselyte who, as such, also had knowledge of Jehovah and the Hebrew Scriptures, heard first the explanation of the fulfillment of these scriptures in Christ, accepted it, and then wanted to be baptized. (Ac 8:34-36) Peter explained to Cornelius that “the man that fears [God] and works righteousness is acceptable” (Ac 10:35) and that everyone putting faith in Jesus Christ gets forgiveness of sins through his name. (Ac 10:43; 11:18) All of this is in harmony with Jesus’ command to “make disciples . . . teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you.” Those who accept the teaching and who become disciples properly get baptized.​—Mt 28:19, 20; Ac 1:8.

At Pentecost, Jews who bore community responsibility for Jesus’ death, and who doubtless knew of John’s baptism, were “stabbed to the heart” by Peter’s preaching and asked: “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter answered: “Repent, and let each one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the free gift of the holy spirit.” (Ac 2:37, 38) Notice that Peter pointed out something new to them​—that, not repentance and baptism in John’s baptism, but repentance and baptism in the name of Jesus Christ was necessary for forgiveness of sins. He did not say that baptism itself washed away sins. Peter knew that “the blood of Jesus [God’s] Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1Jo 1:7) Later, after speaking of Jesus as “the Chief Agent of life,” Peter said to Jews at the temple: “Repent, therefore, and turn around so as to get your sins blotted out, that seasons of refreshing may come from the person of Jehovah.” (Ac 3:15, 19) Here he instructed them that repenting of their bad deed against Christ and ‘turning around,’ to recognize him, was what brought forgiveness of sin; he did not at this point mention baptism.

As for the Jews, the Law covenant was abolished on the basis of Christ’s death on the torture stake (Col 2:14), and the new covenant became operative at Pentecost, 33 C.E. (Compare Ac 2:4; Heb 2:3, 4.) Nevertheless, God extended special favor to the Jews about three and a half years longer. During this time Jesus’ disciples confined their preaching to Jews, Jewish proselytes, and Samaritans. But about 36 C.E. God directed Peter to go to the home of the Gentile Cornelius, a Roman army officer, and by pouring out His holy spirit on Cornelius and his household, showed Peter that Gentiles could now be accepted for water baptism. (Ac 10:34, 35, 44-48) Since God no longer recognized the Law covenant with the circumcised Jews but now recognized only his new covenant mediated by Jesus Christ, natural Jews, whether circumcised or uncircumcised, were not considered by God as being in any special relationship with him. They could not attain to a status with God by observing the Law, which was no longer valid, nor by John’s baptism, which had to do with the Law, but were obliged to approach God through faith in his Son and be baptized in water in the name of Jesus Christ in order to have Jehovah’s recognition and favor.​—See SEVENTY WEEKS (Covenant in force “for one week”).

Consequently, after 36 C.E., all, Jews and Gentiles, have had the same standing in God’s eyes. (Ro 11:30-32; 14:12) The people of the Gentile nations, except for those who had been circumcised Jewish proselytes, were not in the Law covenant and had never been a people having a special relationship with God the Father. Now the opportunity was extended to them as individuals to become God’s people. Before they could be baptized in water they, therefore, had to come to God as believers in his Son Jesus Christ. Then, according to Christ’s example and command, they would properly submit to water baptism.​—Mt 3:13-15; 28:18-20.

Such Christian baptism would have a vital effect on their standing before God. After referring to Noah’s constructing of the ark in which he and his family were preserved through the Flood, the apostle Peter wrote: “That which corresponds to this is also now saving you, namely, baptism, (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the request made to God for a good conscience,) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” (1Pe 3:20, 21) The ark was tangible evidence that Noah had dedicated himself to do God’s will and had then faithfully done the work assigned by God. This led to his preservation. In a corresponding way, those who would dedicate themselves to Jehovah on the basis of faith in the resurrected Christ, get baptized in symbol of that, and do God’s will for his servants would be saved from the present wicked world. (Ga 1:3, 4) No longer would they be headed for destruction with the rest of the world. They would be saved from this and would be granted a good conscience by God.

No Infant Baptism. In view of the fact that ‘hearing the word,’ ‘embracing the word heartily,’ and ‘repenting’ precede water baptism (Ac 2:14, 22, 38, 41) and that baptism requires the individual to make a solemn decision, it is apparent that one must at least be of age to hear, to believe, and to make this decision. An argument is made by some in favor of infant baptism. They refer to the instances where ‘households’ were baptized, such as the households of Cornelius, Lydia, the Philippian jailer, Crispus, and Stephanas. (Ac 10:48; 11:14; 16:15, 32-34; 18:8; 1Co 1:16) They believe that this implies that small babies in those families were also baptized. But, in the case of Cornelius, those who were baptized were those who had heard the word and received the holy spirit, and they spoke in tongues and glorified God; these things could not apply to infants. (Ac 10:44-46) Lydia was “a worshiper of God, . . . and Jehovah opened her heart wide to pay attention to the things being spoken by Paul.” (Ac 16:14) The Philippian jailer had to “believe on the Lord Jesus,” and this implies that the others in his family also had to believe in order to be baptized. (Ac 16:31-34) “Crispus the presiding officer of the synagogue became a believer in the Lord, and so did all his household.” (Ac 18:8) All of this demonstrates that associated with baptism were such things as hearing, believing, and glorifying God, things infants cannot do. At Samaria when they heard and believed “the good news of the kingdom of God and of the name of Jesus Christ, they proceeded to be baptized.” Here the Scriptural record specifies that the ones baptized were, not infants, but “men and women.”​—Ac 8:12.

The statement made by the apostle Paul to the Corinthians that children were “holy” by reason of a believing parent is no proof that infants were baptized; rather, it implies the opposite. Minor children too young to have the ability to make such a decision would come under a form of merit because of the believing parent, not because of any so-called sacramental baptism, imparting independent merit. If infants could properly be baptized, they would not need to have the merit of the believing parent extended to them.​—1Co 7:14.

It is true that Jesus said: “Stop hindering [the young children] from coming to me, for the kingdom of the heavens belongs to suchlike ones.” (Mt 19:13-15; Mr 10:13-16) But they were not baptized. Jesus blessed them, and there is nothing to indicate that his laying his hands upon them was a religious ceremony. He further showed that the reason ‘the kingdom of God belongs to such’ was not because they were baptized but because they were teachable and trusting. Christians are commanded to be “babes as to badness,” yet “full-grown in powers of understanding.”​—Mt 18:4; Lu 18:16, 17; 1Co 14:20.

The religious historian Augustus Neander wrote of the first-century Christians: “The practice of infant baptism was unknown at this period. . . . That not till so late a period as (at least certainly not earlier than) Irenaeus [c. 120/140-c. 200/203 C.E.], a trace of infant baptism appears, and that it first became recognised as an apostolic tradition in the course of the third century, is evidence rather against than for the admission of its apostolic origin.”​—History of the Planting and Training of the Christian Church by the Apostles, 1864, p. 162.

Complete Immersion. From the definition of baptism as stated earlier, it is clear that baptism is complete immersion or submersion in water, not a mere pouring or sprinkling. The Bible examples of baptism corroborate this fact. Jesus was baptized in a sizable river, the Jordan, and after being baptized he came “up out of the water.” (Mr 1:10; Mt 3:13, 16) John selected a location in the Jordan Valley near Salim to baptize, “because there was a great quantity of water there.” (Joh 3:23) The Ethiopian eunuch asked to be baptized when they came to “a body of water.” They both “went down into the water.” Afterward they came “up out of the water.” (Ac 8:36-40) All these instances imply, not a small ankle-deep pool, but a large body of water into and out of which they would have to walk. Further, the fact that baptism was also used to symbolize a burial indicates complete submersion.​—Ro 6:4-6; Col 2:12.

Historical sources show that the early Christians baptized by immersion. On this subject the New Catholic Encyclopedia (1967, Vol. II, p. 56) states: “It is evident that Baptism in the early Church was by immersion.” Larousse du XXe Siècle, Paris, 1928, says: “The first Christians received baptism by immersion everywhere where water was found.”

Baptism Into Christ Jesus, Into His Death. Jesus knew at the time of his baptism in the Jordan River that he was entering upon a sacrificial course. He knew that his ‘prepared body’ must be put to death, that he must die in innocence as a perfect human sacrifice with ransoming value for mankind. (Mt 20:28) Jesus understood that he must be plunged into death but that he would be raised out of it on the third day. (Mt 16:21) So he likened his experience to a baptism into death. (Lu 12:50) He explained to his disciples that he was already undergoing this baptism during his ministry. (Mr 10:38, 39) He was baptized fully into death when he was plunged into death by being impaled on the torture stake on Nisan 14, 33 C.E. His resurrection by his Father Jehovah God on the third day completed this baptism, which includes a raising up. Jesus’ baptism into death is clearly distinct and separate from his water baptism, for he had completely undergone water baptism at the beginning of his ministry, at which time his baptism into death only began.

The faithful apostles of Jesus Christ were baptized in water by John’s baptism. (Joh 1:35-37; 4:1) But they had not yet been baptized with holy spirit when Jesus pointed out that they were also to be baptized in a symbolic baptism like his, a baptism into death. (Mr 10:39) So baptism into his death is something apart from water baptism. Paul expressed himself in his letter to the Christian congregation at Rome, saying: “Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?”​—Ro 6:3.

It is Jehovah God who is responsible for the performing of such baptism into Christ Jesus as well as baptism into his death. He anointed Jesus, making him the Christ or Anointed One. (Ac 10:38) Thus God baptized Jesus with the holy spirit in order that, through Jesus, his followers might thereafter be baptized with holy spirit. Therefore, those who become joint heirs with him, with heavenly hopes, have to be “baptized into Christ Jesus,” that is, into the Anointed Jesus who, at the time of his anointing, was also begotten to be a spiritual son of God. They thereby become united to him, their Head, and they become members of the congregation that is the body of Christ.​—1Co 12:12, 13, 27; Col 1:18.

The course of these Christian followers who are baptized into Christ Jesus is a course of integrity-keeping under test from the time they are baptized into Christ, a daily facing of death and finally a death of integrity, as described by the apostle Paul when he explained to the Roman Christians: “Therefore we were buried with him through our baptism into his death, in order that, just as Christ was raised up from the dead through the glory of the Father, we also should likewise walk in a newness of life. For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we shall certainly also be united with him in the likeness of his resurrection.”​—Ro 6:4, 5; 1Co 15:31-49.

Clarifying the matter still further, Paul, in writing to the congregation at Philippi, described his own course as “a sharing in [Christ’s] sufferings, submitting myself to a death like his, to see if I may by any means attain to the earlier resurrection from the dead.” (Php 3:10, 11) Only the Almighty God the heavenly Father, who is the Baptizer of those who are baptized in union with Jesus Christ and into his death, can complete the baptism. This He does through Christ by raising them up out of death to be united with Jesus Christ in the likeness of his resurrection, which is to heavenly, immortal life.​—1Co 15:53, 54.

That a congregation of people can, so to speak, be baptized or immersed into a liberator and leader is illustrated by the apostle Paul when he describes the congregation of Israel as being “baptized into Moses by means of the cloud and of the sea.” There they were covered with a protecting cloud and with the walls of water on each side of them, being, symbolically speaking, immersed. Moses foretold that God would raise up a prophet like himself; Peter applied this prophecy to Jesus Christ.​—1Co 10:1, 2; De 18:15-19; Ac 3:19-23.

What is baptism “for the purpose of being dead ones”?

The passage at 1 Corinthians 15:29 is variously rendered by translators: “What shall they do which are baptized for the dead?” (KJ); “on behalf of their dead?” (AT); “on behalf of the dead?” (NE); “for the purpose of being dead ones?” (NW)

Many different interpretations have been offered for this verse. The most common interpretation is that Paul was referring to the custom of vicarious baptism in water, that is, baptizing living persons in behalf of dead ones in a substitutionary way in order to benefit the dead. The existence of such a practice in Paul’s day cannot be proved, nor would it be in accord with those scriptures that clearly state that “disciples,” those who themselves ‘embraced the word heartily,’ those who personally “believed,” were the ones that got baptized.​—Mt 28:19; Ac 2:41; 8:12.

A Greek-English Lexicon, by Liddell and Scott, includes “for,” “on behalf of,” and “for the sake of” among its definitions of the Greek preposition hy·perʹ, which is used with the genitive case in 1 Corinthians 15:29. (Revised by H. Jones, Oxford, 1968, p. 1857) In some settings the expression “for the sake of” is equivalent to “for the purpose of.” Already in 1728 Jacob Elsner noted cases from various Greek writers where hy·perʹ with the genitive has final meaning, that is, a meaning expressive of purpose, and he showed that in 1 Corinthians 15:29 this construction has such meaning. (Observationes Sacrae in Novi Foederis Libros, Utrecht, Vol. II, pp. 127-131) Consistent with this, in this verse the New World Translation renders hy·perʹ as meaning “for the purpose of.”

Where an expression can grammatically be translated in more than one way, the correct rendering is one that agrees with the context. In the context, 1 Corinthians 15:3, 4 shows that what is principally under discussion is belief in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The following verses then present evidence of the soundness of that belief (vss 5-11); they discuss the serious implications of denying belief in the resurrection (vss 12-19), the fact that the resurrection of Christ gives assurance that others will be raised from the dead (vss 20-23), and how all of this works toward the unification of all intelligent creation with God (vss 24-28). Verse 29 obviously is an integral part of this discussion. But whose resurrection is at issue in verse 29? Is it the resurrection of the ones whose baptism is referred to there? Or is it that of someone who died before that baptism took place? What do the following verses indicate? Verses 30 to 34 clearly show that the future life prospects of living Christians are there being discussed, and verses 35 to 58 state that those were faithful Christians who had the hope of heavenly life.

That agrees with Romans 6:3, which says: “Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” As this scripture makes plain, that is not a baptism that a Christian undergoes on behalf of someone already dead but is, instead, something that affects the person’s own future.

In what sense, then, were those Christians “baptized for the purpose of being dead ones,” or “baptized into his death”? They were immersed into a course of life that was to lead them as integrity-keepers to death, as was the case with Christ, and with the hope of a resurrection like his to immortal spirit life. (Ro 6:4, 5; Php 3:10, 11) This was not a baptism that was accomplished quickly, as water immersion is. More than three years after his immersion in water, Jesus spoke of a baptism that was not yet completed in his own case and that was yet future for his disciples. (Mr 10:35-40) Since this baptism leads to resurrection to heavenly life, it must begin with the operation of God’s spirit on the person in such a way as to engender that hope, and it must end, not at death, but with realization of the prospect of immortal spirit life by means of the resurrection.​—2Co 1:21, 22; 1Co 6:14.

A Person’s Place in God’s Purpose. It should be noted that the one being baptized in water enters a special relationship as Jehovah’s servant, to do His will. The individual does not determine what the will of God is for him, but it is God who makes the decision as to the use of the individual and the placing of such one in the framework of His purposes. For example, in times past, the entire nation of Israel was in special relationship with God; they were Jehovah’s property. (Ex 19:5) But only the tribe of Levi was selected to perform the services at the sanctuary, and out of this tribe only Aaron’s family constituted the priesthood. (Nu 1:48-51; Ex 28:1; 40:13-15) The kingship came to be established exclusively in the line of David’s family by Jehovah God.​—2Sa 7:15, 16.

Likewise those who undergo Christian baptism become God’s property, his slaves, to employ as he sees fit. (1Co 6:20) An example of God’s direction of such matters is found in Revelation, where reference is made to a definite number of persons finally “sealed,” namely, 144,000. (Re 7:4-8) Even before such final approval, God’s holy spirit serves as a seal that gives those sealed a token in advance of their inheritance, a heavenly one. (Eph 1:13, 14; 2Co 5:1-5) Those having such a hope are also told: “God has set the members in the body [of Christ], each one of them, just as he pleased.”​—1Co 12:18, 27.

Jesus called attention to another group when he said: “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; those also I must bring, and they will listen to my voice, and they will become one flock, one shepherd.” (Joh 10:16) These are not of the “little flock” (Lu 12:32), but they too must approach Jehovah through Jesus Christ and be baptized in water.

The vision given to the apostle John, as recorded in Revelation, harmonizes with this when, after showing John the 144,000 “sealed” ones, it turns his eyes to “a great crowd, which no man was able to number.” These are shown as having “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb,” indicating faith in the ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ the Lamb of God. (Re 7:9, 14) They are therefore given favorable recognition, “standing before [God’s] throne,” but are not those whom God selects to be the “sealed” 144,000. As to this “great crowd,” the vision goes on to point out that they serve God day and night and will be protected and will be cared for by him.​—Re 7:15-17.

Baptism With Fire. When many Pharisees and Sadducees came out to John the Baptizer, he called them “offspring of vipers.” He spoke of the coming One and said: “That one will baptize you people with holy spirit and with fire.” (Mt 3:7, 11; Lu 3:16) The baptism with fire is not the same as baptism with holy spirit. The fiery baptism could not be, as some say, the tongues of fire at Pentecost, for the disciples there were not immersed in fire. (Ac 2:3) John told his listeners that there would be a division, there would be a gathering of the wheat, after which the chaff would be burned up with fire that could not be put out. (Mt 3:12) He pointed out that the fire would not be a blessing or a reward but would be because ‘the tree did not produce fine fruit.’​—Mt 3:10; Lu 3:9.

Using fire as a symbol of destruction, Jesus foretold the execution of the wicked to take place during his presence, saying: “On the day that Lot came out of Sodom it rained fire and sulphur from heaven and destroyed them all. The same way it will be on that day when the Son of man is to be revealed.” (Lu 17:29, 30; Mt 13:49, 50) Other instances of fire representing, not a saving force, but a destructive one, are found at 2 Thessalonians 1:8; Jude 7; and 2 Peter 3:7, 10.