Why Origin of Life research struggles to be taken seriously.

 Sunlight on the Puzzle of Prebiotic RNA?

Carl Linnaeus

In two previous articles for Evolution News (here and here) I have argued against the plausibility of generating biologically relevant polymers (proteins, RNA, and DNA) in a prebiotic world. Much of this argument was based on the requirement for homochirality of the building blocks and the precise chemical bonds necessary to achieve nucleotides for RNA and DNA. Admittedly, some scientists have proposed schemes that are more palatable to skeptics of origin of life (OOL) research. Therefore, here I will explain the positive steps that have recently been taken to solve the enigma of how RNA and DNA may conceivably arise in an abiotic world.

In my earlier article, discussing the discovery of uracil recovered from samples taken from an asteroid, I made clear that formation of RNA (or DNA) building blocks through linking ring-structured nucleobases (uracil, thymine, cytosine, adenine, guanine) to the ring-constrained back bone sugar ribose (or deoxyribose for DNA) is a hopeless abiotic endeavor. The chemistry needed to complete formation of the needed building blocks in high yield without the use of energetically charged substrates and enzymes (as living systems use) is untenable. Several OOL scientists have recognized this drawback. They have chosen a different path, considered below, to propose how biologically relevant nucleotides might have been produced chemically, using only starting compounds believed to be present prebiotically. 

Facile Synthesis of Pyrimidine Nucleosides (Cytidine and Uridine)

The chemical scheme envisaged employs a mechanism to build pyrimidine ring structures ab initio on ribose, rather than attempting to link them to this sugar. The entire synthetic process is as follows: 

Disparate reaction conditions in the multi-step syntheses (conditions are in bold text):

Step 1) Ribose + cyanamide / 0.2 M sodium carbonate (pH ~10), 55o C -> RAO

Step 2) RAO + cyanoacetylene / hydrosulfide in aqueous formamide, UV light -> Intermediates A

Step 3) Intermediates A / phosphate, anhydrous formamide, heat -> alpha & beta-ribopyrimidines (pyrimidine ribonucleosides completed)

Step 4) Intermediates A + 8-mercaptoadenine / dry state in magnesium chloride, 150o C -> Intermediates B

Step 5) Intermediates B / bisulfate in phosphate (pH 7), 60o C or sulfite in phosphate (pH 8-10), heat, UV light -> Intermediates C

Step 6) Intermediates C / nitrous acid (pH 4) -> adenine and inosine products (purine ribo- and deoxyribonucleosides completed)

The first step uses cyanamide, a compound likely present on the early Earth, to react with ribose in a two-step process that traps the 5-carbon sugar into the required furanose ring conformation.1 This putative RNA precursor, called ribo-aminooxazoline (RAO), now has the first three atoms destined to form the pyrimidine ring already attached to the appropriate carbon of ribose. It is noteworthy that ribose, competing against the other three possible 5-carbon sugars, is the preferential substrate in this reaction. From this point synthesis continues2 via step 2 in the table, using another simple abiotic prospect, cyanoacetylene, resulting in an intermediate that is readily converted to ribocytidine. Thus, in just three steps using simple reactants, the first nucleoside is nearly complete in fairly high yield. This product, however, needs to be in the beta configuration. But this is easily managed by exposure to UV light with a conversion rate as high as 74 percent. UV light also facilitates oxidation of cytosine to uracil (at much lower yield) completing the recipe for production of both pyrimidine nucleosides. The authors in the publication cited above describe an alternative route to uridine, offering some advantages in yield by performing the reaction with cyanoacetylene in the presence of hydrosulfide. 

Facile Synthesis of Purine [Deoxy]Nucleosides ([Deoxy]Adenosine and [Deoxy]Inosine)

To tackle the production of purine nucleotides, another putative chemical precursor feasibly present in an abiotic setting (step 4) is reacted in the presence of bisulfate with an intermediate in the alpha-ribocytidine pathway.3 Two isomers of beta-deoxyadenine (dA) result upon UV irradiation where the biologically relevant isomer exhibits yields close to 50 percent. Treatment of dA with nitrous acid gives partial conversion to beta-deoxyinosine (dI). Subsequent research by this group demonstrated the feasibility of producing the corresponding purine ribonucleosides (A and I) by carrying out the first reaction in alkaline sodium sulfite instead of bisulfate.4 The yields of the desired products are appreciably lower than those found for the pyrimidine products (10-40 percent vs 40-50 percent). In summary, these chemical synthetic studies under hypothetical prebiotic conditions have demonstrated respectable yields for the beta versions of ribo pyrimidines and purines as well as for beta versions of deoxyribo purines, representing the canonical building blocks used in biology.

The Homochirality Challenge

None of the studies indicated above differentiate between the two stereoisomers of ribose. Certainly, L-ribose should have been equally present with D-ribose in a prebiotic world, so RAO precursors would likewise be a racemic mixture. Another laboratory explored an innovative approach taking advantage of the fact that chiral molecules can align with a magnetic field due to spin states of all their electrons.5 Enantiomeric pairs of a compound will exhibit spin states aligning with opposing magnetic polarity. This principle is known as chiral-induced spin selectivity (CISS). Because magnetite is expected to be abundant in the sediment of bodies of water on the primordial Earth, it was hypothesized that Earth’s magnetic field would serve to magnetize the iron-containing sediment, providing a means to preferentially adsorb RAO enantiomers in different zones based on their CISS. The referenced experiments were performed in Petri dishes simulating this design, placing a magnet underneath the insoluble magnetite. The first round of selection eventually led to RAO crystallization on the magnetite surface, demonstrating a significant enrichment in either D- or L-RAO depending on magnetic polarity. 

After collecting the crystals, redissolving them in buffer, and repeating the magnetite-induced selection, the second round of crystallization resulted in optically pure RAO. From experiments like these it was proposed that homochirality of RAO could have been achieved on the prebiotic Earth where a small enantiomeric imbalance is induced within zones to retain preferentially one of the two RAO stereoisomers. With this occurring near shore, water flow redissolves the RAO crystals, followed by a subsequent dry phase when the shoreline recedes. When the water rises to this level again, RAO recrystallizes to a greater enantiomeric excess. That is since the magnetite had been conditionally enhanced magnetically in the previous round through the CISS effect.6 It was suggested that this repeated cycle of adsorption, crystallization, and spin-alignment on the magnetite surface may serve as a positive feedback loop, leading to the ultimate prize of crystalizing homochiral RAO.

Feasibility of This Chemistry Was Demonstrated, but Is It Plausible Under Prebiotic Conditions?

Considering first the proposal to attain homochirality of RAO, weak assumptions are required to accept this achievement. The authors noted that timing of crystallization is important. That is because if crystals are allowed to grow for too long a period of time, enantiomeric excess decreases and thus the chiral spin state training of magnetite is reduced or jeopardized. It would take a string of good fortune to have that cycle spontaneously repeated at the right length of time. It would also be expected that different zones along the shore would each select their own enantiomer of RAO.6 Despite having individual homochiral crystals, over larger areas the opposite stereoisomers are also crystallized. So how do they remain separated before and after undergoing subsequent reactions, leading to nucleoside synthesis? This can be readily accomplished in the laboratory, keeping crystals and their down-stream products isolated. But there is no guarantee they will remain isolated under abiotic situations.

Regarding the synthesis of nucleosides from RAO, several concerns come into play: 1) Multi-step syntheses diminish the yields of final products and increase probabilities of generating by-products that might compete for incorporation into RNA building blocks. The yields of purine nucleosides, in particular, suffer from the requirement for additional steps needed in their synthesis. 2) Most reactions require disparate conditions. How do the reactants in an abiotic environment become sequentially incorporated under these different reaction conditions (Steps 1-6)? In the laboratory this is self-explanatory, but it is not a trivial matter when chemistry is left to stochastic events. 3) Predictions of the chemical repertoire of a prebiotic Earth are largely unsubstantiated. Support for such predictions could potentially come from analyzing samples from other extraterrestrial bodies as was done with the asteroid Ryugu. Retrieval of samples from Mars would be a particularly exciting venue to explore. Without this type of confirmatory data our suppositions of prebiotic chemistry could simply be shooting in the dark. 4) The role of UV light is likely critical to the formation of these RNA building blocks. This can be a double-edged sword as UV light can also damage purines and pyrimidines by several means. 5) A prebiotic synthetic scheme leading to guanine has still not been elaborated. Instead, they propose that inosine, which is included in the schemes presented here, can substitute for guanine since it is able to base pair with cytosine (as guanine does). Inosine, however, is more akin to being a wildcard as it also base pairs with uracil and thymine. Such promiscuous base pairing will undoubtedly limit the functional gamut of RNA/DNA polymers and alter the structural dynamics that we now know are important for the biological roles of many RNAs.

Truly an Extraordinary Solution

I appreciate the quality of work that went into devising chemical schemes to synthesize purine and pyrimidine nucleobases, achieving the mandatory stereo and chemical specificity of furanosyl ribose established in living systems. This is truly an extraordinary solution using alleged prebiotic conditions. In my opinion, other attempts to meet this challenge have not come close to attaining such a level of accuracy. Unfortunately, the most significant problem is how this can be completed without a guided mechanism to direct each successive reaction and maintain respectable yields along the entire process. 

Beyond the initial synthesis of nucleic acid building blocks, there are more highly significant concerns once nucleotide chains have been assembled. Adjacent pyrimidines are very prone to form several types of chemical lesions elicited by UV light. Without a series of enzymes to repair such lesions, the repercussions for the damaged RNA/DNA molecule are poor. In current biological systems they result in mutations because of replication errors. Of course, in a prebiotic world repair enzymes would not exist. These concluding remarks shine light (pardon the pun) on future considerations of RNA/DNA polymers in a prebiotic world. If one wonders why origin-of-life science has its skeptics, unpretentious complications like those here reveal concerns and doubts that arise as we contemplate the field.

References

Springsteen G, Joyce GF. Selective derivatization and sequestration of ribose from a prebiotic mix. J Am Chem Soc 2004;126(31):9578-83 doi 10.1021/ja0483692.

Xu J, Tsanakopoulou M, Magnani CJ, Szabla R, Sponer JE, Sponer J, et al. A prebiotically plausible synthesis of pyrimidine beta-ribonucleosides and their phosphate derivatives involving photoanomerization. Nat Chem 2017;9(4):303-9 doi 10.1038/nchem.2664.

Xu J, Chmela V, Green NJ, Russell DA, Janicki MJ, Gora RW, et al. Selective prebiotic formation of RNA pyrimidine and DNA purine nucleosides. Nature 2020;582(7810):60-6 doi 10.1038/s41586-020-2330-9.

Xu J, Green NJ, Russell DA, Liu Z, Sutherland JD. Prebiotic Photochemical Coproduction of Purine Ribo- and Deoxyribonucleosides. J Am Chem Soc 2021;143(36):14482-6 doi 10.1021/jacs.1c07403.

Ozturk SF, Liu Z, Sutherland JD, Sasselov DD. Origin of biological homochirality by crystallization of an RNA precursor on a magnetic surface. Sci Adv 2023;9(23):eadg8274 doi 10.1126/sciadv.adg8274.

Ozturk SF, Bhowmick DK, Kapon Y, Sang Y, Kumar A, Paltiel Y, et al. Chirality-induced avalanche magnetization of magnetite by an RNA precursor. Nat Commun 2023;14(1):6351 doi 10.1038/s41467-023-42130-8.

"What could go wrong?"

 

Still yet more on why ID is already mainstream

 

Re:Norway's war on religious liberty.

 Diplomat magazine

By Willy Fautré, director of Human Rights Without Frontiers

HRWF (08.01.2024) – From 8 to 19 January 2024, the District Court of Oslo will examine the de-registration case of Jehovah’s Witnesses on the grounds of their exclusion policy of members, also named disfellowshipping.

The case follows the government’s denial of the Witnesses’ application for state grants in 2021, which they had received for 30 years. These subsidies are not “gifts” but allocations provided for by the Norwegian Constitution and laws to respect the principle of equality between religious communities, whatever their size, since the Church of Norway (Lutheran) is supported by taxpayers’ money.

A timeline in short

On 27 January 2022, the County Governor (Statsforvalteren) for Oslo and Viken, Ms. Valgerd Svarstad-Haugland, issued an administrative decision denying the state subsidy for the year 2021 to Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The starting point of the legal saga was a report addressed to the Ministry of Children and Family Affairs by Prof. Furuli, a professor emeritus of Semitic languages at the University of Oslo and a disfellowshipped Jehovah’s Witness himself, in connection with the exclusion and expulsion policy of members. The question was raised about how the report should be assessed with regard to the registration of and state subsidies to the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Noteworthy is that Prof. Furuli supported a first decision in August 2021 by a Norwegian court “annulling” an ecclesiastical decision where the Jehovah’s Witnesses disfellowshipped one of their female members, Gry Helen Nygård. However, this decision was reversed on 9 July 2021 by the Borgarting Court of Appeal and on 3 May 2022 by the Supreme Court of Norway with a unanimous decision (5-0). Nygård then took her case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which rejected her complaint without giving any further reason, which is common when the ECHR regards complaints as clearly unfounded.

Nygård has also taken her case to a different court, the media, and has found a sympathetic ear from people hostile to Jehovah’s Witnesses.

On 25 October 2022, the County Governor of Oslo and Viken, Ms. Valgerd Svarstad-Haugland, demanded via letter that Jehovah’s Witnesses change their religious beliefs and practices, otherwise they would lose their registration. In her letter, she did not refer to any court decisions or complaints to the police, child welfare authorities, or other relevant authorities. The Witnesses proposed to meet her but she declined their request.

On 22 December 2022, the County Governor revoked their registration as a religious community.

On 30 December 2022, Oslo District Court granted Jehovah’s Witnesses a temporary injunction suspending the County Governor’s decision and pending litigation.

On 26 April 2023, the District Court lifted the injunction in response to a request by the Ministry of Children and Families. The decision was appealed.

On 30 June 2023, the Borgarting Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal on technical grounds.

What are and can be the consequences of the de-registration?

News reports about the State revoking the Witnesses’ registration stigmatize the nearly 12,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses of Norway.

The negative media coverage has led to considerable increase in verbal abuse, physical assaults, as well as vandalism of places of worship (e.g., offensive graffiti, arson).

The community is losing the State’s recognition of their religious marriages as well as some $1.6 million (USD) in government grants.

The State intrusion into the beliefs and practices of Jehovah’s Witnesses that is being examined in Norway can have a very negative impact on other religious communities in Norway and other countries.

The ruling against that religious community “can have consequences for a whole range of other faiths,” stated Dag Øistein Endsjø, professor of Religious studies at the University of Oslo, in an interview published in the newspaper Vårt Land .

In an editorial, Vebjørn Selbekk (editor-in-chief of the respected Norwegian Christian newspaper, Dagen) expressed fear that the County Governor may go on and sanction other religious groups whose beliefs and practices she happens to disagree with. He regarded the decision as anti-democratic, and expressed the hope that the Jehovah’s Witnesses will “emerge victorious from the upcoming court process.” Noteworthy is that Mr. Selbekk is not a Jehovah’s Witness and is critical of their theology.

Monsignor Torbjørn Olsen, the Secretary of the Catholic Norwegian Bishops’ Conference, wrote in a Norwegian media: “If the denial of registration stands, it may soon only be a matter of time before a number of other communities with ‘incorrect’ positions will be deregistered.”

Last but not least, a collateral damage is also the reaction of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs whose spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, decried the hypocrisy of Norway which deregistered Jehovah’s Witnesses, while criticizing Moscow at international forums for banning that same religious community. She also added that Russia’s nationwide ban is hereby legitimized by the decision in Norway.

Psalms chapter 133 New World Translation study edition

 1.Look! How good and how pleasant it is

For brothers to dwell together in unity!+

 2 It is like fine oil poured on the head+

That runs down the beard,

Aaron’s beard,+

And runs down onto the collar of his garments.

 3 It is like the dew of Herʹmon+

That descends on the mountains of Zion.+

That is where JEHOVAH decreed his blessing

—Life everlasting

Some more post game analysis re: James Tour vs. the Sphinx.

 

The singularity is at hand?

 

Quantum neurology?

 Brain as a Quantum System: Theory Gets New Traction

Denyse O Leary

At New Scientist last week, George Musser talked about the way a theory of consciousness that sees the brain as a quantum system is now under reluctant consideration. Musser, author of Putting Ourselves Back in the Equation (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2023) went to visit anesthesiologist Stuart Hameroff, who — with theoretical physicist Roger Penrose — advances the quantum-based Orch Or Theory (orchestrated objective reduction of the quantum state).

Do Quantum Phenomena Create Conscious 

Experience?

Musser explains the basic idea of the Orch Or Theory (OOT), that conscious experience arises from quantum phenomena in the brain. The theory gained little traction in the past because it was difficult to test but Musser thinks that the use of anesthetics on brain organoids (picture above, they are lumps of brain tissue grown in a medium), along with other new methods, may enable the theory to be tested:

Such ideas have existed, in various guises, on the fringes of mainstream consciousness research for decades. They have never come in from the cold because, as their critics argue, there is no solid experimental evidence that quantum effects occur in the brain, never mind a clear idea of how they would give rise to consciousness. 

GEORGE MUSSER, “CAN QUANTUM HINTS IN THE BRAIN REVIVE A RADICAL CONSCIOUSNESS THEORY?”, NEW SCIENTIST, 17 JANUARY 2024

What, more specifically, is the Orch Or theory?

In short, it says that consciousness arises when gravitational instabilities in the fundamental structure of space-time collapse quantum wave functions in tiny structures called microtubules that are found inside neurons — and, in fact, in all complex cells.

MUSSER, ”RADICAL CONSCIOUSNESS THEORY?”

In quantum theory, a particle does not really exist as a tiny bit of matter located somewhere but rather as a cloud of probabilities. If observed, it collapses into the state in which it was observed. Penrose has postulated that “each time a quantum wave function collapses in this way in the brain, it gives rise to a moment of conscious experience.”

Hameroff has been studying proteins known as tubulins inside the microtubules of neurons. He postulates that “microtubules inside neurons could be exploiting quantum effects, somehow translating gravitationally induced wave function collapse into consciousness, as Penrose had suggested.” Thus was born a collaboration, though their seminal 1996 paper failed to gain much traction.

Of course, the Nineties was the decade of the Astonishing Hypothesis (Scribner, 1994), wherein Nobel laureate Francis Crick (1916–2004) proclaimed, “You’re nothing but a pack of neurons.” In those days, many thought that materialism had already won and no more sophisticated analysis was needed.

Quantum Processing in Bird Brains

Musser tells us that recent research suggests some kind of quantum processing does occur in the brain. One suggested example is the way a bird’s internal compass includes radicals with an “odd, unpaired electron”:

When these radicals eventually react, the outcome will depend on the strength and orientation of the magnetic field. The thinking is that the bird is sensitive to this in a way that allows it to tell north from south. The process is highly quantum as the radical pair electrons are entangled, which means that they act as a single quantum object, even though they are some distance apart.

MUSSER, ”RADICAL CONSCIOUSNESS THEORY?”

If that’s correct, we already know of at least one quantum process in a nervous system. Linking that up to human consciousness is still a stretch but, he says, scientists are more willing now to at least consider it.

And Other Research?

Musser seems to be on to something. In 2022, for example, researchers at Trinity College in Dublin did experiments that suggest our brains do quantum computation. They think that their finding may help solve a mystery:

Quantum brain processes could explain why we can still outperform supercomputers when it comes to unforeseen circumstances, decision making, or learning something new. Our experiments, performed only 50 meters away from the lecture theater where Schrödinger presented his famous thoughts about life, may shed light on the mysteries of biology, and on consciousness which scientifically is even harder to grasp.

TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN, “NEW RESEARCH SUGGESTS OUR BRAINS USE QUANTUM COMPUTATION,” PHYS.ORG, OCTOBER 19, 2022. THE PAPER IS OPEN ACCESS

Likewise, Dorje C. Brody, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Surrey, hopes that quantum processes can shed light on human behavior. For example, the order in which questions are asked is important in quantum physics but not in classical physics. But in that respect, the human mind often behaves more in a quantum way, he says:

For example, in a study published 20 years ago about the effects that question order has on respondents’ answers, subjects were asked whether they thought the previous US president, Bill Clinton, was honest. They were then asked if his vice president, Al Gore, seemed honest.

When the questions were delivered in this order, a respective 50% and 60% of respondents answered that they were honest. But when the researchers asked respondents about Gore first and then Clinton, a respective 68% and 60% responded that they were honest.

DORJE C. BRODY, “COULD QUANTUM PHYSICS BE THE KEY THAT UNLOCKS THE SECRETS OF HUMAN BEHAVIOUR?,” JANUARY 19, 2024

He sees the human response as more like a quantum system. 

How trying to understand human consciousness or behavior via quantum processes will work out is anyone’s guess. But here’s a prediction: It won’t help the cause of materialism much.

On the bible's historical accuracy re: Media and Persia.

 A Book You Can Trust—Part 4

Medo-Persia in Bible History

JW.org

This is the fourth in a series of seven articles in consecutive issues of Awake! that discuss the seven world powers of Bible history. The objective is to show that the Bible is trustworthy and inspired of God and that its message is one of hope for an end to the suffering caused by man’s cruel domination of his fellow man.

THE ruins of palaces and royal tombs provide only a glimpse of the grandeur, power, and wealth of the ancient dual empire of Media and Persia. Before the two kingdoms united, Media was the dominant kingdom. But in 550 B.C.E., the Medes came under the control of Persian King Cyrus II, who thereafter ruled over the kingdom of Medo-Persia. Centered in the region north of the Persian Gulf, this vast realm eventually stretched from the Aegean Sea to Egypt to northwestern India and included Judea.

Medo-Persia ruled over the Jewish nation for more than 200 years​—from the overthrow of Babylon in 539 B.C.E. until Medo-Persia itself was defeated by the Greeks in 331 B.C.E. Numerous Bible books comment on significant events that occurred during that time.

Trustworthy History

The Bible tells us that King Cyrus II freed the Jews held captive in Babylon, allowing them to return to Jerusalem and rebuild God’s temple, which the Babylonians had destroyed in 607 B.C.E. (Ezra 1:1-7; 6:3-5) Corroborating this account is a clay document known as the Cyrus Cylinder, discovered in 1879 in the ruins of ancient Babylon. The inscription identifies Cyrus by name and describes his policy of returning previously captured peoples and their religious objects to their native lands. The Bible writer Isaiah recorded Jehovah’s prophetic words concerning Cyrus: “‘All that I delight in he will completely carry out’; even in my saying of Jerusalem, ‘She will be rebuilt,’ and of the temple, ‘You will have your foundation laid.’”​—Isaiah 44:28.

In fact, Cyrus ordered that funds for temple reconstruction “be given from the king’s house,” says Ezra 6:3, 4. This amazing statement harmonizes with secular history. “It was a consistent policy of Persian kings to help restore sanctuaries in their empire,” says the book Persia and the Bible.

The Bible tells us that opposers of the Jews later wrote to Darius the Great (also called Darius I) challenging the Jews’ claim that Cyrus had authorized the reconstruction of the temple. Darius commanded that a search be made for the original written decree. The outcome? A scroll containing Cyrus’ decree was found at Ecbatana, the capital. In response, Darius wrote: “I, Darius, do put through an order. Let it [temple reconstruction] be done promptly.” Opposition to the work then ceased. *​—Ezra 6:2, 7, 12, 13.

Secular history supports these details. For one thing, Ecbatana was the summer residence of Cyrus, and he may have issued his decree from there. Also, archaeological discoveries show that Medo-Persian kings took a keen interest in religious matters affecting their realm and wrote letters to resolve disputes.

Trustworthy Prophecy

In a divinely inspired dream, the prophet Daniel saw a series of four beasts rising out of the sea, each representing a successive world power. The first beast, a winged lion, represented Babylon. The second was “like a bear.” The account continues: “This is what they were saying to it, ‘Get up, eat much flesh.’” (Daniel 7:5) The fearsome bear pictured Medo-Persia.

True to Daniel’s prophecy, Medo-Persia displayed a voracious appetite for conquest. Not long after Daniel’s vision, Cyrus defeated the Medes and then waged war against neighboring Lydia and Babylon. His son Cambyses II conquered Egypt. Later Medo-Persian rulers expanded the empire even farther.

How can we be sure of this interpretation? In a separate but related vision, Daniel saw a ram “making thrusts to the west and to the north and to the south.” The prophecy was fulfilled when Medo-Persia made “thrusts” against other nations, including mighty Babylon. An angel of God interpreted this vision, saying to Daniel: “The ram that you saw possessing the two horns stands for the kings of Media and Persia.”​—Daniel 8:3, 4, 20.

Furthermore, some two centuries before Babylon’s defeat, the prophet Isaiah foretold both the name of the conquering Persian king​—who was not yet born—​and his strategy for taking Babylon. Isaiah wrote: “This is what Jehovah has said to his anointed one, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have taken hold of, to subdue before him nations, . . . to open before him the two-leaved doors, so that even the gates will not be shut.” (Isaiah 45:1) Both Isaiah and Jeremiah foretold that Babylon’s “rivers,” or canals fed by the Euphrates River, which served as a protective moat, would be dried up. (Isaiah 44:27; Jeremiah 50:38) The Greek historians Herodotus and Xenophon confirm the Bible’s prophetic accuracy, including the fact that the Babylonians were reveling on the very night that Cyrus took the city. (Isaiah 21:5, 9; Daniel 5:1-4, 30) Having diverted the Euphrates River, Cyrus’ armies entered the city through open gates along the river, encountering little resistance. In one night mighty Babylon fell!

This event, in turn, led to the amazing fulfillment of another prophecy. The prophet Jeremiah had earlier foretold that God’s people would be exiled in Babylon for 70 years. (Jeremiah 25:11, 12; 29:10) That prophecy was fulfilled right on time, and the exiles were allowed to return to their homeland.

A Hope You Can Trust

Shortly after Medo-Persia conquered Babylon, Daniel recorded a prophecy that sheds light on a most important event in the accomplishment of God’s purpose for mankind. The angel Gabriel informed Daniel precisely when the Messiah​—the “seed” promised at Genesis 3:15—​would appear! God’s angel said: “From the going forth of the word to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Leader, there will be seven weeks, also sixty-two weeks,” a total of 69 weeks. (Daniel 9:25) When did this prophetic period begin?

Although Cyrus permitted the Jews to return to their land soon after the fall of Babylon, many years later Jerusalem and its walls were still in disrepair. In 455 B.C.E., King Artaxerxes granted permission to his Jewish cupbearer Nehemiah to return to Jerusalem and take the lead in the rebuilding work. (Nehemiah 2:1-6) This marked the start of the 69 weeks.

The 69 weeks, however, were not literal weeks of seven days but weeks of years. In fact, some Bible translations render the expression “weeks” as “weeks of years.” * (Daniel 9:24, 25) The Messiah would appear after a period of 69 “weeks” of 7 years each​—a total of 483 years. The prophecy was fulfilled in 29 C.E. when Jesus was baptized, exactly 483 years from 455 B.C.E. *

The precise fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy adds to the abundant evidence confirming Jesus’ identity. This evidence also confirms our hope for the future. Jesus, as King of God’s heavenly Kingdom, will bring an end to harsh human rule. Thereafter, he will fulfill many more Bible prophecies, including those pointing forward to a resurrection of the dead to endless life in Paradise on earth.​—Daniel 12:2; John 5:28, 29; Revelation 21:3-5.

Holding corporations responsible for the weather?

 

An example of non darwinian design?

 

Rinse and repeat?

 

James tour nukes the RNA world

 

The cheshire cat experiment demystified.

 

A theory of everything is more elusive than ever?

 

The ministry of truth is put on high alert

 

The stones rebuke the bible's naysayers.

 How does archaeology confirm the role of Belshazzar of Babylon?

JW.org

FOR many years, Bible critics claimed that King Belshazzar, who is mentioned in the book of Daniel, never existed. (Dan. 5:1) They held that view because archaeologists could find no evidence that he had actually lived. However, that changed in 1854. Why?

In that year, a British consul named J. G. Taylor explored some ruins in the ancient city of Ur, in what is now southern Iraq. There, located in a large tower, the explorer found several clay cylinders. The cylinders, each about four inches (10 cm) long, are engraved with cuneiform writing. The writing on one of the cylinders includes a prayer for the long life of Babylonian King Nabonidus and his oldest son, Belshazzar. Even critics had to agree: This finding proves that Belshazzar did exist.

However, the Bible states not only that Belshazzar existed but also that he was a king. Again, critics were skeptical. For example, the 19th-century English scientist William Talbot wrote that some state that “Bel-sar-ussur [Belshazzar] was co-regent with Nabonidus his father. But of this there is not the slightest evidence.”

That controversy was settled, however, when the writings on other clay cylinders revealed that Belshazzar’s father, King Nabonidus, was away from the capital city for years at a time. What happened during his absence? “When Nabonidus went into exile,” states the Encyclopaedia Britannica, “he entrusted Belshazzar with the throne and the major part of his army.” So Belshazzar served, in effect, as a coruler in Babylon during that time. Thus, archaeologist and language scholar Alan Millard stated that it was appropriate for “the Book of Daniel to call Belshazzar ‘king.’”

Of course, for God’s servants, the principal evidence that the book of Daniel is trustworthy and inspired by God is found within the Bible itself.​—2 Tim. 3:16.

2Kings chapters 6 and 7 American Standard Version

 6.1 And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell before thee is too strait for us. 2Let us go, we pray thee, unto the Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye. 3And one said, Be pleased, I pray thee, to go with thy servants. And he answered, I will go. 4So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down wood. 5But as one was felling a beam, the axe-head fell into the water; and he cried, and said, Alas, my master! for it was borrowed. 6And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he showed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither, and made the iron to swim. 7And he said, Take it up to thee. So he put out his hand, and took it.

8Now the king of Syria was warring against Israel; and he took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp. 9And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place; for thither the Syrians are coming down. 10And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of; and he saved himself there, not once nor twice.

11And the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing; and he called his servants, and said unto them, Will ye not show me which of us is for the king of Israel? 12And one of his servants said, Nay, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber. 13And he said, Go and see where he is, that I may send and fetch him. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan. 14Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about.

15And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, a host with horses and chariots was round about the city. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? 16And he answered, Fear not; for they that are with us are more than they that are with them. 17And Elisha prayed, and said, JEHOVAH, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And JEHOVAH opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. 18And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto JEHOVAH, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. 19And Elisha said unto them, This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek. And he led them to Samaria.

20And it came to pass, when they were come into Samaria, that Elisha said, JEHOVAH, open the eyes of these men, that they may see. And JEHOVAH opened their eyes, and they saw; and, behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. 21And the king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them, My father, shall I smite them? shall I smite them? 22And he answered, Thou shalt not smite them: wouldest thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master. 23And he prepared great provision for them; and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.

24And it came to pass after this, that Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria. 25And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until an ass's head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove's dung for five pieces of silver. 26And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king. 27And he said, If JEHOVAH do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the threshing-floor, or out of the winepress? 28And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to-day, and we will eat my son to-morrow. 29So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him; and she hath hid her son. 30And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes (now he was passing by upon the wall); and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh. 31Then he said, God do so to me, and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day.

32But Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him; and the king'sent a man from before him: but ere the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, See ye how this son of a murderer hath sent to take away my head? look, when the messenger cometh, shut the door, and hold the door fast against him: is not the sound of his master's feet behind him? 33And while he was yet talking with them, behold, the messenger came down unto him: and he said, Behold, this evil is of JEHOVAH; why should I wait for JEHOVAH any longer?

7.1And Elisha said, Hear ye the word of JEHOVAH: thus saith JEHOVAH, To-morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be'sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria. 2Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if JEHOVAH should make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.

3Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die? 4If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there; and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die. 5And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians; and when they were come to the outermost part of the camp of the Syrians, behold, there was no man there. 6For the LORD had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us. 7Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life. 8And when these lepers came to the outermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it; and they came back, and entered into another tent, and carried thence also, and went and hid it.

9Then they said one to another, We do not well; this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarry till the morning light, punishment will overtake us; now therefore come, let us go and tell the king's household. 10So they came and called unto the porter of the city; and they told them, saying, We came to the camp of the Syrians, and, behold, there was no man there, neither voice of man, but the horses tied, and the asses tied, and the tents as they were. 11And he called the porters; and they told it to the king's household within. 12And the king arose in the night, and said unto his servants, I will now show you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry; therefore are they gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, When they come out of the city, we shall take them alive, and get into the city. 13And one of his servants answered and said, Let some take, I pray thee, five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city (behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it; behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are consumed); and let us send and see. 14They took therefore two chariots with horses; and the king sent after the host of the Syrians, saying, Go and see.

15And they went after them unto the Jordan: and, lo, all the way was full of garments and vessels, which the Syrians had cast away in their haste. And the messengers returned, and told the king.

16And the people went out, and plundered the camp of the Syrians. So a measure of fine flour was'sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of JEHOVAH. 17And the king appointed the captain on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate: and the people trod upon him in the gate, and he died as the man of God had said, who spake when the king came down to him. 18And it came to pass, as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be to-morrow about this time in the gate of Samaria; 19and that captain answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, if JEHOVAH should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? and he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof: 20it came to pass even so unto him; for the people trod upon him in the gate, and he died.

Leonid Brezhnev : a brief history.

 

You should listen to your gut?

 New Findings About Our Mysterious “Second Brain”

Denyse O Leary

It wasn’t long ago that researchers were hardly aware of the way the digestive system functions as a second brain. The big focus was neurons. But, along with neurons, both the central nervous system and the digestive system make extensive use of glial cells, whose function has not been as well understood.

Glial cells, which do not produce electrical impulses, were considered “electrophysiologically boring.” We now know that they support neurons in both physical and chemical ways. In the gut, they co-ordinate immune responses. From the Francis Crick Institute, we learn:

… the enteric nervous system is remarkably independent: Intestines could carry out many of their regular duties even if they somehow became disconnected from the central nervous system. And the number of specialized nervous system cells, namely neurons and glia, that live in a person’s gut is roughly equivalent to the number found in a cat’s brain.

MOHAMMAD M. AHMADZAI, LUISA SEGUELLA, BRIAN D. GULBRANSEN. CIRCUIT-SPECIFIC ENTERIC GLIA REGULATE INTESTINAL MOTOR NEUROCIRCUITS. PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, 2021; 118 (40): E2025938118 DOI: 10.1073/PNAS.2025938118 THE PAPER IS OPEN ACCESS.

Researcher Brian D. Gulbransen explains, “In computing language, the glia would be the logic gates. Or, for a more musical metaphor, the glia aren’t carrying the notes played on an electric guitar, they’re the pedals and amplifiers modulating the tone and volume of those notes.”

Understanding how much the digestive system functions, in part, as its own brain may help researchers develop better treatment for the gut disorders that afflict about 60 to 70 million people in the United States alone.

The Role Microbes Play

The vagus nerve is a stout cable of neurons that serves as an information highway between the base of the brain and the gut. Even though it is the longest nervous system connection in the body, messages take only milliseconds to travel between the brain and the gut.

The really surprising thing is that the trillions of microbes that inhabit a human digestive system play a role in all these communications, as University of British Columbia neuroscientist Heather Gerrie notes:

Many of these microbes live in the mucus layer that lines the intestines, placing them in direct contact with nerve and immune cells, which are the major information gathering systems of our bodies. This location also primes microbes to listen in as the brain signals stress, anxiety or even happiness along the vagus nerve.

But the microbes in our gut microbiome don’t just listen. These cells produce modulating signals that send information back up to the brain. In fact, 90% of the neurons in the vagus nerve are actually carrying information from the gut to the brain, not the other way around. This means the signals generated in the gut can massively influence the brain.

HEATHER GERRIE, “OUR SECOND BRAIN: MORE THAN A GUT FEELING,” UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA GRADUATE PROGRAM IN NEUROSCIENCE.

A Constant Battle

Another of the remarkable qualities of glial cells is that they can shift from one type to another, as needed, in the constant battle to keep pathogens and toxins at bay.

As Yasemin Saplakoglu points out at Wired,

… scientists now know that enteric glia are among the first responders to injury or inflammation in gut tissue. They help maintain the gut’s barrier to keep toxins out. They mediate the contractions of the gut that allow food to flow through the digestive tract. Glia regulate stem cells in the gut’s outer layer, and are critical for tissue regeneration. They chat with the microbiome, neurons, and immune-system cells, managing and coordinating their functions.

YASEMIN SAPLAKOGLU, “UNPICKING THE MYSTERY OF THE BODY’S ‘SECOND BRAIN,’” WIRED, JANUARY 14, 2024

This “chat” among neurons, glia, and microbes could be important for research into the digestive system in relation to mood disorders and anxiety and depression. People often assume that their stomachs are upset because they are emotionally upset. But the story of the millions of communications shunted back and forth in milliseconds could be more complicated than that.

As Jay Pasricha, M.D., director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Neurogastroenterology, says,“The enteric nervous system doesn’t seem capable of thought as we know it, but it communicates back and forth with our big brain — with profound results.”

Yet another highly improbable megastructure vs the cosmological conscensus?

 

Homo Habilis is the missing link?

 Fossil Friday: New Research Questions the Human Nature of Homo habilis

Gunter Bechly

Last year, I wrote an article (Bechly 2023) for Fossil Friday about the questionable status of the East African fossil hominin Homo habilis as a member of our genus rather than being just another ape-like australopithecine. This is a crucial issue for human origins, because Homo habilis is often proclaimed as the transitional form connecting our genus with australopithecines. As I elaborated in my article, this notion was challenged by several mainstream experts, and it was challenged from quite early on (e.g., Wood 1987). But this challenge is far from being a thing of the past. Two new articles relevant to the status of Homo habilis appeared last year in the 50th anniversary edition of the Journal of Human Evolution.

The first article was authored by Bruner & Beaudet (2023), who reviewed the evidence from three decades of research on the brain of Homo habilis. They found that “after more than 30 years, the fossil record associated with this taxon has not grown that much” and concluded that “in this sense, the disciplines working with fossils (and, in particular, with brain evolution) should take particular care to maintain a healthy professional situation, avoiding an excess of speculation and overstatement.” In other words, based on our current knowledge of the fossil record and the human brain, the scientists did not find compelling the claims of Tobias (1987) who had originally “suggested that the neuroanatomy of this species evidenced a clear change toward many cerebral traits associated with our genus.”

“Excessive Speculations”

It is also quite interesting that the lead author commented on his blog site (Bruner 2022):

This taxon [Homo habilis], much debated in the last 20 years, has not found a proper taxonomic validation yet, which suggests at least a lack of robust evidence, in this sense. … The attention of the mass media for science and research is prompting a compulsive marketing based on appearance and fast vending news, at the expense of content and quality. Paleontological fields are characterized by issues that can be hardly proven, charming topics, and harmless conclusions (in the sense that they have no direct consequences on people’s welfare). These three features make these fields more sensitive to contamination associated with personal, institutional, and economic interests, generating a conflict between scientific proficiency and public visibility. Excessive speculations, in this sense, can seriously harm the reputation of the discipline.

Bruner also commented on the quite disturbing impact of woke cancel culture on his submitted review of three decades of paleoneurology, which should also include two photos of the founders of the discipline, namely the distinguished scientists Phillip Tobias and Ralph Holloway:

After one year of preparation, three resubmissions, and the revision performed by four referees, the publication was suddenly suspended during the proofs’ correction stage, because it included these two images of “white senior males”, which apparently goes against the defense of human diversity (race, age, and sex). When the Editors were informed of this situation, they circumvented the problem, saying that an informal and unwritten norm of the journal prevents the possibility of publishing photographs of persons, except for obituaries. A strange norm, which apparently undervalues the fact that science is done, inevitably, by persons. … Our review ends by asking what we should keep from 30 years of paleoneurology. More than fossils and techniques, what really matters is, after all, competence, expertise, experience, and commitment. These four values, apparently positive for the sake of a healthy science, were also criticized during the proofs’ correction (most of all the term “commitment”, which had to be substituted in the final version of the manuscript), because they were claimed of having a negative connotation, supporting “meritocracy”.

Unfortunately, like the rest of Western society, modern science seems to be going more and more bananas.

A Jaw-Dropping Conclusion

Anyway, the second article was published by Antón & Middleton (2023), who re-evaluated the fossil record of early Homo, especially H. erectus, H. habilis, and H. rudolfensis. Their conclusion is jaw-dropping: “Chronologically and morphologically H. erectus is a member of early Homo, not a temporally more recent species necessarily evolved from either H. habilis or H. rudolfensis”. So much for the latter two taxa as missing links between ape-like australopithecines and real humans of the genus Homo. Homo erectus coexisted with Australopithecus and tools associated with “Homo” habilis may have been used by Homo erectus on Australopithecus habilis rather than being produced and used by the latter, which is suggested by the distribution of fossils and artifacts at the Olduvai gorge site in Tanzania (Bechly 2023). Habilis was likely not a handy man but the ape bush meat of real humans.

This is not just my humble opinion, but is also supported by a brand-new study by Davies et al. (2024) in Nature Communications on the dental morphology of Homo habilis. The authors found this “morphology in H. habilis is for the most part remarkably primitive, supporting the hypothesis that the H. habilis hypodigm has more in common with Australopithecus than later Homo.”

Not About Consensus

Thus, the most recent research confirms the previous and early critique that H. habilis should be classified as Australopithecus. So, the latter view cannot be dismissed as obsolete and outdated science, and it can also not be dismissed by a mere appeal to a scientific consensus. Science is not about consensus but about empirical evidence and rational arguments. A consensus is scientifically worthless when it is driven by worldview bias and peer pressure rather than by an unbiased inference to the best explanation. Here is what Jurassic Park author Michael Crichton famously said about this issue: “I regard consensus science as an extremely pernicious development that ought to be stopped cold in its tracks. Historically, the claim of consensus has been the first refuge of scoundrels; it is a way to avoid debate by claiming that the matter is already settled.”

References

Antón SC & Middleton ER 2023. Making meaning from fragmentary fossils: Early Homo in the Early to early Middle Pleistocene. Journal of Human Evolution 179(S66): 103307. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2022.103307

Bechly G 2023. Fossil Friday: To Be or Not to be Homo. Evolution News June 23, 2023. https://evolutionnews.org/2023/06/fossil-friday-to-be-or-not-to-be-homo/

Bruner E 2022. Three decades of paleoneurology. paleoneurology November 28, 2022. https://paleoneurology.wordpress.com/2022/11/28/three-decades-of-paleoneurology/

Bruner E & Beaudet A 2023. The brain of Homo habilis: Three decades of paleoneurology. Journal of Human Evolution 174: 103281. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2022.103281

Davies TW, Gunz P, Spoor F, Alemseged Z, Gidna A, Hublin J-J, Kimbel WH, Kullmer O, Plummer WP, Zanolli C & Skinner MM 2024 Dental morphology in Homo habilis and its implications for the evolution of early Homo. Nature Communications 15: 286, 1–16. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-44375-9

Tobias P 1987. The Brain of Homo habilis: A New Level Of Organization in Cerebral Evolution. Journal of Human Evolution 16, 741–761. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0047-2484(87)90022-4

Wood B 1987. Who is the ‘real’ Homo habilis? Nature 327, 187–188. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/327187a0

On the undeniable design of the mammalian eye.

 

On the lure of master race delusions

 The Nazis and Their Transhumanist Delusion

Peter Biles

The other night, I watched three episodes of the new Netflix series All the Light We Cannot See, based on the book by Anthony Doerr. The movie follows the story of Marie, a blind girl who sends out radio messages in a small town on the French coast, and Werner, a German lad co-opted into the Nazi regime for his stunning abilities with radio transmitters. It is a beautiful and heart-rending interpretation of a beloved modern classic, so if you are able, do consider watching it for yourself.

One particular point in the show that caught my attention (without giving away any spoilers) was the moment young Werner is marched against his will into the National Political Institute for Education, an “elite” training ground for future Nazi “supermen.” Its banal and bureaucratic name may remind you of the “National Institute for Coordinated Experiments,” or “N.I.C.E.” from the sci-fi thriller That Hideous Strength by C. S. Lewis. 

Despite Werner’s assumptions that he was being taken to the school primarily for his intellectual abilities, he is thrust into a physically brutal athletic regime. One of the wardens barks Nietzsche quotes at them while they tumble over obstacles in the yard, declaring, in frighteningly stark evolutionary fashion, that the strong eat the weak, and that the boys must squelch any semblance of cowardice, emotion, or feebleness left within them. 

The Superman

When Werner first arrives at this awful school, he has to undergo an invasive examination to prove that he is “not Jewish.” Because he is an orphan, he can’t be admitted to the school until his genetic ancestry has been thoroughly vetted. 

If anyone is in doubt as to just how obsessed the Nazis were with race and the pseudoscience of racial hierarchies, this brief and disturbing scene will set the record straight. Nothing but German Aryan would do. The Nazis were keen on creating a superhuman race with unsurpassable physical, intellectual, and (ironically) moral qualities. The word “transhumanist” has not often been a word I’d think of to describe the Nazis, but a quote from the TV show reveals them to be, in essence, a group that was driven by the desire to transcend human limits. Regular humanity, with all its “weakness,” diversity, and faults, had to be done away with, replaced by a hegemonic race of genetic perfection. “The boy you were will soon be dead,” the examiner tells Werner. “Replaced by something more than human.” 

“More than human.” On the surface it sounds, like the institute in C. S. Lewis’s novel. It sounds like throwing off the shackles of our limits and fulfilling our idyllic destiny. With its sinister racism, though, “more than human” meant despising the worth and dignity of millions of people. 

Not Laid to Rest

While we may want to believe that such an atrocious mindset was laid to rest in the 20th century, never to return, strains of this thinking remain apparent. White supremacy, anti-Semitism, and radical medical practices like abortion, assisted suicide, and surrogacy all flirt with, or fully applaud, the idea that “some people are worth more than others.” Whether it involves a person’s skin color, cultural and religious heritage, or the vulnerability of the elderly, disabled, and unborn, there is a resurgence of anti-humanism. Strangely enough, such anti-humanism comes to us in the name of humanity, in the name of “compassion.” Transhumanism, with its emphasis on technological power, tends to regard the human body and its mortality as a problem to be overcome instead of a gift from God to be accepted.

All the Light We Cannot See shows what can happen when the delusions of transhumanism join forces with a terrible ideology. Human beings, precious simply for being human, are desecrated.

There is no free lunch re:information?

 

Wikipedia has become the borg?

 

The black heterodoxy is not a cause for celebration? Pros and Cons.

 

Peer reveiwing peer review?

 

Some more iconoclasm?

 

Molecular biology vs Darwin.

 

The opium wars: a brief history.

 

Sexual reproduction vs Darwin II

 

The arian Pope?

 Pope Liberius

New World Encyclopedia

Pope Liberius was the bishop of Rome from May 17, 352, to September 24, 366. He is noted for opposing Arianism during his early career, but later seems to have adopted a semi-Arian position, though under duress. His papacy was also notable in that, for a period, he and another pope, known to history as Antipope Felix II, were both recognized by the emperor as bishop of Rome.

During Liberius' early reign he was much involved in defending the strongly anti-Arian bishop Athanasius of Alexandria against Emperor Constantius II, who saw Athanasius as a divisive force in the empire. By 355 Liberius one of the few who still refused to condemn Athanasius, despite an imperial command to the contrary. The consequence was his banishment to Thrace and the appointment of Felix as his successor.

At the end of an exile of more than two years, the emperor recalled Liberius; but due to Felix' presence in the Holy See, a year passed before Liberius was sent to Rome. It was the emperor's intention that Liberius should govern the Roman church jointly with Felix, but after Liberius' arrival, Felix was forcibly expelled by the anti-Arian faction of the Roman people.

Background

Liberius reigned at one of the peaks of the Arian controversy, which had no means been permanently settled at the Council of Nicaea in 323. The vacillations of imperial politics witnessed several twists and turns as emperors changed their minds about the issue or were replaced by a new ruler who took a different view. The theological issue involved the question of whether Christ was merely of a "like" substance (homoiousios—the Arian position) with God the Father or of the same substance (homoousios—the orthodox view) with him. The most adamant and consistently outspoken opponent of Arianism was the powerful Bishop Athanasius of Alexandria, who tolerated no comprise with the "heretics," regardless of what any emperor decreed.

At the death of Emperor Constans (January, 350), Constantius II became sole emperor. Believing that a large part of the population of his empire had been unnecessarily alienated by the persecution of Arianism and personally close to several semi-Arian bishops, he sought to unite Christendom by a less stringent creed.

Under Constantius' reign the troublesome Athanasius had been banished from Alexandria and was charged with various political and ecclesiastical offenses at Sardica, largely resulting from his hounding of the Arians and his refusal to accept even some of those who acknowledged the Nicaean formula but did not satisfy other criteria of "orthodoxy" as he saw it.

Liberius' papacy

Early on in his papacy, Liberius was drawn into the controversy over how much compromise with Arianism could be tolerated. Like his predecessor Julius, Liberius upheld the acquittal of Athanasius at Sardica, but, unlike Athanasius, would make the decisions of Nicæa the ultimate test of orthodoxy.

In 353, Liberius, in his first known act as pope, sent legates to the emperor in Gaul asking him to hold a council at Aquileia, Italy, to discuss Athanasius. Constantius, however, assembled a council of bishops at Arles where he had wintered, and where more of the churchmen were amenable to him. There, the pope's legates (of whom one was Vincent of Capua, who had been a papal legate at the Council of Nicæa) acquiesced to the emperor's wishes consented to renounce the cause of Athanasius. Liberius, on receiving the news, wrote to Bishop Hosius of Cordova of his deep grief at the spiritual fall of Vincent. The pope was so distraught as to admit that he himself desired to die, lest he should be seen as having agreed to a compromise with heresy.

During this time, a letter against Athanasius signed by many Eastern bishops had arrived at Rome, complaining that the Alexandrian bishop went too far in his zeal against Arianism. Athanasius, meanwhile, had already held a more localized council in his own defense, and a letter in his favor, signed by at least 75 Egyptian bishops, had arrived at Rome at the end of May, 353. Constantius publicly accused the pope of preventing peace and of suppressing the letter of the Easterns against Athanasius.

Liberius replied with a letter (Obsecro, tranqullissime imperator), in which he declared that he read the letter of the Easterns to a council at Rome (probably held in May, 353). However, as the pro-Athanasius letter was signed by a greater number of bishops, he argued that it was impossible to condemn Athanasius. He also admitted that he himself had never wished to be pope, but he had followed his predecessors in all things. Therefore, he could not make peace with the Easterns, for some of them refused to condemn Arius, and they were in communion with Bishop George of Alexandria, Athanasius' replacement, who accepted Arian priests who had long ago been excommunicated. The pope also complained of the proceedings of of the Council of Arles and begged for the assembling of another council.

Council of Milan

A council was in fact convened at Milan, and met there about the spring of 355. The future Saint Eusebius of Vercelli was persuaded to be present, and he insisted that all should begin by signing the Nicene decree. Certainty of the bishops loyal to Constantius II declined. Constantius reportedly ordered the bishops to accept his word for the guilt of Athanasius on political grounds and to condemn him for disrupting the peace of the Empire. Eusebius was banished, together with several others. Under these pressures the rest of the council duly followed the emperor's wishes.

Liberius then sent another letter to the emperor; and this time his envoys, the priest Eutropius and the deacon Hilary, were also exiled, the deacon also cruelly beaten. Auxentius, an Arian, was made bishop of Milan. The pope then wrote a letter, generally known as Quamuis sub imagine to the exiled bishops, addressing them as martyrs, and expressing his regret that he had not been the first to suffer so as to set an example to others.

For his part, Constantius was not satisfied by the condemnation of Athanasius by the Italian bishops who had lapsed at Milan under pressure. He "strove with burning desire," says the pagan writer Ammianus, "that [his] sentence [against Athanasius] should be confirmed by the higher authority of the bishop of the eternal city." Constantius sent to Rome his prefect of the bed-chamber, the eunuch Eusebius, with a letter and gifts. The pope's reply, according to the writings of Athanasius, was that he could not decide against the Alexandrian bishop, who had been acquitted by two general synods. Nor could he condemn those absent. Moreover, if the emperor desired peace, he must annul what he had decreed against Athanasius and have a council celebrated without emperor or counts or judges present, so that the Nicene faith might be preserved. The followers of Arius must be cast out and their heresy anathematized; the unorthodox must not sit in a synod.[1] The eunuch was reportedly enraged, but laid the gifts he intended for the pope before the tomb of Saint Peter.

Exile and Antipope Felix II

Constantius was then persuaded to send an official with letters to the prefect of Rome, Leontius, ordering that Liberius should be seized and brought to his court. In the trouble that followed, Athanasius reports that bishops and wealthy Christian ladies were obliged to hide, monks were not safe, foreigners were expelled, the gates and the port were watched.

Liberius was dragged before the emperor at Milan. He reportedly spoke boldly at first and refused to renounce Athanasius. The emperor gave the pope three days for consideration, and then banished him to Beroea in Thrace, sending him 500 gold pieces for his expenses, which the pope refused.

With Liberius deposed by the emperor, many churchmen and nobility at Rome accepted Archdeacon Felix as his successor, whose consecration by the Arian Bishop Acacius of Cæsarea had been arranged at the emperor's order in 355. The majority of the Roman clergy acknowledged the validity of his consecration but many of the laity resented the emperor's meddling in the affairs of the Roman church. Constantius paid his first visit to Rome on April 1, 357. There, he discovered that his pope held little authority outside of the nobility, and consequently Liberius was allowed to leave for Rome before the end of 357, where he was to rule jointly with Felix.

Liberius' lapse into semi-Arianism

It was widely reported that before returning, Liberius had signed the condemnation of Athanasius and perhaps some semi-Arian creed. Whether or not this was true, the Roman populace clearly welcomed him back and soon rose in violence against Felix driving him out of the city. He retired to Porto but did not relinquish the title of pope until his death.

Regarding Liberius capitulation, the Arian writer Philostorgius relates that Liberius was restored to the papacy only when he had consented to sign the second formula of Sirmium, which was drawn up after the summer of 357 by the semi-Arian bishops, Germinius, Ursacius, Valens. It rejected both the Nicaean term homoousios (same substance) and the Arian term homoiousios (like substance). The same story of the pope's fall into "heresy" is supported by three letters attributed to him in the so-called "Historical Fragments" of Saint Hilary of Poitiers, but the historian Sozomen tells us this was a fraud propagated by the Arian Eudoxius. A particularly compelling piece of evidence comes from Athanasius himself, writing at the end of 357. He admits: "Liberius, having been exiled, gave in after two years, and, in fear of the death with which he was threatened, signed." (Hist. Ar., xli) Finally, an undisputed letter of Hilary, in 360, addresses Constantius thus: "I know not whether it was with greater impiety that you exiled him than that you restored him" (Contra Const., II).

While denying the validity of the fragments of Hillary, Sozomen also relates his own story of Liberius' submission. In this version, Constantius, after his return from Rome, summoned Liberius to Sirmium (357). There, the semi-Arian leaders Basil of Ancyra, Eustathius, and Eleusius, convinced the pope to condemn the "Homoousion."

Later years

In 359 a major church council was held at Rimini, in which neither of the two reigning popes participated. Most of the bishops there were orthodox, but were persuaded or perhaps unwittingly accepted certain semi-Arian propositions. Liberius, now more at liberty than he had been previously, criticized these decisions, and when Constantius died at the end of 361, he publicly nullified the council's actions.

A last act that would haunt Liberius' memory is that, around 366, he received a deputation of the semi-Arians led by Eustathius and later held communion with them. His defenders claim that he was unaware that, although they accepted the Nicaean formula, many of them rejected the divinity of the Holy Ghost.

Legacy

The division of the Roman clergy did not end with Liberius' death, but continued when Damasus I was elected his successor. Although Damasus had once been Liberius' archdeacon, he served Antipope Felix even more closely and was supported by the nobility and clergy who had been Felix's partisans. Damasus' early papacy was marred by violent factional strife in which hundreds died. He also faced accusations of moral corruption, but was highly successful from the standpoint of Catholic orthodoxy, since a change in imperial policy led to Nicene Christianity being recognized as the official religion of the Roman Empire.

Liberius himself was perhaps the only early pope never declared a saint by his own Catholic tradition, although he was sanctified by the Eastern Orthodox Church for his early resistance to Arianism.