“And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.” (Leviticus 25:10)

This verse is especially significant in American history as the verse from which the great exhortation was taken on the first Independence Day: “Proclaim liberty throughout the land to all the inhabitants thereof!” It has ever since been associated with the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, as Americans each year thank God for “the land of the free.”

The verse is also significant as containing the first mention of “liberty” in the Bible. In its biblical context, it established the “jubilee year,” when all those Israelites who had sold themselves into bondage were set at liberty. The founding fathers of our nation evidently believed there was a parallel between freedom from bondage to the king of England and freedom from bondage in ancient Israel.

But there is even a greater freedom than this. Jesus said, “Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. . . . If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:34, 36). “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? . . . But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life” (Romans 6:16, 22).

There is always a danger that a free country will someday allow itself to be brought again into bondage, and also a danger that a believer will fall back into sin. To both, God would say, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1). HMM

A study released June 23, 2008, found that 92 percent of Americans believe in God, including about one in five who say they are atheists.

The survey¹ by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life is the organization’s second report based on the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, one of the largest polls ever conducted on Americans’ religious views, with more than 35,000 adults interviewed.

The first report,² released in February, examined the religious makeup of America.³ The second report states that 74 percent of Americans believe in heaven and 59 percent believe in hell. And a majority of people also believe that both angels and demons are working in the world, and that miracles occur today as they did in ancient times.

Politically speaking, evangelical Christians and Mormons tend to be Republican or favor the Republican Party. More than three-quarters of members of historically black churches favor the Democratic Party, as do two-thirds of Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists.

The report confirmed that those who attend church and pray frequently are most likely to oppose legalized abortion and discourage homosexuality. Less division exists between Christians and non-Christians on other issues. Majorities across both religious and secular groups support more government initiatives to help the needy and the environment. Also, majorities in most religions said the United States should concentrate more on solving domestic issues and less on problems abroad.

Twenty-one percent of those polled said they were atheists but expressed belief in God or a universal spirit, as did more than half of those who said they were agnostic.

If religion and belief in God play such a vital role in Americans’ lives, why are they constantly inundated with atheistic-naturalistic, evolution-based science in the media, laboratories, and classrooms?

References

1. U.S. Religious Landscape Survey: Religious Beliefs and Practices: Diverse and Politically Relevant. June 2008. The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. Available on religions.pewforum.org, accessed June 23, 2008.
2. U.S. Religious Landscape Survey: Religious Affiliation: Diverse and Dynamic. February 2008. The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. Available on religions.pewforum.org, accessed June 23, 2008.
3. Summaries for the February and June reports can be viewed here.

* Ms. Dao is Assistant Editor.

The standard story of the origin of Australia goes something like this: Many millions of years ago, the earth had one continent called Pangaea. Around 120 million years ago, a landmass that included the future Africa and South America inexplicably broke off and began pulling away. Then, 80 million years ago Australia separated from Antarctica—thus Australia became isolated. The creatures trapped on Australia underwent millions of years of evolution separately from the creatures on other continents, since there was no breeding across continents then.

All it takes is one fossil bone to throw a wrench into that tale. The Herald Sun reported on June 12, 2008, that a 19cm forearm bone was found near Cape Otway, Australia. The bone looks just like one from the South American megaraptor! How did a South American land-dwelling dinosaur get to Australia? The Sun reports, “The investigators say the two dinosaurs are so similar that land bridges must have persisted between southern South America and the Western Antarctic Archipelago ‘until at least the Late Eocene,’ a period that began some 40 million years ago.”¹

Wait a minute. Was Australia connected to other continents via land bridges 80 million years ago, or 40? Are either of these estimates even in the ballpark?

This fossil discovery fits well with a biblical history, which goes something like this: Around 2348 BC, a worldwide flood crushed and reshaped the earth’s surface, breaking up a single landmass (Pangaea) into continents and fossilizing countless living things. Prior to the Flood megalodons roamed Pangaea, during the Flood they were fossilized, and in the late Flood stages the boundaries of new continents (along with their fossils) were roughly shaped. Unlike the standard story, the outlines of this history have been testified to by reliable eyewitnesses, and this testimony has been faithfully preserved in Genesis.

Reference

1. History a bone of contention after dinosaur find. The Herald Sun. Posted online at Heraldsun.com.au June 12, 2008, accessed June 17, 2008.

* Mr. Thomas is Science Writer.

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