Monday, September 27, 2010

GLOBAL WARMING 
OR 
GLOBAL WARNING?

By Oguta Jude Watchman

  INTRODUCTION
Scientists have attributed the recent rise in natural disasters earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, storms etc. to Global Warming. They have also predicted that if the trend of climate change continues unabated, famine, pestilence, and more violent natural disasters will be the resultant effect. This scientific forecast is coming 2,000 years after the Bible accurately foretold the climatic condition of our century. The Bible spoke about global warming, earthquakes, famine, pestilence etc. as warning signs that the end time the prophets spoke about is happening in our time.
Matching biblical prophecy with recent scientific forecast and current affairs, this write up shows us why we should return to the Bible for answers rather than rely on scientific predictions that are shrouded in speculations.

                                      THE RAGING EARTH
Throughout history, humans have always been at the mercy of Mother Nature, but the intensity of natural disasters have skyrocketed since the 20th century with the land and sea rumbling with terrifying ferocity. For this reason, global warming, earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, floods, violent storms, tsunamis and other natural disasters have suddenly taken the centre stage of global attention.

According to the data gathered by the United Nations, the number of major natural disasters- has increased fourfold since the past 50 years1. Take this year 2010 as a case study-between January and July alone, over fifty major natural disasters have occurred. These include the devastating Earthquakes in Haiti, Japan, Chile, Taiwan, Cuba, USA, China, Turkey and India; violent storms that swept through Spain, Portugal and France; flood in Pakistan and China, landslide in Uganda;2 etc. No doubt the earth has become a volatile cancerous ball with its consequent death toll and mounting economic losses.

The Schools of Thought
To explain the rising cases of natural disasters in the 21st century are two schools of thought: the scientific and the biblical. Scientists attribute the rising cases of natural disaster to the increase in earth’s temperature known as global warming. They believe that the heating of the globe not only affects the atmosphere and the sea but also alters the geology of the Earth3.

On the other hand, the bible from a big picture perspective views the intensifying natural disasters as more than a global warming phenomenon. Biblical prophecies connect the uprising of the land, sea and air with the social, economic and political upheavals of the recent decades in what it called the signs (symptoms) of THE END.

And while world leaders and scientists have held several conferences to address daunting environmental and economic downturn, the Bible relegates scientific solutions to the position of a drug store chemist who ignorantly is concerned with treating symptoms. This blog post shows us why we should return to the Bible.

Bible and the Challenge of Science
The Bible was completed about 2,000 years before the first scientist discovered global warming. Amazingly, this Book spoke about global warming and all the natural disasters that will follow. It spoke of famine, pestilences, natural disasters, humanism, globalization, knowledge explosion etc. as signs that will characterize a period in history known as the end time or last days in Bible’s terminology. With the present rise in climatic accidents, it is obvious that we are now standing on the threshold of these final great and climatic events of which all the Bible prophets, including Jesus, spoke about.

Though the Bible foretold these events, the Scientific Revolution of the 17th Century discredited the Bible as an outdated compilation of Jewish superstitions. These skeptics rather saw a bright future where man has conquered his world through science and reason. Armed with these utopian dream, scientists of the Enlightenment period made many forecasts about the future.
Let us look at some of them

Scientific ‘Prophets’ of the Enlightenment
With scientific achievements blossoming and a general view of earthly progress gaining ground, Antoine-Nicolas Condorcet, a figure in the late French Enlightenment, wrote an essay called “Historical Outline of the Progress of the Human Mind” (1794). In the essay, Condorcet forecast the establishment of a virtually perfect human society. Condorcet viewed history as a record of steady progress, which by this point had reached a state where knowledge and, through evolution, the human body were ready to make a leap into a final age of bliss. He states his view in his essay:

The time will therefore come when the sun will shine only on free men who know no other master but their reason; when tyrants and slaves, priests and their stupid or hypocritical instruments will exist only in works of history and on the stage; and when we shall think of them only to pity their victims and their dupes; to maintain ourselves in a state of vigilance by thinking on their excesses, and to learn how to recognize and so to destroy, by force of reason, the first seeds of tyranny and superstition, should they ever dare to reappear among us.”4

Building on this general vision, a host of 19th-century ‘scientific/philosophical prophets’ predicted a dramatically improved future, in which characteristic problems of earlier and even present human history would be transcended. In this excerpt from his Revolution in the Mind and Practice of the Human Race (1849), Owen wrote
Utopian socialists thought that education and example could end ages of human exploitation and selfishness and introduce a future of perfect equality and communal harmony. This change will root up and utterly destroy the old vicious and miserable system of ignorance, poverty, individual competition, and contests, and of national war, throughout the world; and will introduce, in place thereof, the rational system of society, in which competition, strife, and wars, will cease for ever; and all will be trained, from infancy, solely to promote each other's happiness. 5

With this new ‘redemption song’, proponents of the Bible and belief in a coming apocalypse were taunted as doomsday preachers bereft of scientific advancements.

The Scientists New Testament
Today, current world events have not just proved the Bible right, but even scientific predictions of our  future world are gradually corresponding to the same Biblical predictions some scientists debunked only a century ago. Yet, irrespective of these alignments most scientists still attribute present and future world climatic events to natural causes with no divine significance.

Let us now see how science is returning to the Bible unconsciously. Beginning with global warming, we shall be comparing Biblical prophecies of two millennia ago with recent 20th century scientific predictions. I call this the scientists New Testament because it marks a strong deviation from their earlier prediction of bliss. We shall see how the Bible is way ahead of science in matters of life; a knowledge I believe should propel the reader to consistently consult the scriptures as the basic compass of life.
Global Warming
Since scientists link every other natural disaster to global warming, it is necessary to start with what the Bible writers fore saw on global warming…

Wikipaedia defines Global Warming as the increase in the average temperature of Earth's near-surface air and oceans since the mid-20th century and its projected continuation. In other words, the increase in the temperature of the earth is not just scientifically proven, but it is also predicted to continue. A particular scientific report states that

“…global warming would progress at a pace 10 to 50 times that which the earth has experienced in 10,000 years…. Careful consideration of data collected over the last 130 years on average temperatures throughout the world has shown that the ten hottest years have all occurred since 1980”6

Global Warming in the Bible
The seven last plagues occur during the last year of earth’s history (end time). Global warming occurs during the fourth plague as described in Revelation 16:8,9
“And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.”
The sun at this time greatly increases its output, and there is nothing the scientists or bureaucrats can do about it. There are presently many controversies among scientists as to the cause of global warming; while some believe it is caused by human activities others believe the sun’s output increased7. From the above scriptures, it seems the Bible agrees more with the latter though not refuting the former.

Storms and Tsunami
The incidence of violent storms has become common place in our world today. Jesus spoke about it in His discourse on the Last Days. When He was asked what will characterize the End, he told his disciples how the storms, tornadoes and other violent natural activities will be warning signs,
“There will be strange things happening to the sun, the moon, and the stars. On earth whole countries will be in despair, afraid of the roaring of the sea and the raging tides. People will faint from fear as they wait for what is coming over the whole earth”  8
It is in our time that the sea and waves are roaring or raging in an unprecedented pattern, a clear indication of the end time. Scientists attribute this however to global warming. A particular scientific report states that
…The total annual power of hurricanes has already increased markedly since 1975 because their average intensity and average duration have increased (in addition, there has been a high correlation of hurricane power with tropical sea-surface temperature). Changes in temperature and precipitation patterns increase the frequency, duration, and intensity of other extreme weather events, such as floods, droughts, heat waves, and tornadoes.9
Whatever the explanation, the important thing is that the Bible has finally been proven right.

Earthquakes, Pestilences and Famine
Jesus further spoke of earthquakes, famines and pestilences as additional events that will characterize the end time:
“Then he said to them: “… There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.” 10

We are beginning to see the fulfillment of that prophecy and scientists of recent century are also predicting an increase in its occurrence. Let us see some of their prophecies

Scientists on Earthquakes
The Rise in Earthquakes and other 
natural disasters since the 20th century
The number and intensity of earthquakes this century is at a level higher than any other time in history.  A staggering number of seismic events occur around the world daily. The graph above shows the increase in earthquakes and other natural disasters since the 20th Century

Scientists on Pestilences
Pestilence is a synonym for the word sickness. In a span of less than 15 years, the world has been stricken by a wave of pestilence and new infections.  AIDS, bird flu, Ebola, and mad cow have emerged from obscurity to become household names. Virtually unheard of among our ancestors, over 100 different kinds of cancer now kill over 5 million people every year. Scientists predict that in spite of the remarkable increase in health care, pestilences will increase due to global warming11

The Encarta Encyclopaedia specifically reports that
“In a warmer world, scientists predict that more people will get sick or die from heat stress, due not only to hotter days but more importantly to warmer nights (giving the sufferers less relief). More frequent and intense heat waves will further contribute to this trend. …. Diseases such as malaria, now found in the tropics and transmitted by mosquitoes and other animal hosts, are projected to widen their range as these animal hosts move into regions formerly too cold for them. Other tropical diseases may spread similarly, including dengue fever, yellow fever, and encephalitis. Scientists also project rising incidence of allergies and respiratory diseases as warmer air grows more charged with pollutants, mold spores, and pollens.12

Scientists on Famine
Scientists believe there would be increased food shortages as a result of global warming. This is contrary to their earlier prediction of food for all by the year 2,000. The Encyclopaedia Britannica reports thus
“Agricultural productivity, is vulnerable to other potential consequences of climate change, such as heat waves, floods, and droughts. Agricultural production in low-latitude regions has already been adversely affected by global warming. The Sahel region of Africa has seen crop failures because of intense and more frequent droughts. The situation has resulted in famines and has been exacerbated by other stresses in the region. Unfortunately, crop yields are expected to continue to drop in coming decades as a result of climate change.”13

Surprisingly, the world has enough capacity to produce enough food to feed its expanding population. While some famines are caused by drought or other so-called natural disasters, children are more likely to be starving because of man's inhumanity to man--war, embargoes, government corruption and economic oppression.

Knowledge Explosion, Godlessness and the Emergence of the Anti-Christ
The Bible was keen in wanting us to know when we are living in the last days. It did not just use natural disasters as the only signs. It also spoke of the period when knowledge will increase, and the coming man of sin known as the Anti Christ. Talking about knowledge explosion as a sign, the Bible says

"But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase."15



Air travel, space travel, DNA research and human cloning are all examples of the rapid increase in knowledge in our generation. The internet will even cause this trend to skyrocket in years to come


Godlessness and Humanism

"But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.  For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of god; holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." 16

Anti-Christ

In many places in the Bible the anti-Christ is revealed as someone that will gain political power and spiritual authority over every nation on the earth. He will most likely begin his rise to power as a very influential, very charismatic, political or religious diplomat. Revelation 13:5-8 specifically said

And he was given authority to rule over every tribe and people and language and nation. And all the people who belong to this world worshiped the beast

Recently scientists have predicted the coming of a ruler that will rise amidst the global warming problem. A careful study of the characteristics of that ruler strikes me as the Biblical Anti-Christ. The scientific report writes

“Acting today to ensure that the environment can be preserved also means investing in the future of democracy. Conversely, if excessive degradation of our planet continues, we are likely, sooner or later, to see authoritarian or even neo-fascist regimes imposing draconian environmental policies”17



WATCH OUT FOR THE CONTINUATION: Global Warming or Global Warning PART 2

In the Part 2 we shall see how the Bible also accurately predicted the response of world leaders and scientists and the solution the Bible gives us. The Bible says it will be like the days of Noah and Lot: what did Noah and Lot understand that made them survive the disasters. More research, more revelations... Watch out

REFERENCES

1. Jean Paul Besset, ‘Avis de gros temps sur la planete, Le Monde, 7 October 1995.
2. Wikipedia, “Natural disasters 2010”
3. W
4.
5. Owen, Robert. A New View of Society and Other Writings. Claeys, Gregory, ed. Penguin Books.
6. Jean-Paul Besset, ‘Setchresses, inondations: le scenario de l’inacceptable’, Le Monde, 25-26 August 1996
7. Scientists Blame Sun for Globa Warming. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/56456.stm
8. Luke 21:25-26 GNB
9. Cause and effect for global warming,
10. Luke 21:9-11 NIV
11. Health and Disease. (2009). Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica 2009 Ultimate
        Reference Suite. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica.
12. Global Warming (Human Health) Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation.
13. Climate Change—The Global Effects. (2009). Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica
       2009   Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica.
14. Daniel 12:4 Emphasis mine
15. II Timothy 3:1-5,7
16. See Laurent Rebeaud, ‘’L’ecofascime, un risqué reel’, Journal de Geneve, in Courrier International, 
        No.   341, 15-21 May 1997.

3 comments:

  1. GOOD WORK!

    YOUR REWARD IS IN HEAVEN.

    MORE INNOVATION.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Time spent in this research and write-up is well spent. May God continue to bless the author(s) and contributor(s).

    ReplyDelete
  3. you people really need to read some books other than a 2000 year old bronze age man written fiction.

    ReplyDelete