Posted on 08/06/2017 8:21:36 PM PDT by lasereye
Last week, the American Journal of Human Genetics published a study connecting the DNA of ancient Canaanites to modern-day people in Lebanon. Various news outlets immediately reported that this study proved the Bible wrong, when nothing could be further from the truth.
Evolution News' David Klinghoffer compiled a helpful series of headlines:
To be fair, The Telegraph corrected the headline to "Study shows ancient Canaanites survived divine call in Bible for them to be wiped out."
As Klinghoffer noted, the Bible does not say the Israelites wiped out the Canaanites — in fact, it explicitly says they survived.
God commands the Israelites to wipe out the Canaanites in Deuteronomy 20: "But in the cities of these people that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes ... the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites ... that they may not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods, and so you sin against the Lord your God."
But this is not the Bible's last word on the Canaanites. The first chapter of Judges says that Israel "put the Canaanites to forced labor, but they did not drive them out completely" (Judges 1:28). In fact, various tribes of Israel (Ephraim, Zebulun, Asher, and Naphtali, to be exact) allowed Canaanites to live among them.
God was not pleased. He told Israel that since "you have not obeyed my voice," God would "not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you" (Judges 2:2-3).
Anyone with a basic familiarity with the biblical narrative of Israel's history should not be surprised by this. Throughout the narratives of the histories and prophets of Israel, God's people reject Him time and time again, worshipping foreign gods of ... whom? The Canaanites.
As The Telegraph noted in a correction, "The original version of this story erroneously said the Bible claimed the Canaanites were wiped [out]. However, elsewhere in the Bible, it says the elimination was not successful." That would be an understatement.
As of Monday, Ars Technica has not corrected its article. "First, God orders the Hebrews to destroy the Canaanites along with several other groups, and later we hear that the Canaanites have actually been wiped out," reporter Annalee Newitz wrote.
The Independent's Ian Johnston went so far as to quote atheist Richard Dawkins, who said the Old Testament God was "a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser ... a genocidal ... megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully."
Johnston quoted the book of Joshua, saying that the Israelites actually did slaughter all of the Canaanites. Joshua 10:40 says Joshua "left no survivor, but he utterly destroyed all who breathed, just as the Lord, the God of Israel, had commanded."
Here's the thing: Joshua 10 is talking about the conquest of southern Canaan. Ephraim, Zebulun, Asher, and Naphtali settled in the north. Joshua 10:40 is perfectly compatible with Judges 1:28 and Judges 2:3.
Science, a generally reputable journal that originally got the facts wrong, hilariously would not admit just how wrong they were. "This story and its headline have been updated to reflect that in the Bible, God ordered the destruction of the Canaanites, but that some cities and people may have survived," the update reads.
May have survived? Try, "emphatically did survive, and plagued the people of Israel for centuries."
Digging into the original report in the American Journal of Human Genetics revealed that the basic misconception came right from the source. "Uncertainties also surround the fate of the Canaanites: the Bible reports the destruction of the Canaanite cities and the annihilation of its people; if true, the Canaanites could not have directly contributed genetically to present-day populations," the journal reported.
Perhaps the reporters for these various outlets read this statement in the journal, and deciding not the check it, merely reported it as fact. These reporters' lack of biblical literacy might not be surprising (check out these media misconceptions of Romans 1, the entire book of Proverbs, and basic Christian doctrines like Jesus not being buried in a tomb), but it is nonetheless revealing.
Last December, New York Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet admitted, "I think that the New York-based and Washington-based too probably, media powerhouses don't quite get religion. We don't get religion. We don't get the role of religion in people's lives."
That fact, along with this painful biblical illiteracy, is truly unfortunate, partially because it distracts from the really cool results of the study — that DNA evidence has linked today's Lebanese people to Canaanites from 3,700 years ago.
This evidence actually supports the Bible's claims about Canaanite survival, and anyone familiar with the opening chapters of Judges would know that. Perhaps it's time for reporters to dust off a copy of the scriptures, and get to work accurately reporting what the Bible says.
Whoa!
Next thing we know, there will be all sorts of Finches with different beak characteristics.
Who publishes this stuff?
What about finches with different beak characteristics?
Finch beaks are an example of micro-evolution. What’s the takeaway from that? That every organism evolved from the same ancestor? LOL.
Micro-macro, who knows?
It's certainly extremely doubtful that the Erf is <8000 years old.
The Restaurant at the end of the Universe may explain it...
42
Finch beaks point to a Creator who provides
While naturalistic mechanisms may play some role in producing the patterns we see today, creationists have pointed out that they are insufficient to account for the variety seen within created kinds.
One issue to address is the source of variation. Is it really random, as is commonly believed, or were creatures designed to be able to vary? Beaks can vary in three dimensions: length, width, and depth. The morphology of the beak in an individual adult is determined during its development. Research on Darwin’s finches is revealing molecular mechanisms that account for these differences in development. Two distinct developmental phases are responsible for determining adult beak shape. The details are fascinating and contradict the assertion that variation is random. Rather, they reveal a purposeful design.
or worse.
Thanks.
Micro-evolution, which is variation within a species, can and does occur without any new genetic information being created. Existing genetic information is just being rearranged. Macro-evolution requires the continual creation of new genetic information. The rearrangement of existing genetic info cannot cause an insect to turn into a reptile or something.
But now you're off on the age of the universe.
How could these media members not know that? I am certainly not a Biblical scholar but I immediately knew they were incorrect.
The Israelites did against as God had instructed by not wiping out the Canaanites. They paid a price for it later. The members of the media should stay away from such subjects if they’re that clueless. Otherwise, they will keep embarrassing themselves.
Micro-evolution: From Chihuahuas, Yorkies, and Pomeranians to Great Danes, Irish Wolfhounds, and Great Pyrenees -— they’re all just dogs.
The Israelites were a headstrong people.
It takes about eleven days to walk from Egypt to Canaan.
It took them 49 years because no one would stop and ask for directions.
40 years. Of course Moses couldn’t even get in because he was a showboat. So maybe he was leading them in circles.
No, He was just giving good advice: if you are going to take someone's land, kill them all. Keeping them as slaves or pets will come back on you. And history has shown again and again that indigenous people are indeed a thorn in the side of the conqueror.
#7. So you are saying that genetics and evolution is for the birds?
I thought the dinosaurs had settled that issues millions of years ago.
Just look at Nancy Pelosi - definitely an English House Sparrow.
Maxine Waters - Turkey Vulture
Sen. Mitch McConnell - Thanksgiving Turkey
former Sen. Barbara Boxer - Shrew
Hillary Clinton - A Hen
They are like Neanderthals, in the sense that they never really are out of the gene pool.
No worries, folks. There’s a Day coming when the reporters and editors will stand before the White Throne of Judgment. On that Day, they can argue their cases before the Great Judge of the Universe. They’ll lose, and, on that day, they’ll also bow their knee and proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord.
This is a remarkable story if you read it. It shows headlines like: “Cannanite DNA proves the bible was wrong” ...except the Bible says they were NOT wiped out even though God commanded it. This was an area where Isreal did NOT obey God and for centuries they are mentioned giving Isreal problems.
In this his case the original article in American Journal of Genetics had the false statement about what the Bible said.
These articles were quoting what the scientific article said.
It is an egregious example of poor scholarship.
Here is the link to the original scientific article.
http://www.cell.com/ajhg/fulltext/S0002-9297(17)30276-8
“Uncertainties also surround the fate of the Canaanites: the Bible reports the destruction of the Canaanite cities and the annihilation of its people; if true, the Canaanites could not have directly contributed genetically to present-day populations.”
No reference was provided for the assertion.
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