Why Did God Create Viruses, Bacteria, and Other Pathogens?

James Hoff, Jerry Bergman

Description

This book fills a major gap in the apologetic and scientific literature, namely why pathogens exist and their purpose in creation.
The question “Why did God create viruses, bacteria, pathogens, venomous creatures and poisonous chemicals is usually asked by irreligious skeptics to challenge God’s authority, design, and goodness. It is also asked by those of faith, either out of innocent ignorance or curiosity. Life per se is a balance of life-forms co-existing because they were created by God by means of obvious intelligent design. The authors show the vast majority of bacteria, viruses, and insects are beneficial. The reason some pathogens are harmful is discussed in some detail. Furthermore, the role of toxic chemicals, which are beneficial and even essential to human and animal life at low to moderate concentrations is also covered. The authors’ conclusions are well-documented by several hundred peer-reviewed scholarly articles and books. if you have ever wondered about why in God’s creation there are “parasites and pathogens,” “ticks and toxins,” “maladies and mosquitoes,” then you owe it to yourself to consider the scholarly explanations that set the record straight—the professional perspective of Bergman and Hoff. If you are looking for sound scientific answers to the question “Why did God create life-forms that have harmful side-effects to other organisms?,” this is the book to read.

Sujets

• Habitats
• Viruses
• Ecosystems
• Sciences et techniques
• Apologetics
• Pathogen
• Nature
• Bacteria

Informations

• Publié par: WestBow Press
• Date de parution: 23 mai 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781973698920
• Langue: English

Extrait

WHY DID GOD CREATE VIRUSES, BACTERIA, AND OTHER PATHOGENS?
 
THE OVERWHELMING CASE AGAINST NATURALISTIC EVOLUTION AND METHODOLOGICAL NATURALISM
 
 
 
JERRY BERGMAN AND JAMES HOFF
 
 
 
 
 
Copyright © 2023 Jerry Bergman and James Hoff.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.
 
WestBow Press
A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.westbowpress.com
844-714-3454
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
ISBN: 978-1-9736-9891-3 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-9736-9893-7 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-9736-9892-0 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2023909562
 
WestBow Press rev. date: 05/23/2023
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I wish to thank foremost Julie Dearyan, then David V. Bassett, MS, Kirk Toth, MA, Bert Thompson, PhD, John Woodmorappe, MS, Jody Allen, RN, Clifford Lillo, MA, and Margaret O‘Mallery, PhD.
for their suggestions and extremely helpful feedback.
Endorsement of “Why Did God Create Viruses, Bacteria, and Other Patho gens?”
Jerry Bergman, along with co-author James Hoff, has completed another book which, in this case, provides answers to the frequently asked question, “Why did God create life-forms that can have negative outcomes for other forms of life.” The question of the book title is usually used to provoke doubt in the very existence of God as presented in the Bible. This question is often answered by theologians and Christian apologists, but Bergman and Hoff discuss the answers mainly from the perspective of biologists.
The book covers the question (Why did God create . . . ?) in 12 chapters, divided by genus and family in the usual biological classification system. The book points out that life per se is a balance of life-forms co-existing because they were created by God by and through obvious intelligent design. The authors go through bacteria, viruses, and insects, and even discuss the role of toxic chemicals, which are beneficial and even essential to human and animal life at low to moderate concentrations. The references and data provided in this book strongly support and document that there is “balance in nature” which provides a life expectancy for all biological types. Viruses cannot reproduce and for that reason are not considered to be “life.”
If you are looking for sound scientific answers to the “Why did God create life-forms that have harmful side-effects” to other organisms, this is the book for you to read. The Bible teaches that God created Earth and life on Earth that was “very good,” and the Bible teaches the consequences of the fall of humankind into sin. Humans depend on other forms of life acting and providing for their existence, and this book by Bergman and Hoff covers the accusation that God acted foolishly in His creation plan with a resounding “Not so!” from a scientific perspective.
—Theodore J. Siek, Ph.D. (biochemistry from Oregon State University, and an MS in organic chemistry from Washington State Univer sity).
The question “Why did God create viruses, bacteria, pathogens, venomous creatures, poisonous chemicals, etc.?” is usually asked by irreligious skeptics to challenge God’s authority, creative design, and goodness. It is also asked by those of faith, either out of innocent ignorance or mere curiosity. This issue has more than likely crossed the minds at some time of both Bible believers and unbelievers alike. While the Judeo-Christian scriptures do give general theological answers to this inquiry, biological sciences expert Dr. Jerry Bergman and master computer designer/information specialist James Hoff provide the reader with the specific scientific details herein needed to clarify this issue and to dispel any doubts that God’s original creation at its completion satisfied His divine criteria of primordial perfection.
Proclaimed by Him to be “very good” (Genesis 1:31) at the beginning, the Creation was subjected first to the cosmic consequences of the Fall of Adam (the Curse of Genesis 3) and then to the diluvial devastation of the global Flood of Noah’s day (the Cataclysm of Genesis 6-8). These judgments, both precipitated by mankind’s sin, resulted in profound relational, genetic, and/or even physiological/anatomical changes among all terrestrial organisms, as well as catastrophic alterations in their global environment and specific ecological niches. Thus, God should not be blamed for any injurious agents to our health or well-being as our pondered question assumes; He does not bear responsibility for the introduction of discomfort, disease, or death— w e do .
Jerry Bergman and Jim Hoff skillfully elaborate on the scientific ramifications of our ancestral actions: mutational changes and their accelerated increase (genetic burden), genetic transference to unintended host organisms, biological system malfunctions resulting in balance disruptions and/or improper chemical concentrations, unregulated alterations to designed parameters, fine-tuned specifications, and engineered functions, etc., just to list a few.
Yes, today we are subjected to “creepy crawlies,” “thorns and thistles,” “pests and poisons,” and “germs and other junk,” but one future day the Creator will ensure that “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:9). Until then, however, if you have ever wondered about why in God’s creation there are “parasites and pathogens,” “ticks and toxins,” “maladies and mosquitoes,” then you owe it to yourself to consider the scholarly explanations that set the record straight—the professional perspective of Bergman and Hoff.
—David V. Bassett, M.S.
Books and Monographs by Dr. Jerry Ber gman
Teaching About Creation/Evolution Controversy . 1979. Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation.
“Peer Evaluation of University Faculty.” Part 2, Fall 1980. College Student Journal Monograph 14(3). Chula Vista, CA.
Understanding Educational Measurement and Evaluation . 1981. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co.
The Criterion: Religious Discrimination in America . 1984. Richfield, MN: Onesimus Publishing Co.
“Vestigial Organs” Are Fully Functional: A History and Evaluation of the Vestigial Organ Origins Concept. 1990. Terre Haute, IN: Creation Research Society Books. Co-authored with George F Howe PhD.
Ward’s Science Lab Safety Manual . 2002. Rochester, NY: Ward’s Natural Science Establishment, Inc.
Persuaded by the Evidence . 2008. Green Forest, AR: Master Books. Co-authored with Doug Sharp.
Hitler and the Nazi Darwinian Worldview: How the Nazi Eugenic Crusade for a Superior Race Caused the Greatest Holocaust in World History . 2012. Kitchener, Ontario, Canada: Joshua Press.
Slaughter of the Dissidents: The Shocking Truth About Killing the Careers of Darwin Doubters . 2012. Southworth, WA: Leafcutter Press.
The Darwin Effect: Its Influence on Nazism, Eugenics, Racism, Communism, Capitalism & Sexism . 2014. Green Forest, AR: Master Books.
Transformed by the Evidence . 2014. Southworth, WA: Leafcutter Press. Edited with Doug Sharp.
The Dark Side of Darwin . 2015. Green Forest, AR: New Leaf Press.
C.S. Lewis: Anti-Darwinist: A Careful Examination of the Development of His Views on Darwinism . 2016. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Publishers.
Silencing the Darwin Skeptics: The War Against Theists . 2016. Southworth, WA: Leafcutter Press.
Fossil Forensics: Separating Fact from Fantasy in Paleontology . 2017. Tulsa, OK: Bartlett Publishing.
How Darwinism Corrodes Morality: Darwinism, Immorality, Abortion and the Sexual Revolution . 2017. Kitchener, Ontario, Canada: Joshua Press.
Evolution’s Blunders, Frauds and Forgeries . 2017. Atlanta, GA: CMI Publishing.
Censoring the Darwin Skeptics: How Belief in Evolution is Enforced by Eliminating Dissidents . 2018. Southworth, WA: Leafcutter Press.
Darwinism is the Doorway to Atheism: Why Creationists Become Evolutionists . 2019. Southworth, WA: Leafcutter Press.
God in President Eisenhower’s Life, Military Career, and Presidency . 2019. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Publishers.
The “Poor Design” Argument Against Intelligent Design Falsified . 2019. Tulsa, OK: Bartlett Publishing.
Science is the Doorway to the Creator: Nobel Laureates, and Other Eminent Scientists Who Reject Orthodox Darwinism. 2019. Southworth, WA: Leafcutter Press.
Useless Organs: The Rise and Fall of the Once Major Argument for Evolution . 2019. Tulsa, OK: Bartlett Publishing.
Apes as Ancestors: Examining the Claims About Human Evolution . 2020. Tulsa, OK: Bartlett Publishing. Co-Authored with Peter Line, PhD, and Jeffrey Tomkins, PhD.
Darwinian Eugenics