The Vegan Lifestyle

Man is very important to God. On the sixth day of Creation, God created man in His own image. Man is God’s masterpiece of Creation.

God created everything in this universe for the well being of man. The psalmist who realized this profound truth wrote with awe and wonder: “What is man that thou art mindful of him?” (Psalm 8:4).

Man was created a little lower than the angels (Psalm 8:5), and made him to have dominion over the works of God’s hands, and put all things under his feet (Psalm 8:6).

Oh, what a great privilege for man to be so pampered by God! What is man indeed that God would be so mindful of him?

God was so delighted when He created man from the dust of the ground. He gave life to man by breathing His very own breath into man’s nostrils, and man became a living soul (Genesis 2:7).

Oh, what a wonderful and inspiring fact! The very breath of the  LORD God Almighty is in man’s nostrils! It is inherent in every man, and no diseases can ever thrive in him if he can fully realize and understand this awesome truth!

God spoke these things into  existence: the light, the firmament, the dry land and the sea, the grass, herbs and trees, the sun, moon, and stars. He created the fish of the waters, the fowls of the air, and all living creatures of the Earth. God created all these things, and prepared all these before creating man. All provisions for comfortable existence were made ready for man before he was created by God. What a loving providential God!

God created the universe and all the things in it for man’s well being. You may not believe this, but astrobiologists discovered 154 finely-tuned parameters in the whole universe that  show God’s tender love for man.  This wonderful phenomenon called anthropic coincidence or principle  is the coherent interrelationship and delicate fine-tuning of all things in this universe. These are parameters of a planet such as the Earth in relation to its moons, stars and galaxies whose values fall within narrowly defined ranges that make physical existence of man possible.

Let us talk about one of these amazing anthropic coincidences: the delicate complex composition of air. The air we breathe is precisely composed of 78.084% nitrogen, 20.9476% oxygen, 0.934% argon, 0.0314% carbon dioxide, 0.001818% neon, 0.0002% methane, 0.000524% helium, 0.000114% krypton, 0.00005% hydrogen, and 0.0000087% xenon. What a very delicate composition! Any alteration in only a few parts per million is fatal! What is the wisdom that keeps this extremely delicate composition intact all days throughout the ages?

The above delicate composition of the air that we breathe is just one of the many anthropic coincidences or principles in the universe that not only show God’s amazing love for man, but also prove that this Universe was created by a Master Designer, God. Another example of these anthropic coincidences is the distance of our planet from the sun. Had the distance of the Earth from the Sun been lesser than 93 million miles, all life on Earth would have been scorched to death, and if greater, the Earth would have  been frozen and lifeless.

There are many more anthropic coincidences that show God’s love for man.  The Earth’s magnetic field, oxygen and nitrogen quantities in the atmosphere, the delicate oxygen to nitrogen ratio, the levels  in the atmosphere of carbon dioxide, water vapor, the ozone,  plus a hundred more interrelated anthropic coincidences that link the planets, stars, galaxies and all forms of life in the whole universe are among the many anthropic coincidences or principles that clearly declare the importance of man to God.

Sometimes I wonder and ask these questions: What if our solar system is located at the outer edge of the spiral arm of the Milky Way  galaxy – where shall we be catapulted in the universe? Or if our solar system is  located near the center of our galaxy, shall it escape the tremendous gravitational pull  of a black hole  as it plunges towards its  “Schwarzschild radius”? How dreadful it is to be engulfed in this Whirlpool of No Return! All communications are  totally cut  off from the universe once inside the black hole’s “event horizon”, and final death occurs at its  “singularity” point where all fundamental particles are stripped to vanish completely.

These are possible disasters so fearful that we do not dare to imagine them in our minds. Thanks be to God – He put  everything in order, and designed the whole universe for the well being of man. Truly God loves man very much for he is His masterpiece of Creation, and he is indeed very important to Him.

What a loving Creator who made all things in this universe for the well being of man! What a humble God who condescends to the level of the lowly mortal such as man! What man will not love Him in return?

When I was a little child, I dreamed of becoming a scientist. I was fascinated by the prodigious genius of scientists, and I admired them for their amazing discoveries and inventions.

During my childhood days, I started to wonder why the seeds germinate and become tall trees and bear fruits in their due seasons. I wondered how beautiful rainbows are formed, and where do they get their colors. I also wondered why the stars do not fall from the heavens.  I wondered what mysterious force hold them together in the sky. And the sea – so wide and so deep – where does all the water come from?

Those were the many questions in my mind that stimulated my childhood curiosity. I thought scientists know the answers, and I wanted to be like them. During  my high school days,  I read the biographies  of famous scientists,  such as Galileo, Pythagoras, Descartes, Newton, and Einstein. I admired them a lot for their genius in postulating theories that became the foundation of applied and  theoretical sciences that we have today.

At my young age, I started to dream of becoming a scientist someday. I dreamed of working in a Physics laboratory or as a Physicist in NASA. I wanted to peer into the vast universe  for its  innumerable stars. Modern astronomy found out that our galaxy, the Milky Way alone,  has more that 1oo billion stars in it. And the universe, according to the 1999 findings of the Hubble Space Telescope, has approximately 125 billion galaxies. But a recent simulation done by a German super computer yielded  more than 500 billion galaxies! These facts ignite my imagination. And the pulsar, the neutron star, and the black holes too. What are the mysteries behind them? All these triggered my desire to be an astrophysicist someday.

I dreamed of becoming a mathematician too. Newton, Einstein, Leibniz, Laplace, and Pythagoras were my favorites. I especially admired Newton and Leibniz for their invention of calculus, and Einstein for his very-hard-to-understand differential equations used in his famous Theory of Relativity.

I also wanted to be a biochemist. I was puzzled without end by what could be the substance that generated the 500 volts in electric eels. What processes are involved? How can it be simulated or reproduced so as to be of benefit for mankind? How can I simulate the chemical processes involved in the production of light in fireflies,  and tap it to light our homes and the whole world?

I studied engineering in college just for mathematics. I liked mathematics very much. But lofty ambitions require not only intelligence  and perseverance to succeed, but money as well, and right contact, right time, and good luck.

Though my childhood dreams have remained  dreams up to this day, I still thank God for giving me the desire to reach for these dreams. Dreams are our wings to lofty ideals. In dreams we hope for something better and expect it to become real. It is this hopeful expectation that makes our lives happier and more livable.

Is Saturday the seventh day? What are the evidences to prove it?

This is a question that has not been fully settled up to now. Not that there is no r true answer to this question, but because people refused to accept the facts due to biased opinion, or religious bigotry.

Let us set aside the so many verses in the Bible that prove the fact that Saturday is the seventh day. Not all people believe in the Bible, and so we should take the proofs from outside it.

Our first source is history. This is the chronicle of important events that occured in the past. One of that event was the changing of the calendar from Julian to Gregorian. It was done in October 5, 1582 of the Julian calendar. On March 11 of that year, the vernal equinox appeared, and it was 10 days ahead of the actual vernal equinox which usually falls on March 21. The vernal equinox is very important to the whole Christian world – it is the reckoning point in determining the Easter Sunday and the Holy Week in general. Therefore, the pope, Gregory XIII issued a bull to correct the anomaly. An Italian scientist worked out a solution, and finally in October 5, 1582, which was a Friday, the correction of the Julian calendar was made by adding 10 days to it, thus October 5, 1582 became October 15, 1582, and that day started our present day calendar, the Gregorian calendar. The change did not alter in any way the sequence of the days in a week, nor changed the names of the days. It was purely an addition of ten days to the Julian calendar to correct the error and to  synchronize with the actual solar year. So, the Friday of October 5, 1582, was the same Friday of October 15, 1582. It was just a renaming of date, and not of day.

The Julian calendar, named after its proponent started to be used in 44 B.C. From then on up to the time of Christ until October 5, 1582, the seventh day which was the weekly sabbath observed by the Jews was the same and unaltered, and it has remained the same up to this day.

Other irrefutable proofs come from astonomical observatories around the world. Astronomers can pinpoint with precise accuracy important events or days in history by looking at the position of the stars and the galaxies recorded in observatories. And it jibes with the fact in history that the seventh day is really  Saturday and cannot be another day of the week.

Another proof that I will present is quite incredible. This has something to do with the latest discovery in chronobiology of a cycle that governs the life of all plants and animals, including human beings. This is the circaseptan cycleor 7-day cycle that happens every seven days or half of it. Its is indeed very incredible that blood pressure, heart beat, and other processes in the body follow a cycle of 7 days. These bilological parameters either peak or wean according to this cycle. And it was found out that most of the human processes become well stabilized or well  rested during the seventh day. Is it a mere coincidence that these biological parameters such as heart beat, and blood pressure should stabilize and synchronize with this  7-day cycle?

Th above discovery could be a proof that we always  suffer the consequence of sin. Trasgressing the fourth commandment to keep the sabbath day holy will indeed tell upon our health. When we work during the sabbath, and try to de-synchronize ourselves with the 7-day cycle, we create heath problems for ourselves and suffer the consequence of sin. And this cycle is unalterable – it is permanent and fix throughout the whole universe. All heavenly bodies follow various cycles that are ultimately founded upon the 7-day cycle.

The Orion constellation is well known to most stargazers. It is composed of bright stars  such as Betelgeuse, Bellatrix, Rigel, Saiph, Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka, Meissa, Theta1 and Theta 2 Orionis, the Trapezium cluster, Orion nebula, and Hatsya.

Rigel,  the left foot of Orion, is the brightest star in this constellation. It is 773 light years away, and has a mass of 17 solar masses. Betelgeuse, the right shoulder of Orion, is the second brightest in the constellation, and is 600 light years away from our solar system. Bellatrix is the left shoulder of Orion, and  is 240 light years away. Saiph, the right foot of Orion is720 light years away.

Its three bright stars, commonly known as the “Belt of Orion”, are visible to the naked eyes. These are the Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka.These stars are also known as “the Three Kings”, or “The Three Sisters”. Alnitak is the easternmost star in the belt. It is 800 light years away. Alnilam is the center of the belt. It is 1300 light years away. Mintaka is the westernmost star in the belt, and  is 900 light years away.

Below the belt is the “Sword of Orion”. Visible to the naked eyes are the stars  Theta 1 and Theta 2 Orionis, the Trapezium cluster, the Orion nebula, and Hatsya. The brightest star in the sword visible to the nake eye, though 1300 light years away  is Hatsya, which is located at the tip of the sword.

The Trapezium cluster is a group of very bright stars 1600 light years away. It was originally composed of stars A, B, C, and D. But later discoveries increased the number to eight. Stars A, C, and D were discovered by Galileo in February 4, 1617, and the fourth component, the star B was discovered later. The rest were discovered in 1888. Star C is the brightest in the Trapezium.

The Orion Nebula is the hazy area visible to the naked eye. It is 1270 light years away, 20 light years in diameter, and 24 light years across. It is composed of more than 2,ooo stars.

At the tip of the sword, below the Orion Nebula is Hatsya. It is the brightest among the sword stars  though 1300 light years away.

Just below Alnitak is the Horsehead Nebula, and the Flame Nebula adjacent to it. The Horsehead Nebula  and the Burning Bush or Flaming Tree Nebula are both  1500 light years away.

Constellation Orion is very significant to most people not only because of its being the most beautiful constellation in the night sky that is visible to the naked eye, but because of the many myths and legends about it. It is believed not only by Christians, but by atheist as well that Orion is the “Gateway to Heaven”. It is mentioned three times in the Bible, and most Seventh-day Adventists believe that the mighty voice of God the Father will come from Orion to proclaim the day and hour of the much-awaited second coming coming of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. From an “open space” in Orion, the New Jerusalem will pass through and descend to this planet Earth, after the millennial reign of the saints in heaven.

Was Christ born on December 25? Does the Bible say something about the exact date of Christ’s  birth?

Most people  celebrate Christmas on December 25. Even non-Christians celebrate it too. But Christmas is not mentioned in the Bible. We cannot read mistletoe and  Santa Claus too. Where did these all come from?

Christmas is a pagan holiday that began to be celebrated in the 336 A.D.  It was  based on the polytheistic religions of ancient Rome and its predecessors. December 25  is the nativity date of Mithras, the Persian God, and Sol Invictus, the unconquered  sun god. In the Julian calendar, the twenty-fifth of December was reckoned as the winter solstice, and it was regarded as the nativity of the Sun, because the day begins to lengthen and the power of the sun to increase from that turning-point of the year. The ritual of the nativity  have its origin in Syria and Egypt, and eventually a Roman emperor Aurelan decreed that December 25, the winter solstice be celebrated as a feast day and dedicated to the Roman sun god, Sol Invictus.

Jesus Christ wa not born on December 25. In Luke 2: 6-8, it was mentioned that when Mary delivered her firstborn Son, there were shepherds out in the field tending their flocks. These verses prove that Jesus was not born on December 25, because the shepherds could not have withstood the piercing cold of winter which usually falls  from December up to February.

Most Bible scholars are more inclined to believe on an earlier date of Christ’s  birth.  More data from astronomy point to the more probable date of Christ birth on September 11, 3 B.C.

The ancient Israelites usually celebrated the Feast of Tabernacle on the first day of Tishri which may fall on August  or September depending on the appearance of  the new moon.

Some  Bible scholars believed that Christ was born during the Jewish year 3759, which corresponded to the fall of 3 B.C. In 3 B.C., the 1st of Tishri occurred on September 11. This belief is strengthened by a  Bible verse in John 1: 14, which says that the Word (Christ) became flesh and tabernacled among us. They believed that the word “tabernacled” signified and indicated the Feast of the Tabernacle. Also, in 1 Corinthians 15:45, it says of a second  Adam (Christ) as a life-giving spirit. Most Jewish rabbis believed that the first Adam was born on the 1st of Tishri, and so it is not a coincidence that Christ being the second Adam must also be born on the 1st of Tishri.

And records in astronomy showed a phenomenon that ocurred on September 11, 3 B.C. On that year, the sun entered into the “mid body” of the constellation Virgo for twenty days starting from August 27 to September 15, 3 B.C. The sun and its planets were in special alignment  with the constellation Virgo in September 11, 3 B.C.

In Revelation 12:1, it says that “… a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and with a crownlike garland of twelve stars on her head”. And this ‘woman” could be the constellation Virgo, being the only constellation of the Zodiac that represents a woman. And Virgo or the woman was “clothed with the sun” from August 27 to September 15. And on September 11, 3 B.C, the sun and the moon set at 6:18 p.m., and 7:39 p.m. respectively – literally, the moon was under the woman’s feet, and it happened on that day only.

Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior was not born on December 25. Christmas day, or December 25 is a feast day dedicated to the Roman sun god, Sol Invictus. The pagan Rome during the era of the empire worshipped the sun as their god, and Emperor Aurelan proclaimed that day for the sole purpose of worshipping their sun god.

The Bible does not say anything about the birth date of Jesus Christ. Evidences from astronomy, supported by Bible verses point to September 11, 3 B.C. as our Lord’s birthday. But nobody can actually say with absolute certainty that it is so. Nobody had recorded the date of Christ’s birth, and if ever somebody did record it,  it could had been irretrievably lost in time.

The most important thing is to be thankful to God for giving us his only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ to redeem us from the curse of sin. And he has given us eternal life through Him. Whether He was born on September 11 or any other day, is not so important for our salvation. What is very important is to obey His commandments, and to love Him above all things with all our heart , with all our mind, with all our soul, and with all our strength. And to love our neighbors too, as we love ourselves.