Update — Vestigial Organs and Circumcision

The gospel song sings, “Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to take Him at His word,” and in these very last days that we are living in, trusting in Jesus could not be more important.  This is GodSaidManSaid feature article #444.  Every Thursday eve, God willing, it grows by one.  In subject after subject, we confirm the true and perfect veracity of the Holy Bible.  The Word of God is true and righteous altogether—a place to build a life, even one that lasts forever.  Welcome to GodSaidManSaid.  We’re so glad you’ve come. 

Are you ready to put your trust in Jesus?  Are you interested in life and life more abundantly?  Are you ready to have all your sins expunged from your record as though you never committed them?  Are you ready for a new Father, a new name, a real purpose, and the supernatural power to participate on a daily basis?  We have good news for you.  Today is the day of salvation.  Click onto “Further With Jesus” for childlike instruction and immediate entry into the Kingdom of God.  NOW FOR TODAY’S SUBJECT.

How gloriously inerrant the supernaturally authored Holy Bible is!  It is the Word of the Creator Himself.  Sound a little strong?  Consider that the scriptures have been challenged millions of times through the ages, yet they are still standing tall, high over the champions of Satan, fully intact and unscathed.

Every generation has spawned its batch of higher critics, yet the criticism continues to fail time after time after miserable time.  Be assured that this generation will be no exception.  Today’s feature, updating breaking news on the Darwinian theory of vestigial organs, and on the subject of male circumcision, will make it clear once again that God is, and to walk contrary to His commandments and judgments is to be done at one’s own peril.

For those who want proof that the God of the Bible is, and also to those who pretend to, take note that thousands of years before man’s science and “higher” learning comes to the obvious conclusion, God is already on record in His Word.  In the two subjects in this GodSaidManSaid feature, you will see science, once speaking against the Bible’s position, and now reluctantly beginning to confirm.  In these examples it will be apparent that man’s “truth” of yesterday is debunked by his “truth” of today, and that his “truth” of today will be debunked by his “truth” of tomorrow.

GOD SAID, Genesis 2:7:

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

MAN SAID: There is no God.  Mankind evolved out of virtually nothing, and one of the proofs of evolution is vestigial organs.

Now THE RECORD.  God created man just over 6,000 years ago.  Adam was fully mature and fully developed with all his organs serving very real and important purposes.  Unfortunately for the evolutionists, there just hasn’t been enough time (even their billions of years would not be sufficient) for sophisticated life to have manufactured itself.  Former Surgeon General of the United States C. Everett Koop said, “When I make an incision with my scalpel, I see organs of such intricacy that there simply hasn’t been enough time for natural evolutionary processes to have developed them.”

The following paragraphs are from the GodSaidManSaid feature “Vestigials,” which was published January 17, 2002:

 A vestigial organ is an evolutionary assumption that certain organs in the human body were once needed, but the process of evolution has made these particular organs useless.  As late as 1960, textbooks listed over 200 vestigial structures in the human body including the appendix, thyroid, pituitary glands, tonsils and more.  Today’s science has reduced the list of 200 useless vestigial organs to a big fat zero.  In spite of this knowledge many evolutionists have failed to upgrade their unbelief and continue to cling and expound on vestigial organs.  It is true that one can continue to live without some of the so-called vestigial organs just like one can continue to live with only one eye or one foot, etc., but the quality of life is much better with all body parts functioning well.  For example, commonly removed organs such as tonsils and the appendix which were deemed as useless are now known to have very real value.  It’s now known that the appendix is a gland that removes poisons from the body and that the tonsils also remove poisons and secrete needed iodine into the system.

Regarding the concept of vestigial organs and their being a product of lack of use due to the evolutionary cycle, Scott Huse, author of the book, The Collapse of Evolution, had this to say:

The fatal flaw in the argument from vestigial organs is exposed by modern genetics.  Basically, the concept of vestigial organs represents a return to Lamarckism where the development or loss of a structure is based upon need.  It is now known, however, that organs can only be altered by a genetic alteration in the chromosomes, or DNA.  The use or disuse of an organ has no effect whatsoever on subsequent generations.

There are no vestigial organs in the human body: every organ with a place; every organ with a purpose.  [End of quote]

Those paragraphs are seven and a half years old, and that information was not brand-new then.  Now here comes man’s science.  The following excerpts are from Yahoo News, published August 24, 2009.  The writer is Charles Q. Choi with LiveScience.com:

The body’s appendix has long been thought of as nothing more than a worthless evolutionary artifact, good for nothing save a potentially lethal case of inflammation.

Now researchers suggest the appendix is a lot more than a useless remnant.  Not only was it recently proposed to actually possess a critical function, but scientists now find it appears in nature a lot more often than before thought.  And it’s possible some of this organ’s ancient uses could be recruited by physicians to help the human body fight disease more effectively.

In a way, the idea that the appendix is an organ whose time has passed has itself become a concept whose time is over.

“Maybe it’s time to correct the textbooks,” said researcher William Parker, an immunologist at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C.  “Many biology texts today still refer to the appendix as a ‘vestigial organ.’”

The vermiform appendix is a slimy dead-end sac that hangs between the small and large intestines.  No less than Charles Darwin first suggested that the appendix was a vestigial organ from an ancestor that ate leaves, theorizing that it was the evolutionary remains of a larger structure, called a cecum, which once was used by now-extinct predecessors for digesting food.

“Everybody likely knows at least one person who had to get their appendix taken out—slightly more than 1 in 20 people do—and they see there are no ill effects, and this suggests that you don’t need it,” Parker said.

However, Parker and his colleagues recently suggested that the appendix still served as a vital safehouse where good bacteria could lie in wait until they were needed to repopulate the gut after a nasty case of diarrhea.  Past studies had also found the appendix can help make, direct and train white blood cells.

He added, “If Darwin had been aware of the species that have an appendix attached to a large cecum, and if he had known about the widespread nature of the appendix, he probably would not have thought of the appendix as a vestige of evolution.”  [End of quote]

GOD SAID, Genesis 2:7:

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

MAN SAID: There is no God.  Mankind evolved out of virtually nothing, and one of the proofs of evolution is vestigial organs.

Now you have THE RECORD.

Update number two is the ancient Biblical concept of circumcision.  Long before man began to understand, and not understand, and understand again, long before (as in 4,000 years ago) God commanded male circumcision.

We have published seven subjects which address God’s Old Testament commandment to circumcise all male children on the eighth day.  It must be noted that this Old Testament commandment has been fulfilled in Christ.  But, be clearly advised that God’s commandments have spiritual benefits as well as very real physical ones.  This will be obvious in the matter of male circumcision.  To those who are alarmed by the position GodSaidManSaid takes concerning matters of this nature, it should be noted that the vast, vast majority of mankind cannot, or should we say will not, tap the fulfillment blessings of Jesus Christ.

GOD SAID, Genesis 17:10-14:

10  This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.

11  And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.

12  And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.

13  He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.

14  And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.

MAN SAID: Circumcision is an old, archaic, and barbaric religious superstition.  It has no place in an enlightened, scientific population.

Now THE RECORD.  It is astonishing that the detractors of God’s Word continue to resist.  Millions are sick and suffering, dying and dead as a result of man’s rebellion.

The August 24, 2009 headline in the New York Times reads, “Officials Weigh Circumcision to Fight H.I.V. Risk.”  The following information is from that release:

Public health officials are considering promoting routine circumcision for all baby boys born in the United States to reduce the spread of H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS.

The topic is a delicate one that has already generated controversy, even though a formal draft of the proposed recommendations, due out from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by the end of the year, has yet to be released.

Experts are also considering whether the surgery should be offered to adult heterosexual men whose sexual practices put them at high risk of infection.

Recently, studies showed that in African countries hit hard by AIDS, men who were circumcised reduced their infection risk by half.  But the clinical trials in Africa focused on heterosexual men who are at risk of getting H.I.V. from infected female partners.

For now, the focus of public health officials in this country appears to be on making recommendations for newborns, a prevention strategy that would only pay off many years from now.  Critics say it subjects baby boys to medically unnecessary surgery without their consent.

“We have a significant H.I.V. epidemic in this country, and we really need to look carefully at any potential intervention that could be another tool in the toolbox we use to address the epidemic,” Dr. Kilmarx [chief of epidemiology for the division of H.I.V./AIDS prevention at the C.D.C.] said.  “What we’ve heard from our consultants is that there would be a benefit for infants from infant circumcision, and that the benefits outweigh the risks.”

But newborn circumcision rates have dropped in recent decades, to about 65 percent of newborns in 1999 from a high of about 80 percent after World War II, according to C.D.C. figures.  And blacks and Hispanics, who have been affected disproportionately by AIDS, are less likely than whites to circumcise their baby boys, according to the agency.

Circumcision rates have fallen in part because the American Academy of Pediatrics, which sets the guidelines for infant care, does not endorse routine circumcision.  Its policy says that circumcision is “not essential to the child’s current well-being,” and as a result, many state Medicaid programs do not cover the operation.

The academy is revising its guidelines, however, and is likely to do away with the neutral tone in favor of a more encouraging policy stating that circumcision has health benefits even beyond H.I.V. prevention, like reducing urinary tract infections for baby boys, said Dr. Michael Brady, a consultant to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Circumcision is believed to protect men from infection with H.I.V. because the mucosal tissue of the foreskin is more susceptible to H.I.V. and can be an entry portal for the virus.  Observational studies have found that uncircumcised men have higher rates of other sexually transmitted diseases like herpes and syphilis, and a recent study in Baltimore found that heterosexual men were less likely to have become infected with H.I.V. from infected partners if they were circumcised.  [End of quote]

Click onto the following GodSaidManSaid features for a more thorough review of the subject of male circumcision:

Circumcision II

Circumcision III, Why Do They Still Resist?

Circumcision

Circumcision IV and CJ’s Challenge

Info Briefs Part III

Breaking News – Honey, Breast-Feeding, Circumcision, Pork

The Amazing Word of God -- Updates -- Circumcision, Pigs, Church, Breast-Feeding

GOD SAID, Genesis 17:10-14:

10  This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.

11  And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.

12  And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.

13  He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.

14  And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.

MAN SAID: Circumcision is an old, archaic, and barbaric religious superstition.  It has no place in an enlightened, scientific population.

Now you have THE RECORD.

The Word of God is always the unchanging truth.  Build your life upon it.

 

References:

Authorized King James Version

Choi, C.Q., “The Appendix: Useful and in Fact Promising,” LiveScience.com, 8/24/2009

 Rabin, C.R., “Officials Weigh Circumcision to Fight H.I.V. Risk,” New York Times, 8/23/2009

“The Amazing Word of God – Updates – Circumcision, Pigs, Church, Breast-Feeding,” GodSaidManSaid.com, 4/16/2009

“Vestigials,” GodSaidManSaid.com, 1/17/2002

 

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