Intelligent Design versus Evolution

By Shlomo Gabbay, M.D.

Dr. Gabbay is a heart surgeon. He graduated from Tel Aviv. Dr. Gabbay got his training in cardiac surgery at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York (graduated in 1980). His knowledge of science was always of multidisciplinary scope. Dr. Gabbay was always interested not only in biology and medicine but also on social issues. While studying in medical school the science of medicine, biology and human development excited him to dwell on the question of evolution versus intelligent design. Dr. Gabbay's interest in science started in high school. He graduated from an agriculture high school, which gave him a wide scope on the botanical and animal world and medical school gave a wider scope in biology and medicine. In this book, Dr. Gabbay has gathered objective scientific information for and against the theory of evolution against intelligent design and creation. This book is not intended to convince the reader to adopt any theory but to be read objectively to understand what science has to offer for both theories and to allow the readers to decide which view they support. The intention of this book is to also allow any person to speak objectively about those two important theories. Dr. Gabbay published a book on philosophy and political science. Earlier, when practicing cardiac surgery, Dr. Gabbay has conducted a large amount of research on heart valves surgery and has developed many heart-valve designs. To understand how the body rejects any medical device, Dr. Gabbay has spent a great deal of time and research to study the immunological system and function, which allowed him to develop a biochemical treatment of animal tissue to prevent rejection, degeneration, and calcification of heart valve implanted in children or adults. Dr. Gabbay was always fascinated by the immune system and how the design is intelligent. His forty-six years of research based on the understanding of how the body rejects implanted medical devices and the conclusions of this research, prompted Dr. Gabbay to write this book (see chapter 5 of book 1 and chapter 1 of this book).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 9, 2023
• ISBN: 9781098097486

Book preview

Preface

The Perfect Religion: Gateway to God’s Secret Place is the final book in the Perfect Religion series. The first book, The Perfect Religion: A Beacon to the True Kingdom of God, focused on the following: the beatitudes (developing the inward characteristics of those seeking to enter the kingdom of God), passing along these inward qualities (being the light of the world, the salt of the earth), understanding Jesus’s teachings connected to the Old Testament teachings (I have not come to destroy the law but to fulfill it), and exceeding the righteousness of the hypocritical scribes and Pharisees.

The second book, The Perfect Religion: The Bridge Between Tradition and Truth, went into the difference between what the scribes and Pharisees misinterpreted about the laws of God, You have heard it said, and the truth as revealed by Jesus, But I say to you. The book covered the following subjects: adultery in the heart (lust), marriage as a sacred binding oath (marriage and divorce), an eye for an eye, going the second mile, and loving one’s enemies. Jesus closed this section by saying, Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect (Matt. 5:48).

The third and final book brings the reader into the secret place of God. One must find that secret place to have that perfect relationship with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The following verse will be quoted and referred to many times in this book:

But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. (Matt. 6:6, emphasis mine)

Religion is a spiritual experience. The Holy Spirit will comfort us, guide us, and will intercede for us in prayer:

Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groaning which cannot be uttered. (Rom. 8:26, emphasis mine)

What a comfort to know we have the Holy Spirit of God on our side, holding our hand as we seek that secret place. And the Spirit will help us overcome our weaknesses. Jesus points some of these out in His sermon.

Furthermore, Jesus emphasized not being hypocritical, blinded to goodness, worrisome, and judgmental. He stresses treating others as one wants to be treated. He closes out the Sermon on the Mount by pointing out how narrow the way is to eternal life and that there are those out in the world that will deceive many leading them away from goodness and toward evil. He wants those that genuinely want to enter the kingdom to listen to what He instructs. And do it! That will build a firm foundation against the thunderous times ahead. Find the secret place, and all will fall into place.

Introduction

Where is God? Where does God dwell? Will He dwell with men? These are the questions many have in their pursuit of the perfect religion. That was the question Solomon had after building the most magnificent temple ever imagined:

But will God indeed dwell with men on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of the heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built. (2 Chron. 6:18)

Seven years of hard labor; thousands upon thousands of Israelites involved; and solid gold lamps, bowls, ladles, and other furnishings, all to house a God that the heaven of heavens couldn’t contain. Was that a waste of time and effort? What about today? The temple is gone, the old covenant replaced with the new covenant that Jesus ratified with his sacrificial blood, so where does God dwell now?

The apostle Paul answered that question to those seeking to find God:

God Who made the world and everything in It, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. (Acts 17:24)

So where does He dwell? That is what we will endeavor to answer as we look at the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus talked about a secret place. Is God there?

But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. (Matt. 6:6)

My prayer is that all those seeking God will find Him, for He is not far from us. Find that secret place, and all that God has for you will be revealed. Happiness and peace will follow. God bless.

1

Giving

Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in Heaven.

—Matthew 6:1

The Collection Plate

We don’t mean to, but it happens to almost everyone. When the collection plate at worship services is passed around on Sunday morning, we do strange things. Maybe a shifting of the eyes left, then right to see how much someone is or isn’t putting in. We know that Brother Tommy only gives a dollar—he has been doing that for twenty years. And Brother Cecil squirms in his seat, folding his money into a little one-inch square so the one passing the plate can’t tell the denomination—Washington stands out like a sore thumb. But the strangest thing that I had ever seen concerning the collection happened in a little church in Broken Bow, Oklahoma.

Nestled in the far southeast corner of Oklahoma stood a weathered old church, layered in cracked white paint, windows swollen shut by years of humid summer air, and a handful of faithful Christians not bothered by these insignificant appearances.

The building is not the church, they would say, the people are the church. That is why they paid no attention to minor flaws in the construction, even though some of these flaws might cause major interruptions.

With gaping cracks, the planked floors occasionally created giggles at the most inopportune times, like when Old Man Tidmore, as he was referred to, with no disrespect intended, was about to hit home a point in his sermon. The local chickens, hunting and pecking for last Sunday’s potluck droppings, cackled as loud as Sister Linda when she got tickled. We often wondered if she was about to lay an egg.

And, of course, there were the creaky old benches that left splinters in the bottoms of squirming sinners during hellfire and brimstone revivals. But all was taken in stride, and church services went on with their routine church activities. I emphasize routine activities, e.g., three songs, prayer, two more songs, the Lord’s Supper, collection prayer, the collection plate passed around, one more song, the sermon, and the invitation song. The same order, the same songs, and the same prayer, word for word. But nothing can distract attention away from routine greater than the unexpected. And on this occasion, eyes bulged in amazement.

On one particular day, as the collection plate was being passed, all seemed normal until it reached Old Man Tidmore.

Did you see that? I whispered to my wife, Lois, while poking her in the side with my elbow.

Quit that, she mumbled under her breath as she elbowed me back.

I can’t believe it, I snarled back, he took money out of the collection plate.

One by one, Old man Tidmore plucked out dollar bills, not even attempting to be inconspicuous.

I guess he must have read the verse wrong that he preached about the other day—Tidmore giveth and Tidmore taketh away.

A snicker preceded out of Lois while her eyes rolled and her head shook in exasperation. Hush, there must be some explanation, she said, trying to muffle a chuckle through the side of her mouth.

Well, I am going to approach him after church.

You will not. Brother Tidmore might have needed that money for something.

Yeah, but that ain’t proper procedures.

Oh, you and your procedures.

This little church was small in numbers but big on procedures. As an example, one time, a big uproar happened when the pulpit was moved from the center stage to the side, giving full attention to the Lord’s table in the center. Sister Lucille knew there had to be a place in the Bible prohibiting its move. Her ranting went on for weeks. So there had to be a reason for Old Man Tidmore violating collection rules. Right?

I want to know if he needed something so that we could help out.

After church that Sunday, I approached Old Man Tidmore. Hey, Raul, how are things going?

"Why, just fine, Brother Phillip, I appreshuate (his version of appreciate) you asking."

Are you okay with money?

Well, to be honest, the saw sharpening is a little slow, but I am doing fine.

I know you have been sick lately. I bet you have a lot of doctor bills.

The doc was easy on me. He owed me several favors anyway.

I noticed that you were taking some money out of the collection plate and, well… I mean…oh, I was just wondering if you needed anything. I lowered my head, slightly ashamed to ask.

Old Man Tidmore raised his arm and put his hand on my shoulder; his other hand stroked his chin a few times. I reckon it raised a few eyebrows. Jimmy almost choked on his gum, and his hand shook while holding that collection plate. I intentionally took my sweet time as I thought to myself, ‘This will certainly be a good lesson for next Sunday.’ And don’t ya know the fish bit on the worm. A few gasps, giggles, and I know Sister Bullard almost lost her false teeth, as wide a gap as her mouth made.

You mean you did that on purpose?

No, I forgot to get change for my five-dollar bill at Bruton’s Grocery this morning, so I thought there would be no harm in making change out of the collection plate. Certainly, I thought, no one would pay notice. I am glad you didn’t give it any thought.

I turned and slithered back to my seat. The next week, Old Man Tidmore got up in the pulpit and announced, This week’s lesson comes from Psalms, ‘May those who say to me, Aha, Aha! retreat because of their shame’ (Ps. 70:3 BSB).

This silly true story (I embellished just a tad for literature’s sake) brings up a topic that Jesus thought was important enough to include in His sermon on giving. The King James Version uses the term alms deeds. The New King James Version calls it charitable deeds. So what is He talking about? And how does this tie in with the next two subjects, prayer, and fasting?

Exceeding Righteousness

In my first book, The Perfect Religion: A Beacon to the True Kingdom of God, the last verse studied said, For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:20). In the second book, The Perfect Religion: The Bridge Between Tradition and Truth, Jesus pointed out what the Jews thought was Moses’s laws but were, in reality, the traditions mandated by the scribes and Pharisees.

Jesus emphasized the true meaning of what God intended, not what they had heard from the religious leaders—God’s valid laws turned into traditions of men. The true laws of God were intended to point out the very essences of the greatest commandment and the second like it:

Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, Which is the first commandment of all? Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these. (Mark 12:28–31)

After the scribe acknowledged that the teaching of Jesus was Well said, and he repeated those commands as being better than any burnt offerings, Jesus said, You are not far from the kingdom of God (verse 34).

Suppose one looks at the three topics Jesus is presenting at the beginning of Matthew 6 (alms deeds, prayer, and fasting). In that case, he will see that the core of these righteous acts reveals those commandments (embracing three aspects): love God, our neighbor, and ourselves. The following will hopefully justify this claim:

Alms deeds or giving: The focus, as we will point out in a bit, is thinking of others, e.g., our neighbors, the homeless, the needy, the widows, and orphans. The giving mentioned by Jesus refers to the righteous acts of mercy and pity on our neighbor. In other words, we love our neighbor as ourselves when we extend a hand of mercy and compassion to them.

Prayer: The example of prayer Jesus used starts out by acknowledging God Hallowed be Your name and His power, glory, and kingdom, For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever (Matt. 6:9 and 13). Acknowledging these attributes is loving God with all our heart when we glorify Him. Remember the main point of the perfect religion, it is not about me, but Thee.

Fasting: The very act of fasting is an inward look at ourselves and understanding self-control. Not walking by the flesh but by the spirit. If we love this earthen vessel, which is the temple of the Holy Spirit, we will develop that self-control. Fasting is one way to have the Holy Spirit help us.

We will look at these individually as we continue the study on the Sermon on the Mount. And how the performance and motive of these righteous acts must exceed the hypocritical actions and motives of the scribes and Pharisees. So let us continue our look at the collection or giving.

Give, Give, Give

Jesus did not mention an array of reasons for giving, as opposed to today’s religious leaders. The call goes out to Give, give, give. The television evangelist, the radio evangelist, and the radio music stations all preach the message loud and clear, Give, give, give. Give until it hurts, give, and then give more. And the more you give, the more you will get back. A hundredfold. The list becomes endless.

The preacher needs to be paid. We need a new building. The equipment to put on all those fancy shows every Sunday takes money. There is the missionary fund, the songbook fund, the ‘buy the pastor a three-thousand-square-foot mansion’ fund. I guess I am getting a little carried away here, but you get the idea.

With the rise of the megachurches, the number and variety of funds have risen. In other words, there are a lot of collection plates floating around the churches today. So what is Jesus talking about when he says, Alms deeds, or, Charitable deeds? And how did the early church handle the collection of money, and for what purposes?

Alms Deeds

The Greek word used in Matthew 6:1 is ἐλεημοσύνη (eleémosuné),

Strong’s 1654 interpreted as mercy.¹ Some of the more notable Bible interpreters, e.g., Adam Clark, Lightfoot, state that the word alms, the Hebrew sadaka in the more common language of the Jews, was interpreted as Acts of righteousness. This interpretation would certainly go along with what Jesus said in Matthew 5:20, Exceed their righteousness (scribes and Pharisees), or their acts of righteousness, as we just pointed out. So when you performed your alms deeds, you performed acts of righteousness.

The righteous considers the cause of the poor, but the wicked does not understand such knowledge. (Prov. 29:7)

The Jews were instructed to perform acts of righteousness to the poor. They were to take care of the poor among their brethren and even their enemies. The following verses give us some insight into their teaching:

If there is among you a poor man of your brethren, within any of the gates in your land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother, but you shall open your hand wide to him and willingly lend him sufficient for his need, whatever he needs. (Deut. 15:7–8)

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do so. Do not say to your neighbor, Go, and come back, and tomorrow I will give it, when you have it with you. (Prov. 3:27–28)

If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. (Prov. 25:21)

We all are familiar with Ruth’s story, how Naomi lost her husband and two sons during a famine in the land of Moab. Ruth was married and now widowed to one of her sons. When Naomi decides to return to Judah, because she heard that the Lord had provided a good