May 3rd

Bats are Birds?

And these are they which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray, And the vulture, and the kite after his kind; Every raven after his kind; And the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckow, and the hawk after his kind, And the little owl, and the cormorant, and the great owl, And the swan, and the pelican, and the gier eagle, And the stork, the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat.

(Leviticus 11:13-19) KJV

People have found many ingenious reasons to reject the truth of the Bible. There are also some which aren’t ingenious, not by a long shot.

One of the most absurd is the notion that the Bible can’t be authoritative because it says that bats are birds. The basis for this claim is the passage above which is part of a list of dietary restrictions placed upon the Children of Israel. We’ll show you that the bats are birds argument is fallacious, and we’ll also show you how bats and birds can both be fowls.

The claim that the Bible says that bats are birds is based on two false assumptions:

1. Imposing phylogenetic classification on to a system which isn’t phylogenetic.
2. Equating the Biblical word fowls (everything that flies) with the taxonomic subclass Aves (birds)

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We all have the same evidence. Our choice of paradigm determines what we think it’s evidence of.

– Matty’s Razor

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Spherogenetic, not Phylogenetic

Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt.

(Leviticus 19:36) KJV

On May 1st we noted that the Bible has a system of biological classification based on the spheres of the life: hydrosphere, biosphere, firmasphere, atmosphere and lithosphere. We call this spherogenetic systematics.

This is important because it means that the members of a group of organisms aren’t related to each other by descent from a common ancestor, which is the requirement in a phylogenetic classification. God created according to his divine plan, not through the passage of heritable traits from generation to generation. This is why we refer to the work of creation as abiogenesis, whereas genetic decay which began after the fall of man is called devolution.

This highlights the issue of frame of reference, or point of view. If you come from the popular science (SciPop) point of view then birds are classified with the reptiles. Bats are mammals. As such, bats can’t possibly be birds, which is why it would seem absurd.

We’re discussing the 6 days of creation and abiogenesis. The fall of man and the beginning of genetic decay hasn’t begun yet , therefore there hasn’t been passage of heritable traits from generation to generation. Phylogenetic classification isn’t applicable.

The major problem that Christian apologists have is, whether they know it or not, they have the SciPop mindset. Even if they understand what the SciPop mindset is and they’re arguing against it, they’re still arguing within the SciPop paradigm.

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Faith is believing in something that you can’t see, because of evidence.

– Faith, definition

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Winged Fowl

And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

(Genesis 1:21) KJV

On the 5th day animals were created to inhabit the hydrosphere and atmosphere. Both spheres contain vertebrates and invertebrates. Both spheres contain vertebrates in the groups mammals, reptiles, and birds. Both sphere contain arthropods, including insects. The things is, the Bible doesn’t describe the flying creatures created on the 5th day with the word birds. It uses the phrase winged fowl:

This term is sufficiently broad to include everything with wings, including insects.

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The reason for creation is the manifestation of sentient life with free will.

– The Reason for Creation

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You Missed Something

All fowls that creep, going upon all four, shall be an abomination unto you. Yet these may ye eat of every flying creeping thing that goeth upon all four, which have legs above their feet, to leap withal upon the earth; Even these of them ye may eat; the locust after his kind, and the bald locust after his kind, and the beetle after his kind, and the grasshopper after his kind. But all other flying creeping things, which have four feet, shall be an abomination unto you.

(Leviticus 11:20-23) KJV

Here’s something ironic: the scripture which follows on from the featured passage is another supposed reason why the Bible should be rejected that the scornful seem to have missed completely: Here we see the word fowls equated with every flying creeping thing that goeth about on all four, and it specifically mentions some orders and families of insect: beetle, locust, and grasshopper.

This clearly includes insects in the classification fowls, however, insects have six legs not four. We’re very surprised that there aren’t people rejecting the Bible and salvation through faith in Jesus Christ because the Bible says that insects have four legs. Perhaps they have enough sense to realize that the feet below the legs are the other two legs.

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The purpose of creation is to bring about the permanent physical separation of light from darkness, day from night, good from evil.

– The Purpose of Creation

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Superficial Theology

As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

(2 Peter 3:16) KJV

Bats are birds is an excuse that some people use to reject the Bible. It requires using the words “bird” and “fowl” as synonyms, and the misapplication of phylogenetic systematics to a spherogenetic creation.

Bats are birds is similar to Π = 3. Something that superficially looks like an error in the Bible. Indeed, they are frequently promoted as being errors in the Bible. We dealt with the Π issue on March 14th, Π day. Today we see that bats are only birds if you use the words fowls and birds as synonyms. They aren’t. You also have to superimpose phylogenetic systematics onto a spherogenetic creation.

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Salvation

1. Call upon the name of Jesus Christ,
   • believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
2. confess your sin.

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Read through the Bible in a year

Reading plan	May 3
Linear	Ezra 4-6
Chronological	Psalms 106-107

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