The Indian Bollywood film about Norwegian child protection, and the child protection case it is based on

March 12, 2023


Written by Marianne Haslev Skånland, Professor Emeritus

It has been planned for several years, and has now finally been produced: a film based on a child protection case from 2011 onwards, a case in which an Indian couple’s two children were taken by the Norwegian CPS, called Barnevernet, in Stavanger. The film sounds, from the info I’ve been given and have seen, as though it’s pretty realistic.

The real case had many details and elements that have been misrepresented by Norwegian CPS and also by others. The children’s mother was scandalously treated by the child protection services, and unfortunately the children’s father eventually turned against her, unjustifiably, and almost campaigned for the CPS. This is NOT a case of a mother making up false claims or trying to make life miserable for her husband to get her way. Rather, it is a case that many people recognize: Child protection services burden the family with unreasonableness and horrors which ultimately cause the marriage to break up.

Many details about how the case ran are known and some of them are found in writing, in articles and documents. It would all of it be too much to have to write about all this (again), or to try effectively to counter all the distortions, falsehoods and misrepresentations that are resurfacing now, just as they have in the past, about the way the case evolved and the children’s development then and later. The central accusation from the CPS, the one they always make in Norwegian courts and which the Norwegian people bow to in respect, was the quack diagnosis of Sagarika: that she had a mental disorder and had also caused an ‘attachment disorder’ in the children – they ‘were not attached to their mother (in a healthy way)’. But the CPS made various other claims as well. They find it easy now to say that these allegations either did not exist or were not the reason why the children were taken. This is what the CPS usually says in child protection cases when there is criticism.

Now that the film is coming, the story is moving again, with the same false claims from the then head of the CPS in Stavanger, Gunnar Toresen, and now also from the children’s father. And these incorrect claims are allowed by Norwegian newspaper journalists to be served up unchallenged. I am adding links at the bottom of this article to a few articles which, among other things, contain significant inaccuracies. Feel free to read them, but you should not believe anything without checking it with those who know the matter and preferably Sagarika and the family in India, and especially with those who were active in obtaining and publishing correct information.

There are two people who more than anyone should have respect and admiration in this matter: they are Sagarika’s parents. They did not allow themselves to be fooled by prejudice or power, did not allow themselves to be overwhelmed or imagine all the malicious filth that was hurled at their daughter, but welcomed her with open arms when she in deep despair and after near torture in Norway succeeded in getting home, and they helped her faithfully in the years that followed. The children’s lives and development became very good from the time when she got them home. And they are definitely ‘attached to’ their mother!

I have found some of the articles and posts that some of us wrote and received at the time, and have added links to them. The most important is the case report prepared by Indian experts in 2012: “The confiscation of the Bhattacharya children by Norwegian authorities – a case study”.

Signatories to the Petition to the Indian National Human Rights Commission: 
The confiscation of the Bhattacharya children by Norwegian authorities – a case study – 
(12 October 2012)

Marianne Haslev Skånland:
Norwegian CPS attacks an Indian family
The Bhattacharya case in Stavanger
(January 27 – February 1, 2012)

Times Now:
“NHR Connect: Cultural ignorance or arrogance?” (Part 1)
YouTube video interview with parents 8 months after children were taken
(January 2012)

Modern Times Article
Deprived of the children – siblings split
(January 2012)

Forum Redd Våre Barn:
Photos of Indians in Kolkata demonstrating against the Norwegian CPS’s confiscation of those two children. Some 6,000 people took part
(Early 2012)

Athene:
Norwegian CPS still keeps the Indian children isolated from their family
(February 2012)

Marianne Haslev Skånland:
Norwegian “child protection service” and the children’s uncle
(The India/Stavanger case)
(11 February 2012)

Marianne Haslev Skånland:
The curious case of ‘child protection’ in Norway
(April 2012)

Siv Westerberg: 
Norway and Sweden – where inhuman rights prevail
(7 May 2012, 11 November 2017)

Suranya Aiyar: 
Understanding and Responding to Child Confiscation by Social Service Agencies
(9 May 2012, 20 September 2017)

Petition: Indians want government to guard against CPS
(October 2012)

Marianne Haslev Skånland:
Good news in India for the children in the Bhattacharya case
(10 January 2013)

“Finally I got justice, says mother of children in Norway”
A 10-year-old (YouTube) interview with the real mother, Sagarika Chakraborti
Note: This was an interim decision that the children were going to be with their mother Sagarika. In the later court case she got permanent custody.
(10 January 2013)

Jan Simonsen:
“Child protection case damages Norway’s reputation in the Czech Republic”
(The footnote in this article has interesting details about the Stavanger/India case.)
(November 2014)

Suranya Aiyar:
Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway: Child protection in its current form has failed
(March 2023)

Trine Overå Hansen, chief editor:
Barnevernet under lupen (Barnevernet under scrutiny)
Norge IDAG, 1 March 2023
(I can’t help but notice the difference between this article and the three articles below which “contain significant inaccuracies.” I understand that this news source, Norge IDAG, has an independent Christian orientation much different than most Norwegian publications. The editor of Norge IDAG has taken an interest in getting correct information about Barnevernet and knows a lot about the subject. -CR)


Examples of recent articles which, among other things, contain significant inaccuracies:

Norwegian CP case becomes Bollywood film: – Catastrophic consequences
“Norsk barnevernssak blir Bollywood-film: – Katastrofale konsekvenser”
VG, 25 february 2023

The fatal consequences are, of course, those envisaged for Norwegian trade and commerce, seen from the point of view of people who have, like our ‘Conservative Party’, never cared about these ‘finicky concerns about unsuccessful families and their unruly children’.

“Former child protection leader on Bollywood film: – This is not the story as it happened”
“Tidligere barnevernsleder om Bollywood-film: – Dette er ikke historien slik den skjedde”
Dagsavisen, 26 februar 2023

In this article, former CPS leader in Stavanger Gunnar Toresen is allowed to repeat all the false claims and add some more false ones. He says that Sagarika kidnapped the children, that there was agreement that the children could not live with their parents. And he says that he doesn’t know anything about how things have gone for the children from the time Sagarika kidnapped them. But in fact we know, and HE could get to know, but of course he does not want any info from sources who do not implicitly bow to what the CPS claims to be the truth.

If Toresen and Barnevernet do not know how the children have fared, it must be attributed to their own behavior and that of the Norwegian authorities through the case if they cannot just by a natural and friendly enquiry get those in the know to tell them the news that life together with their mother has been good for two children whom Barnevernet had been supposed to help, much better than when they were under the ‘care’ of Barnevernet.

Actually, Sagarika has been taking an active part in demonstrations against Barnevernet’s attacks on families from other nations too. Here a survey of several demonstrations in 2016, triggered by Barnevernet taking away 5 children from the (Norwegian-Romanian) family Bodnariu, and some photos from New Delhi and in Kolkata to support the Bodnarius:

Sagarika Chakraborti is there with the children, you see them on several photos, e.g. on the last photo, and some of the others, (e.g. the one with the big Norwegian flag and the people with posters, Sagarika in light blue jeans and a dark blue top, the children beside her).

“Father of the family in the child welfare case that becomes a film: – I am portrayed as the villain”
“Familiefar i barnevernsaken som blir film: – Jeg blir fremstilt som skurken”
Dagsavisen, 27 februar 2023

Here is Anurup Bhattacharya, who turned on his wife when she would not agree to sign a binding statement saying that she would not ever be entitled to go to court in India to get the children back or get any connection with them. He ‘dreams’ up an even newer version of the story, picturing him as the discriminated against father who has not been able to see his children for 10 years. – Several questions are then pertinent, among them why he acted as he did in 2012. Why did suddenly the Indian newspaper Hindu write that Sagarika was after all a psychiatric case and mentally handicapped? Has the father paid any child support for these 10 years, and was his brother paid as a ‘foster father’ by Stavanger Municipality or the Norwegian State for the year the children were living in his parents’ house? One of the things the court in Bengal apparently said when they awarded custody to Sagarika, was that their father’s brother, who had been appointed by Norway and by his free will was to be the children’s foster father, had failed in his duties to them.

—————————————–

My comments:

It appears that I have gone over a year without writing anything about the state of Child Welfare. I have always been interested in the welfare of children but my interest grew dramatically with a story out of Norway in 2016. After some research I became convinced that children were being stolen by the organization in Norway designated to help families. My opinion has only been solidified by story after story like the Bodnariu case in 2016. Since then the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has found the Norwegian state guilty of severe violation of human rights involving child welfare in cases that took years to be decided, and Norway has now been given status as a ‘habitual offender’ by the ECtHR.

This new movie is a great opportunity to bring the subject back to the fore. The truth is that little to no headway has been made against the sinister and embedded systems within many governments that cause stories like the one described above. Norway isn’t the only culprit. Since I’ve been watching this situation, Sweden, Great Britain, the United States and others have been guilty of similar crimes. The cases in Norway are so blatant that they are hard to ignore.

The good people in Norway continue to try to educate others about the situation so that changes can be made. They have had a difficult task because for every item published attempting to describe reality there are 20 others published that are like those mentioned at the end of Marianne’s links above along with glowing advertisements by adoption agencies.

Sadly, the great majority of these cases in Norway do not end well. After the children are taken from their parents, the Norwegian Child “Protection Services” (called the Barnevernet) does not look to worthy extended family members to take the children in for a period of time while any problems are resolved. If more than one child is taken, and it is usually the case when there is more than one child, the children are split up into different foster homes and the parents are given very little visitation, sometimes only a few hours a year. Much of the time the parents have to travel hours to see their children because they have been moved so far away.

I have experienced one of these stories firsthand. Because I had been very active protesting these crimes on social media, a Norwegian mother and a friend of hers felt comfortable contacting me about her situation. She had just left a “Mother’s Home” in Norway where mothers are “observed” to determine if they are worthy to continue caring for their child. She was staying with her friend, a highly qualified nurse, and her family, until she could decide her next move in life. I still remember the day she called me on the phone and told me that her son had been taken from his crib by Barnevernet workers.

We were in shock. Not long after that the brave young mother decided that I should document her experience in spite of possible problems it might cause. She wanted the world to know about this evil thing that had happened to her. Over the next few months I wrote posts here describing what she was going through as she shared every important event with me over the phone. The entire series of posts was eventually shared here as well. They were shared in a post entitled: A Miracle in the Norwegian CPS? Following the young mother’s struggles is something I will never forget.

How can I forget about the American mother who had her son stolen from her almost 10 years ago? The child was a little underweight but well within any healthy metric one might conjure up. He enjoyed being breastfed and was a bit slow in taking to solid food. On a day in 2013, agents from Norway’s child protection services, along with officers from the Norway police force, stormed the mother’s home and forced her, her baby’s father and her son to go to a local hospital. Shortly thereafter, the mother had her parental rights taken from her and her son was taken into custody by Norwegian officials. The parents were granted a few visitation hours a week. After a year of visitations, she was told she could no longer see him. Almost 10 years later all the mother knows is that her son’s name has been changed multiple times just in case she tried to find him. She has no idea where he is. The incredible story can be found here: “Norway Took My Child”: Child Protective Services Takes Baby from American Mom.

It is still happening. Nothing has changed. In fact, some think that things are getting worse. Many are afraid to say anything. Some have taken their children and left Norway. I don’t blame them. Mothers are being watched. They are being watched by school officials, neighbors, church members, and many others. There is no question that some mothers could use a little assistance in rearing their children. There is no question that there is a very small minority of women who should not be mothers. But when children are taken from their parents for questionable and even trivial reasons, there will be a reckoning. One day, those who are guilty of such crimes will face a natural and spiritual reality. It is a reality as real as the stories I have shared here. It is the reality that those guilty of such crimes will reap what they have sown.

Chris Reimers







Nigeria’s 9/11 Sized Event

January 25, 2023

Most people, even those who were born after the incidents on September 11, 2001, have heard of the horrific events at the World Trade Center in New York City. 2,977 victims died that day and thousands more were injured.

Most people don’t know that the country of Nigeria has it’s own World Trade Center complex. I didn’t know about it until I was researching the tallest buildings in Nigeria and found the video above and others like it. In July of 2020, a fire broke out on the top floor of one of the Nigerian World Trade Center buildings in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city. Thankfully, no one was injured. Here is a video and short report of that event.

The reason Nigeria is the subject of this post is because of what happened there last year. It continues to be on my mind. By November of last year, 4,000 Christians in Nigeria had been killed by Islamic jihadist groups. I couldn’t help but think that this number was greater than the death toll in America’s 9/11 event yet few in the world had heard of it. One of my friends posted the story to her social media page and it prompted me to pray for Christians in Nigeria. Here is that story as it was posted in Christian Today.

Very few mainstream media reports are given about the persecution of Christians. After reading about the problems in Nigeria, it wasn’t surprising to find that Nigeria was #6 on Open Doors’ 2023 annual World Watch List ranking the 50 countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution.  According to the Open Doors’ organization, more than 360 million Christians suffer high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith. That number is greater than the entire population of the United States.

Click on this link of you would like to see a map of the 2023 Open Door rankings.

The number of Christians killed in Nigeria is by far the most of any country in 2022. I’ve posted this thinking that you might like to pray for a place where Christians are experiencing severe persecution in 2023. If so, click on the link above. There are plenty of places from which to choose.

Chris Reimers


A Statement Concerning Humanity

November 9, 2022


I hope you have heard a good sermon lately. If not, you might want to watch Alistair Begg’s message from Sunday.

Parkside Church is in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and their service is aired weekly on the YouTube channel above.

There are many other good options for those who, for whatever reason, would like to hear a sermon of a different man of God.

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones was the minister of Westminster Chapel in London for almost 30 years during the late 20th century. People of all ages came to hear his sermons. Thankfully, his studies of God’s Word were recorded in numerous sermons that can be found HERE.

Occasionally, I find myself hungering for one of Mr. Spurgeon’s sermons. Charles Haddon Spurgeon was pastor of the congregation of the New Park Street Chapel (later the Metropolitan Tabernacle) in London for 38 years in the later half of the 19th century. We do not have any recordings of his voice but almost every sermon he spoke was written down. His mining of God’s Word for gold can be found HERE.

Besides reading your Bible, it is always a blessing to hear a man of God give a good sermon. This video definitely fits that description.

Chris Reimers


For My Catholic Friends

September 19, 2022

In the continual effort to find materials that make complicated issues easier to understand, here is another discovery. This short video gives dates and information specific enough to help people understand quite a few things. As far as I know, it is all accurate. Please comment if you think otherwise.

After having “spoken” to a newly made Italian internet friend, it is now more obvious to me that the country where Rome resides is in great trouble spiritually. Statistics show that almost 80% of Italians consider themselves Catholic. My new friend informed me that no one he knows in the age group of 18 to 25 has a Bible. His grandparents and his parents were all atheists until recent medical problems that his father had led his father to have thoughts about God.

My new young friend seems very intelligent. When I asked him who Moses was he had to reach back, as he put it, to childhood memories. I know it is only one person but I’m guessing he is probably indicative of the average Italian and perhaps most Catholics; if they do believe in God it is not because they have studied the Bible on their own but they are believing what the pope or the bishop or the local priest is teaching.

I pray for my new friend and for my Catholic friends that they will trust in Jesus Christ as Savior by faith alone. 

Chris Reimers


Slavery in the Bible

August 30, 2022

Another excellent work by Keith Thompson.

CR


Take the Tour Challenge

August 9, 2022

If you are like me, you are subscribed to several You Tube channels that interest you. This audio file popped up there yesterday. I have heard Dr. James Tour teach on the Bible before but it has been awhile. He is not known as a theologian but as a world class scientist.
This Bible study struck a cord with me and I appreciated his challenge to “pour over the Word of God.”

Enjoy and be challenged!

Chris Reimers


Christianity, Politics, and Religion

May 19, 2022
Babylon 1932
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Babylon,_1932.jpg
Babylon 1932 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Babylon,_1932.jpg


“Two things I don’t talk about are politics and religion.” I don’t know how many times I’ve heard this and I don’t know how many times I’ve wondered if anyone could get through a week without talking about something in either area. If they can, they are much more creative than I. This post was born from recent reading in Jeremiah, Wikipedia sources on Christians who hold certain conspiracy theories, and thoughts about the current war in the Ukraine.

My thoughts concerning the title of this article continue to change as life rolls along but I want to share with you where I am right now. Just how does a Christian view the contrasting effects of politics and their beliefs about God in their daily lives? It is a question that could fill an entire book but I’ll attempt to make it short and sweet here using only a few realities in our world.

The first reality is the war in Ukraine. If a Christian wants to hold a position or opinion about a war, they should do what anyone else would do, and that’s to attempt to find out the facts. One would think that, with all of the communication we have these days, this would be an easy task. It is not always the case. Propaganda abounds as each side tries to make its case. In Ukraine’s case, a country has invaded another country and has killed innocent civilians who had no interest in politics except that they wanted to live a free and undisturbed life. Their country has been torn apart by bombs sent by a leader with odd ambitions and have been dropped by those who are willing to follow his orders.

As a Christian, I look at the words of a godly prophet who preceded Jeremiah who said:

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
    And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
    and to walk humbly with your God.

Anyone can make the situation in Ukraine as complicated as they wish but, in light of this Bible passage, a Christian’s support for justice for the innocent is warranted.

A definition of “politics” can easily be found online:

“the activities associated with the governance of a country or other area, especially the debate or conflict among individuals or parties having or hoping to achieve power.”

It is obvious to me that justice must play a role in a definition like the one above. Thus, Christians need to be involved in certain aspects of politics.
Jesus was very clear about the civic duty of paying one’s taxes. He was not saying that all having government powers are righteous or just. He knew the book of Jeremiah well, having inspired it, where we find these words against Babylon, no question a political entity, written at the height of its power:


“cut it off, so that there will be nothing dwelling in it, whether man or beast, but it will be a perpetual desolation.”


Jesus knew that the picture of Babylon above would eventually be a reality and, from reading Jeremiah 51, it is obvious that the ruins of Babylon are a result of rebellion against God and His people, a second reality.

God’s people rebelled against Him so he allowed a political solution to help them learn a lesson; Nebuchadnezzar would grow strong and take Israel into captivity. Eventually, the evil in the Babylonian empire would cause them to be destroyed to the degree seen in the photo here at the top. It is a picture of God’s justice. The sovereignty of God is at play here but that is a deep subject for another day.

There are always two sides to a coin. Jesus was very clear on paying taxes but he was silent when asked to defend himself, a third reality. From a human standpoint, it seems that Jesus had every right to defend himself against false accusations of any political nature (which are hard to separate from accusations of a personal nature if one reads the definition of politics above). But, he didn’t. I would submit that we should generally defend ourselves from false accusations because they do neither us nor our accusers any good. In Jesus’ case, his silence was the best thing for all involved including all of humanity. It displays how God’s position as King of King and Lord of Lords is cemented forever. The reason for his silence is explained in Hebrews 2:

But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.

Thus, God’s pronouncement that:
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts”
is true.

The Christian must accept that his/her understanding is limited so his/her wisdom regarding politics and religion and how they should interrelate is limited as well. At the same time, the Christian makes an effort to understand and make the best decisions he/she can in light of God’s Word.

Christians, or anyone else for that matter, will never figure out complete justice in politics or religion. In the end, complete justice will be decided by God. It is something we should ponder seriously but we should never put ourselves in the eventual role of God.

Just go out there and do the best you can, asking for the help of God, of course.

God’s blessings…

Chris Reimers


How One Woman Changed Her World

March 31, 2022
Anne Hillyard meets with William Higgs and Charles Spurgeon Photo Source: http://www.baptist.org.uk

Anne Hillyard was a kind and generous woman. She lived during the Victorian era in England and loved many needy children of the time. She was the widow of an Anglican clergyman and when her husband died she was already self-sufficient and looking for some good way to invest funds that she possessed. It seems that “Mrs. Hillyard had asked a friend to recommend some totally reliable public figure to whom she could entrust her considerable fortune to be used for orphans. The man, though not a particular admirer of the prominent Baptist preacher, nonetheless immediately replied, “Spurgeon.”1 He was, of course, referring to Charles Haddon Spurgeon whose “remarkable ministry in London would last 38 years.”2

Anne Hillyard was “An ‘ordinary’ woman (with) an extraordinary legacy.” One article calls her “a woman the world knows little about, but who became a catalyst of change for thousands of lives.”3 “Born as Anne Field, in Warwickshire, she waited until she was 38 to marry. Her husband, Reverend John William Hillyard, was the Curate of an Anglican Church at Ingestre in Staffordshire. He died just one year after their 1841 marriage.”4

“In 1855, (a decade before Anne met Spurgeon) Charles travelled to meet George Müller, the founder of a famous orphanage in Bristol. At the conclusion of a worship service, Müller invited Spurgeon to say a few words, but he declined because he had ‘been crying all the while.’

“I never heard such a sermon in my life as I saw there.” —Spurgeon (after visiting Mueller’s orphanage)5,6

More than a decade later, this experience would help bring Anne and Charles together to provide a place where young orphans could learn and grow.

It was a “widely held misconception” that Anne received a large sum of money from her husband’s estate. In fact, she had an inheritance from an uncle before she got married.7 In 1866, Charles Spurgeon challenged his large congregation stating that we “should be doing more the Lord in this Great city.”8 Soon afterward, Anne sent a letter to Spurgeon expressing her desire to use her money to “establish… an orphanage for the training and educating of orphan boys.”9

When Spurgeon and one of his deacons, William Higgs, “called at her modest home they feared that there had been some mistake.”10 The home she lived in did not appear like the residence of someone who had large amounts of money to give to others. After the meeting, “Anne joined Spurgeon and a group of friends to establish the Stockwell Orphanage. Before its construction, she sold some of her household belongings, even the family silverware, to provide sanctuary to the first four orphan boys.”11

A month later two and a half acres of land was purchased not far from Spurgeon’s church. On September 9, 1867 the first stones of some of the buildings were laid by Charles, Anne, and two others.12 Four thousand were in attendance that day.13 “At the opening ceremony of the Orphanage, Spurgeon said of Anne: “When Mrs. Hillyard’s munificent contribution was first announced in the newspapers, people said it had been given by a duchess, but I say no, it is given by a princess—one of the blood imperial—a daughter of the King of kings. She has given it in the most unostentatious manner, desiring that her name should not be known, and I and my friends have dragged her into the light today contract to her wishes.”14

“Eventually a row of several individual homes, all connected as one continuous building, were erected. Each two-story home housed fourteen orphans and was sponsored by various donors. A dining hall, infirmary, large gymnasium and even a swimming pool were constructed as part of the expansive complex. Eventually a corresponding row of homes were built for orphan girls. The area between the two sets of orphan houses was a grass-covered playing field, edged with flowers and shrubs. 250 boys and 250 girls at a time were housed and received a well-rounded education at the orphan complex.”15,16

“Mrs. Hillyard lived for some years to rejoice in the good work which she had so successfully initiated, and her last words as she died on January 13, 1880, were, “My boys! My boys!”17,18

Charles Spurgeon died in 1892.

Long after Anne and Charles went to be with the Lord the work they started continued:

“When the Second World War had been announced in 1939 the children living at Stockwell orphanage had to be evacuated. The majority of the children were moved to St. David’s in Reigate, Surrey, where the children occupied themselves by looking after the animals there.

“In 1951 the home in Birchington, Kent, was opened and became the new children’s home for Spurgeons. By 1953 all of the children were relocated here. It remained open until 1979, when children were sent to smaller homes or foster families.”19

The ministry still exists and is now called Spurgeons Children’s Charity.20

Anne’s deep devotion to God and His kingdom helped many orphans to receive a good education and to learn about the truths of God and the love of Jesus.

Picture of Stockwell Orphanage
Picture of the entrance to the Stockwell Orphanage (Scroll down)
STOCKWELL ORPHANAGE: QUADRANGLE AND BUILDINGS
Pictures of Stockwell including the swimming pool

——————————

This post was inspired by Pastor Jim Lee (also known as SlimJim) of The Domain for Truth blog. Pastor Jim put up a post about a devotional that states how “Children need to learn the doctrine of the Cross.” Based on a sermon, it is written by Charles Spurgeon in a style that I enjoy. I have yet to find a preacher who can use the English language as well. You can see Pastor Jim’s post HERE and you can get a free copy of the Spurgeon booklet HERE.

I made a comment on his blog and he suggested that my comment was a draft for a post. So, I elaborated a bit on the comment and here is a post relating to my comment.

Chris Reimers

——————————

1 https://vancechristie.com/2018/09/20/a-god-directed-orphan-ministry-charles-spurgeon/
2 https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/blog-entries/who-is-charles-haddon-spurgeon/
3 https://www.baptist.org.uk/Articles/543181/An_ordinary_woman.aspx
4 Ibid.
5 https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/blog-entries/spurgeons-orphanage-how-one-woman-changed-the-world/
6 https://spurgeons.org/the-ordinary-christian-woman-who-left-an-extraordinary-legacy-of-love/
7 https://www.baptist.org.uk/Articles/543181/An_ordinary_woman.aspx
8 https://theaquilareport.com/a-god-directed-orphan-ministry-charles-spurgeon/
9 Ibid.
10 http://www.romans45.org/spurgeon/misc/bio12.htm
11 https://www.baptist.org.uk/Articles/543181/An_ordinary_woman.aspx
12 http://www.childrenshomes.org.uk/Spurgeon/
13 https://books.google.com/books?id=VuczOWOn64wC&pg=PA57&lpg=PA57&dq=On+September+9,+1867+the+first+stones+of+some+of+the+buildings&source=bl&ots=wKYOv1Mz6t&sig=ACfU3U0ZjsjZRec4_-F1qkoJJ8NNZQ5ZUQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi398mlju_2AhWXG80KHRw0AroQ6AF6BAg1EAM#v=onepage&q=On%20September%209%2C%201867%20the%20first%20stones%20of%20some%20of%20the%20buildings&f=false
14 https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/blog-entries/spurgeons-orphanage-how-one-woman-changed-the-world/
15 https://vancechristie.com/2018/09/20/a-god-directed-orphan-ministry-charles-spurgeon/
16 https://boroughphotos.org/lambeth/charles-haddon-spurgeon/
17 http://www.reformedreader.org/rbb/spurgeon/fullerton/bioch12.htm
18 https://spurgeons.org/the-ordinary-christian-woman-who-left-an-extraordinary-legacy-of-love/
19 https://spurgeons.org/about-us/our-heritage/
20 https://spurgeons.org/about-us/


Only One Person Was Immaculately Conceived, Born and Lived Without Sin

December 8, 2021

I think this post is very important for my Catholic friends. Elizabeth has done her research and, with her, I would ask:
“To anyone reading, I would say… if you have not already done so, please read the Bible sincerely and prayerfully, preferably starting in Matthew.”
One of my other blogging friends had parents who were Catholics and when he was cleaning out their home after they died he did not find one Bible.  I found that very sad.
When man adds things to God’s Word problems always follow.  In order to know if things have been added to the Bible, one has to be familiar with the Bible.  Reading it yourself is the only way to do that adequately.

May God bless you in your search for the truth.

Elizabeth Burke's Blog

According to Roman Catholic tradition two people were immaculately conceived: Jesus and Mary, while John the Baptist, it is widely believed, was merely born without sin. However, according to scripture, only Jesus was conceived, born and lived without sin. All other individuals ever born into this world inherited the taint of Adam’s race and consequently needed a Saviour. “And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.” (Luke1v46&47)

Really, when we consider the truth or otherwise of any dogma or doctrine declared by mankind in the “Christian” realm, we must return to God’s Word as contained in Holy Scriptures. It is not enough that we listen to a proclamation given by any man (however revered that man may be) and simply believe everything that he declares to be true.

In 1545 Rome decreed that man’s tradition was to be equal in…

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The Latest in Origin of Life Research

December 3, 2021
“Origin of Life” Source: Wellcome Collection

In recent weeks there has been a surprising number of origin of life articles pasted to social media of all types. I tend to notice such things because I am interested in how we got here. One of these articles is seen every month or two and then, BOOM, a bunch of articles can hit at the same time. Some of these articles are written as if our modern scientists are close to figuring it all out.


One of the many articles that popped up lately is entitled, “Redo of a Famous Experiment on the Origins of Life Reveals Critical Detail Missed for Decades.” This article explains nothing new about the origin of life theory. It states:

The prevailing theory now is that on a highly volatile early earth lightning struck mineral rich waters. And that the energy from lighting strikes turned those minerals into the building blocks of life: organic compounds like amino acids. Something we often refer to as the “primordial soup.”

It is the same thing I heard years ago when I was in college. The article describes the famous Miller-Urey experiment of 1952 and suggests “the experiment’s container played an underappreciated role. That perhaps it was also critical to the creation of organic building blocks inside their laboratory life soup.” The “perhaps” isn’t a surprise after reading article after article that doesn’t really seem to get us any closer to knowing the origin of life.

The article, published in the Scientific American a few days ago, is typical of these types of articles. A new and exciting discovery has been made that may perhaps change the course of science as we know it. The reality, however, is that we aren’t any closer to understanding how the primordial soup could have possibly produced a living cell.

In the past several years a scientist who knows a lot about the cell and its makeup has been attempting to educate the public about the problems associated with a simple cell originating in a primordial soup. In the following video, he makes the case that we are no closer to understanding the origin of life than we were in the 1952 experiment. Dr. Tour has made the statement that we may actually be further away from understanding the scientific origins of life because of new knowledge of the cell’s complexity among other things. This is a video that anyone interested in the subject should watch.

If anyone is interested in Dr. James Tour’s credentials, you can find them here.

Today, this was the top item on my Google phone app. It is similar to many of the articles that have been seen on major social media platforms lately.

It begins with “So here is the creation story as told by Science.” It continues with “In the beginning there was an ocean of energy.” At the end we find out that “Nearly 13.8 billion years after it all began we emerged blinking into the light.”
The video is visually striking and very creative. In the 3-minute piece there is no mention of God’s involvement in creation.

Contrast this effort with the first few verses in the Gospel of John:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”

These brief explanations are surely something to chew on.

Both descriptions bring up many questions. Where did the ocean of energy come from in the beginning? If such long ages were involved, how can we narrow the time frame to our emergence after 13.8 billion years?
Many Christian theologians identify “the Word” in the Gospel verses as Jesus Christ. Was Jesus there at the beginning with God and was He involved in creation? If the “Word was with God and the Word was God” are there two Gods?

I am no scientist and I would be considered an average theologian at best. At the same time, I enjoy both science and theology. I am always glad to see someone like Dr. Tour come along and question the status quo. Not only does he appear to know what he is talking about, he is likeable. It is unfortunate that only two scientists who disagree with Dr. Tour have been willing to have a public discussion with him even though he has offered to discuss origins with anyone at his own expense.

While I’ve been typing, I see that another interesting science article has popped up. It brings up part of the problem in many of today’s articles dealing with science and theology.

This article is titled:

World’s first living robots can now reproduce, scientists say

Anyone reading the title and neglecting to read the article might get the wrong idea. The same thing happens all of the time with articles about the study of the nature of God and religious belief (theology).

So, how do people figure out what they think about the origin of life?

I suppose it comes down to what one believes is most authoritative. In my case, I believe the Bible to be the greatest authority. I think that the Bible is “living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, even penetrating as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Because of this belief, certainty comes from verses like this:

“And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.” 1 John 5:20

I would hope and expect scientific articles to continue to be published just like I hope theological articles will never cease. Topics related to these two areas of study are important in so many ways. I am interested enough in the claims of some of these articles to read them and consider them. There are many claims made by one Man and his followers that are 2,000 years old. They are unique claims. They are claims that every human being should assess. If God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life, it should get the appropriate attention.

Here is another such article/video on the subject that popped up on my phone just hours ago. It popped up because I am subscribed to a certain YouTube channel. The introductory screen tells us that “This video was produced in collaboration with a team of 5 PhD scientists.” It has that and the comments about the video are mostly supportive. Even though this video is much more detailed than the “Redo” article, I am not knowledgeable enough of the subject to know how accurate it is. So, I do the same with it as I do with the “Redo of a Famous experiment on the origin of life…” article mentioned earlier in this post. It does not immediately become factual in my mind although I am curious enough to want to know what is being stated so that I can digest it along with other things I read and watch over time.

If you have any comments about the accuracy of this video, please share them with me. Also feel free to express your views on anything else I have written in this post.

God’s blessings…

Chris Reimers




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