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Is this book notable or noxious? Read my review and get the inside dope

Earth's Earliest Ages

And Their Connection with Modern Spiritualism and Theosophy
Author(s)
G. H. Pember
Edition / Year
12th Edition, 1893(?)
In the section labelled

(Please note that this article contains mockery of sincerely held Christian beliefs, albeit of the flakier variety. If that sort of thing offends you, kindly shove off).

It is interesting to observe how some misguided souls manage to build vast towers of supposition on the shakiest foundations by the power of faith alone. In his book Mr. Pember presented a vision of the world which may sound like fantastic fiction to the sceptic, but which he believed was a literal interpretation of the words of the Bible: the type of interpretation in which any assertion, however mad, however unsupported by evidence, can be 'true' if some Biblical passage can be read as confirming it.

His aim in writing the book was to communicate his views on the connections between the ancient history of the world and the then popular fads of Theosophy and Spiritualism, which he saw as demonically-inspired and liable to bring about the end of mankind. There seemed to him clear parallels between contemporary events and biblical stories such as the Fall of Adam and Eve and the great Flood.

Pember's application of the term 'literal' did not exclude the wildest interpolations between the lines where he felt like it. For example, take the first two verses of Genesis:-

  1. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
  2. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

According to Pember (following the Scottish theologian Thomas Chalmers), there is no indication of the length of time that had passed between the two verses, and so there is no contradiction between the Bible and geological observation: the vast ages of time indicated by study of rocks occurred in the gap. What is more, Pember was inclined to believe that during this time there were in existence numberless 'preadamite' races of man who were each in turn wiped out by God when they proved unable to resist the lure of sin.

In this time, too, Satan got up his rebellion against God and was duly chucked out of heaven (though how he hoped to succeed in overcoming his omnipotent adversary is never explained), to find a new home with his accomplices in the air around us:-

For the whole aerial surroundings of our planet are densely peopled with a hostile race of beings unutterably superior in wisdom and power to ourselves; having had during a vast number of years every conceivable experience of the weak points of humanity ; possessing the incalculable advantage of being themselves invisible, though as spiritual intelligences they are probably able, not merely to judge of us by our words and outward expression of countenance but even to read the innermost thoughts of our heart; co-operating with the most perfect and never-failing organization; and lastly, directed by a leader of consummate wisdom and skill, who is assisted by powerful princes, and finds his subjects so numerous, that, if we are to lay any stress on the word “legion” in the memorable narrative of Luke, he is able to spare some six thousand of them to guard one miserable captive.

(Scary, eh? Satan - the ultimate super-villain).

Pember's version of the Adam and Eve story is a little odd, too. I am not entirely sure what to make of the following passage:-

Yet another and crowning joy was in store for Adam. His benign Creator, knowing that it was not good for him to be alone, determined to bestow upon him a companion and partner of his joy. But first he brought to him the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, to see what he would call them: that is, to see if he should claim any of them as bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh. Adam gave names to all, but to none that of woman; a result which had, of course, been anticipated by God. Indeed it seems not improbable that He made the trial to stimulate in His creature a desire which He intended to gratify.

Is there not a hint of bestiality here?

Adam and Eve were tempted by a snakeskin-clad Satan, and ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge. Grumpy old God, who could anticipate that Adam would not fancy snuggling up to even the cutest of camels, but somehow failed to spot Old Nick setting up his greengrocer's cart, slung them out of the garden, and in a fit of temper cursed the Earth. Pember cites a nutty Professor Balfour, who believed that the existence of thorns and thistles were 'evidence' of His curse on the vegetable kingdom.

Having dealt with the early chapters of the Bible, Pember turned to the various modern manifestations of sin that would bring down the wrath of God as in the days of Adam. In so doing, he showed that his literalism in the reading of texts was not limited to the Bible but extended as much to the extravagant claims of his foes in the Theosophical movement, such as that mediums, by the aid of demons, are able “to hold intercourse with supernatural beings, to reveal secrets, and in some degree to foretell; can travel in a moment to any part of the world ...”. Furthermore, demonic possession is a commonplace, “a large proportion of the patients in our lunatic asylums” being such cases, and “direct communication with demons ... is now becoming prevalent”. And, proving the advanced nature of North American society even 100 years ago, “the ceremonious marriage of a woman to a demon is a thing not unknown in the United States: whether it has ever happened in England we cannot say”.

Another great evil in the world was Buddhism, which according to Pember had many more adherents than previously suspected: for, “recent investigations have made it probable that Buddha was once the god of Northern Europe, and that his name is philologically identical with that of Woden...”. Not only that, but some fifth century Chinese Buddhists “apparently” reached North America and made converts there. Most astonishingly (except to the most paranoid of protestant fundamentalists), “there can be little doubt that the Buddhist tope is the original of the Roman Church...”.

Like many before and after, Pember believed that the End Was Nigh, though sensibly he refrained from suggesting exactly how Nigh It Was, preferring darkly hinting rhetorical questions: “if the great apostasy, which will at last evolve the Lawless One, be even now spreading; who can be sure of a day or an hour? ... Are we not living through solemn times: is the air not full of warnings: does it not behove every believer to arise, gird up his loins, and trim his lamp?”. How disappointing it must have been to those of Pember's readers who responded to his call and spent the remainder of their days in loin-girding and lamp-trimming, rather than on something they might have enjoyed more, to go to their death beds without having witnessed the second coming nor having the satisfaction of seeing their sinful neighbours judged and sent down into the black and fiery mouth of Hell.

Amusing as this may be, wouldn't it be much more so if no-one nowadays believed this kind of tripe? Sadly the number of misguided loons does not appear to have diminished much over the century since it was published: indeed you can still buy this book, you poor saps.

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Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on 13 Nov 2010 - 18:52 Permalink

well I don't know whether I can agree with what you say, because God is the Creator, and He is not mocked, regardless of what anyone says about Him. God is not an unforgiving God, and He defineately has the ability to wink at spiritual ignorance. But it is also a very silly thing to directly challenge God, or be contemptious toward Him. John Lennon, of the Beatles did that, and out the window went any grace towards him that every man has, resulting in Satan making a target of him. you simply cannot win. Secondly, there is no dis-order in the universe, you have to realise that there was a time when no substance or matter existed, in any form what so ever. The Charracteristics that were in God, could not be expressed, if no substance was spoken into existence, and He, existed alone. You and I were an attribute in His great thinking, this required an Earth where He could bring His charracteristics into maifestation. This has nothing to do with Athiesm. Whether you support athiesm or not, doesn't make any difference, any one who doesn't believe in a Creator, needs to go outside on a dark night and look up into the univers, something that had a beggining could not have produced itself. Thirdly,Scientific intellegence was never God's original intension, when He produced Man from the dust of the Earth. God placed them here on Earth to live in a timeless innocent existence, " they knew not, that they were naked" untill the Serpent deceived the woman via Satans inspiration, Lucifer was cast down to earth where he found that Serpent, and it was via this Highest form in the creation that Satan accomplished a scientific Eden of his own, in opposition to God. Scientific intelegence became "Joint Heir" with the hybridization of Adams race. and that is why there are grave yards just down the road from you, "incase you haven't noticed." Just look at the technology of the world today. it never was the will of God, One can only marvell at Satans succes. I will leave it to your imagination what his end is going to be, in terms of God allowing Einstein and them how to split the Atom, and it won't be the first time that God's creation on Planet Earth has completely anialated itself. Fact is fact, and reality is reality, you are getting older, and you are going to die. being an atheist, or supporting atheism, is the most futile thing imaginable.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on 24 Oct 2010 - 04:06 Permalink

your observation about (,.... ) is correct. I am a British immigrant. I don't profess to be too wise, but I don't believe there can be any fault in the Bible. It's a spiritual book, and I believe God reveales it to whoever he will. That conflict between God and Satan, is a battle that is now taking place in the mind of man. Faith against reason, or belief against disbelief, the one that gets the upper hand is the one you feed the most. Everything that exists was braught into existence By allmighty God, whether it be natural or spiritual. God had to have a reason, don't you think? there can't be any doubt that Satan was created by God. or how did he get here? Satan is not in a direct conflict with God in a military sense, his conflict with God is deception towards Gods creation. he knows his end is comming and he is going around like a wounded Lion seeking whom he may devour. in other-words he is going to take, by deception, as many souls as he can down with him. and he has had a marvelous success. perhaps you have a better explanation as to why he exists, but the way I have explained it, is the only way that I understand it.
Submitted by pseudonym (not verified) on 24 Oct 2010 - 17:20 Permalink

If I understand this right and I do because like god I am infallible (dont ask me why ask god he created me this way) God is an asshole who believes in nothing, has no morals and imposes chaos and disorder on the universe while Satan is fighting for reason, intelligence and taking away gods power through un-belief in order to stop the corruption. Satan is like Batman and god is gotham God created satan and the angels to keep the humans in line but he saw god breaking those same laws and he felt cheated and deceived and even though it's hopeless he fights for the sake of principle or to put it another way you make an excellent argument for atheism
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on 23 Oct 2010 - 23:53 Permalink

Sir I understand what you are saying, and it is a very interesting subject, but it must have a logical answer from a humanistic point. As you say, satan is far more intellegent than any human, and he knows he cannot defeat God. but remember, he has "replaced" God through deception,..but he can never be litterally Jehovah. I hope you see what I am saying. It has to be considered in terms of Satan being a reality. he does exist, and he was created by God,..in other-words he had a beggining and will have an end. but God never did have a beggining. Our human make-up, which includes the various senses of our bodies, is the thing that connects us to the reality of life, on a round ball, in the middle of nowhere,...it's a boggling thaught, but it's a fact. Any person in his right mind has to aknowledge that we are here, and our existense here is not just a dream. But the question is, why are we here? and how did we get here? and why do we get old and die? ... there is no death in God. if you think about it, if there was no such thing as Satan, questiones like this would not exist. Humans have a spiritual identity, that is bound by a physical form or format, in which the one cannot exist without the other. It is this physical form that is begotten via the sperm and the egg, according to God's law of reproduction. but your existence in this particular form, has a beggining, and an end. But if you were an eternal thought in God, way back before the foundation of our universe, then "you" never did have a beginning, and can never have an end. God expressed us into a physical form here on earth to be tried and tested. It is only in this physical form that a person can feel pain, sorrow and anguish etc. God allowed man to fall, and God had to have an opposition. This being in order to express The great attributes or charracteristics that were in Him. It's not that God created evil,.....God created lucifer on a free moral agent basis, but God must have known according to His foreknowledge, that lucifer would become His enemy. He could not be an omnicient God if He did not know that. The great battle that took place between God and Lucifer,..took place in a supernatural dimension. this whole event which probably went on for billions of years is something far to complicated for us insignificant humans to understand. But one thing we do know, is that Satan was ultimately cast down to Earth, where he began his diabolical quest to design an intelectual and scientific age, and age of disbeief in God.....this is exactly how he has been apposing his enemy, God. God's intension for His orriginal creation was an innocent "timeless" existence , which had no such thing as death. But at the same time, we have to aknowledge, that God allowed it to happen for His own devine purpose, and this is what a lot of people don't understand. When God braught the animal kingdom into existence, starting with the lowest form, to the highest form, He knew..., as an omnicient God, that Satan would find that creation,...(the Highest form) Satan knew that his seed would mix with Eve,........This is where 99% of Ministers around the world start getting exposed.....(I hope you are reading between the lines, Sir) It's not the adultry that God could not forgive,.....It's the defiling of the orriginal blood line ,that God could not forgive, outside of a "Blood atonement" The blood line was defiled, which braught about the death process, so God required the "Blood" of an innocent animal as an atonement. God created lucifer to serve His own purpose, in terms of the circumstances that would come upon the human race, as a result of Satans deception, combined with the free will of Adams fallen race. God required innocent blood as a temporary atonement, untill He Himself became a permanent atonement to His fallen race, by taking on the form of flesh via a created sperm and egg, and was born from a virgin woman and not via a sex act. I hope you see it Sir.
Submitted by Lord Kefka (not verified) on 24 Oct 2010 - 02:28 Permalink

I'm afraid I still don't see it. I still don't think you have addressed the question of why Satan (or anyone else) would fight a war he knows he is sure to loose. Think of decision theory, for instance, which states that it is irrational for a being to make a choice which it knows to not be optimal for its own wellbeing. Since we agree that Satan is not irrational than he can't possibly make choices that obviously lead to his destruction. Your responses are quite fun to read sir. Most kind of you to take your time to write. Perhaps I am just missing something in your words and will understand someday far in the future when I am older and wiser.
Submitted by Lord Kefka (not verified) on 23 Oct 2010 - 12:28 Permalink

So your saying that God created Evil and Satan so he could have something to save, comfort, create, and heal? I doubt many theologians would agree that god created evil because such a theory clashes with the idea that god is all good or omnibenevolent. In any case you seem to have missed my point. I'll try to summarize it in a few easy steps: (1) If Satan knows that god will defeat him he will not oppose god. (2) Satan knows as much as you do and quite alot more. Furthermore he is almost certainly more intelligent than you or any other human. (3) Therefore his opposition to god must be because he actually has quite a good chance of defeating god. (4) Therefore all that business of "And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not" is simply propaganda and not actually certain to happen or predestined at all. (5) Therefore its just as reasonable to support hell as to support heaven. Possibly more reasonable because hell doesn't constantly brag that its going to win ad nausium. Indeed, if I had to pick between two teams, one telling me constantly its certain to win and the other not saying anything I would probably pick the smugly silent. Really its just like expecting Satan to pick both boxes in Newcomb's paradox, except if he picks both boxes he doesn't just loose money, the Predictor stabs him repeatedly. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newcomb's_paradox
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on 23 Oct 2010 - 08:43 Permalink

You are absolutely right sir, The reason why most Bible believers never seem to discuss how Satan could ever hope to succeed in overcomming his omnipotent adversary, Namely ( Jehovah Elohim)... or the Sovereign singular identity, self existing intrinsic Being, that encompasses all fathomless eterntity. ....is because Satan has never been ignorant enough to believe it in the first place. Satan, who was a creation of God, and was equal to God, except he could not create,.. but instead ultimately, ended up being cast down to earth. where he began to pervert what God had already created. Ofcourse we all understand, that the realm or diamention that this all took place, is far beyond any humans understanding. It is important to understand, that in this Great self existing Being, were many different attributes, or perhaps better described as charracteristics. like A Saviour, A Healer, A Comforter, a Creator, etc. all these different attributes of God required a manifestation. In other-words He could not be a Saviour, if there was nothing to be saved. He could not be a Healer, if there was no sickness, He could not be a Comforter, if no comforting was required, He could not be a Creator if there was no creation. All that exists in the present reality as we as humans know it,...was for the purpose of God to express the Charracteristics of Himself,..or the charracteristics that were in Him. These Characteristic requiring a form or a format, or a set of surcumstanses, whereby the same singular identity, All Mighty God, would actively appear in the ordering of events, under His own Divine Authority, to Redeem His Elect from Adams Fallen Race, thereby taking Himself a Bride, that was formally trapped by representation ,with no way out, and no hope, but for that particular attribute. The Saving Grace, of All Mighty God. God had to create the devil (satan), otherwise no opposition was available, this opposition being in terms of satan's influence on the"free will" God had Given His orriginal creation in Eden. God created the "Serpent" the very instrument that satan used.....so it can therefore be said that God allowed man to fall, by his own free will, and that is why God was duty bound to redeem him, according to the "Grace Attribute" that was in Him as the Sovereign God. He, Himself, ultimately took on the form of flesh, and died as a Human ...a kinsman, and thereby expressing that saviour attribute that was in Him. Satan knows that he can never defeat God. in fact he trembles at the very thought of God, and the thought of his ultimate end. The only thing he does, is pervert what god has created. this also being in terms of him doing his best through religeous deception, and the five senses of the body to drag as many souls as he can with him. That is why it is written,.... all who's name is not written in the lambs Book of Life. before the foundation of the earth, will be deceived by Him and his diabolical religeous organization. Satan can never defeat God ,..and he knows it.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on 20 Jan 2010 - 06:46 Permalink

No real argument intended, we can all be wrong in things in life, and I doubt that you are my opponent. You probably don't have to go to a mental institution to see Satan, all you need to do is go to your nearest Night Club, and believe me, you will see him in action for yourself,....just stand there and watch the guys look upon the woman and eachother in lust just the same as the Serpent looked upon Eve. After all he has to look after his own Eden that he has aquired for himself via his "diabolical' biological understanding of the principals of life. it has taken him six thousand years to aquire this in opposition to God. physical beauty breeding with physical beautiful, in Satan's own sexual Eden. no wonder God is going to destroy it again. Don't tell me he does not exist, because I know better than that,........Please don't send him my regards when you are there ,..because he don't like "me"
Submitted by Lord Kefka (not verified) on 21 Oct 2010 - 14:03 Permalink

"In this time, too, Satan got up his rebellion against God and was duly chucked out of heaven (though how he hoped to succeed in overcoming his omnipotent adversary is never explained), to find a new home with his accomplices in the air around us:-" Alfred makes an interesting observation: One thing that Christians never seem to discuss and that I find truly fascinating is the question of why Satan, a creature far older wiser than any human would war against God, a fight which anyone capable of the slightest reason would say he is bound to loose. Nobody starts a war they are certain to loose. If they ever put out a study asking people "Would you rebel against an omniscient, omnipotent being?" I have to imagine the results would overwhelmingly be in the "no". "Paradise Lost" attempts to deal with this but, I think, does a poor job. Also the problem is dealt with in the excellent book "Good Omans" by T. Pratchett and N. Gaiman in which the side of heaven is portrayed as not at all certain to win to apocalypse. If I were inclined to believe in the bible I would take this extraordinary discrepancy quite seriously, probably become suspicious as to why it is not mentioned and windup a gnostic student of the lost gospel of Basilides. I would love to know of any books that attempt to deal with this subject.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on 19 Jan 2010 - 06:35 Permalink

Well, ( to Just another Christian) It's very interesting what you say, and it is no doubt an enormous and very contraversial subject. there is a very big difference between us humans and an animal, as I mentioned previously about the fall of man in the beggining via "The Serpent" one has to consider where this Serpent came from in the first place. There was a great evolution, but God's great evolution could not have been a random developement of life that was free to go in any uncontrolled direction,....Evolution went along the predestination and foreknowledge of God, where every seed will bring forth of it's "kind" who's life is within itself, ( and God saw that it was Good) animals evolved via an adaptational process dictated by the climatic changes and circumstances on Earth. This being perhaps braught about by the continental plates drifting together and drifting apart and changing the climate. There is no possibility of one specie changing into another specie via a process of time. Now here is the great mystery, in terms of the theory of us humans evolving from some animal that once swung from tree to tree somewhere. God does not indwell an animal, humans were created in the image of God, the spiritual part of us. but somewhere along the line that orriginal creation was interfered with, and there is animal in us now, as well as the fact that we are now subject to death. .....so what happened? the animalistic brutality, and the sexual depravity that is in man, did not come from God. and could only have come via that link that Man has been searching for. The Serpent. hence this great scientific and technological age that we now live in, which was joint heirs with consequent hybridization of the human race. There are two natures in the human race now, and it was not so in the beginning. It's also very clear in the book of genesis, that there was pre Adamic civilizations on Earth , and Gods enemy was involved there too. The Nasca lines are also a very clear indication of very advanced civilizations that were here ....perhaps a million years ago, or who knows. Eric Von Daniken saw it very clearly in his book "chariets of the Gods", though I dissagree with him that people from another planet came here. it lookes very much like the remaines or the foundations of ancient landing strips superimposed one on top of the other, ..some have been pushed up by mantle and crust activity in the earth. there is very little techtonic activity there and very dry, which is probably why they can still be seen. I don't know why "Alfred Armstrong" say's that the Bible contradicts itself, I have been around for the best part of fifty years and I still can't find a contradiction in it. There cannot be the slightest fault or contradiction in the Word of God, if there is, Satan would have found it a long time back already, and he would have a right to Eternal Life, and God would be obligated to give it to him, as well as the fact that God would have to aknowledge defeat by His enemy Satan, and we know that is not going to happen. So Alfred Armstrong, you are wrong. and I am right.
Submitted by Alfred Armstrong on 19 Jan 2010 - 14:50 Permalink

Best source I've found for blblical contradictions: http://www.ffrf.org/legacy/books/lfif/?t=contra

"There cannot be the slightest fault or contradiction in the Word of God, if there is, Satan would have found it a long time back already, and
he would have a right to Eternal Life, and God would be obligated to give it to him,
as well as the fact that God would have to aknowledge defeat by His enemy Satan,
and we know that is not going to happen. So Alfred Armstrong, you are wrong.
and I am right."

On the other hand there may be no such being as Satan (and biblical authority for his existence is pretty rocky: http://eu.dummies.com/WileyCDA/how-to/content/sizing-up-satan-in-the-bible.html).

Saying your opponent is wrong because they disagree with you isn't an argument, by the way. If you are going to argue with someone, you have to start from common ground. If I don't believe in the truth of the Bible, then you need to find evidence of its veracity to convince me, not simply tell me I'm wrong. Anyone can play that game and it doesn't get us anywhere.

Submitted by just another C… (not verified) on 15 Jan 2010 - 07:59 Permalink

In 1847, the Dragon raised his skeletal dead-head from the grave in our sight, and proclaimed throughout the world that none of our histories were correct, and that all human religion was made of the same superstitious substance; all of it being denounced and discredited by the pictures of dinosaurs in a British newspaper in 1847. Within a few years, Charles Darwin jumped on the popular and constantly applauded promiscuous bandwagon to be the star of the show by explaining it all so that humanity was nothing more than a nearly hairless, very clever monkey: descended from an amoeba like creature that just 'appeared' in a slime ocean: an amoeba like thing that became a fish like thing; that became a lizard like thing: that became a gopher like thing, that became you. INDEED, most of mankind (even in the so-self-claimed 'civilized' masses) does live by the social code of the ape tribe to this very day; so that behavioral as well as physiological evidence can be cited to support Darwin's thesis (see Nietzsche's "Genealogy Of Morals"). But no other animal anywhere in the world has ever circumcised itself. Circumcision ALONE proves that there is a fundamental and essential difference between humanity and the animal kingdom. I do not know if The Gap Theory as we now have it completely explains the Nazca Lines or Easter Island as well as the dinosaurs, but it is the only explanation that I presently know of that leaves humanity with any dignity or hope. I will NOT willingly participate (COMPETE) in the society of the apes, and I will affirm monogamy as a sign of human connection to Divinity. Nietzsche's "Superman" was only the 800 pound gorilla, who could bully it's way to the biggest harem, the best seat in the clearing and the first choice of available food. Fallen (sinful) humanity is bestial, but this does not come of bestiality, but of sin. Jesus Christ IS God, and you're not.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on 17 Aug 2009 - 06:47 Permalink

GH Pember was a great man with an amazing insight, but he could only bring to our attention what God purposed him for. He tried to tackle the mystery of the Fall of Man in the garden of Eden...but that revelation was only given 100 years or so later, as I mentioned previously Satan was not a "Snake" coiled arount a tree. Satan is a Spirit who is in opposition to God and the serpent was not a snake but a upright person,...the Curse that God put on him changed his orriginal form. over a long period of time perhaps You are right about Adam being the first human here, but that would be in the present "life cycle" of creation on this Planet. We as humans look back to our orrigins and the mind boggling complexity of life, and we do not realise that God has had many "life Cycles" of creation here. there were billions of years between Gen1:1 and Gen1:2 there will be civilizations again on Earth in the future too,after we have all gone here This fact is also mentioned in the book of Ecclesiastes Chapter1 verse 3 to verse 11 God Bless you
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on 09 Aug 2009 - 13:51 Permalink

The thought of a Preadamic civilization came to me several days ago. I then searched the scripture and the inspired sermons by God's servant. After comparing the Scriptures, the sermons and consider their harmony, I am convince that there was "life" before Adam. Make no mistake that I did not say Mankind "life". Mankind started with Adam the son of God and no one else. From last week, I was set free from my "set mind" that the Sun and the moon are only 10,000 years at most. Now I understand the Bible and know that it harmonises with common sense and scientific findings. God bless you.