By Dr. Don Bierle, FaithSearch President

The apostle Philip is known only from the Gospels. The Bible says he was from Bethsaida in Galilee, the same hometown as Andrew and Peter (John 1:44). He is listed as one of the twelve apostles in all four accounts in the Bible (Matthew 10:2-4; Mark 3:16-19; Luke 6:14-16; Acts 1:13). He is not to be confused with Philip the evangelist, identified as a deacon in Acts 6:5.

Philip may have had some difficulty comprehending the teachings and deity of Jesus. For example, before Jesus fed the 5,000, the Bible says He specifically asked Philip (as a test) how they could possibly feed all those people (John 6:5‑6). Philip’s answer suggests it had not yet occurred to him that as the Son of God, Jesus would be able to do it miraculously. Likewise, in the Upper Room on the night before Jesus’ crucifixion, Philip again revealed that he had not yet comprehended the full meaning that Jesus is the “I AM.” Jesus informed him on that occasion that to see Him (Jesus) is to see the Father (John 14:7-11). They are one “substance.”

More than Enough!

How many legs does a millipede have? Well, its name suggests 1,000, but none had been known with more than 750 legs – until now. 

A New Meaning of “Goliath”

When asked what the largest living organism is, people would likely suggest the African bush elephant (5 tons); blue whales (200 tons); or the giant sequoia tree (1,000 tons). 

Xenotransplantation

As of July, more than 100,000 people were on waiting lists for replacement organs, with 3,442 needing a new heart. Seventeen people on waiting lists die every day, for want of an organ to potentially save their lives. Is xenotransplantation – transferring animal organs to humans – the answer? Pigs are especially seen as potential donor animals because their hearts are anatomically similar to those of humans. A baboon was kept alive for two years with a pig heart. Likewise, researchers have transferred pig hearts to two brain-dead people to discover what reactions might occur. 

Bad news for cat owners

In the U.S., 45.3 million households own cats. According to the American Bird Conservancy, domesticated cats kill 2.4 billion birds each year. Furthermore, a 2016 study by the National Academy of Sciences revealed that there have been sixty-three species extinctions attributable to domesticated cats.