Devotional Biology
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Introduction & Preface4 Steps
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Chapter 1: Biology for the Believer15 Steps
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1.1 - God Desires to Be Known (25 min video)
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Read Chapter 1.1: Creation and Revelation
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Read Lab Manual: Introduction to Labs...General Safety Procedures
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1.2 - Christian Foundation of Science and Biology (28 min video)
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Read Chapter 1.2: The Origin of Modern Science
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1.3 – Christian Foundation of Science and Biology (36 min video)
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Read Chapter 1.3: What is Science?
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1.4 - Why Study Biology? (25 min video)
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Read Chapter 1.4: Why Study Biology?
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Perform Lab Exercise 1: Tuning Into Creation (3-4 hrs)
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1.5 - Our Kingly and Priestly Responsibilities (24 min video)
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Read Chapter 1.5: Biology and Our Kingship
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1.6 - Our Image and Ministry Responsibilities (17 min video)
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Read Chapter 1.6: Biology and Our Image
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Test - Chapter 1
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1.1 - God Desires to Be Known (25 min video)
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Chapter 2: The Living God: Biological Life14 Steps
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2.1 - Divine Through Animal Life (18 min video)
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Read Chapter 2.1: The Living God
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2.2 - Are Plants Alive? (17 min video)
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Read Chapter 2.2: Biblical Life
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2.3 - The Spectrum of Perfection of Life (13 min video)
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Read Chapter 2.3: The Spectrum of Perfection of Life
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2.4 - The Nature of Life (15 min video)
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Read Chapter 2.4: The Nature of Life
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Perform Lab Exercise 2: The Nature of Life (2-3 hrs)
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2.5 - Origin of Life (28 min video)
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Read Chapter 2.5: The Origin of Life
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2.6 - Our Responsibility (26 min video)
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Read Chapter 2.6: Life: Our Responsibility
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Test - Chapter 2
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2.1 - Divine Through Animal Life (18 min video)
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Chapter 3: God’s Glory: Biological Beauty6 Steps
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Chapter 4: God is Distinct: Biological Discontinuity9 Steps
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4.1 - Biblical Kind (12 min video)
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Read Chapter 4.1: The Uniqueness of God
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4.2 - Baraminology (22 min video)
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Read Chapter 4.2: Baraminology
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4.3 - The Spectrum of Discontinuity (17 min video)
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Read Chapter 4.3: Biological Discontinuity
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4.4 - Origin of Discontinuity (28 min video)
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Read Chapter 4.4: The Origin of Discontinuity
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Test - Chapter 4
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4.1 - Biblical Kind (12 min video)
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Chapter 5: God is Good: Mutualism & Biological Evil10 Steps
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5.1 – Mutualism (27 min video)
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Read Chapter 5.1: God is Good
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5.2 - Curse (21 min video)
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Read Chapter 5.2: Biological Evil
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5.3 - Biological Evil (23 min video)
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Read Chapter 5.3: Negative Effects of the Curse
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5.4 - Our Responsibility to Biological Good & Evil (26 min video)
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Read Chapter 5.4: Goodness of the Creation
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Perform Lab Exercise 4: Biological Relationships (3-4 hours)
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Test - Chapter 5
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5.1 – Mutualism (27 min video)
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Chapter 6: God is Person: Animal Behavior & Personality17 Steps
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6.1 - God is Person, Biological Uniqueness & Activity (32 min video)
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Read Chapter 6.1: God is a Person
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6.2 - Biological Activity II (32 min video)
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Read Chapter 6.2: Biological Activity Continued
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6.3 - Instinctive & Learned Behavior (34 min video)
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Read Chapter 6.3: Biological Intelligence
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6.4 - Animal Intelligence (26 min video)
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Read Chapter 6.4: Biological Intelligence Continued
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6.5 - Animal Will (27 min video)
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Read Chapter 6.5: Organismal Will
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6.6 - Animal Personality (35 min video)
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Read Chapter 6.6: Biological Emotions
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6.7 - The Origin of & Responsibility to Personhood (22 min video)
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Read Chapter 6.7: The Origin of Personality
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Test - Chapter 6
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Perform Lab Exercise 5: Surface Area/Volume Relationships (3-4 hours)
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Perform Lab Exercise 6: Diffusion & Osmosis (4-6 hours)
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6.1 - God is Person, Biological Uniqueness & Activity (32 min video)
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Chapter 7: The Provider God: The Anthropic Principle12 Steps
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7.1 - The Anthropic Principle & the Earth (25 min video)
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Read Chapter 7.1: God is Love
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7.2 - The Anthropic Principle & the Solar System (25 min video)
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Read Chapter 7.2: Solar System Structure
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7.3 - The Anthropic Principle & Atoms (29 min video)
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Read Chapter 7.3: Necessary Small-Scale AP Characteristics
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7.4 - The Anthropic Principle & Molecules (38 min video)
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Read Chapter 7.4: Compounds
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Read Chapter 7: Compounds
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7.5 - The AP: Origins and Responsibilities (24 min video)
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Read Chapter 7.5: Unnecessary AP Characteristics
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Test - Chapter 7
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7.1 - The Anthropic Principle & the Earth (25 min video)
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Chapter 8: The Sustaining God: The Biomatrix8 Steps
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8.1 - The Biomatrix (24 min video)
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Read Chapter 8.1: God is Sustainer
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8.2 - Biogeochemical Cycles (20 min video)
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Read Chapter 8.2: Biogeochemical Cycles
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Perform Lab Exercise 7: Biogeochemical Cycles (6-10 hours)
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8.3 - Kingly Responsibilities (28 min video)
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Read Chapter 8.3: Our Responsibility to the Creation
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Test - Chapter 8
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8.1 - The Biomatrix (24 min video)
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Chapter 9: God is One: Monomers, Biosimilarity, and Biosystems8 Steps
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9.1 - Common Monomers (30 min video)
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Read Chapter 9.1: One God
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9.2 - Similarities and Systems (22 min video)
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Read Chapter 9.2: Similar Structures
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9.3 - Our Responsibility to Biological Unity (17 min video)
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Read Chapter 9.3: Biological Unity: Our Responsibility
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Test - Chapter 9
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Perform Lab Exercise 8: The Microscope (6+ hours)
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9.1 - Common Monomers (30 min video)
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Chapter 10: God is Three: Biodiversity11 Steps
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10.1 - Climatic Variety (14 min video)
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Read Chapter 10: Three Persons...Diversity of Bio Comm.
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10.2 - Land Biome Variety (14 min video)
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Read Chapter 10: Land Biome Variety
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10.3 - Water Biome Variety (15 min video)
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Read Chapter 10: Water Biome Variety
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10.4 - Biodiversity (20 min video)
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Read Chapter 10: Biodiversity...Origin of Disparity
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10.5 - Responsibility to Biodiversity (17 min video)
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Read Chapter 10: Diversity: Our Responsibility
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Test - Chapter 10
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10.1 - Climatic Variety (14 min video)
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Chapter 11: God of Hierarchy: Biological Hierarchy13 Steps
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11.1 - Unified Hierarchy (11 min video)
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Read Chapter 11: Divine Hierarchy
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11.2 - Cell Theory (27 min video)
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Read Chapter 11: Hierarchy of Biological Organization...Unit of Life
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11.3 - Universal Cell Parts (26 min video)
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Read Chapter 11: Traits of all Cells
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Perform Lab Exercise 9: The Cell (4+ hours)
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11.4 - Higher Organization (15 min video)
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Read Chapter 11: Specialized Cell Traits...Why Hierarchy Exists
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11.5 - Netted Hierarchy (28 min video)
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Read Chapter 11: Netted Hierarchy...Responsibility
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Test - Chapter 11
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Perform Lab Exercise 10: Dichotomous Keys (5+ hours)
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11.1 - Unified Hierarchy (11 min video)
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Chapter 12: The Almighty God: Metabolism8 Steps
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12.1 - Types of Metabolism (10 min video)
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Read Chapter 12: Almighty God...Cellular Energy
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12.2 - Photosynthesis I (35 min video)
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Read Chapter 12: Photosynthesis
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12.3 - Photosynthesis II (25 min video)
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Read Chapter 12: Light Dependent Reactions...Responsibility
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Test - Chapter 12
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Perform Lab Exercise 11: Photosynthesis and Plant Design (8+)
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12.1 - Types of Metabolism (10 min video)
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Chapter 13: God the Word: Animal Communication & Language of Life8 Steps
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13.1 - Animal Communication (16 min video)
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Read Chapter 13: The Communicating God...Animal Communication
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13.2 - Myth of DNA & DNA Copying (23 min video)
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Read Chapter 13: The Language of Life
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Perform Lab Exercise 12: DNA Structure and Protein Translation (6-8 hours)
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13.3 - DNA as the Language of Life (32 min video)
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Read Chapter 13: DNA as the Language of Life...Responsibility
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Test - Chapter 13
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13.1 - Animal Communication (16 min video)
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Chapter 14: God’s Fullness: Reproduction, Diversification, and Biogeography10 Steps
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14.1 - Mitosis (25 min video)
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Read Chapter 14: Fullness of God...Cellular Reproduction
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14.2 - Meiosis and Non-Physical Reproduction (25 min video)
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Read Chapter 14: Meiosis...Non-Physical Reproduction
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14.3 - Diversification (28 min video)
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Read Chapter 14: “Multiply” and “Breed"
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Perform Lab Exercise 13: Mitosis and Meiosis (6-8 hours)
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14.4 - Biogeography & Responsibility (27 min video)
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Read Chapter 14: Fill...Responsibility
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Test - Chapter 14
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14.1 - Mitosis (25 min video)
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Chapter 15: The History of Life9 Steps
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15.1 - Biblical Chronology (26 min video)
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Read Chapter 15: His Story...Biblical Time
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15.2 - The Creation Week (18 min video)
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Read Chapter 15: His Story...Biblical Time
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15.3 - The Edenian and Ante-Diluvian Worlds (21 min video)
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Read Chapter 15: The Edenian Epoch
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15.4 - The Flood & Arphaxadian Epoch (26 min video)
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Read Chapter 15: Arphaxadian Epoch
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Test - Chapter 15
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15.1 - Biblical Chronology (26 min video)
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Appendix4 Steps
Read Chapter 2.1: The Living God
In the Bible, God is repeatedly described as the living God, the God who lives, He Who lives forever, and He Who lives forever and ever. God Himself claims He lives and that He lives forever. He is described as the living redeemer and the living Father. Jesus is called the bread of life, the light of life, the Prince of life, the Word of life, the living stone, the ever-living Word, life, eternal life, the One Who was dead but now lives, and the One Who was dead but now lives and lives forever. Life is clearly one of the attributes of God Himself.
In creating the physical world to illustrate His invisible attributes (Rom. 1:20), God created organisms to illustrate His attribute of life. God created plants (Gen. 1:11-12) and living ‘creatures’ (‘created’ beings) in the sea (Gen. 1:20-21), the air (Gen. 1:20-21), and the land (Gen. 1:24). Even now, all living things are in His hands (Job 12:9-10) and are held together by ‘the word of His power’ (Heb. 1:3). God created and holds together everything that biologists study (Col. 1:16-17).
Created Life
Different Types of Life
Intuitively, most people seem to have a sense that there are fundamental differences between plants and animals and further distinctions between the life of animals and the life of humans. Animal life seems to deserve more respect than plant life, and human life seems to deserve even more respect than animal life. Even aside from biblically-defined morality, there are also legal distinctions between killing a plant, killing a cheetah and killing a human. Could this be because plants and animals and humans differ in some fundamental manner?

Divine Life
Because life is part of the very nature of God, He has always lived and will always live. Life is an attribute of God. It is also important to remember that God is completely distinct from His creation and not to be confused or considered equal with it. Likewise, His attributes are distinct from similar qualities in His creation. The life of God is uncaused. It had no beginning, no cause, and no creator. The life of God is also autonomous. It is dependent upon nothing else for its continued existence. And, because God Himself is infinite, the life of God is probably infinite and unbounded in quality.
Consequently, the first great division of life is divine life on the one hand, possessed only by God, and creature life on the other hand, which is all other life. Whereas divine life is uncaused, autonomous, and infinite, creature life was created by God, is completely dependent upon God for its continued existence, and is limited in quality. This distinction is our first indication that not all life is the same, and a hint that even among creature life there might be different types of life.
The Life of Spirit Creatures
God created both physical beings and non-physical (or spiritual) beings (“…by Him were all things created… visible and invisible…”: Col. 1:16). Among the invisible things, the Bible describes spirit creatures that God created (e.g. angels, cherubim, seraphim). Among them, only the cherubim are explicitly described as living (Ezekiel 1:5-25; 3:13; 10:15-22). The other spirit creatures are nowhere explicitly described as ‘alive’ or ‘dead’ or ‘dying’.
However, the activity of these spirit creatures, as well as other similarities to what we know to be living beings, would suggest that these spirit creatures are living beings as well. Since no reference is made to the death of any of these spirit creatures (even in the lake of fire), the life of spirit creatures is probably unending. And, since these are spirit creatures—not having (or having need of) physical bodies—it is likely that they possess a different kind of life from living creatures with bodies, so it is listed here as a distinct type of creature life.
Nephesh Life
Creatures that do have physical bodies were brought into being in four different creation events in Genesis 1: plants on Day Three; sea creatures and birds on Day Five; land animals on Day Six; and humans later on Day Six. Of these, the Bible explicitly describes several of them as living—and dying. Animals of the sea are described as living and dying. Animals of the air, such as birds and bats are described as living and dying. Animals of the land are described as living and dying. Among the animals of the land, even creeping things, like insects, amphibians, and rodents are described as living and dying. Humans are described in various places as alive, dead, or dying, even those newly born (II Sam. 12:18-23; I Kings 3:18-27) and those in the womb (Ex. 21:22-25).
More specifically each category of beings is described in the Hebrew as nephesh hayim (translated as ‘living creature’ for water creatures and birds in Gen. 1:20-21, ‘living creature’ for land animals in Gen. 1:24-25, and ‘living soul’ for humans in Gen. 2:7). Thus, according to Scripture, humans and animals possess what might be described as nephesh life (or soul life). Nephesh life would then be a type of creature life found in creatures that by nature have both bodies and souls.
It is also likely that there is a different life possessed by humans and animals, for the Bible treats them as very different types of organisms. Some of the differences include: animals and humans were created in separate creation events; humans were formed directly by God, rather than by divine command (compare Gen. 2:7 with Gen. 1:20 and 24); God breathed life into humans directly (Gen. 2:7b); humans, and only humans, are the image of God; humans were made rulers over the animals; and the human soul continues forever, whereas the soul of animals apparently dies at the death of the animal’s body (Eccl. 3:21). So, it is likely that there are at least two very different types of nephesh life: human life and animal life.