Articles of Interest (Compiled by Van Baker) - 2026.07.16
Below are this week's Articles of Interest as compiled by Mr. Van Baker. This collection of articles is cultivated by Mr. Baker with the goal of highlighting some of the trends, upheavals, and things to watch for in our society. These articles are not necessarily the express views of the United Church of God, Mr. Baker, or me as the pastor, but they are informative of what is occurring in our nation and culture. In accordance with Christ's warning to correctly discern the times (Matthew 16:1-4), it is wise to be aware of what is going on around us.
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How a small-town Arkansas man got God on America's money - Matthew Rothert Sr., a Presbyterian furniture manufacturer and avid coin collector born in 1904, was at church in Chicago on June 21, 1953, when he believed the Holy Spirit impressed upon him the idea that "In God We Trust" should feature on American banknotes as it did on coins, according to his daughter, Alice Rothert Nelson.
Is AI making us dumber? - Researchers called this the “Google effect.” They found people recalled where to find specific information better than they remembered the information itself when they knew they could easily find it again. “We are becoming symbiotic with our computer tools, growing into interconnected systems that remember less by knowing information than by knowing where the information can be found,” the researchers wrote in 2011.
You don’t need to Google any of this to know why it sounds so familiar. Early research into how generative AI affects our brains has resurfaced the same talking points: overreliance on AI will weaken mental persistence, flatten creativity, atrophy our critical thinking skills, and degrade our relationships.
AI could pose a bigger risk to our brains than past innovations because “the tool is completely different in nature,” says Nataliya Kosmyna, a researcher at MIT.
https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-making-us-dumber-research-2026-7
You thought your Bible version doesn't matter? Think again. - Two recent news stories [in the Washington Post and NY Times] point to the crisis of biblical literacy, not only of knowing the biblical text but in properly understanding it.
Another New York Times story profiled the pastor and the church of Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico. According to the article, Pastor Jim Rigby of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas, welcomes new members by: … handing them a new copy of the Inclusive Bible, an unusual feminist translation St. Andrew’s has used since the 1990s. In Genesis, instead of saying that God created a man, Adam, the translation first refers to an “earth creature.” It often uses the term “kindom” of God in place of “kingdom,” which it deems classist.
The Inclusive Bible is promoted as “the first egalitarian translation.” In addition to replacing the male pronouns for God and humankind, it purports to “re-imagin(e) ... the [S]criptures and our relationship to them.” The innovative version promotes progressive Christianity and includes a strong postmodern emphasis, rejecting absolute “truth” in favor of a newly created narrative.
Those who only read the Inclusive Bible will not really know the truth of Scripture, any more than those who never read any version.
https://www.christianpost.com/voices/you-thought-your-bible-version-doesnt-matter-think-again.html
Digging for America’s Jewish Roots - [new book] I should not have worried. The contents of Jewish Roots do not claim that Jews “invented” America or were even major players in public affairs until fairly recently. Instead, they focus on the pervasive influence of language, stories, texts, and imagery drawn from the Hebrew Bible (or, as Christians saw it, the Old Testament). This influence was particularly intense in the colonial and revolutionary periods, when narratives of exodus, tyranny, and redemption helped settlers and patriots understand and justify their struggles. But it continued into the 20th century, when the Bible remained a widely shared inspiration for aesthetic as well as political culture.
These observations might not have been necessary under better educational conditions. Within living memory, Americans were much more familiar with the Bible and comfortable with its use as a repository of language, moral teaching, and historical information, as well as a source of religious authority.
https://www.acton.org/religion-liberty/volume-36-number-3/digging-americas-jewish-roots
Leo XIV openly rejects the reign of Christ the King over states and nations - Pope Leo XIV's encyclical Magnifica Humanitas says civil society possesses 'autonomy' from religion and that the state has 'full autonomy' from the Catholic Church.
Humans Have a 'Sixth Sense' – And It Appears to Be Key For Mental Health - We all know that humans have five senses. But a growing body of research shows we have a sixth one that almost nobody talks about – and it may be just as important for our wellbeing as any of the others.
It's called interoception: the body's ability to sense and interpret its own internal signals.
This sense detects things that seem 'invisible' but are happening constantly: your heart rate, your breathing, your hunger, the temperature running through your body.
5 New Things Scientists Have Learned About Vitamin D In 2026 - Vitamin D plays a role in hundreds of processes throughout the body. And scientists are continuing to connect the dots between adequate vitamin D levels and [insert any health concern here].
We're just halfway through 2026, and several new studies have expanded our understanding of what vitamin D may (and may not) do. From cognitive health to cancer, here are five of the most interesting findings published so far this year.
1. Vitamin D deficiency, hearing loss & depression
NFL players are four times more likely than the general population to die of neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia and Parkinson's - Researchers studied 19,824 athletes who played in the NFL between 1960 and 2019, including the 1,994 who have died, calling it the "biggest retrospective cohort study to date." They found the rate of neurodegenerative death was "more significant" for younger players: those who died before age 60 had 12-fold higher rates of neurodegenerative death than the general population, according to the study.
