William Jennings Bryan and the age of the Earth

This is part of my series on theologically conservative Christians who advocate some form of old-Earth creationism, which is the idea that there is no Biblical reason to question that the  Earth is billions of years old. Most of those I am highlighting in this series would hold to some sort of Biblical inerrancy. In …

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Internet Monk: a comment from an evangelical vertebrate paleontologist

My previous post was about pastors responding to a question about evolution. One of the readers' comments was from a Christian paleontologist. Here's the comment (emphasis added by me): You guys rule — it was a joy to read through these answers from such different Christian traditions and find such humility and realism regarding a …

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Internet Monk: “That Evolution Question”

The Internet Monk by Michael Spencer is one of the few blogs I read almost every day. Today he had a post in his "Liturgical Gangstas" series on "That Evolution Question." He posed the following question to his panel of pastors: A pre-med college student in your congregation comes to you and says “I’ve been …

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Is accepting an old Earth heresy?

There has been some controversy regarding this post. I'll do my best to clear up any misunderstandings here at the beginning: The author of the blog (DefendingGenesis) I reference accused me of "enabling apostasy" by teaching an old Earth. He did not accuse me of apostasy. It was one of the commenters on that blog …

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J. Gresham Machen on the age of the Earth

John Gresham Machen was a professor at Princeton Seminary in the early 1900s, and was founder of Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. He is best known as a defender of Christian orthodoxy in the face of rising theological liberalism in the churches of his day. Perhaps his most famous book was Christianity and Liberalism, in …

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Another fundamentalist for an old Earth

A commenter on this blog recently implied that I am just a "so called Christian" because I accept an old Earth and evolution. On a young-Earth blog that I have been commenting on, those who accept an old age for the Earth (including myself) have been accused of "listening to the serpent." I try to …

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John Piper and the age of the Earth

To repeat a common theme of The GeoChristian blog: One can be a committed Christian with a very high view of the Bible, and yet hold to a 4.5 billion year-old Earth and evolution. John Piper is pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, and is a leading author and speaker within the Evangelical and …

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The Reason for God — interview excerpt

One of the best new books on apologetics (the defense of the Christian faith) is The Reason for God by Timothy Keller. I haven't read it yet, but it has received good reviews from theologically conservative reviewers. Here's an excerpt from an interview of Timothy Keller from First Things which touches on evolution and the …

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Resolving the tension

A week or two there was a post on InternetMonk.com asking for comments from Christian scientists and science-educated Christians about how they had resolved the tension between science and faith. Here's my comment from that post, with a little editing: I am “The GeoChristian” that someone else referred to earlier. I have an M.S. and …

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Conversations in progress

I've had a number of good comments in the past month on the following posts. Feel free to join in. Dr. Dino still in prison -- I consider the teachings of Kent Hovind ("Dr. Dino") to be anti-apologetics that has no place in our churches and Christian schools. Not everyone agrees. Augustine and Darwin -- …

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Six bad arguments from Answers in Genesis (Part 3)

This is part three of a six-part series examining supposed evidences for a global flood that have recently appeared on the Answers in Genesis web site. The people at AiG are my brothers and sisters in Christ, and I share their love for the Lord Jesus Christ, their respect for the Bible as the Word …

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Six bad arguments from Answers in Genesis (Part 2)

This is part two of a six-part series examining supposed evidences for a global flood that have recently appeared on the Answers in Genesis web site. The people at AiG are my brothers and sisters in Christ, and I share their love for the Lord Jesus Christ, their respect for the Bible as the Word …

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Marcus Ross review of The Bible, Rocks and Time

Christianity Today has a review The Bible, Rocks and Time, the recent book written by Christian geologists Davis Young and Ralph Stearley. I've written about this excellent book here and here. The review is by young-Earth creationist Marcus Ross, who earned his PhD in geology from the University of Rhode Island a few years ago, …

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Spurgeon distorted

Apparently, the young-Earth organization Answers in Genesis doesn't want its readers to know that 19th century preacher Charles Spurgeon had no problem with an Earth that is millions of years old. AiG is posting Spurgeon sermons on its web site, but has edited at least one sermon to remove references to an old Earth. A …

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Augustine: The Literal Meaning of Genesis

I recently finished The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind by Mark Noll, and will be sharing a few insights and quotes from this important book. The first quote is a long one from St. Augustine of Hippo, from his work The Literal Meaning of Genesis, written in about AD 415. Usually, even a non-Christian knows …

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Darwin’s birthday #2

What drives more scientists away from Christianity, evolution, or young-Earth creationism? I don't know the answer, but I suspect that both have significant roles. Some forms of evolutionary philosophy drive scientists (and others) away from Christianity. The New Atheists, such as Richard Dawkins, claim that evolution makes it intellectually feasible to be an atheist. To …

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Mixed marriages and the age of the Earth

I received a letter from a friend with questions about the age of the Earth, and how to raise children in a family where one parent is an old-Earth creationist, and the other is a young-Earth creationist. Here is my response, with the name changed and some of the letter changed as well: Dear Joe, …

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Spurgeon on science

Charles Spurgeon was one of the great preachers of the nineteenth century, and like many leading Evangelicals of that time, he had no problem with the idea of an old Earth. Today's Pyromaniac's blog has an excerpt from Spurgeon's book The Greatest Fight in the World. In this short section, Spurgeon attacks the scientists who …

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Derek Kidner on Genesis

Derek Kidner, author of the Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (IVP) on Genesis, Ezra, Nehemiah, Psalms, and Proverbs, died this week, at age 95 (HT: Be Bold, Be Gentle). Kidner had a love and respect for the Scriptures, a thorough knowledge of Old Testament language, history, and culture; and an ability to communicate clearly. He also …

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Francis Schaeffer on the age of the Earth

Francis Schaeffer on the age of the Earth: What does day mean in the days of creation? The answer must be held with some openness. In Genesis 5:2 we read: "Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created." As it is clear …

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