100 reasons the Earth is old — from Age of Rocks

One of the best current blogs on the topics of geology, young-Earth creationism, and Christianity is Age of Rocks, written by Jonathan Baker. Today he published his 100th post, and commemorated that milestone with a fantastic article: 100 Reasons the Earth is Old. I liked all 100  reasons, and think he could follow this up with 500 reasons the …

Continue reading 100 reasons the Earth is old — from Age of Rocks

Novare Earth Science — an upcoming middle school textbook by The GeoChristian

Like their secular school counterparts, many Christian schools offer a full year of Earth Science at the middle school level. These Christian schools, as well as home school parents who wish to offer a year of Earth Science, really have only two sources for curricula: secular publishers, such as Glencoe or Holt, or young Earth …

Continue reading Novare Earth Science — an upcoming middle school textbook by The GeoChristian

Around the Web 10/23/2014 — Old Earth textbook, No Ham for dinner, inverted smileys

I'll break out of my semi-monastic lifestyle for a few moments to pass on some good GeoChristian kinds of links... Old-Earth Classical Christian Middle School Earth Science Textbook -- Novare Science and Math, a relatively new Christian curriculum publisher, has announced that they will publish an old-Earth middle school Earth science textbook in time for the …

Continue reading Around the Web 10/23/2014 — Old Earth textbook, No Ham for dinner, inverted smileys

Earth Day 2014 — Conservative environmentalism — seeking balance

Today was Earth Day, 2014. For many, it was a day to celebrate the Earth, to give thanks for its fruitfulness, and to express concern about threats to both the planet and we humans that inhabit it. As a Christian, I also rejoice on Earth Day in the Creator, who has graciously placed us both …

Continue reading Earth Day 2014 — Conservative environmentalism — seeking balance

Do you believe in human rights? Then it makes more sense to believe in God than to believe that God does not exist.

Timothy Keller, in his book The Reason for God, demonstrates that while it is fairly straight-forward to make a religious case for human rights, it has proven very difficult to construct a case for human rights from a purely secular foundation. If the cosmos is all there is, all there ever was, and all there …

Continue reading Do you believe in human rights? Then it makes more sense to believe in God than to believe that God does not exist.

Two million Evangelical scientists in the U.S.

Are science and Christianity incompatible? If you asked this question to any one of the millions of Christians who work as scientists in the United States, the answer would be a confident "No." From Christianity Today -- Study: 2 Million U.S. Scientists Identify As Evangelical. Here are some excerpts: The media often portrays scientists and Christians …

Continue reading Two million Evangelical scientists in the U.S.

Around the web 2/18/2014 — Christian scientists (that is, scientists who are Christians) refute some YEC arguments

TURNING A YEC ARGUMENT ON ITS HEAD -- Young-Earth creationists like to tout soft tissues preserved in the fossil record as one of their prime evidences for a young Earth. A closely related issue is the preservation of ancient complex biomolecules, such as DNA, in the fossil record. The Natural Historian blog brilliantly turns this …

Continue reading Around the web 2/18/2014 — Christian scientists (that is, scientists who are Christians) refute some YEC arguments

Norm Geisler: “The Young Earth view is not one of the Fundamentals of the Faith. It is not a test for orthodoxy.”

Norm Geisler has been a prominent defender of the Christian faith for a number of years. He is the author or coauthor of several important books on apologetics (the defense of the faith), including I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist, Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics, and Christian Apologetics. Dr. Geisler recently contributed an article to …

Continue reading Norm Geisler: “The Young Earth view is not one of the Fundamentals of the Faith. It is not a test for orthodoxy.”

A more detailed survey indicates that most Christians are somewhere in the middle on the topic of origins, and that most don’t hold to their position all that strongly

Simplistic surveys can be very frustrating. For instance:Of all the colors of the rainbow, which is your favorite, Blue or Yellow?If your favorite color is green, and that is not an option in the survey, then there is no way for the survey to accurately assess your opinion. Nor does this simple survey assess how …

Continue reading A more detailed survey indicates that most Christians are somewhere in the middle on the topic of origins, and that most don’t hold to their position all that strongly

The Earth. Christianity. They go together.

Since the inception of this blog in 2006, its subtitle has been, "A blog about science, Christianity, and other topics." Although this is an accurate description of what one will find here on The GeoChristian, it isn't very catchy. So today I am introducing a new subtitle: The Earth. Christianity. They go together. Here's what I …

Continue reading The Earth. Christianity. They go together.

John Walton, Evangelical Old Testament scholar: Neither Ham nor Nye got the Bible right

Of the numerous analyses of the Ken Ham vs. Bill Nye debate earlier this week, one of the best is that of Old Testament scholar John Walton that was published as part of a larger review on the Biologos website (Ham on Nye: Our Take). Walton, author of The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology …

Continue reading John Walton, Evangelical Old Testament scholar: Neither Ham nor Nye got the Bible right

A few additional thoughts on Ham vs. Nye

I've had another 24 hours to think about the Ham vs. Nye debate, and I have a few additional thoughts: I'm struck by how little evidence Ken Ham presented in his main presentation or in his rebuttals. He briefly mentioned a few standard YEC arguments for a young Earth, such as woody material dated at …

Continue reading A few additional thoughts on Ham vs. Nye

Ken Ham vs. Bill Nye post-debate analysis

On February 4, 2014, Answers in Genesis President Ken Ham debated Bill Nye (“the Science Guy”) on the topic of “Is creation a viable model of origins?” I cannot say that I was disappointed with the debate, because I had very low expectations for it in the first place, and it was about what I …

Continue reading Ken Ham vs. Bill Nye post-debate analysis

Debate pre-game prognosis: What Ken Ham could learn from Duane Gish in order to “win” his debate against Bill Nye

In March of 1987, young-Earth creationist Dr. Duane Gish came to Washington State University to have a creation-evolution debate with Dr. Grover Krantz, an anthropology professor at WSU. Gish's style in his frequent debates was a rapid-fire overload of facts from a wide variety of fields, most of which were outside of his opponent's area …

Continue reading Debate pre-game prognosis: What Ken Ham could learn from Duane Gish in order to “win” his debate against Bill Nye

Best of The GeoChristian 2013

In my previous post, I listed the ten most-read articles on The GeoChristian in 2013. They are, I suppose, the reader's picks. Here are my picks for the most significant blog posts on The GeoChristian for the year. #10 -- A 4th grade quiz on dinosaurs that the teacher would have given me an “F” on …

Continue reading Best of The GeoChristian 2013

Rush is wrong — Analyzing Limbaugh’s statement on God and global warming

On August 12, 2013, Rush Limbaugh made the following statement on his radio program: "If you believe in God, then intellectually you cannot believe in manmade global warming." This, of course, is utter nonsense. Unfortunately, millions of American political conservatives and Evangelicals believe Rush is right on just about everything, but Limbaugh is clearly wrong …

Continue reading Rush is wrong — Analyzing Limbaugh’s statement on God and global warming

Who created God? An answer from John Lennox

One argument for the existence of God involves the impossibility of an actual infinite past. We cannot trace a pattern of cause and effect back into an eternal past. One difficulty is that we could never have arrived at the present point of time. What created the universe? The big bang. What caused the big …

Continue reading Who created God? An answer from John Lennox