Review – The Fool and the Heretic

The Fool and the Heretic by Todd Charles Wood & Darrel R. Falk, Zondervan, 2019. Are young-Earth creationists intellectual fools? Are theistic evolutionists heretics? More fundamentally, can two Christians, one who is an ardent young-Earth creationist, and the other a committed theistic evolutionist, learn to respectfully dialogue and even love one another deeply as brothers …

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Review — The Genealogical Adam and Eve

Swamidass, S. Joshua, 2019, The Genealogical Adam and Eve: The Surprising Science of Universal Ancestry, IVP Academic, 246 p. There have been many books written on origins, most of which don’t have anything new to say. The Genealogical Adam and Eve by S. Joshua Swamidass is a book that has some new things to say …

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Book review — Friend of Science, Friend of Faith

Davidson, Gregg, 2019, Friend of Science, Friend of Faith: Listening to God in His Works and Word, Kregel Academic, 297 p. Gregg Davidson, a Christian, is Chair of Geology and Geological Engineering at the University of Mississippi. Friend of Science, Friend of Faith opens with the story of Riley, a Christian college student working toward …

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Review – Understanding Scientific Theories of Origins

Bishop, R.C., Funck, L.L., Lewis, R.J., Moshier, S.O., and Walton, J.H, 2018, Understanding Scientific Theories of Origins: Cosmology, Geology, and Biology in Christian Perspective, Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 659 p. https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Scientific-Theories-Origins-Christianity/dp/0830852913/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1547601156&sr=8-1&keywords=understanding+scientific+theories+of+origins Understanding Scientific Theories of Origins is authored by five professors from Wheaton College. Wheaton is an Evangelical institution with rigorous admissions standards, and therefore …

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Three Young-Earth Students

The web site for the young-Earth documentary Is Genesis History? has posted a video following three young-Earth creationist (YEC) students from Wheaton College as they tour the Ark Encounter replica of Noah's Ark in Kentucky (see How did Theistic Evolution Bring 3 Wheaton College Students to the Ark?). These students had formed a YEC group …

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Book Review – Dictionary of Christianity and Science

My ignorance will always exceed my knowledge. This is true even in subjects in which I have a considerable level of expertise. I have been studying various science-faith topics for more than three decades, and have substantial depth of knowledge in some areas. Over the years, I have focused most intensely on the relationship between …

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Another Christian leader who believes the Bible does not require a young Earth — Justin Taylor

Justin Taylor is senior vice president of Crossway Books, a theologically conservative Christian publishing company. Crossway is best known as the publisher of the English Standard Version (ESV) Bible, along with the ESV Study Bible, perhaps the most comprehensive theologically conservative study Bible ever produced for a general Christian audience. Justin Taylor believes the Bible. …

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Reading Genesis 1-2 — Forward and Introduction

I recently acquired Reading Genesis 1-2: An Evangelical Conversation, edited by J. Daryl Charles. The book gives perspectives of five highly-qualified, Evangelical Old Testament scholars on the creation accounts of Genesis: Richard E. Averbeck (professor of OT and Semitic Languages at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) -- "A Literary Day, Inter-Textual, and Contextual Reading of Genesis 1-2" Todd S. …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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PCA 2013 General Assembly — The YECs get their turn

In 2012, two old-Earth Christian geologists gave a presentation at the General Assembly (annual meeting) of the Presbyterian Church in America. Gregg Davidson is a professor of geology at the University of Mississippi, and Ken Wolgemuth is an oil industry consultant, and their presentation was entitled "The PCA Creation Study Committee a Dozen Years Later: …

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The age of the Earth is a quinary issue

For most Christian traditions and denominations, the age of the Earth is not a primary issue. It is not even a secondary issue. Nor is it a tertiary issue. In fact it is not even a quaternary issue. For most Christian traditions and denominations, the age of the Earth is a quinary issue! That's three …

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GeoScriptures — Genesis 1:1 — “In the beginning God” vs Carl Sagan

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. -- Genesis 1:1 (ESV) "The cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be." -- Carl Sagan, from Cosmos. Which of these two quotes is a scientific statement, and which is a religious statement? The initial reaction most people---including Christians--- have had …

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Best of the GeoChristian — updated

I have updated the "Best of the GeoChristian" link up at the top of the page. There is a good variety: posts on Christianity, geology, creationism, the environment, atheism, apologetics, and more. I would be interested to hear if there is a post that has been especially meaningful or helpful to you, or one that …

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GeoScriptures — Ephesians 4:15 — Speaking the truth in love

"Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ." -- Ephesians 4:15 (NIV 1984) In Ephesians 4:15, Paul calls on Christians to do two things at once. The first of these is that we are to speak the truth. The second is that we …

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I do have an advocate before the Father

I was visiting with a young-Earth creationist (a dear brother in Christ whom I did not know) during a break at the Nathaniel Jeanson presentation earlier this month. In the course of the conversation, I mentioned that there are a good number of prominent, conservative Evangelical scholars and pastors who advocate acceptance of an old …

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Jesus is for geologists (and other scientists)

I've always known that Jesus is for geologists, as well as for biologists, chemists, physicists, archeologists, astronomers, and all other sorts of scientists. There are, of course, many Christians who are scientists, and many scientists who are Christians. As a graduate student in geology, I found rich fellowship with a half dozen Christian geologists-in-training, and …

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