I get called all sorts of names by some of my young-Earth brothers and sisters in Christ: Liar, Compromiser, Rabid Theistic Evolutionist, So-Called Christian. I am accused of listening to the hissing of the serpent, of following Baal rather than Yahweh, and of denying the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am sorry that …
Continue reading Attempting to respond to hostility with grace
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 …
Continue reading Book Review – Dictionary of Christianity and Science
"Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!" – Psalm 133:1 (ESV) There is only one church on Earth, and it is composed of those who, by God’s grace, have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We put different labels on ourselves, such as Presbyterian, Lutheran, Baptist, Nondenominational, Roman Catholic, and …
Continue reading GeoScriptures – Psalm 133:1 – Deep unity in Christ despite our disagreements
I am creating a series of Google Earth labs to use with my middle school Earth Science textbook Earth Science: God's World, Our Home. For the most part, these labs could be used with other textbooks as well, though I do occasionally refer to figures or pages in my textbook. At this stage, I would love …
Continue reading Using Google Earth for Earth Science Education
How things have changed. My first exposure to the science of climatology was in 1980, when I took an upper-division Physical Climatology course at the University of Utah. I still have the textbook: Smith, 1975, Principles of Applied Climatology. The picture is a scan showing just about everything the book said about CO2 and climate change. A few …
Continue reading 1970s climatology textbook and global warming
Someone on a social media site recently asked me, "How can you say you believe the Bible and then in the same breath declare that [Genesis 1] may not be literal?" My answer: "Is everything in the Bible literal? I would say that not even everything in Genesis 1 is literal, and I say this for …
Continue reading How can I say I believe the Bible if I don’t believe it all “literally?”
Reasons to Believe (old-Earth Christian apologetics organization of Hugh Ross et al.) has a nice review of my new textbook Earth Science: God's World, Our Home. "Overall, Earth Science: God’s World, Our Home is an outstanding textbook to add to an old-earth science curriculum. Compared to a few years ago, we now have a rich …
The folks at Biologos.org have interviewed me regarding Earth Science: God's World, Our Home, my new middle school textbook published by Novare Science and Math. http://biologos.org/blogs/chris-stump-equipping-educators/new-science-textbook-celebrates-ancient-age-of-earth-from-christian-perspective
I recently spent about seven hours at the Creation Museum run by the young-Earth creationist (YEC) organization Answers in Genesis in northern Kentucky (I visited the museum, not the new Ark Encounter). As I anticipated, the exhibits at the museum are all of the highest quality. Whether the displays were animatronic dinosaurs, dioramas of the …
I have the unexpected opportunity to visit the Answers in Genesis Creation Museum in Kentucky in a few days. Positive Expectations High quality -- Skeptics and AiG fans alike acknowledge that the museum experience is at a high level. The displays and presentations are all professionally done. This isn't a mom and pop roadside museum. …
Many highly-regarded, Bible-believing scholars, pastors, and other Christian leaders see no incompatibility between the teachings of the Bible and acceptance of an ancient Earth. In the past, I have highlighted J. Gresham Machen, Charles Spurgeon, Francis Schaeffer, John Piper, and others. The scholars I just mentioned all adhere (or adhered, many of them are deceased) …
Continue reading Another old-Earth Christian scholar – Michael Horton
The Grand Canyon: Monument to an Ancient Earth (2016), edited and written by a number of highly-qualified, predominately Christian authors, is a devastating critique of the geological arguments of young-Earth creationism (YEC). The subtitle of this new book asks the question, “Can Noah’s Flood Explain the Grand Canyon?” which is an appropriate question, being that …
Continue reading Book review — The Grand Canyon: Monument to an Ancient Earth
The Earth. Christianity. They go together. Welcome to The GeoChristian, a blog primarily about the relationship between the Earth sciences and Christianity. My name is Kevin Nelstead, and I have been writing at geochristian.com since 2006. The most important thing about me is that I am a Christian. The passage of Scripture that opened up my …
AN OLD-EARTH CHRISTIAN AT A YOUNG-EARTH CONFERENCE This is the third in a series of articles about a young-Earth creationism (YEC) conference held in Bozeman, Montana in April, 2016. 1. Bozeman creation conference preview and expectations 2. Does Genesis Really Matter? - Yes Genesis does matter, whether a Christian believes in a young Earth or an …
Continue reading Bozeman Creation Conference — Radiometric Dating
"And God saw that it was good." — Genesis 1:25. Genesis 1 records the unfolding of God's creative activity, and one thing that is clear from the text is that God was pleased with what he had made. Genesis states that the world was good even before the creation of humans, which is recorded starting in verse …
Continue reading Earth Day 2016 — Links to past GeoChristian articles on caring for the creation
My first experience teaching Earth Science was at a small Classical Christian school in Missouri for the 2001-2002 school year. The headmaster was a young-Earth creationist. She knew that I was an old-Earth Christian, but perhaps being desperate for a science teacher she went ahead and hired me as a part-time teacher for a year, …
AN OLD-EARTH CHRISTIAN AT A YOUNG-EARTH CONFERENCE This is the second in a series of articles about a young-Earth creationism (YEC) conference held in Bozeman, Montana in April, 2016. 1. Bozeman creation conference preview and expectations 2. This article – Does Genesis Really Matter? - Yes Genesis does matter, whether a Christian believes in a young …
Continue reading Bozeman creation conference – Does Genesis Really Matter?
AN OLD-EARTH CHRISTIAN AT A YOUNG-EARTH CONFERENCE This is the first in a series of articles about a young-Earth creationism (YEC) conference held in Bozeman, Montana in April, 2016. 1. This article – Bozeman creation conference preview and expectations 2. Does Genesis Really Matter? - Yes Genesis does matter, whether a Christian believes in a young Earth …
Continue reading Bozeman creation conference preview and expectations
In the early 2000s, a new movement of vocal atheists arose, committed with religious fervor to the propagation of their faith that there is no God, and imagining that the world would be a much better place if religion would just go away. One event that vitalized this crusade of “New Atheists” was the September …
Continue reading Lessons from the friendship between a Christian and an atheist
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." -- Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." -- John 1:1 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish …
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