Eloquent Prose, Poetic Imagery; Angelic Revelation? Hmm...,

This review is from: The Urantia Book (Paperback)

I found the Urantia Book in the very early 1980's at the Victor Valley College Library. I was in my early 20's, and had been reading a large variety of interesting new age-y literature for several years, curious but discerning.

The Urantia book had a fascinating written style, and in the more philosophical sections, an immense vocabulary used in mostly paragraph length sentences phrased somewhat like Paul in his non-legalistic biblical writing.

It sounded brilliant at times, worth the effort to think through what was being said. I made note of things that I liked that seemed quote-worthy or significant to me then. I liked the repeated use of corresponding concepts linked together , such as Father, Son, Spirit with Beauty, Truth, and Goodness. It was visual, moral, philosophical, and had a touch of something like Zen 7th Day Adventist Mormonish science fiction channeling spiritualism. Yeah, weird but had some gems.

I don't believe the book's history, external evidence, research, or any preponderance of clues within the book itself are at all convincing to me that it was revealed by angel's to the anonymous author. Similarly to the books of Mormon, Jehovah's Witness materials, science of mind, scientology, and a couple dozen other metaphysical pseudo-churchly revelations of channelers, ghost hunters, big foot believers, psychic astrologers, and the like.

Does it have to be devine to be interesting, thought-provoking, morally challenging, or edifying? For me, no. I came to believe in Jesus as God because of The Urantia Books non-perfection and fallibility. It's a great story.

The Jesus parts are anything but traditional, but at the time they gave me a human face I could understand. I highly recommend it for reading and taking what you can out if it. I don't recommend anything that you need to have as some infallible authoritative truth revealed by God with an unchallengable religion built up around it.

The Urantia claims no such singular validity, instead saying this was just a way to let us know things right now, and will be replaced with other truths later. It has no church or group who insists on the one right way to interpret it. The best thing this book gave me beside more ways to think morally, ethically, and spiritually, was to think for myself, and to accept God as I understood Him then, and now.

End of School Year 2010-2011

Yes, our school year is almost over! Teaching young children with more severe special needs and disabilities is...hmmm. Well, it can be the most fun, happy, good, and rewarding job at times, maybe most of the time. When a child finally takes their first independent steps at age four, or uses language or alternate communication appropriately, it's a payoff that feels great. So many goals, so little time.

It can also be frustrating, exhausting, physically difficult, and emotionally draining job at other times. When a very impulsive child with damage to their brain can't learn not to scratch or pinch, after severe consequences happen immediately at school, but their families don't try to correct misbehavior and they come back every Monday like you have never worked with them at all, it gets depressing. When children with severe physical problems die, it breaks our heart. So much love to share, so many goodbyes, some permanent.

Now another year has been lived and worked, and it ends this week. The last month or so many students seemed to suddenly pick up on the skills we have been teaching them for the last two years. I was surprised, but it's like a gift I can treasure and remember, no matter what the next teacher does or does not do to keep these skills alive. I have done my part, and, amazingly, got to see more of a rewarding payoff than usual.

I will take it and cherish it - nice way to finish.

Notable Christians Open to an Old-universe, Old-earth Perspective | Reasons To Believe

Notable Christians Open to an Old-universe, Old-earth Perspective | Reasons To Believe

The following individuals—respected authors, Bible scholars, scientists, pastors, linguists, and more—hold to a diversity of views on the timing of God’s creation. And yet all have affirmed, in documented sources, that an ancient universe and Earth (including big bang cosmology) pose no threat to Christian orthodoxy, but rather may be considered plausible and valid interpretations, even literal interpretations, of the biblical text. Not one sees the question of age as a crucial doctrinal issue.

John Ankerberg
Gleason Archer
John Battle
Michael Behe
William Jennings Bryan
Walter Bradley
Jack Collins
Chuck Colson
Paul Copan
William Lane Craig
Norman Geisler
Robert Godfrey
Guillermo Gonzales Hank Hannegraff
Jack Hayford
Fred Heeren
Charles Hodge
Walter Kaiser
Greg Koukl
C. S. Lewis
Paul Little
Patricia Mondore
J. P. Moreland
Robert Newman
Greg Neyman
Mark Noll
Nancy Pearcey Perry Phillips
William Phillips
Mike Poole
Bernard Ramm
Jay Richards
Hugh Ross
Fritz Schaefer
Francis Schaeffer
C. I. Scofield
Chuck Smith Jr.
David Snoke
Lee Strobel
Ken Taylor
B. B. Warfield


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John Ankerberg

Minister
Producer
Evangelist
Philosopher
Apologist
Author
Bio
Web site
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Brief Background
President and founder of The Ankerberg Theological Research Institute. Producer and host of the nationally televised John Ankerberg Show - seen in all 50 states. Holds numerous degrees including: Master of Arts in Church History and Philosophy of Christian Thought and a Master of Divinity degree from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (both with honors), Doctor of Ministry degree from Luther Rice Seminary. Ordained Baptist minister and former pastor. In addition to being a well known evangelist and producer of the John Ankerberg Show, he is the author and co-author of 65 books.

RTB Endorsement

I have found Dr. Hugh Ross to be remarkably humble, and in my dealings with him I have been impressed by his gentlemanly response to disparaging comments. My impression is that he handles Scripture with great respect and in line with standard hermeneutical practice.

Dr. Ross and the Reasons To Believe staff are providing a much-needed voice showing that science does not have to deny God. In fact, when science is approached without a naturalistic bias, it provides strong evidence for the existence of the biblical God. - John Ankerberg, March 2004

In His Words

The Seventh “Day” Is Thousands of Years Long

Everyone agrees that it has been at least thousands of years since the time of creation, yet the Bible declares that God rested on the seventh day after His six days of creation (Gen. 2:2-3). According to the book of Hebrews, God is still in His Sabbath rest from creation (4:3-5); hence, the seventh day has been at least six thousand years long, even on the shortest of all the chronologies of humankind.

Source: Article - Dr. Ankerberg's Comments On Creation

The Third “Day” Is Longer Than Twenty-Four Hours

On the third “day,” God not only created vegetation, but it grew to maturity. The text says that on the third day “the land produced vegetation; plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds” (Gen. 1:12, emphasis added). To grow from seeds to maturity and produce more seeds is a process that takes much longer than a day, a week, or even a month for most plants. There is no indication in the text that its growth was anything but natural; it is its origin that was supernatural.

Source: Article - Dr. Ankerberg's Comments On Creation

The Sixth “Day” Is Longer Than Twenty-Four Hours

It would also appear that the sixth “day” of creation was considerably longer than a solar day. Consider everything that happened during this one “day.”

First, God created all the many hundreds (or thousands) of land animals (Gen. 1:24-25).

Second, God “formed” man of the dust of the earth (Gen. 2:7). This Hebrew word (yatsar) means “to mold” or “form,” which implies time. Yatsar is used specifically of the work of a potter (cf. Jer. 18:2f.).

Third, God said, “I will make a helper suitable for him” (Gen. 2:18, emphasis added). This indicates a time subsequent to the time of the announcement.

Fourth, Adam observed and named this whole multitude of animals (Gen. 2:19). As Robert Newman noted, “If every one of the approximately 15,000 living species of such animals (not to mention those now extinct) were brought to Adam to be named, it would have taken ten hours if he spent only two second on each.” This is hardly enough time for Adam to study each animal and determine an appropriate name for it. Assuming a minimum of only two minutes each, the process would have taken six hundred hours (or twenty-five days).

Fifth, Adam searched for a helpmate for himself, apparently among all the creatures God had made. “But for Adam no suitable helper was found” (implying a time of searching) (Gen. 2:20, emphasis added).

Sixth, God put Adam to sleep and operated on him, taking out one of his ribs and healing the flesh (Gen. 2:21). This too involved additional time.

Seventh, Eve was brought to Adam, who observed her, accepted her, and was joined to her (Gen. 2:22-25).

In conclusion, it seems highly unlikely that all of these events–especially the fourth one–were compressed within a twenty-four-hour period or, more precisely, within the approximately twelve hours of light each day afforded.

Source: Article - Dr. Ankerberg's Comments On Creation

Online Work

Article - Dr. Ankerberg's Comments On Creation
Article - Large 1500 article index
Author of

Book - The Facts on the King James Only Debate
Book - Darwin's Leap of Faith: Exposing the False Religion of Evolution
Book - The Facts on Creation Vs Evolution/ Facts on Series


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Dr. Gleason L. Archer

Scholar (OT/Hebrew)
Bio
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Brief Background
Professor of Old Testament and Semitic Studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

In His Words

[Referring to God's Sabbath analogy in Exodus 20:10-11:]

By no means does this demonstrate that 24-hour intervals were involved in the first six 'days,' any more than the eight-day celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles proves that the wilderness wanderings under Moses occupied only eight days.

Source: Book - Archer G., "A Response to the Trustworthiness of Scripture in Areas Relating to Natural Science,", in Radmacher E.D., & Preus R.D., "Hermeneutics, Inerrancy, and the Bible", Academic Books, Grand Rapids MI, 1986, p329

it would seem to border on sheer irrationality to insist that all of Adam’s experiences in Genesis 2:15-22 could have been crowded into the last hour or two of a literal twenty-four-hour day.

Source: Book - Archer G., "Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties", Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids MI, 1982, pp. 59-60

Author of

Book - Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament
Book - New International Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties
Book - The Genesis Debate


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John Battle

Seminary president
Professor
Apologist
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Brief Background
B.A., Highland College, 1967; M.Div., Faith Theological Seminary, 1970; S.T.M., Faith Theological Seminary, 1971; Th.D., Grace Theological Seminary, 1975. Assistant Professor of New Testament, Faith Theological Seminary, 1971-1977; Professor of New Testament, Faith Theological Seminary, 1977-1982; Associate Professor of New Testament, Western Reformed Seminary, 1983-1998; Professor of New Testament and Theology, Western Reformed Seminary, since 1998. He also currently serves as president of Western Reformed Seminary.

In His Words

In Mark 10:6, Jesus quotes Genesis 1:27: “From the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’” Many young-earth creationists have latched onto this verse, interpreting it in a novel way that provides evidence for their position of a 6,000 to 10,000 year old earth.1 However, careful study of this passage reveals the traditional understanding of Jesus’ words is correct and the passage does not support a recent creation.

Source: Article - Examining Mark 10:6 Reasons To Believe - Seattle Area Chapter - News And Views (June 2004 p 2)

Online Work

Article - Examining Mark 10:6 Reasons To Believe - Seattle Area Chapter - News And Views (June 2004 p 2)
Article - Charles Hodge, Inspiration, Textual Criticism, And The Princeton Doctrine Of Scripture
Article - How Can God Be Just And Ordain Evil?


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Michael Behe

Professor
Apologist
Bio
Web site
Testimony
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Brief Background
Michael Behe is a strong advocate for Intelligent Design and author of the groundbreaking book Darwin's Black Box. He graduated from Drexel University in 1974 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry. He did his graduate studies in biochemistry at the University of Pennsylvania and was awarded the Ph.D. in 1978 for his dissertation research on sickle-cell disease. From 1978-1982 he did postdoctoral work on DNA structure at the National Institutes of Health. From 1982-85 he was Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Queens College in New York City, where he met his wife. In 1985 he moved to Lehigh University where he is currently Professor of Biochemistry. In his career he has authored over 40 technical papers and one book, Darwin’s Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution, which argues that living system at the molecular level are best explained as being the result of deliberate intelligent design. Darwin’s Black Box has been reviewed by the New York Times, Nature, Philosophy of Science, Christianity Today, and over one hundred other periodicals. He and his wife reside near Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, with their eight children.

In His Words

It is often said that science must avoid any conclusions which smack of the supernatural. But this seems to me to be both bad logic and bad science. Science is not a game in which arbitrary rules are used to decide what explanations are to be permitted. Rather, it is an effort to make true statements about physical reality. It was only about sixty years ago that the expansion of the universe was first observed. This fact immediately suggested a singular event--that at some time in the distant past the universe began expanding from an extremely small size. To many people this inference was loaded with overtones of a supernatural event--the creation, the beginning of the universe. The prominent physicist A.S. Eddington probably spoke for many physicists in voicing his disgust with such a notion 8:

Philosophically, the notion of an abrupt beginning to the present order of Nature is repugnant to me, as I think it must be to most; and even those who would welcome a proof of the intervention of a Creator will probably consider that a single winding up at some remote epoch is not really the kind of relation between God and his world that brings satisfaction to the mind.

Nonetheless, the Big Bang hypothesis was embraced by physics and over the years has proven to be a very fruitful paradigm. The point here is that physics followed the data where it seemed to lead, even though some thought the model gave aid and comfort to religion.

Source: Article - Molecular Machines: Experimental Support for the Design Inference


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William Jennings Bryan

Lawyer
Author
Lecturer
Politician
Publisher
Philosopher
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Brief Background
William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925) - Born in Salem, Illinois, he studied law and Received a law degree in 1883 from Union College in Chicago. After moving to Nebraska, he was elected to the House of Representatives in 1890 and served two terms. He became known as an accomplished author, lecturer, politician, publisher, and philosopher. He also became known as a rousing, impassioned orator. At the 1896 Democratic convention, he mesmerized delegates with his famous "Cross of Gold" speech and ended up the party's presidential nominee. He ran for president on the Democratic ticket three times (1896, 1900, 1908) but lost each election. Bryan also served as an Army Colonel in the Spanish-American War. He supported Woodrow Wilson in the 1912 election and became Wilson's secretary of state the following year. A devout Christian all his life, Bryan spent his later years campaigning for prohibition and against the teaching of evolution (He was a known proponent of the day-age theory of creation). In 1925, he served as prosecutor in the infamous "monkey trial" of John Scopes, a Tennessee teacher arrested for teaching evolution. He died of a heart attack on July 26, in Dayton, Tennessee, only days after the conclusion of the trial.

In His Words

[In 1925, at the famous Scopes Trial1 in Dayton, Tennessee, William Jennings Bryan was cross-examined - part of the transcript follows:]

Clarence Darrow (the ACLU lawyer) [D]: ‘Mr Bryan, could you tell me how old the Earth is?’

Bryan [B]: ‘No, sir, I couldn’t.’

[D]: ‘Could you come anywhere near it?’

[B]: ‘I wouldn’t attempt to. I could possibly come as near as the scientists do, but I had rather be more accurate before I give a guess.’

[D]: ‘Does the statement, “The morning and the evening were the first day,” and “The morning and the evening were the second day,” mean anything to you?’

[B]: ‘I do not think it necessarily means a twenty-four-hour day.’

[D]: ‘You do not?’

[B]: ‘No.’

[D]: 'Then, when the Bible said, for instance, "and God called the firmament heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day," that does not necessarily mean twenty-four-hours?’

[B]: ‘I do not think it necessarily does.’ ‘I think it would be just as easy for the kind of God we believe in to make the Earth in six days as in six years or in six million years or in 600 million years. I do not think it important whether we believe one or the other.’

[D]: ‘And they had the evening and the morning before that time for three days or three periods. All right, that settles it. Now, if you call those periods, they may have been a very long time.’

[B]: ‘They might have been.’

[D]: ‘The creation might have been going on for a very long time?’

[B]: ‘It might have continued for millions of years.’

Source: The World’s Most Famous Court Trial, Second Reprint Edition, Bryan College, Dayton, pp. 296, 302–303, 1990.

[Famous quote:]

The Rock of Ages is more important than the age of rocks

Online Work

Article - Cross of Gold
Article - In His Image


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Dr. Walter Bradley

Professor
Apologist
Author
Bio
Web site
Testimony
Back to Top

Brief Background
Walter L. Bradley received his B.S. in Engineering Science and his Ph.D. in Materials Science from the University of Texas in Austin. He taught for eight years as an Assistant and Associate Professor of Metallurgical Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines before assuming a position as Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University (TAMU) in 1976. He has published over 125 technical articles. He also served as Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University, and as Director of the Polymer Technology Center at TAMU. Dr. Bradley is currently working with Baylor University's engineering department and is a fellow of the International Society for Complexity Information and Design. Walter Bradley has also performed seminal research in the origin of life, having published journal articles and co-authoring the popular "The Mystery of Life's Origin: Reassessing Current Theories" which remains the best-selling advanced level text on the origin of life.

In His Words

We believe that the "bara/asah" of Genesis 1 implies God working through miracle and process to effect creation. We believe that the "yom" of Genesis I may be interpreted either "day" or "epoch." In either case Genesis may still be interpreted to allow for the large total time indicated by geology and astronomy. This model, usually called progressive creationism, suggests that God created the major types of plant and animal life at various times in geological history in a miraculous way and then worked through process (God acting in His customary way) to develop the tremendous variety of plant and animal life we see today. To accept the compelling evidence for geological age should not be equated with accepting the general theory of evolution (macroevolution).

Source: Article - The Trustworthiness of Scripture in Areas Relating to Natural Science
[A reprint of Chapter 5 (pp. 283-348) from Hermeneutics, Inerrancy, and the Bible, Radmacher and Preus, eds. (Zondervan, 1984)]

While these various nonradiometric methods of dating may be inaccurate for giving absolute ages, they occur at rates that give incontrovertible evidence that the earth is much older than ten thousand years. Furthermore, one cannot postulate here an uncertainty in assumptions as is done with radiometric dating since no assumptions are involved. Unless God chose to create the universe with this clear impression of great antiquity, the earth must actually be quite old.

Source: Article - The Trustworthiness of Scripture in Areas Relating to Natural Science
[A reprint of Chapter 5 (pp. 283-348) from Hermeneutics, Inerrancy, and the Bible, Radmacher and Preus, eds. (Zondervan, 1984)]

In conclusion we believe that progressive creationism achieves a very acceptable harmony of the scriptural and scientific data without in any way compromising the inerrant view of Scripture or resorting to a metaphorical or figurative interpretation where the context does not seem to suggest this interpretation.
Source: Article - The Trustworthiness of Scripture in Areas Relating to Natural Science

[A reprint of Chapter 5 (pp. 283-348) from Hermeneutics, Inerrancy, and the Bible, Radmacher and Preus, eds. (Zondervan, 1984)]

Online Work

Article - The Trustworthiness of Scripture in Areas Relating to Natural Science
[A reprint of Chapter 5 (pp. 283-348) from Hermeneutics, Inerrancy, and the Bible, Radmacher and Preus, eds. (Zondervan, 1984).]
Article - What Non-Christians Ask
Author of

Book - Know Why You Believe: Connecting Faith and Reason
Book - Know What You Believe: Connecting Faith and Truth
Book - Witnessing: How to Give Away Your Faith


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John "Jack" C Collins

Professor
Apologist
Author
Bio
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Brief Background
Professor Collins background includes advanced studies in linguistics and biblical languages, and practical experience in Bible study and discipleship ministry. He has written extensively on biblical languages and interpretation, and on science and the Christian faith. He also served as Old Testament chair for the English Standard Version of the Bible. John is currently Professor of Old Testament at Covenant Theological Seminary.

In His Words

Let's dispense with a few arguments that some have offered to support the ordinary day position. The first is the claim that since the 'vast majority' of readers in the history of the church have held that the days are ordinary, so should we - to do otherwise would be unbearable arrogance. The problem with this argument is that it assumes that the 'vast majority' are right, regardless of the reasons that led to their reading. After the first century, very few Christians read Hebrew at all, until about 1500; this means that this 'vast majority' arrived at their reading of Genesis on the basis of the Greek Old Testament in the Eastern church, and the Latin Old Testament in the West. These translations are good in some places and bad in others, and our 'vast majority' didn't have the resources to know which is which...

[Another] faulty argument is the claim that the doctrine of the clarity of Scripture is at stake. That is, the Bible must be transparent in its meaning, and this favors the 'simple' reading. This argument is faulty because it actually misuses the doctrine it is supposedly upholding. I know of no responsible statement of this doctrine that claims that all parts of the Bible are equally easy to understand, or that we should prefer a 'simple' reading no matter what...

[Another] false claim is the idea that Christians changed their interpretation of the days in order to make peace with Darwinism. As a matter of fact, most of the interpretive options came into play before 1850 - and Darwin¹s Origins of Species came out in 1859. The big factor for many in the church was the new geology that began in the 1700s which seemed to most to prove that the earth was much older than a few thousand years. And if someone wants to make the counterclaim, 'You see, that just proves that geology is naturalistic, too,' he has to come to grips with the simple fact that most of the early geologists were devout Christians who were far from being naturalistic...

Source: Book - Science & Faith: Friends or Foes? (2003 pp 78-81).

Online Work

Article - Jack Collins: "What happened to Adam and Eve? A literary-theological approach to Genesis 3
Author of

Book - Science & Faith: Friends or Foes?
Book - The God of Miracles: An Exegetical Examination of God's Action in the World


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Chuck Colson

Columnist
Author
Speaker
Commentator
Bio
Web Site
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Brief Background
Chuck Colson (b. 1931) - conservative evangelical founder of Prison Fellowship Ministries and host of the radio program "BreakPoint." Formerly Anglican and now Southern Baptist, he holds to Protestant distinctives but works for unity with like-minded Catholics, believing the two groups have more commonalities than differences. Colson was a leading architect of the declaration "Evangelicals and Catholics Together." His many books include his autobiography Born Again, Six Million Angels, and How Now Shall We Live.

RTB Endorsement

I had a wonderful time at the conference with Hugh Ross, and everything I saw at the conference only confirmed what I’ve always believed. He has a very strong, articulate voice in defense of truth. I appreciate very much his ministry, Reasons To Believe, and consider him a very valued ally in a great cause to defend truth in the world today, the one true God. - Chuck Colson, July 2004

In His Words

The Big Bang and Hoyle's Steady State were mere abstractions, unable to be tested. Then, in 1964, Drs. Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson of Bell Labs encountered continuous static on certain microwave frequencies. Rotating their antenna in a vain attempt to remove the noise, they realized it was coming from all directions-permeating the universe. Physicists hailed this as the first observational evidence of the Big Bang known as "cosmic background radiation" or "the radio echo of creation."...

Today, advocates of the Big Bang think that their theory is a substitute for God. But it's just the opposite. Hoyle rejected the Big Bang in spite of the evidence because he knew that the Big Bang pointed irresistibly to the existence of God...

As we read the obituaries about Sir Fred Hoyle, the man who named the Big Bang, we might ask our skeptical neighbors: If there was a Big Bang, isn't it reasonable to recognize what Hoyle did-that there behind it [is] a Big Brain. And might that not be the God of the Bible and of all creation?

Source: Article - The Big Bang According To Atheist, Sir Fred Hoyle

Author of

Book - How Now Shall We Live?
Book - Loving God
Book - Kingdoms in Conflict
Online Work

Article - The Big Bang According To Atheist, Sir Fred Hoyle
Article - Junk or Jewels? Creation and the Need for a Designer
Article - The Da Vinci conspiracy



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Dr. Paul Copan Professor
Author
Lecturer

Brief Background
Paul Copan holds a BA from Columbia Bible College, an M.A. and M.Div. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and a Ph.D. from Marquette University. He is a regular contributor to a number of academic journals. Dr. Copan holds the Pledger Family Chair of Philosophy and Ethics at Palm Beach Atlantic University, West Palm Beach, FL. He has served as a visiting faculty member at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, IL, Bethel Seminary, St. Paul, MN, and Alliance Theological Seminary, Nyack, NY.

He is the author of True for You, But Not for Me (Bethany House), That's Just Your Interpretation, How Do You Know You're Not Wrong? (both with Baker Books), and a philosophy of religion book with Chalice Press (forthcoming).

He is editor of Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up? (Baker), a debate between evangelical scholars and Jesus Seminar members. He is co-editor with Ronald Tacelli of Jesus' Resurrection: Fact or Figment? (InterVarsity Press). He has co-edited with Craig Evans, Who Was Jesus? A Jewish-Christian Dialogue (Westminster John Knox Press). He has co-edited The Rationality of Theism (Routledge) with Paul K. Moser. He has written the booklet Is Everything Really Relative? Examining the Assumptions of Relativism and the Culture of Truth Decay, which is part of a series Dr. Copan edited. His book Creation out of Nothing: A Biblical, Philosophical, and Scientific Exploration (Baker/Apollos), was co-authored with William Lane Craig. Dr. Copan has contributed to various edited works such as The New Mormon Challenge (Zondervan), To Everyone an Answer (InterVarsity Press), and In Defense of Natural Theology (InterVarsity Press), and he is co-editor (with J.P. Moreland and three others) of the Apologetics Study Bible (Broadman and Holman, forthcoming). He is co-editor of two other volumes: The Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Religion (Routledge, forthcoming) and Philosophy of Religion: Classic and Contemporary Issues (Blackwell, forthcoming). He has also contributed articles and book reviews to journals such as Faith and Philosophy, Philosophia Christi, the Review of Metaphysics, and Trinity Journal. He has lectured at universities and colleges both in the U.S. and abroad. He currently serves as President of the Evangelical Philosophical Society. He and his wife, Jacqueline, live with their five children in West Palm Beach.

In His Words

Moreover, the theist can muster credible reasons for belief in God. For example, one can argue that the contingency of the universe — in light of Big Bang cosmology, the expanding universe, and the second law of thermodynamics (which implies that the universe has been "wound up" and will eventually die a heat death) — demonstrates that the cosmos has not always been here. It could not have popped into existence uncaused, out of absolutely nothing, because we know that whatever begins to exist has a cause. A powerful First Cause like the God of theism plausibly answers the question of the universe’s origin. Also, the fine-tunedness of the universe — with complexly balanced conditions that seem tailored for life — points to the existence of an intelligent Designer.

Source: Article - The Presumptuousness of Atheism

Author of

Book - Creation out of Nothing: Its Biblical, Philosophical, and Scientific Exploration
Book - That's Just Your Interpretation: Responding to Skeptics Who Challenge Your Faith
Book - The Rationality of Theism
Online Work

Article - The Presumptuousness of Atheism
Article - St. Augustine and the Scandal of the North African Catholic Mind
Article - That’s True for You, But Not for Me


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Dr. William Lane Craig

Scholar (philosophy and theology)
Apologist
Author
Web site
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Brief Background
Dr. William Lane Craig is Research Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University in La Mirada, CA. With two doctorates - one in philosophy under the eminent philosopher of religion John Hick and one in theology under arguably the greatest living German theologian Wolfhart Pannenberg - Dr. Craig is widely considered to be a leading figure in the philosophy of religion and the premier evangelical Christian apologist. He has participated in dozens of debates on the existence of God, the foundations of morality, and the contentious claim that salvation is in Christ alone. Furthermore, Dr. Craig has over 175 publications appearing in the best academic and top popular journals and presses. His diverse research interests include the philosophy of religion, the philosophy of time, and New Testament studies. He is the current president of the Evangelical Philosophical Society and the Philosophy of Time Society.

In His Words

The history of the Big Bang model for well over three-quarters of a century has been one of radical predictions repeatedly confirmed and the repeated failure of every attempt, some of them extremely speculative, to avoid the absolute origin of the universe posited in the standard model.{58} With each failure, the theory is corroborated anew. The defender of the kalam cosmological argument seems to be on secure ground in appropriating the Big Bang theory as empirical confirmation of the beginning of the universe.

Source: Article - A Swift and Simple Refutation of the Kalam Cosmological Argument

With each successive failure of alternative cosmogonic theories, the Standard Model has been corroborated. It can be confidently said that no cosmogonic model has been as repeatedly verified in its predictions and as corroborated by attempts at its falsification, or as concordant with empirical discoveries and as philosophically coherent, as the Standard Big Bang Model.

Source: Article - The Ultimate Question of Origins: God and the Beginning of the Universe

Author of

Book - Theism, Atheism, and Big Bang Cosmology
Online Work

Article - Creation and Big Bang Cosmology
Article - The Ultimate Question of Origins: God and the Beginning of the Universe
Article - A Swift and Simple Refutation of the Kalam Cosmological Argument?
Article - Numerous (in many categories)


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Dr. Norman Geisler

Prominent Apologist
Theologian
Philosopher
Bio
Web site
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Brief Background: Dr. Norman Geisler is author or coauthor of some fifty books and hundreds of articles. He has taught at the university and graduate level for forty three years and has spoken or debated in all fifty states and in twenty-five countries. He holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from Loyola University and now serves as President of Southern Evangelical Seminary, in Charlotte, North Carolina.
In His Words

Of course, there are many Creationists who argue for an old earth. Biblically, this position that the word for day is used for more than twenty-four hours even in Genesis 2:4, the events of the sixth day surely took more than twenty-four hours, and Hebrews 4:4?5 implies that God is still in His seventh-day rest. If the seventh day can be long, then the others could too. Scientifically, this view does not require any novel theories to explain the evidence. One of the biggest problems for the young earth view is in astronomy. We can see light from stars that took 15 billion years to get here. To say that God created them with the appearance of age does not satisfy the question of how their light reached us. We have watched star explosions that happened billions of years ago, but if the universe is not billions of years old, then we are seeing light from stars that never existed because they would have died before Creation. Why would God deceive us with the evidence? The old earth view seems to fit the evidence better and causes no problem with the Bible.

Source: Book - When Skeptics Ask: A Handbook of Christian Evidence (page 22 9)

Creation and Time is the best book on this topic in print. It is a must for anyone interested in the conflict between science and Scripture. Dr. Ross' pleas to overzealous 'young earthers' not to make the age of the earth a test of orthodoxy is long overdue.

Source: An endorsement of Creation and Time by Hugh Ross - Next to last paragraph under Book Description

The creationist points to the evidence for the Second Law of Thermodynamics that the universe is running down as evidence that it had a beginning along with the other evidence for the Big Bang theory. This, combined with the principle of causality, yields the conclusion that:

The cosmos had a beginning.
Everything that begins had a cause.
Therefore, the cosmos had a cause (see Kalam Cosmological Argument).
Source: Book - Baker encyclopedia of Christian apologetics, Geisler, N. L. 1999

Online Work

Article - The Need For Defending The Faith
Author of

Book - When Critics Ask: A Popular Handbook on Bible Difficulties
Book - Inerrancy
Book - Christian Apologetics


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Robert W. Godfrey

Seminary president
Minister
Author
Bio
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Brief Background: Dr. Godfrey has taught church history at Westminster Seminary California since 1981, having previously taught at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Stanford University, and Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. Currently he serves as the third President of Westminster Seminary California and is a minister in the United Reformed Churches.
In His Words

A fresh look at Genesis 1 must begin by recognizing the variety of views that have existed among conservatives up to our time. Orthodox scholars have taken several different interpretive approaches to this part of the Bible in the history of the church, especially in relation to the days of creation. In broad terms we can say that there are two basic views. The first and dominant view, which we will call the traditional view, sees the days of Genesis 1 as twenty-four-hour days. The other view understands the days of creation as figurative or literary expressions. This second view takes several different forms. Augustine, who taught that God had created all instantaneously, believed that the days represent God¹s progressive illumination of the darkness of our understanding. Other interpreters have understood the days to stand for long periods of time. This view is often called the day-age interpretation. Still others see the days as providing a framework, which is not really chronological, for the relationships between elements of creation. This view is often called the framework interpretation. Whatever interpretation one takes of the days of Genesis 1, most of what follows in this book should be acceptable to all those who believe that the Bible is the revelation of God.

Source: Book - W. Robert Godfrey, God's Pattern for Creation: A Covenantal Reading of Genesis 1 (2003, pp 15-16).

How does Genesis use the word day in its early verses? That question is important since the days of creation are the most apparent part of the structure Moses gave to the introduction of Genesis. It is also important since many people today argue that it is obvious that the word day must mean a twenty-four-hour day in Genesis 1. We need to see that the word day is used in as many as seven different ways in the short space of Genesis 1:1-2:4. First, 'day' in Genesis 1:5 means daylight - in our experience twelve hours, not twenty-four hours. Second, later in that same verse 'day' means the whole day of evening and morning, apparently twenty-four hours long. Third, the first three days of Genesis 1 - at least according to the traditional interpretation - are distinct as presolar days. We cannot know with certainly how long such days would be. Fourth, the solar days after the creation of the sun are another use of the word day. Fifth, the seventh day of Genesis 2:1-3 is at least described differently from the other days in that evening and morning are not mentioned relation to is. Sixth, in Hebrew the numerals of the sixth and seventh days are preceded by the definite article, whereas there are no definite articles preceding the numerals for the other days....Finally, and significantly, Genesis 2:4...the word day stands for the whole period of the creative activity of God. This use of the word 'day' is particularly significant because it shows that in summarizing the work of creation at the beginning of the first of the generations in Genesis, Moses says the creation took place in a day.

Source: Book - W. Robert Godfrey, God's Pattern for Creation: A Covenantal Reading of Genesis 1 (2003, pp 69-70).

Online Work

Article - What Do We Mean by Sola Scriptura?
Article - The TV Church
Author of

Book - God's Pattern for Creation: A Covenantal Reading of Genesis 1


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Dr. Guillermo Gonzales

Astronomer
Author
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Brief Background: Guillermo Gonzalez is an Assistant Professor of Astronomy at Iowa State University, He received his Ph.D. in Astronomy in 1993 from the University of Washington. He has done post-doctoral work at the University of Texas, Austin and at the University of Washington and has received fellowships, grants and awards from such institutions as NASA, the University of Washington, Sigma Xi (scientific research society) and the National Science Foundation. Dr. Gonzalez has extensive experience in observing and analyzing data from ground-based observatories, including work at McDonald Observatory, Apache Point Observatory and Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory. He has also published over sixty articles in refereed astronomy and astrophysical journals and captured the October 2001 cover story of Scientific American.
In His Words

How does the Sun’s metallicity (high relative to stars without planets and low relative to stars with planets) affect life on Earth? Assuming the Sun and its planets formed together from the same molecular cloud about 4.6 billion years ago, then the metallicity of that birth cloud supplied a very important initial condition to the formation of the planet-for Earth is made almost entirely of metals. If a lesser metal abundance were available early on, smaller terrestrial planets would have resulted.

Source: Article - Rare Sun

Online Work

Article - Rare Sun
Article - Design Update: How Wide the Life Zone?
Article - Home Alone in the Universe
Article - Alien Intelligences?: Think Again
Author of

Book - The Privileged Planet (video produced as well)


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Hank Hannegraff

Apologist
Author
Ministry founder
Web site
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Brief Background: Hank Hanegraaff (b. 1950) - conservative evangelical known to radio listeners as "The Bible Answer Man." president of Christian Research Institute, which focuses on exposing doctrinal error and warning against aberrant religious groups. Hanegraaff is known for applying memory techniques to apologetics. Among his books are Christianity in Crisis, Counterfeit Revival, The FACE that Demonstrates the Farce of Evolution, The Third Day, Fatal Flaws, and 99 Reasons Why No One Knows When Christ Will Return. Though Hanegraaff may not hold to the Old-Earth position, he acknowledges that it is a valid interpretation.
In His Words

The question of whether the earth is 4.5 billion years old (as modern geology affirms) or roughly 10,000 years old (as some evangelical scientists and theologians are now maintaining) hinges largely on whether the "days" of Genesis chapter one are to be taken as indicating literal 24-hour days or as poetic references to indefinite periods of time. An analysis of the biblical material reveals that the answer to this is not eminently clear, and that some justification can be found for both positions.

Source: Article - CRI "STATEMENT DA060 Age of CREATION"

The truth is that the scientific evidence overwhelmingly supports creation. Let me attempt to point out just some of this evidence here. First, the scientific community is now almost unanimous in affirming that the universe had a beginning. This is usually referred to in scientific terms as “The Big Bang Theory.” Of course, this implies that someone or something brought the universe into existence.

Source: Article - CRI "STATEMENT CP0103 EVIDENCE FOR CREATION?

Online Work

Article - Christian Research Institute Articles
Radio - Bible Answer Man Archives
Author of

Book - The Bible Answer Book
Book - Da Vinci Code: Fact or Fiction
Book - Counterfeit Revival
Book - The Face That Demonstrates The Farce Of Evolution
Book - Christianity in Crisis


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Jack Hayford

Pastor
Author
Bio
Web site
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Brief Background: Jack Hayford (b. 1934) - founding pastor of the Church on the Way, a Foursquare Gospel church. Also founder and chancellor of the King's Seminary. Hayford hosts the Living Way TV and radio programs and has composed many choruses based on charismatic theology. His books include Answering the Call to Evangelism, Fearless Faith, How to Live through a Bad Day, The Beauty of Spiritual Language, The Spirit-Formed Church, Praying in the Spirit, and His Majesty, His Servant. He also produced the Spirit-Filled Life Bible and The Hayford Bible Handbook.
In His Words

[Introductory comments for an old earth creationism presentation]

One of the issues that face spiritual leaders today is how are we going to relate to an increasingly scientifically brainwashed society, that is very prejudiced against the Word of God because it presumes that there is no meeting place between the Bible and the revelation of God in His creation. And obviously these will not be at sword points with one another any more than you can find isolated texts in the Bible that may seem to argue against one another, but don't if you know it all. If you know all the Word it fits. And the more we understand about the realm of the physical creation, the more we'll see that what is discovered, more and more, examined and pursued, by, unprejudiced scientists, more and more, it reveals the greatness of God, and does not conflict with His Word...

But there is a very real, point of conflict that has been created in much of the church. Because of attitudes of bigoted, as often times prejudiced position is self righteous, if you don't believe in creationism THIS WAY then you are not a Bible believer, that's simply not true. And this way that they are describing is usually called the young earth approach...

To go the distance, we need to not let ourselves be cornered by small mindedness at any point, such as ones I gave examples of. If you should be here today and you hold the position that I cited as seeming, to my view untenable in our times, you probably wouldn't be here if you held the bigoted attitude of some that I've described. I want to say that if any hold such a position this is not presented as though we were endorsing this as an opponent to every other position. I personally believe this is the most viable approach.

Source: Introduction - Hugh Ross Introduction (11/05/2002)

Online Work

Article - Creation Shall Praise Him
Article - I Believe In The Resurrection
Article - Worthy Worship
Article - The Sabbath Question
Author of

Book - The Trinity
Book - Worship His Majesty
Book - I'll Hold You in Heaven


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Fred Heeren

Apologist
Author
Bio

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Brief Background: Science writer Fred Heeren has devoted the last seven years to a quest to get to the bottom of life's big questions. As a skeptic, he has carried out the task, not by visiting gurus, but by looking at the pieces of evidence from science and history that bear on questions about the ultimate purpose—or meaninglessness—of the universe. Not trusting his studies of the scientific discoveries alone, Heeren has gone directly to the discoverers themselves: Nobel prize-winning astronomers, NASA team leaders, and theoretical physicists like Stephen Hawking and Alan Guth. Fred Heeren serves as editor of the quarterly journal, Cosmic Pursuit, a magazine for people who want to explore and debate the ultimate questions raised by science. He speaks at astronomy conventions, participates in debates, and talks to groups that are interested in hearing more about the latest evidence for the intelligent design of our cosmos. The world's only cosmic reporter lives with his wife and five children in Olathe, Kansas.
In His Words

A Skeptic’s Questions

How am I supposed to take you Bible believers seriously when so many of you say that the universe was created within the last 10,000 years, in obvious contradiction to the facts of science?

A Believer's Response

The fact that so many Christians believe that may be more of a cultural phenomenon than any sign of what the Bible actually teaches. I won’t deny that there’s a conflict between science and traditional beliefs among many Christians, but as I can show, there’s no conflict with the Bible itself.

Source: Article - The Bible and the Big Bang

The Big Bang’s Harmony with Your Witness

For Christians, talking about the stability produced by an expanding universe and the tremendous time and care God took to prepare the world for us can be a natural way to bring God into a conversation. However, advancing the young earth view poses a serious stumbling block to many who fear they must subscribe to it in order to believe the Bible. Reasonable people who have some knowledge of science will tend to dismiss your gospel along with your geology. How much better it is to present facts that witness rather than private interpretations that scare unbelievers away.

Source: Article - The Bible and the Big Bang

Online Work

Article - The Bible and the Big Bang
Article - How Old and How Big Is the Universe?
Article - How Far Back in Time Can We Actually See?
Author of

Book - Show Me God: What the Message from Space Is Telling Us About God


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Charles Hodge

Theologian
Minister
Professor
Biblical Commentator
Bio
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Brief Background: (1797-1878) Famous biblical commentator. American theologian, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the 28th of December 1797. Graduated in 1819 from the Princeton Theological seminary, where he became an instructor in 1820. In 1821, he was ordained as a Presbyterian minister. He died at Princeton on the ~9th of June 1878. Hodge was one of the greatest of American theologians.
In His Words

[Hodge explains the importance of science/faith harmony and using one to interpret the other]

Nature is as truly a revelation of God as the Bible; and we only interpret the Word of God by the Word of God when we interpret the Bible by science. As this principle is undeniably true, it is admitted and acted on by those who, through inattention to the meaning of terms, in words deny it. When the Bible speaks of the foundations, or of the pillars of the earth, or of the solid heavens, or of the motion of the sun, do not you and every other sane man, interpret this language by the facts of science? For five thousand years the Church understood the Bible to teach that the earth stood still in space, and that the sun and stars revolved around it. Science has demonstrated that this is not true. Shall we go on to interpret the Bible so as to make it teach the falsehood that the sun moves around the earth, or shall we interpret it by science, and make the two harmonize? Of course, this rule works both ways. If the Bible cannot contradict science, neither can science contradict the Bible…There is a two-fold evil on this subject against which it would be well for Christians to guard. There are some good men who are much too ready to adopt the opinions and theories of scientific men, and to adopt forced and unnatural interpretations of the Bible, to bring it to accord with these opinions. There are others, who not only refuse to admit the opinions of men, but science itself, to have any voice in the interpretation of Scripture. Both of these errors should be avoided.

Source: Book - The Bible In Science, New York Observer, Mar, 26, 1863, pp. 98-99.

Online Work

Article - The Protestant Rule Of Faith
Author of

Book - Systematic Theology
Book - Commentary on Epistle to the Romans


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Walter Kaiser

Seminary President
Professor
Author
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Brief Background: Dr. Walter Kaiser is currently President of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and the Colman M. Mockler Distinguished Professor of Old Testament. He is the author of numerous books including, Hard Sayings of the Old Testament, Toward an Old Testament Theology, The Messiah in the Old Testament, and, most recently, A History of Israel.
RTB Endorsement

I have found Dr. Hugh Ross to be a man of integrity and sound wisdom as he has continued to offer "Reasons to Believe" to an increasingly skeptical generation of seekers. In my conversations with him on the interpretation of Genesis one and two, I found him solidly committed to the inerrancy of Scripture and to sound principles of interpretation. I commend his works to all for their thoughtful reflection on the magnificence of our great Creator Living Lord.

Walter C. Kaiser

In His Words

I would opt for the day-age theory, given all that must take place on the sixth "day" according to the Genesis record. Incidentally, this day-age view has been the majority view of the church since the fourth century, mainly through the influence of Saint Augustine.

Source: Book - Hard Sayings of the Bible page 104.

Online Work

Interview - Creation Update, March 25, 2004
Author of

Book - Hard Sayings of the Bible
Book - Hard Sayings of the Old Testament
Book - Toward an Old Testament Theology
Book - The Messiah in the Old Testament
Book - A History of Israel


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Greg Koukl

Apologist
Speaker
Philosopher
Author
Bio
Web site
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Brief Background: Greg received his B.A. in Bible from Azusa Pacific University, his Masters in Christian Apologetics from Simon Greenleaf University and is working on his Masters In Philosophy of Religion and Ethics at Talbot School of Theology. He hosts his own radio talk show advocating clear-thinking Christianity and defending the Christian world view.
In His Words

A young-universe creationist is in a very difficult spot. If he holds that God created the light in transit, he also has to hold that we have no way of knowing that anything further than 10,000 light years away actually exists. We can't see it. We're not seeing it; we're seeing an image that God created in transit. The light from it won't reach us for a billion years.

Source: Article - Star Light & the Age of the Universe

As an old-earther, I'm going to say that evidence for an ancient universe is in the heavens because scientific testing shows us that these stars are far away and their light takes a long time to reach us. Therefore, if we're seeing light from those stars, and they're a billion light years away, then those stars must have existed for at least a billion years.

Source: Article - Star Light & the Age of the Universe

Online Work

Article - Star Light & the Age of the Universe
Article - Designed by Natural Selection
Author of

Book - Relativism: Feet Firmly Planted in Mid-Air
Book - Precious Unborn Human Persons


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C. S. Lewis

Author (Apologetics)
Bio
Web Site
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Brief Background: Famous apologist. Clive Staples Lewis was born in Belfast, Ireland on November 29, 1898. He was attending Oxford college in 1917 when he joined the British army to fight in World War One. He was later wounded in the Battle of Arras. He returned to Oxford after the war. In 1925, he became Fellow of Language and Literature at Oxford. Lewis had always been an atheist but became a Christian in 1931. He then became a prolific Christian writer. Lewis's books about Christianity have been some of the most read books of our time. He also wrote fiction and was a person friend of J. R. R. Tolkien. Lewis died on November 22, 1963, the same day John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.
In His Words

[Even though C. S. Lewis was a theistic evolutionist it is notable that he firmly believed in an old earth.]

I am not either attacking or defending Evolution. I believe that Christianity can still be believed, even if Evolution is true. This is where you and I differ.

Source: The Acworth Letters - Letter of December 9, 1944

I have read nearly the whole of Evolution [probably Acworth’s unpublished “The Lie of Evolution”] and am glad you sent it. I must confess it has shaken me: not in my belief in evolution, which was of the vaguest and most intermittent kind, but in my belief that the question was wholly unimportant.

Source: The Acworth Letters - Letter of September 13, 1951

The existence of pain in the animal kingdom especially troubled Lewis, who devoted an entire chapter to the subject in The Problem of Pain. Theologians, he noted, had previously attributed the origin of animal suffering to the Fall of man. But the scientific evidence that carnivorousness was “older than humanity” had led Lewis to conclude that evil had manifested itself long before Adam in the law of tooth and claw. To account for this fact, he postulated a hypothetical pre-Adamic fall, in which Satan corrupted the world and caused animals to live by preying on one another.

Source: The Acworth Letters - Summary at Apologetics.org

Author of

Book - The Problem of Pain
Book - Mere Christianity
Book - Miracles


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Paul E. Little

Professor
Evangelist
Apologist
Author
Web site
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Brief Background: Paul Eagleson Little was born to Robert J. Little (of Moody Bible Institute) and Margaret Eagelson on December 30, 1928, in Philadelphia. He married Marie Huttenlock in 1953. They adopted 2 children, Deborah Ann (1957) and Paul Robert, Jr. (1958). His education consists of a BS in 1950 from the University of Pennsylvania, a MA in Biblical Literature from Wheaton College in 1958, and was a PhD candidate at New York University in 1975 when he died in an automobile accident. Some of his notable positions include numerous posts with Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship, Assistant Professor of Evangelism at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Director of the 1974 International Congress on World Evangelization for Billy Graham, and served on the board of Trustees for Wheaton College. Paul had a vary prolific career - he was one of the leading evangelical writers and speakers of 60s and 70s, many of his books are still in circulation.
In His Words

In the light of all these things we can conclude with Ramm's statement: "Genesis 1 now stands in higher repute than it could ever have stood in the history of science up to this point. We now have means whereby we can point to a moment of time, or to an event or cluster of events in time, which dates our present known universe. According to the best available data, that is of the order of four to five billion years ago. A series of calculations converge on about the same order of time. We cannot with our present information force a verdict for creation from the scientists, though that is not to be considered an impossibility. Perhaps the day will come when we have enough evidence from physics, astronomy, and astrophysics to get such a verdict from the scientists. In the meantime we can maintain that Genesis 1 is not out of harmony with the trend of scientific information."

Source: Book - Know Why You Believe (chapter 2 - Is There A God?)

It is thought by many people, including the famous Lord Bertrand Russell, that all Christians actually believe creation occurred in 4004 B.C. Some time ago I was visiting a non-Christian student on a Midwestern state university campus. I picked up a true-false exam in a course on Western Civilization. One question read, “According to the Bible, the world was created in 4004 B.C."

“I suppose your instructor wants you to mark this question true," I said.

“That's right," the student replied.

“Interesting," I mused. Pulling an Oxford edition of the Bible from my pocket, I said, “I wonder if you could show me where the Bible says that."

Source: Book - Know Why You Believe (chapter 9 - Do Science and Scripture Conflict?)

Online Work

Article - What Non-Christians Ask
Author of

Book - Know Why You Believe: Connecting Faith and Reason
Book - Know What You Believe: Connecting Faith and Truth
Book - Witnessing: How to Give Away Your Faith


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Patricia Mondore Author
Musician
Bio
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Brief Background: Patricia Mondore graduated from Houghton College and received her Masters from Syracuse University. She is the Pediatric Residency Program Coordinator at the SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York. She is also a free lance Christian writer. She and her husband Robert have had numerous articles published and have co-authored several book manuscripts. She also writes and sings her own songs. Their latest project has been a study on the scientific accuracy of the Scriptures.
In Her Words:

Our most recent and most conclusive scientific evidence points to a creation event; the starting point of the universe; a Big Bang. The Scriptures are in complete agreement with the concept of a Creation event. God created the universe from nothing. All of the stars, planets, galaxies, as well as all of the life that covers this earth came to be, because God spoke the word and it came into existence. No one was there to hear the sound at the moment of creation but the cosmic microwave background radiation still resounds with the radiant energy of an explosion from long ago. Though they have the proof of its happening, scientists still struggle to understand what the First Cause was, the mighty force that brought an entire universe into existence from nothing. Those who have studied the Bible understand that when God speaks, things happen. The Word of God was given and the universe sprang into existence at His command. It was a mighty big bang, indeed.

Source: Article - A Very Big Bang

Online Work

Article - A Very Big Bang
Article - Designer Genes
Article - The Code Word
Article - Ask the Animals
Article - Maternal Instincts Betrayed: Post-Abortion Syndrome
Song - Flow Mighty River (MP3)
Author of

Book - Proclaim His Praise in the Islands
Book - A Perennial Faith : Finding Courage to Grow in the Garden of Life


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Dr. James P. Moreland

Scholar
Apologist
Philosopher
Author
Lecturer
Bio
Web Site

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Brief Background: Dr. Moreland is a dynamic speaker. He has spoken on 175 college campuses around the country, spoken or debated on radio over 100 times and on television four times. He has made over eighty presentations to professionals. Dr. Moreland is also a prolific writer. He authored the book Love Your God With All Your Mind. He has contributed dozens of books, magazines and professional journals. Dr. Moreland has a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from the University of Missouri, masters degree in both Theology (Dallas Theological Seminary), and Philosophy (University of California-Riverside) and a doctorate in Philosophy from the University of Southern California. He has planted Campus Crusade chapters on two college campuses in Colorado and started Campus Crusade in the state of Vermont. Additionally, Dr. Moreland has served as interim pastor or co-pastor for several churches. Currently, Dr. Moreland is professor of Philosophy, Talbot School of Theology, Biola University, La Mirada, California.
In His Words

Now, when it comes to the days of Genesis...I'm of the view on this that while we ought not allow science to dictate to us our exegesis of the Old Testament, nevertheless, if there is an interpretation of the Old Testament that is exegetically permissible-- that is, and old age interpretation; that is to say, if you can find conservative, inerrantist, evangelical Old Testament scholars that say that the interpretation of this text that treats the days of Genesis as unspecified periods of time, and that is a completely permissible thing to do on exegetical grounds alone, then my view is that that is a permissible option if it harmonizes the text with science because that option can be justified exegetically, independent of science.

Source: Lecture at Northshore Church in Everett, Washington on February 2, 2002. Transcript article here - The Age of Earth

Online Work

Article - Is Science a Threat or Help to Faith?
Audio Lecture - Education Crisis
Author of

Book - Love Your God With All Your Mind: The Role of Reason in the Life of the Soul
Book - Three Views on Creation and Evolution


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Robert C. Newman

Astrophysicist
Theologian
Hebrew linguist
Author
Engineer
Bio
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Brief Background: Robert C. Newman is Professor of New Testament at the Biblical Theological Seminary of Hatfield, Pennsylvania and Director of the Interdisciplinary Biblical Research Institute there. As a theologian he has earned the degrees of Master of Divinity and Master of Sacred Theology. He has done further graduate work in biblical geography at the Institute of Holy Land Studies, and in biblical interpretation at Westminster Theological Seminary. In the field of science, Dr. Newman received his under-graduate degree in physics from Duke University and his doctorate in theoretical astrophysics from Cornell University. He is co-author of four books: Science Speaks, Genesis One and the Origin of the Earth, The Evidence of Prophecy, and What's Darwin Got to Do With It? A Friendly Conversation on Evolution . He has also published a number of articles in magazines, scientific and theological journals, dictionaries, and multi-author books.
In His Words

The universe gives every appearance of being old, but of finite age, probably in the range of ten to twenty billion years

Source: Article - A Critical Examination Of Modern Cosmological Theories - Multimedia PowerPoint version available here.

Robert wrote in defense of Progressive Creation in the book Three Views on Creation and Evolution

Source: Book - Three Views on Creation and Evolution

Online Work

Article - A Critical Examination Of Modern Cosmological Theories
Article - Evangelicals and Crackpot Science
Article - Beliefs and Physics: Some Lessons from the Ancient Greeks
Article - A Designed Universe
Article - The Status of Evolution as a Scientific Theory (critical of the theory)
Author of

Book - Three Views on Creation and Evolution
Book - Genesis one & the origin of the Earth


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Greg Neyman Author
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Brief Background: Greg Neyman is founder of Answers In Creation, an old earth website ministry aimed at advancing the acceptance of old earth belief. He is a graduate of Memphis State University, with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Geology. He received the Outstanding Senior Award in Geology as the senior with the highest grade point average. He has done graduate level work towards a Masters in Religion at Liberty University. His works include over 1400 online articles in support of old earth creationism.
In His Words

The Bible does not say, "Thou shalt believe in a young earth." The fact is, no verse in the Bible makes any claims as to the age of the earth. All the so-called verses that young earth proponents point to can be interpreted by the reader to mean old or young. The key doctrines of the Bible are not affected by either interpretation.

Source: Article - Can You Be a Christian and Believe in an Old Earth?

The (young earth) author uses the verse from Job, 'Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?' (Job 38:4) to admonish the old-ager. To the author I say, "Where were you when God laid the foundations of the earth?" You were not there either! So you can't "assume" a 6,000-year-old earth, just like we can't "assume" a 13.7 billion year old universe. What we have to decide this issue is the evidence from God's creation, and not our assumptions. Job 12:8 says "speak to the earth, and it will teach thee." Secular and Christian scientists, outside of a religious framework, have examined God's creation, and it says, "I'm 13.7 billion years old.

Source: Article - Are Dating Techniques Accurate?

Nowhere in the Bible does it state that the days of creation are 24-hour days. Young earth creationists will argue over the correct translation of "day." The translation of "day" is irrelevant. If you are in the middle of space, what is a "day." If you are eternal, what meaning does time have? Are we going to have clocks in heaven? Wow, there goes another million years! Only human arrogance would insist on limiting God, an infinite being, to a finite 24-hour day.

Source: Article - Are Dating Techniques Accurate?

Does it matter which position you believe in? No, it doesn't. The doctrine of salvation through Jesus Christ is not affected by the age of the earth, nor the method God used to create the earth.

Source: Article - Old Earth Belief

Online Work

Article - Answers In Creation (numerous articles)


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Mark A. Noll

Professor
Author
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Brief Background: Mark A. Noll, Ph.D. is the McManus Professor of Christian Thought at Wheaton College. He also teaches in the History and the Bible and Theology Departments. Dr. Noll is the Senior Director of the Institute for the Study of America Evangelicals (ISAE) at the college. He holds a BA in English from Wheaton College, an MA in comparative literature from the University of Iowa, an MA in church history from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and a Ph.D. in American religious history from Vanderbilt University. Dr. Noll's main academic interests concern the interaction of Christianity and culture in 18th- and 19th century Anglo-American societies. He has written extensively on that subject, and his essays and reviews have appeared in a number of academic and popular journals. He is author of The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind and A History of Christianity in the United States and Canada, and many other books relating to Christian history and theology.
In His Words

The word creationism by rights should define all who discern a divine mind at work in, or under the phenomena of the natural world. Yet by a most unfortunate set of events, the term has come to mean only the view that God created the world ten thousand or fewer years ago...

Source: Book - The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind (1994, p 188)

Creation science has damaged evangelism by making it much more difficult to think clearly about human origins, the age of the earth, and mechanisms of geological or biological change. But it has done more profound damage by undermining the ability to look at the world God has made and to understand what we see when we do look.

Source: Book - The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind (1994, p 196)

Online Work

Article - Ignorant Armies - A review of The Creationists by Ronald L. Numbers
Article - Charles Hodge and B.B. Warfield on Science, the Bible, Evolution, and Darwinism
Author of

Book - The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind - For this work, Noll was awarded the 1994 National Association of Evangelicals "Book of the Year".
Book - The Princeton Theology 1812-1921 : Scripture, Science, and Theological Method from Archibald Alexander to Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield
Book - America's God: From Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln
Book - The Rise of Evangelicalism: The Age of Edwards, Whitefield, and the Wesleys (History of Evangelicalism, 1)
Book - Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity


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Nancy Pearcey

Scholar
Speaker
Author
Bio
Web site
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Brief Background: Nancy R. Pearcey is currently a visiting scholar at Biola University's Torrey Honors Institute, a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute, and managing editor of the journal Origins and Design. Mrs. Pearcey is a frequent speaker at conferences and universities, and has been writing on science and Christian worldview since 1977.For nearly nine years she was policy director of the Wilberforce Forum, and executive editor of Colson's "BreakPoint," a daily radio commentary program analyzing current issues from a Christian worldview perspective. She also co-authored with Colson a monthly column in Christianity Today. Pearcey studied under Francis Schaeffer at L'Abri Fellowship in Switzerland in 1971 and 1972, earned a master's degree from Covenant Theological Seminary, and did graduate work at the Institute for Christian Studies in Toronto. She is co-author with Charles Thaxton of the book The Soul of Science: Christian Faith and Natural Philosophy, and has contributed chapters to several other books, including Mere Creation, Of Pandas and People, and Pro-Life Feminism. Her articles have appeared in numerous journals and magazines.
In Her Words

Naturalists simply have no way to avoid the challenge posed by the big bang without twisting themselves into impossible logical contortions. The [scientific] facts clearly indicate that the universe is not eternal, and it cannot originate itself.

Source: Book - How Now Shall We Live? (1999 p 58)

For centuries, conventional scientific wisdom taught that the universe was eternal. But Big Bang theory has given dramatic evidence that the universe had a beginning—just as Scripture teaches. And if the Big Bang is the origin of the universe, its cause must be something beyond the universe, a transcendent cause.

Source: Article - Quoting the Bible Isn't Enough Christianity Today (Volume 41, Issue 9 August 11, 1997)

[Nancy quoting Behe (favorably)]

Catch up with the late-twentieth century. It was 60 years ago that the Big Bang theory was proposed, and cosmologists had to confront the idea of an ultimate origin of the universe-no matter how philosophically "repugnant" (A. S. Eddington's word) they found that idea because of its implication of a personal creator.

Source: Book Review - Darwin's Black Box (review by Nancy Pearcey)

Online Work

Article - The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution (Book review of Darwin's Black Box)
Article - Our "Tailor-made" Universe
Article - DNA: The Message in the Message
Article - Phillip Johnson was Right: The Unhappy Evolution of Darwinism
Article - Scopes in reverse
Article - Article Index
Author of

Book - How Now Shall We Live?
Book - Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity
Book - The Soul of Science: Christian Faith and Natural Philosophy
Book - Developing a Christian Worldview of the Problem of Evil


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Perry G. Phillips Astrophysicist
Theologian
Adjunct Professor
Author
Engineer
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Brief Background: former Software Quality Assurance Engineer, Comverse Network Systems. PhD in astrophysics; M.Div. in theology; MA in Hebrew.
In His Words

Some Christians hold that God took six literal days to accomplish this task, while others are convinced that God used processes that spanned millions and billions of years. Why the difference of opinion? The answer is that ample evidence exists, both scientific and biblical, that raises questions about a literal six day creation period.

Source: Article - Are The Days Of Genesis Longer Than 24 Hours? The Bible Says, "Yes!"

Since radiation from some objects has taken billions of years to arrive, the universe is at least billions of years old.

Source: Article - A History and Analysis of the 15.7 Light-Year Universe

Varve deposits display great age. The Salido, Castile, and Bell Canyon formations of west Texas contain 260,000 couplets. Hence, this formation is most naturally considered to be 260,000 years old. Core samples have also revealed that these varves have uniform thickness over many square miles.

Young Earth Creationists, of course, reject such an old age for this formation. They attribute its origin to Noah's Flood, which lasted about one year. To lay down 260,000 varves in one year, however, requires that about 720 couplets be laid down each day, or about one pair every two minutes - an implausible scenario given the evenness, extent, and alternating composition of the layers.

Source: Article - Varves: Layered Sediments as Evidence for an Old Earth

Thus 8 millimeters per year cannot be far from the actual growth rate of the Eniwetok corals. Using this value, the age of the reef is calculated by dividing 4,610 feet by 8 millimeters (about .3 inch) per year, which is about 175,000 years. But this is a minimum age since we have not taken into account the time periods (represented by the unconformities mentioned above) when the reef was not growing.

Source: Article - Coral Reefs: Indicators of an Old Earth

Online Work

Article - Are The Days Of Genesis Longer Than 24 Hours? The Bible Says, "Yes!"
Article - A History and Analysis of the 15.7 Light-Year Universe
Article - Varves: Layered Sediments as Evidence for an Old Earth
Article - Coral Reefs: Indicators of an Old Earth
Article - The Status of Evolution as a Scientific Theory (critical of the theory)
Article - Thrice Supported Big Bang
Article - Did Animals Die before the Fall?



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Dr. William D. Phillips

Scientist
Nobel Prize recipient (physics)
Lecturer
Bio
Web Site
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Brief Background: William D. Phillips is truly an exceptional Christian scientist. He is an American physicist whose experiments using laser light to cool and trap atoms earned him the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1997. He shared the award with Steven Chu and Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, who also developed methods of laser cooling and atom trapping. Phillips received his doctorate in physics (1976) and completed his postdoctoral research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1978 he joined the staff of the National Bureau of Standards (now the National Institute of Standards and Technology) in Gaithersburg, Md., and it was there that he conducted his award-winning research. Building on Chu's work, Phillips developed new and improved methods for measuring the temperature of laser-cooled atoms. In 1988 he discovered that the atoms reached a temperature six times lower than the predicted theoretical limit. Cohen-Tannoudji refined the theory to explain the new results, and he and Phillips further investigated methods of trapping atoms cooled to even lower temperatures. One result of the development of laser-cooling techniques was the first observation, in 1995, of the Bose-Einstein condensate, a new state of matter originally predicted 70 years earlier by Albert Einstein and the Indian physicist Satyendra Nath Bose. In this state atoms are so chilled and so slow that they, in effect, merge and behave as one single quantum entity that is much larger than any individual atom.
In His Words

As for the age of the earth and the universe, within the usual limits of any scientific conclusions, I believe that the present calculations of about 4 billion years for the earth and 14 billion years for the universe are not far wrong, and I see no conflict with that understanding and my understanding of the Bible.

Source: E-mail response to the direct question by the author of this paper May 24, 2004

Online Work

Lecture transcript - Nobel Prize acceptance lecture, "Laser Cooling and Trapping of Neutral Atoms"
Thesis - I. The magnetic moment of the proton in H2O ; II. Inelastic collisions in excited Na.


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Mike Poole

Professor
Author
Bio
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Brief Background: Mike Poole is currently Visiting Research Fellow in the School of Education at King’s College, London. With a background in science education, his research interests have centered on the interplay between science and religion with special reference to its educational context. He is the author of several books and some fifty articles and papers on the topic.
In His Words

One of the most dramatic ideas of modern science is the Big Bang. But the Big Bang was not a cosmic explosion at a point in time in empty black space, but the beginning of space and of time itself (space-time). The idea that time is part of the creation is very difficult to grasp. But it is similar to the view which St. Augustine held, back in the 4th century! Realizing that the Bible teaches that God transcends time, he said that creation was 'with time', not 'in time'. So the Bible's opening words, 'In the beginning', better express the idea than the traditional 'Once upon a time'.

Source: Article - God And The Big Bang - And Other Arguments About Science And Faith

The current consensus among academic scientists of various faiths and of none, whose expertise lies in the fields concerned, is of a universe some 13.7 x 109 years old and an Earth of about 4.6 x 109 years, rather than 6–10 000 years old.

Source: Article - Creationism, Intelligent Design and Science Education

Online Work

Article - God And The Big Bang - And Other Arguments About Science And Faith
Article - Evolution and/or Creation?
Book - God, Humanity and the Cosmos (online version)
Author of

Book - God, Humanity and the Cosmos: A Textbook in Science and Religion
Book - A Guide to Science and Belief
Book - Beliefs and Values in Science Education


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Bernard L. Ramm

Apologist
Philosopher
Theologian
Author
Bio
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Brief Background: (1916-1992), Bernard was an evangelical, a bold defender of inerrancy, as well as a Baptist Theologian. He taught at the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. (He suggested the name "Biola" when it changed into a college). He also briefly headed the philosophy department at Bethel College and Seminary (St. Paul, Minn.), he then became director of graduate studies in religion at Baylor University in 1954. Later he taught at California Baptist Seminary (Covina), Eastern Baptist Seminary (Philadelphia), and the American Baptist Seminary of the West (Berkeley). Ramm also had a keen interest in science - in particular, combining Christian faith and science. He urged Christians not be afraid of education and the sciences. He was active in the American Scientific Affiliation for over forty years.
In His Words

In discussing the Biblical cosmology we must return to our general position defended earlier in this chapter; the references of the writers of the Bible to natural things are popular, non-postulational, and in terms of the culture in which the writers wrote. This principle applies directly to Biblical cosmology. The language of the Bible with reference to cosmological matters is in terms of the prevailing culture. Biblical cosmology is in the language of antiquity and not of modern science, nor is it filled with anticipations which the future microscope and telescope will reveal...

The cosmology of the Bible is not systematized and is not postulational. It is neither for nor against any of the current and ancient theories of the universe except where they might be polytheistic or in conflict with basic Christian metaphysics. But the Bible does not support Aristotle or Ptolemy or Copernicus or Descartes or Newton or Einstein or Milne. Certainly, the Bible works as a negative criterion in telling us that dualisms and pantheisms and materialisms are wrong, but it gives us no positive cosmology.

Source: Book - Christian View of Science and Scripture (1954, p 65-66)

To this point we have shown that evolution with all necessary qualifications has been adopted into both the Catholic and Protestant evangelical theology and has not meant the disruption of either. The charge that evolution is anti-Christian, and that theistic evolution is not a respectable position, is very difficult to make good in view of the evidence we have here given.

Source: Book - Christian View of Science and Scripture (1954, p 202)

Ramm quoting Warfield: The antiquity of the human race] has of itself no theological significance. It is to theology, as such, a matter of entire indifference how long man has existed on earth.

Source: Book - Christian View of Science and Scripture (1954, p 216)

What disturbs me the most about the most rigid creationist views is that they drive Christians and scientists millions of miles apart. Some of them amount to a total denial of anything significant in geology. There's a unity to the sciences and the borders of the sciences overlap. You can't just pick out geology and say, "Science is all wrong there, but it's right in all these other territories." Take the use of atomic materials, high-speed atomic particles, X rays and so on; going to the doctor to get an X ray is one piece of the science, but it spills over into geology. It's odd if you have to say that almost 100% of the world's geologists are wrong, but once you get away from geology the scientists are pretty right. That seems to me to be something creationists have to come to terms with.

Source: Interview - ASA Resource - An Interview with Bernard Ramm and Alta Ramm by Walter Hearn

Online Work

Interview - An Interview with Bernard Ramm
Author of

Book - Christian View of Science and Scripture
Book - Protestant Biblical Interpretation; A Textbook of Hermeneutics
Book - A Christian Appeal to Reason


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Dr. Jay W. Richards

Philosopher
Theologian
Author
Bio
Web Site
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Brief Background: Jay W. Richards is Vice President of the Discovery Institute, as well as Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture. Jay has a Ph.D. (honors) in philosophy and theology from Princeton Theological Seminary, where he was formerly a Teaching Fellow. From 1996-1998, he was executive and associate editor of The Princeton Theological Review, and president of the Charles Hodge Society at Princeton Theological Seminary. He has published in academic journals such as Religious Studies, Christian Scholars' Review, The Heythrop Journal, Encounter, The Princeton Theological Review, Perspectives on Science and the Christian Faith: The Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation; as well as editorial features in The Washington Post, Seattle Post-Intelligencer and IntellectualCapital.com. He is editor and contributor, with William A. Dembski, of Unapologetic Apologetics: Meeting the Challenges of Theological Studies (InterVarsity Press, 2001), and editor and contributor with George Gilder of Are We Spiritual Machines?: Ray Kurzweil vs. the Critics of Strong AI (Discovery Institute Press, 2002). He is also author of The Untamed God: A Philosophical Exploration of Divine Perfection, Immutability, and Simplicity (InterVarsity Press, 2003), and co-author, with astronomer Guillermo Gonzalez, of the book The Privileged Planet: How Our Place in the Cosmos Is Designed for Discovery (Regnery, 2004).
In His Words

Look through a small telescope at the moon, and you will see a few large maria (dry "seas") and many craters of various sizes. Impacts are responsible for all these features, most prior to 3.5 billion years ago.

Source: Article - Good Reason to Shoot for the Moon

Online Work

Article - Good Reason to Shoot for the Moon
Article - Intelligent Design Theory: Why it Matters
Article - Natural Selection Found in Report on Science Education
Article - Scientific Test for God a Valid Scientific Goal
Author of

Book - The Privileged Planet: How Our Place in the Cosmos Is Designed for Discovery
Book - Unapologetic Apologetics
Book - Are We Spiritual Machines?
Book - The Untamed God


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Dr. Hugh Ross

Ph.D. Astronomer
Pastor
Apologist
Author
Speaker
Bio
Web site
Testimony
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Brief Background: Born in Montreal and raised in Vancouver, Canada. By age eight he was reading physics books and had decided to make astronomy his career. In the next several years his study of the big bang convinced him that the universe had a beginning, and thus a Beginner. In high school he set out to see which of the "holy" books seemed to agree with what he saw in nature. He was disappointed until he began to read the pages of the Bible. He was amazed at how in the very beginning (Genesis) not only did it's author correctly describe the major events in the creation , but placed those events in the scientifically correct order and properly identified the earth's initial conditions. He soon came to trust the Bible's authority to the same degree as he trusted the laws of physics. Soon after he acknowledged Jesus Christ as his lord and Savior and became a Christian. Not long after that he founded Reasons To Believe in an effort to give others reasons to believe in the God of the Bible.
In His Words

Christian apologists trained in the physical sciences and familiar with the Scriptures see no danger in connecting big bang cosmology with biblical teaching because the connection is based on well-established, thoroughly tested science and clear exegesis. Further, they understand that big bang theory refers not to one particular scenario but rather to a whole class of cosmological models. Understanding this one point may be the key to dispelling big bang phobia among Christians unfamiliar with science.

Source: Article - Facing Up to Big Bang Challenges

Online Work

Vast resources - Go to Reasons To Believe website to locate Hugh Ross articles, video and audio clips.
Author of

Book - Fingerprint of God
Book - The Creator and the Cosmos
Book - The Genesis Question
Book - A Matter of Days
Book - Lights in the Sky and Little Green Men (co-authored)
Book - Origins of Life (co-authored)
Book - Creation as Science
Book - Why the Universe Is the Way It Is
Book - More Than a Theory


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Dr. Henry "Fritz" Schaefer III

Scholar (Chemistry)
Lecturer
Bio
Web Site
Testimony
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Brief Background: Schaefer is the Graham Perdue Professor of Chemistry and the director of the Center for Computational Quantum Chemistry at the University of Georgia. He has served in professorships at the University of California-Berkeley, the University of Texas-Austin, the University of Paris, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, and several others. Nominated for the Nobel Prize in 1994, he was cited for the period 1981-1997 as the sixth most-quoted chemist in the world.
In His Words

The 1965 observation of the microwave background radiation by Arno Penzias (1933-) and Robert Wilson (1936-) of the Bell Telephone Laboratories (regrettably partially dismantled following the breakup of AT&T) convinced most scientists of the validity of the Big Bang Theory. Further observations reported in 1992 have moved the Big Bang Theory from a consensus view to the nearly unanimous view among cosmologists: there was an origin to the universe, perhaps 13-15 billion years ago.

Source: Article - Stephen Hawking, the Big Bang, and God

Only if we lived in imaginary time (not coming soon to a neighborhood near you!) would we encounter no singularities. In real time the universe was created ex nihilo 12-15 billion years ago.

Source: Article - Stephen Hawking, the Big Bang, and God

Online Work

Article - Stephen Hawking, The Big Bang and God


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Francis Schaeffer

Pastor
Apologist
Philosopher
Author
Lecturer
Bio
Web Site
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Brief Background: Francis Schaeffer was a Presbyterian minister with an ability to see how the questions of meaning, morals, and value being dealt with by philosophy, were the same questions that the Bible dealt with, only in different language. Once an agnostic, Schaeffer came to the conclusion that Biblical Christianity not only gave sufficient answers to the big questions, but that they were the only answers that were both self-consistent and livable. He opened his Swiss home to travelers to discuss these things. Later he began lecturing in universities and writing a number of books. Perhaps no other Christian thinker of the twentieth century, besides C.S. Lewis, has had more influence on thinking people.
In His Words

Francis A. Schaeffer on "day" in Genesis 1

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 that Adam and Eve were not created simultaneously, day in Genesis 5:2 does not mean a period of twenty-four hours.

In other places in the Old Testament the Hebrew word day refers to an era, just as it often does in English. See, for example, Isaiah 2:11,12 and 17 for such a usage.

The simple fact is that day in Hebrew (just as in English) is used in three separate senses: to mean (1) twenty-four hours, (2) the period of light during the twenty-four hours, and (3) an indeterminate period of time. Therefore, we must leave open the exact length of time indicated by day in Genesis.

Source: Book - Genesis in Space and Time; The Flow of Biblical History (1972 p 59)

Author of

Book - Genesis in Space and Time
Book - Trilogy
Book - How Should We Then Live?


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C.I. (Cyrus Ingerson) Scofield

Pastor
Author
Lecturer
Bio
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Brief Background: (1843-1921), Bible student and author, born in Lenawee County, Michigan, reared in Wilson County, Tennessee, and privately educated. Fought in the Civil War from 1861-1865 under General Lee, his distinguished service earning him the Confederate Cross of Honor. Admitted to the Kansas bar in 1869, elected to the Kansas House of Representatives where he served for one year. President Grant appointed him United States Attorney for Kansas in 1873. Worked as a lawyer in Kansas and Missouri from 1869 to 1882. Converted at 36, he was ordained to the Congregational ministry in 1882, and served as pastor of the First Church, Dallas, Texas (1882-1895), and again (1902-1907); and of the Moody Church, Northfield, Massachusetts (1895-1902). Later years were spent lecturing on biblical subjects on both sides of the Atlantic. The work for which he is best remembered is his 1909 dispensational premillenial Scofield Reference Bible. (From "The Wycliffe Biographical Dictionary of the Church," page 362, Elgin S. Moyer, 1982, © Moody Press, Chicago, IL)
In His Words

The ancient creation view was held by conservative theologian whose Reference Bible helped publicize the famous "gap" theory (which proposed an age-old earth before Adam). Scofield wrote of genesis 1:1:

The first creative act refers to the dateless past, and gives scope for all the geologic ages. . . . The frequent parabolic use of natural phenomena may warrant the conclusion that each creative ‘day’ was a period of time marked off by a beginning and ending.

Source: Book - 1909 Scofield Reference Bible.

Online Work

Book - Rightly Dividing The word Of Truth
Article - The Biggest Failure Of The Church Age


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Chuck Smith Jr.

Pastor
Website
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Brief Background: Chuck Smith jr. started Capo Beach Calvary in Capistrano Beach, California, and has served as its pastor for 27 years. His father founded Calvary Chapel, a Southern California church that developed innovative ministries in the 1970s to reach young people in the counterculture. Today, Chuck is doing the same thing for emerging generations of the postmodern age. The father of five children, he and his wife, Barbara, also have five grandchildren, a cat and a dog, two fish and two turtles.
In His Words

Dr. Ross graciously examines the scientific merits of a young-earth creation and its biblical foundation. He not only demonstrates the more likely age of the universe, but he also celebrates the greatness and majesty of its Creator. A Matter of Days is a valuable gift to the Christian community, especially to students who have felt compelled to wear an unnecessary yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear.

Source: Printed book endorsement of A Matter of Days


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David Snoke

Scientist
Pastor
Author
Bio
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Brief Background: Dr. David Snoke received his Bachelor’s degree in physics (magna cum laude) from Cornell University in 1983 and his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1990. He is presently Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Pittsburgh, where he has been since 1994. Before that, he was an Alexander von Humboldt postdoctoral fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Physics in Stuttgart, Germany, and worked in industry at various times for the Westinghouse Research and Development Center in Pittsburgh and the Aerospace Corporation in Los Angeles. He has published two books with Cambridge University Press on the physics of Bose-Einstein Condensation, and he has published over 50 articles in refereed scientific journals on his research on the optics of semiconductors and other materials - as well as several articles on Christianity and science for World magazine and for Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, the journal of the American Scientific Affiliation. He is director of the Photonics program at the University of Pittsburgh and directs a laser laboratory funded by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy. He is currently preparing a new textbook for Addison-Wesley on general solid state physics theory. David Snoke is also a licensed preacher and an elder in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), and has published several articles and a short book on the relationship of science and faith. He and his wife have homeschooled their four children for the past 14 years and are active in the Pittsburgh East Area Christian Homeschoolers (PEACH), their local homeschool support group. Natural Philosophy: A Survey Of Physics and Western Thought was developed from materials originally used in a physics class taught for that group.
In His Words

In this book I argue that the Old Earth position is a valid conservative, orthodox interpretation of the Bible.

Source: Book - A Biblical Case for an Old Earth

It is unfortunate that some people oppose "Big Bang" theory out of the feeling that it implies randomness in creation, because nothing could be further from the truth. Perhaps the name leads people to the wrong picture, of a chaotic explosion. On the contrary, modern science (see, for example, The Accidental Universe by P.C.W. Davies) has shown that incredible balances and tuning were involved in the Big Bang, with precisions on the order of one part in 10100 (ten followed by 100 zeroes).

Source: Book - A Biblical Case for an Old Earth

Online Work

Book - A Biblical Case for an Old Earth
Article - Personal Articles
Author of

Book - A Biblical Case for an Old Earth
Book - Natural Philosophy: A Survey of Physics and Western Thought - You can read excerpts here.


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Lee Strobel

Author (Apologetics)
Bio
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Brief Background: An award-winning journalist for thirteen years with the Chicago Tribune and other newspapers, was a spiritual skeptic until 1981. Author of the Gold medallion Award-winning books The Case for Christ and The Case for Faith, he is a teaching pastor at Saddleback Valley Community Church. He and his wife live in Orange County, California.
In His Words

In his books, Lee embraces science and draws heavily from the big bang and other cosmological arguments.

Thanks to scientific discoveries of the last fifty years, the ancient kalam cosmological argument has taken on a powerful and persuasive new force. As described by William Lane Craig, the argument is simple yet elegant: first, whatever begins to exist has a cause . Even renowned skeptic David Hume didn't deny this first premise. In fact, atheist Quentin Smith's contention that "we came from nothing, by nothing, and for nothing" seems intuitively absurd.

Source: Article - Summary piece for chapter 5 from a web site devoted to his book "The Case for a Creator"

The cosmological constant, which represents the energy density of space, is as precise as throwing a dart from space and hitting a bulls-eye just a trillionth of a trillionth of an inch in diameter on Earth. One expert said there are more than thirty physical or cosmological parameters that require precise calibration in order to produce a universe that can sustain life.

Source: Article - Summary piece for chapter 6 from a web site devoted to his book "The Case for a Creator"

Online: Genesis 1 chart - Summary of creation days with scientific fact

Author of

Book - The Case for a Creator
Book - The Case for Faith
Book - The Case for Christ


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Ken Taylor

Author
Founder of Tyndale House Publishers
Bio
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Brief Background: Ken Taylor authored the Living Bible and founded Tyndale House Publishers in the 1960s. Before his passing in 2005, he served as the chairman of the board for Tyndale.
RTB Endorsement

I am a strong supporter of the work of Reasons To Believe. It’s publications and lectures clearly show that the facts of science force the unprejudiced to believe in God as the creator of the heavens and the earth, and all they contain.

Kenneth N. Taylor, August 2004

Author of

The Living Bible
Family-Time Bible
The New Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes
Family Devotions for Children
A Child's First Bible


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Benjamin B. Warfield

Theologian
Pastor
Biblical Commentator
Professor
Bio
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Brief Background: (1851-1921), B. B. Warfield studied under Charles Hodge and was a strong defender of the divine inspiration and authority of Scripture as well as a pillar for Reformation in his day. Warfield’s life-long ministry was to refute theological liberalism. He was also a great Biblical commentator of Western Theological Seminary and Princeton Theological Seminary fame. Warfield wrote extensively, and his many articles continue to be published and translated around the world. He was also known for his keen interest in science.
In His Words

In a word, the Scriptural data leave us wholly without guidance in estimating the time which elapsed between the creation of the world and the deluge and between the deluge and the call of Abraham. So far as the Scripture assertions are concerned, we may suppose any length of time to have intervened between these events which may otherwise appear reasonable. The question of the antiquity of man is accordingly a purely scientific one, in which the theologian as such has no concern.

Source: Book - "On the Antiquity and Unity of the Human Race" (1911, p. 261) also, reprinted in Biblical and Theological Studies (P & R, 1968), pp. 238-261

Online Work

Article - Christianity The Truth
Article - A Brief and Untechnical Statement of the Reformed Faith
Article - Darwin's Arguments Against Christianity And Religion
Article - Some Thoughts on Predestination
Article - The Authority and Inspiration of the Scriptures
Article - The Resurrection of Christ: A Historical Fact
Article - What Is Calvinism?
Article - Index of numerous articles at Bible Teacher
Author of

Book - Studies in Theology
Book - Works of Benjamin Warfield