SPR2011: THE6110 DEBATE RESEARCH GUIDE

Transcription

1 SPR2011: THE6110 DEBATE RESEARCH GUIDE DEBATE: YOUNG AND OLD EARTH CREATIONISM, RESEARCH GUIDE Leonard O Goenaga SEBTS, THE6110 Theology I Dr. Hammett

2 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS PART ONE: RESEARCH...4 I. CLASS NOTES...4 A. THE6110 LECTURE NOTES 3B THE WORKS OF GOD (5 PAGES) THE CREATION/EVOLUTION DEBATE (88-93)...4 II. ARTICLES...4 A. YOUNG EARTH CREATIONISM (5 PAGES)...4 B. OLD EARTH CREATIONISM (5 PAGES)...5 III. BOOKLETS...5 A. H. M. MORRIS III. 5 REASONS TO BELIEVE IN RECENT CREATION. (45 PAGES) REASON 1: THE BIBLE DOES NOT ALLOW AN EVOLUTIONARY INTERPRETATION REASON 2: SCIENCE DOES NOT OBSERVE EVOLUTION HAPPENING TODAY REASON 3: THERE IS NO EVIDENCE EVOLUTION TOOK PLACE IN THE PAST REASON 4: GOD S CHARACTER ABSOLUTELY FORBIDS EVOLUTIONARY METHODS REASON 5: GOD S PURPOSE FOR CREATION EXCLUDES EVOLUTION APPENDIX A: THE FOUNDATIONAL IMPORTANCE OF BIBLICAL CREATIONISM SYNOPSIS...10 B. H. M. MORRIS III. SOME CALL IT SCIENCE: THE RELIGION OF EVOLUTION. (55 PAGES) THE VANISHING CASE FOR EVOLUTION THE STRONG FAITH OF THE EVOLUTIONIST EVOLUTIONARY PANTHEISM EVOLUTION AND THE NEW AGE THE VITAL IMPORTANCE OF CREATION APPENDIX: THE COMPROMISE ROAD SYNOPSIS...10 C. H. M. MORRIS III. EXPLORING THE EVIDENCE FOR CREATION EVIDENCE FOR GOD EVIDENCE FOR TRUTH EVIDENCE FROM NATURE EVIDENCE FROM SCIENCE EVIDENCE FROM SCRIPTURE SYNOPSIS...11 IV. BOOKS...11 A. N. GEISLER. BAKER ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS CREATION AND ORIGINS (165) EVOLUTION (224) SCIENTIFIC DATING (700) DAYS OF GENESIS (270)...11 B. G. L. ARCHER. A SURVEY OF OLD TESTAMENT INTRODUCTION. (12 PAGES) CHAPTER 14: GENESIS ( )...12 C. J.P. MORELAND, & JOHN MARK REYNOLDS, EDS. THREE VIEWS ON CREATION AND EVOLUTION YOUNG EARTH CREATIONISM, PAUL NELSON AND JOHN MARK REYNOLDS PROGRESSIVE CREATIONISM ( OLD EARTH CREATIONISM ), ROBERT C. NEWMAN THE FULLY GIFTED CREATION ( THEISTIC EVOLUTION ), HOWARD J. VAN TILL SYNOPSIS...13 D. T. MORTENSON, & T. URY. COMING TO GRIPS WITH GENESIS: BIBLICAL AUTHORITY AND THE AGE OF THE EARTH.13 E. P. GARNER. THE NEW CREATIONISM PART I: THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH PART II: QUESTIONS OF TIME...13

3 3. PART III: LIFE FAST AND PRESENT...13 F. D. SNOKE. A BIBLICAL CASE FOR AN OLD EARTH STARTING ASSUMPTIONS THE SCIENTIFIC CASE THE BIBLICAL CASE I: ANIMAL DEATH THE BIBLICAL CASE II: THE BALANCE THEME IN SCRIPTURE THE BIBLICAL CASE III: THE SABBATH CONCORDANIST SCIENCE INTERPRETING GENESIS 1 AND THE FLOOD OF NOAH IMPLICATIONS FOR THEOLOGY...13 V. WEBSITES...13 A. INSTITUTE FOR CREATION RESEARCH (ICR.ORG)...13 B. ANSWERS IN GENESIS (ANSWERSINGENESIS.ORG)...13 C. CREATION MINISTRIES INTERNATIONAL (CREATION.COM)...13 D. THE BIOLOGOS FORUM (BIOLOGOS.ORG)...13 E. REASONS TO BELIEVE (REASONS.ORG)...13 F. ANSWERS IN CREATION (ANSWERSINCREATION.ORG)...14 TOTAL PAGES READ:...14 PART TWO: OPPONENT, OLD EARTH...14 PART ONE: PROPONENT, YOUNG EARTH...14 I. INTRODUCTION...14 II. HISTORY OF INTERPRETATION...14 III. IV. EXEGESIS...14 EVIDENCE...14 V

4 4 PART ONE: RESEARCH I. CLASS NOTES A. THE6110 LECTURE NOTES 3B THE WORKS OF GOD (5 PAGES) 1. THE CREATION/EVOLUTION DEBATE (88-93) a. DID GOD CREATE THE UNIVERSE? b. HOW DID GOD CREATE THE UNIVERSE? i. Direct creation of every species ii. Progressive creation iii. Theistic Evolution c. WHEN DID GOD CREATE THE EARTH? II. ARTICLES A. YOUNG EARTH CREATIONISM (5 PAGES) 1. HISTORY a. ORIGINS i. Calvin & Luther, young earth. b. DECLINE i. James Hutton. Father of geology. Opened up concept of deep time. Hutton argued incremental processes of uplift and erosion happening on the Earth in present day caused displacements. Ideas called gradualism (uniformitarianism). Popularized by Sir Charles Lyell. By 1830s, mainstream science abandons YEC. c. REVIVAL i. Rise of Fundamentalist Christianity during the 20 th century saw a rise in YEC interest. Tied with rejection of popular evolution. ii George McCready Price, 7 th Day Adventist, wrote The New Geology. Fundamentalist perspective on geology. iii. 1950s Bernard Ramn critiques Price with The Christian View of Science and Scripture. American Scientific Affiliation not supporting flood geology. iv. Morris, The Genesis Flood, renewed interest in YEC. 2. CHARACTERISTICS AND BELIEFS a. INTERPRETATION OF GENESIS b. AGE OF THE EARTH i. 6,000-10,000 years old. ii billion years, Modern Geology (geochronological methods, radiometric dating) c. HUMAN HISTORY d. ANIMAL BEHAVIOR e. DIVERSIFICATION OF LIFE f. PALEONTOLOGY AND DINOSAURS i. Hebrew word tanniyn ( sea monster serpent dragon ) ii. Behemoth iii. Leviathan 3. COMPARISON WITH OTHER FORMS OF CREATIONISM a. OLD EARTH CREATIONISM i. YEC agree that the Hebrew word for "day" (yôm) can refer to either a 24-hour day or a long or unspecified time, but argue that whenever the latter interpretation is used it includes a preposition defining the long or unspecified period. ii. In the specific context of Genesis 1, since the days are both numbered and are referred to as "evening and morning", this can mean only normal-length days. iii. Further, they argue that the 24-hour day is the only interpretation that makes sense of the Sabbath command in Exodus 20:8 11. iv. Young Earth creationists argue that their position is the only way to explain the Fall, which introduced death and suffering into the world. They argue that all long-age views entail death before sin, which they regard as a severe theological error, violating Genesis

5 3, and for Christians, Romans 5:12 19, 8:17 22 and 1 Corinthians 15: b. GAP CREATIONISM i. The "gap theory" acknowledges a vast age for the universe, including the Earth and solar system, while asserting that life was created recently in six 24-hour days by divine fiat. Genesis 1 is thus interpreted literally, with an indefinite "gap" of time inserted between the first two verses. (Some gap theorists insert a "primordial creation" and Lucifer's rebellion into the gap.) c. OMPHALOS HYPOTHESIS i. Apparent age concept. Put forth by naturalist and science writer Philip Henry Gosse. ii. Omphalos (greek for navel) mid-19 th century attempt reconcile creationism with geology. 4. CRITICISM a. Starlight problem B. OLD EARTH CREATIONISM (5 PAGES) III. BOOKLETS 1. TYPES OF OLD EARTH CREATIONISM a. GAP CREATIONISM i. Gap creationism states that life was immediately and recently created on a pre-existing old Earth ii. "In the beginning... the earth was formless and void." iii. View was popularized in 1909 by the Scofield Reference Bible. b. PROGRESSIVE CREATIONISM i. Belief that God allows certain natural process (such as gene mutation and natural selection) to affect the development of life, but has also directly intervened at key moments in life s history to guide those processes or, in some views, create new species altogether (often to replenish the earth). 2. APPROACHES TO GENESIS 1 a. THE FRAMEWORK INTERPRETATION i. The framework interpretation (or framework hypothesis) notes that there is a pattern or "framework" present in the Genesis account and that, because of this, the account may not have been intended as a strict chronological record of creation. Instead, the creative events may be presented in a topical order. ii. Days of creation Day 1: Light; day and night Day 4: Sun, moon and stars Day 2: Sea and Heavens Day 5: Sea creatures; birds Day 3: Land and vegetation Day 6: Land creatures; man b. DAY-AGE CREATIONISM i. It holds that the six days referred to in the Genesis account of creation are not ordinary 24-hour days, but rather are much longer periods c. COSMIC TIME i. Gerald Schroeder. ii. Schroeder calculates that a period of six days under the conditions of quark confinement, when the universe was app1roximately a trillion times smaller and hotter than it is today is equal to fifteen billion years of earth time today. This is all due to space expansion after quark confinement. Thus Genesis and modern physics are reconciled. 3. THE BIBLICAL FLOOD ACCORDING TO OLD EARTH CREATIONISM 4. OLD EARTH CREATIONIST ORGANIZATIONS 5. CRITICISM A. H. M. MORRIS III. 5 REASONS TO BELIEVE IN RECENT CREATION. (45 PAGES) 1. REASON 1: THE BIBLE DOES NOT ALLOW AN EVOLUTIONARY INTERPRETATION a. INTRODUCTION i. References to creation are made through the Bible except in the one-chapter personal epistles of Paul, John, and Jude (Philemon; 2 & 3 John; Jude) (7) ii. Lord Jesus alluded to the early chapters of Genesis no fewer than 25 times, with some additional 175 references cited or referred to by writers of the New Testament In each instance, the incident is cited as real history rather than allegory or metaphor from which we might simply derive a spiritual meaning. (7) 5

6 b. THE BIBLE HAS NO HINT OF EVOLUTIONARY DEVELOPMENT i. no hint of evolutionary development from simple to more complex life forms by blind, random chance, (7). ii. God even makes a distinction between creating (bringing something into existence where nothing existed before), and making and shaping that which was created. (8) iii. Christ Alone created all things (Jn 1:1-3; Col 1:15-16; Rev 4:11). iv. it is undeniable that God has the capability of creating the universe in six days. There is no reason to diminish the work of God by attributing it to time and chance, (9) v. All creation took was a word, not billions of years of natural chance. c. THE BIBLE S LANGUAGE IS PRECISE ABOUT THE DURATION OF CREATION i. The very concept of our day is defined explicitly in the first chapter of Genesis. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day (Genesis 1:5) (9) ii. Just as time is measured in the present by days that are defined by the passage of the sun, so time began to be measured by God as the darkness (night = evening) passed into light (day = morning). That same cycle, the night-day cycle, was called Day One, (9-10 iii. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh day (Exodus 20:9-11), (10) iv. Why not create in one day? The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27) v. This regular day that God established in the creation week is denoted in Hebrew by the word yowm (plural yamim). That word is used over 3,000 times in the Old Testament. In Genesis 1:5, it is precisely delineated as the passing of darkness into light, or one solar day. It is coupled with the expression evening and morning 38 times, and is accompanied by a numerical modifier 359 times (e.g. eigth day, seventeenth day, etc.). The plural form appears 845 times In none of the above mentioned 1,242 references can the word mean anything other than a literal, 24-hour solar day. The context is absolutely clear. The rest of the 1,758 times the Hebrew word yowm appears in its singular form are never used to speak of an eon-long age. Occasionally, day may be used to identify an unspecified period of time, as in the day of trouble day of the LORD, or as is the case of Genesis 2:4 The only reason to translate day as age is to accommodate the required eons of evolution, (10). d. THE FIRST VERSE IS GOD S TEST OF FAITH i. This first verse of the Bible refutes all of man s false philosophies about origins and the meaning of the world, (11) Atheism (created by God) Pantheism (God is transcendent to all he created) Polytheism (only one God created all things) Materialism (matter had a beginning) Dualism (God was alone when he created) Humanism (God, not man, is the ultimate reality) Evolutionism (God created all things) e. THE CREATION ACCOUNT DOES NOT MATCH EVOLUTIONARY PROGRESSION THE BIBLICAL RECORD Matter was created by God Earth was created before the sun and stars The ocean was formed before land. There was light before the sun. Land plants were earth s first life. Plants were created before the sun. Fruit trees were created before fish. Birds were created before insects. EVOLUTION S ORDER Matter has forever existed The sun and stars existed before earth Land existed before the ocean. The sun was the earth s first light. Marine organisms were earth s first life. The sun existed long before plants. Fish existed long before fruit trees. Insects existed long before birds 6

7 7 Man lived before there was rain. Man was uniquely formed in perfection. Rain fell before man existed. Man took ages to develop from apes. f. THE ROLE OF DEATH i. Evolution dependent on death. Survival of the fittest. Death and time are absolute necessities the key elements that make the process possible. (13) ii. the biblical record introduces death as a judgment, a curse by the Creator on the fallen creation (Genesis 3:17-19) According to the biblical record, death did not enter the world until Adam, the steward and co-regent given responsibility for the care of creation, dared to rebel against his Creator and was sentenced and banned from the garden in Eden (Romans 5:12), (13) 2. REASON 2: SCIENCE DOES NOT OBSERVE EVOLUTION HAPPENING TODAY a. INTRODUCTION i. Scientific method. b. EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE i. Pure Sciences ii. Applied Sciences iii. scientist must understand the information so thoroughly that he would know what would disprove his theory. This level of rigor is applied by most experimental scientists today, (15) c. ADAPTIVE OR DIRECTED CHANGE IS NOT EVOLUTION i. no one has ever come close to evolving anything in the laboratory. (15) ii. the most brilliant scientists using the most expensive and advanced equipment cannot transform a lower form of life into a higher form. (15) iii. [evolutionary scientists and philosophers] insight that since we can see adaptive (horizontal) change among living things (such as big dogs and little dogs), there must be evolutionary (vertical) change among living things over long periods of time (such as some common ancestor developing into both dogs and cats). Nothing like that is observed in the present. (16) iv. Scientists have, through selective breeding, created different shapes and sizes of dogs. But they are still dogs. Never once has one of these dogs ever changed into a horse or a pig. Ever since humanity has been able to study these issues, there has never been a change from one kind of animal to another, (16) v. Evolutionary theory suggests somewhere in the unobservable past exists a common dog/cat ancestor (creodont), and evolved into the two different animals. There is no evidence for such changes in the present or the fossil record. No cogs or dats anywhere. vi. Finches Galapagos Islands Had different beak sizes in isolated communities. However none became woodpeckers. No fincheckers or fishibians. Modern science observes absolutely no upward evolution taking place today anywhere. (16) d. NATURAL SELECTION IS A CONSERVATIVE PROCESS i. Natural selection conserves. Preserves and protects a species; it doesn t innovate. Natural selection only selects from among what already exists. By itself it does not add genetic information. ii. Weeds out weaker and deformed, but never observed to create a new kind. iii. Mutation to DNA Adds genetic information by disrupting codes. Mutations are accidents. Most so small, they go unnoticed. Those that make an observable change, overwhelming negative. o Unusual creatures that reach live birth either die before maturity, or are ignored by rest of population and don t reproduce. iv. Thus, natural selection preserves or conserves the generic characteristics of that kind, eliminating the mistakes that happen. v. No one has observed the evolutionary process of upward changes taking place today.

8 vi. The claim that because we see small/horizontal change, there must be big/vertical change, is a logical supposition, but not an observation, and definitely not fact. 3. REASON 3: THERE IS NO EVIDENCE EVOLUTION TOOK PLACE IN THE PAST a. INTRODUCTION i. Since we cannot perform tests that replicate the issue of eons of time, we must turn to historical or forensic science. b. HISTORICAL OR FORENSIC SCIENCE i. Historical science Archaeologist Paleontologists ii. Fossil record water deposited rock. iii. In order for evolutionary scientists to demonstrate that simple life forms have changed into more complex life forms over time, they must demonstrate it historically by producing examples of such changes, often referred to as transitional forms. (19) iv. If indeed the changes occurred slowly over billions of years through mutational accidents, then there ought to be many, many transitional remains available for scientists to uncover and observe in the fossil record. (19) and an easily observed progressive order. c. THE EVIDENCE OF THE FOSSIL RECORD i. 95% highly complex marine invertebrates. Found on tops of mountains, middle of deserts, all land masses, every layer of various eras of proposed evolutionary time. All appear fully formed, no hint they evolved from anything. No incontrovertible observable history prior to their existence. ii. Remaining 5% of other fossils: 95% plant fossils Found everywhere, including mountain ranges. Antartica. 95% of what is left after that is mostly insects..01% of all other fossils higher order. iii. Animals that exist as complete fossils are fully formed. iv. No evidence for transitional forms. v. Some creatures thought to be extinct for millions of years still in existence today (Coelacanth fish). Some the same form as in the fossil record. vi. Various current living life-forms found in the same shape and size as their fossil record ancestors (crocodile, turtle, bat, many fish, many insects). None of these transitioned into anything else over millions of years of their existence. No fossil record (alive, extinct, unique) shows slightest hint of them becoming another kind of creature. vii. No observed transitional form. d. EVOLUTIONARY FAITH 4. REASON 4: GOD S CHARACTER ABSOLUTELY FORBIDS EVOLUTIONARY METHODS a. INTRODUCTION i. Rm 1:20 ii. Power of the universe seems both eternal and infinite b. A UNIVERSE OF SPACE, MATTER, AND TIME i. Uni (one), verse (different). Three in one: Space, Matter, Time = Universe c. THE SIGNATURE OF GOD IN THE HEAVENS i. clearly seen illustration of the power and divine nature of God. (Ps 19:1-4) ii. The Tri-Une God. Manifested by and analogous to His creation (Deut 6:4) FATHER=SPACE o Invisible o Omnipresent o Source o God Framed Authority SON=MATTER o Visible o Tangible o Present Reality o God Manifested Declaration 8

9 SPIRIT=TIME o Sense & Felt o Understood o Future o God Experienced Appropriation iii. Just like space is made visible and understandable by matter, so God the Son, the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, makes God the Father visible and understandable by His presence on earth. And just like space and matter are one in the sense that they are inseparable and coterminous at all times, so God the Father and God the Son are one (John 10:30). And indeed, just as time is the vital element through which mankind can experience everything that can be known in his small part of the universe, so God the Holy Spirit is the person of the triune Godhead through whom man is enabled to experience both the Father and the Son. (25) d. THE HOLINESS OF GOD i. Could can not lie. ii. God would not create processes that would counter His own nature. e. OMNISCIENCE OF GOD f. THE UNIVERSE IS AN INFINITE RESERVOIR OF INFORMATION i. DNA: Library of information. ii. Where did information come from? Chemicals, amino acids, and proteins not information-generating systems. iii. Ordering and functioning precision at every level of the universe. g. THE BIBLE EMPHASIZES GOD S OMNISCIENCE h. GOD KEEPS SOME SECRETS i. GOD IS NEVER RANDOM OR CONFUSED i. An omniscient God could not and would not produce an inferior product. ii. Evolutionary naturalism requires the use of processes and the sanction of activities that are contrary to God s nature. iii. Evolutionists agree of the incompatibility of theism and evolution The evolutionary process is rife with happenstance, contingency, incredible waste, death, pain, and horror [theistic evolution s God] is not a loving God who cares about His productions. [He] is careless, wasteful, indifferent, almost diabolical. He is certainly not the sort of God to whom anyone would be inclined to pray, (31) 5. REASON 5: GOD S PURPOSE FOR CREATION EXCLUDES EVOLUTION a. INTRODUCTION i. Reason for God creating Rev 4:11 Col 1:16-17 Romans 11:36 b. CREATING ELIMINATED ANY EXCUSE TO DENY GOD S EXISTENCE i. Rm 1:20 ii. Psa 19:1-3 c. CREATING GAVE A FOUNDATION TO THE EVERLASTING GOSPEL i. Rev 14:6-7 ii. Col 1:16-17 iii. If the creation message is neglected, there is no foundation for or evidence of the omnipotent ability of God to save. (34) d. CREATING GAVE AUTHORITY TO THE MESSAGE OF JESUS CHRIST i. Col 1:16-18 ii. In John, the seven miracles required creation of new matter (water into mind, functioning organs, etc). Jesus demonstrates his creation power. e. CREATING DISPLAYED THE POWER OF JESUS CHRIST i. Jn 1:1-4, 12, 14 f. CREATING IS HOW GOD GIVES NEW LIFE i. Eph 2:8-10 ii. God continued creating the new man as men and women and children of all ages come to Him as Redeemer and Savior. 9

10 6. APPENDIX A: THE FOUNDATIONAL IMPORTANCE OF BIBLICAL CREATIONISM a. BIBLICAL CREATIONISM IS FOUNDATIONAL TO ALL CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE i. Christ was Creator before he was redeemer (Col 1:16, Jn 1:3, Heb 1:3) ii. Hb 11:3 b. BIBLICAL CREATIONISM IS THE FOUNDATION OF TRUE EVANGELISM c. TRUE MISSIONS ALSO BEGIN WITH BIBLICAL CREATIONISM i. Acts 14:15 ii. Acts 17:24 d. BIBLICAL CREATIONISM IS THE FOUNDATION OF TRUE BIBLICAL TEACHING e. BIBLICAL CREATIONISM ALSO PROVIDES A MODEL FOR ALL HUMAN VOCATIONS i. Gen 1:28 (implied honorable human occupations) Science to understand it Technology to develop it Commerce to utilize it Education to transmit knowledge of it Humanities to glorify it ii. Every occupation may be used in some way to glorify and recognize man s responsibility to God s creation by obeying this first command of dominion over the earth. iii. Threefold work of Christ: Creation, Conservation, Consummation 7. SYNOPSIS a. An overview of the case against evolution. Dr. Henry Morris III offers five fundamental reasons why belief in a recent creation is not only feasible, but vital to a true understanding of God s Word. B. H. M. MORRIS III. SOME CALL IT SCIENCE: THE RELIGION OF EVOLUTION. (55 PAGES) 1. THE VANISHING CASE FOR EVOLUTION a. NO EVOLUTION AT PRESENT b. NO NEW SPECIES c. NO KNOWN MECHANISM OF EVOLUTION d. NO FOSSIL EVIDENCE e. NO ORDER IN THE FOSSILS f. NO EVIDENCE THAT EVOLUTION IS POSSIBLE g. NO EVIDENCE FROM SIMILARITIES h. NO RECAPITULATION OR VESTIGIAL ORGANS i. NO EVIDENCE FROM MOLECULAR BIOLOGY j. THE RESIDUAL CASE FOR EVOLUTION 2. THE STRONG FAITH OF THE EVOLUTIONIST a. ILLOGICAL FAITH b. NO CHANCE OF A CREATOR c. MIXING FAITH AND SCIENCE d. FAITH IN EVERY FIELD 3. EVOLUTIONARY PANTHEISM a. EVOLUTION IN ANTIQUITY b. RETURN TO GAIA c. COSMIC PANTHEISM 4. EVOLUTION AND THE NEW AGE a. EVOLUTION IN THE LAST DAYS 5. THE VITAL IMPORTANCE OF CREATION a. FOUNDATION OF TRUE SCIENCE b. FOUNDATION OF THE TRUE AMERICANISM c. FOUNDATION OF TRUE RELIGION d. FOUNDATION OF CHRISTOLOGY e. FOUNDATION OF FAITH f. FOUNDATION OF THE GOSPEL 6. APPENDIX: THE COMPROMISE ROAD 7. SYNOPSIS a. Dr. Henry Morris explains the true nature of evolutionary belief system. Using evolutionary scientists own words, he debunks evolution s scientific pretensions, reveals the impossibility of such a system ever producing order or life, and reveals what evolution actually is a system of faith that is completely contrary to real science and absolutely antithetical to belief in the Creator. 10

11 11 C. H. M. MORRIS III. EXPLORING THE EVIDENCE FOR CREATION. IV. BOOKS 1. EVIDENCE FOR GOD 2. EVIDENCE FOR TRUTH 3. EVIDENCE FROM NATURE 4. EVIDENCE FROM SCIENCE 5. EVIDENCE FROM SCRIPTURE 6. SYNOPSIS a. Henry Morris provides evidence for creation and its Creator, as found in science and Scripture. It cuts through the arguments and lays out the evidence that is rational, scientific, and biblicallybased. A. N. GEISLER. BAKER ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS. 1. CREATION AND ORIGINS (165) a. GOD S WORK OF ORIGIN i. The Old Testament Word Bara. Genesis 1:1 ii. Genesis 2:3 iii. Genesis 2:4 iv. Genesis 5:1-2 v. Genesis 6:7 vi. Deut 4:32 vii. Job 38:4, 7; Ps 148:5 viii. The New Testament Word Ktisis. 2. EVOLUTION (224) 3. SCIENTIFIC DATING (700) 4. DAYS OF GENESIS (270) a. SIX TWENTY-FOUR-HOUR DAYS i. ARGUMENTS FOR SOLAR DAYS NORMAL MEANING OF YOM. Usual meaning of Hebrew word yom is 24 hours unless context indicates otherwise The context does not indicate anything but a twenty-four-hour day in Gn 1. NUMBERS ARE IN A SERIES. When numbers are used in a series (1,2,3) in connection with days it refers to twenty-four-hour days. No exception to this anywhere in the OT. EVENING AND MORNING IS USED. The phrase denotes each period. Literal twenty-four-hour day on Jewish Calendar began at sunset and ended before sunset the next day, so Genesis must refer to literal days. DAYS ARE COMPARED TO A WORK WEEK. According to Law of Moses (Exod 20:11), Jewish workweek Sunday-Friday to be followed by rest on Saturday, as God had done in 6-day week of creation. We know Jewish workweek refers to six, successive 24-hour days. LIFE CANNOT EXIST WITHOUT LIGHT. Suns and stars were not made until the fourth day (1:14), but there was life on the third (1:11-13). Life cannot exist for long without light. Hence days must not be long periods of time. PLANTS CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT ANIMALS. Symbiotic relation between them. ii. RESPONSES TO ARGUMENTS YOM CAN MEAN A LONG PERIOD. In context, yom used for the whole of creation. Gn 2:4. Also used in such a way in Ps 90:4. NUMBERED DAYS NEED NOT BE SOLAR. Hosea 6:1-2. THERE WAS A BEGINNING AND AN END. Genesis 1 good candidate to be an exception. Evening and morning could be a figure of speech to say there was a beginning and end of a definite period of time. Evening and morning not used on the seventh day. THE SIX PERIODS ARE COMPARABLE TO A WORK WEEK. The OT makes unit-forunit rather than minute-for-minute comparison. Exp: 40 years wondering in the desert for 40 years of disobedience (Nm 14:34). Daniel 490 days = 490 years (Dn 9:24-27). SEVENTH DAY STILL GOING ON. on the seventh day he [God] rested (Heb

12 2:2). Heb 4:5-10 informs us God is still in that Sabbath rest which he entered after he created. WHEN DID LIGHT APPEAR? Pattern: Light, water, land [empty]. Then light, water, land [filled with bodies]. Parallelism. iii. DAYS AS TIME PERIODS THE THIRD DAY IS LONGER THE SIXTH DAY IS LONGER iv. REVELATORY DAY VIEW B. G. L. ARCHER. A SURVEY OF OLD TESTAMENT INTRODUCTION. (12 PAGES) 1. CHAPTER 14: GENESIS ( ) a. PAGAN CONCEPTS OF THE ORIGIN OF THE WORLD i. Ex nihilo vs. eternity of physical matter. ii. Only in the Bible does it state God created everything ex nihilo. b. GENESIS 1 AND MODERN SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE i. THE SIX CREATIVE DAYS AND THE AGE OF THE WORLD Geology: Uniformitarian Hypothesis (natural forces have been operating through the processes of erosion, sedimentation, and magmatic (or volcanic) action in just the same manner and at the same rate throughout all preceding ages as they do now. Nuclear Physics: Decay of radioactive minerals. o Carbon 14 dating. (product of decomposition of nitrogen under the impact of cosmic rays in the upper atmosphere). After animal dies, cannot absorb anymore carbon 14 into their tissues. Carbon in its system breaks down by radioactivity to form nitrogen 14. Yom o 1. Yom represents a literal, twenty-four-hour day, and Gen. 1:3-2:3 gives us a record of an exact week in which God completely restored from chaos a creation which suffered a cosmic catastrophe. o o 2. Yom represents a revelational day. a. OPP: No hint in the text to suggest Gn 1 is a mere vision. b. OPP: Reads like straightforward history. c. OPP: If this can be explained as a vision, any historical account in the Bible could as well. 3. Yom represents a geological age or stage in the creative process. a. Geologists Dawson and Dana. b. Archer: Believes it cannot mean literal 24 hour day. Day used to describe process in Gn 2:4. c. Archer: Gn 1:27, Adam and the human/animal creation order with Gn 2. How can all those events in Gn 2 take place in a day? Gn 1:27 states Adam and Eve were created at the very end of the final day of creation. d. Archer: Evening and Morning simply emphasizes day as a symbolical geological stage, not day in contrast to night. ii. BIBLICAL CREATIONISM AND MODERN EVOLUTIONISM 1. FROM THE STANDPOINT OF GENETICS o Mendel s work proved conclusively that the chance variations by which Darwin had set so much store are quite predictable and cannot possibly contribute to the formation of new species, (162) 2. FROM THE DATA OF EMBRYOLOGY o Double assurance mechanisms 3. NATURAL SELECTION IS UNABLE TO EXPLAIN INNUMERABLE INSTANCES OF ADAPTION IN WHICH THERE WAS EVIDENTLY NO TRANSITIONAL STAGE o Ants o Sight 4. EMERGENT EVOLUTION iii. THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE WESTMINSTER DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE 12

13 13 C. J.P. MORELAND, & JOHN MARK REYNOLDS, EDS. THREE VIEWS ON CREATION AND EVOLUTION. 1. YOUNG EARTH CREATIONISM, PAUL NELSON AND JOHN MARK REYNOLDS 2. PROGRESSIVE CREATIONISM ( OLD EARTH CREATIONISM ), ROBERT C. NEWMAN 3. THE FULLY GIFTED CREATION ( THEISTIC EVOLUTION ), HOWARD J. VAN TILL 4. SYNOPSIS a. Deals with issues of the earth s age from three dominant schools of Christian thought. Young earth, old earth, and theistic evolution each present their case. Each view then critiqued by various scholars. D. T. MORTENSON, & T. URY. COMING TO GRIPS WITH GENESIS: BIBLICAL AUTHORITY AND THE AGE OF THE EARTH. 1. SYNOPSIS a. Fourteen theological scholars address key topics related to the age of the earth. They bring to bear biblical, theological, ad historical arguments in favor of a six-day creation, the global Flood, and a young earth. Also critique old-earth interpretations of the book of Genesis. b. A fresh defense on the literal history of Genesis c. Detailed analysis of the verbs of Genesis 1. d. Defense of Genesis 5 & 11 genealogies as strict chronologies. e. Reasons for rejecting millions of years of death and natural evil before Adam s sin. f. Jesus teaching regarding a young earth. E. P. GARNER. THE NEW CREATIONISM 1. PART I: THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH 2. PART II: QUESTIONS OF TIME 3. PART III: LIFE FAST AND PRESENT F. D. SNOKE. A BIBLICAL CASE FOR AN OLD EARTH V. WEBSITES 1. STARTING ASSUMPTIONS 2. THE SCIENTIFIC CASE 3. THE BIBLICAL CASE I: ANIMAL DEATH 4. THE BIBLICAL CASE II: THE BALANCE THEME IN SCRIPTURE 5. THE BIBLICAL CASE III: THE SABBATH 6. CONCORDANIST SCIENCE 7. INTERPRETING GENESIS 1 AND 2 8. THE FLOOD OF NOAH 9. IMPLICATIONS FOR THEOLOGY A. INSTITUTE FOR CREATION RESEARCH (ICR.ORG) 1. Henry Morris B. ANSWERS IN GENESIS (ANSWERSINGENESIS.ORG) 1. Ken Ham C. CREATION MINISTRIES INTERNATIONAL (CREATION.COM) D. THE BIOLOGOS FORUM (BIOLOGOS.ORG) 1. Francis Collins E. REASONS TO BELIEVE (REASONS.ORG) 1. Hugh Ross

14 14 F. ANSWERS IN CREATION (ANSWERSINCREATION.ORG) TOTAL PAGES READ: PART TWO: OPPONENT, OLD EARTH PART ONE: PROPONENT, YOUNG EARTH I. INTRODUCTION II. HISTORY OF INTERPRETATION III. EXEGESIS IV. EVIDENCE V.