The Return of the Evolutionist?

As you may have noticed, this blog has been relatively quiet lately, due in no small part to my Persian Farsi language studies. With every week of the year-long program (squeezed into 18 months due to last year's ruptured disc), the demands of the program increased and the amount of time to put down on my thoughts on "paper" dwindled. The most I had time for was posting links to online news bites and articles on my Facebook account and occasionally interacting with those that stopped by to comment.

This Tuesday, however, I graduate from the Army's Defense Language Institute with an AA in Persian Farsi, so I'm happy to announce the imminent "return of the evolutionist"! Now, don't expect things to heat up too quickly, as I'm in the process of preparing for a move overseas to the lovely Kingdom of Bahrain for a year-long tour, and I fully intend to engage in quality "family time" during my 30-day leave period; but once I get to my new desert home and acclimate to the time change and work schedule, things should start getting busier around here.

The New Year is looking quite promising ...

How the Discovery of Saturn's Eighth Ring Threatens the Science of Astronomy

As I was surfing the web during my lunch period, I came across several articles that detailed an amazing discovery. According to these articles, astronomers have discovered a previously undetected ring around Saturn, a find which, I believe, threatens the entire science of astronomy. Now, before I get into why I believe this to be so, please read these brief articles.

In the Telegraph article, Douglas Hamilton of the University of Maryland, College Park, believes that the discovery of Saturn's heretofore undiscovered ring answers a mystery regarding one of Saturn's moons, Iapetus:

The ring also may answer the riddle of another moon, Iapetus, which has a bright side and a very dark side. The ring circles in the same direction as Phoebe, while Iapetus, the other rings and most of Saturn's other moons go the opposite way.

Scientists think material from the outer ring moves inward and slams into Iapetus. "Astronomers have long suspected that there is a connection between Saturn's outer moon Phoebe and the dark material on Iapetus," said Hamilton. "This new ring provides convincing evidence of that relationship."

Professor Carl Murray, in the BBC article, agrees:

"We've got a 'smoking gun'," said Professor Carl Murray, a scientist working on the US-European Cassini probe, which is currently touring the Saturnian system. "We know now that this is where this coating at Iapetus [one of Saturn's moons] comes from. Phoebe is the source. Something has hit Phoebe, produced lots of material that moves around the orbit of Phoebe and then gradually spirals in. We've solved several mysteries with this observation," the UK researcher told BBC News.

Now, for my take on this discovery. The fact that scientists must now revise their theory regarding how many rings Saturn could actually have, what causes certain of Saturn's moons' features, in addition to the obvious need to rewrite "scientific" textbooks in order to accommodate the "new discovery," proves that cosmic evolutionists' current theories of planetary, satellite, and ring formation is ENTIRELY wrong and should be abandoned in favor of some other theory, preferably one in which an Intelligent Ringer is involved.

The Sufficiency of the New Living Translation

An odd title for a TCOAE post, I know. Truth is, it's not actually a TCOAE post. "Polycarp" from The Church of Jesus Christ blog invited me to guest blog for his 24-hour New Living Translation (NLT) blog-a-thon. Despite the fact that I'm 6 weeks away from taking the Defense Language Proficiency Test, I found a precious hour to comment a bit on the sufficiency of "dynamic" Bible translations, specifically the New Living Translation (NLT), to faithfully transmit theological truth; I also used my journey into ANE cosmology to prove a point about unreasonable approaches toward Bible translation and unwavering commitment to using only "essentially literal" translations of Scripture.

If anything, you might gain some insight into the inner workings of my mind on this topic and understand how my acceptance of modern scientific findings regarding evolution has had an effect on my views regarding the sufficiency of various translation and transmission methods of the Bible through the millennia.

Feel free to comment at the original post or, if you are so inclined, swing back over here to speak your mind.

PZ Meyers' Visit to Answers in Genesis' Creation Museum

Image courtesy of Mad magazine, via Pharyngula

Trust me. I'm no fan of PZ Meyers. But his review of Answers in Genesis' Creation Museum, located in Petersberg, Kentucky, is phenomenal (with the exception of some of his atheist ranting, of course, as well as his unsubstantiated charge of racism on the part of AiG).

Here are a few excerpts:

It's an ongoing theme throughout the "museum" that there are these two views in opposition, and it's often stated quite unashamedly that the conflict is between God's word and . . . human reason. It's also quite clear that human reason is the enemy to Ken Ham and his crew.

. . .

[Ken Ham] hurtles along heedlessly pretending that the evidence simply doesn't exist, so he doesn't need to argue against it, and it's enough to back up his claims by quoting Bible verses. I suppose it works well for the gullible attendees, but for those of us looking for some ideas with which to wrestle, the impression left is one of credulous vacuity. It's an empty "museum," with no real ideas, no evidence, just a collection of props to illustrate an unquestioned myth. When they do make plain statements that contradict the science, they don't bother to provide a reason to accept their view over the scientific one — reason is the enemy, you may recall. It's enough to simply declare that this is GOD'S WORD, therefore it is true. Never mind that it is only one narrow interpretation of their god's awesomely vague words, that many of their fellow Christians can interpret it differently, or that the evidence of nature (which, presumably, is their god's creation) says something completely different.

. . .

The various exhibits that have gotten a fair amount of press, such as the models of Adam and Eve, the construction of the Ark, the consequences of the Fall, etc., etc., etc., just sit there. There isn't any evidence for them, other than a few sentences in an old book, so the construction crews in Kentucky just let their imaginations run loose and built improbably scenes out of the fabric of quaint myths. But there they are, solid and visible, and that's their sole purpose — to solidify Bible scenes in the minds of the faithful.

Inheriting the Hot Wind: Mind Control and Young-Earth Creationism

As I lined up with hundreds of others to get inside Petersberg, Kentucky’s famed Creation Museum to visit its new anti-evolution exhibits ("secular" scientists are celebrating Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday this year), I couldn’t help but wonder: Was this going to be some kind of attempt at mind control? After I went through the exhibition, there was no doubt!

The anti-evolution exhibits reminded me of one of those bizarre science fiction movies where people line up to be placed in a special machine and emerge like robots; these people now can’t think for themselves, and they end up being like those people who brainwashed them.

In a related way, I found the anti-evolution exhibits to be a very clever form of mind control, basically consisting of:

1. Setting up straw-men arguments that totally misrepresent what many intelligent and devout Christians accept.
2. Showing how wrong some Christians are for believing the things they supposedly believe (which they believe for good reason!).
3. Convincing visitors that special creationism is true, and that one is a fool to believe otherwise (and certainly foolish to believe the undisputed scientific evidence).

Actually, this kind of mind control is already being used constantly on America’s children, especially through the private education system, the Christian media, and science museums (even in many Christian schools and colleges, sadly). Using Answers in Genesis’ anti-evolution exhibition, let’s look at how they are using mind control:

1. Visitors read this display:
   

   Before Henry Morris was born, most people in America accepted certain ideas about the natural world as given. Species were linked in a single family tree. They were connected, related, and changed since the moment of the first one-celled organism's appearance, and earth itself was thought to be so old, perhaps billions of years old, that there would have been plenty of time for species to change. . . . Before Henry Morris, it was impossible to see the world as young, being created in an instant only 6,000 years ago, and unchanging.
   

   Wrong. That’s a straw man. People who know and understand science are aware that the earth has indeed changed because of what’s recorded in the fossil record (e.g., the rise of complex multi-celled organisms, the transition of some species of fish into amphibians, and the evolution of horses). Those who believe the geological sciences know that two of every “kind” (seven of some) of land-dwelling animal weren't saved from a global flood. All the different species (special creationists can't even scientifically define a biblical "kind") of land animals that are alive today descended from a small group of one-celled organisms. Yes, animals have changed—and the earth has changed drastically since the formation of the earth.

   In fact, before Henry Morris came along, natural selection was producing all different sorts of fish, reptiles, mammals, humanoids, and so on. Even in the anti-evolution exhibit, it is stated that “he [Henry Morris] refused to believe that nature selected organisms with desirable traits and that over time the fossil record preserved some of these transitional creatures. . . . Dogs were always dogs, even though a tiny lap dog and a large lean greyhound look nothing alike.” I just wonder how many visitors noticed this gross inconsistency.

   Of course, everyone knows that animals change. The exhibition’s straw-man argument—that Bible-believers must believe that animals can’t evolve—is set up so that the trustworthiness of human observation can easily be knocked down.

2. Now that the museum visitors are beginning to have their minds controlled to believe that Bible-believers must not accept that things have evolved, the exhibition’s mind controllers state:
   

   Discoveries in geology have challenged the idea that the world and all its species had evolved over the last 4.6 billion years. Fossils clearly show that in past ages the world has been inhabited by the same species as those existing today . . .

   So, scientists believe animals change, but Henry Morris figured out that they don't, proving modern science wrong. This absence of change was his evidence of special creationism (e.g., instantaneous creation of man).

   This, too, is designed to make the Creation Museum’s visitors think that they have to reject the "secular" scientific account of origins and an ancient earth.

3. Now, here was the final step in indoctrinating visitors to disbelieve modern science through mind control. They are indoctrinated to believe in an additional straw-man: Christians can't accept that new species can form. But we can and do. We have stated innumerable times that speciation occurs—and that natural selection happens (as they show in a new Darwin exhibit at London’s famed Natural History Museum). We declare that natural selection can result in evolution—the idea that one totally different species of creature (not "kind"), over the course of multiple generations that experience gene mutation, genetic drift, and environmental pressures, can change into a totally different species (e.g., reptiles becoming birds). The anti-evolution exhibit says:
   

   Henry Morris’ theory of special creationism is the only biblical and scientific explanation for the spectacular diversity of life on earth. It provides a powerful framework for understanding nature and is one of the essential theories of the very core of science. . . . As Morris himself anticipated, some Christians have held to the conviction that species are the result of natural, evolutionary processes divinely ordained and sustained by the Creator. We find incompatible with our religious beliefs the concept that humans share a common ancestry with earlier primates and that humans and other species evolved over immense spans of time. Creationism, including Intelligent Design, offers a scientific alternative to the theory of evolution by invoking the intrusive acts of a Creator or an Intelligent Designer as the explanation for large diversity.

   Sad, isn’t it?

The Bible warns us about such mind controllers at the anti-evolutionist exhibition: It is they “who suppress the truth in unrighteousness” (Romans 1:18). Now I ask: To what extent have the mind controllers of this age influenced you and your family, and not just with the creation/evolution question? Think about it. Then make sure you keep supplying yourself with answers to defend our integration of Christian faith and modern science!

*******************************************************

For the original article, click here. ;-)

Pursuing the Mind of God

I believe that pure thinking will do more to educate a man than any other activity he can engage in. To afford sympathetic entertainment to abstract ideas, to let one idea beget another, and that another, till the mind teems with them; to compare one idea with others, to weigh, to consider, evaluate, approve, respect, correct, refine; to join thought with thought like an architect till a whole edifice has been created within the mind; to travel back in imagination to the beginning of the creation and then to leap swiftly forward to the end of time; to bound upward through illimitable space and downward into the nucleus of an atom; and all this without so much as moving from our chair or opening the eyes—this is to soar above all the lower creation and come near to the angels of God.

— A. W. Tozer (1897-1963), Man: The Dwelling Place of God [1966]

Intelligent Falling?

Science and Christian Education Series by Gordon J. Glover

This morning, I received word from Gordon J. Glover, author of Beyond the Firmament: Understanding Science and the Theology of Creation, that his 16-part Science and Christian Education video series is finally complete. All 16 of Gordon's 7- to 11-minute, high-quality videos can be found on his official YouTube channel. (As a result, any links you might have saved previously to access specific videos will no longer work.)

Dedicated to the Mission

Some of my regular readers may have noticed, by the logo in the upper right-hand corner of my blog, that I was recently accepted as a full member of the American Scientific Affiliation (ASA), "a fellowship of men and women of science and disciplines that can relate to science who share a common fidelity to the Word of God and a commitment to integrity in the practice of science."

I am extremely excited to have joined this unique organization, which is also dedicated to "providing advice and direction to the Church and society in how best to use the results of science and technology while preserving the integrity of God's creation." I would encourage anyone with a BS, MS, or doctorate in the sciences, regardless of your origins position, to seek out more information about joining this wonderful community of scientists by visiting the ASA website.

********************************************

More recently, I've been in contact with the NCSE: National Center for Science Education, a non-profit organization dedicated to "providing information and resources for schools, parents and concerned citizens working to keep evolution in public school science education." After investigating the organization's mission and reading their most recent issue of its Reports of the National Center for Science Education journal, perusing the NCSE channel on YouTube, and participating in several email exchanges with Glenn Branch, the organization's Deputy Director, I decided to take the plunge and join as a lifetime member!

If you are dedicated to ensuring that our children are receiving the best possible science education, it is imperative that the (well-meaning) efforts of my fellow Christian brothers and sisters to force the teaching of Special Creationism and/or Intelligent Design in the public school system be stopped cold. Joining the NCSE and participating in a number of activities that help support the teaching of evolution in America's public educational system is one of the best ways that we can accomplish this. (Subscriptions and contributions are fully tax deductible.)

"Evolutionary Creation: A Christian Approach to Evolution" — An Interaction, Part 4

Evolutionary Creation — Chapter 4 — The Ancient Science in the Bible

The fourth chapter of Evolutionary Creation, "The Ancient Science in the Bible," is without a doubt the most illuminating chapter in Lamoureux's book. It is this chapter, in fact, that has forced me to abandon John Walton's position that Genesis 1 was not about the creation of material things. In a previous post, I wrote, "Walton argues that, in [Genesis 1], God is establishing function and purpose. . . . God is establishing order in the universe. Genesis 1:2 states the cosmos was 'formless and empty,' that is, not lacking material structure, but rather order and purpose." As much as I appreciate Walton's outstanding scholarship, I no longer believe this to be an accurate statement.

Just over a year ago, at the Ancient Hebrew Poetry blog, John Hobbins observed that "Walton’s arguments are receiving a lot of attention, perhaps especially from those who espouse evolutionary creationism (Mike Beidler, for example)." Apparently, Hobbins is concerned about this because he believes that not only does Genesis 1 describe the assignment of functions to things, but that it also concerns the material creation of things. In the aforementioned post's comments, Professor of Hebrew Studies and Ancient Near Eastern Studies Alan Lenzi also took me to task for "taking Walton's view as the typical ANE scholar's view. And that's simply not the case." Interesting, I thought. I'll have to check into this a little bit more. It didn't take long to begin seriously reconsidering my stance on this, and chapter 4 of Evolutionary Creation has (in lieu of Walton's forthcoming monograph on Genesis 1, which was announced in his response to Hobbins) put me solidly in the camp of Hobbins and Lenzi.

Considering all of the other non-Genesis 1 references to "ancient science" throughout the Scriptures that Lamoureux presents, it also makes sense to interpret Genesis 1 this fashion. Did the ancients not really consider, as Walton suggests, how the material world came into existence? My suspicion is that Walton, despite the evidence, is forced to interpret Genesis 1 as a "non-material" creation account (albeit wrapped up in a genre that mimics ancient Mesopotamian and Egyptian temple dedication texts; see this post) because his commitment to a certain brand of biblical inerrancy requires him to do so. In essence, Walton's brand of inerrancy posits that, even in matters of science, the Bible is without error. (Walton also seeks to anchor the events and personalities of Genesis 2-11 solidly in history.) By reinterpreting Genesis 1 in such a fashion that it does not touch on the creation of material things, he bypasses the "more correct" and "more natural" interpretation for one that is in more harmony with his hermeneutic.

So what was this evidence that made me shift camps from Walton to Hobbins/Lenzi? The first line of evidence was the voluminous amount of biblical references to a 3-tiered universe. Of course, this fact is nothing new to Walton. In fact, he agrees wholeheartedly that Genesis 1's cosmology contains the three tiers of heaven, earth, and the underworld. But Walton wants to have his cake and eat it too. Because this cosmology doesn't comport with physical reality (which Walton will readily agree), he believes Genesis 1 cannot possibly be speaking of material creation. However, this ancient cosmology isn't just restricted to Genesis 1; it extends into the New Testament as well (e.g., Phil 2:10), and it is much more pervasive than Walton either lets on or recognizes. Thus, Walton's hermeneutic appears to stop at Genesis 2 and fails to work beyond this point.

The Evidence of the Bible's Ancient Science

Many Christians would claim that descriptions of a 3-tiered universe fall into the category of "phenomenological language," that is, language that describes appearance from a certain, fixed perspective rather than reality—for example, sunset and sunrise. It is true that we use terms like sunset and sunrise as phenomenological descriptions of the earth's rotation on its axis, but that is only because our interpretation of Scripture is informed by the fact (taught to us in school and proven with every launch of a satellite or manned space mission) that we do not live in a geocentric universe. Prior to heliocentrism becoming mainstream, a vast majority of ancients took this so-called phenomenological language as scientific descriptions of reality. If this is so, then the Bible is, in fact, scientifically inaccurate. However, this does not bother Lamoureux one bit:

Passages in the Bible referring to the physical world feature both a Message of Faith and an incidental ancient science. According to this interpretive principle, biblical inerrancy and infallibility rest in the Divine Theology, and not in statements referring to nature. Qualifying ancient science as 'incidental' does not imply that it is unimportant. The science in Scripture is vital for transporting spiritual truths. It acts as a vessel similar to a cup that delivers "living waters" (John 4:10). However, the word "incidental" carries meanings of "that which happens to be alongside" and "happening in connection with something more important." In other words, the ancient science in Scripture is "alongside" the "more important" Message of Faith. (p. 110; emphasis in original)

Lamoureux then proceeds to discuss numerous examples of "ancient geology" that bears absolutely no resemblance to physical reality:

• The earth is immovable (1 Chr 16:30; Ps 93:1; Ps 96:10)
  
• The earth is set on foundations (Job 38:4-6; Ps 75:3; Ps 104:5)
  
• The earth is surrounded by water (Gen 1:2; Job 26:10; Ps 24:2; Prov 8:27)
  
• The earth is circular, not spherical (Ps 19:4; Ps 104:2; Is 40:22)
  
• The earth has ends, or edges (Isa 41:8-9; Dan 4:12; Matt 12:42)
  
• The earth has an underside and an underworld (Num 16:31-33; Prov 5:5; Isa 14:15; Matt 11:23; Luke 10:15; Eph 4:9-10; Phil 2:10; Rev 5:13; Rev 20:14)
  
• The earth is flat (Dan 4:11; Matt 4:8)
  

Of course, these descriptions are not unique to the Bible; they are, in fact, similar if not identical to descriptions of the cosmos in other ANE cultures as depicted, for example, in ancient Babylonian maps.
Lamoureux next tackles "ancient astronomy," in Walton-like fashion, discussing the likes of the daily movement of the sun, the firmament (the apparently firm, blue dome that covers the earth), the waters above the the firmament, the foundations and ends of heaven (including its various levels), and the placement of the sun, moon, and stars in the firmament itself. Like Walton, Lamoureux appeals to the original languages to bolster his arguments quite convincingly. (An eschatological futurist, Lamoureux has some interesting views on how he believes eschatological events might play out in the physical realm, but it is enough to say that Lamoureux believes that "divine judgmental action is filtered through ancient astronomical categories." I'll tackle this in a post later down the road.)

And if the Bible's geology and astronomy weren't ancient enough, Lamoureux adds "ancient biology" to the mix, proving that the Bible possesses ancient conceptions of taxonomy, botany, human reproduction, and the causes behind suffering, physical/mental disabilities, and disease:

• Bats categorized as birds (Lev 11:13-19)
• Cud-chewing rabbits (Lev 11:5-6)
• Mustard seeds declared (indirectly) smaller than orchid seeds (Mark 4:30-32)
• Spontaneous generation (Gen 1:11, 20, 24; Mark 4:26-29)
• The "one-seed" theory (Heb 7:9-10) of human reproduction, which blames the woman for being barren (Gen 11:30; Gen 25:21; Gen 29:31; Gen 30:22-23; Luke 1:7, 36; Heb 11:11).
  
• (Lamoureux takes an interesting view on the causes of various physical and/or mental maladies, to wit, that some of these illnesses attributed to demons actually have a natural, non-demonic cause. I'm not quite prepared to comment on this view.)

Conclusion

If the examples of ancient science in Scripture were relegated to only a few instances, one might be able to successfully argue against Lamoureux (and Walton, to a certain extent). However, it is clear to me that, in matters of science, the Bible does not concord with physical reality in a great number of cases. What are we to do with this fact? Lamoureux suggests that

it is necessary for modern readers of God's Word to separate the Message of Faith from the incidental ancient science, and not to conflate these together. According to the Message-Incident Principle, inerrancy and infallibility rest in the spiritual truths of Scripture instead of its views on the structure and operation of the physical world. (pp. 146-147; emphasis in original)

I'd say this is an excellent place to start for the Christian struggling to reconcile the Bible with science. It is certainly counterintuitive at first to recognize and respect the incidental ancient science, but with practice it becomes natural to separate the "wheat" (theological truth) from the "chaff" (ancient science). It may also help to begin thinking of the Bible as somewhat incarnational, that is, both human and divine, much like (although not identical to) Jesus Christ. Is it really so hard to conceive of the Bible's purpose as the transportation of divine truth in a fallible vessel? Wasn't this also the case with the incarnation of the second person of the Triune God, Jesus Christ, who brought ultimate truth via the humiliating experience of becoming a physically fallible human being possessing an intellectually-limited human mind?