Should professors at universities actively participate in generating and testing ideas, or should they content themselves with being teachers of established knowledge? Many higher educational institutions, including the one employing me, grapple with the ongoing challenge of balancing the encouragement of knowledge creation and the dissemination of existing knowledge. To phrase it differently, am I... Continue Reading →
John Calvin on the Ancients Ability to Divine Truth
Reflecting on common grace and intellectual exploration, I found the book "God and the Cosmos: Divine Activity in Space, Time and History" by Harry Lee Poe and Jimmy H. Davis to be a helpful read. The authors set the tone for their exploration by invoking a quote from the 16th century theologian John Calvin, a... Continue Reading →
Isaac Newton on the Mosaic Account of Creation
Creation chronometry was a much debated topic in the late 1600s and early 1700s among Christians with virtually no opinion expressed being of the same kind that that could be described as a literalist view held today. I often wonder what would have happened had the Westminster Confession of Faith been written after this debate rather than before it given how the landscape of the discussion changed in the 40 years after the Assembly of the Westminster Divines met.
John Ray in 1695: The Flood, Fossils, and Extinction
John Ray, one of England's greatest 17th century natural theologians, spent much time pondering the meaning of fossils or "formed stones" as they were called then. Â I have shared some of his thoughts about fossils and Earth's history before (See: Â John Ray on Flood Geology: Words that Still Apply Today). Â In a correspondence with... Continue Reading →
Testing Book-smarts with Observation: John Ray (1735) on the Value of Knowledge Creation
Should professors at Universities be active participants in generating and testing ideas or should they be content to be teachers of what is already known? Most higher educational institutions, such as the one that employs me, continually grapple with how to strike a balance between encouraging knowledge creation and dissemination past knowledge. Put another way,... Continue Reading →
John Ray on Flood Geology in 1695: Words that Still Apply Today
Modern young-earth creationism has deep roots. The essential elements of flood geology were established in the 17th century though much of what passed as flood geology at that time might be difficult to recognize today. One thing that hasn't changed is the style of rhetoric frequently used to promote flood geology to the general public.... Continue Reading →
NH Notes: John Ray on the Purpose of Creation in “The Wisdom of God”
The Englishman and natural historian John Ray is best known for his book, The Wisdom of God.  Like many other books of the 18th century, he continually revised and reissued his book until the time of his death.  Even after his death notes that he had made on manuscripts were incorporated into later editions.  As a result of... Continue Reading →
John Calvin on the Ancients Ability to Divine Truth
In the pursuit of understanding Christian belief and intellectual exploration, I found the book "God and the Cosmos: Divine Activity in Space, Time and History" by Harry Lee Poe and Jimmy H. Davis to be a helpful read. The authors set the tone for their exploration by invoking a quote from the 16th century theologian... Continue Reading →
NH Notes: The Scientific Enterprise and Paradise Gained
I’m sitting in the Boston Airport on my way to a conference at Gordon College but I have enough time for a natural history note while I wait for a colleague to arrive. On my flight from Ohio I read the last chapter of the Peter Harrison’s “The Fall of Man and the Foundations of... Continue Reading →
John Ray on the Purpose of Creation in “The Wisdom of God”
The Englishman natural historian John Ray is best known for his book The Wisdom of God.  Like many books at the time, he continually revised and reissued until the time of his death and then even after his death edits he had made to manuscripts were incorporated into later editions.  As a result of these many... Continue Reading →
Ray to Llwyd: On Formed Stones and Mammalian Fossils
This is part of a continuing a series of posts on John Ray's correspondences. Quotes are from the publication of Ray’s letters (Further Correspondence of John Ray) edited by Robert W. T. Gunther and printed for the Ray Society in 1928.   The first is from a letter to Mr. Edward Llwyd at the Museum of... Continue Reading →
Ray to Lhwyd in 1695 continued: Fossils and the Flood
The same letter of Ray's to Lhwyd in 1695 that I posted recently goes on to explain Ray's feelings about the new flood theories that were being promoted in the late 1600s and some observations on fossils.   The letter reveals Ray's reading of the prevailing interpretation of the flood narratives of Genesis in his day. ... Continue Reading →
John Ray on Woodward in 1695: Words that still apply today
The following quote is by John Ray from a correspondence with Mr. Edward Lhwyd on April 8 1695.  The quote is from a publication of Ray's letters called the Further Correspondence of John Ray Edited by Robert W. T. Gunther and printed for the Ray Society in 1928. I need to set the scene for... Continue Reading →
Mather on Genesis 1:21: What is the great sea creature?
A note on Genesis 1:21 and the creation of the great sea creature From page 328 of the 2011 translation of Cotton Mather’s Biblia Americana vol 1 we find the following question and answer: “Q. What are the Creatures intended in the Original, where our Translation reads, Great Whales? V.21. A. Job Ludolphus ha’s demonstrated,... Continue Reading →
A New Old Genesis Commentary – The Mather Project
An interesting new resource for research into 17th century natural history has been made available this year in the form of the first of what will be 10 volumes of the monumental work Biblia American by Cotton Mather (1663-1928).   The first volume coves this American puritan's commentary on Genesis.  Unfortunately the book is rather expensive... Continue Reading →