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. I have shared some of his thoughts about fossils and Earth's history before (See: John Ray on Flood Geology: Words that Still Apply Today). In a correspondence with... Continue Reading →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
The following quote is from page 152 of the 1735 edition of Wisdom of God, Ray's best known book. He is bemoaning the fact that so few professors have any experience from observation but appear to be content with the knowledge of the past which they have gained from books. Let us not suffice us... Continue Reading →
A month ago or so I read an interesting article that got me thinking about the young earth creationists (YEC) view of the extent of the biblical term “kind.” I wrote up some comments which you can see below. Apparently there has been a creation study group that has actively been asking the question what... Continue Reading →
What a species is has been debated for centuries but John Ray was the first person to produce a biological definition of what a species is. In his 1686 History of plants he states: "..no surer criterion for determining species has occurred to me than the distinguishing features that perpetuate themselves in propagation from seed.... Continue Reading →
Naturalis Historia 