All movements have extremist and young earth creationism also has its own extremists that work on the fringes of the movement. In 1997 I had an experience that strongly effected my view of the age of the earth debate within evangelical Christianity and the reformed church in particular.
After a mental break on the issues revolving around reading Genesis 1-11 for about year the topic moved back to the front of my mind again about six months ago as I prepared to get back to a couple of larger writing projects that will focus on the age of the earth. Â Â As a way... Continue Reading →
Continuing on with the theme of the last several posts which examined reconstructions of fossil forests here are the results of another research paper released this past week (reference below). In this study the authors examined records of more than 2200 fossilized wood collections just from Cretaceous aged rocks at locations all around the world. ... Continue Reading →
As a way of simplifying yesterday's rambling entry I offer the following comparison of two meteorite impact craters. The first, Victoria Crater, is from Mars and the second, Amguid Crater, is in Algeria, Africa. Let's compare the features and then ask if they can help us to evaluate the current young earth geology models and... Continue Reading →
Kamil Meteorite crater is a recently discovered crater in Egypt which is an example of a very young crater on earth. What can Kamil Crater tell us about the origin of craters not only on Earth but also on other Planets? And what does this tell us about the age of the Earth and those other planets?
I have taken part in many discussions on internet discussion boards with pastors and lay Christians concerning science and the age of the earth. Here is comment made in just such a discussion more than 10 years ago: >As I understand it, the "old earth" position bases its beliefs on >an unknowable fact. It is... Continue Reading →
Who is interested in the question of origins and where do they go to find information?  There are a number of ways to gauge interest but a quick look at web site traffic can be illustrative of what information is getting to the most people. Below I list what I think are the prominent organizational... Continue Reading →
How were the planets formed?  While young earth creationists appear to be fairly unified in their convictions about the origin of the geological features of the earth, the question of how the planets and the moon came to appear as they do seems to be one for which there is little consensus among YECs other... Continue Reading →
Sometimes you run across an article so ridiculous you can hardly believe you just read it. Such is the case with a chapter of Walter Brown's book "In the Beginning."   The whole book has significant problems but while I was delving a bit deeper into the origins of meteorites and asteroids and the appearance of... Continue Reading →
Another blog brought to my attention a recent daily news update from ICR that comments on the origins of Mercury. The latter article comments on recently published results of the MESSENGER spacecraft that is now orbiting the planet Mercury (Science abstract). That spacecraft is mapping the surface of Mercury with several instruments including X-ray fluorescence... 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 →
Here at Naturalis Historia we hope to bring a greater awareness of the importance of science and religion in the 17th and 18th century. A time when many discoveries were being made that impacted our views of the earth and its history.  Such an emphasis may unintentionally perpetuate the myth that the Middle Ages where... Continue Reading →
The worlds largest rock tumbler? This story caught my eye this morning.  GSA press release - The Strange Rubbing Boulders of the Atacama. It seems that every other day I read about some place on earth that has a strange story to tell and usually that story is difficult to understand without an earth that... Continue Reading →
I can't go into all the issues that Sailhamer interacts with but I will try to hit some of the ones that are most important in distinguishing his ideas from some others. Most of these will be explored in separate posts over the next few weeks. 1)     What is the meaning of the phrase "tohu... Continue Reading →
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