Darwinian theories of the universe, although mostly rejected by evangelical Christians, have still found their way into creation theology. A concept such as evolutionist creation has watered down much of the Bible's teaching in order to reconcile with popular tenants of science. The whole controversy swirls around the age of the universe.
Dr. Kurt Wise, an associate professor of science and director of the Center for Origins Research and Education at Bryan College, shows from solid biblical teachings and scientific confirmation why young universe creation is correct. Beginning with God and His Word as the standard, Wise demonstrates how the biblical witness teaches that the age of the universe is not as old as Darwinian theory would contend. He also demonstrates how all issues raised by evolutionists can be answered not only by the Bible, but also by scientific data and research, nailing shut macroevolution's coffin.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Please Read The Book
Whatever your beliefs, atheistic or theistic 'evolution', it really is worth reading this book and reflecting. Unfortunately some reviewers appear to have failed to either read or reflect. The fact that animals of a certain type change over time into different forms reflects observation. That animals change from 'simpler forms' to 'more complex ones' from one progenitor of everything through to the homo sapiens form of man is a theory. Kurt Wise is quite clear on what he believes to have happened. To those who believe that the Bible is quite happy with carnivorous animals always existing, you have to ask how a world where a human could be attacked and devoured by a fierce carnivore could be 'very good'. Also the restitution at the end envisages the lion lying down with the lamb and children able to play safely with snakes. None of this makes any sense if all these things were the same as now before the fall with 'nature red in tooth and claw'. Kurt Wise also refers to climate and weather systems as well as earthquakes and volcanos. Can an evangelical Christian believe that the violent destructive 'natural disasters' (which kill many many thousands of people) were part of a 'very good' original creation? The views on ice covering, polar magnetic change and distribution of peoples and languages are fascinating and deserve great thought not tacit dismissal. To the reviewer who claimed that it has taken 2000 years to change from Latin to modern Latin based languages, I suggest more study of the history of languages and more study of Kurt Wise's book. There really are no sound theories for the development of the completely different groups of languages other than the direct intervention of God as in the scriptural Tower of Babel.
4 Stars Basically well done, though marred by language inaccuracy
Dr. Wise is a learned man and presents his case well. There is, however one point on which he contradicts himself because of his incorrect use of one word," penultimate." Sadly, it is a critical point in his discourse, because this one incident casts a shadow over what otherwise is probably excellent scholarship. His misuse of the word is neither inconsequential nor accidental, as he uses it with emphasis in two places. On page 76 he states, "Man is the last (the penultimate) creation," and again on page 139, set off under its own heading, "What's Next?" he writes, " And now, the penultimate creation–the origin of man." He may mean "last," but uses a word which unequivocally means "next to last."
5 Stars An Introduction to the Beliefs and Science of YECism
Despite its negative aspect, I give this book 5 stars since it is one of the few quality YEC works out there and explains and defends the position quite well. The negative aspect is not enough for me to take a star off the rating.
Positive:
a.) It's easily readable but not dumbed-down.
b.) I love the fact that he starts with God and the Scriptures. Too often, people uncritically accept human autonomy in order to determine their world and life view. Once the colorful wrapping is removed, "Free-Thinker"-ism is no less dogmatic than organized religious belief. That is, it is certainly not devoid of the major presuppositions that everyone brings to their experiences. Although it is the "spirit of the age", history has shown that it is folly to base one's epistemology on science.
c.) It includes a nice discussion of presuppositions in scientific theories. Many people pretend or believe that what scientists say is simply a "brute fact". In reality, the empirical process goes from data to a theory that tries to explain the data.
d.) It goes through a defense of YECism, and not only does he show how YECism can validly reinterpret the evidence to fit Scripture, but also shows that YECism fits the evidence better than other theories. This is especially true when it comes to baraminology. Baraminology explains the strong evidence that a few species are related to each other (and likely had a common ancestor) while explaining the strong evidence that most of life is unrelated (except through its Creator). Rather than being one large tree, life is more like an orchard.
e.) He explains that Creationists still have a lot of research to do with respect to the evidence that doesn't quite fit YECism.
Negative:
Wise states: "If God provided man with everything he needed in order to come to God by logic and/or physical evidence, man would be able to come to Him without faith" (p.13). There are several problems with this statement: 1.) In Romans 1 and elsewhere, it is stated that the existence of God is obvious to everyone, but that men suppress this obvious truth due to their sinful nature. It is God's *promises* that are to be accepted on faith (i.e. belief in something that is hoped for but not seen and this belief can be confirmed by evidence or deductive logic), not His existence. 2.) Many people have seen God and His wondrous works. Do they need to accept God's existence on faith? Take, for example, Adam and Eve. Both had seen God and His wonders, and Adam had seen God make Eve out of his rib. However, the reason that they sinned was that they doubted and disbelieved in God's promises, not His existence.
1 Star An important bit of information
First off, this book was written by a man who claimed that if all the evidence in the universe turned against the idea of a god, then he would still support creationism, just because it's what the bible says to do.
Take this into account as you read this book. It is an interesting read, but can easily be dissected and torn apart by any scientist.
Also the only reason this book has a high rating is because creationist publishers and such have people go on here and rate the books high. You don't have to believe me, but it's not surprising when you think about it considering that it would be impossible to track. These guys know what they are doing.
5 Stars The One Young Earth Creationist Book to Read
I am a theistic evolutionist, and am opposed to the vast majority of the assertions in this book, sometimes vigorously opposed. Even such simple concepts as "God is creator" receive meanings that I do not believe are correct.
So why do I rate it as five stars? There are many young earth creationists (Dr. Wise prefers "young age" since he's speaking of the age of the entire universe), and they have written myriads of books. As a general rule these books vary from inane to deceptive, but are never profound, insightful, or accurate. One of the major problems is that these authors try to pretend that religion doesn't really play a role, that if science were done objectively it would come to their view.
Dr. Wise realizes this is not so, and thus is forthright and open about his religious convictions from the start. He believes in a young universe because of two basic convictions: 1) The Bible must be correct in all it asserts, and 2) The correct interpretation of the first 11 chapters of Genesis is as narrative history and forces one to accept a young universe if one is faithful to the text.
Having reached his conclusion about the age of the universe from scripture, which he believes is the controlling authority, he proceeds to try to find the holes in current scientific undestandings which will allow the formation of a coherent theory of creation, something no young earth creationist has ever done successfully. Dr. Wise believes it will take much work, and he regularly points the way to needed research.
I think his Biblical interpretation is wrong, and his scientific quest is hopeless, but he is open and honest, and by no means stupid or ignorant.
I rate this book very highly as the one young age creationist book which should be read by every opponent of their position. This is the coherent presentation of that position, and unless you understand this presentation, you don't understand Biblical creationism.
I would also recommend that every creationist–young or old age/earth–read this one book because they could see the necessary foundation of creationism. The sale of creationism as a purely scientific idea is a failure, and it is doomed to continue to be a failure. Dr. Wise believes, understands, and openly acknowledges that the necessary foundation (which he believes) is a belief in the Bible and in a particular variety of literal interpretation of it.
I went away continuing to vigorously disagree, but at the same time I must respect the integrity of this author.
Check out the UNEXPLAINABLE STORE - Lots of freebies, bonuses and more. -
The link opens in a new window so you can satisfy your curiosity and return to this page!
~~~~~~~~~~~~
This appears to be a very interesting read, regardless of belief. I really appreciated the user comments/ratings. I think I will invest some time into this book. Thanks.
Interesting…I will give it a read