Posted on 02/08/2005 10:26:54 AM PST by DannyTN
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A Theory of Creation
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By having the terms defined with more clarity (and less bias), and with a measure of information provided, one should have little difficulty seeing that the theory of creation not only exists, but also stands up rather well to a rigorous side-by-side comparison with its evolutionary counterpart. It has predictive value, is internally consistent, is no less falsifiable than evolution, and consistently explains at least as many phenomena allegedly explained by evolution.
The vocal proponents of evolution have demonstrated time and again that they are not interested in this kind of straightforward clarity or information. They object to its presentation, excuse themselves from paying much attention to it, then return to hacking up their favorite straw-man caricatures and congratulating each other on a job well done. (Dont let this happen to you!)
Vocal proponents of evolutionism such as are found at Talk.Origins have employed willful ignorance and arbitrary double-standards to question the scientific legitimacy of the creation science model. They then go to great lengths to avoid responsibility for using such unscientificif not outright deceptivetactics to disparage their worst nightmare: the truth.
Timothy Wallace
[1] The Talk.Origins Archive Welcome FAQ (as of 25 April 2000), apparently authored by Andy Peters, Onar Aam, Jim Acker, Wesley Elsberry, Mark Isaak, Bill Jefferys, Jim Loats, Thomas Marlowe, Paul Neubacher, Tero Sand, Thomas Scharle, Paul Schinder, Chris Stassen, Brett Vickers, and Kurt vonRoeschlaub. [RETURN TO TEXT]
[2] ibid. [RETURN TO TEXT]
[3] Two extensive online book lists are A Young-Earth Creationist Bibliography by Henry M. Morris and Master Creation/Anti-Evolution Bibliography by Eric Blievernicht. Periodicals include the peer-reviewed Creation Research Society Quarterly and Creation Ex Nihilo Technical Journal, and the popular-level Creation Ex Nihilo Magazine. [RETURN TO TEXT]
[4] Such fundamental assumptions are strictly religious/philosophical in both models, and therefore incapable of empirical falsification. [RETURN TO TEXT]
[5] Although much external evidence (e.g., ancient records and archaeological research) points to the accuracy of the Bible (as properly understood), this evidence does not necessarily render the reliability of the Bible an empirically falsifiable postulateparticularly to the mind and will predisposed to resist the moral implications inherent in the Bibles message. Some links for serious inquirers might be The Textual Reliability of the New Testament. [RETURN TO TEXT]
[6] The creationary postulate that the ultimate Primal Cause of time, space, and matter/energy was the Creator-God of the Bible is not empirically falsifiable, although evidence does point to a beginning of time, space, and matter/energy. The evolutionary postulate that time, space, and matter/energy are either self-created or eternal in nature is empirically falsified, in that empirical evidence (i.e., the principle of entropy) points to a beginning of time, space, and matter/energy, and no unequivocal empirical evidence exists that time, space, and/or matter/energy can spontaneously exist via natural processes where none existed previously. Serious inquirers might be interested in reading Sarfatis If God Created the Universe, then Who Created God?, How to Think About God, by Mortimer J. Adler (New York, 1980: Macmillan). (Adler was a professor at UNC Chapel Hill, Chairman of the Board of Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, Dir of the Institute of Philosophical Research, and Honorary Trustee of the Aspen Institute for Hamanistic Studies. A self-described pagan, he nevertheless formulated a rationalistic argument for the existence of God either beyond a reasonable doubt or by a preponderance of reasons for that conclusion over reasons against it. His argument hinges on causation. [RETURN TO TEXT]
[7] The creationary postulate that complexity, variety and adaptability in living organisms and ecological systems are potentially inherent and complete in original populations as created and manifested over time through genetic variation and natural selection would be falsified by the demonstration that natural processes alone are unequivocally capable of producing these phenomena, were such a demonstration possible. The evolutionary postulate that complexity, variety and adaptability in living organisms and ecological systems have increased over time, starting from zero, via DNA copying errors (i.e., mutations), natural selection, and millions of years, on the other hand, is becoming falsified by a growing body of empirical data indicating that natural processes alone are unequivocally incapable of producing these phenomena. [RETURN TO TEXT]
[8] The creationary postulate that massive amounts of coded genetic information were inherent and complete in the original populations as created, and that the sum total has steadily declined over time via mutational degradation would be falsified by the demonstration of an unequivocal, empirically verifiable increase in new genetic information over time. The evolutionary postulate that massive amounts of coded genetic information have increased over time starting from zero, via DNA copying errors (i.e., mutations), natural selection, and millions of years, is becoming falsified by a growing body of empirical data pointing only to a net decrease in available genetic code, and the emergence of no unequivocally new genetic information. [RETURN TO TEXT]
[9] It has not been demonstrated empirically and unequivocally that similarities, ranging from genetic to morphological, between various organisms are either indicative of Creators prerogative to employ similar/identical structures and information sequences for similar functions in different organisms, or that they are residual evidence that multiple different organisms descended from common ancestors. Falsification for either interpretation therefore remains impossible. [RETURN TO TEXT]
[10] The creationary postulate that the fossil record, comprised of billions of organisms quickly buried in sedimentary rock layers laid down by water all over the earth, is a product of the biblical global Flood and its immediate aftermath has not been falsified. The evolutionary postulate that the same fossil record is a product of millions of years of gradual or intermittent burial likewise has not been falsified per se, though no empirically observed similar uniformitarian process can be demonstrated to support the claim. [RETURN TO TEXT]
[11] If the Ice Age could be shown unequivocally to conflict with the creationary paradigm, it would serve as a form of falsification. But the Ice Age is essentially predictable in the aftermath of a high-energy catastrophic Flood as postulated in the creation model, whereas the evolutionary model offers no firm and unambiguous explanation for the Ice Age. [RETURN TO TEXT]
[12] The Entropy Law, as formalized in the Second Law of Thermodynamics, finds no disagreement with the creation model, which points to a space/time/matter beginning, followed closely by constant degradationotherwise creation could be easily falsified via a demonstration that it violates the Entropy Law. The evolution model, on the other hand, requires a mechanism-free and consistent increase in order, complexity, and new genetic information, which amounts to an outright contradiction to the Entropy Law. [RETURN TO TEXT]
[13] The loose and distinctly variable stratigraphic sequence in the fossil record, with its many exceptions, presents a pattern of ecological zones quickly buried from lower to higher elevations, which fits the creation/flood model well, whereas a highly consistent and strictly uniform record would only serve to falsify it. The evolution model calls for a fairly strict and uniform stratigraphic sequence, but ends up with many problematic and unpredicted (i.e., out-of-order) anomalies which essentially falsify it. [RETURN TO TEXT]
[14] This aspect of the creation model would easily be falsified if uniformitarian dating methods unanimously and consistently agreed on any one age of the earth contradicting the biblical creation estimate. Instead, they vary wildly, spanning a range from little or no apparent age to billions of years, strongly suggesting that they are unreliable as a rule, and that the various processes measured to produce them are likely residual effects of the high-energy, catastrophic processes and conditions of the flood. The evolutionary model seeks confirmation in carefully selected samples of carefully selected methods of uniformitarian dating but is falsified by the remainingand equally legitimatedates obtained from the many other processes available for determining unformitarian dates. [RETURN TO TEXT]
Austin, Steven A., Grand Canyon -- Monument to Catastrophe (El Cajon, CA: Institute for Creation Research, 1994).
Behe, Michael J., Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution (New York: Free Press, 1996).
Bergman, Jerry, The Criterion (Richfield, MN: Onesimus Publishing, 1984).
Bergman, Jerry and George Howe, Vestigial Organs Are Fully Functional (St. Joseph, MO: Creation Research Society Books, 1990).
Cooper, Bill, After the Flood (Chichester, England: New Wine Press, 1995).
Denton, Michael J., Evolution: A Theory in Crisis (Bethesda, MD: Adler & Adler, 1986; originally published in England in 1985).
Gange, Robert, Origins and Destiny (Dallas: Word, 1986).
Gentry, R. V., Creation's Tiny Mystery (Knoxville, TN: Earth Science Associates, 1986).
Gish, Duane T., Creation Scientists Answer Their Critics (El Cajon, CA: Institute for Creation Research, 1993).
Gish, Duane T., Dinosaurs by Design (El Cajon: Institute for Creation Research, 1992).
Gish, Duane T., Evolution: The Fossils Still Say No! (El Cajon, CA: Institute for Creation Research, 1995; an enlargement of Dr. Gish's The Challenge of the Fossil Record, and before it, Evolution: The Fossils Say NO!).
Ham, Ken, Andrew Snelling, and Carl Wieland, The Answers Book (Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 1991).
Ham, Ken, The Lie: Evolution (Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 1987).
Humphreys, D. Russell, Starlight and Time (Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 1994).
Johnson, Phillip E., Darwin on Trial (Washington, D.C.: Regnery Gateway, 1991).
Johnson, Phillip E., Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1997).
Johnson, Phillip E., Reason in the Balance (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1995).
Lammerts, Walter E., ed., Why Not Creation? (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1970).
Lubenow, Marvin, Bones of Contention (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1992).
Morris, Henry M., The Biblical Basis for Modern Science (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1984).
Morris, Henry M., ed., Scientific Creationism 2d ed. (Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 1985).
Morris, Henry M. and Gary E. Parker, What is Creation Science? Rev. ed. (El Cajon, CA: Institute for Creation Research, 1987).
Morris, John D., The Young Earth (Colorado Springs, CO: Master Books, 1994).
Oard, Michael, An Ice Age Caused by the Genesis Flood (El Cajon, CA: Institute for Creation Research, 1990).
Schaeffer, Francis, No Final Conflict (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1975).
Slusher, Harold, S. and Stephen J. Robertson, The Age of the Solar System (El Cajon, CA: Institute for Creation Research, 1982).
Slusher, Harold S., Origin of the Universe (San Diego, CA: Institute for Creation Research, 1980).
Spetner, Lee, Not By Chance! (New York: Judaica Press, 1996).
Thaxton, Charles B., Walter L. Bradley, and Roger L. Olsen, The Mystery of Life's Origin: Reassessing Current Theories (Dallas: Lewis & Stanley, 1992; originally published by Philosophical Library, 1984).
Thompson, Bert, Creation Compromises (Montgomery, AL: Apologetics Press, 1995).
Vardiman, Larry, Ice Cores and the Age of the Earth (El Cajon, CA: Institute for Creation Research, 1993).
Vardiman, Larry, Sea-Floor Sediment and the Age of the Earth (El Cajon, CA: Institute for Creation Research, 1996).
Whitcomb, John C. and Henry Morris, The Genesis Flood (Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1964).
Wilder-Smith, A. E., Man's Origin, Man's Destiny (Wheaton, IL: Harold Shaw Co., 1968).
Williams, Emmett L., ed., Thermodynamics and the Development of Order (Norcross, GA: Creation Research Society Books, 1981).
Wieland, Carl, Stones and Bones: Powerful Evidence Against Evolution (Acacia Ridge, Australia: Creation Science Foundation, 1994).
Woodmorappe, John, Noah's Ark: A Feasibility Study (El Cajon, CA: Institute for Creation Research, 1996).
Woodmorappe, John, Studies in Flood Geology (El Cajon, CA: Institute for Creation Research, 1993).
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You are correct, and the article labeled that concept a lie. "Religion" is usually used as an equivocation for "Christianity."
I found this simple quiz that you can give to people who claim to understand entropy. I wonder how Creationist Science would respond.
A space station orbiting the sun between earth and venus. The station is located at a distance from the sun that ensures that its internal temperature is a comfortable 70 degrees F.
First someone on board the station lights a match. During the 1 second interval that the flame of the match flares---
1 The entropy of the station as a whole:
a. increases
b. decreases
c. remains the same
2 The thermal order of the station
a. increases
b. decreases
c. remains the same
3 The entropy of the whole universe:
a. increases
b. decreases
c. remains the same
4 The thermal order of the universe
a. increases
b. decreases
c. remains the same
Next someone on board the station puts seeds in a planter located near a viewport on the sunlit side of the station. Carefully watered, the seeds grow into a row of carrots.
5 The entropy of the station as a whole has:
a. increased
b. decreased
c. remained the same
6 The thermal order of the station has
a. increased
b. decreased
c. remained the same
7 Meanwhile the entropy of the whole universe:
a. increases
b. decreases
c. remains the same
8 The thermal order of the universe
a. increases
b. decreases
c. remains the same
The seed from which one of the carrots grew happened to be struck by radiation during a solar storm. As a result it is a mutated carrot, having twice the usual content of beta-carotene in its makup. This makes it a better carrot from our point of view. The appearance of this evolved carrot resulted in:
9 The entropy of the station as a whole: a. increasing b. decreasing c. remaining the same
10 The thermal order of the station has
a. increased
b. decreased
c. remained the same
11 The entropy of the whole universe:
a. increased
b. decreased
c. remained the same
12 The thermal order of the universe
a. increased
b. decreased
c. remained the same
Finally someone eats the carrots. After allowing time for them to digest the meal, we can say that:
13 The entropy of the station as a whole:
a. increased
b. decreased
c. remained the same
14 The thermal order of the station
a. increased
b. decreased
c. remained the same
15 The entropy of the whole universe:
a. increased
b. decreased
c. remained the same
16 The thermal order of the universe
a. increased
b. decreased
c. remained the same
Now Mr. Dimensio, please be nice. Get your stinger put back in and have a nice, civil discussion. I know you can do that. You almost did it once
You don't believe in God? Do you believe you are the most ultimate being?
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3738ed013863.htm
The Bible never said the Earth was Flat
Because it is not a lie.
You have absolutely no reason to hold to any idea of right and wrong without the Creator originating that idea, because everything else is an opinion subject to change and whim.
Sorry, but these two key words in your post point out completely the falacies in creationism. Evolution theory is built on many proven facts. 100% of creationism is built on "I think".
You are a bit late. This topic has been debated above at length.
No disagreement from me.
The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary states:
The Hebrew universe. The ancient Hebrews imagined the world as flat and round, covered by the great dome of the firmament which was held up by mountain pillars (Job 26.11; 37.18). Above the firmament and under the earth was water, divided by God at creation (Gen 1.6, 7; cf Pss 24.2; 148.4). The upper waters were joined with the waters of the primordial deep during the Flood; the rains were believed to fall through windows in the firmament (Gen 7.11; 8.2). The sun, moon, and stars moved across or were fixed in the firmament (Gen 1.14-19; Ps 19.4, 6). Within the earth lay Sheol, the realm of the dead (Num 16.30-33; Isa 14.9, 15). (p339)
Not exactly a scholarly or credible source. It obviously does not take into account Hebrew poetry or ancient literary forms and devices. Critics of the Bible often take a figurative English phrase found in the Bible and demand unjustifiably that it be interpreted literally. I recently read one such critic on FR who said "the four corners of the earth" indicated a belief that the earth was square. That is absurd, of course. Our own use of figurative phrases such as "sunrise and sunset," or "The White House has no comment," does not prove that all meteorologists believe the sun revolves around the earth or that the White House has a mouth.
Yes... I'm a Devolvoist...
I still don't read it the way you are.
Yes, it starts "This is the book of the generations of Adam (period)." And then it begans recounting the generations, which started in the day God made Adam. Your reading of it runs that first sentence into the second, which shouldn't be.
Show me a textbook that illustrates where fossils have actually been found as opposed to where the author thinks they fit into a preconceived notion of history and it would do the same thing.
The biblical account of the flood indicates a period of months, not a single day.
I question how predominant that manner of thinking has been throughout history. We hear it said that "almost everybody always thought the earth was flat until Columbus sailed without falling off the edge." Any bets this is a gross oversimplification of human understanding throughout history? Sure, there is a "flat earth society," but organized societies by names such as this represent an esoteric, intractible theme less than the general understanding of humankind.
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