Category: Education

A Quick Google Search for the Truth? Chuck Missler, UFOs, and the “informed” Christian Reader

Posted in Education3 Comments

Years ago, I served a customer at Christian Bookstore who was looking for books by Chuck Missler. We do not stock his books. So, he asked if I would special order one his books. “If you would like,” I said.

Now, having special ordered a book by this author in the past, I knew that I could not recommend him to my customer. In this type of situation, the hope is that a customer can be steered toward a better author. In other stores, you might encourage your customer to buy a different product because you know about problems with a particular brand.

I asked the customer if he knew that Missler was writing books about aliens in our Bibles. The customer responded that I must have the wrong Chuck Missler because his other books are, “Right on.” Continue reading “A Quick Google Search for the Truth? Chuck Missler, UFOs, and the “informed” Christian Reader” →

An Unhappy Marriage III: Don’t Tell Me What I Think (or the Art of Listening)

Posted in Answers in Genesis, Bible, Christianity and Science, Education, Evangelistic Atheism, Genesis, hermeneuticsTagged , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

In this series of posts, I am noting the shared presuppositions of most Young Earthers (YECs) and a particular though common subset of atheists which I am referring to as evangelistic atheists. Evangelistic atheists (EAs) are those who think atheism and atheistic reasoning are “good news” and that as they spread this good news theism (superstition) will decline and the world will become a better place through scientific discovery.

In the west and for obvious reasons, the primary target of evangelistic atheism’s polemical rhetoric is aimed at Christians. In my experience which includes reading, conversation, on-line interaction (i.e. not usually conversational), being a student in anti-Christian contexts, and my own youth which included an element of anti-Christian skeptical agnosticism most evangelistic atheists seem to assume and, indeed, insist that true Christianity is Protestant Fundamentalist Christianity.

Related Posts: Unhappy Marriage II: Stuck in the Middle with You, Unhappy Marriage I: Atheists are from Mars and Young Earthers are from Earth

I am likely stretching my analogy of the Unhappy Marriage to the breaking point but who cares its a blog. Continue reading “An Unhappy Marriage III: Don’t Tell Me What I Think (or the Art of Listening)” →

An Unhappy Marriage II: Stuck in the Middle with You

Posted in Answers in Genesis, Education, Evangelistic Atheism, hermeneuticsTagged , , , , , , , 1 Comment

“Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right, Here I am stuck in the middle with you.” — Stealers Wheels

We are all fools. One type of fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

“Answer a fool according to his folly.” Sometimes, you have to set aside your ultimate aims and simply meet people where they are. You can’t just point an atheist to a Bible verse. That’s like quoting your mother to your wife in an argument.

As I suggested in my previous post, we all have biases, prejudices, and presuppositions. In fact, it would be difficult to function in the world without them. Continue reading “An Unhappy Marriage II: Stuck in the Middle with You” →

An Unhappy Marriage I (or Atheists are from Mars and Young Earthers are from well Earth apparently)

Posted in Answers in Genesis, Bible, Christianity and Science, Education, Evolution, Genesis, hermeneutics, Ken Ham, Philosophy, Science, Sunday School, TeachingTagged , , , , 5 Comments

By entering into the discussion of origins and the Bible, I am not particularly interested in addressing those who are actively promoting Young Earth Creationism. Rather, my intended audience consists of those who want to consider these questions and are open to the possibility that other options presented by confessing Christians who are experts in their fields may be viable alternatives to the stark either/or position proferred by people like Ken Ham.

However, as one can imagine, venturing into this conversation sometimes involves attempting to “converse” with YE evangelists on one side and the evangelistic atheists that YECs fear on the other side. What neither of these “groups” realize is how similar they really are. They are in a symbiotic relationship with one another but it is an unhealthy relationship. While they feed off one antother, like parasites they suck the life out of the rest of us and out of the Christianity, Science, and Reason they claim to defend. Continue reading “An Unhappy Marriage I (or Atheists are from Mars and Young Earthers are from well Earth apparently)” →

Bones of Contention II: Ape, Human or Fraud? Young Earth Creationists Respond to the Dinaledi Chamber Fossil Discovery

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The follow up.

R. Joel Duff's avatarNaturalis Historia

The largest collection of hominin bones ever found in Africa is causing massive waves in the anthropological world and beyond. When it was first announced, I wrote about how I thought some creationist organizations might respond to questions posed by hominin fossils and their geological setting (see: Bones of Contention: How Will Creationists Respond to a Huge New Hominid Fossil Find?).

Within 72 hours of the announcement, we now have the first responses from young earth creationists (YECs), and they are surprising and predictable.

Before we look at the responses, let me review just a few of the facts and interpretations that YECs have to grapple with as they seek to provide answers about the fossil discovery.

More than 1500 bone fragments have been retrieved from the floor and sediments of a small, difficult-to-access cavern more than 300 feet from the nearest exit. There are many more bones awaiting…

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Bones of Contention: How Will Creationists Respond To A Huge New Hominid Fossil Find?

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This blog is an excellent resource for those of us interested in biology and questions of origin. Ken Ham and AiG took aim at this post on Homo naledi.

Related posts: 

R. Joel Duff's avatarNaturalis Historia

Where no animal except a lost owl and rodent has ever found themselves, through skinny passages that I could not fit through, laying on or just under fine sediments, the partially fossilized bones of at least 15 individuals have been found deep in a cave in South Africa.

How did these bones get there? Whose bones were they? When did these individuals live?

Almost two years ago I wrote about the Rising Star Expedition which was an expedition into a deep dark cave to recover newly discovered remains of what was a possible new human relative. (See: Science in Progress: The Rising Star Expedition in South Africa) While openly inviting experts and students to be involved in the expedition and subsequent research to describe the findings, the answers to some of these these questions have been understandably kept under wraps until this morning.   A press conference, two research articles…

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Genesis 3: When is a Snake not merely a Snake?

Posted in ANE, Bible, Biblical Theology, Education, Genesis, Philosophy, PoliticsTagged , , , , , , , , , , , 3 Comments

While I highly recommend Michael Cosby’s Intepreting Biblical Literature (see my post on this textbook), I have yet to read a textbook where I agree with everything in it. In his chapter on the Primeval History or Genesis 1-11, Cosby writes the following, “The talking snake in Genesis 3:1-5 is merely that — a snake.”

So, when we get to this moment in a classroom setting, I usually put this quote on the screen followed by the question in my title:

When is a snake not just a snake?  Continue reading “Genesis 3: When is a Snake not merely a Snake?” →

Genesis 3: What is the man doing? or Adam discovers the scientific method.

Posted in Bible, Biblical Theology, Church Fathers, Commentaries, Education, Genesis, Gospel, Jewish/Christian DialogueTagged , , , , , , , , , , , 3 Comments

“When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” (Genesis 3:6)

After a series of close-ups involving the serpent and the woman, the camera pans back and reveals that her husband has been present all along. So, what was he doing? Why did he not intervene? Why did he not answer the serpent or better send it scurrying for speaking inappropriately to his wife, the queen of Eden? Continue reading “Genesis 3: What is the man doing? or Adam discovers the scientific method.” →

Ken Ham on Homo Naledi: See No Evidence, Hear No Evidence, Speak No Truth

Posted in Answers in Genesis, Bible, Christianity and Science, Education, Evolution, PhilosophyTagged , , , , , , , , , , 9 Comments

Today’s Reading: Psalm 115 & Jeremiah 7:4

Having read the post on Naturalis Historia about the release of information on H. naledi, I knew it would not be long before Ken Ham and Answers in Genesis (AiG) voiced their collective judgment on the finding. Moreover, I knew what that judgment would be in advance. I am prescient that way. For Ham and AiG, This discovery would change nothing.

So, I was not surprised when Ken Ham released a tweet and a link to an “article” responding to this release of information about H. Naledi. Continue reading “Ken Ham on Homo Naledi: See No Evidence, Hear No Evidence, Speak No Truth” →

Mind the Gap II: Healing the Split-Brain Syndrome in Young Adults (and the rest of us)

Posted in Bible, Christianity and Science, Education, EvolutionTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

In my previous post “Diagnosing the Split-Brain Syndrome“, I focussed on my own experience growing up switching between absolute credulity and scientific rigour (at least a little more rigour than the average teenager). The most bizarre thing to me is that it did not seem to phase me or those around me. I could be talking about the latest discoveries in shark behaviour in one instant and recounting the latest alien abduction story in the next. No one ever questioned me about the incongruity. Indeed, if anything, people were more interested in the latter than the former.

It will surprise many non-Christians that for me the healing began shortly after my conversion to Christianity in my first year of university. While it began with a desire to understand the Scriptures better, the real healing began when I attended Regent College for Graduate School. Continue reading “Mind the Gap II: Healing the Split-Brain Syndrome in Young Adults (and the rest of us)” →