Evidence for God from Science Newsletter November, 2005
Greetings in the name of the Lord! This is the latest update for the Evidence for God website. Welcome to our new subscribers.
Contents (scroll down for descriptions)
- Book Review
- Peril in Paradise: Theology, Science, and the Age of the Earth by Mark S. Whorton
- Biblical Creation
- Answers for Atheists
News
For the last three months, I have been heavily involved in a local environmental issue in Southern California. Vulcan Materials Company wants to expand rock mining of our local mountains - by virtually removing two mountains located within a mile of three residential neighborhoods. Besides destroying God's marvelous creation, the silica dust and diesel pollution threatens the health of 12,000 children and their families in our city. If you live in Southern California and want to get involved or get more information, please visit our website www.saveourcanyon.org and signup for e-mail updates.
I received an e-mail from a brother who knows both Spanish and English, who has offered to translate pages into Spanish. So far, Mario has translated three pages and is working on more. The new pages can be found at En Espaņol.
For those of you who use RSS feeds to monitor changes to sites, I have added an RSS feed. If you use Yahoo! as your homepage, you can add the GodAndScience.org RSS feed to your homepage using the "My Yahoo!" link (to left).
For those who have been praying for my wife, Carole, as she undergoes chemotherapy for a brain tumor, thank you so much. Carole is tolerating the treatment well and MRI scans are encouraging.
Book Review
Peril in Paradise: Theology, Science, and the Age of the Earth
by Mark S. Whorton, Ph.D. is a book written for Christians that examines creation paradigms
on the basis of what the Bible says. Many Christians assume that the young earth
"perfect paradise" paradigm is based upon what the Bible says. In reality, the
"perfect paradise" paradigm fails in its lack of biblical support and also in
its underlying assumptions that it forces upon a "Christian" worldview. Under
the "perfect paradise" paradigm, God is relegated to the position of a poor
designer, whose plans for the perfect creation are ruined by the disobedience of
Adam and Eve. God is forced to come up with "plan B," in which He vindictively
creates weeds, disease, carnivorous animals, and death to get back at humanity
for their sin. Young earth creationists inadvertently buy into the atheistic
worldview that suffering could not have been the original intent of God, stating
that the earth was created "for our pleasure."
In contrast, old earth creationists believe that the universe was created with a perfect purpose, in which human beings are to choose good from evil and bring glory to God in doing so. The "perfect purpose" paradigm states that God created the universe as a temporary place, in which evil and suffering fulfill the will of God toward a higher goal than just to give us pleasure or a nice place to live. We, the followers of Jesus Christ, manifest the abundant grace of God, even in our sufferings, witnessing for the gospel to our fellow human beings and also the angels.
Dr. Whorton's book goes beyond the superficial doctrines espoused by the young earth "perfect paradise" paradigm to examine underlying assumptions and extra-biblical teachings of the movement. Peril in Paradise examines verses cited as support for the perfect paradise paradigm in context to determine their actual meaning. In addition, the book compares the perfect paradise paradigm to the perfect purpose paradigm proposed by old earth creationists. Since the book sticks to the scriptures almost exclusively, it cannot be claimed that old earth creationists ignore the scriptures in preference to "fallible science."
Peril in Paradise: Theology, Science, and the Age of the Earth
Biblical Creation
A new page, based in part on some of the concepts from Peril in Paradise, examines what the Bible says about the purpose for the creation and the purpose of mankind. Were God's original plans thwarted by the sin of Adam and Eve or does God have a purpose for evil and suffering in this world?
Trouble in
Paradise: Why the Young Earth Paradigm Fails the Test of the Biblical Worldview
http://www.godandscience.org/youngearth/paradise.html
Answers for Atheists
I was recently involved in a long e-mail exchange with a deist. Having grown up as an agnostic, and turning to deism myself during college as I recognized scientific evidence pointed to the existence of a Creator God, the e-mail exchange was quite interesting. As a result, I created page that examines the deistic worldview and how it compares with Christianity. Deism claims to wholly dependent upon reason and science, but fails to provide a satisfactory explanation for the nature of God and His purpose for the universe. Read more...
Why Deism Fails as a
Philosophical Paradigm of the Universe
http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/deism.html
Current Projects:
- Global Warming: Are We Headed for an Ecological Disaster? This page has involved a lot of research into global climate trends, past climatic evidence, and what we can/cannot do about. There is a lot of information available, but most articles on the web examine only one side of the question. This page will present all the data, so that you can be informed about this important issue.
A list of new pages can always be found at:
http://www.GodAndScience.org/new.html
Newsletter Info
This and previous newsletters are available online. Go to the URL below to read the current and past updates:
http://www.GodAndScience.org/newsletter.html
Those are the most recent updates and changes since the last e-mail update. If you would like to see anything in particular at Evidence for God from Science, let me know. May you have a blessed Thanksgiving. I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to You among the nations. (Psalm 57:9)
In Christ,
Rich Deem
Evidence for God from Science respects your privacy and online time and plans to send updates no more frequently than about once every two months. Subscription information is available online.
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Evidence for God from Science
Website: http://www.GodAndScience.org/
http://www.godandscience.org/newsletters/2005-11.html
Last Modified November 22, 2005
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