Dr Paul Allen

When it comes to Saint Patrick, the true story is even more exciting than the legend and the myth. The facts are far better than fable. This day that belongs to St. Patrick has become about leprechauns, shamrocks, pots of gold, and green—green everywhere. Famously, the City of Chicago dumps forty pounds of its top-secret dye into the river. A green racing stripe courses through the city. But long before there was the St. Patrick of myth, there was the Patrick of history. Who was Patrick? Patrick was born in 385 in Roman Britannia in the modern-day town of Dumbarton, Scotland. Patrick opens his autobiographical St. Patrick’s  Confession  with these opening lines: My name is Patrick. I am a sinner, a simple country person, and the least of all believers. I am looked down upon by many. My father was Calpornius. He was a deacon; his father was Potitus, a priest, who lived at Bannavem Taburniae. His home was near there, and that is where I was taken prisoner. I was abou...

Genesis (Photo credit: cajaygle ) "And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so." ( Genesis 1:11 ) One of the favorite biblical arguments used these days by Christian advocates of an old earth comes from a forced interpretation of this verse. While the verse seems to teach "sudden" creation, old-earth advocates interpret the verse to necessitate an indefinite time period, at least long enough for seeds to grow up into mature, seed-bearing plants . Plants differ widely and are thought to have evolved all throughout earth history . The third day, then, must be understood as long enough to witness the appearance of all "kinds" of plants and is equated with a vast stretch of geologic time. However, there are many biblical problems with this view--a few of which follow. Scripture teaches that "in six days the LORD m...