Dr Paul Allen

English: The exterior of the Answers in Genesis Creation Museum in Kentucky (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Reading Ted Cabal’s book leans toward an old-earth view, but that’s not the point of his book. His point is that the rhetoric we use to defend our view matters. For example, we should not call the age of the earth a “ gospel issue .” Cabal argues calmly, thoughtfully, and charitably. He explains that professing evangelicals engage evolution today in four different ways (and a popular group is associated with each): young earth creationism ( Answers in Genesis ) old earth creationism ( Reasons to Believe ) evolutionary creationism ( BioLogos ) anti-evolution without theology ( Intelligent Design , e.g.,  Discovery Institute ) A forthcoming debate-book  for Zondervan’s Counterpoints series features these four views: Young Earth Creationism : Ken Ham (Answers in Genesis) Old Earth (Progressive) Creationism: Hugh Ross (Reasons to Believe) Evolutionar...

Does a 6,000-year-old earth match the findings of modern science? Secular scientists have answered forcefully in the negative for generations. However, their arguments rest on the assumption of constant natural processes and constant rates, and new discoveries from ICR’s geneticists present a strong challenge to these claims. Genetic “Clocks” Ticking within every species is a “clock” of sorts that measures the length of time that a species has existed on the earth. Since DNA is passed on imperfectly from parent to offspring, each generation grows more genetically distant from prior generations. Consequently, with each successive generation reproductively isolated groups within species grow more and more genetically distant from each other. This is true for DNA found not only in the nucleus of the cell but also in the cellular energy factories termed  mitochondria . Mitochondrial DNA is present in both males and females, but unlike nuclear DNA, it is inherited only from mot...

PhotonQ-Homer' s Evolution Theory (Photo credit: PhOtOnQuAnTiQuE ) In 2012, a Gallup poll found that 46 percent of U.S. adults believed " God created humans pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years or so." Thirty-two percent believed humans evolved with God's guidance, and 15 percent believed humans evolved with no divine guidance at all. The responses to this question, which Gallup has included 11 times on polls since 1982, have been remarkably stable over a 30-year period of time. The findings , showing a public evenly split over the issue of human evolution , have been corroborated in several other national surveys. These surveys portray a deeply divided and polarized public. Even among the majority who believe that God created humans, the chasm separating creationist and evolutionist views appears to be gargantuan. Are Americans really this divided over human origins? As a social scientist, I am skeptical about these find...

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...

Image via Wikipedia 1. Young Earth Creationism (YEC) The Skinny : Belief that the universe was created miraculously by God around ten thousand years ago (or less). Explanation: YECs often insist that their view is the  only  way to understand and remain faithful to the integrity of the Scriptures. For them, options which integrate evolution or an old earth paradigm compromise the clear teachings of Scripture and even the essence of the Gospel message. They will often argue (especially since the publication of   The Genesis Flood  in 1960) that science is on their side using “catastropheism” or “ Flood Geology .” They believe that world-wide biblical catastrophes sufficiently explain the fossil records and other geographic phenomena that might otherwise suggest evolution or an old earth. They believe in a literal Adam and Eve, Garden of Eden, snake talking, and global flood. Relationship Between science and Scripture: Scientific discovery alw...