Ross, H. A Matter of Days Navpress, Colorado Springs, 2004
Chap. 3 The Clouds Burst P 29-40 Ross traced the history of creation vs. evolution thought and organizations. He noted that ICR and AIG often refer to the appearance of age theory. This appears valid with respect to the creation of man and animals. He asserts that the young earth creationists (YEC) at times go to far in requiring YEC belief to be an approved church college, school or teacher(p.39).
Chap. 4 Wisdom of the Ages p.41-49 Here the views of the early church leaders are traced: a number did not adhere to the 6-24hr. day view of creation: Augustine, Martyr, Clement, Origen.
Chap. 5 The Creedal Climate p.51-7 Most of the early creeds do not state 6 days of creation, with the exception of the Westminster Confession. Several creeds note the creation of man and woman in God’s image. Modern statement of faith by the Presbyterian Church of America(PCA) and by the Westminster Seminary allow various views including the day age theory. Chap 22 gave more details on the church councils.
Chap. 6. Better Interpretations p.59-69 A list saying scripture is true: Nu. 23:19; Ps.12:6; 19:7-8; 119:160; Prov. 30:5; Jn. 10:35; Heb. 6:18; 1 Jn. 1:5, Nature Ps.19:1-4 Rm. 1:18-20
Raeson together Is. 1:18 Testing truth: Det. 18:21-2; Mal. 3:10; 1thes. 5:21; 1Jn. 4:1; Acts 17:11 Research steps. P 65; creation verses p. 66; Predictions: Det. 18:14-22; Is. 36-7 Tolerance, discernment Heb.12:14-5; Rom 12:18
Chap. 7 Anchored in Scripture p.71-84 creation verbs: haya(exist) used for light and lights on days 1,4, but diff. verse on other days. Ross asserted that there would be problems for earth for days 1-3 with no sun or moon: The water cycle, earth’s rotation on its axis, and soil for plants. Suddenly dropping the sun and moon would cause gravitational and orbit problems. Ross noted that the sun moon and stars were created early and became visible form earth on day 4 as the atmosphere cleared and noted in Chap. 21. Ross also noted Adam would need more time than a few hrs. on day 6 to get to know the animals before naming them. He cited several verses indicating the mountain are old: Ps. 90:2, Mica 6:2, Hab.3:6,and Prov. 8:24-6, and 2 Pet. 3:5
Chap. 8 Theology p.85-95 Although Adam and eve were created as adults, they did not have the traditional signs of aging. He noted verses saying the physical laws were fixed: Jer. 33_25, Rom. 8:19-22 A number of verses also indicated nature gives us revelation.p.88
He asserts this revelation is not inferior to scripture.p.89 If one holds the speed of light did not change, then the size of the universe dates it at 120,000 + yrs
Chap. 9 Good God, Cruel World p.97-109. There had to be some death before the fall: insects on plant leaves, plants, fish, perhaps some birds. Carnivores have different life styles and digestion than herbivores, who spend most of their time grazing and digesting. Carnivores help maintain a healthy herbivore population by taking the sick and weak. There was some pain and work before the fall. Pain provides useful warnings. Some of the maters in the previous Chap. are discussed in Creation and Time, by Ross.
Chap. 10 p.111-120 Ross looks to the future. In Rev. 20:11-15 it is noted sin an evil are done away with. Also the laws of thermodynamics, gravity and electromagnetism may be suspended. “And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.” (Rev. 21:23) There is an absence of shadows, night and day, pain, death, hunger. Although there are some verses indicating God’s creation was finished, Ross indicated some opposing verses to this as the heavens, sun and moon will be no more( Job 14:12; Ps 102:25-7; Ecc. 12:2; Is. 34:4; 51:6; 65:17; Mat. 24:35 and 2 Pet. 3:5-13. Ross also stated that the universe is not static and there are ongoing changes in T. Tauri and Cepheid stars, the birth of new stars, neutron stars, and black holes(p114). The new Jerusalem geometry defies gravity, being 1500 miles high. We become the bride of Christ, and sin no more. So rather than the existing creation being improved, there will be a new creation. Ross stated that when one views the original universe as perfect and completed as Morris has, it flows that it can’t be better. The present laws of thermodynamics can be suspended.
Chap. 11. Young Earth Darwinism p.121-29 YEC are supporting evolution by promoting the idea of rapid differentiation of species before and after the flood. Changing plant eating animals to carnivores after the falls requires considerable change. Repopulating the dead animals after the flood into many different species also require change. It is estimated there were 30,000 pairs of animals on the ark. The fossil record documents 1/2 billion species: also there are now 5 million alive. This rate of re-speciation greatly exceeds Darwin’s estimates and anything we see toady. YEC has noted forced cross-breading of lion and tiger to form liger, etc. This however, does not reflect natural conditions, and goes against Lev.19:19 that states “Do not mate different kinds of animals.” DNA testing shows much more differentiation in within a family or order to be much greater than between species, requiring considerable evolution. The dog kind has been greatly differentiated by man’s selective breeding. This would not occur very much in nature. If all dogs were let wild, many would die off and return to a more normalized kind. Mutations are usually neutral, and often harmful. The ratio of harmful to beneficial one is between 10,000 to 10,000,000 to one. The beneficial ones could not be easily selected due the statistics. The chances of evolutionary change are a better for species with a rapid generation rate like ants and bacteria. The chances for large mammals to change much are very remote. Biologists try to get around this by proposing periodic high mutation rates. If this were due to radiation, the radiation itself would kill many species. Presently the re-speciation rate is exceeded by the extinction rate by several orders of magnitude. The 14 billion yr. old universe is vastly to young to allow speciation by evolution alone.
Chap. 12 Faith morality and OEC: p. 131-7 YEC have attributed belief in OEC to be un-Christian and likely to promote poor morals. He stated that both Morris and Ham have made such statements, but it is not true. Neither Satan nor early humans knew of evolution, yet sinned over pride and self-exultation. Some distinguished OEC include theologians and apologists like Charles Hodge, Ben Warfield, Gleason Archer, Norman Geisler, and Walter Kaiser. Dallas Willard stated that the level of animosity among Christians on the issue blunts evangelism and sets a poor example of brother love. Ross provided an example of a talk he gave at Oak Ridge Nat. Lab. where he spoke to physicists there convincing them of Gods creation. A group of YEC made a 4 hr trip to cause difficult questions during the question period, somewhat disrupting the flow of the meeting. This may have lessened the winning of Christian believers intended. God calls Christians to treat each other with love as Acts 15:1-35; 18:24-8; 1 Cor. 6:9-11 suggest.
Chap. 13 The Big Bang p. 139-148 The Bible supports the stretching out of the universe with many verses. There is considerable scientific support for the expansion of the universe from a point or singularity. The red shifts and cosmic background radiation support this along with Einstein’s equations. Also distant galaxies appear closer together in direct proportion to their distance from us. Also the abundance of elements heaver than helium decreases indirect proportion to their distance from earth. The CBR increases in temperature with distance from the earth. There is also time dilation in gamma ray bursts (p.147)
Chap. 14 Signs of and Old Age p.149-59 Four signs that all agree are the redshifts and expansion, the CBR, stellar burning and the abundance of radioactive elements. He (p.156) noted that the entire spectrum of new, to middle aged, to old stars are seen throughout the universe as noted in the Sloan digital sky survey(web 102). http://www.sdss.org/includes/sideimages/sdss_pie2.html
My comment: I have trouble visualizing any model to make physical sense of all the Chap. 13 & 14 notes. What if God stretched out all matter and energy in a sphere surface(as in the first 380,000 yrs when the temperature dropped to 3000K) and then He stared stretching it in various directions, creating stars and galaxies as he pleased. Simplistic common sense would say the universe has a center and an outer expanding periphery. Some common figures describing the model, picture it starting from a center. It also initially exceeded the speed of light in its expansion. http://www.google.com/search?q=big+bang+model&hl=en&biw=1003&bih=460&prmd=ivns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=O1jmTdekC-jZ0QGJ7p3zCg&sqi=2&ved=0CC0QsAQ
A flat universe is difficult of conceive of in a 3D world although scientists hold to it. As Humphrey’s said (p.19) the naturalistic assumptions of no center and no edge limits force a difficult to conceive of model. If there was a hypothetical oven the center, why would the temperatures be coldest there? One can conceive of portions of the big bang model as described by Herron in Show me God and in Wikipedia. Here it is noted according to standard cosmology, the temperature in the early bang would be too high for atoms and not until after 300,000 yrs when it decreased to 30000K the atoms could form.
Chap. 15 Challenges to and Old Cosmos p.161-174 Ross refutes many challenges here. A common one is God could have created light waves already in transit. This appearance of age would provide us with false information. Triangulation has shown the vast distances to be true. Changing in the velocity of light is also unlikely and would also affect E=MC2. Ross challenged the mathematics of Humphries in Starlight and Time as being incorrect, invalidating the time dilation values where clocks in the distant universe ran at faster rates. The two light yr. ball of water would have undergone nuclear fusion before it could assemble, and the black and white hole would take billions of yrs. to form(p.167). Ross also challenged the Hartnett model of earth based clocks once running slower than the distant universe until day 4 after which the clock rates equalized. This goes against Jer. 33:25 that says the laws of the heavens and earth are fixed. Ross questions how a time discontinuity between the sun and earth can occur as they are gravitationally connected. Ross also challenged the earth at the center of the universe claim. The redshifts of the most recent surveys do not show the clustered redshift values Humphries noted(p.170).
Chap. 16. The Reliability of Radiometric Dating p.175-184 Scientists find none of these long half life elements in the earth’s rocks: Plutonium 239(24,110 yrs); Neptunium 237(2.14 million yrs); Aluminum 26(.72 million yrs); Calcium 41(103,000 yrs); Iodine 131(117 million yrs). This is consistent with earth being 4.5 billion yrs old. Ross gave some guidelines for radiometric dating: 1.Accurate dates can be found for isotopes only between (no younger than 1/6 of the half life and no older than 6 times the half life) 2. Larger sample size allows a little bigger range of dates. 3. Sample purity and contamination can cause problems. If the following guidelines are followed and accounted for, many dating errors can be corrected. The whole sample date is often given first, followed by dates of the supposed isolated material without contaminants. The RATE group has asserted that decay rates may have changed briefly in history. However decay rates are tied to the weak nuclear force and could cause severe changes in heat released on earth and in supernova. Ross noted that for rubidium-strontium dating that isochron plots can correct for initial conditions yielding true ages.
Chap. 17. The Case for a Young Cosmos- Refuted.p.185-206 The continents erode too quickly for the earth to be old. Ross stated that mountain building from tectonic and volcanic activity was not considered invalidating the argument. Morris07(p.93) did consider this and noted at present erosion rates a volume equal to the present volume of all the continents would be eroded in 14 million yrs. Sedimentary deposits in the Colorado plateau are dated at 100 million yrs. old. Even if uplifted they should have eroded at uniform rates, but they appear largely un-eroded. Lunar dust accumulates too quickly to allow for an old earth: Ross noted recent dust estimates are lower and this invalidates the argument. Morris07(p.91) largely agreed. The earth’s magnetic filed decays too rapidly to allow and old earth. Ross stated that the Dynamo theory and long term reversals and cycles in the earth’s magnetic field are documented by scientists. Morris(p.79-86) asserted that there are problems with the long term dynamo theory and showed some evidence for rapid field reversals during the flood. One problem with a long low magnetic field is that cosmic rays would destroy life. This appears a case where there are differing scientific views yet to be fully verified. Computer models of galaxy structures show that spirals tend to collapse after 2-3 rotations, so galaxies must be relatively young. Ross noted that Prendergast found that continued star formation will stabilize the spiral. Also embedding of the spiral in a halo or in a dense central bulge will preserve the spiral. If these assertions are correct, the argument is negated. A comets life span is limited to thousand of yrs. and the supply of new comments is limited, so the solar system must be young. Again if Ross’s detailed assertions are correct, the argument is refuted. Ross also noted that the lack of confirmed supernova remnants was more due to observational problems rather than a true lack of them.
Chap. 18 Physical Reality breaks through: p. 207-14 Many young earth creationists (YEC), have declared the apparent findings of science are not correct and must be interpreted and viewed through their biblical viewpoint like wearing biblical glasses. This has caused some to dismiss YEC as wearing blinders and not being open minded to evidence. For example a geologist Ian Plimer wrote a book Telling Lies for God, in which he charges YEC of deception. At one time, the Catholic Church persecuted Galileo for his finding that the earth revolved about the sun. More recently YEC bars OEC from speaking at their meetings or at evangelical churches and colleges. Paul taught in Romans and in Galatians should be welcomed and there should not be a spiritual caste system of Jew and gentiles for example. “Likewise, Ken Ham affirmed that when sin defaced the image of God back in the Garden of Eden, it marred man’s ability to think.” Ref: June 1989 issue of Back to Genesis. J. Jordon also asserted in Creation in Six Days in 1999 that the witness of nature is cloudy and questionable. Ross cited 2 Tim. 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.” Some other views relating to this topic follow:
http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2009/09/11/biblical-creationists-cornered An article4 on the “Reasons to Believe”5 website publishes (with his approval) Dr. Moreland’s remarks on the age of the earth, which he made orally before a church in Washington State, USA, in February 2002. Dr. Moreland attempted to defend his belief that the days of creation were long periods of time. Our purpose in focusing on Dr. Moreland is to show the way in which even well respected Christians use faulty reasoning to justify their rejection of the six literal days of creation only a few thousand years ago. We must remember that we all have feet of clay and all of us (the authors of this review article included) must sit under the judgment of the Word of God. We wholeheartedly agree with Dr. Moreland when he states regarding the days of Genesis that “we ought not allow science to dictate to us our exegesis of the Old Testament.”6 But then he proceeds to do exactly that.”
The AIG view follows:.http://www.answersingenesis.org/about/faith
- The scientific aspects of creation are important, but are secondary in importance to the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ as Sovereign, Creator, Redeemer, and Judge.
a. Scripture teaches a recent origin for man and the whole creation, spanning approximately 4,000 years from creation to Christ.
b. The days in Genesis do not correspond to geologic ages, but are six consecutive 24 hour days of creation.
c. The Noachian Flood was a significant geological event and much (but not all) fossiliferous sediment originated at that time.
d. The gap theory has no basis in Scripture.
e. The view, commonly used to evade the implications or the authority of biblical teaching, that knowledge and/or truth may be divided into secular and religious, is rejected.
f. By definition, no apparent, perceived or claimed evidence in any field, including history and chronology, can be valid if it contradicts the scriptural record. Of primary importance is the fact that evidence is always subject to interpretation by fallible people who do not possess all information.
My comments: These views raise the question of what should be our priorities in belief? It is submitted that God, Jesus and the guidance of the HS should be our first priority. Should our belief be formed and held to the tenants of any organization or church denomination? For example AIG has tenants above that one must believe in six literal days of creation. The principle of the protestant reformation was Sola Scriptua or the scriptures are primary and trump any denomination view. As a practical consideration, it is recognized that to be representing an organization or a denomination, one must subscribe to their policy and beliefs. Where do open mindedness and the value of reason come in? It is submitted that if one is to be a Christian they must adopt some view of inerrancy of the scriptures. Once one adopts a view like full inerrancy, as defined by Erickson, or any well defined view, it somewhat sets your course. From there on one can fit a view of science and reason in. The full inerrancy view fits with the ICBI view that science is secondary to the scriptures and not of equal standing as with its article 8. This is not to say one should not be open minded or ignore the weight of evidence, however. Where something from science appears to disagree with scripture, we could also say that we acknowledge the science, but do not fully know the answer or resolution with scripture. Some areas like the Trinity are somewhat mystical and by never be fully understood by man. The minute details of creation are complex and also may not be fully understood by man. It appears to me that most authors have some bias, and tend to support their organization view, regardless of all the facts. This gives me a slight advantage in that I am not strongly tied to any organization. I will Quote Job 38: “4Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou hast understanding. 7When the morning stars sang together,– 33Knowest thou the ordinances of the heavens? Canst thou establish the dominion thereof in the earth? Because these topics can be divisive some discussion of Christian unity appears appropriate.
Scholes and Clinton (2a, 1991) in their paper on Levels of Belief, suggest that Christ desires unity and a brotherhood of believers. John 17:21 gives Jesus prayer- that all believers may be one with him in the Father. 1 Peter 3: also says to be of one mind and brethren. They point out that Paul’s theology implied that there are three levels of firmness or strength on beliefs: Strong convictions, persuasions, and matters of preference or desire (1991 & Rom.14, 4:21, 1Cor. 7: 7, 14: 5). Examples of matters of preference or perhaps persuasions include holidays, days of worship, circumcision, whether you remarry or not, and what foods we eat. Paul counseled us not to judge our brothers in Christ, over these persuasions (1991 & Rom.14:10-13). The movie “Empires: Peter and Paul” delves into Christian history on this topic. This was a huge issue for Paul as he had started many churches of new gentile Christians, while the followers of James, who were Jews in Jerusalem, admonished Paul and the gentile believers for eating un-kosher food. They also did not think an uncircumcised gentile could be a true Christian. Most would say Paul was right, as history shows that the majority of Christians today descended from the many new gentile churches and not from the lesser Jewish congregation in Jerusalem. Peter was also counseled by God in a dream to fellowship and eat with new gentile believers (Acts 10,11) The paper raises the question of what beliefs are essential to be saved and what differing beliefs justify separating from a church or denomination of believers. The paper suggests that firm convictions are now in the early church creeds, and in some church written doctrines. The book Mere Christianity (Lewis 8) was also suggested as a starting point for reading. The paper also suggests that beliefs that could cause one to loose there salvation are of major importance (2a).
2a. Scholes, A. and Clinton, S. (1991) “Levels of Belief in the Pauline Epistles” The Orlando Institute, http://www.toi.edu/Training%20Materials/Biblical%20Syllabi/index.htm
Article 8 ICBI http://library.dts.edu/Pages/TL/Special/ICBI_1.pdf
We deny that it is proper to evaluate Scripture according to standards of truth and error that are alien to its usage or purpose. We further deny that inerrancy is negated by Biblical phenomena such as a lack of modern technical precision, irregularities of grammar or spelling, observational descriptions of nature, the reporting of falsehoods, the use of hyperbole and round numbers, the topical arrangement of material, variant selections of material in parallel accounts, or the use of free citations.
http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/affirmations-denials-christian-worldview
100 apologists
http://www.linkedin.com/news?viewArticle=&articleID=547385716&gid=154172&type=news&item=547385716&articleURL=http%3A%2F%2Fapologetics315%2Eblogspot%2Ecom%2F2011%2F05%2Fweekly-apologetics-bonus-links-0520%2Ehtml&urlhash=QdVA
Chap. 19 Narrow Window of Time p. 215-220 Ross noted that the universe is finely tuned for life on earth after 14 billion yrs. The ages of the universe, sun and of the earth are just right for life. The suns energy stabilized and the moon stabilizes the earth’s tilt and rotation. The earth is unique in its size and location for life, and it in not likely active life will be found on other planets. Extending the reasoning here, if the whole universe was fined tuned for man then why wouldn’t man be placed at the center of it to observe it?
Chap. 20 The Significance of Man. P.221- 6 Ross cited Ps. 8:3-4 where David states ”what is man that you are mindful of him.” Here OCE and YEC agree that man is unique and of divine design with spiritual side to his nature: 1.Humanity is the only spiritual species on earth. 2 They developed for a single couple created by God in his image. 3. They have awareness of right and wrong, and good and evil and have a conscience. 4. They have awareness of mortality and concerns about life after death 5. They have a yearning for purpose, and hope. 6. They have a capacity to recognize truth. 7. They have a desire to worship and communicate with a higher being. Religious artifacts and altars date the origin of man as 8000-24,000 yrs ago. Art and cave drawings date back to 33,000 yrs. By mtDNA and Y-DNA dating, Adam is dated at 37,000-49,000 yrs and Eve at about 50,000 yrs.
Chap. 21 A Clear Day Interpretation p.227-38 Ross noted that creation of the universe after the earth on day 4 doesn’t make good sense. In Gen. 1:1 God created the heavens and the earth: This is an overview verse. In Gen. 1:2-5 there was day 1, light and the earth which was formless and void. My notes: Light is related to matter by E=MC2. Perhaps what was formless and void was the first matter including the earth’s matter. On day 2, the expanse was created and separated. This would fit with the stretching of the heavens. Ross noted it would make sense that matter, space, time and energy were all created initially. As how could one have the earth before space, time, matter and energy? It would also make sense that the laws of physics, heat and gravity were created early on and the earth would be subject to them. The earth’s orbital features are controlled by laws requiring the sun and moon. It would not make logical sense(but God can do anything) that one could just pop the sun and moon in on day 4 with the earth floating in space and rotating, unless most of the laws of physics were suspended previously. Wouldn’t the earth need gravity if it was rotating for days 1-4 and there was morning and evening? My notes: Some YEC say one can have day and night by rotating the earth and God providing a light on one side. Ross gives the explanation that on day 4 the atmosphere of earth cleared enough so that form earth, the sun and stars could now be seen. He noted that the Hebrew verb asa for made in verse 16 denoted a completed action- as the sun and moon and stars were already there and could now be seen from earth.
Ross commented on the fossil record and the order of creation(p.234). The lack of insects until day 6 is a problem. He noted that the word ‘creeping things’ in Gen.1:25-6 of day 6 could mean rodents, rabbits and lizards, not insects. My notes: Insects are needed for pollination of plants on day 3 and for bird and fish food on day 5. Too many insects would be a problem, but the birds and bats from day 5 kept them in balance. As noted previously, not every detail of creation is stated in the Bible and insects could have been created in the days 3-5 sequence. God may have fine tuned the creation as he went, as ecology requires that cycles be in balance and many creatures and plants are interactive and interdependent. Worms and bacteria also play an important roll in preparing the topsoil. Ross asserted that bipedal primates were created before humans as there is some evidence in the fossil record. He noted that about ½ of the species of birds and mammals in the fossils are now extinct. He suggested that God knew that man (post fall) would be more destructive of these than would the bipedal primates. Thus the primates were created before man to allow the birds and mammals adapt to being hunted and develop defenses for man’s advanced hunting.
Chap. 22 Church Councils p. 239-44 The 1st council was at Jerusalem over the Circumcision of Gentiles as described in Acts 15. Some Jewish Christians were teaching that one must follow Jewish traditions and be circumcised to be saved. The council decided against this and issued a letter that was carried to the gentile churches. The 1st council relating to creation was the International Council on Bible Inerrancy (IBCI) held in 1977. They met again in 1982 and issued series of affirmation and denials relating to inerrancy. They had initially recommended that the adherence to a 6-24hr day view was not required. The Presbyterian Church of America(PCA) studied the creation views in 1990’s and issued a 92 pg report. In this 4 views were allowed: The 6-24hr day view, the day age view, the framework view and the Analogical days view. The Westminster Theological Seminary also studied the issue relative to the Westminster Confession. They concurred with the PCA.