The Case for a Creator

[from John Woodward] On Christmas day I have enjoyed a nice celebration with family, a delicious meal, and some extra time to relax with a book. I've had this volume on my shelf for months: The Case for a Creator, by Lee Strobel.

I have appreciated two of his other of his popular books on apologetics: The Case for Christ, and The Case for Faith. Although the content of these books can mostly be found in other texts, Mr. Strobel is gifted at organizing the topics in an engaging way. He writes with a reasonable tone and uses interviews from scholars in various areas of expertise to strengthen the Case's academic witness and lighten the tone of the book with some narrative and dialog.

So the eleven chapters of The Case for a Creator retain this good formula while covering topics and issues pertaining to Creation versus Darwinian evolution.

Readers of Mr. Gray's Age of the Universe will be particularly interested in chapter seven of Strobel's book: The Evidence of Astronomy: The Privileged Planet. It opens with this quote from Nobel Laureate Arno Penzias: "Astronomy leads to a unique event, a universe which was created out of nothing, one with a very delicate balance needed to provide exactly the conditions required to permit life, and one which has an underlying (one might say 'supernatural') plan" (p. 153).

The Young Biosphere Creation model that is promoted on this blog offers a sound interpretation of Genesis one that avoids unnecessary stumbling blocks to students of astronomy.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1) should be taken at face value. (In other words, the sun, moon, and stars were created at the "beginning," rather than on day four.) Without compromising biblical authority, this view allows for the scientific data of astronomy to compliment Scripture rather than compete with it.

I look forward to delving into more of The Case for a Creator...

USC Lancaster Lecture

A New Approach to the Interpretation of Genesis 1:16: Same conclusions from a strengthened route

Delivered at USCL 7-11-09 by Gorman Gray

ABSTRACT

Books have been written and conferences devoted to detailing proper methodology for biblical hermeneutics. This presentation will attempt to emphasize the psychological barriers we humans encounter which sometimes prevent sound Bible interpretation. With that cautionary background, we will carefully observe the pattern of God’s procedures on each of the daily activities and apply it to Genesis 1:16, the fourth day, That pattern constrains and explains the interpretation of that very crucial verse of Scripture.

During the six day creation, in every case God 1) Decides to do something, then He 2) Does what He decided to do and finally, He 3) Delights in what He did after completion. This pattern effectively prohibits the commonly accepted interpretation that God created or made the two great lights and the stars on day four. Rather, I will show that God "gave them in the expanse of air" for signs, seasons, days and years on day four, having already, created those bodies with the stellar heavens and planet earth in verse one before any days were possible.

The edited transcript of this lecture is now at the main web site:

http://www.ageoftheuniverse.com/USCL_Lecture.html

Two Volumes of God's Revelation

The Young Biosphere Creation model is based on a grammatical-historical exposition of Genesis 1.  One benefit of this interpretation is that it allows the general revelation of astronomy (Psalm 19:1-6), the harmonize with the special revelation of God's written Word (Psalm 19:7-9). We treasure the Bible as inspired by God and profitable (Psalm 19:10-11; 2 Tim. 3:16,17), and are receptive to the ministry of the Holy Spirit Who illumines, convicts, and empowers believers in Christ.

Here the two volumes of God's revelation are celebrated with complimentary roles.

Psalm 19

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

 1 The heavens declare the glory of God;

    And the firmament shows His handiwork.

 2  Day unto day utters speech,

    And night unto night reveals knowledge.

 3  There is no speech nor language

    Where their voice is not heard.

 4  Their line has gone out through all the earth,

    And their words to the end of the world.      

    In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun,

 5  Which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,

    And rejoices like a strong man to run its race.

 6  Its rising is from one end of heaven,

    And its circuit to the other end; 

    And there is nothing hidden from its heat. 

         

 7  The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul;

    The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;

 8  The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;

    The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;

 9  The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever;

    The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.

 10 More to be desired are they than gold,

    Yea, than much fine gold; 

    Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

 11 Moreover by them Your servant is warned,

    And in keeping them there is great reward. 

         

 12 Who can understand his errors?

    Cleanse me from secret faults.

 13 Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins;

    Let them not have dominion over me. 

    Then I shall be blameless, 

    And I shall be innocent of great transgression. 

         

 14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

    Be acceptable in Your sight, 

    O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.

[ posted by John W.]

An endorsement

Here is a recent endoresement from a reader of Age of the Universe.

"The main-stream creationist insistence on a six thousand year old universe, it seems to me, is the weak point in the creationist framework. With that resolved, everything falls into place and should make sense to anyone with an open mind. As science digs deeper into the complexity of living things, it becomes obvious that evolution is no more than a superstitious fantasy. Unfortunately, creationism seems determined to flounder on the rock of a seven day universe. You have now removed that rock. I believe you have done a great service to the faith."

Colonel Leonard Gaston PhD. USAF RET

Creation Research Society Conference (S.C.)

I just want to express deep thanks to those of you who helped in prayer on our trip to South Carolina and the address I gave to my friends there.  I  agree with them about everything except the 6000 year old universe and planet earth. but that point is so cardinal with them that it was a surprise that they allowed me in at all. Anyway, things went well and Alice and I are both convinced it was well worth our time and effort to participate. There were two meetings simultaneous so mine was attended by only 20 or 30 people.  Alice has summarized it in the paragraph following.

 

Trip summary:

 

John Morris, son of Henry Morris who was the "father of the modern creation movement," attended Gorman's lecture. Since his father died two years ago, John Morris is now president of the Institute for Creation Research. The Morris family is so steeped in young universe theory, they have always been quite critical of Gorman's young biosphere position. However, after the lecture John Morris actually said, "It makes more sense than I had thought," or similar words. Only God knows what will become of this, but right now we are encouraged by two very promising invitations. Because of this conference Dr. Robert Brown, professor emeritus and former head of Geoscience Research Institute at Loma Linda has invited us to be his houseguests so that Gorman could participate in a session at Loma Linda Church. Dr. Brown has always espoused Gorman's view, but many of the upcoming younger scientists do not. That could be very interesting. So we would ask for your prayers for God's will in these future possibilities.    (By Alice.)

 

Last May an enthusiastic benefactor offered to pay for the advertising in World Magazine.  So as a result about 50 books were sold so far with many more in prospect. Today I brought 50 more to the book binder because I have only one book left which will go tomorrow, I suppose.  Anyway, I always seem to have enough encouragement to keep me energized and chafing at the bit to extend the breadth of this very important correction to the creationist movement. I am certain that the ramifications of the CRS conference at USCL  (University of South Carolina at Lancaster) will not be known for some time...  Anyway, time will tell and prayer changes hearts.   I want the holy name of Jesus to be glorified.

 

The debate, affliction, & assessment

Dear friends and whom it may concern: The following explains my long delay in responding to some of you.

First, let me be clear, I am not a Job by any stretch, but because all believers treasure that first book of the Bible (the first one ever penned according to some students), it must be that many of us go through something like it or on a mini-scale. Hence brother Job has been a comfort to millions over the millennia.

What was the first message God chose to give us in written form? Comfort to His suffering children. He is a good and gracious God even considering Satanically devised misery and death allowed, but discreetly controlled by God during our pilgrimage.

Okay, so I had a date to debate a young genius on February 22nd, 2009. Here is my mini-mini-Jobean experience written in a very short parody.

God: Yes, Satan, I know well enough that Gorman is a weak, dumb Christian with a lot of hypocrisy, so what?

Satan: Well, he has this debate coming up and I think he needs roughing up. Let me mess with him so they have to cancel.

God: No, you must wait till after the debate. Then you may have him for a while for testing but preserve his life.

(This is the mini version of Job 1-2.)

So here is the litany. First, Alice has this persistent cough for four weeks solid and I begin to join her coughing one week before 2-22-09 - not good for a debate being recorded for DVD. Then on debate night I begin to show beginning symptoms of a prostate inflamation.

But during the debate, according to God's decreed limits (as I have presumed in parody) I did not cough even once and there was nothing physically detractive to the presentation other than my normal facial visage.

OK, then the debate is over but instantly and as the evening progressed I had frequent, urgent and miserably burning urination and all through the night.

But otherwise physically I felt all right, so the next day I needed to lift the back seat into the mini-van, which I had done many times before. But I lifted the awkward load and twisted at the same time (dumb - never do it) resulting in a severe back wrench. Turning my body over in bed sent pains resembling a knife.

So now I am on antibiotics (the Urgent Care Doctor thought it was an infection), and waking Alice at night with a timer to make sure I do not sleep too long (to avoid getting a total urinary blockage.) Pure misery that night but this too shall pass? Or so we hoped.

Then came March 2nd, 3 A.M. A pain develops in my belly just below sternum level. In a few minutes I am out of bed writhing on the floor with severe pain asking urgently "Lord Jesus, I need your help! Oh, Lord, help me!" I guess it is severe indigestion so I wait for it to pass which it does in 30 minutes. But fifteen minutes later it repeats for a half hour, then goes away again. Next morning I begin to eat some yogurt then it came again, just, as severe as before.  This needs medical diagnosis. The advice doctor concurs and we are sent to ER. Blood tests for pancreas levels shoud be 30-40 but mine read over 3000. Doctor says this certainly is diagnostic of a pancreatic attack. Sonogram shows gall stones - a completely new thing for me, I had no clew of anything like that. Pancreas and gall bladder share the same duct so a stone blockage results in the gall fluids digesting the pancreas - not good. Gall bladder attacks can be from mild to extreme in pain. I have a high tolerance for pain but the attacks I had at home had to be top-of-the-line.

After surgery (no doubt the anesthesia made it inevitable), I had complete urinary blockage. After one catheter, with Doctor's approval, the nurse decides to insert an indwelling catheter with a collection bag which I had to wear home. What a blessing, because I slept for six hours straight that first night at home.

But God is gracious to give me Alice, a highly qualified RN for 24/7 nursing care. She taught me (among many other things) to roll over like a log rather than the upper body first then lower part. It works wonders for relieving the knife-like jabs in the strained muscles in my back.

Now back to Satan. After Job chapter two there is not the slightest hint of Satan in the 40 chapters following in the book - no sign of supernatural activity from evil forces at all. Job does not see it, his three "friends" do not see it, his neighbors do not see it, his wife does not see it, his former servants do not see it, in fact nobody sees it even though that is the central problem and very obvious to good angels as well as bad devils.

So why have I reported all this? Well, some who detract from the thesis of my book and the subject of the debate, The Age of the Universe: What Are the Biblical Limits? might conclude, God was punishing me for promoting bad theology about Genesis One. But I have a different conclusion. Because all these maladies slammed me in an avalanche just following that very important debate, with such a close parallel to Job's experience of his avalanche of tragedies, I
cannot fail to make the comparison, albeit on a miniature scale. I am all well now, minus a gall bladder, I can urinate normally, lift anything as well as eat anything. What a relief! But Satan hates the truth and the "Age of the Universe" book is a crucial truth for the end times. I have no doubt that he gets a sadistic pleasure in attacking someone who is carrying a crucial, strategic message in these latter days.

Satan's strategy in promoting false doctrine, if he cannot avoid allowing some truth, he will encourage overemphasis until it becomes error. Hence young earth creationists champion biblical literalism (a truth) until they even think that bad translations are the word of God, like the original manuscripts (a major error). Thus they dogmatize "For in six days the LORD made the heavens, the earth and the sea, and rested the seventh day." That is unequivocal, so they
say, for it clearly says, God made everything including the galaxies and planet earth in six days.

Not so. What it actually says is that Yahweh worked on the air, the land and the sea (the biosphere only) in six days for God Himself plainly defines the words in Genesis one using those exact Hebrew words (as translated into English).

The other dogmatism-- "God made two great lights and the stars on day four"-- comes from another misleading translation. To avoid being mislead it ought to read, "And God did two great lights and the stars" or variations like that, and remember it was "for signs and seasons and days and years," not their initial creation. As plain as language can be spoken, God CREATED the heavens before there was a day one, "in the beginning." But the error thinking He created the stars and great lights on day four is overemphasized with dogmatism.  The result is that a large segment of Bible believers are forced to believe the universe is a maximum of 10,000 years old and another large segment are forced to distort Genesis in another way making the fossil record millions of years old. I believe that both are errors and the devil loves it.

The truth is in between. The biosphere and the fossil record is, indeed, less than 8000 years old but the galaxies were created "in the beginning," undefined in time. Thus, both camps rally around their special truth and constructive dialogue is almost extinguished. Satan delights in this impasse. It is one of his strategems which I hope my book should resolve (if more people would read it).

Now, after this epic description, if any of you are interested in the topic, a DVD of the debate is available for $12 post paid in US. If there is a financial hardship, email me for a special rate. The book is $15 ppd. (See website below.)

Gorman Gray Christ is risen from the dead. Everything's all right.

1420 N. "Q" Circle Washougal WA 98671-8356

website www.ageoftheuniverse.com Phone 360 - 835-8361

Debate DVD available

A debate regarding the age of the universe can mean many different
things to people so please understand the context and purpose of this
engagement.

Since about 1960 there has been a theological and scientific movement
returning many Christians to belief in a recent creation of all
biological life less than 10,000 years ago, and a
literal, worldwide Flood about 4500 years ago just as (from the
genealogies) the literally interpreted Bible appears to teach. Dr.
Henry Morris, a college professor with his specialty in applied
hydraulics engineering became convinced that Genesis and a global
flood was literally true and that it agreed perfectly with all the
facts of demonstrable science. He is considered the father of the
current creationist movement.

But his literalist interpretation of the Bible concluded that the
entire universe was created in six days less than 10,000 years ago
mostly from two verses of Scripture namely Exodus 20:11 and Genesis
1:16. so that began what is known as young earth creationism (YEC).

A few voices emerged saying, "Not so fast. Let's examine the Bible
more closely before jumping totally to those YEC conclusions."
Without examining the numerous other views of Genesis, this debate
concentrates on two views.

Gorman Gray has written a book entitled, The Age of the Universe:
What Are the Biblical Limits? in which he insists that the literal
Bible does not define the age of the universe, (which therefore could
be millions or billions of years old) whereas it does, indeed, define
the age of the Biosphere (living things including fossils and the
home for living things) at less than 8000 years ago. Brandon Church
takes the common YEC view and directs most of his effort toward
opposing Gray's book.

To order the DVD, please visit http://www.ageoftheuniverse.com/Orders.html

Gorman's surgery

Dear Family and Friends,

After a pretty miserable week, compounded with multiple problems (upper respiratory infection, prostatitis, pancreatitis, and back strain), Gorman's doctors kept him on nothing but IV fluids and antibiotics until Wednesday. His pancreatic lab values which ordinarily are 30-40 had been over 3,000 in the ER. After "resting" his pancreas, the labs diminished to almost normal on Wednesday, whereupon the surgeon decided he was comfortable to operate. It seems that the pancreas and the gallbladder share a single duct. A gallstone had plugged the duct preventing either organ from draining their digestive juices, so Gorman was essentially digesting his own pancreas, which was exquisitely painful. After more MRI's, lab tests and x-rays, they whisked Gorman to surgery on Wednesday relieving him of his gallbladder and all those stones. This was a complete surprise to him, as he never had a single symptom before Monday. Now I can no longer tease him by calling him "Mr. Gotrocks" 'cause his rocks are all gone.

I brought him home this evening and he is resting as comfortably as possible, taking fluids and very soft foods for a while, and will probably be back to his own email in the very near future. He is still on antibiotics, and obviously pain meds. He will have to go back for another procedure in about 6 months to handle the urology problem. We are so grateful to God that this was discovered before it caused great damage to the pancreas. His mercies followed us throughout this whole thing in so many ways.

Our most sincere thanks and appreciation for the support of all our wonderful family and friends. You visits, calls, cards and emails really lifted our spirits, and we could feel the results of all your prayers. Gorman had the most wonderful doctors, everyone from the Kaiser phone advice doctor, the ER doctor, his Kaiser internal medicine doctor who followed his entire hospital course, and a very skilled and knowledgeable surgeon. Everyone from the parking attendant, the various x-ray and lab technicians, all the nurses and aides, even the transport people were so very kind. Surely the spirit of God was with us in every way, thanks to
all your prayers and support.

Again our most profuse thanks. God bless you.

We love you all,
Sincerely,
Alice (for Gorman)

Debate DVD

The debate on Feb. 22nd went well. A DVD of the event will be available shortly.

-JBW

Age of the Universe Debate

The INSTITUTE for CREATION SCIENCE

Sunday, February 22, 2009 Meeting, 5:00 to 7:00 PM

"Age of the Universe Debate"

The February 22, 2009 meeting of the Institute for Creation Science will be a formal debate between two creationists concerning the biblical age of the universe.

Debaters Gorman Gray and Brandon Church both agree that the Bible is God's authoritative and accurate word to mankind, that Genesis chapters 1-11 are historical narrative, and that biological macro evolution has never occurred in the past and does not occur in the present.

Where they differ is on whether or not the biblical record specifies the age of the universe outside the bounds of the earth's biosphere. Mr. Church will argue that the Bible clearly states that the universe in its entirety was created at the same time as the rest of the creation some 6000 years ago. Mr. Gray will argue that, while the age of the biosphere (living things including fossils) is specified and less than 8000 years old, yet the age of the universe and the planet earth mineral base is not defined in the Bible. Both of these Christian men will use theological as well as scientific evidences to support their respective positions.

ICS director J.D. Mitchell will moderate the debate and the debate will extend through the entire meeting time. This meeting of ICS will be held at Rivercrest Community Church located at 3201 NE 148th Avenue in Portland, OR 97230. Doors open at 4:30 PM to allow your access to the creation science book and DVD tables. For more information on this meeting, please access the website www.creationengineeringconcepts.org where you can also find a map to Rivercrest Community Church.

We look forward to seeing you on Sunday, February 22, 2009!

J.D. Mitchell, Director

Delivering a Brief Defense

There is so much information to consider when giving an answer to someone who believes in evolution. Perhaps this memory device would help:

How to deliver an answer to evolutionists: 'FEDEX'

F 

• First Cause (Cause and effect law). How did the universe and matter come into existence?
  
• Fossil Record. The Cambrian period has the "earliest" fossil record. These fossils correspond with their kind today. No viable links between species have been found.

E 

• Evolution.  The theory is conjectural science, not operational science. What actually occurs in nature is micro (adaptation), not macro (transmutation to new species). 

D 

• Dating methods. Radioactive dating techniques are unreliable to calculate an ancient age of things.
  
• Data in genes (DNA). How did the information get there? 

E 

• Entropy.  The second law of thermodynamics contradicts evolution. (Things tend to become more random, not more organized over time.)
  

X 

• X= wrong! Therefore, Darwinian evolution is a humanistic, unproven theory. Probability, common sense, scientific evidence, and the Bible refute it.
  

- John Woodward