Creation as Science: A Testable Model Approach to End the Creation/Evolution Wars

This work by Dr Hugh Ross goes far in order to first establish what a scientific principle is, and later to use this definition in order to argue his case. Contrary to other reviewers, there is nothing that can be found in the way of pseudoscience in this work. All of the facts are presented objectively, and are quite scientific (take for example the WMAP of the background cosmic radiation, or the series of events that lead to the formation of the moon and atmosphere. If there is indeed pseudoscience, how come nobody pointed out where he made an incorrect or spurious scientific claim?). One of the points made in the book is that a vast array of factors had to be done with precision far beyond that which is within the bounds of human ability (and most certainly beyond any reasonable probability of being carried out by random accident), and therefore would imply a creative intelligence. All of these arguments are also used within a movement called the Intelligent Design theory. The problem with Intelligent Design is that it does not identify any creator or causal agent: this is one of the reasons that it did not hold up in court recently, and perhaps one of the main reasons why, upon its rejection from the court, people consider it to be pseudoscience. In fact, many court cases dealing with evolution and creation can be found within the book! Dr Ross attempts to formulate his model on the assumption that the creator is identified as the God of the Bible, and then use predictions based on this and an interpretation of the Bible to predict results of as yet unresolved scientific dilemmas. For those who claim that this book contains pseudoscience, refer to the appendix within the book which actually lists a large number of as yet unresolved issues in science, and see for yourself whether the outcome favors the theory of Dr Ross or of other, competing theories. There have been reviews claiming that and religious claim must fall out of science, and that the two should be separate in their scope, otherwise the necessary addition of faith is needed within the scientific enterprise, which is contrary to the purpose of science. It is, however, not difficult to see why this view is completely wrong, simply because it requires that faith in this assumption be placed, and according to the above, any faith is contrary to the functioning of the scientific enterprise. In fact, it says within the book that theories and their underlying assumptions are to be tested objectively, and it is precisely this objective testing (without choosing any favorites, just putting the theories to the table and seeing which set of assumptions best explains the results) of assumptions that makes science work. I personally found this book to be very enjoyable, it is well written and has a convincing argument for those willing to listen. It contains hundreds of references to scientific sources such as journals, papers, and books by renowned scientists: even if you disagree wit

Hugh Ross has pioneered a brand new, innovative, step forward in Christian apologetics that actually dares to take the science seriously. So much of the science apologetics out there lacks credibility in that it totally disregards the scientific data in favour of a certain interpretation of Genesis. The great thing about Dr Ross' book is that he works to incorporate more than just Genesis 1 into his creation model but actually takes a more systematic and hence wholly Biblical approach. The remarkable thing was that Dr Ross, working with the help of his scholar team no doubt, was able to cover many different fields of scientific research and display the wonderful concordance between the scientific details and the Biblical model. To appreciate the integration of science and faith adds far more dimensions to your spiritual walk with God and actually puts your faith on to the factual and objective level and out of the private and subjective. Dr Ross' commitment (and willingness to put his own credibility on the line) to the truth is evident from his working out of a model that can be tested on the basis of scientific research. Given that God is the author of nature as well as the Bible, we would expect that the latest scientific knowledge to come down the pipe would confirm the Biblical model with the most credibility. Over the years I have followed Dr Ross' ministry (Reasons To Believe) and noted how the young earth creationist rival position has had to retreat further and further away from mainstream science in order to protect its own model from critique and testing. By contrast the RTB model is receiving confirmation right from the scientific journals themselves! All in all this is a great book that will show the magnificent harmony between the record of nature and the words of the Bible and fill you with awe at the Creator of heaven and earth.

"Creation as Science" actually contains, in a 25-page side-by-side table, four models of creation: the Reasons to Believe (RTB) Model, Naturalism, Young-Earth Creationism and Theistic Evolution, with a total of 89 predictive tests for each model. In addition to the models, the 225 pages of preceding text contain a lot of worthwhile material, including a list of ten parallels between the "evolution" of the universe and Scripture (p. 75) and an extensive description of the careful, many-faceted preparations God orchestrated over a period of 13.7 billion years to prepare planet Earth for us humans. While he may or may not have gotten everything right, Hugh Ross seems to have made a good first pass that should stir up much discussion and, hopefully, progress.

Reasons To Believe's third in a series of books proposing a testable creation model takes on the origin and design of the universe. Creation As Science develops a biblical creation model and compares the predictions of this model to naturalistic, young earth creationism, and theistic evolutionary models. This biblical creation model is divided into four main areas, the origin of the universe, the origin of the Solar System, the history of life on earth, and the origin and history of mankind. Cosmological implications of the biblical model include extra dimensions, cosmic expansion, size of the universe, the anthropic principle, constancy of the laws of the universe, and humanity's specific viewing platform. The characteristics of the earth are compared to those of known extrasolar planets, showing that the earth is rare, if not unique among the planets. Other chapters examine life's origin in terms of the naturalistic processes that would be required. The naturalistic model is shown to be lacking in that life appears early and is complex. Subsequently, new species are introduced at the right time to transform the earth into a planet suitable for advanced life forms. The origin of humanity is examined in detail to complete the biblical model of creation. Naturalists primary complaint about intelligent design is that it offers no model and makes no predictions. The strength of Creation As Science lies in its challenge to naturalistic models of origins through specific predictive claims. Chapter 11 examines specific predictions of the four models examined. Along with Appendix F, 22 cosmological and planetary sciences predictions are given for each model. Fifty-two predictive tests are listed for the origin and history of life on earth. In addition, 15 specific theological and philosophical predictions are made for each model. The success or failure of these predictions will determine the value of this approach in future years. The book seems to be titled to attract Christians, but I hope that secular readers will not be dissuaded by the close opposition of "Creation" and "Science" to dismiss it outright as just another deceptive creation science book. The science is generally quite good, other than a few errors (Figure 7.4: "Oxygenation history of earth's atmosphere" seems to attribute oxygenation of the atmosphere earlier than most published studies, and the claim that when carbon dioxide falls below about 225 parts per million, all photosynthetic life dies is false, since the earth goes through such periods on a regular basis), and missing citations for some key data. Hopefully this book will begin a dialog among the various groups to sort out what each model predicts and which reflects the science better.

While the four major "camps" around the evolutionary/creationism "debate" tend to avoid direct challenge(s) to their belief systems, Dr. Hugh Ross has put his (and his organization's, Reasons to Believe) belief system on the chopping block for all to see, challenge, and discuss. It is hoped that the other camps will do likewise. This is not the first time that Dr. Ross has attempted to enter into reasonable discussions with the other camps, but it is the best attempt to date. The approach of offering a testable model will hopefully encourage the kind of meaningful discussion that Dr. Ross wants to foster. It must be acknowledged that this will not be a discussion that many in the "young-universe creationist" camp will enter into willingly. There is so much emotion and religious history tied up in those of the "young universe" camp that it will be a difficult thing to offer to discuss competing ideas. It will probably actually be easier for naturalists and theistic evolutionists to enter into discussion, than it will be for the young-universe creationists. There has been huge opposition to Dr. Ross from the young-universe groups, but scientists of the naturalist and theistic evolutionist persuasions often congratulate Dr. Ross on his humble and scientific approach, when they actually hear the arguments. And yet it is hoped that this book will be the beginning of rational, courteous, and intelligent dialogue with all people. Congratulations on a very good book, Dr. Ross! The book is written well, the grammar is impeccable, the content is extremely informative, the notes are comprehensive, and the tone is conciliatory. Great book!