The Flood and Tidal Waves

Over at Triablogue Steve Hays has posted an interesting hypothesis regarding the Genesis Flood. He writes:

Reviving Biblical Chronology

Biblical chronology has fallen upon hard times. Until recently, almost all Christians believed that the genealogies of Gen.5 & 11 indicated that Abraham lived only a few thousand years after Adam. This consensus was challenged, in the late 19th century, by William Henry Green who argued that these genealogies contained gaps. Since then, most Biblical scholars have adopted Green's view that the Bible gives no chronological information prior to Abraham. Jeremy Sexton has disputed Green's thesis in an article, "Who was born when Enosh was 90? A semantic reevaluation of William Henry Green's chronological gaps" (Westminster Theological Journal 77 [2015]:193-218).

Did Abraham Really Exist?

"Evangelicals are debating the historicity of Adam, but they are too timid. It is time to reject fundamentalist distortions of the Abrahamic narrative just as decisively as we have abandoned literalistic readings of Genesis 1–3. Clinging to discredited biblical accounts of Abraham as if these events actually happened makes us look like Neanderthals, undermines the plausibility of our witness, and ultimately overturns the Gospel. To defend the Gospel and uphold the authority of the Bible, we need to reckon with the myth of Abraham."

Mutiny on Noah's Ark

Last month, on July 7, 2016, a Christian theme park opened, featuring a full-scale model of Noah's Ark. This replica is 510 feet long, and contains many exhibits. The park, called Ark Encounter, is situated in Williamstown, Kentucky, and is operated by Answers in Genesis (AiG). It cost about $100 million, and whether it is financially viable remains to be seen.

Prof.van Bruggen on Creation and Evolution

How should Christians deal with evolution? 

Last year Lux Mundi published an article by Prof. Dr. Jakob van Bruggen, entitled "The Blind Man Sat by the Road and Cried: about seeing and not seeing." His prime goal is to help students handle questions about creation and evolution (Lux Mundi, March 2015, 4-7).

Critique of Dr. Tim Keller's View of Evolution

Recently, on the Creation Without Compromise website, Dr. Ted Van Raalte has posted a series of four articles discussing Dr. Tim Keller's support of Biologos and evolution. He is responding primarily to an article that Dr Keller posted a few years ago on the Biologos website. I have critiqued that article myself in my post Genesis and Dr Tim Keller. However, Dr Van Raalte's review is much more extensive. I highly recommend it. 

The four parts can be found below:

Part 1: Keller's advice to fellow Biologos members

Part 2: Can we take Genesis 1 literally, if we hold that God used evolution to create?

Part 3: If biological evolution is true, are we just animals driven by our genes?

Part 4: If biological evolution is true whence sin and suffering?

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Women Deacons (Again)?

May the church ordain women as deacons? The Canadian Reformed Church addressed this issue in 2010, in connection with fellowship discussions with the Reformed Presbyterian Church (RPCNA), which ordains women deacons. At that time I addressed this in my post Female Deacons and Church Unity. Subsequently, the CanRC Synod of 2010 found this practice to be a barrier to ecclesiastical fellowship.

Lectures in Smithville and Hamilton

Last week I gave a number of lectures in Ontario. I had been invited to give a speech for a post-confession series for Canadian Reformed churches in the Niagara peninsula. Two weeks earlier Dr. C. van Dam had presented a lecture on "Interpreting Genesis 1 and 2: Faith Seeks Understanding".

Creation-Evolution Headlines

I should alert the interested reader to a very useful site: Creation - Evolution Headlines. This site is run by David Coppedge, who used to work for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He combs many current scientific journals, reports almost daily on the latest scientific discoveries concerning origins, and adds his own creationist assessments.

Was the Star of Bethlehem a Comet?

What was the Star of  Bethlehem? Each Christmas produces renewed speculations, as discussed in my post The Star of Bethlehem. A recent addition is the book The Great Christ Comet: Revealing the True Star of Bethlehem (2015), by Dr Colin Nicholl, a New Testament scholar. Dr Nicholl claims that the star was a comet, a conclusion that has been challenged by Jason Engwer on Triablogue.

Is Evolution Unfalsified?

In  a previous post (The Myth of the Merely Hypothetical) I noted that several Canadian Reformed supporters of the Reformed Academic blog claim that evolution is "as yet unfalsified." This reflects the widely held notion that evolution has all the evidence in its favour, and none against. Allegedly,  evolution gives a powerful explanation--the only valid explanation-- of biological facts, and is essential to understanding the life sciences.

Symposium on Adam and Eve

Books & Culture has recently published a symposium on Adam and Eve. John Wilson, the B&C editor, interviews Karl Giberson about his new book Saving the Original Sinner (2015) Then follows two rounds of contributions from eight scholars.

An Excellent Reformed Study Bible

A study Bible can be very useful, particularly for those who do not have easy access to commentaries. Today there are numerous study Bibles, but very few are soundly Biblical and solidly Reformed. I was therefore pleased with the recent publication of The Reformation Heritage KJV Study Bible (Reformed Heritage Books, 2014, 2216 pages).

The Third Way: Is Genesis 1 Like a Story for Kids?

Is Genesis 1 historically accurate, or is it more like a story for kids?

How should one reconcile Genesis with evolutionary science? One way is to accept the plain reading of Genesis, and to modify one's science accordingly. A second way is to accept evolutionary science, and to re-interpret Genesis. Some claim to accept both as true, as we saw in a previous post,  but this entails an untenable state of cognitive dissonance.

Dr Jelsma Proposes Adam AND Evolution

Dr Tony Jelsma, biology professor at Dordt College, and one of the editors of the Reformed Academic blog, has just posted a series of three articles on, “Religion and Science – A Reformed Perspective”.  A few years ago Dr. Jelsma argued for non-literal creation days and a local Flood. Now he moves on to address the question of the historical Adam.

Creation: With or Without Compromise?

A few weeks ago a new website was launched - Creation Without Compromise. Its stated purpose is:

We are Reformed Christians concerned about the issue of origins in our midst. Through this resource site and blog, we aim to provide support to those who share our concerns. We are committed to the historic Reformed understanding of Genesis and believe that a failure to maintain the orthodox position not only attacks biblical truth in general, but the gospel of Jesus Christ in particular.

Three Special Trees

A few months ago there was an interesting post by Nicholas Batzig, A Biblical Theology of the Trees of the Garden. He contends that the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil did not have any inherent magical powers. Rather, both trees were sacramental symbols, pointing to a reality beyond themselves.

The Myth of the Merely Hypothetical

A recent proposal in a Canadian Reformed classis to alter the Belgic Confession is already generating contentious discussion. The proposal specified:

God created the human race by making and forming Adam from dust (Gen. 2:7) and Eve from Adam’s side (Gen.2:21-22). They were created as the first two humans and the biological ancestors of all other humans. There were no pre-Adamites, whether human or hominid.

Canadian Reformed Classis Rejects Human Evolution

Yesterday, on March 11, 2015, Classis Ontario-West of the Canadian Reformed Churches held in Kerwood, Ontario adopted an important overture regarding theistic evolution.

Relations Between Australian and Dutch Reformed Churches

The Deputies Report to the Synod of the Free Reformed Churches in Australia (to be held in June 2015) has just been published. Of special interest is its recommendations regarding relations with its Dutch sister church, the Gereformeerde Kerken vrijgemaakt (i.e., GKV, referred to in the report as the RCN = Reformed Churches in the Netherlands).