Just recently a new book was published against theistic evolution: TheisticEvolution: A Scientific, Philosophical, and Theological Critique (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2017), edited by J.P. Moreland, Stephen C. Meyer, Christopher Shaw, Ann K. Gauger, and Wayne Grudem. It is a massive volume (1008 pages) and, alas, quite pricey (currently Can $58.52 at Amazon.ca).
bylogos
The purpose of this blog is to promote a Christian worldview, based on the Bible as God's inerrant and fully authoritative Word, in accordance with the Reformed Confessions.
Thursday, March 1, 2018
Monday, January 15, 2018
Evolution, Christianity, and Gravedigging
Christian philosopher J.P. Moreland has recently published an excellent article, "Theistic evolution, Christian Knowledge and Culture's Plausibility Structure", in the Journal of Biblical and Theological Studies (Volume 2, Issue 1:1-18, 2017). In it he reflects on the broader cultural implications of adopting theistic evolution as a means to integrate Christianity and science.
Saturday, October 7, 2017
Is Evolution Beyond Reasonable Doubt?
In a previous post I discussed the recent debate about evolution among Dutch Reformed theologians, particularly a book by Prof.Dr. Gijsbert van den Brink. Now there is a further article, "The Epistemic Status of Evolutionary Theory" (Theology and Science, 18 Sept. 2017) by Drs. van den Brink, Jeroen de Ridder, and Rene van Woudenberg, all professors at the Free University in Amsterdam.
Friday, September 1, 2017
Dutch Reformed Theologians Debate Evolution
Can orthodox Reformed
theology be reconciled with Darwinian evolution?
In the last few months
this question has been much discussed within Reformed circles in The
Netherlands, following the recent publication of Prof. Dr. Gijsbert van den
Brink's book, "En de Aarde bracht voort: Christelijke geloof en evolutie"
("And the earth brought forth: Christian faith and evolution",
June 2017, Boekencentrum). An English version, entitled "Reformed
Theology and Evolutionary Theory", is to be published by Eerdmans in
2018.
Thursday, May 18, 2017
Is Mature Creation Deceptive?
If the universe is young, how can
we see light from galaxies billions of lights away? A simple solution is that of mature
creation:God created the stars and galaxies full-blown,
along with their light.
A common objection is that, if
light was created in transit, then the starlight that Adam observed
did not actually originate from the stars where the light seemingly came
from. Is this not deceptive?
Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Scientific Evidence and Adam
According to the Bible, all
humans stem from Adam (created by God from lifeless clay) and Eve (created by
God from Adam's side), who lived less than 10,000 years ago. Mainstream
scientists, on the other hand, insist that humans evolved from ape-like ancestors,
a few million years ago, with a population size that was never smaller than
10,000. The scientific evidence for this is said to be overwhelming. Consequently, many
Christians no longer consider the first few chapters of Genesis to be
historical.
Thursday, March 23, 2017
Lectures in Zambia and South Africa
Last week I returned from Africa, where I gave a number of lectures.
The first stop was at the African Christian University, in Lusaka, Zambia. This is a young, still small, institution operating under the Reformed Baptist churches of Zambia.
The first stop was at the African Christian University, in Lusaka, Zambia. This is a young, still small, institution operating under the Reformed Baptist churches of Zambia.
Friday, January 20, 2017
Is Evolution Compatible With Christianity?
Is evolution compatible with Christianity? This
question is addressed in a post by Dr. Wayne Rossiter entitled Christian
Academia and Darwin's twelve gifts for Christians. It is well worth
reading. Dr. Rossiter has a Ph.D. in ecology and evolution, and is assistant
professor of biology at Waynesburg University.
Saturday, January 14, 2017
Trusting the Bible Over Evolution
"One of the main reasons unbelievers give for not believing the Bible is that modern science—specifically, evolutionary science—has shown that the Bible’s account of human origins is mistaken. Indeed, evolutionary science is not merely an obstacle to unbelievers; it can also be a stumbling block for professing Christians.
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
Sarfati's "The Genesis Account"
Last year Dr. Jonathan Sarfati published a new book: The Genesis Account Account: A theological, historical, and scientific commentary on Gen.1-11 (Creation Ministries International: Powder Springs, Georgia, USA, 2015, 786 pages).
Wednesday, September 28, 2016
The Flood and Tidal Waves
Over at Triablogue Steve Hays has posted an interesting hypothesis regarding the Genesis Flood. He writes:
Thursday, September 1, 2016
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).
Thursday, August 18, 2016
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."
Friday, August 12, 2016
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.
Friday, August 5, 2016
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).
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).
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
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:
*****
Friday, February 5, 2016
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".
Thursday, December 31, 2015
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.
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
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.
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