“Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them” Psalm 111:2
Welcome to Letters to Creationists. This represents my attempt to parse reality: what things happen in accord with natural laws, and what is supernatural? Two major themes are creation/evolution and present-day miracles. My working hypothesis is that all events since the Big Bang have unfolded according to the observed regularities known as “natural laws,” unless there is some personal interaction between God and a human. This militates against most forms of special creation, but allows for miracles in situations where faith and covenantal significance are involved. All the facts seem to align with this hypothesis, but it is of course open to correction. My personal faith journey is described in Evolution and Faith: My Story, Part 1.
Layout of blog: Recent posts are listed along the right-hand side of the blog window, newest at the top. Longer essays are listed across the top of the window. I post a new article (very roughly) about once a month, mainly on faith/science but also on other random topics. There is a “Follow” button at bottom right, if you want to get email notification of a new article. (WordPress sometimes inserts ads in articles, for which I receive no remuneration).
Comments Policy: There is a quick registration for leaving comments (just asks for a username and e-mail address). Comments are expected to be reasonably courteous and to reflect the commenter’s own thoughts or questions (not links to other sites or videos, or copied lists of claims), and to relate directly to the material in the blog post. Any factual corrections are welcome, while comments with extraneous or unsubstantiated claims will likely not be published.
Here is a listing of some of the more popular articles on this blog, grouped by topic:
Geology/Fossils
Assessment of Evidences for a Young Earth
Some Simple Evidences for an Old Earth
Realistic Expectations for Transitional Fossils
“Unconformities” Showed Geologists By 1800 That The Earth Was Very Old
Soft Tissue in Dinosaur Fossils: Evidence for a Young Earth?
The Cambrian Explosion (Reviews of “Darwin’s Doubt”)
“Big Daddy” Chick Tract: The Most Widely-Distributed Anti-Evolution Publication (Shows intermediate fossils between apes and modern humans)
Annual Layers (Varves) in Lake Sediments Show the Earth Is Not Young
2019 Letters to a Creationist, Part 2: Young Earth Evidence
Whale Origins: A Test Case for Evolution
Tanis Site: The Day the Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid Hit
Genetics
Endogenous Retroviruses in Your Genome Show Common Ancestry with Primates
Gorilla, Orangutan, Chimp and Human Genomes: Population Genetics and Intelligent Design
Junk DNA, the ENCODE Project, and Intelligent Design: Facts, Hype, and Spin
Link to “Science Meets Religion” site by David H. Bailey; tackles many evolution/ID issues, including genetics/information issues like irreducible complexity and generating novel genetic features
Evolution Before Our Eyes: Complex Mutations in Microbes Giving New Functions
Evograd Blog Debunks YE Creationist Genetics Claims in Depth
John Sanford Disputes Evolution [2020 NCCA]
Another Intelligent Design Straw Man Attempt to Demonstrate a “Waiting Time Problem” for Evolution
Apologetics: Relating Christian Faith to the Observable World
An Answer to the Intellectual Problem of Evil
The Historicity of Jesus (Assesses historical documentation of his life and teachings)
Brian Huffling: Science Cannot Prove the God of Christianity But Philosophy Can [2020 NCCA Confc, 4]
Christian Apologetics Insights from David Geisler, Ray Ciervo, and Prem Isaac [2020 NCCA, 9]
Humor in Christian Apologetics: Mia Langford [2020 NCCA, 10]
Theology/Bible Interpretation, Including Creation Issues
A Survey of Biblical Natural Theology
Jesus on Flourishing in This Physical World: No Signs, No Justice, No Fear
Early Church Fathers: Excerpts From Christian Writings, 100-200 A.D. (including observations on the natural world)
Was the “Expanse” Overhead in Genesis 1 a Solid Dome?
Evolution and Faith: My Story, Part 2 (summarizes ways to interpret Genesis in the light of evolution
“The World’s Last Night”: C. S. Lewis on the Second Coming
What’s In the Bible? (Describes contents of the various sections of the Bible)
Job Finds a God Who Walks on the Wild Side
2019 Letters to a Creationist, Part 1: Bible Interpretation
The Atonement Wars: What the Church Fathers Actually Wrote (Modern attacks on Jesus taking penalty for our sins; what the earliest “church fathers” wrote on on this)
Church Fathers on Atonement (detailed look at 2nd-4th century Christian authors)
Saint Augustine on Interpreting Genesis
Jesus in Old Testament Prophecy — Class Handout
History and Cultural Context of Creationism
Exposing the Roots of Young Earth Creationism (traces the origin of Young Earth “Flood geology” back to nineteenth-century Adventist cult prophetess Ellen White)
University of Washington Biology Professor Brags About Bullying Religious Students
Whatever Happened to Intelligent Design Theorist William Dembski?
A Creationist Speaker Comes to Town (I attend and assess a talk by Jonathan Sarfati)
The Great Debate of 2014: Creationist Ken Ham versus Bill Nye the Science Guy
Tracking Young Earth Creationist Organizations by Joel Duff at Naturalis Historia
Trends in Young Earth Creationism, from Prof. Joel Duff
Remarkable Healings
Engineer’s Wife Healed of Multiple Sclerosis
Healing of Nearly-Deaf Boy on YouTube
Healing Miracles in Mozambique: Medical Journal
Prayer for Healing at Bethel Church in Redding, California
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Applied Technology/Economics
Folding and Electric Scooters and Bikes for Commuting the Last Mile
Comparison of Composting Toilets: Towards a Global Commode
Fun Things to Ride: Stepper Bikes, Carving Scooters, Electric Unicycles, etc.
Fun Things to Fly: Powered Parachutes, Trikes, and Gyroplanes
Simple, Featherweight Alcohol Stoves for Camping
Overview of the U. S. Monetary System (What is money and how it is created; interactions of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve, and commercial banks; government and trade deficits)
Blockchain: The Ingenious Basis of Bitcoin
Faith Meets Agricultural Science: “Pfumvudza” Planting Technique Brings Hope to Zimbabwe
Work of the American Scientific Affiliation or Its Members
Some Highlights of American Scientific Affiliation 2015 Meeting
Brain, Mind, Faith: 2016 American Scientific Affiliation Meeting
A New Resource for Creationism: “The Grand Canyon, Monument to an Ancient Earth”
How Science Can Inspire and Inform Worship: NASA’s Jennifer Wiseman
Science and Faith at the American Scientific Affiliation 2018 Meeting
American Scientific Affiliation 2019 Meeting: Exploring Creation
“Disciple Science” New Podcast and YouTube Channel on Integrating Faith and Science, by Dale Gentry
My Background:
Long-time evangelical Christian, interested in everything, including science, miracles, gardening, and macro-economics. B.A. in Near Eastern Studies, a year at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and a year working as a plumber and a lab technician. Then a B.S.E. and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering. Since then, have conducted research in an industrial laboratory. Published a number of papers on heterogeneous catalysis, and am an inventor on over 100 U.S. patents in diverse technical areas.
Letters to Creationists 