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John

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John’s Bookshelves

to-read‎ (108)
currently-reading‎ (4)
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theology‎ (7)

non-fiction‎ (6)
biography‎ (5)
fiction‎ (5)
christianity‎ (4)

education‎ (3)
fantasy‎ (3)
politics‎ (3)
creationism‎ (2)

science‎ (2)

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John is Currently Reading

John is currently reading

Baby Dinosaurs on the Ark: The Bible and Modern Science and the Trouble of Making It All Fit

by Janet Kellogg Ray (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: science, creationism, education, christianity, currently-reading

read in January 2024

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John said: " Author Janet Kellogg Ray is an excellent communicator, and this, her first book, is an excellent introduction to science in general, and the legitimacy of evolution science as just as acceptable for Bible-believing Christians as germ theory and gravi Author Janet Kellogg Ray is an excellent communicator, and this, her first book, is an excellent introduction to science in general, and the legitimacy of evolution science as just as acceptable for Bible-believing Christians as germ theory and gravitational theory are. Announcing that she doesn't "believe in" evolution, Janet explains the difference between believing in something and accepting the evidence for it. She weaves everyday stories, and stories from the history of science, into her arguments for accepting the evidence for evolution as the only intellectually honest thing for Christians to do. The fact that she remains a theologically conservative Christian while teaching biology at the University of North Texas makes her appeal especially compelling for the theologically conservative believer who fears she must either believe in the literal historicity of Genesis 1 and 2, or must necessarily affirm the philosophical assumptions of atheistic materialism. Janet helps the believing reader understand the difference between "science" and "scientism" without the need of resorting to an alternate form of science based on unsupportable assumptions.

After introducing the above-referenced difference between belief and acceptance of evidence, Janet argues against concordism ("making science fit Genesis"), and then begins to explain in very readable terms just what science is and how it works. Next, she summarizes the various approaches to reconciling science with the Bible, describing young- and old-earth creationism, and the more recent Intelligent Design movement, which was constructed by a conservative think-tank to get a form of "God in the gaps" thinking into public schools while overstating the extent to which scientists debate Darwinian evolution.

Ray then creatively teaches us about the science that discerns the age of the universe and the earth, beginning with a story about the discovery of cosmic background radiation which helped confirm the fact of the Big Bang, and how this radiation even showed up in our old cathode-ray tube analog televisions ("There Might Be a Time Machine in Your House"). She moves on to debunking the Creation Science appeal to "flood geology" and their "catastrophic" argument about the formation of the Grand Canyon as the one-stop source for knowledge of the fossil record.

After she contrasts the facts about the age of the earth between evidence-based, peer-reviewed geology, and the assertions of creation scientists in their non-peer-reviewed journals, our instructor moves on to issues related to the notion of a "missing link," showing how there isn't "a" missing link, but many such examples of transitional forms in the fossil record. At last she takes hold of the touchy subject of human evolution, explaining that the questions about its implications for theology lie outside the realm of science, and refers the reader to several helpful resources that introduce the believer to the theology of the image of God in humans and the historicity of Adam and Eve versus the genre of the Bible's creation narratives. Janet puts a bow on her presentation with an appeal that one can "leave creation-ism" without leaving God. The Bible teaches the "who and why" of creation, and science teaches the "how and when."

If "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge" (Psalm 19:1,2), then God--who cannot lie (Titus 1:2)--does not mislead us about the age of the universe and the earth when we examine the facts of nature, and evolution becomes the only legitimate explanation for how God's creation of all living beings developed to the forms we see today. ...more "

Jan 01, 2024 08:34AM · see review

John is currently reading

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2)

by J.K. Rowling

bookshelves: currently-reading, fiction, fantasy

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Nov 08, 2025 09:39AM

John is currently reading

Inspiration and Incarnation: Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old Testament

by Peter Enns

bookshelves: currently-reading

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— Sep 18, 2025 03:11PM

Sep 18, 2025 03:10PM

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John’s Quotes

“If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you.”
― Lyndon B. Johnson

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