Customer Reviews

Catastrophism & the Old Testament

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bmscrh summary of this book demonstrates that he/she didn't read it very carefully (prior bias?); there are many ERRORS in the review. I found it fascinating and mostly plausible. Serious students of the Bible should read this book.

Patten's obviously meticulously researched and documented works are stunning. His style of writing is pondering and lacks the zip of the pop culture, but his theories and the subsesequent content is the freshest, most probably of any I've heard, and sure does explain a lot of what we could only shrug about before. With another good writer or editor and a reprinting I think Patten's two primary books could really shake up the status quo. Like he said, the evidence is not as much found in looking down, but up. I imagine our scientists could learn much more if they could think outside the box they've put themselves into. I would suggest that readers of his stuff take it slow and easy...try to understand before breezing on to the next topic...and I'd say the best laughing is done by those who laugh last.

The review of Patten's Catatrophism and the Old testament by The Reader was not really convincing. He seems to dismiss Patten for the same reason he dismisses Velikovsky, but offers no reason for either. The Reader wrote his review in 1997. Everything I have read about catastrophism in science for the past ten years (2007) has only confirmed the essentials of Patten's thesis. The Reader wants to simply laugh off Patten, but I think he is overly sensitive.

Patten's is a real explanation of causes and relations, which explanatory power is the main criterion you want in a scientifically-satisfactory explanation, which he explains in both his books.

Patten as a catastrophic scientist is convincing in both his former and latter works: Ice Epoch and Old Testament. His theological conclusions in Catatrophism in the Old Testament I think, are over extended. Some are plausible - crustal skid in Joshua's long day, could be; the destruction of Sennacherib's army by a discharge of electricity from Mars, could be- but others seem to be incredulous to my mind.

Both of Patten's books are strictly scientific in the presentation of the data. Patten's thesis is the most complete theory of catatrophism I have ever read. Nearly all the discoveries I have encountered to date confirm the essential parts of his scientific work, however I would flag his limitations at the point using a scientific explanation to prove theological conclusions.

They may or may not be causally related in some cases, but it is up to the reader to accept that by faith, not the writer to assert it dogmatically. Both of Patten's works are highly readable and thought provoking, as opposed to laughter provoking. I recommend them both unreservedly for serious study and comparison with the observations.

Donald Patten has continued in the proud tradition of Immanuel Velikovsky: producing a document which is indicative of the author's lack of scientific literacy. This book contains sweeping re-interpretations of the history of the human race. In this book Donald Patten attempts to reach the unusual goal of disproving evolution and creation simultaneously. If you look no where else, that goal is achieved. In this book every event in the Old Testament, from the Tower of Babel to David's victory over the armies of Sennecherib, are the result of the tidal forces created by Earth and Mars closely passing each other in their orbits. It also contains the "truth" about the formation of the solar system. Instead of the erroneous theory about coalescing interstellar dust and hydrogen gas forming the sun and planets, we are presented with the revelation that our sun wandered throughout the galaxy and "collected" the planets from other stars. When enough planets were obtained in this manner, our sun had an "ignition event" and became the bright star we now see. Patten has similar insightful knowledge about Mars. He has determined that Mars once existed with another planet which he designates as "Astra" These two worlds rotated about each other like a binary star system. Through an unidentified cataclysm Astra exploded about 2700 years ago and formed the asteroid belt which now exists between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. A large chunk the the exploded Astra struck Mars and caused its orbit to become very eccentric. This eccentricity created a orbital relationship between Earth and Mars which he designates the "catastrophic era" that lasted about 600 years. One outstading feature of this era is that Mars would approach to within 10,000 miles of Earth every 52 years. The results of such a truly catastrophic approach are all of the events we see recorded in the Old Testament. The Tower of Babel was destroyed by lightning exchanges between the two planets, Noah's flood was caused by tidal surges of the worlds oceans created by the gravimetric mass of Mars, all of the plagues faced by Egypt were caused by this close approach, Sennecherib was destroyed because his army had metal swords which acted as lightning rods, and Joshua's long day was because the Earth stopped rotating on its axis for a period of time. Patten also has a solution for why wooly mammoths have been found frozen in the arctic region. It is his contention that Mars had a third moon at one time. He calls this moon "Glacis" because it was composed entirely of frozen water. On one of the close approaches of Mars to Earth, this "moon" passed within the Roche Limit and exploded. The vast quantity of ice crystals from this event were "vortexed" down the north and south poles. The resulting rain of -300 degree celcius ice flash froze everything in its path. This book will present a person with numerous "scientific" proofs for this event. The one which caused me to roll on the floor in laughter was found in Jonathan Swifts' "Gullivers' Travels". When Gulliver found himself in the land of Laputa, the astronomers there told him that Mars had two moons in a nearly circular orbit. According to Patten the only way Jonathan Swift would have been aware of such a fact is that he must have read an account of someone who witnessed the Mars-Earth close encounter. After about 600 years of these catastrophic encounters Mars settled back into the orbit it had originally and all has been well with the solar system since. This book is interesting if for no other reason other than the ridiculous claims it contains. There is much entertainment value in this book. I would recommend keeping a copy in a home library for use whenever a good laugh is needed.