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Peril in Paradise: Theology, Science, and the Age of the Earth

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Mark Whorton started with a personnel example of how hurtful and offensive "Young Earth Creationism" (YEC) dogmatism can be and then provides example after example why this dogmatic view is inconsistent with Scripture.

Dr. Whorton shows that one of the YEC's dominate tenets, mainly that God created a prefect universe that remained "prefect" until the fall of Adam, is both systematically inconsistent and Biblically not required. Dr. Whorton then provided a better alternative and more consistent reading of scripture that does not contradict our understanding of the creation, neither Biblical nor scientific.

I recommend "Peril in Paradise: Theology, Science, and the Age of the Earth" to anyone interested in the Biblical Creation debate. NOTE: The scope of the book, in my opinion, is set for the advanced student, layman, or scholar.

Peril in Paradise: Theology, Science, and the Age of the Earth by Mark S. Whorton, Ph.D. is a book written for Christians that examines creation paradigms on the basis of what the Bible says. Many Christians assume that the young earth "perfect paradise" paradigm is based upon what the Bible says. In reality, the "perfect paradise" paradigm fails in its lack of biblical support and also in its underlying assumptions that it forces upon a "Christian" worldview. Under the "perfect paradise" paradigm, God is relegated to the position of a poor designer, whose plans for the perfect creation are ruined by the disobedience of Adam and Eve. God is forced to come up with "plan B," in which He vindictively creates weeds, disease, carnivorous animals, and death to get back at humanity for their sin. Young earth creationists inadvertently buy into the atheistic worldview that suffering could not have been the original intent of God, stating that the earth was created "for our pleasure."

In contrast, old earth creationists believe that the universe was created with a perfect purpose, in which human beings are to choose good from evil and bring glory to God in doing so. The "perfect purpose" paradigm states that God created the universe as a temporary place, in which evil and suffering fulfill the will of God toward a higher goal than just to give us pleasure or a nice place to live. We, the followers of Jesus Christ, manifest the abundant grace of God, even in our sufferings, witnessing for the gospel to our fellow human beings and also the angels.

Dr. Whorton's book goes beyond the superficial doctrines espoused by the young earth "perfect paradise" paradigm to examine underlying assumptions and extrabiblical teachings of the movement. Peril in Paradise examines verses cited as support for the perfect paradise paradigm in context to determine their actual meaning. In addition, the book compares the perfect paradise paradigm to the perfect purpose paradigm proposed by old earth creationists. Since the book sticks to the scriptures almost exclusively, it cannot be claimed that old earth creationists ignore the scriptures in preference to "fallible science."

Whorton's book is, by far, the best critical examination of young earth creationism from a biblical viewpoint. It is highly recommended for Christians who fall on either side of the debate.

This is an important book, maybe the most important in the creation-date debate. A full-book treatment on the young-earth creationist (YEC) "no Death before Adam" argument was necessary and long overdue. The "no Death before Adam" argument is their fallback, and most important, position. Mark calls this their "Perfect Paradise Paradigm," others call it their "Death Tautology." It has been so effective because it appeals to emotion, but as Mark shows, even a simple attempt at engaging one's mind when reading the Bible shows the Perfect Paradise Paradigm to wrong on every level. From accusing God of messing up in Eden, to equating animals with man in such a way that ties salvation in with the mix, most don't know the bizarre lengths YECs will go in rewriting biblical scholarship to support their preconceived conclusions. A must read by all OECs and YECs.

I have been a born-again believer since 1974, taught science at a private Christian school, and now work in medical research studying mitochondrial respiration and inflammation pathways.

Cut to the chase -- I was a devout Young-Earth Creationism (YEC) for about a decade until the whole paradigm started to crumble under the weight of scientific REALITY. The Bible, the Word never faltered but the YEC ship was sinking fast. Worse yet, when trying to discuss Old-Earth Creationism (OEC) evidences with YEC friends they turned a deaf ear and essentially refused to consider clear evidence from many fields of science. I took a 20-year hiatus from the whole mess. That was then, this is now.

I cannot more highly recommend the fine work Dr Whorton has put into approaching YEC arguments and clearly freeing the spirit and the mind of believers to at last walk in the freedom of the OEC paradigm. Whorton shows that being an OEC adherent doesn't demand one leave their faith in the Redeemer/Creator. Neither must an OEC visionary drop their God-given, open-minded intelligence at the doorstep of YEC's psuedo-science theories and their tradition-staled theology of homocentrism.

Creation was not about a Paradise for Man to frolic in that God just whipped together in 144 hours -- no way! God's timeless and eternal Purpose has been snowballing for billions of years and the Garden of Eden was just a small part, the stage for Man to dance well or not -- and all in all will be in the culmination -- the Glory of God and when He looked over all Time and Creation he saw it was indeed "very good".

I predict YEC has a current viable lifespan of about 40 years or at least until the Creator, the Ancient of Days, Yeshua the Lord returns . . .

There has been, and still is, a raging controversy over creation and evolution. Most of the fighting takes place between scientists who believe in a natural origin of the universe, life, and life's species, and, on the other hand, Bible believers who think that the Bible requires belief in a recent (about 6,000 years ago) creation by God's miraculous power.

Whorton, a scientist and a Bible student also, believes that both sides have part of the truth, but that this controversy can, to a large extent, be settled by a better understanding of the Bible and of scientific findings.

I believe his primary contribution to this debate is his distinguishing two different views people have had of the Bible's creation accounts. The recent-creation view holds that the initial creation was perfect until Adam sinned in the garden of Eden. There was no human death, and no animal death (at least for higher animals). Death came after man sinned. Therefore, all the fossils and other evidences of animal death must have come in the last several thousand years, after humans were created, perhaps mostly in the flood of Noah. Whorton calls this the "Perfect Paradise Paradigm."

Whorton offers a different view of the Bible's teaching. God created the universe, Earth, animals, and humans in a condition that allowed illness, death, and other "evils." He did this because he had a bigger plan in mind. As a sovereign God, with an eternal plan designed to glorify himself and to bring chosen humans into everlasting righteousness and glory, this universe was a staging ground for a better future--"the new heavens and new earth" spoken about in the Bible. The existence of animal death before the fall helped to prepare the earth for humans and for advanced civilization, including modern industry and technology. Also, since Adam's fall into sin was foreknown by God (and even a part of his plan), this universe was designed to be temporary. When God finished the creation, he said it was "very good." This does not mean "perfect as it is." Rather, it means "perfect for the purpose I have made it." Whorton calls this the "Perfect Purpose Paradigm."

This book should be especially helpful for Christians who struggle with the idea of death before the fall. Also, it is helpful for those who think the Bible is hopelessly out of date and unscientific.

Dr. Whorton's book is excellent for readers regardless of their faith. It advocates a view of Creation that logically demonstrates an ancient Creator with a perfect purpose reconciled with Man's ever-increasing scientific knowledge. Dr. Whorton is able to accomplish this by reexamining the Bible to demonstrate instances where translation and interpretation by former scholars may have closed off alternative theories.

Dr. Whorton's Peril in Paradise is a must read for my fellow young earth creationists. In a detailed study that incorporates scripture, science, and logic, this book challenges the long held assumptions of the 'Perfect Paradise Paradigm', the bedrock of young earth creationism. Utilizing careful word studies, concrete biblical examples, and numerous citations from old earth and young earth theologians, Dr. Whorton presents a positive alternative called the 'Perfect Purpose Paradigm'. In this model, an ancient creation positing animal death, suffering, and natural disasters before the Fall is deemed consistent with the holy scriptures, orthodox Christianity, and modern science. Though young earth creationists may recoil at such a prospect, the Bible calls us to test all things. If we call upon evolutionists to test their assumptions and presuppositions, we must be willing to do the same when it comes to our own theological and scientific framework.

Dr. Whorton makes a number of thought provoking biblical and scientific arguments in his defense of an old earth creationist perspective. Most importantly, it addresses a number of very sensitive issues in a polite and respectful manner, which is often times lacking in the young earth vs. old earth creation debate. In order to carefully weigh all the theological, scientific, and historical aspects of the biblical creation model, Peril in Paradise should be analyzed with an open mind.

This book thoughtfully addresses the theological questions in the old earth/young earth creationist debate. The examples from scripture are carefully selected and applied. This book addresses questions that science itself cannot touch, such as redemption, God's ultimate purpose in creation, and His purpose in allowing pain and suffering in the world. However, it also addresses some of the scientific difficulties of the YEC view. This book is a great tool that I hope will bring reconciliation and understanding between two groups of people who have more in common than not. I pray that it will help us join together to glorify God in the sight of those who do not yet believe.

This book is very useful in bringing the gospel to college students as they steer discussion in the direction of questions and "debates" on the single issue that I find most gets in the way of their serious consideration of Christianty: the concept of an ancient earth and evolution as "opposed" to what the bible says. This book is written by a born-again Christian very well grounded in the bible. His book is well researched in scripture. Here is why it is an excellent resource in overcoming misconceptions in this area. The book makes and scripturally substantiates these very important facts:

* Scripture does not support "young earth" ideas about the pre-Adam world being a "perfect" world; that is an interpretation that mistakes the meaning of Him saying His creation is "very good" (it was very good for His purpose--see below)

* God's purpose is bringing glory to Himself, it has always been his purpose and is why He created the universe and us

* Animal death did in fact precede Adam and has nothing to do with salvation and man's need for a savior to reconcile man with God

* Animals before the fall did not all eat plants, many ate each other in the food chain, which was all part of God's plan

* God's purpose was not thwarted by Adam's fall, forcing him to change His plans. He knows the end from the beginning and always did

* The fall brought physical and spiritual death to man, it had nothing to do with animals, which have no conscience or soul and don't relate to God in the same way as does man

* As the Psalms say, God's creation reveals itself to everyone. The intelligence He gave to humans is to be used to explore His creation and read His works. Science does not conflict with scripture, it complements it. There is no scientific conspiracy to suppress scripture or refute it; what scientists refute is contentions that God salted His creation with misleading things.

* Scripture is inerrant. But what IS errant are the misinterpretations some people make of it and the hubris they exhibit in defending their unfounded and egocentic notions.

This book is not a diatribe. The author very respectfully points out why Henry Morris and his Institute for Creation Research (ICR) have gone way out on a very flimsy limb in building and marketing belief in a young earth into a necessary tenet of evangelicals. It's absolutely wrong to think that to be a born again Christian you have to believe in the ICR's young earth ideas and their misinformed interpretation of Genesis, starting with the notion that "days" there means 24 hour days when the Hebrew word condensed in translation into that in English actually has multiple meanings, the most common of which is "lengthy period of time" as in "in my grandfather's day...". To make arguments based on such "literally" translated words is foolish and creates fallacious arguments that are a sideshow to reality.

I am a born-again Christian active in my church. I could hardly put this book down when I started reading it. I will reread it now and look up the many passages cited. This book is precisely what we have needed to be able to understand the "apparent" disconnect between bible-based Christianity and modern scholarship. Whorton has performed a real service in writing this book, which shows how there is no disconnect between the bible and science. What is disconnected from the bible is young earth ideas and the notion that those ideas have any relevance to Christian belief and life. I respect where people of the young-earth idea are coming from, but PLEASE: read this book and see where you are misinterpreting scripture and thinking that it supports your views--it does not.

The primary reason why I am a YEC is because of exegetical reasons rather than some other theological justifications or reasonings. In fact, in all my 10 over years as a YEC I never saw my position resting on the perfect paradise paradigm and had never defended it as such, and had not even entertained this idea until I came across this view argued for in this book just a month ago. I have read a number of YEC books and I am inclined to think that this perfect paradise paradigm could well be a straw man argument. Like I said, Genesis 1 gave us the "evening and morning" and number for the days, thus defining for us what a day meant to the reader. And Exodus 20:11 tells us "For in SIX days..." so it must mean the same thing to the reader. I find this exegetically compelling. And in all my years my defense of a young earth rests basically on these two passages of Scripture which IMO is very clear and definitive, rather than on theological points like a perfect paradise or perfect purpose paradigm. In any case, does a perfect purpose paradigm NECESSITATES an old earth? I am about half way through PIP so maybe Mark did address this point somewhere but my view is "I don't think so."