The New Creationism: Building Scientific Theory on a Biblical Foundation [Paperback]

Paul Garner (Author), Andrew Snelling (Foreword)

Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: GRACE DISTRIBUTION (March 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0852346921
• ISBN-13: 978-0852346921
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #659,295 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 47 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Introduction to Creation Science December 4, 2009

By Donald D. Ensign

Format:Paperback

In 1982 What Is Creation Science? (WCS) by Henry M. Morris & Gary E. Parker
appeared. It endeavored to explain a very generalized scientific creation
world view to a lay audience. Parker, a biologist, wrote the first part
dealing with the life sciences and Morris, a hydraulics engineer, scribed
the section on the physical sciences. This book presented the case for
creation without reference to Biblical arguments and citations. The
Institute for Creation Research (ICR), at that time, was promoting its
two model approach which compared and contrasted the evidence for the
creation and evolution models to origins. WCS and the earlier more technical
Scientific Creationism (general edition) (1974) were published years before
the rise of the Intelligent Design (ID) movement. ICR's two model approach
and ID both strove to decouple Biblical bias from their creation/design
arguments. WCS is filled with quotes of evolutionists who themselves point
out the weaknesses of their own theory. These quotations and resulting
discussions were made to show the merits of the creation model from a
strictly scientific perspective and to allow for a wider readership by
secular audiences. While much in the earlier volume is similar to Paul
Gardner's The New Creationism (TNC) there is a significant difference in emphasis.

TNC is specifically geared to the Christian market and includes many Biblical
references as it sets forth the Biblical view of origins emphasizing the Creation,
the Fall, the Flood and post-Flood eras. TNC is written in a lay friendly manner
and while confrontation with evolutionary theory is inevitable it is de-emphasized
in favor of establishing a Biblical creationary overview.... Garner writes, "In this
book, I will, where necessary, offer criticisms of conventional theories; however,
my main aim is to summarize the work of modern-day scholars who are seeking to
restore the biblical foundations of the scientific enterprise and build positive
creationist theories in the field of origins." (p. 15) What are some of the
differences between these two books? In the Morris & Parker book much space is
given to the importance of the second law of thermodynamics as a major hindrance
to macro evolutionary theory (WCS, pp. 156-188) while in The New Creationism the
"law of entropy" is mentioned once, (p. 37). TNC does strongly present the importance
of the curse (Genesis 3) on creation (pp. 155-164). Unlike WCS, Garner's book
involves not just recent creationary research unavailable in 1982, but details
very specific creation theories that can be confirmed or falsified. It discusses
the original time dilation theory of Russell Humphrey, Catastrophic Plate Tectonics,
the RATE research, Kurt Wise's floating forest ideas, Michael Oard's Ice Age studies,
the growing discipline of Baraminology and many other innovative creation concepts.
Garner believes these are the most promising of recent creationary proposals.
He wisely cautions, "Although I have tried to summarize what I regard as the best
research at the time of writing, not all the ideas in this book will stand the
test of time. Some of these theories will have to be revised or abandoned while
Scripture remains true for all time." (p. 16)

TNC starts with cosmological questions like the Big Bang theory, and proceeds to
the formation of galaxies, stars and the solar system and Earth, It discusses.
the issue of the Biblical time frame verses the deep time paradigm of the secular
science establishment with critiques of radiometric dating, origin of life studies,
uniformitarianism, and evolution evidences. It discusses Flood catastrophism,
the fossil record, post Flood events such as the Ice Age, distribution of mankind,
the origin of races, and other issues.

Garner, who holds advanced degrees in both biology and geology, writes in a very
easy to understand style that many non-specialist readers will appreciate. This
volume is good introduction to current creationary thinking. It has numerous
helpful diagrams and illustrations, bibliography, website listings, index, extensive
endnotes and numerous commendations. Read more ›

18 of 32 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent introduction to biblical creationism March 7, 2010

By Jonatas Machado

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I found this book very usefull and I am ordering more to give to my friends.

It covers the main topics of biblical creationism, in a simple but rigourous manner both theologically and scientifically.

We find topics such as the building of a creationist cosmology (v.g. white hole cosmology), evidences for a young Earth, DNA as coded information, the fossil record, the geological column, catastrophic plate tectonics, homologies, recapitulation, Ice Age, human evolution, ancient civilizations, etc.

While discussing the evolutionary model, the author shows that the biblical account of Creation, the fall, the Flood, Babel and post-flood dispersion can make perfect sense of current scientific observations, be used as the foundation of model-building and provide critical insights to evaluate current models.

I find the book very interesting to someone who is familiar with biblical creationism and wants to have a summary of its main points, as wll as to someone who is not familiar with it but wants to develop understanding of its main arguments.

In the end, it is clear that since science cannot provide a natural process that is able to create matter and energy out of nothing, nor life out of non-living chemicals, the only possible scientific conclusion (as far as evidence is concerned) is that matter, energy and life had a supernatural cause.

The Bible is relevant because it tells us all about God, in a way that is relevant for us to understand the past, the present and the future...

3 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect Introduction and Overview November 30, 2011

By Jmac

Format:Paperback

This is the book that I recommend to people for an introduction to modern young earth creationism. It is a fabulous overview of modern Biblical creationist models and research, and it covers most of the big issues in the origins debate (the fossil record, dating methods, origin of life, biological change, the ice age, plate tectonics, the big bang, etc.). The terminology in the book is pretty accessible to educated laymen, and there are several helpful illustrations. All of the issues covered here can be explored further by following up this book with other creationist material, but this is a great introduction.

My primary criticism of this book is that it does not survey competing models within young earth creationism. The advertising for this book gave me the impression that it would survey the current models that are being considered in the young earth community, but instead I found that for each subject, only the most popular model or the author's preferred model was discussed. For example, the only flood model covered was Baumgartner's Catastrophic Plate Tectonics, and the only distant starlight solution discussed is Humphrey's white hole cosmology.

Neverthless, the author does a great job with the material that he does cover. Even after reading a lot of material on young earth models, I learned new things from this book. This book introduced me, for example, to Todd Wood's AGE (altruistic genetic elements) theory--a proposed mechanism for how diversification within a created kind might occur very quickly. Also, some missing details on the ecological zonation theory (regarding the sequence of organisms in the fossil record) were helpfully filled in for me....

This is a fantastic book for anyone who wants an accurate introduction to the most up-to-date models and ideas within the community of young earth creation scientists. Read more ›