What Is Creation Science? [Paperback]

Henry M. Morris (Author), Gary E. Parker (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0890510814 | ISBN-13: 978-0890510810 | Publication Date: October 1987 | Edition: Revised

Two leading creation scientists provide conclusive evidence for intelligent design (an extremely popular topic today), and examine the major arguments used to support evolution.

Product Details

• Paperback: 306 pages
• Publisher: Master Books; Revised edition (October 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0890510814
• ISBN-13: 978-0890510810
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #625,945 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AN INTERESTING EXPOSITION OF THE ICR'S MODEL OF "CREATION SCIENCE", October 14, 2011

By 

Steven H. Propp (Sacramento, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: WHAT IS CREATION SCIENCE? (Paperback)

Henry M. Morris (1918-2006) was one of the foremost biblical creationists of the late 20th century; he was also the author/coauthor of books such as The Genesis Flood the Biblical Record and Its Scientific Implications, The Scientific Case for Creation, Scientific Creationism, etc. Gary Parker was a faculty member of the Institute for Creation Research (ICR) for twelve years, and is the author of books such as Creation: Facts of Life (Revised & Updated), Dry Bones and Other Fossils, etc.

In the Introduction to the revised 1987 edition of this book, the authors say, "Just what IS this creation science the newspapers keep writing about?' ... 'But is it really possible that there is scientific evidence for creation, as the creationists claim?' 'Isn't creation just a religious belief, as the evolutionists claim?' This book has been written to answer such questions as these and to show that the concept of creation is every bit as scientific as the concept of an ongoing naturalistic evolutionary process."

Here are some additional quotations from the book:

"Once in a great while a child will be born with a 'tail.' But, is it really a tail? No, it's not even the coccyx. It doesn't have any bones in it; it doesn't have any nerve cord either... It's just skin and a little fatty tissue." (Pg. 65-67)
"Is there any clue in Archaeopteryx as to HOW the reptilian scales evolved into feather? No, none at all. When we find feathers as fossils, we find fully developed and functional feathers." (Pg. 137)
"Only the gracile australopithecines (Donald) Johanson and the Leakeys are presently working on remain as even possible evidence of an ape/human transition. These specimens do deserve serious consideration---but so do the 'anatomical features that warn against a too-ready acceptance of this story.'" (Pg. 160)
"The question of the nature and duration of earth history is, indeed, an important related issue, but it is not the MAIN issue. Whether or not all things were created is the basic issue." (Pg. 230)
"Scientific creationism is NOT based on Genesis or any other religious teaching. There is not a single quotation from the Bible in this entire book!" (Pg. 297)

34 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read This Book With An Open Mind, August 26, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: What Is Creation Science? (Paperback)

I received this book as a gift a few years ago. At the time I had no idea what Creation Science was or how it stacked up with Evolution on a scientific basis. I had spent my entire life learning about evolution in public schools. Learning isn't an accurate statement. I memorized what they told me, got the A, and moved on without thinking about it. Dr. Morris and Dr. Parker did a great job of showing me the scientific fallacy behind evolution. After reading this book and thinking about the evidence behind both sides, I found the assumptions behind Evolution to be preposterous. In fact, Evolution is such a stretch, it should not be taught in our public schools. Unfortunately, you can't prove, by scientific definitions, either case. Creation Science, however, is a much more comprehensive, methodical, and logical approach. Oh, by the way, I'm a Mechanical Engineer and fully grasp scientific theory and reasoning, formation and testing of hypotheses, and rational and object analysis. But don't take my word for it, read it yourself.

17 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good book on the "lower-tier" creationist position., May 7, 2003

By 

Wade A. Tisthammer "Minnesotan" (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What Is Creation Science? (Paperback)

Near the close of the twentieth century we have seen a noticeable split between creationist (and I use the term broadly) movements. One, like Dembski and others (confer "Mere Creation"), use more significantly sophisticated and legitimately scientific (even if it is flawed) work to support their case. The other one, stemming from the "scientific creationist" movement of the 1970s and 80s, can be seen in books and writings like those of Henry Morris. Gary Parker, who possesses a Ph.D. in biology, is a notable exception and might be considered a borderline case. I regard this ICR ("Institute of Creation Research") book as one of the three major creationist books (the other two are "The Genesis Flood" and "Scientific Creationism," which will be referred to as SC for sake of abbreviation). For sake of abbreviation, I will refer to "What is Creation Science?" as WICS. The book could be considered a sort of sequel to the earlier ICR book, SC.

People, even many well-intention scientists, often misconstrue creation science as the idea of a Supreme Being creating the universe as literally described in the book of Genesis. Yet creation science (as presented by the authors of WICS) neither mentions Scripture nor theology. Creation science on the biological scale is the theory that life was created artificially (p. 34). This is also called "intelligent design theory" by other authors and scientists. Creation science as applied to cosmology is the theory that the universe is not a completely isolated system (pp. x, 9, 190). Thus the theory suggests that the universe was an open system for it to be created.

In part because of how "creation science" is defined, one of the improvements made is that WICS has a much less religious appearance. Scripture seemed to be more of an inspiration and a motivation behind SC. WICS made almost no inept religious intervention (unless one believes the theories defined to be inherently religious). Parker especially did an excellent job of not referring to religious principles when describing and making the case for creation science.

Part II, written by Parker, was called "The Life Sciences," and contains the most legitimate science in the book. By far the largest improvement has been in biology when one contrasts WICS to SC. There are several reasons for this. First of all, Parker has a Ph.D. in biology and has taught evolutionary biology at the university level (pp. vii, 31-32). The Ed.D. has clearly made him well qualified to speak on the subject. Second, he was once a former evolutionist (p. 32) and he was an evolutionist because he thought the scientific evidence favored that theory (p. 182). He displays the most rational approach I have seen for a creationist biologist who is affiliated with ICR. Even if his arguments are not considered good enough (and that, of course, is debatable), they clearly exhibit a higher level of scientific sophistication than what one sees in some other creationist works.

Regardless of its scientific merit, there still some relatively minor flaws, which I hope will be fixed in a later edition. On page one, "evolution" is misspelled as "evoluion." One mistake by Parker is that the story of the peppered moths is given the award of being THE showcase for evolution (p. 81), and then later the exact same award is given to the bird-like Archaeopteryx specimen (p.135).

In sum, WICS is a fairly good book on the contemporary lower-tier creationist position. Although I do not believe it has reached the embodiment of pure science, these two authors present a case for creation science that deserves consideration by the open-minded individual interested in this controversy. It seems doubtful, as Parker suggests, that the evidence is all one-sided in favor of either theory.