Faith Reason Earth History A Paradigm of Earth and Biological Origins by Intelligent Design 3 Leonard Brand Art Chadwick
Download As PDF : Faith Reason Earth History A Paradigm of Earth and Biological Origins by Intelligent Design 3 Leonard Brand Art Chadwick 
The ground is shifting. New research programs, and new discoveries, are constantly changing the landscape of our knowledge of "how it all began." And for those considering these matters from a position of biblical faith, there are new and promising frontiers to explore. Many of those remarkable recent changes are addressed in this fully updated third edition of this landmark work, now in its twentieth year of publication. With additional contributions from joint author Arthur Chadwick, Faith, Reason, and Earth History presents Leonard Brand's continuing argument for constructive thinking about origins and earth history in the context of Scripture, showing readers how to analyze available scientific data and approach unsolved problems. Faith does not need to fear the data but can contribute to progress in understanding earth history within the context of God's Word while still being honest about unanswered questions. In this patient explanation of the mission of science, and its application to questions about origins and earth history, the authors model their conviction that "above all, it is essential that we treat each other with respect, even if we disagree on fundamental issues." The original edition of this work (1997) was one of the first books on this topic written from the point of view of experienced research scientists. Brand and Chadwick, career researchers and teachers in biology and paleontology, bring to this well-illustrated book a rich assortment of practical scientific examples. This thoughtful, rigorous, and thoroughly up-to-date presentation makes this classic work highly useful both as a college-level text and as an easily accessible treatment for the educated lay person.
Author Bio
Leonard Brand (Ph.D., Cornell) is professor of biology and paleontology at Loma Linda University, and has been teaching at the university level for four decades. An active researcher, he is well published in professional scientific journals in the fields of paleontology, animal behavior, and ecology. Arthur Chadwick (Ph.D., University of Miami) is research professor of biology and geology at Southwestern Adventist University. Chadwick began his professional career by retraining in geology and paleontology at the University of California (Riverside) and accepting a visiting professorship at the University of Oklahoma in geology and geophysics before taking his current position. His research and publication profile spans these disciplines.
Faith Reason Earth History A Paradigm of Earth and Biological Origins by Intelligent Design 3 Leonard Brand Art Chadwick
This book delves deep into the differences between the commonly believed theory of origins and interventionism. It is helpful to have some basic (high school) science background to understand the concepts presented, however, it is not necessary to be a scientist. The material is methodically and logically presented while pointing out the differences between theories in a very respectful way. Well worth reading regardless of your personal belief as it gives strengths and weaknesses of both in a very dispassionate way. Thank you Dr. Brand for forwarding this conversation.Product details
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Faith Reason Earth History A Paradigm of Earth and Biological Origins by Intelligent Design 3 Leonard Brand Art Chadwick Reviews
First, leaving aside the thesis of the book, a giant criticism. I acquired the version of this book, which was free at the time, and have been reading it on an 8-inch tablet, with good visual resolution. About half of the graphic material in the book is undecipherable, or nearly such, under these conditions, because it’s too small. I surely hope that the diagrams and other pictorial material are more easily understandable in the printed edition. There are a lot of diagrams and annotated photos in the book, which would be a plus, if you could actually see them.
Second, again, leaving the main argument aside, this is a serious book. Don’t expect to read it even close to conscientiously in a few hours. There’s a lot of material.
Third, again, leaving the main argument aside, the book is well written, with sentences that make sense, and I found no English usage errors or typos. I am not a geologist, or paleontologist, but the authors seem to understand, and illustrate, the basic ideas of geology and paleontology. They do the same for biology.
Now to the principal thesis of the book. This is an attempt to set forth all the evidence the authors can find, showing that the earth is not very old. The authors, however, avoid saying that their young-earth ideas have been proved, no matter what the results, and no matter how much they think the data support them.
There is a serious conceptual problem. The authors write as if there are only two possible views of origins. One of these, characterized as naturalism, or methodological naturalism, or Darwinism, rejects a supernatural God, hence, of course, does not believe in any sort of intervention. And, in order to explain the diversity of living things, (and for other reasons) this view believes that the earth is very old. The other, characterized as interventionist, believes that the Bible teaches that the earth is only a few thousand years old, and, of course, does not believe that living things all arose from a common ancestor, in part because there would not have been enough time for that. The authors believe God did intervene, and, among other things, created types of living things, from which those currently alive have come. (The authors are comfortable with microevolution, the development of new varieties and species from original types, such as bison and cattle from a common ancestor. They are not dogmatic about “kind” in the KJV’s Genesis as being species. Sometimes, perhaps, sometimes not.)
So here’s the conceptual problem. There are born-again, Bible-believing Christians who think that the earth is very old, and that God put natural selection in place, perhaps even knowing how it would turn out, in advance, as a mechanism that has led to the abundance of living and extinct types of organisms. Such people are never mentioned in the book. It’s always a dichotomy – naturalists vs. interventionists. For example, there are some Christians who believe that humans evolved from a common ancestor with apes, but that God intervened by placing a soul in the first humans, or otherwise chose some of them to become us.
Discussing the interpretation of Genesis 1-2 is beyond the scope of this review, but here’s one problem with a so-called literal translation
Genesis 24 (KJV) “These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,”
The same Hebrew word is used for “day” in both the days enumerated in Genesis 1, and in the statement above. There are other reasons to believe that the days of Genesis 1 might not be literal, but there is evidence from Genesis 1 & 2, themselves, that “day” may mean more than one thing, and doesn’t always mean a 24-hour period.
Another problem is that John Walton, and others, have argued that we have to read Genesis 1 and 2 from the standpoint of the people of that time, the first audience for Genesis, and that the way they would have understood it is quite different from a straightforward understanding of the English words.
The authors are comfortable with speciation and the development of new types, which are much like their ancestors, proceeding by natural selection. Why aren’t they just as comfortable with macroevolution, the origin of new types? They say it is because the data don’t support this possibility well, but the book reads as if the real reason is that their fundamental assumption is that the earth is young, whatever the data may say.
The book seems to recognize some real problems with the interventionist, young-earth model. One such is the fossil record, which seems to clearly show change with time, from what mainstream scientists call early, simpler organisms, to later, more advanced ones. Another is the distribution of animals, after the Genesis Flood (if there was such a thing). Why, and how, do marsupials occur almost entirely in Australia – did they walk all the way there from Mt. Ararat, leaving no stragglers behind? Why didn’t other types of mammals get as far as Australia? Similarly, why such a collection of rodents in South America? The authors also say that Australia and South America must have been the places most difficult to reach, after the ark landed, and the animals began to disperse, making the answers to these questions even more difficult. Of course, it is possible that God guided various animals to their current distributions, but the authors don’t say that.
The discussion of how life originated says, correctly, that there is no satisfactory explanation of how this might have happened without special creation. (Which doesn’t prove that it didn’t happen naturalistically.) I found no references on this topic after 2002, meaning that the book is not close to up-to-date on this subject.
The first part of the book has a lot about how science works, and the philosophy of science. That was well done.
There are suggestions for interventionist research.
There is a good glossary, an extensive bibliography, and there are extensive notes. I was surprised that books by Davis A. Young, one being _Christianity and the Age of the Earth_, were not included in the bibliography.
This book seems like something every college-educated Christian who believes in a 6-day creation week should have on hand for reference. (It is a college text book.)
So why isn't this available in format?
[Update] Now that the book is available in standard format with all the bells and whistles (not a limited set), I can rate this book as 5 stars.
Another reviewer faulted the book for not including what is usually called "theistic evolution" as one of the options of origins. The authors do mention "theistic evolution" in their discussion of "interventionism," acknowledging that some might wish that they should include it as one of the options of interventionism, since some versions of the theory suggest that God "intervened" at some of the stages of the naturalistic evolutionary theory of origins -- thus filling in the gaps that standard evolutionary theory cannot fill. I suspect that the authors did not give more space to this theory because it differs very little from the naturalistic evolutionary theory of origins and thus the same arguments apply. The bottom line is that the biblical account of origins does not marry well to the naturalistic theory of origins, but arguing against it would unnecessarily offend many in the "design" camp of origins. It seems to me that the book is comprehensive enough without pointing out the flaws of theistic evolutionary theory. (My personal observation is this If God is powerful enough to "intervene" in order to start life and to create intelligent human beings, among others, why is He not powerful enough to create the earth by divine fiat as suggested in many passages of the Bible [not just in Genesis]?)
The introduction provides the thesis for the book (You can see it in the "Preview" of the version)
"The following pages present an overview of how the scientific method works. That understanding is then applied to an analysis of data in biology and earth science to illustrate how a scientist who is a creationist thinks. This book outlines an interpretation of earth history that assumes there is a Creator. Many scientists contend that a person who believes in creation cannot possibly be a good scientist and that creationism is incompatible with the scientific method. A central thesis of this book is that a creationist can indeed be an effective scientist. That thesis is supported by personal experience and by observation of individuals who are creationists and are also productive scientists.
"The approach taken here is also based on the observation that it is inappropriate and incorrect to characterize noncreationist scientists as unintelligent or uninformed people who believe in a ridiculous theory."
The authors follow through by being respectful of those who differ by refraining from dogmatic statements and submitting the evidence to appeal to the readers' intelligence and reasoning powers. It is a refreshing alternative to the dogmatic and assertions of some other creationist authors who imply that evolutionary theory is merely "ridiculous."
I made my original statement because I am familiar with other writings of Leonard Brand and was certain that this book would be valuable to all who accept Genesis as history. However, it should also be good for serious scientists who are genuinely interested in understanding why some scientists can look at the same evidence they see and interpret it differently.
This book delves deep into the differences between the commonly believed theory of origins and interventionism. It is helpful to have some basic (high school) science background to understand the concepts presented, however, it is not necessary to be a scientist. The material is methodically and logically presented while pointing out the differences between theories in a very respectful way. Well worth reading regardless of your personal belief as it gives strengths and weaknesses of both in a very dispassionate way. Thank you Dr. Brand for forwarding this conversation.
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