Posted on 06/25/2007 5:55:14 PM PDT by Alien Syndrome
In the United States the old but bitter debate between evolution and creationism is heating up again.
Three of the Republican presidential candidates do not believe in evolution and a high-tech creation museum recently opened in Kentucky.
Much of the debate has been fuelled by a book claiming the Grand Canyon, one of America's most well-known landmarks, was carved by Noah's flood rather than erosion.
Every national park has at least one gift shop - usually more - selling t-shirts, snow domes, mugs, postcards and books.
At the Grand Canyon you will find books on the canyon's history, the canyon's animals and even the canyon's deaths.
One book, Grand Canyon: A Different View, contains the following excerpt:
"Grand Canyon is not just an icon of beauty. It is a solemn witness to the mighty power of God who is not only the omnipotent creator of all things but also the avenging defender of his own holiness."
It is amazing to think a humble river was able to carve such a mighty canyon. Of course, a geologist will tell you that reflects the power of time rather than the power of the river - the canyon is millions of years old.
But Grand Canyon: A Different View presents a different perspective.
The book is compiled by Tom Vail, who has been guiding rafting trips down the Colorado River for 25 years.
He says for the first 15 years he was an evolutionist.
"In 1994 I became a Christian and started looking at the canyon as my book says, from a different view, and I started exploring the creationist model of the formation of the canyon," he said.
"What I found was all those little questions I had as an evolutionist had answers, and pretty logical answers as I looked at it."
Mr Vail's book is not some cheap pamphlet. It is a full colour coffee-table book, featuring expensive paper, sophisticated layout, spectacular photos, scientific language and lots of quotes from the Old Testament.
Not surprisingly, it is generating debate.
The gulf between creationists and mainstream scientists is as wide as the canyon itself.
The American Geological Institute and other groups demanded the book be removed from the national park.
The debate only fuelled sales of the book and Tom Vail says there is plenty of evidence inside the canyon to back his belief.
"We see some very large folding in the canyon where sedimentary layers, which are laid down horizontally, have been curved or carved in big bends, some of them 300 feet tall, and this is done without cracking the rock. How do you do that with hard rock?" he said.
"I'm definitely going against the tide here, but when you look at the evidence, there are major flaws in the dating methods, for example.
Much to the horror of mainstream scientists, creationism seems to be making a comeback in the United States.
A multi-million dollar creation museum recently opened, at least three of the Republicans running for President do not believe in evolution and Tom Vail's rafting trips are welcoming customers from as far away as Australia.
Opinion polls suggest 43 per cent of Americans believe God created humans in their present form within the last 10,000 years. Only 14 per cent believe humans evolved without divine involvement.
Unless you now want to change terms and argue absolute precision, that's not the Holy Spirit telling you the world is of indeterminable age.
You are confused and fear the ridicule of men.
Apparently you believe that smug "fears the ridicule of men", so you're going to ridicule him into line.
How many creationists don’t buy the “young earth” crapola?
Count me in!
You think that was ‘ridicule’?
Interesting...
Rather intersting that you don’t seem to.
Not as intersting that you do seem to.
That makes what will follow too predictable to be of any interest at all.
What preceded was too predictable to be of any interest at all. That’s why I reflected it back to you.
That's between you and God. Personally I'm inclined to hold a person's belief in and adherence to the Ten Commandments as a lot more relevant that their interpretation of Genesis.
The fact of your reply belies the content.
I'm not going to stress over the age of the earth or universe or any other trivial matter. Sure it's fun to discuss and explore but it has no bearing on my faith in God or the Bible.
The account of creation is not written from the perspective of where the creator was. It was never intended to be understood as indeterminate until *man* decided that the earth cannot be 6,000 years old.
Then the compromisers started coming out and perverting the word of God to conform to the opinions of men.
How many millions of years were there between the third day when the plants were created and the fourth day when the sun was created?
"Just as I hold that the bible tells two different stories of the creation on Man. One on the sixth day and Adam and Eve on the eight day or later."
Then you have to invent a mass die-off so that Eve can eventually be the 'mother of all the living'.
Genesis 3:20 - "Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living."
That's what happens when you start perverting the word of God.
You can't stop.
Not at all. It reveals it.
If all you want is the last word, take it. It’s yours.
If you wanted the last word, all you had to do is say so.
Go ahead.
Get ye behind me.
Try believing what the Word of God says, not what you want it to say, and you’ll see who’s behind you.
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