by Walter and Valeria Lang
CHAPTER VI
When in 1960 Lang suggested to Rev. Griesse that he was embarking on
a 100-year program, he also noted there needed to be a restructuring of
Bible-Science relationships. Something is wrong when, for 1500 years, tons
of books have been written on Bible-Science relationships and still there
is no decisive answer to the problem. A better answer is needed, but the
answer is difficult to accept. The answer is not a separation between religion
and science and, although there is evidence for the creationist position
strictly from manifestations in nature, seldom is this used satisfactorily.
This position suggests a neutral science, concerned only with what the
evidence reveals. After twenty-three years of controversy, this has proved
inadequate. When man attempts to take a neutral position, he eliminates
God from his science studies. God demands a total dedication to Him, and
when something in nature is substituted, that something replaces God and
is regarded by God as idolatry. When science is claimed to be neutral,
at that very point it becomes a pagan religion.
Even some creationist scientists object to including science in the statement "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Ps. 111:10). Scientific evidence is itself contaminated because it is cursed by human sin. Not only is this poor science but it is immoral. It is the basis for unnecessary fears of overpopulation which lead to abortion and fear of a Frankenstein monster through genetic manipulation, extreme fear for the ecology, fear which borders on panic over nuclear power. When God is separated from the sciences, moral decay sets in. |
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True, in times past, people, in the name of religion, have espoused careless science. That is no reason to throw out the baby with the bath water. Science needs moral controls, but this is impossible without God and His inflexible Ten Commandments. Judeo-Christian morality is far superior to the morality of the Humanist Manifesto.
In the past, Christians have been responsible for initiating advances in the science disciplines. Let us begin with Tycho Brahe, a Christian and creationist whose work is significant in astronomy. His student, Johannes Kepler, preferred writing about the Bible to writing on astronomy, his chosen field. Louis Pasteur and Francesco Redi demonstrated that life cannot arise spontaneously, and they showed the importance of bacteriology science. Matthew Fontaine Maury initiated the science of oceanography after reading Psalm 8:8. Isaac Newton was a truly great scientist and a Christian. Some say he was not a Christian because he is alleged to have made anti-Trinitarian statements, but a close study reveals that he, like Kepler, preferred to write about the Bible than about science. Three great scientists of the 19th century were Michael Faraday, James Clerk Maxwell, and Calvin Thompson (Lord Kelvin). Faraday may be said to have invented the electric motor and he initiated the idea that electricity, energy, light and magnetism are all part of the same force. Maxwell developed this idea mathematically.
Dr. Donald Chittick, chemist and physicist living in Newberg, Oregon, has converted waste inorganic matter into an efficient and inexpensive fuel for operating motor vehicles. His invention of a catalyst is an energy breakthrough. He is a Christian who recognizes the importance of the grace perspective (God's power is manifested in His love rather than in His force).
Dr. Thomas Barnes, well known in the field of geomagnetism, has retired from teaching Physics at the University of Texas at El Paso. He still heads the graduate program at Christian Heritage College in San Diego. His research on the decay of the earth's magnetic field indicates an earth which is less than 10,000 years of age. He is critical of Einstein's theory on relativity. His feedback model indicates that uncertainty is not required inside the atom; the atom can be studied from a cause-and-effect model. Barnes' gentle disposition is appreciated by all who know him.
Dr. Russell Arndts and Bill Overn of Minnesota have demonstrated scientifically the weaknesses of alleged dating systems. The data obtained from radioactive substances, they maintain, are not the result of decay but, rather, of "mixing." This tends to discredit dating based on radioactive decay and the immense ages which it claims.
Dr. Robert Gentry of Powell, Tennessee has demonstrated that pleochroic halos in rocks give evidence that the rocks were formed quickly as solids and did not require a cooling from intense heat. He has also demonstrated that decay rates in radioactive substances have not been constant in the past.
Dr. Joachim Scheven of Germany and Dr. Steve Austin of San Diego have demonstrated that coal is not the result of plants growing in peat bogs and a very gradual conversion over long periods of time. They have shown that coal was formed when huge rafts of organic material were deposited by tidal waves in an enormous catastrophe.
Dr. Walter Lammerts of Freedom, California is known worldwide for his work in rose breeding. He has been given fourteen "All America Rose" awards, and his "Queen Elizabeth" rose has been selected as the best-loved rose in the world. He served as the first chairman of the Creation Research Society.
This is by no means a complete list, but it makes the point that creation
science is good science.
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