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A Scientist’s Attempt to Play Theologian

A review of the book, In the Beginning. The book attempts to explain Genesis from a naturalistic perspective, and his bias shows clearly. Published in Origins v. 13, n. 2.

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Annotations from the Literature

A collection of short commentaries on scientific articles published in 1983, covering topics such as the history of Darwinism, integrity in science, evolution and thermodynamics, North American geology, Quaternary dating methods, origin of life, and the half-life of Technetium-99.

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Recent Debate Over Archaeopteryx

Archaeopteryx has traits of both birds and reptiles, and has long been accepted as a fossil intermediate. Recently, the charge has been presented that Archaeopteryx is a forgery rather than a legitimate fossil. This has resulted in much research into the nature of the fossils of Archaeopteryx. Published in Origins v. 13, n. 1.

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The Mexico Earthquake

The earthquake in Mexico reminds us that catastrophes are a frequent, although unpredictable, experience. Geologists have emphasized the ordinary event, under the name uniformitarianism, but are increasingly accommodating to the reality of catastrophism. Published in Origins v. 12, n. 2.

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Can Science and Religion Work Together?

The practice of science does not depend on the beliefs a scientist has about origins. Creationists are able to conduct scientific research , and may even be aided by ideas that derive from the Bible. Conflicts may arise between science and religion, but this is an indication of the need for more study. Published in Origins v. 12, n. 2.

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A Venture in Unorthodoxy

A review of the book, The Expanding Earth. A prominent scientist has written a book advocating an expanding earth rather than conventional plate tectonics theory. The idea has not been accepted by the scientific community. Published in Origins v. 12, n. 1.

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Are Millions of Years Required to Produce Biogenic Sediments in the Deep Ocean?

The ocean floor is largely covered with a layer of sediments derived from the remnants of dead organisms, such as the "shells" of foraminifera. At present, these accumulate too slowly to account for the depth of sediments in a few thousand years. However, a catastrophic flood would provide difference conditions with very large amounts of nutrients and the opportunity for rapid growth of these organisms. More data are needed to analyze the situation more satisfactorily. Published in Origins v. 12, n. 1.

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Beyond Arithmetic: the Truth of Creation

Throughout the Old Testament the phrase, "the heavens and the earth," is used as the nearest Hebrew equivalent to our term, "universe."

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Rapid Erosion at Mount St. Helens

Geological processes are conventionally considered to be relatively constant, but erosion associated with the eruption of Mt. St. Helens is a reminder that rates of erosion may be much faster under catastrophic conditions. Published in Origins v. 11, n. 2.

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How Accurate is Biblical Chronology?

Thiele discovered an underlying harmony in the Biblical records that is not only internal but external as well. Once he solved these apparent discrepancies in the Biblical data, he found that the reigns of the Jewish kings matched the Assyrian chronology perfectly.

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A Comparison of Narrative Elements in Ancient Mesopotamian Creation-Flood Stories with Genesis 1-9

From the parallels in form and content between Creation-Flood stories, is is more likely that someone (i.e., Moses) recorded such a work in the 15th century B.C. rather to attribute them to a collection of fragments that were distributed through the first half of the first millenium B.C. Published in Origins v. 11, n. 1.

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Geomagnetic Intensity Decay: The Fit of the Data

A review of Chapters 3 and 4 in the book, Scientists Confront Creationism. Creationism is roundly criticized for poor arguments. Published in Origins v. 11, n. 2.

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NASA's Next Interplanetary Mission

NASA is planning to send a satellite to study Jupiter and take measurements of its atmospheric composition. Published in Origins v. 11, n. 1.

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The Little Ice Age

A period of unusual cold in the Northern Hemisphere extended from about 1450 to around 1850, known as the Little Ice Age. The causes are not well understood, but could have included variation in solar output and/or volcanic activity. Published in Origins v. 10, n. 2.

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Paleomagnetism II

Some rocks show magnetic properties that align with the present geomagnetic field, while others show a reverse alignment. This is taken to indicate that the earth's geomagnetic field has reversed many times during earth history. Patterns of magnetic alignment have been used to correlate geologic layers and to support the concept of plate tectonics. Much remains to be understood concerning the causes and rates of magnetic reversals. Published in Origins v. 10, n. 2.

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Mount St. Helens and Spirit Lake

Mount St. Helens, the once beautiful mountain with a blue forest-ringed lake at its feet, is now a shattered remnant of its former self and the lake is stark and foreboding. But this loss is partially compensated by the information this volcano is giving us, not least of which is a glimpse of what could have happened to many trees during the Genesis flood. Continuing research will undoubtedly enlarge and refine this picture. Published in Origins v. 10, n. 1.

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Paleomagnetism I

This paper introduces the basics of magnetism, the magnetic field of the earth and how the rocks can record the ancient magnetic field of the earth. Published in Origins v. 10, n. 1.

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The El Niño Event

El Niño is an interannual catastrophic event caused by massive amounts of warm water flowing in from the mid-Pacific instead of the more normal northerly warm current. These events have a 6-8 year cycle, Published in Origins v 10, n. 1.

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Genesis One in Historical-critical Perspective

I hope to illustrate how an approach that attends to the culture, history, philosophy and religion of the Bible's time and place can enhance our understanding of its message.

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Puzzles

Studying origins from a scientific perspective can be compared with assembling a puzzle when some of the pieces are missing and the overall picture is unknown. To produce a picture at the meaning level can be done only by patterning it after one's world view — the composite of all one's acquired knowledge and experiences. Published in Origins v. 9, n. 2.

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