A report of the 2000 meeting of the Geological Society of America in Reno, Nevada. Published in Origins n. 51.

Trilobites are complex, elaborately segmented forms with jointed appendages and swimmerets, antennae, compound eyes, and cephalized, or head-to-tail, nervous systems.

An etymological, phonetic, philological, syntactical, grammatical, contextual, and conceptual study of the Hebrew word Ed, concluding that it is to be understood as “mist/dew" which arose from below, in a way that was distinct from normal rainfall from above, from river inundation, canal irrigation and other current proposals.

The story of our origins is a vital part of our understanding of ourselves and our world. Although many details of creation are not well understood, the Genesis story of origins provides the logical foundation for the gospel. Both science and Scripture contain many mysteries, but we can see enough to understand that the creation is the result of intentional, supernatural action by a loving Creator, and we can share this good news with others.

A biblical theology of Creation is summarized in the four basics of reality contained in Genesis 1:1: "In the beginning," "God," "created," and "the heavens and the earth."

The complex and vitally essential ecology and biodiversity we find in nature today, at the top of the structural hierarchy of nature, suggest that many interacting organisms would have been required right from the beginning. Only a short-term creation would provide such ecosystem requirements.

A review of the book, Mere Creation: Science, Faith & Intelligent Design. Published in Origins v. 25, n. 2.

New information from whole-genome sequencing may contribute to creationist theory regarding the extent of change in species. Published in Origins v. 24, n. 2.

Readers are invited to submit reviews of current literature relating to origins. Mailing address: ORIGINS, Geoscience Research Institute, 11060 Campus St., Loma Linda, California 92350 USA. The Institute does not distribute the publications reviewed; please contact the publisher directly.

Literature Reviews

A review of the book, Creation Compromises. Published in Origins v. 23, n. 1.

A collection of short commentaries on scientific papers published in 1993-1994, covering such topics as parasite degeneration, convergence in diapsid reptiles, induced neoteny, genetic code, directed mutation in bacteria, radiohalos in a diamond, coelacanth phylogeny, marsupial phylogeny, origin of life, and fossil change in Jurassic rocks. Published in Origins v. 22, n. 1.

A structural study of Genesis chapters 2 and 3 reveals the presence of a chiasm in the narrative and strongly suggests the unity of the story as argued by scholars.

A collection of short commentaries on scientific papers published in 1991, covering topics such as Permian trees, molecular genetics, epigenetics, inheritance of paternal mtDNA, water and formation of petroleum, water in mantle rocks, impacts, Ordovician volcanism, molecular phylogenies of ratites, termites, cichlids and sabertooths, osteocalcin in dinosaur bones, fossil flowers, origin of life, Precambrian predation, stromatolites, Cambrian Explosion, quality of fossil record, rapid speciation, tree biogeography, Miocene ape, fossil dermopteran, Asian marsupial, dinosaurs, mammal-like reptile. Published in Origins v. 19, n. 2.

This study addresses the problem that is presented by the common literary critical appraoch to the two creation narratives in Genesis 1 and 2. Published in Origins v. 16, n. 2.

A review of the book, Rates of Evolution. Published from a symposium on evolution. Published in Origins v. 16, n. 2.

One day a minister said to me, "There seems to be a contradiction between chapters 1 and 2 of Genesis. Chapter 1 tells us that God created the animals first and then created man, but chapter 2 says that God created man before the animals. How do you ex plain this difficult problem?"

A review of the book, Darwinism: The Refutation of a Myth. Written by a developmental biologist emphasizing the inadequacy of Darwinian evolutionary theory and advocating the importance of developmental processes in evolution. Published in Origins v. 16, n. 1.

The first two chapters of the Bible deal directly with the question of human sexuality. Not only is human sexuality presented as a basic fact of creation, but an elucidation of the nature of sexuality constitutes a central part of the Creation accounts.

The translation of 1781 as the preposition "with" removes the anomaly of the stars being created on the fourth day of the creation week. It follows that the issue of the creation of the stars is not necessarily a specific topic within the horizon of the creation pericope of Gen 1:1-2:4a.

A review of the book, The Genesis Debate. Several questions regrding interprations of Genesis 1-11 are addressed, with both Yes and No responses representing different points of view. Published in Origins v. 14, n. 1.