Literature Reviews

A review of the book, Darwin's Black Box. Published in Origins v. 23, n. 1.

Long ago, the Psalmist recorded a gem of inspiration: "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." Nature calls us to recognize its Creator and nature invites us to probe its mysteries. Within the context of that call and that invitation, there need be no conflict between biblical Christianity and science, between faith and reason. A scientist can indeed be a Christian.

Darwin's theory is in crisis. The academic ball is in its court. What will the Adventist ministry speak in response? The general community, for the time being at least, is listening.

We need to develop ways to foster consciousness about the environment and a willingness to participate as good stewards of creation.

Now is the time to tremble at the words of the God of Israel, particularly in the creation and flood narratives, and not to tremble at the words of Darwin, whose theory is in crisis.

For theistic evolution, a long history of death preceded the appearance of Adam, implying that death is not connected to Adam's sin. The purpose of the dissertation is to discover how this latter notion impacts evangelical theology with respect to the atonement and other areas in terms of possible theological implications.

Survival on earth seems bleak as the environmental crisis worsens. Amidst the destruction, how should Adventists respond to the environmental crisis? Creation and incarnation dominate Christian understandings of ecology. However, I think that a third theological theme, the Resurrection, best illuminates the relationship of Christianity to the environment.

Early in the history of paleontology, a university professor with an interest in fossils was tricked into collecting fabricated objects as fossils and published a book illustrating these false productions. As a result, Johann Beringer was ridiculed unmercifully. This is not a good example to follow. We all make mistakes, and we should show compassion when we find errors in the work of others. Published in Origins v. 19 n.2.

Several ideas have been proposed over the past two centuries to explain how organisms could have evolved through naturalistic processes. None of them seems viable, and it seems reasonable that creation should be considered as an explanation. Published in Origins v. 19, n. 1.

Readers are invited to submit their reactions to the articles in our journal. Please address contributions to: Origins, Geoscience Research Institute, 11060 Campus St., Loma Linda, California 92350 USA.

A review of the book, Of Pandas and People: The Central Question of BIological Origins. Published in Origins v. 19, n. 1.

A recent survey shows about 9% of the population accepts the viewpoint of naturalistic evolution, about 40% accept divinely guided evolution, about 47% accept a recent creation of humans, and about 4% registered they don't know. These results are nearly the same as a similar survey taken three years before. Published in Origins v. 18, n. 2.

A review of the book, Created from Animals: The Moral Implications of Darwinism. The case is argued that Darwinism has shown that humans have no special moral significance, but should be accorded the same moral standing as any other animals species. Published in Origins v. 18, n. 2.

In the early development of the theory of evolution by natural selection, two men stand out as having played a central role: Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace. Both men traveled widely and were keen observers of nature. For both men, visits to islands played an important role in developing their understanding of nature. Darwin's visit to the Galapagos Islands is of special interest.

The perceived nature of science has changed from that of an ideal system for discovering truth to more of a more ordinary human effort to discover how nature works. Published in Origins v. 17, n. 2.

Dueling has a long and tragic history. Although dueling to death is largely abandoned, we still see unnecessary quarrels, including among scientists. Calm reflection and rational dialogue are much to be preferred. Published in Origins v. 16, n. 1.

Most punctuated equilibria theories explain why proposed exceptions tend to be in the Upper Cenozoic. Punq Eq Creation Style, however, not only predicts the stasis and abrupt appearance of species, but it also predicts that exceptions will be found in the Upper Cenozoic among forminifera. Because of its greater explanatory power, PECS teoyr is superior to other PE theories. Published in Origins v. 16, n. 1.

A review of the book, Evolution: A Theory in Crisis. Evolutionary theory faces many contrary lines of evidence and is in need of major changes. Published in Origins v. 13, n. 1.

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.

A review of the book, Abusing Science: The Case Against Creationism. The book gives responses to criticisms of evolutionary theory by creationists, and presents several criticisms of creation theory. Published in Origins v. 12, n. 2.