D. A. Sommer’s booklet “Science and Supposition in Evolution Geology and Astronomy” was forwarded to me by my daughter in Illinois. It is yellowed with age, but its actual age is not given. The author was I think one of two preachers named Daniel Sommer in the restoration movement. Both seem to have been called D. A. Sommer, and would have been active in the 1920’s. Meager information about them is found on the website www.therestorationmovement.com. The biographical essay on the older Sommer leaves off description of his work from the late 1890’s to his 1940 death, Claiming that that information is readily available. (!) Please forward anything you may know or find about D. A. Sommer, Apostolic Review, or this booklet to the CSFNM library.

The document shows no publication date. The publisher is given on the first page; Apostolic Review, Indianapolis, Ind., 904 Udell Street. So, how old is it? The booklet begins with a list of “Six Indictments against the Theory of Evolution”. The sixth indictment speaks of “the World War”. The reference in the singular suggests that World War II was yet to occur.  On page 5 is a quote from Thomas Edison. It is taken from the N. Y. Herald, the December 31, 1879 issue, and described as being more than forty years old.  “More than forty years”? That would imply probably between 40 and 45. The quote, published barely before 1880, 40 to 45 years later puts the writing of the booklet at 1920 to 1925. It was printed in Indiana. I would be surprised if these booklets were not distributed at the Scopes Monkey trial.

Character of the booklet

This booklet is a very well-referenced critique of Evolution and the general effect of secularist, uniformitarian thinking on science and society as a whole. As I mentioned, the booklet indicts evolutionary thinking as a major cause of the (First) World War. The author makes a pretty good case in a short space, referencing Nietzsche especially. A reader who is moderately aware of developments over the last 90 years or so will notice some things which have changed. I was surprised to read a quote from Darwin’s discussion of “Imperfection of the Geological Record” which places the Silurian period as containing the oldest known fossils. Later in the text the terms Eozoic and Azoic are referred to in connection with “older” rocks that some thought had earlier fossils. (Azoic was the term used by the ones denying the erstwhile fossils) I wondered when the Cambrian and Ordovician were added to the geologic column.  The analysis reads very much like the creationist evangelist literature of today. Few of the arguments have lost strength with passage of time.

This document is solid proof that the opposition to evolution at the time of the Scopes trial was not just ranting from ignorant Bible-thumpers who could not read the first page of a scholarly work. Whether Sommer was a scientist I don’t know, but he had a better grasp of the science of his time than many vociferous people today do.

Analysis by Allen Johnson, March 2012.

A PDF file of the booklet by D.A. Sommer circa 1920: (Click on below, allow a few minutes to download; 48 MB size.)

Science and Supposition

(In MS Office-2007 document Format: *.docx) A review of the Spike Psarris video titled, “Astronomy, Our Created Solar System”.  Available through www.creationastronomy.com

Produced in 2009 Creation Astronomy Media.  The video is a discussion of how the solar system formed according to the theory of evolution and compared to the actual characteristics of our system. Reviewed by Jim Hovis (Approved).

Title of Presentation, June 21, 2011:  “Big Bad Theology and Science Debates; Unconscious Worldview Assumptions as Spiritual & Scientific Land Mines”  (Format is *.pptx, Office 2007) (This file and the three following are 4-6 MB in size and may take a minute or two to download)

By Kent.G. Powderly Jr.

Summary: Since both worldviews, Evolution and Creation science, have their own bias, the question isn’t really about religion vs. science then, it is about absolute truth. An ideology works structurally in the idea realm just like a religious dogma. We need to examine some of the ideologies of Greek and Roman to understand to some degree how we got to this point in the 21^st Century.

Breakdown_of_Knowing

How_Do_We_Know_in_pp

This next presentation exposes “How a Faith-based Materialism Exploited Science”.

These slides contain a short synopsis of the worldviews of each of these scientists and philosophers: Aristotle, Copernicus, Galileo, Bacon, Epicurus, Voltaire, Pascal, Newton, Hume, Rousseau, Hegel, Lyell, Kierkegaard, and finally Darwin.

The_Footprints_of_Nimrod_in_the_Ancient_World

This presentation is all about Nimrod (a builder, inventor, and hunter of men) and what the Bible and Archeology has to say about him and his attempts to rule in Mesopotamia.  It is an account of history, philosophy and the attempts of ancient man.

Feel free to copy them and use them for noncommercial educational purposes only.

A compilation by Jim Hovis on the subject of the speed of light in outer space and its effect on observations in distant space and photon wavelength red shift interpretation and the quantization principle.  Is the speed of light variant in different areas of space and/or near to massive objects in the heavens?

March CSF (Office-2007, *.pptx format)

A PowerPoint Presentation and discussion of the current Astronomy issues and what the Bible has to say.