Creation Science Fellowship of New Mexico

Volume 14, Number 8 Kathy Gilbert, kang5423@yahoo.com, - Editor Aug 2003

In This Issue

• Carbon 14 Dating Disproves Evolution
• August, Starlight and Time -- Revisited
• The Place for Fiction in the Battle for Truth
• The Importance of Creation to Faith and Knowledge - Part II
• Statement of Purpose
• Tentative Schedule of Speakers

Creation Science Fellowship meetings are free & open to the public. Starting at 7:00 p.m. and generally on the third Tuesday of the month.

This Month, August 19th --- Faith Bible Church located at the corner of Moon and Central.
September 16th meeting --- Alameda Bible Church at 220 El Pueblo Road, Southwest of the Paseo Del Norte and 2nd Street interchange.

Carbon-14 Dating Disproves Evolution, Supports Creationism
If you missed John's July talk and/or Russ's article you need to catch up. They will both be speaking at this year's International Conference on Creationism in early August. (Visit icc03.org) Their papers will be available online after the conference at icr.org. More to follow in this newsletter next month.

Meeting, August 19, 2003
Presentation by Mark DeSpain
The waiting is over! The world premier of Starlight and Time -- Revisited is ready to roll and you are invited to the first ever public showing of this unique video presentation. The very first showing of the original video, "Starlight and Time," was also at a Creation Science Fellowship meeting. If you were there, then it was your feedback that improved the final product and helped make it a hit around the world! Whether you were there or not, all are invited for the first showing of this new video to help make it the best it can be.

In "Starlight and Time -- Revisited," Russ and Dr. John Baumgardner (of catastrophic plate tectonics fame) have a congenial discussion regarding some of the details of Russ's creation cosmology model. The video includes lots of dynamic graphics to hold your attention and help convey the message in a way that everyone can understand. And as always, there is some fun throughout the show.

So come one, come all, to the first public showing of the new "Starlight and Time -- Revisited" presentation, and provide your feedback to help make this product the best testimony that it can be to the power and sovereignty of our Lord and Savior.

The Place for Fiction in the Battle for Truth
By Kent Powderly

We are at a unique time and place in history.

It is beginning to get harder for informed and intellectually honest people in the sciences to write off intelligent design in both biological systems and the cosmos. At the same time, scholars who work in historic analysis are rebelling against the inadequate view of history spawned by materialistic Positivism and its revisionist approach to discovering the past. While a good chunk of the latter are equally revisionist in their Post-Modernism, there is nevertheless an opportunity here for Biblical Creationism to assert a proper view of history into an intellectual environment where the icons of Modernism are beginning to crumble. We may be entering a state of "intellectual flux" where openness to different paradigms could increase.

At such times especially it becomes prudent to capture the imagination and heart of the younger generations to salt them towards an intellectual thirst to ask the right questions and be equipped to recognize the importance of answers with good intellectual and spiritual foundations. At a time when universities are dominated by a liberal anti-intellectualism that seeks to politicize the studies of history, law and science, capturing the imagination of the following generations is no easy task. Yet a study of the history of past paradigm shifts - like the one that led to the near-universal acceptance of Evolution - is instructive.

I found that relatively few people actually read Darwin. Instead his ideas were popularized by novelists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries - men like H.G. Wells and Edgar Rice Burroughs. Such novelists essentially founded the genre of science fiction. Evolution continued to be a juggernaut in capturing the popular imagination throughout the 20th century largely because of novelists like Isaac Asimov. The ironic thing was that no conspiracy was needed to bring about this dismal state of affairs in literature - it happened largely because story tellers simply wrote about the ideas that had captured their imaginations in engaging novels.

Once I saw this, a quiet hope began to emerge in my heart. A generation dominated by Post-Modernism may seem almost immune to intellectual arguments for divine revelation, absolute truth and creation, but they are still susceptible to being reached with a good story that can stir the spiritual, aesthetic, moral and intellectual embers that God has placed in all people. Wasn't Jesus the consummate story teller?

My novel series, The Windows of Heaven is not designed to appeal only to Creationists or even just to Christians - though strong Christian and Creationist themes pervade these books. Iuniverse - a secular publisher - is placing these novels as general science fiction and not "religious fiction". This is startling, because the books all have appendices that explicitly bring out my "Young-Earth" Creationism and "suggested reading lists" that point to strong Biblical Creationist and Intelligent Design books and websites.

I can hear many believers shout, "Science fiction! Are you crazy, Kent?" For a long time, I actually feared that my books would be considered sci-fi. Yet there is a certain elegance to it, in a Trojan Horse kind of way. Jesus told us to be harmless as doves, but wise as serpents. Because I suspected that this was how my books might be placed, I did not use the anglicized Bible names for my characters, but quasi-Sumerianized versions of the biblical names. I also operated on the biblical assumption that all people are of one blood and one origin - which means that I used many pagan myths to help flesh-out the pre-flood world, albeit in forms rendered subservient to the Genesis record. I opted for substance over form. In form, these books do not seem to be Bible biographies, but a mytho-historic science fiction that will appeal to readers who like Atlantis-styled lost civilization themes and fast-paced action. In substance they are a double dose of Creationism and the Christian worldview that showcases many Biblical Creationist and Catastrophist theories. If the following excerpts from the editorial review on the first book, Dawn-Apocalypse Rising, is any indication, God has enabled me to hit a bulls-eye. Bear in mind these comments were written by a secular reviewer who is probably not a Christian:

• "The action is both physical and psychological. We are hurled headlong into a battle involving dinosaurs in Chapter 1, and in the midst of that battle, we are pitched into a flashback filled with action that almost psychologically cripples the hero…"
• "The theme of rebellion-against religious orthodoxy and against authority-is established early and built upon with each succeeding chapter, as securely as the ziggurat structures that are a key part of the novel's vast landscape. The tension between those who believe in the ancient wisdoms, pitted against those who persuasively pervert and manipulate language in order to secure power for themselves, is as relevant today as in this novel."
• "The author cleverly and slowly reveals that this seemingly young, impulsive, often fearful, questioning hero is not a typical "young" man. We slowly realize that not only is he married, he is the father of twin girls, and, moreover, his first granddaughter is about to give birth. The author ensures, therefore, that we are reminded of the enormous, elastic age-span indicated in the King James Bible." (If the reviewer was biblically literate, he/she would have known that the great pre-Flood life spans show up in all Bibles, not just the King James.)
• "Throughout, with only brief respite, the tone is tense. Suspense hangs on every page."
• "The setting of this novel is minutely described for us-from the simple details about daily living to the vast sweep of the plains and the four roaring rivers that are associated with ancient Eden… The novel is so richly dimensional that not only are landscapes and elements of landscapes described, but their psychological or symbolic importance is immediately apparent and impressive."
• "The novel is continually fast-paced, either in the narrative itself or in the flashbacks. Interest never flags."
• "The ending of the novel… is another hook, a cliffhanger that makes us yearn to reach for the second volume of this epic."
• "This novel is an extraordinary piece of relevant, speculative fiction that combines history, theology, and philosophy, dovetailing geological eras with biblical figures familiar to us. The novel is an intellectual investment, as well as a pleasure, reading like dramatized history. The rich, entertaining philosophical issues of morality are as timely today as they are in the context of this sweeping epic of human and cosmic power struggles."
• "…it is certainly one of the very few science-fiction works that I'm aware of that deals with the far-distant past, combining biblical and speculative geologic histories into a single, compelling narrative." Book 1 of Kent Powderly's novel series about the Flood and the pre-Flood world is available this month on Iuniverse.com and soon on the Amazon and Barnes and Noble websites. Book 2 is coming late in September. Books 3 and 4 are scheduled for next year.

2 Tim 3:1-5 -- But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!

We must remember that man's interpretation of science always takes a subordinate role to the pure and plain teachings of Scripture since our analysis of science is often tainted by our imperfect minds. Our final court of appeal must be God's infallible and inerrant Word.

Visit these creationist sites/pages:
www.icr.org/pubs/af/pdf/af0306.pdf
www.answersingenesis.org/docs/332.asp
www.pathlights.com/ce_encyclopedia/Index.htm
www.worldview.org

The Importance of Creation to Faith and Knowledge - Part II
by Mark DeSpain

Understanding Scripture: Some Biblical doctrines are controversial, because the Bible seems to allow different interpretations. Under these conditions, does absolute truth exist and is it knowable? If true knowledge about origins and the fate of mankind exists and is knowable than it cannot depend on the speculations and opinions of men, because man is finite and flawed and will never universally agree on what is "true." Such truth can only be known if the One who knows the truth will state it plainly so that it can be comprehended. Thus, even if the scriptures speak the truth, the truth will still only be knowable if the plain, straightforward reading of scripture is the truth. If the truth is something other than what is plainly said, then the only certainty is that the truth will never be known.

Proverbs 1:7 says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge." Knowledge comes, then, not by questioning what is plainly stated, but by "fearing" to question what has been written. That is, by showing respect for the plain statements of scripture and choosing not to embellish them with our speculations and doubts. In 1st Corinthians 4:6 Paul said "...do not go beyond what is written." (NIV) Why, because it leads to confusion. Later in 1st Corinthians Paul said, "...God is not the author of confusion..." (14:33) If scripture is the revelation of God, then it is to be read plainly. Salvation is not intended to be a secret, but a gift available and open to all who will receive it.

Returning to Paul's admonition to the Corinthians he said: "...learn...[this] saying: 'Do not go beyond what is written.'" Why does Paul advise the Corinthians to follow the plain reading of scripture? He goes on to say: "Then you will not take pride in one man over against another. For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?" (6, 7; NIV) Paul is saying that there is no authority to go beyond the plain reading of scripture other than human opinion. Going "beyond what is written" only leads to conflict, pride, and error.

Specific examples to follow next month in Part III

The Creation Science Fellowship of New Mexico, Inc. (CSFNM) is a Christian Fellowship devoted to the Christian and scientific aspects of Origins.

CSFNM:

1. Educates the public about the importance of creation in relation to its scientific, social, and spiritual values.
2. Promotes and encourages creation research.
3. Presents the vast scientific evidences for creation. CSFNM is a 501(3)(c) organization supported by private gifts and donations. Annual memberships are tax-deductible.

Family & Organizations $15/year
Individuals $10/year
Newsletter Only $ 5/year
Seniors 65 & Older $ FREE

Tentative Schedule of Speakers
This month, August, Mark DeSpain will present the first public showing of his new video, Starlight and Time -- Revisited. As with the first Starlight and Time, Mark is seeking feedback from the audience before final production.
September; Art Cordoba - Genealogy of Christ
October; Thornton Schwenk - Creation of Life
November; Rebecca Keller, PhD - The Reality of Philosophies in Scientific Research

Thanks to Performance Printing/ Postal Express Plus (located in the Fiesta del Norte Shopping Center) for doing our newsletter. 880-0097