2016 Creation Conference

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Midvale Park SDA Church

Leonard Brand

Suzanne Phillips

Ed Zinke

Q&A Session

Father in heaven, we thank you for this afternoon.

We thank you once again for your creation.

And we pray, Lord, that as we ask some questions that are, we might be struggling with, that you will help to bring a revelation from on high to help us understand these things.

Please, Father, may your Holy Spirit once again be present among us.

Well, I guess we're gonna take turns here.

Was Kentucky once a warm inland sea, or was this a result of global flooding?

Actually, Most geologists, well, okay, let me say first of all, you remember I showed this geologic column, you have Paleozoic rocks, Mesozoic, Cenozoic.

Well, the eastern United States, most of it is Paleozoic, just Paleozoic, the lowest forms, Mostly marine rocks.

So most geologists interpret that as a shallow inland sea over millions of years.

I would say no, it's more like the flood deposits, the early flood deposits which are marine, representing things from the ocean.

And so that's why you have all these racquipods and all the rest.

Okay, I'll take 1 more here before Susie gets back.

As more evidence is being found through molecular biology, geology, and paleontology to suggest there is a designer, or that the Bible is accurate, why do so many scientists still cling to their old evolutionary theory?

Well, that's a very important question, and it's kind of the key to understanding this whole conflict.

I mentioned how that we all have a worldview.

But a way we look at the world and at life based on 1 or 2 assumptions that we take on faith.

And for a kind of historical reason, science has in the last 100, 150 years adopted this naturalistic worldview, naturalistic paradigm.

Okay, that has become so deeply entrenched that I believe most scientists don't even realize there might be another option.

And it's so, and they think that to believe in creation just eliminates you from science entirely.

I'm just reading a book by 1 of the most prominent philosophers in North America who's a Christian, and he argues very effectively that the biggest conflict is really not between science and religion, it's between science and naturalism.

But, nevertheless, the scientific community in general is committed to naturalism.

That means you don't even ask the question, could this have been in a flood or by creation?

Don't even respond to these creationists.

It'll just make it look like they have something worthwhile to say.

The scientific community is so wedded to that theory that they just will not change, most of them.

Now, I will say, toss in another comment though.

I see evidence, and others see evidence, that there are a lot of scientists out there who don't really buy that idea, that naturalistic idea.

But if you say anything that you question, then you probably lose your job at a university.

And so I think there are a lot of scientists who just keep quiet and do their work and don't worry about it, don't fuss with it.

Yes, okay, the next 1 here, I think Susie may have something to add to it as well.

As a church, what are we doing to share with the rest of the nation about these wonderful discoveries?

There are many more things that we should be doing and we're working on that.

But we do have a number of websites that have these materials.

We also publish origins out of Geoscience Research Institute.

And there are books that have been written, for example, Leonard Brand's book on faith science, faith, reason, and earth history.

A lot of publication in the scientific journals.

Again, I think Leonard had some of those on the board and Art Chadwick is doing a lot of publication.

And then other members of Geoscience Research Institute are doing publication.

So there is publication that's taking place and communication that's taking place.

Southern Adventist University has started a website for individuals in, well probably grades 1 to 12, And I would encourage you to take a look at that, especially if you're a teacher.

Also, North American Division has written textbooks for 1 through 8 that are based upon creation rather than evolution.

These were actually published by a Catholic publishing house.

They were chosen not because they were Catholic, but because they're excellent textbook publishers.

And so it was a very interesting combination whereby they brought the expertise.

This is what's required from all 50 states to be in a textbook.

And then they had writers who we trained from a biblical perspective.

And then of course we edited all of their work and added content to all of their work.

At first we had to, almost everything needed serious editing, but they learned as we went along and it was interesting that the later volumes needed less editing than the prior volumes.

The owners of the publishing house were so impressed that they wanted these textbooks for their own children as well.

I just want to mention that the Seventh-day Adventist Church does more for creation, faith and science than any other denomination.

Possibly many other denominations are giving up this belief, possibly, maybe that's why they're not involved in this.

But the Seventh-day Adventist Church actually puts money into research, puts money into the Geoscience Research Institute, which is a entity of the General Conference.

They're tasked with doing teaching and evangelism work, where they go all around the world regularly, as well as doing research.

The church as a whole cares a lot about this.

And like I said, we might be the last denomination who does.

That's part of the creed of the Seventh-day Adventist, is why all of us are sitting here, because we believe the Bible is a higher authority.

And so we believe the words that are written there.

We do have a committee called the Faith and Science Council.

And that group, part of its task is to create materials and make them available to the public.

We've been in existence about 10 years, have been working hard and some of the materials I talked to you about are the production of that council, but I'm looking for greater things in the future because, you know, we have a lot of things underway that are just about ready to be communicated in 1 way or another.

What I forgot to mention is that maybe here in the next 20 minutes or so when we're winding down, I have a slide that has some recommended reading and a couple of websites that are top notch.

1 thing I do want to point out, the money that the Seventh-day Adventist Church does spend on this, and the people who are doing this research, they all have a very, very high sense of doing very good academic research.

There is a lot of stuff out there on the Internet about how creation is right.

There are a lot of preachers out there on the internet who are preaching about how this, this, we all know this, we all know this, isn't it obvious this?

And some of it is based on research that isn't or research that isn't good.

And the work that the General Conference endorses, the Faith and Science Council endorses, the work that's being carried out by Dr.

Brand and the geologists involved with this is work that can be published in peer-reviewed journals, very, very high quality work that does also support a biblical chronology and a biblical flood.

So the websites that I recommend are ones where the research there is not going to say, oh, we have all the answers, evolutionists are stupid.

These are intelligent people who are working from a worldview that says there is no God.

We are intelligent people who are working from a worldview where there is a God, a trustworthy God.

And we believe that because we've experienced Him.

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Q&A Session

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