Origins

A Reformed Look at Creation, Design and Evolution

Deborah B. Haarsma and Loren D Haarsma

Introduction

p7 Creation, Design and Evolution and how they relate to our deepest questions about the existence of God and His relation to the universe, human origins and who we are. Written primarily for Christians to help them examine the different opinions and options related to these deep questions. Not highly technical, easy reading along the level of a study course book for general readers and discussion groups.

p13 Nice biographical sections about Deborah (an astronomer) and Loren (a physicist). About both their faith and professional journeys. Both are on the faculty of Calvin College.

1. God's Word and God's World

p16 They argue against separating science and faith discussions. They, as I, would argue strongly against Stephen Jay Gould's NOMA (Non-Overlapping-Magisteria).

p17 "The God who created the planets and the stars is also the God who inspired the Bible and who is personally revealed in human history."

p17 "We cannot separate our study of God's Word from our study of God's world because both come from and point us toward the same God." The tone is gentle and conciliatory, and although they promise to explore a wide range of differences between Christians, the tone is not strident or strongly confrontational.

p17 Description of what "Reformed" means as a faith perspective.

p18 Christians in Agreement

God created, sustains, and governs this universe.
The God who created this world also reveals himself to humanity.
The God who created this world is also our Redeemer.
The Bible is authoritative and sufficient for salvation.
God is sovereign over all realms of human endeavor and God has given human beings special abilities and responsibilities.

p20 Christians in Disagreement

We agree about the "Who" but not about the "How?", centering on the basic questions:

"As we study God's Word, what is the best way to understand passages that talk about God's acts of creation?"
"As we study God's world, what can we reliably conclude that it tells us about its history?"

p21 In considering these questions, Christians would describe themselves as "young earth creationists" or "old earth creationists", with some old earth creationists describing themselves as "evolutionary creationists" and some describing themselves as "progressive creationists". They mention that "Intelligent Design" is usually associated with versions of progressive creation.

p22 1991 statement of the Christian Reformed Church about flexibility to some range of difference in interpretation.

p23 "Scripture's Influence on Interpretation of Nature"

p23 "Science's Influence on Interpretation of Scripture"

p25 Guidelines for "Getting Past Controversy"

p26 Quote "Augustine's reserve".

p27 Quote Psalm 29 about a thunderstorm and point out that it is all about "who" and not about "how".

2. Worldviews and Science

p31 Worldview "a belief system that a person uses to answer the big questions of life"

p31 Worldviews of scientists include Christianity and other world religions, and other worldviews are relativism, agnosticism, and reductive atheism.

p34 Table of worldview beliefs needed for science compared with Christian beliefs.

p35 Quote of Calvin encouraging Christians to make use of the work of scientists.

p36 Start of sections on God's governance of

explainable natural events
unexplainable natural events
supernatural miracles
random events

3. Science: A Process for Studying God's World

p47 Divide the methods of scientific investigation into three classes

Experimental science
Observational science
Historical science

p51 Crab supernova remnant as an example of historical science.

p52 In the section on "Humanity's Sin and Historical Science" they cite Genesis 3:14-19 about the fall, and then the fact that some interpret Romans 8:20-21 to argue that the laws of nature were radically altered by the fall. They contrast this with the use of Jeremiah 33:16-26 to suggest that the laws of nature are part of God's covenant which is the same before and after the fall, i.e. that the laws of nature have not changed. Also cite Psalm 19:1 to suggest that creation today still proclaim the work of His hands.

p52 Makes the point that in astronomy we observe the universe as it was in the past, and that the facts that the laws of physics demonstrated are the same laws for both distant and nearby stars. Makes the same point about geology.

p52 "Whatever the effects of the Fall on humanity, the study of nature tells us that the Fall did not fundamentally alter how atoms and molecules and rocks and stars behave."

4. God's Word and God's World in Conflict?

5. Genesis: Concordist Interpretations

6. Genesis: Non-concordist Interpretations

7. An Ancient and Dynamic Universe

8. Competing Views on Evolution

9. Evidence for Plant and Animal Evolution

10. Intelligent Design

11. Scientific and Theological Issues on Human Origins

12. Adam and Eve

13. But What About ..?

Windows of Creation

Evidence from nature

Is the universe designed?

Reading Reference

Reasonable Faith

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