Rating: 
Summary: Readable, informative, interesting, and flawed.
Review: * Is this book well written and easy to understand? Yes. It is a readable introduction to the topic. * What is the author's perspective? Dr. Ross is a progressive creationist. He believes that biblical "days" are long ages. However, he distances himself from other day-age theories (in particular, theistic evolution). This book was not written to present multiple interpretations of Genesis; it is not intended to present the pros and cons of several viewpoints. Rather, this book seeks to persuade the reader that Dr. Ross's progressive-creation, day-age beliefs can completely reconcile science and Scripture. * What is the tone/approach of the book? The book is nontechnical, somewhat informal, and persuasive. While it is fair to say that Dr. Ross disagrees with many approaches for interpreting Genesis (for example, theistic evolution, gap theory, allegory, poetry, and "mythology"), much of this book was written to criticize one specific group: young-universe creationists (YUCs). With regard to YUCs, the book is surprisingly inconsistent in its tone. In some passages, Dr. Ross cautions against denouncing YUCs [pgs. 164-165]. Further, he pleads for a council--a meeting of minds--to discuss the important issues of our day with regard to creation. But elsewhere he refers to YUCs as deniers of physical reality [159-160], driven by fear [72], dividers of the church [162], distorters of the gospel [162], who know in their hearts that there is no scientific support for their theories [118]. Ouch! * Does Dr. Ross sweep thorny doctrinal issues under the rug? No. One of the difficult doctrinal issues of progressive creationism is this: it seems to require that God's *original* design for the world--before the Fall--included death, decay, pain, disease, and catastrophe. I find that some day-agers tend to ignore this issue. Dr. Ross, in contrast, is open and honest: he does not hide his view that physical death, carnivorism, disease, and decay are part of God's original creation. * What about the merits of Dr. Ross's arguments? Here is the book's weakness. The reason I rate it as merely two stars is simply this: If the foundation isn't right, the whole structure can't be trusted. In particular, in regard to the important topic of interpreting Hebrew words, Dr. Ross frequently misrepresents the very sources that he cites. This is crucial, because demonstrating the harmony of the words of Scripture with the facts of science is the crux of this book. The Van Bebber/Taylor book, see below, carefully documents many of Dr. Ross's errors. However, I shall obey amazon.com's exhortation to be brief, and give only one example: Ross cites--but misrepresents--the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (TWOT) with regard to the word "toledot." You may verify this for yourself by comparing Point 7 on pg. 52 of Ross's book with pg. 380 of the TWOT. * What other books would I recommend? Factual errors in Dr. Ross's book are demonstrated in "Creation and Time: A Report on the Progressive Creationist Book by Hugh Ross," authored by Mark Van Bebber and Paul S. Taylor. When I last checked, amazon.com did not offer this book, but an Internet search for its ISBN number (1877775029) will help you locate a seller. A counterpoint to Dr. Ross's teaching on general revelation (that it is the equal of special revelation) [56-57] may be found in the "Evangelical Dictionary of Theology." See the entry under "General Revelation."
Rating: 
Summary: I will give it a 5 for compromise
Review: A rehash of Ross's theology just repackaged the same compromised views he has been teaching for years. It is the same compromise, the same twisting of scripture, the same highbrow attitude. All that to save face with the men of the world.
Rating:
Summary: Why old-earth ideas are incompatible with a global flood
Review: Acceptance of old-earth ideas, including the Big Bang, progressive creation, theistic evolution, the framework hypothesis, etc., necessarily implies downgrading the Flood of Noah's day from worldwide in scope to merely one of local extent. For example, the author, Dr. Hugh Ross (an aggressive advocate of billions of years for the earth's age) vigorously denies the global flood. He calls it "universal," covering all that Noah could see, but not the entire earth. This insistence does not come from sound Biblical exegesis, but from the incompatibility of a global flood with old-earth thinking, which he accepts. The evidence for great ages is thought to be found in the rock and fossil records of the earth's crust. These are interpreted by the principle of uniformitarianism, that "the present is the key to the past." Since geologic processes happen slowly today, they argue, the extensive rock and fossil records must have taken great lengths of time to form. However, a flood of the proportions described in Genesis would have resulted in vast amounts of erosion and redepositing of sediments, fossilization of plants and animals, volcanism, and redistribution of radioisotopes. If one denies the global flood as a historic event, he might use the Grand Canyon/Colorado River system to "prove" great ages, when, in reality, the Canyon demonstrates flooding processes with rates, scales, and intensities eclipsing anything observed today. Thus the misunderstood evidence of old ages, is actually strong evidence for the Flood. In reality, the global flood and recent creation doctrines are synonymous concepts, forcing Dr. Ross and others to twist Scripture, making it say something it clearly does not. To document that the Bible specifically teaches the global flood should be sufficient to convince a true believer in the authority of the Bible. Mr. Ross rightly claims that the word "all" can sometimes be used in a limited sense (e.g., Genesis 41:57); thus the terms used in the flood account might be similarly limited. But proper Biblical exegesis involves discerning the meaning of words in their immediate context. A passage cannot be interpreted by vaguely possible meanings. An honest look at the flood account uncovers an abundance of terms and phrases, each of which is best understood in a global sense. Taken together as forming the context for each other, the case is overwhelming. The global extent of the Flood is referred to more than 30 times in Genesis 6-9 alone! It would seem that the Author of Genesis could hardly have been more explicit. Conversely, if the omniscient Author had intended to describe a local flood, He obscured the facts. If words can communicate truth, if God can express Himself clearly, then the Flood was global. It would seem that only a rank downgrading of Scripture, and/or an unhealthy desire for the approval of unsaved men could lead one to question this doctrine. I would call on my Christian brothers, who choose to hold on to the idea of a local flood and its corollary concept, the old earth, either to return to a God-honoring trust in Scripture, or else to cease using the term "Bible-believing" to describe their position. I recommend clicking the "publications" link on ICR's (Institute for Creation Research) website, and browsing the highly informative (and voluminous) "Impact", "Back to Genesis" and "Dr. John's Q&A" sections. I also recommend reading "The Young Earth" by John Morris, Ph.D. Geologist (available from Amazon).
Rating: 
Summary: Incredible, sets the record straight on old-earth creation
Review: Accurate, based in biblical and scientific fact, this book exposes the flaws of psuedoscience young-earth creationism. Ross shows how the universe can be old, and how evolution doesn't exist. He also expertly shows how the YEC emotional tirades about "death" , "bloodhshed before Adam" have no basis. Buy it now!!!!!!
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Summary: Resolving the Christian War
Review: Creation and Time is one of those books that I wish all Christians and critics of Christians would read. Written in a very conversational tone, the book first explores the history of 'young earth' theology and how the war between science and religion developed. This is perhaps the most enlightening portion of the text, for it discusses subject matter that is not often known to the everday Christian. From that point, Hugh Ross goes into some detail about his own point of view, and suggests some solutions for healing the animosity about the subject. I would recommend this book to individuals who want to explore the real possibility of finding a way to make science and religion fit together, or to those who are simply seeking to understand why there is so much anger and infighting amongst Christians, and even to those who would like to find a way to start ending that infighting.
Rating:
Summary: Recommended reading
Review: Dr Ross hits it right on the money once again! As a lifelong Christian with a fairly strong scientific background (Bachelor's degrees in both Astronomy and Physics), I strongly recommend reading this book. Many on the anti-science side (the "young-Earth creationists") have been attempting to refute the evidence of the scientific community (often with "bad science" of their own - in particular, check out Answers In Creation's archives for information regarding the Grand Canyon, the Genesis flood, and sandstone deposits), while many on the anti-God side (the "atheistic scientists") have been trying to demonstrate how God isn't even necessary to explain the existence of the universe (evolution and chance are sufficient to explain our existence). Both sides fall short of being convincing, upon in-depth study. Dr Ross is able to demonstrate how the middle ground ("old-Earth creationism") is the most consistent with both the observed scientific facts and the words of God in the Bible. Even more importantly, he stresses that as far as the young-Earth/old-Earth argument goes, the most important point is that what really matters is salvation through Jesus Christ - whether you believe that the Earth is thousands of years old, or billions of years old has no bearing on Salvation. For those who have already read this book, I would like to note that Dr Paul Davies (mentioned briefly in Chapter 12, where Dr Ross talks about the relationship between science and old-Earth creationism) won the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion the year after this book was published. (Now you've got to order the book here to understand this point...!) Far from painting a bleak picture, Dr Ross is able to look with optimism towards the future. I can vouch for the prevalence of Christianity among scientists (at least when I was in college, it was apparent that Christians are more common than in the general population - with reason!) - for those who wonder why, read this book and you'll find out.
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Summary: Praise God! Truth!
Review: Dr. Ross does an excellent job in showing that one doesn't need to adhere to the belief that the earth is 10,000 years old to believe the Bible. (The hysterical tone of the Young Earth Creationists who have reviewed the book on Amazon show the ultimate bankruptcy of this position.) This book has three key strengths: 1. It shows that Christians of earlier generations didn't believe in the Young Earth model. Ross confines himself mostly to ancient Christian writings, but he could just as easily have included writings from the founders of Fundamentalism in the 20th century, who didn't believe in the Young Earth position expounded by their heirs. 2. It shows that all the arguments put forth by Young Earth creationists are based on false information. 3. It shows how the Bible doesn't contradict modern science. At long last, the spiritual poison of Young Earth Creationism is being drained from the Church. The Presbyterian Church in America decisively rejected Young Earthism in 2001 - this gives me hope that in coming years, Young Earthers will be forced to relinquish their totalitarian hold on the Baptist Bible Fellowship International, the General Association of Regular Baptists, and other denominations that have been caught in grip of lies and deceptions that limit their ability to share the gospel. It certainly dashes all hopes of Young Earthers for a position within the SBC. To all thoughful Christians in the aforementioned denominations: continue the fight! The Young Earthers are losing, as more and more people really read the Bible and understand what it says. You will see truth prevail in the BBF and other Fundamentalist denominations in your generation!
Rating:
Summary: What Christian Realists have suspected: The earth is old.
Review: Dr. Ross has provided empirical scientific and theological data and analyses in support of an old earth. Conservative evangelical Christians who have neither bought into liberalism nor hyper-fundamentalism, will find this book and others by Dr. Ross helpful in appreciating the high degree of intelligent design that Creation manifests. Authentically derived scientific and theological truths should be integrated for a coherent view of reality. The Holy Spirit is the author not only of soteriological truths but all truth. Assuming that radiometric and non-radiometric methods are not off by several orders of magnitude and knowing that "...truth shall spring out of the earth..." (Ps. 85:11), what would be God's agenda for antiquating the earth, giving it the "appearance of age?"
Rating:
Summary: Eliminates the age of the earth as a barrier to faith.
Review: Dr. Ross rescues the Christian church from the dubious error of maintaining a militant stance regarding the age of the earth. While Gallup reports that nearly half the adults in the United States believe that the earth was created in the last 10,000 years, 99% of America's practicing scientists disagree. Dr. Ross adeptly closes that gap with a lucid presentation of the scientific evidence for an old earth presented from a thoroughly orthodox Christian worldview. More than just a compelling contribution to the age-of-the-earth issue, Creation and Time is a definitive work.
With his PhD in Astronomy, Dr. Ross applies scintallating logic to skillfully discern between accurate scientific arguments and those with faulty presuppositions, leaving the reader with overwhelming evidence for an earth that is billions of years old. Then, with all gentleness, he harmonizes this data with a conservative Christian theology which maintains the inerrancy and authority of the Bible, including Genesis Chapter 1. Although Ross himself is a Christian, reviewers have failed to recognize that his compassionate reconciliation of Genesis and science is equally suitable reading for the three largest religions of the world: Jewish, Muslim, and Christian.
If you have ever wondered how it all started this is the first book you should read.
Rating: 
Summary: Carefully crafted
Review: Easy to read, compared to "Darwin's Black Box" by Michael Behe. Hugh Ross does a careful study of Hebrew words and meanings. This is very convincingly written. It has changed the minds of a lot of people I know. ("7-day creation timeline" believers) I'm not sure myself because I feel as if some of the wonder of God's power and supremacy have been watered down to make the Bible fit the findings of modern science. "Science" changes almost every day, but people have believed the Bible, literally, word-for-word for thousands of years. The creation account, to my mind, was written clearly and concisely by God through Moses so that a child could understand. Hugh has come with great expertise and used meanings and nuances not apparent to the casual reader to put his twist on the story. I still have doubts - you may not. Read the book and see what you think.
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