Faith, Form, and Time: What the Bible Teaches and Science Confirms About Creation and the Age of the Universe

Rating:
Summary: A Must Book for Every Christian and nonChristian to Read
Review: As a biologist, I feel that Professor Wise's new book is an excellent attempt to show that the Biblical record can be supported scientifically. More work is needed in this area and this work is an excellent start. The book is very readable and the author explains himself very well. He does not spent much time tearing down the neoDarwinian paradigm, as do so many, but focuses on building a Biblical world view. My only concern is he feels that those scientists who criticize the standard neoDarwinism theory tend to be what he calls evolution bashers. Dr. Wise studied under the worlds leading evolutionists, including the late Stephen J. Gould, and is no doubt ahead of many of us. Most of us did not have that advantage. I had an excellent geology and other professors at the University of Wisconsin but I never had as a professor someone the stature of Gould as did Dr. Wise. Most of my Ph.D. work was done under some well known scientists, and I have come a long way since I began to question the whole Darwinian theory, but I still have some questions left. What Dr. Wise calls evolution bashing is part of an attempt by me and others to evaluate Darwinism and is a needed part of my (and other's) growth on this topic. He may feel that the theory has been completely disproved, but many of us are still trying to hold on to parts, and it may take a while until we reach the point that Dr. Wise has. Dr. Wise has in his own mind proven that Darwinism is dead and thus can be ignored, but many of us are not at this point yet. Many of us did not come from a solid Christian background and want proof before we accept a Christian or any other world view. Dr Wise has in this work helped us to move in that direction, but a diehard agnostic background is hard to shake. Maybe after his 10th book we (or many of us, at least) will be there.

Rating:
Summary: You must be kidding
Review: I have long awaited Kurt Wise's book. Dr. Wise is well known in scientific and research circles, but this is the first work he has done for a general audience. It was worth the wait... I love it!

I believe this work is unique in the field of origins in that it presents a positive, broad look at the entire subject. While most books spend their time attacking evolution, this book instead demonstrates how the data observed in biology, astronomy, geology, anthropology, etc. can be interpreted reasonably and compellingly from a worldview that accepts the teaching of Scripture and is still faithful to the observations of science.

While most books deal with a particular area of origins (such as geology, intelligent design, dinosaurs, etc.), this book paints the broad picture in a unified way. Every area of origins study is included here.

Dr. Wise is a truth-teller. He doesn't gloss over challenges to young age creationism. He boldly talks about the areas where more research is needed as well as presents intriguing, cutting-edge scientific observations and theories. He brilliantly reveals (to one who is willing to listen) why young-age creationism is so vitally important to a strong biblical faith and walk.

Dr. Wise does not ridicule evolutionary theory or its proponents. As a Harvard trained paleontologist, his understanding of evolutionary theory is excellent. He presents his theistic interpretations of the scientific information in a compelling, concise manner.

The theology and philosophy revealed in this book is God-honoring and mind-stretching.

The worldview here is unashamedly Christian, and the book is written to Christians. Those who are not Christians would benefit from the scientific information given, but would probably struggle with the theistic teaching throughout. The book is not overly technical, although there are some portions that will be difficult for one who has not studied science. However, I'd encourage him to "hang in there" through the more difficult parts, as the total picture painted in the book is exciting, even if not every page is understood. It is a book that reveals deep thinking, both on the scientific and the theological level. It is not for the faint in heart who merely want to be entertained.

This is a relatively short book with an incredible amount of material packed in. To flesh out all the concepts and have detail on all the intriguing observations would require volumes. Reading this book makes me wish I could sit at this brilliant man's feet and talk about all that his observations have stirred up in me.

If I was looking for one book to give to a thinking Christian on the subject of origins, this would be the book.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating, informative, and thought provoking
Review: Kurt Wise has a B.A. in geophysical science from the University of Chicago and an M.A. and Ph.D. in paleontology from Harvard University, where he studied under Stephen Jay Gould. He is an associate professor of science and director of the Center for Origins Research and Education at Bryan College. Wise is one of the leading thinkers among young-age creationists and has long been known in that circle for his impatience with sloppy science.

Faith, Form and Time: What the Bible Teaches and Science Confirms About Creation and the Age of the Universe (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2002) is a nicely bound and printed 287-page paperback, excluding the 16 pages of prefatory material. It retails for [$]. Included in the 287 pages are 5 pages of selected bibliography, 26 pages of endnotes, and 11 pages of glossary. The book's 16 chapters are distributed through the following 5 parts: (1) God's Word on the Matter, (2) The Dating Game, (3) Creation Week, (4) From the Garden to the Grave, (5) From Noah to the New Earth. Twelve sidebars on various items of bio-evolutionary evidence are scattered throughout the book.

This book is an outline of Wise's current conception of a recent-creation model. It is an introduction to the present state of the subject, not a detailed and thorough presentation, but it is loaded with information and insight. Wise combines broad knowledge with a refreshing willingness to think "outside the box." Everyone interested in the Bible and creation, except perhaps those closed to the possibility of a young creation, will want to read this book.

Rating:
Summary: A layman's guide to the Biblical model of origins
Review: Kurt Wise is a "young earth" creationist with a Ph.D in paleontology from Harvard. Those credentials make him the jewel in the crown of contemporary creationism. That Wise managed to earn those credentials while remaining faithful to a straightforward reading of Scripture is almost miraculous. It shows a steadfast committment to the principle that the study of God's created universe must be subject to the truths revealed in God's Word. Interestingly, Wise's faculty advisor and mentor was none other than the late Stephen Jay Gould, who published so many popular books on science and natural history. Perhaps it was from Gould that Wise gained an appreciation of the need to occasionally write for the typical lay reader.

In this book, Wise brings us up to date on what has been going on in creation science over the past 20 years or so, particulary with regard to the creationists' efforts to construct a comprehensive model of origins. Typically, creationists have limited themselves to criticizing the naturalistic model of origins, especially Darwinism. It has been much more difficult to construct a Biblical model of origins. This effort had to await the emergence of a cadre of well-educated young creation scientists. There still aren't many such people, but the few there are have proceeded with the development of a model of origins that is faithful to the Bible, yet scientifically rigorous.

Wise begins with the fact that God was present at the creation. He is our Eyewitness to the origin of the earth and the universe. Therefore, what He tells us in his Word about those events is truthful and accurate. This truth is the foundation of all efforts to construct a Biblical model of origins. Wise is acutely aware of the theological problems that are created by acceptance of old age (mainstream geology)cronology. "Acceptance of old-age chronology requires a substantial revision of the biblical doctrine of God and His nature. . . . With the acceptance of old-age chronology, God is seen as responsible for introducing death, disease, and suffering into the creation hundreds of millions of years before man sinned."

One of the things that creation biologists are working on, as an alternative to cladistics and other Darwinian schemes of classification, is a creationist systematics known as baraminology. The word "Baramin" was coined from the Hebrew words for "created kind." Creationists do not deny "micro-evolution;" they acknowledge that there has been much diversification and speciation within the created kinds of animals and plants. The aim of baraminology is to determine which living and fossil forms can be grouped together as having descended from a single created kind or "baramin."

Another important development is the theory that there were floating forests in the pre-Flood seas. The types of plants and animals that we would expect to find in a floating forest are the same types we see preserved as fossils in the paleozoic strata. Assuming the Flood began in the pre-Flood oceans, the floating forest theory helps explain the fossil record of the paleozoic. (By the way, Wise calls the paleozoic the "primary" and the Mesozoic the "secondary," thus reverting back to the terms used by geologists before the uniformitarianism of Hutton and Lyell was adopted. It is probably a good idea for creation scientists to discard terminology that comes freighted with evolutionary meanings.)

The piece of the puzzle that seems to have most impressed Dr. Wise is catastrophic plate tectonics. In the last half century, geologists have developed a theory of the earth known as plate tectonics. This theory elegantly explains many facts about earthquakes, volcanoes, volcanic rock, ocean floors, etc. Creationists have developed a variant of plate tectonics, known as catastrophic plate tectonics (CPT). This theory has the continental plates moving at meters per second, miles per hour, during the Genesis Flood. Wise reports that CPT explains everything explained by the conventional theory, and more. Among other things, CPT explains anomalies in mantle circulation, the mottled pattern of magnetical reversals preserved in the volcanic rock, flood basalts, and the extremely violent collisions of continental plates (thus generating the force necessary to raise mountains like the Himalayas). Wise's enthusiasm for CPT theory comes through in his writing. I confess that I'm too ignorant of geology to really appreciate CPT, but in future I will do some reading in this area to bring myself up to speed.

My main criticism of this book relates to Dr. Wise's model of the Edenic and pre-Flood climate. He assumes that the water cycle in place before the Flood is very similar to the one in place today. He even volunteers that "just as lightning plays an important role in the maintenance of quality soil on the present earth, the lightning activity on the original earth was created to optimize early earth soils." Well, okay, but lightning also directly kills people by striking them and starts fires, thus indirectly killing people and animals. To say that it helps the soil seems like an extreme example of finding the silver lining of a dark cloud. I don't think that lightning or other natural phenomena like tornadoes, hurricanes, cyclones -all of which are integral and unavoidable parts of the modern weather regime-- were part of the original creation, and are unlikely to have been part of the pre-Flood world. I have no particular brief for a pre-Flood vapor canopy (which Wise rejects), but it seems to me that the pre-Flood climate differed from the modern weather regime in fundamental ways. Interestingly, Wise states that geological evils like earthquakes and volcanoes can be explained by CPT theory as legacies of the Flood, and biological evils like disease, death, and animal predation are results of the Fall of man. But what about meteorological evil -- tornadoes, hurricanes, the bad aspects of lightning? The origins model described by Wise doesn't seem to have an explanation for them. The other thing I don't like about this book is that it lacks an index.

But these are minor quibbles with what is otherwise an excellent, even an indispensable book. Dr. Wise has done a great service for all Christian lay people who are interested in keeping up with developments in creation science.

Rating:
Summary: A layman's guide to the Biblical model of origins
Review: Kurt Wise is a "young earth" creationist with a Ph.D in paleontology from Harvard. Those credentials make him the jewel in the crown of contemporary creationism. That Wise managed to earn those credentials while remaining faithful to a straightforward reading of Scripture is almost miraculous. It shows a steadfast committment to the principle that the study of God's created universe must be subject to the truths revealed in God's Word. Interestingly, Wise's faculty advisor and mentor was none other than the late Stephen Jay Gould, who published so many popular books on science and natural history. Perhaps it was from Gould that Wise gained an appreciation of the need to occasionally write for the typical lay reader.

In this book, Wise brings us up to date on what has been going on in creation science over the past 20 years or so, particulary with regard to the creationists' efforts to construct a comprehensive model of origins. Typically, creationists have limited themselves to criticizing the naturalistic model of origins, especially Darwinism. It has been much more difficult to construct a Biblical model of origins. This effort had to await the emergence of a cadre of well-educated young creation scientists. There still aren't many such people, but the few there are have proceeded with the development of a model of origins that is faithful to the Bible, yet scientifically rigorous.

Wise begins with the fact that God was present at the creation. He is our Eyewitness to the origin of the earth and the universe. Therefore, what He tells us in his Word about those events is truthful and accurate. This truth is the foundation of all efforts to construct a Biblical model of origins. Wise is acutely aware of the theological problems that are created by acceptance of old age (mainstream geology)cronology. "Acceptance of old-age chronology requires a substantial revision of the biblical doctrine of God and His nature. . . . With the acceptance of old-age chronology, God is seen as responsible for introducing death, disease, and suffering into the creation hundreds of millions of years before man sinned."

One of the things that creation biologists are working on, as an alternative to cladistics and other Darwinian schemes of classification, is a creationist systematics known as baraminology. The word "Baramin" was coined from the Hebrew words for "created kind." Creationists do not deny "micro-evolution;" they acknowledge that there has been much diversification and speciation within the created kinds of animals and plants. The aim of baraminology is to determine which living and fossil forms can be grouped together as having descended from a single created kind or "baramin."

Another important development is the theory that there were floating forests in the pre-Flood seas. The types of plants and animals that we would expect to find in a floating forest are the same types we see preserved as fossils in the paleozoic strata. Assuming the Flood began in the pre-Flood oceans, the floating forest theory helps explain the fossil record of the paleozoic. (By the way, Wise calls the paleozoic the "primary" and the Mesozoic the "secondary," thus reverting back to the terms used by geologists before the uniformitarianism of Hutton and Lyell was adopted. It is probably a good idea for creation scientists to discard terminology that comes freighted with evolutionary meanings.)

The piece of the puzzle that seems to have most impressed Dr. Wise is catastrophic plate tectonics. In the last half century, geologists have developed a theory of the earth known as plate tectonics. This theory elegantly explains many facts about earthquakes, volcanoes, volcanic rock, ocean floors, etc. Creationists have developed a variant of plate tectonics, known as catastrophic plate tectonics (CPT). This theory has the continental plates moving at meters per second, miles per hour, during the Genesis Flood. Wise reports that CPT explains everything explained by the conventional theory, and more. Among other things, CPT explains anomalies in mantle circulation, the mottled pattern of magnetical reversals preserved in the volcanic rock, flood basalts, and the extremely violent collisions of continental plates (thus generating the force necessary to raise mountains like the Himalayas). Wise's enthusiasm for CPT theory comes through in his writing. I confess that I'm too ignorant of geology to really appreciate CPT, but in future I will do some reading in this area to bring myself up to speed.

My main criticism of this book relates to Dr. Wise's model of the Edenic and pre-Flood climate. He assumes that the water cycle in place before the Flood is very similar to the one in place today. He even volunteers that "just as lightning plays an important role in the maintenance of quality soil on the present earth, the lightning activity on the original earth was created to optimize early earth soils." Well, okay, but lightning also directly kills people by striking them and starts fires, thus indirectly killing people and animals. To say that it helps the soil seems like an extreme example of finding the silver lining of a dark cloud. I don't think that lightning or other natural phenomena like tornadoes, hurricanes, cyclones -all of which are integral and unavoidable parts of the modern weather regime-- were part of the original creation, and are unlikely to have been part of the pre-Flood world. I have no particular brief for a pre-Flood vapor canopy (which Wise rejects), but it seems to me that the pre-Flood climate differed from the modern weather regime in fundamental ways. Interestingly, Wise states that geological evils like earthquakes and volcanoes can be explained by CPT theory as legacies of the Flood, and biological evils like disease, death, and animal predation are results of the Fall of man. But what about meteorological evil -- tornadoes, hurricanes, the bad aspects of lightning? The origins model described by Wise doesn't seem to have an explanation for them. The other thing I don't like about this book is that it lacks an index.

But these are minor quibbles with what is otherwise an excellent, even an indispensable book. Dr. Wise has done a great service for all Christian lay people who are interested in keeping up with developments in creation science.

Rating:
Summary: At last a Book about Science that is based on God
Review: Kurt Wise, a brilliant man whom I have heard speak at the Summit at Bryan College, has truly done something remarkable with Faith, Form, and Time: What the Bible Teaches and Science Confirms About Creation and the Age of the Universe. Unlike other creation scientists, Doctor Wise starts with the premise that God exists in order to structure his arguments and interpret the evidence that he offers. He refrains from "bashing" evolutionary science and instead compares and contrasts the two theories over a wide array of subjects.

I strongly recommend this book to any Christian who is serious about their faith. Apart from the Bible and Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, I truly feel that this book is the most important and ground-breaking book for the thinking Christian. It gives the reader countless reasons to believe that God and His Word can still be used as the ultimate authority in the field of Science. Creation Science does not require one to abandon intellect in order to adhere to its teachings. Kurt Wise has shown with this book why this statement is true.