Rating: Summary: don't make a mistake Review: Leon makes the error (a common error) of projecting dinosaur time forward to our time. In such a forwarding projection the time change is indeed about one per cent. But that direction of projection is totally erroneous. The Torah projects the data related to the first six days back (not forward) to the moment just after the beginning (as I detail in the book). And that is the huge compression of time that occurs. The dino's were around on earth for 185 billion years, from about 250 million years ago to 65 million years ago. That 185 million years when viewed from the perspective of the Bible, that is looking forward from the beginning, would be vastly shorter. BUT this change in perspctive has absolutely nothing to do with the temperature that the dino's experienced. The years and the temperatures that the dinosaurs experienced were the years and temperatures of the earth at their time, not the projected view of the Torah.What we are talking about here is red shift and blue shift, concepts used in astronomy dozens of times a night. I perceive a red star. But if I want to know what the true color of the star is, I must project the light frequency back to the moment when the light was emitted from the star. In that backward projection, space compresses and the longer red wavelength compresses to the shorter blue wave, the blue shift. I just applied this well known principle to the age of the universe.
Rating: Summary: Well Written but Unconvincing Review: Certainly this is a well written book on an extremely important and difficult topic. Schroeder has the ability to bring difficult concepts to words graspable. However, after reading his theory of reconciling science with the Old Testament, it remains less than persuasive to me. I relate with this Kirkus Review comment: "Though respectful of both science and faith, this book is unlikely to convince either scientist or theologian." Far more able to speak on the theological level, I find many of his interpretations manipulated to his own cause, e.g. Gen. 1:12 which he interprets: "and the earth brought forth life." A more reliable interpretation of the text renders: "and the earth(or land) brought forth vegetation." Further, he cites no credible Hebrew scholar who agrees with his interpretation of day for order and night for chaos. He relies much more for his case on the mystical kabbalah, especially Nahmanides, which can only be explained at best as "opinion." This leaves him in positions which do not square with all of inspired Scripture. Science as well will not accept all of Schroeder's thinking. With a fossil record so sparse and incomplete, it seems very tenuous to draw the conclusions that he makes with any assurance. As one writer put it, "What we need are more compotent fossils. We have enough compotent anthopologists." When one realizes the move from a fragment of a jaw to what the skull and skeleton looked like, it decreases any confidence in the decisiveness which these scientists make. The press relays this as scientific fact, rather than the reality of opinion which it is in fact. There is no fossil or Biblical evidence for preadamites. This is only a modern version of the Gap Theory continuted to be played out cloaked with this physics idea of differing time. For the exact opposite view of Schroeder's key thesis: clocks ticking faster at the center and slow at the edge of the cosmos--- see D. Russell Humphreys book "Starlight and Time." Humphreys even contends he has communicated with Schroeder and other physicists and no one has refuted his scientific computations which seriously challenges Schroeder's. However, I much appreciate the fact that a scientist finds the historical evolutionary argument to be untenable scientifically as well as Biblically. Evidence for a Creator is to be applauded.
Rating: Summary: An incredibly interesting and insightful read Review: I found this book to be one of the few that has actually changed any pre-conceived notions I have had in regard to religious thought. The book takes a very interesting approach to reconciling biblical writings and interpretations with current scientific theory. His explanations are logical and concise although they are very deep and some scientific background would be helpul. I did not find everything he wrote about easy to take in but many of his points made sense. These points helped me, as a conservative Jew, reconcile my faith with any doubts that I have had with regard to the validity of religion considering what I understand about the history of our universe.First of all, having read other reviews, people who are looking to find fault with this book will be able to do so. This is mostly due to selective use of interpretations and quotations from the bible. I think it would be impossible to write a book otherwise. If he was not selecting the best points then he should not be trying to convince an audience of his view. He also was upfront about his own preconceived notions. I would recommend this book to anyone who is willing to have an open mind about science and religious thought. In addiiton, if you are interesting in reconciling your own doubts of how religion can exist within the bounds of science, this book will help to dissipate any doubts you may hold. This book is not perfect, but no science books are. I found it incredibly interesting and, in conjunction with other books on various scientific and religious topics, can help one to reach a personal analysis of scientific and religious convergence.
Rating: Summary: Thought provoking and imperfect - as should be Review: This is a must read for any serious student of the Bible over 21. While the author harbors no hesitation in conjecture, he leaves readers without doubt that relativistic time is at the root of THE ANSWER. It is also a facinating summary of the Creation and Science debate of the past century. Given that, some of his conjectures seem "out there", EG Identifying "Tinshemet" with archeopteryx, (when the relevance of the verses depends on the fact that the Tinshemet is contemporary). Also, he asserts that the photon experiments prove that experiments can be indeterminate. They do nothing of the sort. Though they produce unexpected results, even he argues that those results are always the same. He also discusses the speed of light and time dilation and a parable, imperfect albeit, for understanding a Divinity beyond the bounds of time. This has been misunderstood by many reviewers, but IMHO, it fits well with the rest of the book. Still, even if the details are only conjectural (EG fudging the exact exponent for relative time), the central thesis is revolutionary. He adequately rejects (respectfully) the "Divine testing us with fossils" and "Geology and Noah's Flood" dodges in favor of a really thought provoking, science-oriented thesis. And the author can take credit for bravery in discussing the undiscussable.
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, Mr. Schroeder (an 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 Mr. Schroeder 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. Schroeder 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 also recommend reading "The Young Earth" by John Morris, "Grand Canyon: Monument to Catastrophe" by Steve Austin, "Icons of Evolution" by Jonathan Wells, "In Six Days: Why Fifty Scientists Choose to Believe in Creation" by John Aston, "Evolution: The Fossils Still Say No!" by Duane Gish, "The Answers Book" by Ham/Snelling/Wieland, "Creation Scientists Answer Their Critics" by Duane Gish, "Darwin's Black Box" by Michael Behe, "The Lie: Evolution" by Ken Ham, "Astronomy and the Bible" by Donald DeYoung, "Bones of Contention" by Marvin Lubenow, "The Mythology of Modern Dating Methods" by John Woodmorappe, and "Noah's Ark: A Feasibility Study" by John Woodmorappe (all available from Amazon).
Rating: Summary: Attention Skeptics! Review: As a science-oriented person who also believes in a sole Creator with all my heart and soul, my MIND continued to struggle with the scientific "facts" that suggest the universe might actually be more than ten BILLION years old. Schroeder's book offers mind-altering scientific theories and explanations as to how and why the universe actually MUST have been created, in a non-preaching fashion that allows readers to decide for themselves based on the information presented. Thank you, Dr. Schroeder, for providing the EXACT information I have been searching for my entire life. Sum Tertius!
Rating: Summary: I was, I am, I will be Review: Here we have one more crusader, a distinguished physicist and Biblical scholar, trying to bridge the gap between religion and science, showing that what might appear as diametrically opposed descriptions of the creation of the universe, of the start of life on Earth, and our human origins, are in fact identical realities viewed from different perspectives. His theological sources are the hewbrew Bible, the Talmud, and the 13th century kabalist Nahmanides. Schroeder tackles the issue of Darwin's theory of evolution and its flaws ("nature does not make jumps" versus "natures only makes jumps"), quantum uncertainty, relativity, cosmic background radiation, convergent evolution, anthropic argument, and other recent scientific innovations. All of these issues are placed side by side with Biblical and kabalist commentaries. The result is an amazing tapestry where the six days of creation match scientific description (time dilation), the Biblical "bere'shith" is the beginning of time, matter, and space, quantum mechanics is the graveyard of determinism and confirmation of free will, and the scientific "insufficient caused event" is the age-old Biblical definition of a miracle. There is room for concepts such as: God was to chose Abraham only long after Abraham had chosen God, scientific confirmation that less-than-human creatures with human-like bodies and brains existed before Adam, and pre-programmed DNA. It is in fact an "Amazing Technicolor Raincoat," weaved by a brilliant mind. Schroeder may be accused for "seeing reality as he assumes it to be," and for far-fetching his Biblical interpretations. It is clear, however, that his honest intentions are not to bring disruptions but rather contribute to the convergence of science and theology. Needless to say, strict believers on each side of the fence will have to open their minds.
Rating: Summary: Wonderful Review: This book does what so many fail at - provides a scientific foundation for biblical truths. It sucessful and intelligently draws paralells and conclusions between science and religion through the use of chemistry, biology, and physics. I recommend it highly.
Rating: Summary: Reconsideration of God Review: A few thoughts were paramount in my reading of this fine book: 1. The book of Genesis does not fly in the face of what science has gathered in the last century (I thought it did) 2. There was a "big bang" (a "beginning") to our universe and which, according to the laws of relativity and cosmology, never should have happened; in other words, there should be no matter, or no physical universe...but there is, and it can't be explained by the laws of science. 3. Life started suddenly and rapidly on earth after water appeared 3.8 billion years ago. 4. There is no evidence in the fossil record of evolution from a unicellular life form to the present human; multicellular organism suddenly appear, fully developed, last their time, and disappear. 5. Science and theology can coexist and compliment eachother, if only the strict "believers" on each side would swallow their ego and look at the facts. 6. This book gives doubters of the existence of God a good reason to reconsider (I being one of them).
Rating: Summary: 5 stars for science; 2 stars for religion Review: Schroeder does a brilliant work of compressing time to 6 literal days. Too bad he forget to reckon with "0" (zero) in the numerical count. Too bad he cannot use religion to prove "purpose" in the universe or universes. But he succumbs to the same scotoma by which he judges unbelieving fellow-scientists. He relies on old, inscrutible indisputable, and non-changing documents and ideas to make his points; in so doing he negates "the change of mind" that he is so eager to expect and extract from other scientists. It's indeed a good thing that Science questions everything, and has no sacred holybooks or theories that cannot be challenged and overthrown. In the author's reach to prove "purpose" (in creation and the universe) this scotoma is most obvious. He tells us, approvingly, that a prosecutor once said he would have tried Cain (Cain and Abel story in Genesis) for murder one (meaning, in the First Degree) on the spot. If this prosecutor is accusing Cain and bringing him to trial for murder in the death of Abel, he is not only predictable, but is also either stupid or lazy. Even to a lay and objective person, there is no premeditation or anger towards his brother on the side of Cain. On the other hand, if the prosecutor is going to get God for this heinous crime, he is truly on the right track. Compared to Cain, God had more of the means, the motivation and more opportunity to set up Cain, as much as to prevent the unnecessary death of Abel. God is the suspect and even the guilty one here, if justice must be done. And since the author mentioned it briefly, the choice and power over 6 million hapless Jews during the holocaust is less of Hitler and his Nazi regime's than of God's. If there is "purpose" to the universe and to existence, you cannot prove it by defending and using the image and persona of the God of Genesis, as Schroeder does, regardles of which version--the Torah, the Old testament or whatever, and regardless of whose interpretation--the Talmud or Billy Graham's. Well, unless you want to show the pathological co-dependent relationship between a Bully-God and his captive human slaves as "purpose." This is a relationship that immediately exonerates God from right choices and prudent exercise of power and immediately places blame on hapless humanity--"the usual suspects." This is a typical bully-bullied relationship. This is "the purpose" that religion is trying to prove. (For the record, Jesus rejected the above, and thought and taught otherwise; for this, his teachings were rejected by traditionalist Judaism and adulterated into antithetical doctrines by Christianity). The only hope of finding "purpose" in existence, if "purpose" exists, lies Science, not religion. So, I strongly disagree with Schroeder.
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