Creation Ministries International’s Recent Superconference at Myrtle Beach

By

Dan Reynolds PhD
Creation
Radiometric Dating
Christianity
Astronomy
Cosmology
Geology
Bible
Dinosaurs
Evolution
Genetics

I recently attended the Creation Ministries International (CMI) five-day Creation 2022 Superconference at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. TASC board members Drs. Jeff Gift and David Greear were also in attendance. The conference was held from May 30 to June 3 at the beautiful Hilton Myrtle Beach Resort, located right on the ocean. There were 597 in attendance from all over the country, 22 lectures, 10 CMI presenters, a massive bookstore, a children’s program, optional opportunities to attend a guided tour through a nearby aquarium with marine biologist Dr. Robert Carter or to match wits with chess master Dr. Jonathan Sarfati, and free time to enjoy the beach.

Creation conference lecture hall
Fig. 1 Creation conference lecture hall
Ocean view from author's room
Fig. 2 Ocean view from author's room

Here I will summarize my favorite 10 talks. These talks covered the importance of creation science, radiometric dating, the fine-tuning of physics and of the earth-moon system, ancient DNA, dinosaur soft tissue and related evidence, the canon of scripture, the basics of Flood geology, possible solutions to the starlight-time problem, climate change, and creation evangelism.

The Issue of All Issues

Scott Gillis opened the conference with a talk entitled “The Issue of All Issues.” The aim of the talk was to show why the creation issue is important to Christianity and the Bible. Creation is the key battleground. If evolution is true, then the Bible can’t be. Creation is foundational to scripture. We should be prepared to make a defense of our faith in the creation area (1 Pet 3:15). We must decide if organisms were created by God after their kinds or were evolved into existence by a random mutation/natural selection process over deep time.

Children are taught evolution as a fact in public schools. Some surveys show that two-thirds of children brought up in Christian homes leave the faith by age 18. Most children that left the faith had no training in creation.

Mr. Gillis then defined operational and historical (forensic) sciences. Operational science is repeatable, testable, and observable in the here and now. Historical science explores causes of past events by studying evidence in the present. The causes must be inferred since it is not possible to go back in time to observe the events in question.

Creationists and evolutionists all have the same evidence but different interpretations. Most people have not heard the creation interpretation.

Did the Grand Canyon take millions of years to form? The processes of erosion and deposition are very slow now. All the sedimentary layers at the Grand Canyon are flat, without evidence of the erosion expected if there had been millions of years between deposition of the layers. There are marine fossils in the sedimentary layers. Hundreds of feet of strata and a canyon 1/40 the scale of the Grand Canyon were formed during the eruptions at Mt. St. Helens in the 1980s. Strata and canyons can be formed rapidly. All the evidence suggests the Grand Canyon was formed rapidly.

Fossils require rapid burial, or they will decay. Real fossils of fish eating one another or giving birth must have been formed by rapid burial.

The age of the earth matters since the Bible provides an age through the genealogies and early Genesis account. If the earth is billions of years old, then Genesis is wrong. If the days of Genesis 1 are interpreted as long ages to accommodate secular geology, then the fossils in the strata are millions of years old. This means that death came before the Fall, contradicting scripture: death was the result of the Fall. The original creation was “very good,” (Gen 1:31) so could not have included death initially. Animals and humans started out as herbivores (Gen 1:29–30). Evolution is incompatible with Genesis 1. If evolution is true, then death was not a result of the Fall. If death was not a result of the Fall, then sin is not the cause of death, and the gospel loses its meaning. 1

We need to let God tell us what He did since He was an eyewitness of the events. We need to be able to abolish arguments made against God (2 Cor 10:5).

Carbon-14 and Long Ages

Jonathan Sarfati, PhD—chemist, author, and former New Zealand national chess champion—presented a talk entitled “Carbon-14 and Long Ages.” Sarfati reviewed the difference between operational and historical sciences and the theological problems caused by allowing death to exist before the Fall. Dating things using radioactive isotopes is based on unprovable assumptions about decay rates, the initial conditions, and rock system isolation. The best way to know history is through historical records based on eyewitness testimony. We have such a record in Genesis, where God was the eyewitness. There are some slight differences in the ages obtained from scripture, depending on what translation is used.

Sarfati explained the difference between precision and accuracy of measurements. Precision means that a measurement made multiple times gives nearly the same result every time. Accuracy refers to the correctness of the measurements or results derived from the measurements. A measurement can be very precise but inaccurate. An accelerator mass spectrometer may precisely measure the amount of carbon-14 (14C) in a sample, but the age obtained from the measurement may be incorrect due to faulty assumptions.

Ages obtained from radiometric dating are an interpretation of measurements based on assumptions about decay rates, the initial amounts of the daughter isotope, and the isolation/integrity of the sample. For example, one must ask, “Are the amounts of parent and daughter isotopes the exclusive result of the decay process?”

Carbon exists as three isotopes: 12C (99%), 13C (1%), and 14C (10-10 %). The 12C and 13C isotopes are stable, but 14C is unstable and decays into nitrogen with a half-life of 5730 years via beta decay. The stability of an isotope depends upon the ratio of protons to neutrons. 14C is formed in the upper atmosphere when neutrons collide with nitrogen (14N) to afford 14C and a proton. The 14C thus formed is quickly oxidized to carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide is absorbed by plants, which are eaten by animals. When animals die and are buried, the amount of 14C in their bodies begins to decline due to the decay of the radioisotope. No new 14C is being added. Assuming a constant decay rate and that the amount of 14C in the atmosphere when the animal died was the same as it is today, a recovered fossil can be dated by measuring the amount of 14C remaining.

The neutrons that react with nitrogen to form 14C are produced from reactions of cosmic ray protons with various elements. The earth’s magnetic field was stronger in the past, so there would have been fewer protons entering the earth’s atmosphere back then. This means that 14C production would have been slower in the past, and hence dates based on 14C can only be accurate over the last 2–3 thousand years. “Dates” based on 14C beyond a few thousand years would be too large since samples would have started off with less 14C than is present in the atmosphere now. Also, there was greater biomass before the Flood, so the available 14C back then would have been diluted. The Flood removed most of the biomass, so the amount of 14C in the atmosphere was able to rise afterwards. So, the assumption that the amount of 14C in the atmosphere has been constant over time is invalid.

Sarfati recommended an article by Robert Carter entitled “How Carbon Dating Works.” 2

14C has been detected in several diamonds. Diamonds are the hardest natural substance known, so contamination is very unlikely. Diamonds are thought to have formed deep in the earth under high temperature and pressure. Diamonds are brought rapidly to the surface by volcanic activity. If they had been brought to the surface slowly, they would have been converted to graphite since they are unstable to the temperatures and pressures between where they are formed and the surface. 14C has also been found in fossils consisting of coal, wood, shells, bone, marble, natural gas, carbon dioxide, calcite, oil, and more. Contamination can’t cancel radiocarbon results. 3 The processes in the earth that produce neutrons that could react with nitrogen impurities in diamonds to generate 14C are insufficient to produce the amounts of 14C detected in diamonds. Also, the production of 14C through the decay of 235U is also inadequate to produce the amounts of 14C found in diamonds. Sarfati recommended the article “Diamonds: A Creationist’s Best Friend.” 4

Sarfati then turned to the reliability of radiometric dating methods in general. Radiometric dating methods often obtain incorrect ages for samples of known age. For example, rocks from Mount St. Helens that were known to be only 10 years old gave radiometric ages of 350 thousand to 3.5 million years. Sarfati also reviewed many of the results from the RATE project. 5  RATE demonstrated that there have been episodes of accelerated nuclear decay in the past, probably during creation week and the Flood. The retention of helium in zircon crystals found in granites provides evidence that alpha decay was faster in the past. The flat layers found in the Grand Canyon without evidence of bioturbation 6 or erosion between the layers suggest the layers were laid down rapidly, as would be expected as a result of the Flood.

Most dating methods are consistent with a young earth: the amount of salt in the sea, the amount of sea floor sediments, the decay of the earth’s magnetic field, the number of short-range comets, the structure of spiral galaxies, the faint sun paradox, the rate of lunar recession, and many others. 7

A Special Earth in a Special Universe

Spike Psarris, BSc gave a talk entitled “A Special Earth in a Special Universe.” The universe is either the handiwork of God or a result of natural processes. In the academy, only natural processes can be considered when explaining nature; supernatural causes are disallowed. Psarris says we can take the secular scientific viewpoint to its logical conclusions and show they are absurd.

According to secular science, the universe began as a result of quantum fluctuations followed by the Big Bang. Hence nothing became everything. The Earth and solar system are explained by the nebular hypothesis, which holds that a giant gas cloud was transformed into our solar system by gravity over millions of years. The Earth is located in the habitable zone, the place in the solar system where the heat from the sun allows for liquid water. In the nebular hypothesis, the Earth begins without water. The Earth just happens to have: a magnetic field that protects it from the solar wind and cosmic rays; an ideal rotational period (shorter would result in high winds; longer would result in extreme temperature swings); an ideal axial tilt for the seasons; a nearly circular orbit, which provides a stable climate; an atmosphere with the right composition and pressure to permit water in all three states; etc. It is clear that the Earth was designed for life. Our moon provides tides that are important for the food chain of shore life. Our moon is also the only satellite out of roughly 200 planetary satellites that provides total solar eclipses for its planet. It is interesting that the only planet with total solar eclipses is also the only planet with observers. The moon also stabilizes the Earth’s axial tilt.

Our sun provides the necessary frequencies of light for photosynthesis and is far enough away so that the Earth is not tidally locked (which would result in the same side of the Earth always facing the sun with extreme heat on one side and extreme cold on the other). The sun is also a lone star, unlike the majority of stars, which are in binary star systems. Our sun is unusually quiet for its type, which typically have super solar flares that could be harmful. Most places in the universe are hostile to life as we know it. Our sun is located in a relatively less populated part of the galaxy; our nearest stellar neighbor is four light-years away. A location more heavily populated could subject our solar system to nearby supernovae. Also, we can see the universe from our position, facilitating our understanding of the cosmos. Our solar system also has Jupiter, which prevents potentially harmful objects from entering the inner solar system.

The cosmos and physics appear to be fine-tuned for life. Fred Hoyle abandoned his atheism when it was discovered that the element carbon has specific high energy states that permit its formation in stars by nuclear fusion. 8  Stephen Hawking showed that the initial matter density of the universe was fine-tuned to one part in 1060. Had the matter density been any higher or lower, our universe would not have formed. 9 Had the matter density been higher, gravity would have caused the universe to collapse on itself. Had the matter density been any lower, the universe would have expanded too fast to allow the formation of stars. The amount of dark energy in the universe had to be fine-tuned to one part in 10123. Dark energy is a theoretical force that is allegedly causing the expansion of the universe to accelerate. The horizon problem 10 is presumably solved by inflation, but there is as yet no evidence for inflation.

Fine tuning is allegedly explained by the multiverse. The multiverse is a theoretical landscape of an infinite number of universes, each with its own unique combination of forces, particles, dimensions, geometries, etc. In a multiverse where anything can happen, our universe was inevitable. But there is no evidence for the multiverse, nor does anyone know how to test for other universes. Some secular scientists even believe that our universe is a simulation invented by aliens. This is some of the absurd thinking that has resulted from cosmology that disallows a creator.

Ancient DNA and the Bible

Robert Carter presented a talk entitled “Ancient DNA in the Bible.” Genetics can help us with history. A new field involving ancient DNA (aDNA) is opening up. Human aDNA was the topic of Carter’s talk. Genesis chapters 9–11 describe the Flood, Noah’s three sons, and the table of nations coming from Babel. Human history is chaotic. Europeans descended from all three of Noah’s sons. All the groups that were formed at Babel descended from all three sons. The races came later after the dispersion. The various people groups interbred. As a result, the table of nations can’t be seen in the Y-chromosome record. Race is no longer definable genetically.

Ancient DNA can be difficult to work with due to degradation, contamination, false dating, etc. However, these problems have been addressed. The petrous bone contains more DNA than do most places in the human anatomy.

Ancient DNA crosslinks, reacts with oxygen and water, fragments, and mutates.

All Y-chromosomes trace back to a single sequence (Adam, 1 Cor 15:45).

There are no races in Christ (Col 3:11).

In summary, aDNA exists and it informs us of ancient history. It does not contradict the Bible. The evolutionary timeline is directly contradicted by the presence of aDNA. Expect curveballs as this is a brand-new field.

Dinosaur Evidence Demolishes Evolution

Joel Tay presented a talk entitled “Dinosaur Evidence Demolishes Evolution.” Dinosaurs do not support evolution nor millions of years. Dinosaurs were created on Day 6 (Gen 1:21–25) with the other land animals and were originally herbivores (Gen 1:30). Dinosaurs were taken on the ark. There was carnivory after the Flood. The diets of dinosaurs have been deduced from coprolites (fossil dung). Dinosaurs ate grass. There have been birds found in dinosaurs’ stomachs, 11 which is ironic since birds allegedly evolved from dinosaurs! There have been mammals found that had dinosaurs in their stomachs.

Most dinosaur fossils were formed during the Flood. Dinosaurs must have been buried rapidly in order for their fossils to be preserved. There are massive dinosaur graveyards which also contain fossil clams and fish. Many dinosaurs are found in the “death pose,” indicating they drowned. Ankylosaurs, which had a heavy armored plate on their backs, are usually found buried upside down, indicating they were buried in water and were flipped over by gravity prior to burial.

Humans and dinosaurs lived together (Gen 1:25–26). Dinosaur are referred to in the Bible as behemoth (Job 40:15–19), leviathan (Job 41), and dragons. Noah probably took very young dinosaurs into the ark, which would have grown rapidly after they disembarked. It has been estimated that there were 60 dinosaur kinds, which could have easily fit into the ark (most dinosaurs were the size of a large cow). The ark had a carrying capacity of 522 standard rail cars or 15,000 metric tons. It is estimated that the ark could have contained 16,000 animals at the genus level. The dinosaurs would have diversified quickly after the Flood.

We know that dinosaurs survived the Flood from cave paintings and artifacts such as the carving at the Ta Prohm temple in Cambodia 12 or the etching found at Carlisle Cathedral in the United Kingdom. 13

More recently, the paleontological world has been rocked by soft dinosaur tissue 14 and intact biomolecules. 15 There are now dozens of examples of ancient soft tissue discoveries across many species. Red blood cells, flexible tissue, intact proteins, and DNA fragments have been found. Radiocarbon has been detected in some dinosaur bones as well as in coal and diamonds—all believed to be 10s to 100s of millions of years old. Kinetic studies have shown that proteins and DNA degrade too rapidly to have persisted for millions of years.

How Did We Get Our Bible?

Keaton Halley presented a talk entitled “How Did We Get Our Bible?” God superintended the compilation and preservation of the scriptures. The Word of God was communicated by men (1 Thes 2:13) yet breathed out by God (2 Tim 3:16). Inspiration refers to the text. There are no mistakes in scripture (in the original autographs). The scriptures came from God and do not consist of men’s interpretations (2 Pet 2:20–21). Jesus treated the Old Testament as inspired (John 5:45–47, Luke 24:13–27).

How did we get our canon? There are a total of 66 books in the Bible: 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament. The canon is an artifact of inspiration. The church did not select the books; God did. Newton recognized gravity but did not create it. In a similar manner, the canon was recognized by Christians who did not author it. Jesus acknowledged the Law, Prophets, and Psalms as the Word of God (Luke 24:44). Jesus did not recognize any of the apocryphal books.

The New Testament books were authoritative from the start. Revelation contains prophecy (Rev 1:3). Paul’s writings were recognized as scripture (2 Pet 3:15–16; 1Cor 14:37–38). The early church (1st and 2nd centuries) accepted most of the New Testament. Our New Testament was officially accepted in the 4th century but was in place long before. Those who assembled the canon asked ques- tions like the following: Did a book ring true? Was it written by an apostle? Had it been accepted from the start? The so-called “Gospel of Thomas,” written about 140 AD, was recognized as fraudulent because there were lies about its authorship, and its theology was gnostic.

The scriptures have been preserved. We don’t have the original autographs, but we do have many copies. The copies do have minor differences (typographical errors), but we are able to discern the original writings. We now have the Dead Sea Scrolls, which were originally discovered in 1947 at Qumran. They consist of all the books of the Old Testament 16 and are essentially identical to copies dated a thousand years later. We have 5856 copies of the New Testament (before translation), which is far more copies than any other ancient document (Homer’s Iliad comes in at second place with 1900 copies). Most differences in the copies of the New Testament consist of use of synonyms and word order (e.g., Christ Jesus versus Jesus Christ). Only 0.2% of the differences are “meaningful and viable.” An example of this is found in Mark 9:29: some versions end the verse with “...by anything but prayer” while others have “...by anything but prayer and fasting.” Some differences were due to late additions which are easily discerned. None of the differences affect any core doctrines. Our Bible is trustworthy.

Creation Geology 101

Chris Rupe presented a talk entitled “Creation Geology 101.” What evidence would we expect if there had been a global Flood (2 Pet 3:3–7)? Rupe considered the sedimentary rock record on the continents and offshore. Rocks were eroded and then redeposited during the Flood. Some rocks were precipitated. Rocks were cemented together after deposition. The average thickness of sedimentary rock is about 1.5 miles. The thickness varies from 0 to 15,000 feet. About 75% of the continents are covered with sediments. The sedimentary rock record includes the Cambrian to present, spanning 540 million years (secular dating). The rock layers consist of mudstones (shale and clay), carbonates (e.g., limestone), sandstones, and evaporites (salts). Some rocks are rich in organic material (fossil fuels). Mudstones, limestones, and sandstones represent more than 90% of all sedimentary rock. According to the Bible, most sedimentary rock was formed as a result of the Flood. Secular geologists believe sedimentary rock contains a record of evolution dating back 540 million years. Christians who hold an old-earth position believe that Adam and Eve appeared on earth millions of years after other animals had lived, died, and formed fossils.

Conventional geology takes in data, forms a hypothesis with uniformitarian ideas, and then tests the hypothesis. Biblical geologists do the same but include the Bible as a source of data and without the uniformitarian bias. Uniformitarianism is the idea that “the present is the key to the past.” Hence extrapolation of observably slow processes, such as erosion and deposition, into the past have produced theories where change requires millions of years. Biblical geologists, on the other hand, consider both uniformitarian and catastrophic causes when forming hypotheses.

The Flood took one year to deposit most of the sedimentary record. Secular geology, on the other hand, teaches that each layer represents a different paleoenvironment requiring many years (or long ages, millions of years—some time frame).

Many of the same sedimentary deposits (megasequences) cover huge areas and are even found across continents.

Many in the secular geological community now believe that limestone deposits can form rapidly. Some limestones have ripple marks from moving water and contain disarticulated sea lilies. The Redwall limestone in the Grand Canyon contains nautiloid fossils that are pointing in the same general direction, suggesting they were swimming or being carried by fast moving water when buried. Some of the nautiloid fossils are positioned perpendicular to the layers, suggesting rapid burial.

There is little or no bioturbation between sedimentary layers. One would expect much bioturbation if there had been large periods of time between depositions. Hence the evidence suggests there was little time between the depositions of the layers.

Catastrophism is making a comeback in secular geological circles but not of a biblical sort.

In the Grand Canyon, there are “bent” layers that show no evidence of fracturing or cracking. These bent layers indicate deformation occurred while the layers were still soft and wet. This, of course, suggests the layers were laid down in rapid succession. The Kaibab Upwarp does not show any evidence of metamorphism, suggesting uplift shortly after rapid deposition.

There are many unconformities in the Grand Canyon. An unconformity is usually indicated by the absence of a layer expected in a sequence of layers. Secular geologists interpret this as meaning the missing layer was originally deposited but then eroded away prior to deposition of additional layers. This whole process is thought to take millions of years. However, there is no evidence of erosion between layers, suggesting the “missing” layer was never there and all the layers were deposited rapidly. The Great Unconformity, just below the Cambrian, is thought to represent one billion years.

The Tapeats sandstone lies directly above the Great Unconformity and has been found in North America, Africa, and South America (Bolivia). Indeed, there are six megasequences that correlate globally, suggesting a global deposition process. According to the Institute for Creation Research,

Megasequences are defined as packages of sedimentary rock bounded top and bottom by erosional surfaces, with coarse sandstone layers at the bottom (deposited first), followed by shales, and then limestone at the top (deposited last). 17

The fossil record from bottom to top is in an order expected from sequential burial of ecosystems: shallow seas, lowlands, and lands at higher elevations.

The study of taphonomy considers what happens to animals after death—how fast they decay for example. Well-preserved fossils indicate rapid burial. There are fossil graveyards of jellyfish. 18 There are dinosaur fossils in the “death pose,” indicating suffocation from sudden burial.

And 14C has been found in dinosaur fossils along with soft tissue, suggesting recent burial. 14C has also been found in diamonds. Intact portions of dinosaur proteins and DNA have been found, all suggesting recent burial.

Distant Starlight and Those Light-Years

Spike Psarris presented a talk entitled “Distant Starlight and Those Light-Years.” The problem is how light from stars billions of light-years away, traveling at the same speed we measure today, could have reached the earth by Day 4 of creation week 6000 years ago. Psarris discussed the major creationist approaches to the problem without stating a preference. He discussed the decay of light speed (CDK) theory, mature creation, the Dasha cosmology, variable speed of light theories, the Anisotropic Synchrony Convention (ASC) theory, and time dilation theories.

Psarris said that the decay of light speed theory 19 posits that the speed of light was greater in the past but has now slowed to its current speed. He said this approach was no longer being considered by most creationists. 20

The mature creation theory advances the idea that God may have placed light beams between the stars and earth on Day 4. This is in line with the idea that God created the universe fully functional. For example, God created Adam fully grown and able to understand language. Also, the sun would have to have been made fully functional; it is thought that it takes thousands of years for the light generated in the heart of the sun to reach the surface and shine into space. The difficulty with this as a solution to the starlight/time problem is that there is information in starlight: we see supernovae, galaxies rotating, binary star systems, etc. If the light beams had been put in place on Day 4, the images seen in the light would be of events that never happened; we would see a fictitious history. This does not seem consistent with God’s character.

Then there is the Dasha cosmology. 21 The idea is that God miraculously accelerated the speed of light on Day 4 of creation week by the stretching of space. This idea comes from how some interpret the events of Day 3 when God said “let the earth bring forth” various plants (Gen 1:11–12), suggesting they started as seeds and were miraculously brought to maturity through some accelerated process. The Dasha cosmology is explicitly miraculous and makes no predictions.

The variable speed of light theories 22 hold that the speed of light may depend on location and seek to understand what affect gravity may have on light speed. Some secular scientists have even suggested that a variable speed of light in the early universe may do a better job at solving the horizon problem than the theory of inflation.

Anisotropic Synchrony Convention (ASC) refers to the fact that the “one-way” speed of light may be different in different directions. 23  In other words, it is possible that the speed of light could be infinite in one direction and half of what we think of as the speed of light in the opposite direction. Einstein realized this but chose to believe the speed of light is the same in all directions. No one has been able to think of a way to experimentally measure the one-way speed of light, and there may not be a way. So, on Day 4 of Creation week, the stars were created, and their light reached the earth instantaneously. This means we see the stars and distant galaxies as they are now in real time. So, while ASC potentially provides a solution to the starlight-time problem, we may never know if it is true for certain. Jason Lisle, an astrophysicist and young-earth creationist, promotes ASC and believes it is supported by scripture and several astronomical observations. 24

Lastly are the gravity-time dilation theories. Einstein predicted, and it has been established experimentally, that clocks in different gravitational environments tick at different rates; the greater the gravitational field strength, the more slowly clocks will tick relative to clocks in weaker gravitational environments. Proponents of this view envision the universe with a center and an edge, with the Milky Way near the center. God could have unfolded the universe in such a way that while only one day passed on earth (Day 4), billions of years passed in the cosmos, allowing the light from distant stars to reach the earth on the fourth day. D. Russell Humphreys and John Hartnett are best known for holding this view. 25 ,26

Psarris ended his talk with a brief discussion of the beginning of the universe. The secular idea that everything came from nothing by some mysterious natural process is a contradiction of the first law of thermodynamics. The second law of thermodynamics requires that the universe be of finite age (had a beginning) since useful energy is still abundant.

Climate Change

Gary Bates, CEO of CMI, presented a talk entitled “Climate Change.” Bates said he based most of his talk on an article written by Don Batten, a CMI associate. 27 We are to be good stewards of the earth God has given us (Gen 1:28). Everything was made by, through, and for Christ. Christ sustains the universe (Col 1:15–17). He made the earth for us (Gen 1:26). We are to worship the Creator, not the creation (Rom 1:25). Humans were commanded to fill the earth. The climate was designed to be stable (Gen 8:22). We know that the weather is under God’s control (e.g., Joseph and the famine).

Secular scientists say there have been multiple ice ages over millions of years controlled, in part, by the orbital behavior of the earth (Milankovitch mechanism) over deep time. 28 The primary assumption today is that carbon dioxide can have the same effects as orbital forcing.

Some evolutionists think our use of fossils fuels may lead to mass extinctions. They think humans are a plague on the earth.

The Flood was the greatest climate change event in history and was uniquely able to cause an ice age. There was much volcanic activity during the Flood. This volcanic activity did two things. It provided for warm oceans, which readily facilitated the evaporation of water, and it provided a cool atmosphere due to the reflection of sunlight by the volcanic ash. This combination resulted in heavy snowfall that formed ice sheets that eventually covered much of the land in the northern hemisphere.

How is climate “science” being used? Environmentalists are using “climate change” policy to redistribute wealth. They want to remake the world economic system. They only target western economies. They have made many failed apocalyptic predictions. 29 Polar bears are more numerous now. 30

Concerning climate, repeatable measurements can’t be done (we can’t go back in time), correlation does not prove causation, scientism is the ruling paradigm, and peer review does not always get to the truth.

Carbon dioxide levels have increased to 410 ppm. The earth has warmed 0.8°C since the beginning of the industrial revolution in 1880. Greenhouse gasses (GHG) are necessary to keep the earth warm; without them the earth’s average temperature would be around –18°C. 31 Water vapor is the most abundant GHG. The temperature and carbon dioxide levels don’t always correlate.

Climate alarmists argue from consensus. There have been many examples of dishonesty. There is no real consensus. Many doubt climate alarmism. Long-term predictions have mostly been wrong; they typically overestimate the temperature. The “hockey stick” graph was fraudulent. 32

Climate models have predicted a 1–4°C increase for every doubling of carbon dioxide levels. But we know that the relationship between carbon dioxide levels and temperature is not linear; the more carbon dioxide there is, the less impact it has on temperature. Also, plants thrive when carbon dioxide levels are up. Positive feedback is expected when carbon dioxide levels increase. As carbon dioxide levels increase, so will the temperature. As the temperature increases, so will the amount of water vapor. And as the amount of water vapor increases, so will the temperature.

Interestingly, even when it is assumed there is no carbon dioxide increase, climate models still predict an increase in the temperature. Heat is able to escape from the earth into space.

Climate change is happening, but there is no crisis, and no drastic action is required. Climate change has corrupted science. Climate science is not settled. The impact of climate change has been hyped up and is not responsible for all natural disasters. The drastic economic policies being advocated by the environmentalists will hurt the poor the most. Pollution is a greater problem than climate change.

Creation Evangelism in a Secular World

Keaton Halley ended the conference with a talk entitled “Creation Evangelism in a Secular World.” We have been sent out to share the gospel (Matt 28:19–20), to be salt and light (Matt 5:13–14).

Our culture is going in the wrong direction. The United States has a Christian heritage, as evidenced in many schools, hospitals, and state charters. However, the percentage of people without religion is on the rise. Only 47% are affiliated with a church. The sexual revolution has done much harm. One-third of our homes with children are fatherless. Critical race theory has made inroads. Abortion and drug use are rampant. We have lost the hearts and minds of our people. Our nation needs to return to the Lord (Ps 33:12). The foundations of a just society need to be rebuilt (Ps 11:3). Part of the rebuilding involves understanding and believing Genesis (John 5:46–47).

Our culture needs to understand what is right and wrong. Human beings have intrinsic worth (Gen 1:26) because we were made in God’s image. God has a specific design for marriage and the family involving one man and one woman (Gen 2:14).

Adam and Eve brought death into the world through sin (1 Cor 15:21–22, 45). The gospel is directly connected to a real Adam.

We must consider the background of our audience when sharing creation and the gospel. Our culture is much like the Greeks in the New Testament in that the gospel is “foolishness” to them (1 Cor 1:23). Many are ignorant of the Bible and its teachings. When witnessing to a Jewish audience, Peter could spend all his time preaching Jesus (Acts 2:22–38) from the scriptures since they already had a belief system that included many of the right presuppositions about reality (God, the Bible, creation, a coming messiah, sin, right and wrong, prophesies, etc.). Peter started with Genesis and proceeded to the gospel.

But the cross was foolishness to the Greeks (Act 17). They expected a powerful God and not a suffering servant. They embraced polytheism. Many thought that history was cyclical, that there is no afterlife, that matter is eternal and is all that there is, that the universe evolved, and that one should pursue pleasure and avoid pain. Paul preached to them about their unknown God (Acts 17:22, 23). Paul looked for common ground. Paul spoke of God as the Creator and Lord of all. He told them we need God. Paul declared that Adam was the first man (Acts 17:26). Paul told them that God was near to all of us (Acts 17:27–28). Paul quoted some of their philosophers who had guessed correctly about reality. Paul said we are His offspring. God is not made of stone. Then Paul explained that God wants us to repent because a judgement is coming. Paul then shared Jesus. There were three responses (Acts 17:32–34): some mocked Paul, some said they wanted to learn more, and some believed (but not many). Paul started at the beginning (Acts 17:24).

Our culture is more like the Greeks than the Jews. Our culture believes in evolution and that “science” has proven it to be true. We need to go to the beginning and defend Genesis. We have much good evidence on hand: dinosaur soft tissue, evidence for rapid geologic processes, diamonds containing 14C, etc. We need to ask what is keeping someone from believing.

Closing Remarks

The speakers at the conference emphasized repeatedly that we should share creation and the gospel with gentleness and respect. Gary Bates brought everything back to the great commandments of loving God, our neighbors, and ourselves. The commitment and dedication of the CMI staff to the gospel and getting out the creation message were evident. May we be like-minded.