Creation Science Book Review:

Scientific Creationism, by Henry Morris

Review by Greg Neyman

© 2006, Old Earth Ministries

Review Published June 2006

Old Earth Ministries Science website

Chapter 2, Part 2:  The Beginning of the Universe

     In this section, Morris will examine the beginning of the universe.  He starts out with another example of how out-of-date this book is.  Morris says that "although one may imagine how one star might evolve into another, or how particles might accumulate to become stars, one never sees anything like this happen.  As long as men have been observing stars, they have remained the same, as far as can be observed."

     One of the most-used young earth evidences today is for a star called Sirius.  Young earth creationists claim that this star went from a red giant to a white dwarf in less than 2,000 years.  Although this itself is a misrepresentation of the truth, young earth creationists don't hesitate to claim that the stars change rapidly.

     In addition, star formation theory has now been studied in detail, and many of these stages of star formation can be observed by examining wavelength transmissions outside the optical range.

    A final thought about Morris being wrong about stars changing.  We have observed supernovas, or stars which explode.  Clearly, stars can and do change.     

Chapter 1 - Evolution or Creation?

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Chapter 2 - Chaos or Cosmos

Part 1 - Origin of Matter, Energy, and Natural Law

Part 2 - The Beginning of the Universe

Part 3 - Origin of the Solar System

Part 4 - Purpose of Creation

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Chapter 3 - Uphill or Downhill? (4 Topics)

Chapter 4 - Accident or Plan? (4 Topics)

Chapter 5 - Uniformitarianism or Catastrophism (4 Topics)

Chapter 6 - Old or Young? (4 Topics)

Chapter 7 - Apes or Men? (4 Topics)

     Morris goes on to state that the creation model would predict that the stars and galaxies would not change.  He throws in an additional caveat here that he did not mention before..."which would enable them to advance to higher levels in the hierarchy of stars."  This is a nebulous statement, as evolution would also say that stars, once they deteriorate, could not return to a higher level. 

     Morris now mentions the first and second law of thermodynamics.  He summarizes both, and in point three, mentions that since the universe is not "heat dead" then the universe must be young.  No, it only means that it takes billions of years to reach this point.  He gives no calculations to support his notion that heat death would have already occurred. (For more on heat death, see Heat Death).   In point four, he says the 2nd law requires a beginning, while the 1st law precludes it from beginning itself.  No problems here for any of the brands of creationism.

    Morris goes on to list several other points of insignificance to the age of the earth debate.  One interesting statement is that the Big Bang contradicts both the 1st and 2nd Law of Thermodynamics.  This is a result of the failure of young earth creationists to understand the two laws.  In reality, there is no contradiction.  While the first law does say that energy and matter cannot be destroyed, they can change form.  Since we cannot directly observe the Big Bang, we cannot experimentally say exactly what happened.  For the 2nd Law, I recommend reading "What is this "Big Bang" Anyway?" by Darrick Dean.

     In reality, the Big Bang model is a much better fit into the Genesis account of creation than the young earth version, as you don't have to twist data, ignore facts, and omit truths in order to prove your faulty model.  If you stick with this review, this truth will become apparent to you.

     Morris ends this section with some lengthy quotes from evolutionists.  This is a common trick of young earth creationists...to pull quotes from texts to support their cause.  It is called "quote-mining."  Unfortunately, the young earth creationist is only giving you what they want you to read.

     It is easy to find quotes that point out problems in evolution or old earth theory.  However, these evolutionists or other scientists still firmly believe in old ages.  They don't have all the answers.  But, we have enough answers to be 100 percent certain that the earth is old.

    In the end, there may be problems with the Big Bang, but that does not mean that it is wrong.  It merely means we don't know all there is to know about the Big Bang.  From a scientific standpoint, there are new discoveries every year that further confirm and strengthen the Big Bang.  If you only listen to young earth creationists, all you will get is a quote-mine pointing out little problems.  Overall, the theory is stronger than it has ever been, and is in no danger of being disproved by young earth creationists.  If you only read material from young earth creationists, you are getting a biased, one-sided argument.

            If you are not a Christian, and you have been holding out on making a decision for Christ because the Church always preached a message that was contrary to what you saw in the scientific world, then rest assured that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God, and you can believe in Christ and receive salvation, while still believing in an old earth.  Click here for more.

    Are you a Christian who believes in young earth creationism?  Now that we have shown the many difficulties of the young earth creation science model in this and many other articles, how does this impact your Christian life?  If you are a young earth creationism believer, click here.