Dr. Martin has good academic credentials, he taught at the Dental
School at Baylor before going back to school, getting a degree in
theology and becoming president of Biblical Discipleship Ministries.
In other words, he knows his biology.
While the book does cover Dr. Martin�s journey from evolutionist to
Young Earth Creationist, it deals mostly with a technical critique of
evolution at a layman�s level. So no, I don�t think you need to take
any prerequisite classes before reading this book.
I think the most memorable parts of the book are his discussions about
the various plants and animals in nature. This ties in beautifully
with his dvd series entitled INCREDIBLE CREATURES THAT DEFY
EVOLUTION. In a way his descriptions remind me of the radio broadcast
Creation Moments hosted by Ian Taylor. Both Mr. Taylor and Dr. Martin
demonstrate that what one sees in nature is intelligent design by a
creator, not random chance.
I recognized some of the material in the book. But there was some
material that was new to me. The latest copyright on the book was
2005. It was intriguing to learn that some creationists have moved
away from the idea of a �vapor canopy� covering the earth and instead
advocated a liquid �water canopy.� I also did not realize that there
were still some people trying to advocate the recapitulation theory
(ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny) as late as 2002, in spite of the
fact that Haeckel�s drawings used as �proof� were proven to be fake
over 100 years ago in the 1880�s.
Dr. Martin is right, the reason why people reject creation is pride.
People want to be their own gods, accountable to no one. I am
reminded of a friend who got into a debate with a coworker about the
age of the earth. One day the coworker said something to the effect
that if the earth is not billions of years old, then evolution is not
true, there is a God he is accountable. At that point the coworker
got scared and started to avoid my friend. My friend said he was
surprised that his coworker figured out the implications on his own. I
am also reminded of a letter mentioned in the book A SEVERE MERCY by
Sheldon Van Auken in which C.S. Lewis writes that the atheist is not
the brave one that the atheist does not want to be held accountable to
God.
The book is not simply about creation. It also points to the savior
Jesus Christ. This is a good point, for there are creationists who
are not Christian. While creation is a foundational issue, it is not
the focal point of our faith, which should be Christ.
This book runs less than 280 pages. It has a subject index, author
index and index of Biblical references. It took me about 6 to 7 hours
to read in one sitting. One can purchase the book through the local
bookstore for $ 10.95.. For those who are not much into reading, you
may want to get the dvd series INCREDIBLE CREATURES THAT DEFY
EVOLUTION, also by Jobe Martin.
# posted by GuyTak @ 9:20 PM
