Creation and Time Book Review

New Creation and Time by Mark Van Bebber and Paul S. Taylor
Rebuts Dr. Hugh Ross’s Book of the Same Name.

Book Review by Jim Coleman Sr.

There are 47 claims made by Dr. Ross in his similarly-titled book that are rebutted in this new revision of Creation and Time by Mark Van Bebber and Paul S. Taylor. These authors do not impugn Dr. Ross’ faith, but instead note he is considered to be a genuine Christian, although he advocates the secular concept of an earth that is billions of years old.

Van Bebber and Taylor provide a brief summary of Dr. Ross’s book on page 12:

1. The earth and Universe are billions of years old.
2. The days of Creation were overlapping periods of millions and billions of years.
3. Death and bloodshed have existed from the beginning of Creation and were not the result of Adam’s sin. Man was created after the vast majority of earth’s history of life, and death had already taken place.
4. The Flood of Noah was local, not global, although it did kill all humans outside the Ark. Earth’s geology represents billions of years of history.

One of Dr. Ross’s early claims is that The Facts of Nature are like a 67^th book of the Bible. This in essence places the current “scientific” claims above the plain reading of Genesis, thus ranking the naturalist views superior to the Word of God. This essentially makes the Word of God of lesser importance, relegating Genesis to a position of lesser authority than “science.”

Dr. Ross’ work makes 47 claims; the new Creation and Time refutes them all thoroughly, one by one. 

Examples:

Claim #12: The Flood was local and not global.                                                            False. Genesis 7:18-24 shows that the flood covered the highest mountains by 20 feet. If Dr. Ross were correct, then presumably Noah would not have needed to spend 120 years building a large boat – he and his family could have simply moved to higher ground. Scripture states God gave a promise with the rainbow symbol, signifying He would never flood the whole earth again with water. Evidence supports the global flood. For instance, fossil jellyfish have been discovered on high mountains. Unless the jellyfish grew limbs and crawled up, the reasonable explanation is that a huge flood carried them there.

Claim #24: The events of the 6th day, including Adam’s naming the animals, prove that it must have been longer than an ordinary day.

False.  A smaller group of animals was involved: flying birds and beasts of the field (Genesis 2:20), not the beasts of the earth (Genesis 1:24, 25). Other animals      were excluded including the fish, water dwelling mammals, and creatures that move along the ground (Genesis 1:24 NIV), including most reptiles, insects, and many of the smaller mammals. Thus a large number of animals were eliminated from naming on Day Six. Dr. Ross seems to have missed a key purpose of the naming, which was to show that Adam was the only one who did not have a mate. (See Genesis 2:20.)                                                                                                                            

Probably the most important thing to remember is that the geological strata were laid down during the worldwide global flood and not over millions of years of sedimentary deposits. The notable fact that hemoglobin in a dinosaur bone was found at Hell’s Creek Montana shows that dinosaurs did not die out millions of years ago. Many other findings of scientists support the age of the earth in agreement with the Bible and the authors of this book. The source and age of the geological strata are essential facts underlying the young-Earth view.

Van Bebber and Taylor are careful to point out that Dr. Ross is a fine Christian and is good at evangelism, but at the same time may be leading people away from some of the basics of the authority of God’s Word. His scientific pronouncements may steer people away from the normal and literal plain reading of the Scriptures. Young-earth Creationists in general recognize that the Bible does have figurative and poetic language as well as literal. This reviewer and others believe that one must utilize context as well as Hebrew grammar, word order, etc. to determine what God intended to convey to the reader. We believe that God is able to say what He means and mean what He says. If God meant to convey the idea that the 6 days of Genesis were really long periods of time, then He could very easily have used other words to say so. When the Hebrew word “YOM” for a creation day is used in Genesis, it is always preceded by either a number or the phrase “evening and morning.” The words used show clearly He intended us to understand that the creation days were literal 24 hour days.

This book is well referenced and provides valuable resource material. The book’s many biblical references wonderfully assist the reader to locate what God really said and what He meant. Recent scientific discoveries in paleontology, geology, astronomy, and earth sciences support the authority of the Word of God and the approximately 6000 years of earth history – and this book supplies such important information in one effective package.

Jim Coleman, Sr.