These are direct quotes from the 8th grade textbook on Earth Sciences.
As per format of the textbook critiques on this blog, the block quotes are from the textbooks. My criticism and fact-checking is the text below each quote.
Instead of relying upon chance, time, and energy, special creation depends upon a Creator, the all- powerful and all-wise God.
Chapter 5: Interpreting the Fossil Record
My criticism of this sentence is fairly simple. In a textbook, language is very important. Scientists take vocabulary seriously to avoid misconceptions. The author aims to make a powerful statement, but by using “chance”, “time” and “energy” as general terms. Starting with “chance”, chance is not a scientific term. A more accurate phrase is “what is the probability (or likelihood) of event X happening under certain circumstances”. This is the field of statistics and probability ( See here). Scientists use statistics as a tool to quantify and understand their observations.
Now, let’s discuss time. Time is a fundamental quantity measured comparable to mass and length. (See this link). Time is not always constant (Special Relativity). There are different frames of reference. One example, the author uses “day” as a unit of measurement. Now, one day on Earth is 24 hours. A day on Venus is 224.7 Earth Days. This is why scientists are very specific when discussing time.
The authors use “energy” in a very casual sense, but it is not a ‘loose” term. Energy can come in many forms. Energy has the specific definition that it is the measured quantity for the ability to do work. There are different forms of energy: kinetic, potential, thermal, etc.
According to the big bang hypothesis, all of the universe’s matter, energy, and space existed in a dense and extremely hot point that suddenly began to rapidly expand, eventually forming the universe known today. Through both biological and cosmic evolution, most evolutionists choose to ignore the role of the Creator in creation and believe that everything exists by natural processes.
Chapter 5: Interpreting the Fossil Record
For information about the Big Bang Theory, this is a National Geographic article.
Science is devoted to the study of the natural world through observation. Science is actually a very diverse population of people representing every country and religion. My personal research group represents people from multiple religions. Scientists report on what is directly observed.
The origin of the universe or the development of simple to complex organisms has never been observed, and scientists cannot use experiments to show that these ideas are true. Although evolutionists will say that there are “evidences” of evolution seen today, usually they are referring to natural features and processes that have been interpreted in light of evolution; these do not scientifically prove that evolution occurred.
Chapter 5: Interpreting the Fossil Record
Without the Scriptures, we have no reliable information about how the universe, the earth, and living things originated. Science cannot tell us about these things because no scientist was there to observe what happened; only God was present at the beginning, and He has given us His own eyewitness account of what happened.
Chapter 5: Interpreting the Fossil Record
If the Bible was a science book, there would be more material in the book than the Library of Congress. There are things that we know as scientists not even mentioned in the book that are not disputed by the authors.
Some Examples
Included in each example is how they work. We often take for granted the amount of work put into creating the modern world by engineers and scientists.The Bible is not large enough to include every detail of the origin of the Universe, the anatomy of the human body.
Some scientists in the 19th century took the principle of uniformity to an extreme, hypothesizing that every natural process has been operating in the same manner and at the same rate throughout the earth’s history. This view, known as uniformitarianism, claims that understanding modern geological processes is the key to understanding the earth’s geological history. This belief is often stated as “the present is the key to the past.”
Chapter 5: Interpreting the Fossil Record
The authors are using quasi-philosophy to argue scientific terminology. However, the theory of evolution is a very detailed-oriented theory.
The scientific process is self-correcting. If there are flaws in the logic or the methods of research, the scientific community will criticize those ideas. The scientific community is full of debate.
This idea of biological evolution had appeared in one form or another many times before, but Darwin presented it in scientific terms that made it seem reasonable.
Chapter 5: Interpreting the Fossil Record
Reasonable? The scientific community does not blindly accept information. Science is a field devoted to debates… Again, the authors do not go into details of the terms that they are describing.
“…catastrophism was discarded; not until the 1970s did evolutionists begin reevaluating the geologic record and finding that slow and steady processes could not have formed all of the fossils and geologic features known today. They began to believe that the geologic record showed catastrophic events like asteroid impacts, multiple ice ages, large (but not worldwide) floods, and intense volcanic activity; each of these catastrophes helped create a portion of the geologic formations and fossils. “
Chapter 5: Interpreting the Fossil Record
The authors are not trained in Geology. I will leave it to the Geology community to explain the history of the fossils.
Geology- What is the job?
Instead, a few evolutionists now favor the hypothesis of punctuated equilibrium. Supporters of punctuated equilibrium suggest that new kinds of organisms are a result of rapid genetic changes that supposedly bring about a new organism in a very short time.
Chapter 5: Interpreting the Fossil Record
Punctuated Equilibrium. Interesting, the scientific definition is not what is implied by Abeka’s definition.
As a scientific hypothesis, evolution is a failure. It is contradicted by the evidence, and it is based on faulty theories and circular reasoning. Specifically, evolution fails as a hypothesis because of the lack of intermediates. As we have seen, the fossil record has not exposed any intermediates, and the gradual change of one kind into another kind is impossible.
Chapter 5: Interpreting the Fossil Record
I am going to link articles that explain these misconceptions in well-articulated ways.
Although Ptolemy’s predictions of planetary motion were reasonably accurate, a number of astronomers discovered problems with the theories on which his calculations were based. The Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus [nˆkæè¶lÄÆès k¢¶pûrÆnè¶kès: 1473–1543] solved these problems by proposing a heliocentric (“sun- centered”) system, in which Earth is a planet and all the planets orbit the sun; in this system, only the moon or- bits the earth.
Chapter 9: The Heavens
Information on Copernicus. I encourage you to read about Copernicus and his issues with the church over his findings.
More details.
Copernicus’s theory was further supported by the work of Johannes Kepler a godly Lutheran whose goal was to find the “mathematical harmonies in the mind of the Creator.” Kepler was an assistant to the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe [bräÆhè], who was an excellent observer of the heavens and kept very accurate records of his observations. Kepler used Brahe’s observations and accurate charts of the heavenly bodies to help prove Copernicus’s heliocentric ideas.
Chapter 9: The Heavens
Well, why we are fact-checking, for fun. Did Kepler kill Brahe?
It is known that Brahe and Kepler did have disputes over work. While Kepler did believe in God, there is no evidence of him being a creationist to the extent the authors are implying.
Astronomers who believe in special creation see God’s power and design in all of the solar system’s wonders, while astronomers who believe in evolution have trouble understanding how the solar system came into existence.
Chapter 9: The Heavens
Who is an astronomer that denies the well-accepted theories of astronomy? I haven’t found who has published in the astronomy data base. A search through the literature, I cannot find a publication or study that agrees with the authors.
A career in astronomy (or physics) requires a deep understanding of science, see here.
Because no one saw the solar system being created, God’s Word has to be trusted; Hebrews 11:3 states, “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”
Evolutionary astronomers have tried to find other ways to describe how the solar system came together. One generally accepted idea is the nebular hypothesis.
Chapter 9: The Heavens
I don’t think any astronomer has ever described themselves as “evolutionary astronomers.
According to this idea, the solar system began forming 4.6 billion years ago when a massive cloud of gas and dust began collapsing inward and rotating. As the cloud collapsed, most of its material gathered in the center (which would later become the sun). The rest of the material flattened out like a disk around the center; because this material would supposedly form the planets, it is called the protoplanetary [: “first planet”] disk.
`Chapter 9: The Heavens
The authors have glanced over topics as complex as the Big Bang Theory, planet formation, sustaining life, history of astronomy in a matter of a few pages. You cannot describe any of this material in such a condensed version.
How old is the solar system? 4.6 Billion Years Old.
How old is the Universe? 13.7 Billion Years Old
What are accretion disks? See here.
What is Galaxy Formation? See here
Although the nebular hypothesis may sound scientific, it cannot be proven scientifically. No one saw it happen, and scientific experiments cannot test it. Evolutionary astrono- mers prefer this hypothesis because it avoids the need for a Creator, even though they realize that this idea does not adequately explain everything they see in the solar system. For example, many planets and moons do not act as though they came from the same rotat- ing cloud of material, and most comets could not have “lived” long enough to have formed in the hypothetical cloud; astronomers often have to construct individual explanations for why these bodies exist.
Chapter 9: The Heavens
A lot of astronomers hold different religious beliefs. Religion is rarely discussed in terms of research meetings. It is a matter of reporting on the observed data from telescopes.
Now, observational astronomy works with ground based telescopes or space telescopes. Here is some information on astronomy that might be of interest.
- Observational astronomy
- Star Forming Galaxies
- More Star Forming Galaxies
- Milky-Way like Galxies in Early Universe
The most basic unit of time is the day. The Bible tells us that after God had created space, the earth, and light, and divided the light from the darkness, “the evening and the morning were the first day” (Gen. 1:5). We determine the length of a day by analyzing the apparent motion of heavenly bodies. The measured rate of Earth’s rotation will vary depending on which heavenly bodies one uses to measure the day.
Chapter 10: Man and the Universe
They claim that the Bible operates in terms of Earth days, but on the first day there was light (stars) and darkness. Now, the definition of day is tricky because there are different days depending on which planet you are referencing. See this article.
There are four main kinds of time, depending on how a day is measured: sidereal time, apparent solar time, mean solar time, and standard solar time.
Chapter 10: Man and the Universe
For more details of the different times used on Earth, see this article. What the authors state is a bit misleading, “kinds of time.” There are not different types of time. Time is a fundamental quantity. Time has different frames of reference.
There are two main types of rockets used to get spacecraft into space. Solid- fuel rockets, also called rocket motors, have been used since the 1200s to launch fire- works and small military rockets. Rocket motors use a fuel that is packed together into a solid mass.
Chapter 10: Man and the Universe
Modern rocketry came into place in the 1900s.
Yes, they used a simpler rocket in the 1200s. However, this phrase is misleading. By saying “rocket motors” were used by the Chinese, the reader has the mental image of modern rocket motors. There needs to be clarification.NASA has a great article describing the early “rocket like” devices from Chinese fireworks to the Hero engine.
For some other interesting topics of Rocketry.
Now, the US and Russia have accelerated the innovation of space travel. In the Cold War, the US and Russia were in a “Space Race.” Now, Russians and Americans work together on projects such as the International Space Station– see here
In 2004, President George W. Bush announced that the United States would begin a new space exploration program that would send astronauts to the moon again, in the hopes of eventually traveling to Mars and other parts of the solar system. To fulfill that mission, NASA designed its Constellation Program, which involves creating new spacecraft and launch vehicles, including several that will require a number of years to design, build, and test.
Chapter 10: Man and the Universe
For a curriculum that the textbook was printed in 2017, this information is very out of date. Please read about the Constellation Program.
Do they not check yearly to see if their information is still current? This is irresponsible of the authors.
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