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| View Larger Image | Origins of Life: Biblical and Evolutionary Models Face Off | Hardcoverby Fazale Rana (Author), Hugh Ross (Author)
| List Price: | $19.99 | | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
| | Binding: | Hardcover | | Publisher: | NavPress Publishing Group | | Edition: | 1stst Edition | | Page Count: | 256 Pages | | Publication Date: | April 01, 2004 | | Sales Rank: | 350,181th |
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
Two researchers reveal a testable creation model for life's earliest beginning that makes sense of the scientific evidence. |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 27 reviews)
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"Face Off" is a Hollow Mask by Gary S. Hurd (Dana Point, California)  1 Stars
September 19, 2009
Faced with mounting evidence in support of evolutionary biology coming from scientific fields from genetics to paleontology, the origin of life has become an obsession with creationists who assert that science's failure to create life de novo is "proof" of supernatural creation. The first book-length argument of this sort was published in 1984. Written by Charles B Thaxton, Walter L Bradley and Roger L Olsen, "The Mystery of Life's Origin" argued that there is a scientific "crisis" in origin-of-life research, the Miller-Urey experiment was actually a failure, the early earth was oxidized and thus incapable of supporting amino acid synthesis, scientists are "dogmatic materialists" and manipulate their experiments to produce their desired results, and the second law of thermodynamics requires that order cannot appear spontaneously. There is even the introduction of a language model of DNA coupled to an "information entropy" argument.
One of the goals of "Origins of Life: Biblical and Evolutionary Models Face Off," according to the introduction, is to update "The Mystery of Life's Origin." Fazale Rana has a chemistry PhD from Ohio State, and Hugh Ross has his PhD from the University of Toronto in astronomy. Together, they are leaders of Reasons to Believe (RTB), an old-earth creationist organization founded by Ross. Their strong arguments regarding the age of the earth are welcome antidotes to young-earth dogmas promoted by such outfits as Answers in Genesis. Rana and Ross are most certainly creationists, however, asserting that the biblical God actively intervenes in biology to "... create each and every new species of life on Earth"; in particular, "God supernaturally and miraculously created Adam from the 'dust of the earth' ..." ([...]). (See Numbers 1993 and Scott 2005 for a discussion of the various flavors of American creationism.)
The errors begin immediately. There are errors of fact, logic, and scholarship. There is a standard dose of quote mining mixed in as well. The creationists' current favorite scientists to quote-mine on the origin of life are Robert Shapiro (a creationist's favorite since his 1986 book), Peter Ward (paydirt from the 2000 book "Rare Earth" co-written with Donald Brownlee), and Hubert Yockey (possibly the mother lode, with half a dozen citations). "Origins of Life" also offers ample cheap innuendo that scientists lack integrity, are "desperate," and "... are keeping quiet ..." about the so-called research failures Rana and Ross claim to expose. All this before the end of chapter 1.
More importantly, the "RTB Model" predictions offered by Rana and Ross are not and cannot be differentiated from the predictions of modern origin-of-life research when they are testable at all. The creationist face of the subtitle's "face off" is a hollow mask. The proffered predictions from this "biblical model" appear on pages 43-4. Due to space restrictions, I will focus on the first three:
1. Life appeared early in Earth's history while the planet was still in its primordial state.
2. Life originated in and persisted through the hostile conditions of early Earth.
3. Life originated abruptly.
Predictions 1-3 are identical with those of origin-of-life research. From geochemistry, it is known that the chemical signatures of life are present in the earth's oldest sedimentary rock (Rosing 1999, which is actually cited by Rana and Ross). A decade earlier than Rana and Ross, and well before Rosing's confirmation, Antonio Lazcano and Stanley Miller predicted that life appeared in as little as 10 million years following the establishment of favorable conditions (Lazcano and Miller 1994, 1996). Part of the second RTB prediction is trivial -- life today began at some point and then persisted. The rest -- the notion that the early earth was particularly hostile to life -- is absurd. Modern life is found from alkaline to acidic conditions, from below freezing to near boiling temperatures, from harsh sunlight to total darkness, from alpine lakes and hyper-salty lagoons to the driest sands, in solid rock miles beneath the surface, and in forms dependent on molecular oxygen and in others destroyed by it.
The origin-of-life model offered by Rana and Ross fails to offer anything new. Logically it fails on two grounds. First, their biblical model slips in considerable scientific material without acknowledgment, and they then failed to present any evidence for those parts that are original. Second, they have offered a caricature of origin-of-life research in their so-called "naturalistic predictions." The greatest difference of course is that science never appeals to divine intervention to do the heavy lifting.
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Lab synthesis by Maximiliano Mendes (Brasilia - Brazil)  5 Stars
October 14, 2008
Lab synthesis: thats what these experiments on the origins of life are.
The authors show a lot of impossibilities plaguing the atheist origins of life hypotheses and how their research require an enourmous amount of design. Well, with design, even God can do it right?
Very good book, easy to read, easy to grasp. You may disagree about some theological stuff, but the purely scientific analysis is quite a bomb on the atheist head.
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Uses Research Gathered From The Scientific Community by Jorge Fernandez (Hialeah, FL USA) 5 Stars
September 03, 2008
If you are a Christian, this book will give you a solid base to argue for a Creator. If you are an Atheist, this book will make your preconception of how life began. I have not seen a reference in this book that the scientific community could honestly claim lacks credibility (NASA, The Journal Science, and Stanley Miller just to name a few). With this research, Hugh Ross and Fazale Rana succeed in casting doubt on all notable theories for the origin of life on this planet. Going one by one, they builds an exhaustive case against terrestrial and extra-terrestrial theories. From the requirements for the formation of nucleic acids to the probability of proteins originating naturalisticly to the problem of homochirality to the chicken and egg conundrum of ribosomes and protein, this book never fails to find flaws in current origin theory. This is must read for anyone interested in the subject of how life began.
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Origins of Life: Biblical and Evoluntionary Models Face Off by Ronald L. Stephens (Overland Park, KS)  2 Stars
May 21, 2007
Rana and Ross overwhelm us with a force of biochemical legerdemain; inundating the reader with biochemical reasons why currently acceptable theories of a natural origin for life on earth are impossible. After many pages of biochemical detail they end each chapter with a God card, inserting a "creator" as the only viable explanation for the origin of life. So if we don't yet have a biochemically acceptable explanation for a natural origin of life on earth, God must have done it. The basic error in reasoning by these two authors is to be found in the Latin phrase, argumentum ad ignorantium, which basically reminds the reader, and hopefully logical thinker, that simply not having a currently available biochemically proven explanation to the origin of life does not allow you to substitute a miracle. Historically, scientific gaps in our understanding of natural phenomenon are often filled with religious notions; it's no different for Rana and Ross. Ron Stephens
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A Good Overview of the Origin of Life Issue by Saint and Sinner (South Pole, Antarctica)  4 Stars
February 18, 2007
Positive:
a.) They point out that the presupposition of methodological naturalism limits possible explanations a priori, and thus, it begs the question under dispute.
b.) They show that life appeared on earth very early and suddenly.
c.) They show that the earth or anything extra-terrestrial would not have been able to create a primordial soup on earth much less sustain its existence. They also show from geologic evidence that the oceans of the early earth were "primordial soup"-less.
d.) They show that the minimum complexity for life to begin is so astounding that it might as well be impossible (i.e. far greater than all the probabilistic resources of the universe).
e.) They show that naturalistic origins couldn't have happened anywhere in our solar system or beyond.
Negative:
a.) Their exaltation (p.32) of the sanctity and objectivity of "science" and scientists is simply nauseating. The idea that scientists are objective seekers of truth who will change their view once the evidence is against them, firstly, goes against human nature and, secondly, goes against the doctrine of Original Sin. Scientists may think that they are seeking after the truth in an objective manner, and the empirical method may be perfect in theory. However, their human nature and spiritual state will determine their worldview which, in turn, determines the way in which they interpret the data. Their view of scientists (they being scientists themselves) is the typical, popular media image of infallible priests in white coats who have the right to pontificate on what is and is not truth (even though the empirical method can't logically take them that far). "Professing to be wise, they became fools..." (Romans 1:22).
b.) Related to a., they assume the philosophy of science called positivism, and as a result, they say that supernaturalists bear the burden of proof in demonstrating the existence of supernatural intervention. Of course, assuming positivism simply begs the question in favor of an autonomous/humanistic worldview. It also assumes the Aristotelian/Thomistic nature/grace dichotomy which is (unfortunately) so popular today. The Biblical worldview states that the existence of God is obvious to man (Romans 1:19-20), but man, due to original sin, has suppressed that clear truth (Romans 1:18, 21-22). As such, the Biblical philosophy of science should be to glorify God by taking dominion over the earth (i.e. instrumentalism), and so, it should start with the belief in Creation and not seek to derive it. [Also, see c. below.] A skeptic/"free-thinker"/know-it-all may respond by asserting that such thinking binds one down to dogmatism and is fideistic. However, such an assertion simply begs the question against the Christian doctrine of Original Sin (as pointed out above) and in favor of humanistic autonomy. "Free-thinker"-ism is no less dogmatic (bound down to presuppositions) than is Christianity.
c.) Similar to arguments from silence, God-of-the-gaps reasoning isn't always fallacious. If one starts with the belief that God created the world, then the consistent failure to explain the existence of life naturalistically is (to use scientific terminology) a predicted hypothesis. It is a confirmation of passages like Romans 1:21-22 and 1 Corinthians 1:18-31.
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SIMILAR PRODUCTS |
| Who Was Adam?: A Creation Model Approach to the Origin of Man
by Fazale Rana (Author), Hugh Ross (Author)
Scientists Fazale Rana and Hugh Ross introduce a testable scientific model for humanity's origin--a Biblical model--that sheds light on the latest findings on evolution and the origins of man.
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| Why the Universe Is the Way It Is
by Hugh Ross (Author)
Increasingly astronomers recognize that if the cosmos had not unfolded exactly as it did, humanity would not, could not, exist. Yet these researchers--along with countless ordinary folks--resist belief in the biblical Creator. Why? They say a loving God would have made a better home for us, one without trouble and tragedy. In Why the Universe Is the Way It Is, Hugh Ross draws from his depth of study in both science and Scripture to explain how the universe's design fulfills several distinct...
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| The Cell's Design: How Chemistry Reveals the Creator's Artistry
by Fazale Rana (Author)
Armed with cutting-edge techniques, biochemists have unwittingly uncovered startling molecular features inside the cell that compel only one possible conclusion--a supernatural agent must be responsible for life. Destined to be a landmark apologetic work, The Cell's Design explores the full scientific and theological impact of these discoveries. Instead of focusing on the inability of natural processes to generate life's chemical systems (as nearly all apologetics works do), Fazale Rana makes a...
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| Creation As Science: A Testable Model Approach to End the Creation/evolution Wars
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In this third component to the Reasons To Believe foundational series, Hugh Ross draws from the depths of his studies in both science and Scripture to show how creation and evolution intertwine.
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| Genesis One: A Scientific Perspective
by Hugh Ross Ph.D. (Author), Kathy Ross (Editor), Jonathan Price (Editor)
Astronomer Hugh Ross, who first read Genesis as a skeptic, offers a scientist's-eye view of the creation narrative -- one of the most hotly disputed portions of Scripture. From the big bang to the appearance of human beings, this booklet examines the sequence of creation events and how they align with science. Freshly updated for the 21st century, this booklet makes a great introduction to RTB's message.
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