ABSTRACTS
CRS Update
As many of you may know, there is no CRS conference in 2023 because the International Conference on Creationism (ICC) is taking place this year. The CRS conference primarily presents research in-progress as preparation for later publication, including presentation at the ICC. This summer at the ICC, there will be many completed research projects presented from a wide variety of creation science fields. CRS members are encouraged to attend. The CRS will have a vendor booth at the ICC and a reception one evening during the conference, with the exact date still to be determined. Stay tuned for that.
The next CRS conference will be held on July 25-27, 2024 at the Ark Encounter in Williamstown, Kentucky. The CRS has a block of rooms reserved at the new Hampton Inn immediately adjacent to the Ark for conference attendees, and there are many other accommodations available in the area as well. Reservations will be open for those reserved rooms as early as this August. The CRS conference will be followed by an optional Sunday afternoon fieldtrip led by Danny Faulkner to explore the beautiful arches of the Red River Gorge
The new editor of Creation Matters is Lindsay Harold. Lindsay has been interested in creation science since the age of 14 when her family attended an Answers in Genesis conference. There, she was excited to learn that there are scientific answers to the many questions she had about evolution and the age of the Earth. Her interest in creation fueled a life-long love of science, and after finishing her master’s degree in biology, she went on to teach several courses in that field at the community college level. However, she learned the hard way that asking questions about origins is not always welcomed in academic circles when she lost her spot in a PhD biology program over her views. Lindsay and her husband Doug met at the first CRS conference in 2009. They have been married nearly 13 years and have 5 children. Lindsay is currently a homeschool mom as well as a writer. Her book The Bible and Science on Gender, Sex, and Marriage, written with her co-author Dan Biddle, was published by Genesis Apologetics in 2022. She also blogs occasionally on a variety of Biblical worldview topics at lindsayharold.com.
Research continues in the CRS, with this year’s deadline for research grants just reached on April 30. The society is already taking applications for next year’s funding. Grants are available for a wide variety of creation-related research projects across many fields of science. Application forms and instructions for submission are available on our website at creationresearch.org. We also need donors to help with research funding. Your generosity makes a big difference.
The iDINO project is moving forward with experiments on collagen decay using alligator bones. We are being aided in obtaining suitable bone specimens by an organization called EEARSS (Environmental Education Awareness Research Support and Services). Their website can be reached at EEARSS.org.
The CRS continues to need a lab director/ COO for the Van Andel Research Center. Please pray that a suitable candidate will be found soon
The annual board meeting for the CRS is being held June 1-3, 2023 at the CRS headquarters in Glendale, AZ. Prayers are appreciated for wisdom on upcoming decisions and for safe travel for all the board members.
Modern Genetics vs. Outdated Darwinism
by Robert Carter, PhD
Biology is a lot more complicated than anyone thought, but Darwinism was developed at a time when we knew so little about living things that scientists were free to speculate wildly. In one sense, Darwinism depends on life being simple. Yet, as we learn more and more about life, we see the opposite is true. What follows is a discussion of two different but related topics that have grave implications for evolutionary speculations: the fall of the Weismann Barrier and the ubiquity of RNA in the cell. This will be just a sketch, however. For more information, see my new book Biblical Biology 101 and the second edition of Evolution’s Achilles’ Heels, both of which will be available on creation.com by the end of the year
The Hubble Constant
by Don DeYoung, PhD
During the 1920s, astronomer Edwin Hubble (1889-1953) and colleagues made a profound discovery. California’s 100-inch Hooker telescope on Mount Wilson, then largest in the world, revealed vast star systems at great distances. It was realized that the universe was filled with distant galaxies and much larger than previously known.
Light from the remote galaxies also indicated an outward motion with recessional velocity proportional to distance. That is, the greater the distance, the greater the outward expansion of the deep space galaxies.
Summaries of Cutting-Edge Research from the Creation Research Society Quarterly
by Jean K. Lightner, DVM, MS
It is crucial for creation research to investigate the world around us while engaging the current scientific literature and Scripture as we build the creation model in various scientific fields. CRS exists to support and publish such research. Only through high-quality research can we equip Christians with strong, sound apologetic arguments that demonstrate the robustness of the creation model in understanding the world around us.
Exploring Relationships Among Primates
An important aspect of creation biology is understanding how plants and animals are (or are not) related. Previously in the Creation Research Society Quarterly (CRSQ), the gene content method (GCM) has been used to help answer these questions. This compares the proteins produced by different species and groups these species by similarity. Using this method, Lightner and Cserhati (2019) demonstrated that humans are profoundly different from other primates, as well as other mammals and birds, based on the proteins we produce.
The Heat Problem of Accelerated Decay
Based on radiometric dating, secular scientists claim many rocks are much older than biblical history would allow. Accelerated decay of radioisotopes has been proposed by creation researchers to account for the patterns observed. While many lines of evidence support the idea of accelerated decay, there are still unanswered questions. One is where did all the heat generated by this rapid decay go? (Snelling, 2005)
Defending the Christian Worldview with Evidence
by Lindsay Harold, MAT
Skeptics of Christianity commonly mock the resurrection of Jesus as impossible and ridiculous. It is wellknown and established by countless observations that no living thing can come back to life, they say. Christians actually agree with this if we are speaking of natural causes. However, the Christian claim is not that Jesus rose from the dead by natural causes but by the supernatural power of God. It was a miracle designed to demonstrate who He is.
On the flip side, atheists are forced to believe in abiogenesis in which the first life was spontaneously generated through natural processes. If there is no God to create life, then it must have occurred naturally. Even those who suggest aliens seeded life on Earth have only pushed the origin of life back further and to another location. The original life would still have to arise by natural processes if atheism is true. In order to support this naturalistic viewpoint, there have been many attempts to explain how life can arise spontaneously, none of which has proven fruitful. Yet if there is no God, life must be capable of arising through natural processes because we are here.