Upon spending time with Dr. Jonathan Sarfati
Tomorrow I get to (along with my wife) pick up the esteemed Dr. Sarfati from the airport and have a long drive with him, taking him to a very fine home on the lake owned by one of our elders, Harry and his wife Bonnie, to stay for the weekend. So I may not make a post this weekend at all, or I may be inspired to write a couple, who knows? This weekend is going to be a great deal of fun for us, that much is likely to be true!
Although I have spent time with many politicians both local and national and a few sports figures including a world champion boxer, I would rather hang out with Jonathan Sarfati than with Peyton Manning or Michael Jordan or Michelle Bachmann or Bobby Jindall. He is a megabrain and a very successful author and accomplished scientist who perhaps could have been chess champion of the world, but he chose science and especially creation science to make his mark on the world. Were he the chess champion of the world, he would be more famous and have more money. But what he does do is far more admirable and valuable. He has taken the road less traveled by...
Harry and I were coordinating the events for the weekend along with a few fellow creation enthusiasts so that Jonathan can make three presentations and then have a chess match against a few competitors at once during his weekend here. The team has apparently overcome any obstacles and we are ready to roll!
The following is one of Jonathan's "dialogue" posts, when he interacts with a commenter with the expressed permission of said commenter. I think it gives you a good feel for his style. Jonathan will be in black print and the commenter in blue.
Noah’s Ark never happened?
21 May 2001From Paul Miles, of England, who gave permission for his full name to be used. His letter is printed first in its entirety. Once more, the complete lack of substance of anti-creationist attacks is glaring. His letter is printed again, with point-by-point responses by Dr Jonathan Sarfati of Creation Ministries International, Australia, interspersed as per normal email fashion. Ellipses (…) at the end of one of Paul Miles’ paragraphs signal that a mid-sentence comment follows, not an omission.
“You know, in the civilised times we live in I find it quite unbelievable that there are still people around who doubt the theory of evolution. I believe that everyone should have the right to make up there [sic] own minds, but the arguments in [CMI] are ridiculous in the extreme.
“Dinosaurs couldn’t have existed because they wouldn’t all fit in Noahs [sic] Ark? PLEASE! The story of Noahs [sic] Ark never happened! It’s a parable; a story designed to represent a deeper meaning.
“Do you truly believe that dinosaurs are only six thousand years old? There is so much overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
“I have nothing against free speech, but being Christian DOES NOT make you more right or your statements any more valid than anyone else regardless of whether they believe in the bible. Understand that there is no evidence that ANYTHING in the bible is even true!
“Paul Miles
England”
You know, in the civilised times we live in I find it quite unbelievable that there are still people around who doubt the theory of evolution.I find it quite unbelievable that there are still people around who assert that the theory of evolution is proven fact in spite of the mountains of evidence against it and the lack of evidence for it. Please demonstrate that molecules can turn into magnolias and men; do not simply cite examples of trivial changes which add no new functional information. For more information, see our Q&A sections on information, mutations, natural selection and speciation.
Disproving spontaneous generation was one of the triumphs of science in the 1800s (by the creationist Louis Pasteur). But now it is again widely touted as ‘fact’, but renamed ‘chemical evolution’. See Q&A: Origin of Life for major scientific hurdles that non-living matter must jump to form even the simplest living cell
I believe that everyone should have the right to make up there [sic] own minds, but the arguments in [CMI] are ridiculous in the extreme.It’s not surprising that you should have this view. The Bible says that the Gospel is ‘foolishness to the Greeks [i.e. gentiles or unbelievers]’ — 1 Corinthians 1:23. When the Apostle Paul first tried to tell the people in Athens of the things of the Creator-God many thought he was crazy (Acts 17:16 ff.). The people in Athens had an anti–Creator-God world view. It is not surprising that someone steeped in the anti-God world-view of today, Evolution, also thinks that the things of God are ridiculous.
Dinosaurs couldn’t have existed because they wouldn’t all fit in Noahs [sic] Ark? PLEASE!PLEASE! Read what we actually teach if you want us to take you seriously as a critic of integrity. We have never denied that dinosaurs existed, as a cursory perusal of our website would have told you. See Q&A: Dinosaurs.
The story of Noahs [sic] Ark never happened!Can you prove this? There is ample evidence that it did happen—see Q&A: Noah’s Ark.
It’s a parable; …Can you demonstrate this by literary analysis, e.g. by comparing historical narrative with parabolic literature. As can be seen from the Gospel records of Jesus’ parables, parabolic literature is of the form: ‘there was a man with two sons’, ‘a farmer went out to sow his seed’, ‘suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one’ — note that the parables don’t name actual people, and they are clearly stated to be parables.
… a story designed to represent a deeper meaning.What exactly is this deeper meaning, if it never happened? I agree there is a deeper meaning, the one Jesus said in Luke 17:26–27, which is based on its historical reality: that God judged the sin of the world once, and will do so again.
Do you truly believe that dinosaurs are only six thousand years old?Of course. How else could red blood cells and hemoglobin survive in dinosaur bones, for example — see Sensational dinosaur blood report [and Still soft and stretchy about a later find of flexible dinosaur blood vessels]. I must also point out that if we believe that dinosaurs are a certain age, then logically we must believe that they existed — you’re not the first anti-creationist to make self-contradictory accusations.
There is so much overwhelming evidence to the contrary.Then you should have been able to provide some of this evidence. All facts concerning dinosaurs, as distinct from much story-telling, fit neatly with what the Bible says.
I have nothing against free speech, but being Christian DOES NOT make you more right or your statements any more valid than anyone else regardless of whether they believe in the bible.Well, if what we are saying was just our opinion, you are correct. However, the Bible is the Word of God, so if we are correctly telling you what it says, then our statements have authority over all other opinions (including our own!). This is the source of our confidence, not our own supposed cleverness.
Understand that there is no evidence that ANYTHING in the bible is even true!The Bible teaches that Adam was 130 years old when he fathered Seth, then lived another 800 years, then died at the age of 930. This shows the Bible is correct in arithmetical calculations, but if you deny that ANYTHING in the Bible is true, then I’d have to say that you need remedial instruction in arithmetic.
As is well documented in Q&A: Bible, the Bible’s reliability is amply corroborated by internal consistency, archaeology and fulfilled prophecy.
I encourage you to study what we actually say about the Flood, the Ark, and the evidence for the true history of the world, as revealed in the Bible. It seems that you have not done this before launching into your criticisms. The Bible says that those who have not received God’s forgiveness in Jesus Christ in this life will receive His condemnation in the judgment to come (e.g. John 3:16–18). If the Bible is what it claims to be, then you owe it to yourself to check these things out.
Paul Miles(Dr) Jonathan Sarfati
England
Research scientist, author and editorial consultant
CMI (Australia [now USA])
Recommended Resource
Noah’s Ark: Feasibility Study
The Bible plainly teaches that the Flood of Noah’s day covered the entire globe. But this raises serious questions. How could Noah and his family have cared for all the animals? What did the carnivorous animals eat during and after the Flood? This excellent and in-depth book presents satisfying answers to many more such questions.
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Tomorrow will be a great day! Sunday will be a great day! I will even enjoy the ride back to the airport with Dr. Sarfati, who is a very kind and gentlemanly person but quite firm on what he believes in metaphysically and scientifically. Will be trying hard to not ask him too many questions, as he will be preparing for his events. Dr. Sarfati presents evidence and keeps additional slides and movies to help with questions at the end of his events. So I will have to keep in mind that he needs some downtime.