On this website, Deborah and Loren Haarsma offer several dozen short articles that expand on topics covered in their book Origins: A Reformed Look at Creation, Design, & Evolution by Deborah and Loren Haarsma. In this book, the authors evaluate the competing ways in which Christians understand creation, design, and evolution. The book shows how both God’s Word and God’s world should be honored in coming to a responsible understanding of how God created the universe and our world. It offers help for thoughtful Christians who are seeking to resolve their differences and come to a deeper, more biblical understanding of origins.
> To purchase a copy of Origins, click here.
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To download a flyer (.pdf, 2 pp., 1.37 MB) for Origins, click here.
> To read a sample chapter (.pdf, 30 pp., 0.77 MB) of Origins, click here.
> For a list of additional resources on these topics (other books, articles and websites), click here.
Chapter 1: God’s Word and God’s World
Chapter 2: Worldviews and Science
Scientists of Faith – Quotes from scientists through the centuries who believed in God and saw their belief as completely compatible with their scientific work
How Does God Keep Planetary Orbits Stable? – A case study from the early days of science on how God governs natural events
God’s Governance: Two Views – Does God directly control each random event, or does God let created systems explore options within bounds that God sets?
Chapter 3: Science: A Process for Studying God’s World
K-T Boundary Investigation – A real-life example of historical science in which scientists discover that an asteroid hit the Earth 65 million years ago
Chapter 4: God’s Word and God’s World in Conflict?
Five Different Worldview Interpretations of One Scientific Result – Different philosophical responses to the scientific result that biochemistry can explain the characteristics of living creatures without the need of a “vital substance”
The Reliability of Theories – How scientists used the word “theory” to mean more than “just a theory.”
Gravity and General Relativity – An example of a new scientific model replacing an old one
Motions of the Earth Through Space – You’re moving rapidly right now even though you can’t feel it!
Parallax and Its Role in the Heliocentric/Geocentric Debate – Parallax is one way to measure Earth’s orbit around the Sun.
The Phases of Venus – Evidence against the earth-centered solar system model
John Calvin on the Greater and Lesser Lights – Does Genesis 1:14-16 contradict the discovery that Saturn is larger than the Moon?
Excerpts from Galileo’s Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina: Concerning the Use of Biblical Quotations in Matters of Science (1615)
Chapter 5: Genesis: Concordist Interpretations
Making “Rocks” from Crayons – A fun activity that you can try at home to illustrate how different types of rocks are formed
Centuries of Geological Evidence for an Old Earth – A short summary of evidence known before 1840 that convinced geologists that the earth is old
Radiometric Dating – An explanation of how scientists use radioactive decay to measure the age of the earth
Young Earth Creationist Views on Continental Drift and Radioactive Dating – A description of some Young Earth Creationist models and the difficulties they face
The Ocean Salt Argument for a Young Earth – An example of a scientific argument used by the creation science community to argue for a young earth
Chapter 6: Genesis: Non-concordist Interpretations
Genesis 1:6-8 from Five English Translations – The creation of the firmament on the second day
Ancient Near East Cosmology in the Bible – A list of many other Bible passages that refer to a firmament, waters above the sky, and a flat earth supported by pillars
Chapter 7: An Ancient and Dynamic Universe
The Life Cycle of Stars – A scientific explanation of how stars and planets are born
Water on Mars? – What robotic rovers on the Martian surface are teaching us about the history of Mars
A Detailed False History? – The wide variety and detail of evidence for a long history of the universe challenges the Appearance of Age Interpretation of Genesis 1
Does the Big Bang Prove That God Exists? – Analysis of a philosophical argument for God based on the scientific evidence for a beginning to the universe
A Brief History of the Universe Spun Three Ways – The same scientific model described in religiously neutral language, with an atheistic spin, and with a theistic spin
Chapter 8: Competing Views on Evolution
The Microevolution of Peppered Moths – A frequently-cited example of microevolution
Is Evolution Ugly or Beautiful? – Some see evolution as an ugly system of competition and death; others see it as a beautiful system of adaptation and intricacy
Darwin and Floating Plant Seeds – An example of a news reporter equating the science of evolution with the atheistic worldview of evolutionism
Chapter 9: Evidence for Plant and Animal Evolution
Whales—Land or Sea Creatures? – Evidence for evolution from transitional whale fossils
Biogeography of Fossils – Another type of evidence for evolution, from the way fossils are distributed geographically
Developmental Biology in Whales as Evidence for Evolution –Yet another type of evidence for evolution, this time from developmental biology
Genetic Diversity Within Species – How scientists use the variety of genes within a single species to determine its history and ancestry
Genetic Evidence for Evolution – Three examples of genetic evidence for evolution: the organization of genomes, sweet receptor pseudogenes, and sections of genes called introns
Questions Sometimes Asked About the Theory of Evolution
1. If the theory of evolution is correct, shouldn’t we see animals that are half-cat/half-dogs alive today?
2. The second law of thermodynamics says that entropy (disorder) is always increasing. Doesn’t this contradict the theory of evolution, which says that the orderliness and complexity of living organisms are increasing over time?
3. Doesn’t evolution predict that changes in lifeforms should be gradual? Aren’t there big gaps in the fossil record where new lifeforms suddenly appear?
4. Can evolution really produce big changes, like changing fish into reptiles or reptiles into birds?
5. The first lifeforms were simple and single-celled, but modern life is more complex. Can evolution explain how life got more complex over time?
6. Can evolution explain how life got started in the first place?
Chapter 10: Intelligent Design
Does The Scientific Evidence of Fine Tuning Prove the Existence of God? – A philosophical argument for God based on the scientific evidence for fine-tuning
Probability, Pattern, and Design – An everyday example of how probability and pattern are used to detect design
Is the Evolution of Complexity Improbable? – Evolution is often oversimplified in textbooks and the media, but the actual process of evolution appears capable of producing complexity in at least some situations.
Ion Channels: An Example of How Complexity Could Evolve – An example from nerve cells
The Very First Living Cell – What is the probability that the first living cell on earth self-assembled? How do both supporters and critics of Intelligent Design view this issue?
Kenosis and Evolution – God’s manner of governing the natural world has interesting similarities with how God relates to humanity.
Chapter 11: Scientific and Theological Issues on Human Origins
Human Genomic Organization and Introns – Genetic evidence that humans share a common ancestor with primates
Genetic Adam and Mitochondrial Eve – An explanation of these scientific terms, and an explanation of why they do not imply that all humans descended from only two individuals
Three Interpretations of the Tree of Life – Different theological interpretations of what the Tree of Life in Genesis 2-3 is meant to teach us about human immortality
Chapter 12: Adam and Eve
Human Genomic Organization and Introns – Genetic evidence that humans share a common ancestor with primates
Chapter 13: But What About . . . ?
The Next Hot Issue – Some advice for dealing with issues (besides origins) where science and Christianity intersect
Questions Christians Ask Regarding Interpreting Scripture
1. Since the Bible tells us how God made the world, why do we need to listen to science?
2. Haven’t Christians always believed in a young earth and a six-day creation?
3. Is it ever appropriate to change one’s interpretation of Scripture to match science?
4. Isn’t a non-literal interpretation of Genesis 1 just a slippery slope to denying the resurrection?
5. If Genesis 1 should be understood literally, what is the “firmament” created on day two?
6. Why didn’t God just tell us about the Big Bang and evolution in Genesis?
7. Is it better if we can make the events of Genesis 1 line up with what science says, or if the message of Genesis 1 is independent of what science says?
Questions Christians Ask Regarding Interpreting Nature
8. How strong is the evidence for an old earth? For evolution?
9. Are the Big Bang and evolution just beliefs promoted by atheists to get around God?
10. Are scientists biased against religion and against God?
11. How can scientists be sure about the Big Bang and evolution if no one was there to see them?
12. Is there any scientific evidence for a young earth?
13. Could God have created the earth recently and made it appear old?
14. Can the scientific evidence for an old earth also be made to fit a young earth model?
Questions Christians Ask Regarding the Goodness and Fall of Creation
15. An old earth would mean millions of years of animal pain and species extinction. Didn’t God create the world perfect at the beginning?
16. How could God call creation good if it included destruction, pain, and extinction?
17. Does evolution reward selfishness?
18. Did death exist before the Fall?
19. Does a non-literal view of Adam and Eve deny important doctrines about original sin and salvation?
Questions Christians Ask Regarding How God Works in Nature
20. Why would God use such a long, slow process when he could have created everything instantly?
21. How could it have all happened by chance?
22. If evolution is true, doesn’t God seem weak and uninvolved?
23. Does evolution imply that God doesn’t do miracles?
24. Shouldn’t there be some sort of proof in nature that God created it?
25. Would humans be less significant if God created us through common ancestry with animals rather than through special miracles?
26. How do I worship God if God used slow natural processes instead of miracles to create each animal and plant?
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