Todd's Blog

The headlines on my newsfeed this morning are all excited about the newly announced Australopithecus deyiremeda , and some are hailing it as a "human ancestor."  I doubt that it's related to humans, but I think there's a much more interesting story that most of the news outlets won't pick up on. First of all, what was discovered?  Some jawbones and teeth (see above).  That might not seem very exciting, but these jawbones and teeth are really different from others that have been found from previously-known hominins.  They're different enough that the researchers feel justified in announcing a new species in an article in  Nature .  Looking at their graphs, the teeth definitely have a set of characteristics that is different from anything else we've seen before.  The authors think that constitutes a new species, but I'm uncomfortable making a firm baraminological judgment based only on jaws and teeth.  The authors did not include Au. sediba  in thei

Last week's post by Darrel Falk stirred up some very interesting reactions, and they were all over the map.  What makes them interesting is that I have the very same reactions in my head during our conversations.  Usually these reactions happen all at once, and that makes figuring out an actual response very challenging.  It's like I'm hearing ten voices all shouting different things at the same time.  So I was very gratified to see that you the reader have the very same reaction!  Thank you for validating my sanity. First, there was this reaction from Darrel himself: I should have given a title for my blog.  I really didn't want it to be perceived as one more essay on love.  I was hoping to make the point that for our conversation what we're doing  is about humility in the face of truth. When this exists love is the natural bi-product.  This, I think is the grounding for what Paul is doing in the I Cor. 13. I'm sorry about that, Darrel, but it is a good

Darrel Falk returns this week with a discussion of Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, and it's a very interesting read.  It's hard to argue with Paul, but I'm really curious about Darrel's application.  It sounds good, but since I almost never see it in practice, I'm wondering if he's on the right track.  I would love to hear your ideas.  You can email me at toddcharleswood at gmail dot com, or just pop over to the Core Academy Facebook page and leave a message there.  Thanks to Darrel for continuing the conversation. Todd expresses my own thinking wonderfully well, when he writes: It's easy to deal with problems by pretending the issue doesn't matter, but if it really didn't matter, then why is it a problem? Our postmodern society just wants us to deny that there's any truth content in religion at all. Supposedly, any religion is just as good as another, and whatever works for you is fine. I don't believe that either. Th

I've had some interesting feedback from my posts about my ongoing conversations with Darrel Falk ( part 1 and part 2 ). A lot of it has been supportive. Some people are curious and ask me things like, "How can Dr. Falk believe that?" Other readers have expressed concerns, via email, phone calls, and in person. All very nice, of course, but there's an undercurrent that somehow I'm doing something dangerous. I agree. I am definitely doing something dangerous. First of all, I run the risk of being persuaded. Our positions and why we hold them is the core of what we talk about. Any time you talk about that, you run the risk of changing your mind, but I would say there's just as much danger for Darrel as there is for me. And I'm really stubborn. Just ask my parents. A more imminent danger is being misunderstood, and this is the one that I'm far more concerned about. I'm especially concerned with what Proverbs would call "the simpl

Origins 2015, the annual conference of the Creation Biology Society and the Creation Geology Society, will be held on the campus of Truett-McConnell College in Cleveland, GA.  The conference will feature special presentations for the general public, technical talks for creationist researchers, and a field trip to Smithgall Woods Environmental Center.  This is an excellent occasion to meet and learn from prominent creationist researchers from around the country!  The conference begins with dinner on Wednesday evening and runs through the field trip on Saturday afternoon. All tickets include nine meals from Wednesday dinner to Saturday lunch.  Campus housing is available, but linens are not provided .  If you are flying and unable to bring your own linens, we may be able to provide some for you.  Email us for more information.  For those opting to stay off campus, we recommend the Best Western (706-878-2111) or the Country Inn & Suites (706-878-9000), both located in Helen, GA, ju

Core Academy sponsors an annual Science Day at Rhea County Academy, complete with a Rocket Car race, where the cars are powered by Diet Coke and Mentos.  Here's a video of this year's race.  It's worth a laugh! As promised, here is our Rocket Car race from Science Day at Rhea County Academy. Congratulations to Kayla and Courtney for their 108-foot winning run! That's a repeat win for Courtney. Will she make it three for three in 2016? I can't wait to find out!Core Academy's next big event is our Midsummer Celebration. Click below to check it out. Thanks! Posted by Core Academy of Science on Wednesday, May 6, 2015 Feedback? Email me at toddcharleswood [at] gmail [dot] com.

A reader emailed and asked me to summarize my thinking on human origins, complete with bibliography.  That sounded like a good blog post, so here it is. Let me begin by emphasizing context .  Constructing an alternate interpretation of the fossil and genetic evidence related to human origins requires a means of doing that.  That sounds obvious, but I think it's lost on a lot of people.  People just want to know what Neandertals are or what to do with the similarity of human and chimpanzee genomes.  Those sound like simple questions, but the possible explanations get pretty big pretty fast, and we need something to help narrow things down.  For example, a person's views on the age of the earth have a gigantic impact on interpretations of human origins.  As a young-age creationist, I put the Neandertals in the post-Flood, post-Babel period, but to an old-earth creationist, that interpretation might seem absurd, since it would require us to put Adam and Eve hundreds of thousan