Todd's Blog

You probably already heard about the big announcement from Origins 2020, if you follow social media at all.  This year, after much prayer and hope for decades, we have a Creation Theology Society as a sister society to the Creation Geology Society and the Creation Biology Society.  The new CTS president Jeremy Lyon announced the society on the first day of the conference, and the response was very, very positive. We creationists live in a world of constant integration between scripture and science, and most of us do the scripture part as near total amateurs.  I've tried to interact with theologians over the years, with varying levels of success.  What I often find is that the theologians get distracted with deeper questions than the more superficial things I want to know.  Alternatively, they're content refuting someone like John Walton but leave aside many challenging questions.  So I am delighted we have a nucleus of theologians committed to working towar...

The weirdness of 2020 continued last week with our first Origins conference conducted entirely online.  It was my first time in 20 years that I didn't travel somewhere and meet up with people for this conference, but this was a pretty decent facsimile all things considered.  I need to pause here and give a gigantic thank you to CBS president Matt McLain and his army of students who pulled this thing off in basically a month.  We were scrambling to get everything edited and recruit speakers, and frankly, it turned out well.  It was far and away the biggest attendance we've ever had at an Origins conference!  I was very encouraged by the whole thing, even though I missed the personal time hanging out and talking about anything and everything. The format was pretty simple.  There was a regular schedule of pre-recorded lectures that was punctuated by meetings and Q&A sessions conducted on Zoom.  So we'd meet in the morning on Zoom (usually about 40-50%...

Remember that you have one week from Sunday to turn in your abstracts for the Origins 2012 conference . We should have ticketing information available very soon (maybe next week). Feedback? Email me at toddcharleswood [at] gmail [dot] com.

Just a quick reminder that the deadline to submit biology and geology abstracts to the annual conference of the Creation Biology Society and Creation Geology Society is less than three weeks away on April 1 .  See the full call for abstracts here: 2012 Call for Abstracts Feedback? Email me at toddcharleswood [at] gmail [dot] com.

Times are changing, and so is the Creation Biology Society. Recently, our long-time treasurer Tim Brophy resigned his position to pursue other callings in his personal life. At the same time, our long-time editor Roger Sanders has taken on additional responsibilities at Bryan College, and he was also looking for relief from his editorial duties. As a result, the Executive Council of the Creation Biology Society elected Roger as the new treasurer and Joe Francis of The Master's College as executive editor. Roger served faithfully as our editor for ten years, and we definitely want to thank him for his service to the CBS. Remember also that abstracts for Origins 2012, to be held on the campus of Patrick Henry College, are due April 1, 2012. Godspeed to Joe Francis, who will be overseeing the editing of all of these abstracts this year! Call for Abstracts Feedback? Email me at toddcharleswood [at] gmail [dot] com.

Origins 2012, the annual joint conference of the Creation Biology Society and the Creation Geology Society, will be held at Patrick Henry College in Purcellville, VA on July 25-28, 2012.  The CBS and CGS invite abstract submissions for Origins 2012. We seek submissions relevant to the life and earth sciences and the issue of origins.  Submissions must offer positive, constructive interpretations or criticisms.  Abstracts that are primarily negative or destructive in tone will not be accepted.  All abstracts will be reviewed by an editor and at least one other specialist.  Submissions will be judged on scientific merit, adherence to the guidelines, and relevance to creationism. Abstracts are due  April 1, 2012 For complete information, check the Origins 2012 call for abstracts . Feedback? Email me at toddcharleswood [at] gmail [dot] com.

On February 18, 2012, I'll be speaking at The Master's College in California on the subject of "Biology and the Flood." This is part of their annual creation science symposium. This year's symposium features Steve Boyd of Master's, Andrew Snelling of AIG, and me. The afternoon technical session and workshop where I'll be speaking is open to the public for a registration fee of $35, which includes dinner with the speakers. The evening session that features just Boyd and Snelling is free. For more information, click the link below: Master's College Creation Science Symposium Feedback? Email me at toddcharleswood [at] gmail [dot] com.

I was wondering if there was even going to be a seventh ICC, but apparently there is. I just got the call for abstracts from a colleague in California: High quality papers for the Seventh International Conference on Creationism ( ICC ), August 4-7, 2013, Pittsburgh, PA are now invited for submission. In continuation of the Sixth ICC, the theme of the Seventh ICC is again Developing and Systematizing the Creation Model of Origins , making the Seventh ICC also a "working" conference. The interested author should write a minimum 1000-2000 word Summary of his/her paper as a Microsoft Word document, categorize it according to the Area/Sub-Area classification below, and submit a copy no later than 31 January 2012 as an attached file to an email to the Editorial Board Chairman ( icctechnicalreview@creationicc.org ). Early submission is highly recommended. Wow. Two months to come up with abstracts. That's not a lot of time. I hope they get a decent turnout. Read all the...

Just a brief note this morning to alert you to the podcasts of the conference available at the Bryan website. On Friday, we heard 30 minute basic presentations of each speaker's position, followed by a concluding panel discussion: Opening and Richard Averbeck opening comments Todd Beall opening comments Jack Collins opening comments Tremper Longman opening comments John Walton opening comments Friday night panel discussion On Saturday, there were issue-focused panel discussions Saturday Session One - Literary Context of Genesis 1 and 2 Saturday Session Two, Historical Adam and Eve Saturday Session Three, New Testament Interpretation of Genesis1 and 2 Feedback? Email me at toddcharleswood [at] gmail [dot] com.

Sorry about the delay in posting this final report from the recent symposium on Genesis , sponsored by the Bryan Institute for Critical Thought and Practice. Immediately after the symposium, I came down with a nasty cold, and that knocked me out for at least a week. But enough excuses, what did I really think about the symposium? (For those catching up, here are parts one , two , and three of my report.) Did I learn anything? I was asked this question as soon as the symposium was finished, and now that I've given it a lot of thought, I'd have to say that I didn't learn very much. I was familiar with Walton's and Collins's positions from their books, and there weren't very many surprises there. I wasn't a bit surprised by any of the arguments put forward by Beall or Averbeck. The only mild surprise I had was from Longman. OK, "mild surprise" is putting it mildly. I was actually kind of flabbergasted that anyone would give any credibili...

For those just joining, I'm continuing my summary of the recent Reading Genesis symposium sponsored by the Bryan Institute and held at the Chattanooga Convention Center. On the first day (Friday), each of the five speakers was allowed to give a 30 minute presentation of his position on the interpretation of Genesis 1-2. On Saturday, the presentations were thematically oriented, with panel discussions on the subjects of Ancient Near Eastern (ANE) influences on Genesis, the historicity of Adam and Eve, and the New Testament use of the creation account. The Friday sessions were very well attended, probably the best attended of any of the many Bryan Institute symposia . We estimated as many as 500 people in attendance, including some 150 Bryan students. Attendance on Saturday was a bit sparser but still quite good. All of the speakers emphasized that the ANE literature and myth was really important for understanding the Old Testament, but that the relationship was not simply o...

It occurred to me this morning that it might be really helpful if I just gave a brief overview of the recent Genesis symposium before launching into more detailed responses. So here goes: The conference opened on Friday evening with 30 minute sessions from each of five speakers, wherein they were to present their own views of Genesis 1-2. We opened with Richard Averbeck from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. His was the most unsettled and uncertain position. He emphasized that there really are good reasons for taking the text of Genesis 1 as a record of a real week, but there are also good reasons to suspect that there might be something more symbolic going on in the text. He affirmed that Genesis 1 speaks of the real creation of things that did not exist before," and he affirmed the physical consequences of the Fall. Next was Todd Beall of Capital Bible Seminary . Beall emphasized his desire for a consistent hermeneutic to be applied to the entirety of Genesis. To...

Right after the Genesis symposium this past weekend, I came down with a nasty cold, which prevented me from blogging much of a response. I'm feeling a little more coherent today (but not much), so I'll shoot off a few comments here and probably continue my reactions in followup posts. As you might imagine (or maybe you've had the same thoughts), Bryan took some flak for hosting this conference. Some took the speaker roster as an official college endorsement of their positions (which it wasn't). Some felt the speakers were too biased in favor of promoting a non-literal Genesis 1, which if you think about it, doesn't make a lot of sense since having more young-age creationists would have just made for repetition of talks ("I take Genesis 1 as literal history," "So do I!" "So do I!"). Others were concerned that our students and maybe the public are just not discerning enough to be able to listen to differing views. I sympathize with...

This weekend is the big Bryan Institute symposium on Genesis at the Chattanooga Convention Center. I will be there, and I will likely (very likely) post some thoughts either during or after the event. Yesterday, I was talking with one of our Bible professors here at Bryan (not a speaker), and we both hope that this "conversation" really does transcend the battle lines of the propaganda war and become an actual conversation. Since most of the speakers have taken one side or another, I'm not sure how it will turn out. Will it be an edifying and enlightening weekend or a biblical re-enactment of the larger creation/evolution debate? However it turns out, I wouldn't miss it, and I hope you won't either. Details on the schedule can be found here , and information on directions, parking etc. are here . There is a small cost for the events (which includes Saturday lunch), and you can register at the door. Feedback? Email me at toddcharleswood [at] gmail [dot]...

On the final day of Origins 2011, we tried something new: a conference specifically designed for the general public. I think it went well, and we learned a lot of things that will hopefully improve next year's conference tremendously. The final panel discussion on Already Compromised was especially intriguing and eye-opening. I think folks experienced a bit of discomfort with the revelation that most Christian colleges (even the creationist ones) teach about evolution. We don't teach that evolution is true, of course, but we definitely teach information about evolution so that our students will be prepared when they encounter it after graduation. Here's a few images from our final days in South Dakota: Joe Francis talking about microbes (one of his favorite topics): Some of the posters presented at the conference: Paul Garner at Mt. Rushmore (or a reasonable facsimile thereof at the Reptile Gardens ): Feedback? Email me at toddcharleswood [at] gmail [do...

The second day of the Origins 2011 conference was dedicated to the technical geology presentations. We got an update on the Coconino sandstone project from John Whitmore, and we had a lively session on the Flood/post-Flood boundary. Since we had a few talks cancelled, we decided to use the extra time to tour the Museum of Geology at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. We closed the day with John Morris's reflections on The Genesis Flood . That was a great opportunity to recall the importance of the book, and we learned that Walter Lammerts was tough to sit next to in the car. Who knew? At our business meeting, we voted in a new member of the Executive Council of the Creation Biology Society: Tom Hennigan. Welcome, Tom! We also announced next year's conference venue, Patrick Henry College in Purcellville, VA. We've got one more day of the conference, beginning with my plenary on "Frontiers in Creation Biology." Feedback? Email me at to...

The first day of Origins 2011 was a great success! The technical talks sparked a lot of interesting discussion and debate, and Art Chadwick's plenary on his dinosaur dig at the Hanson Research Station was well received. The crowd was also one of our biggest. Of special interest to me was Lantzer and Daniels's survey of Christian high school biology textbooks. They argued (shockingly) that when discussing origins (i.e. creation/evolution), Christian texts spend too much time on apologetics rather than science. Remedy? Talk more about science. What a brilliant idea. I'm looking forward to seeing their full paper. Feedback? Email me at toddcharleswood [at] gmail [dot] com.

I went on my first geology field trip today, which was fascinating. Perhaps more culturally fascinating to me than scientifically fascinating, but I still enjoyed myself. (I admit that a lot of the geological detail was over my head.) Here we are at an outcropping of the "Great Unconformity:" Speaking as a biologist, I thought the Unconformity was pretty good. I don't know about "great," but that's probably because I haven't seen it across most of the continental United States, which I guess would make it pretty great. Steve Austin interpreted the Great Unconformity in the Grand Canyon as the onset of the Flood, where the initial Flood waters eroded off the existing rocks from the pre-Flood world. Meanwhile, the conference abstracts are available at the JCTS website , along with a short editorial from Tim Clarey on the launch of JCTS Series C: Earth Science . Creation Biology Society 2011 Abstracts Creation Geology Society 2011 Editorial an...

Despite an unscheduled 24-hour layover in Chicago, I have safely arrived in Rapid City for Origins 2011. It's a little overcast, but otherwise fairly pleasant. In about two hours, I will head off to the Black Hills to look at rocks with a bunch of geologists, which I think will be more fun than it sounds. Check back later for a brief rundown of the field trip, and then tomorrow we start the conference. Feedback? Email me at toddcharleswood [at] gmail [dot] com.

The full schedule for Origins 2011 is now available at the CBS website . Registration information is here . Feedback? Email me at toddcharleswood [at] gmail [dot] com.