Todd's Blog

Here's the final public lecture for the spring, 2018 series.  This one started out to be a standard human baraminology talk, then morphed into something else entirely.  I started thinking about the title I came up with, and then I started thinking about bias and how that can change what you think the actual data are.  So then this talk happened.  It's different, that's for sure. Feedback? Email me at toddcharleswood [at] gmail [dot] com. If you enjoyed this article, please consider a contribution to Core Academy of Science. Thank you.

Cranium model of Homo floresiensis  on display at the Smithsonian. A long time ago (2005 to be quite specific), Kurt Wise wrote an article wherein he argued for the full humanity of the recently-discovered "Hobbit" fossils in part because it was a seafarer.  Let's unpack what that means.  The famous "Hobbit" fossils were discovered on the island of Flores in Indonesia in a cave called Liang Bua.  The remains had similarities to Homo erectus  from the nearby island of Java, and recent attempts to date the fossils by conventional means put their age at 60,000-100,000 years old, with associated stone tools possibly as old as 190,000 years.  The exciting part is the location: Flores is an island that was never attached to the mainland.  Even in the past when sea levels were different, many islands of Indonesia were connected, but Flores remained isolated.  In this map, the light colors represent previously existing land masses when the sea lev...

Here's the latest video lecture from Core Academy. Feedback? Email me at toddcharleswood [at] gmail [dot] com. If you enjoyed this article, please consider a contribution to Core Academy of Science. Thank you.

Wow.  Last night, I went to see the new film The Riot and the Dance  featuring biologist Gordon Wilson from New St. Andrews College.  Gordon was a professor of mine when I was an undergrad at Liberty.  He taught me to appreciate plants, which was a big deal because at the time I thought plants were boring.  Boy was I wrong. Today, many years after my botany class, I saw Gordon on the big screen, and I'm struggling to express what I saw.  The movie was quintessential Gordon as he chased snakes and lizards and bugs and even a leech.  The movie was also so much bigger and so much deeper and so much more than I have experienced before.  This is Gordon's thought and ideas magnified and matured and frankly amazing.  This is biblical integration done well .  Finally. Within Christian academia there's a big concept going around called the  integration of faith and learning .  It's supposed to be about how we put our specialized...

The second public lecture from Core Academy of Science.  This is a variant of the talk I gave last summer at the Is Genesis History? conference, and I try to explain my take on the present and future of young-age creationism. Someday, I need to write this up as a book.  I think I'll call it Experiencing the Courageous, Purpose-Driven Quest of Jabez .  It's sure to be a best seller. Feedback? Email me at toddcharleswood [at] gmail [dot] com. If you enjoyed this article, please consider a contribution to Core Academy of Science. Thank you.

Core Academy of Science had a great time hosting our guests at the first Shenandoah Valley Creation Retreat!  We talked at length about the most basic issues of faith and science, and we had a great time discussing nearly every other topic in creationism.  It was a great time of fellowship and encouragement! Up next for us is our public lecture "Natural Evil" on March 27 at 7 pm at Core Academy (245 California Ave, Dayton, TN).  Then on the weekend of April 15, we have our annual Smoky Mountain Creation Retreat .  This year in the Smokies, we'll be considering the subject of biblical chronology.  We'd love to see you at one of these events! Feedback? Email me at toddcharleswood [at] gmail [dot] com. If you enjoyed this article, please consider a contribution to Core Academy of Science. Thank you.

I don't usually do this sort of thing, but... I just sat and watched a half hour of news coverage of the latest school shooting, and I am shaken. Seventeen people died in the fifth incident of 2018 in which a student or former student killed someone on high school property. If that wasn't bad enough, the latest headline on our local paper says, "Report: Man threatened shootout." Right here in little, old Dayton, Tennessee! As much as I'd like to pretend otherwise, we live in a dangerous world, and the danger is right here. And I can't just sit here and be sad again. I need to do something. So I'm asking today for money to help improve the security at our local Christian school, Rhea County Academy. This is not an official, sanctioned RCA fundraiser. I am doing this on my own. I am a part-time teacher there, and I am a concerned citizen of Rhea County. I do not want to see this sort of tragedy here. I watched an interview this morning of a teacher in ...