Adelaide Chapter

Archive for the ‘Biblical Issues’ Category

The Bible describes events that have certain geographical implications. This results in some debate that require interpretations.

  • In 1858 when Antonio Snider-Pelligrini produced his global map of a super-continent he was mocked by scholars but his theory led to more helpful investigations.
  • When the Apostle Paul addressed the scholars in Athens he appealed to the claim that the true God was the creator of the world and who founded the early nations and their regions. What is the evidence for this claim outside the Bible?
  • Defining the route of Israel’s exodus from Egypt and their 40 years of wandering has many candidates. Are there some clues for the required logic?
  • Archaeology and topographic logic can be used to identify many of the sites of biblical Israel. Even today this topic causes passionate responses among scholars and politicians.
  • The New Testament describes key events in the life of Jesus. Where are some of the important locations?
  • The Apostle John was given a profound geographical description of the final destiny of the earth. Is it real or a surreal imagination?

Trevor’s talk is availale on YouTube.

Trevor Harris has an Honours degree in Architecture and a Masters degree in Urban and Regional Planning. He has practiced in these areas for 45 years. Twenty years ago he formed a company Key-line Christian Research dedicated to identifying and researching Bible sites and their history. This has included extensive field trips to the Middle East.

The strongest argument against the existence of a loving God is supposedly the problem of evil, but probably the second strongest argument is called the hiddenness of God. The argument is basically as follows:

If God wants us to believe in him, why doesn’t he make himself known more clearly and unambiguously? But He doesn’t. So, the most likely explanation is that he doesn’t show himself clearly because he doesn’t exist.

Paul claims that God’s ‘invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So, they are without excuse’ (Romans 1:20). Apologists also use arguments for God’s existence based on the observable world and from logic. However, many are not convinced. They object that these general arguments are not convincing enough. and that God could or should have made his existence more obvious.

In this presentation, the following questions will be considered:

  • Is general revelation sufficient?
  • Are we without excuse?
  • Does God deliberately make his existence known only to those who have eyes to see?
  • Does he reveal himself personally to some and hide himself from others?
  • If we seek, will we find; If we knock, will God answer?
  • Is the Divine Hiddenness argument a good argument?

Kevin’s talk is available on YouTube.

Dr Kevin Rogers

Kevin Rogers is the director of Reasonable Faith Adelaide. He is a former electrical engineering lecturer, researcher, and research supervisor at the University of South Australia. He is now mostly retired but continues with part-time research in acoustic atmospheric tomography. He is also learning New Testament Greek, and is blessed with a wife, 4 children and 8 precocious grandchildren.

Sensus Divinitatis is a Latin term that refers to a natural sense of God that is present within every human being, but what does this actually mean?

This talk covered:

  • What were the views of major Christian figures on the Sensus Divinitatis?
  • What does the Bible say about it?
  • Can it be suppressed?
  • Is it innate or
    • Is it derived from observation of the creation?
    • Is it dependent on culture and upbringing?
  • What are the major objections to the sensus divinitatis?
  • How does it affect Christian apologetics and the proclamation of the gospel?

Kevin’s presentation can be viewed on YouTube.

Dr Kevin Rogers

Kevin Rogers is the director of Reasonable Faith Adelaide. He is a former research fellow, lecturer and research supervisor at the University of South Australia. He is now mostly retired but continues with part-time research.

An image of Mount Sinai

The Bible (both Old and New Testaments) has a lot to say about the fear of God. Is this fear good and could it be beneficial, or is it “old hat” and no longer relevant, and how should we understand this fear?

Geoff’s presentation can be viewed on YouTube.

Geoff Russell

Geoff Russell is a professional electrical engineer. He has a Bachelor of Engineering with Honours from the University of Adelaide, a post-graduate Diploma in Engineering & Computer Applications and an Associate in Theology from the Bible College of South Australia. Two years ago, Geoff retired to Warrnambool, but he’s as busy as ever. In a sea change from engineering, he’s become an Associate Pastor at a local Baptist Church and the sole Chaplain at the Warrnambool Campus of Deakin University. He’s doing what he loves!

On the 23rd February 2023, Kevin Rogers provided a presentation on What is an experience of knowing Christ?’

He describes his talk as follows:

It is often claimed that being a Christian means having a personal relationship with Christ, but what does this mean, how should it feel like, and do I have one?

Within conservative protestant circles, assurance is often based on scriptural promises. E.g., we can know we are a Christian if we have put our faith in Christ, or ‘Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so’.  However, although these statements are true, they do not go far enough. Both Jesus and Paul state that assurance goes beyond this, and Paul expects his readers to share in his own experience.

Apologetics by reasoned arguments is commanded and is useful for providing intellectual support, but it does not go the whole way. God can do more than that such that we can we truly know. The Spirit can attest with our spirit that we are children of God.

During this talk, I will cover:

  • The value and limitations of apologetics,
  • My own Christian experience,
  • The Biblical warrant for Christian experience and assurance,
  • Paul’s teaching on knowing Christ, and
  • The conditions for knowing Christ,

Kevin Rogers

Dr Kevin Rogers

Kevin Rogers is the director of Reasonable Faith Adelaide. He is now mainly retired after having an electrical engineering career for 40 years and then working as a research Fellow, lecturer and PhD student at the University of South Australia.

His presentation can be viewed on YouTube.

Christians are a “house divided” on the meaning of the six days in Genesis 1, the age of the earth, and how much truth there is in evolutionary theory. This year, we are paying particular attention to these topics and are allowing speakers to present and argue for their views. This applies to organizations that hold either young earth or old earth perspectives.

On Thursday the 17th November, Don Batten talked on Genesis and genetics from a young earth perspective. He provided the following outline of his talk, including links to background material:

  1. My journey from theistic evolution / day-age to biblical creation and why I found it compelling and important
  2. How the modern molecular biology revolution undoes neo-Darwinism
    1. Bioinformatics: the information in living things
    1. The inadequacy of evolution to explain living things
  3. How the modern science of genetics underscores Genesis as history
    1. Haldane’s Dilemma creation.com/haldanes-dilemma-has-not-been-solved
    1. The waiting time problem (a modern reworking of Haldane) creation.com/waiting-time-problem + creation.com/1-percent-myth
    1. Genetic Entropy and the Fall  creation.com/genetic-entropy 
    1. Adam and Eve & genetics: what the Y-chromosome and mitochondrial DNA diversity tell us. An Overview of the Independent Histories of the Human Y Chromosome and the Human Mitochondrial chromosome  https://doi.org/10.15385/jpicc.2018.8.1.15
    1. Human genetic diversity: from one man? https://doi.org/10.15385/jpicc.2018.8.1.20
    1. Human genetic diversity: the timeframe
    1. Longevity in Genesis and genetics creation.com/rapid-decline-biblical-lifespans https://creation.com/living-as-long-as-methuselah
    1. DNA bar codes of metazoans creation.com/recent-origin-of-species
  4. Carbon dating: residual carbon-14 as a problem for deep time digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/icc_proceedings/vol5/iss1/12/ (Measurable 14C in Fossilized Organic Materials: Confirming the Young Earth Creation-Flood Model) www.icr.org/article/young-radiocarbon-old-samples

His talk is on YouTube.

Don Batten

Don received both his B.Sc.Agr. (First Class Honours) and his Ph.D. from the University of Sydney. He worked for 20 years as a research horticulturalist with the NSW Department of Agriculture.  He conducted a number of research projects and published his results in scientific journals. Don joined the Creation Ministries International (CMI) in Brisbane, Australia in 1994 and has spoken around the world on the creation issue. He is co-author of The Creation Answers Book, One Blood, Answers to the 4 Big Questions, 15 Reasons to Take Genesis as History, and author of various booklets, including What about carbon dating? and What about arguments for evolution? Dr Batten was the CEO and Managing Director of CMI-Australia from 2015 to 2022. He is now Senior Scientist, focusing on research, writing, and speaking.

Christians are a “house divided” on the meaning of the six days in Genesis 1, the age of the earth, and how much truth there is in evolutionary theory. This year, we have been paying particular attention to these topics and are allowing speakers to present and argue for their views. This applies to organizations that hold either young earth or old earth perspectives.

On Thursday the 6th of October, Dr Tas Walker (from Creation Ministries International) presented an argument that claims that earth sciences and geology support belief in a young earth (less than 10,000 years). He argued that the geological evidence should be interpreted within the framework of a six 24-hour day interpretation of Genesis 1. Some of the arguments that he presented are:

  • Fossils in the Great Artesian basin are the result of a flood. See https://creation.com/great-artesian-basin.
  • Diamonds that are supposedly millions of years old contain traces of Carbon-14 indicating a much younger age.
  • Long half-life radio-active dating methods (such as uranium-Lead and Potassium-Argon) have been used to estimate the age of the earth to be 4.454 billion years. However, flaws in these methods cause serious errors in these long age estimates.
  • The presence of organic red blood cells in dinosaur fossils indicates a much younger age than conventionally believed.

His presentation can be viewed on YouTube.

Tas Walker

Dr Tas Walker holds a B.Sc. (Earth Science with first class honours), a B.Eng (hons) and a doctorate in mechanical engineering, all from the University of Queensland. He has been involved in the planning, design and operation of power stations for over 20 years with the electricity industry in Queensland, Australia. He has conducted geological assessments of new fuel supplies for power stations across Queensland and has been involved with new mining proposals, including the effects of geological factors on the cost, reliability and quality of the coal produced.

The Tower of Babel by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1525–1530 – 9 September 1569)

To what degree is the Great Flood and the building of a large ark by Noah based on history?  It certainly has many proposals and explanations. Trevor Harris believes that it is historical and will discuss the following questions:

  • Why are there at least 10 or more sites for the ark’s landing?
  • What were the logistics for this early start to human settlement?
  • Is there archaeological evidence for where Noah set up his permanent campsite?
  • Was Nimrod the main instigator of a rebellion against God?
  • If there are over 4 locations offered for the Tower of Babel, which one is correct?
  • Why did the European Union (EU) use it as a symbol on one of their posters?
  • Mainstream science claims that human origins commenced in Africa, but tradition offers the Middle East. So, is there a reconciling explanation?
  • DNA gives supporting evidence for our common origins. Can the members of Noah’s extended family be the basis for all nations?
  • What were the features of the earliest civilization?
Trevor Harris

Trevor Harris is qualified as an architect and urban and regional planner, which he practiced for 45 years. Twenty years ago, he formed a company dedicated to identifying and researching Bible sites and has conducted extensive field trips to the Middle East.

Dr Hugh Ross spoke on a particular old earth view called Progressive Creationism (in defence of soft concordance).  He explained how the book of Nature and the book of Scripture can be integrated to be consistent with one another.

Dr Hugh Ross

Hugh was an astronomer/astrophysicist at the University of Toronto. He is the founder and president of Reasons to Believe, (www.reasons.org), and is the author of over 17 books including ‘The Creator and the Cosmos’, ‘Why The Universe is The Way it is ‘ and ‘Navigating Genesis.’ Hugh has addressed students and faculty on over 300 campuses in the US and abroad and speaks at various churches and groups on a wide variety of science-faith topics. He is asked to present to government agencies and atheists and leading contemporaries on the powerful evidence for a purpose filled universe.

Dr Ross is a high-profile speaker, and we are privileged to have him present to us. He will be speaking to us between 12 am and 2 am in the morning. It would be great if you could support him by attending the live Zoom meeting and by inviting others.

His presentation can be viewed on YouTube.

The sun and nine planets of our system orbiting.

Christians are a “house divided” on the meaning of the six days in Genesis 1, the age of the earth, and how much truth there is in evolutionary theory. This year, we are paying particular attention to these topics and are allowing speakers to present and argue for their views. On the 26th May, Dr Mark Harwood spoke on astronomical evidence for biblical creation. He provided scientific arguments to support the young earth creationist claim that the ages of the earth and our solar system are less than 10,000 years old. He addressed the following aspects of the origins debate.

• What is the core issue in the creation/evolution debate?

• What is the role of science in discovering the truth about our origins?

• Astronomical evidence consistent with the biblical timelines

• Why does it all matter?

The Gospel connection

Mark Harwood completed his tertiary education at the University of Sydney where he received B.Sc., B.E. (Hons) and Ph.D. degrees. His postgraduate studies were focused on radio telescopes and computer techniques for antenna design and measurement. Dr Harwood is now employed by CMI as a speaker and scientist, and he has oversight of the speaker development program for the Australian and Singaporean ministries.

The presentation can be viewed on YouTube