Adelaide Chapter

Genesis and genetics, plus carbon dating by Dr Don Batten

December 6, 2022

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.