“All Creation Groans”: the Sixth Creation Biology Study Group conference
October 4, 2007
A report by Paul Garner
The Sixth Conference of the Creation Biology Study Group (BSG) was held between 13-15 June 2007 at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. There was a good mix of plenary and contributed papers, many of which focused upon the conference theme of the origin of natural evil (e.g. death, carnivory) and other forms of biological imperfection. Among the conference highlights were the following papers:
- “The Superiority of a Young-Age Creation Theodicy” by Kurt Wise (Southern Baptist Theological Seminary). A tour de force arguing that only young-age creationism can explain all the scriptural and physical data that must be incorporated by any successful biblical theodicy.
- “Thorns in the Metanarrative of the Bible: From the Curse of Eden to the Crown of Thorns” by Judd Davis (Bryan College). A masterful survey of the many texts in the Bible where thorns and thistles appear in prominent theological contexts.
- “Design, Optimality, Goodness” by Paul Nelson (Biola University). Referring to examples such as the design of the human airway and the panda’s pseudothumb, it was shown that optimality and suboptimality are actually not easy to determine and that ‘fixing’ perceived problems usually results in a loss of optimality.
- “Designed for Defense: Reptiles and Amphibians Thwarting Predators in a Fallen World” by Gordon Wilson (New St Andrews College). Surveying the armour, secretions, colouration and other defences of various reptiles and amphibians, this talk asked whether the induction of pre-existing genes created prior to the Fall could explain these ‘adaptations’.
- “Preliminary Results from a Baraminological Analysis of the Mole Salamanders (Caudata: Ambystomatidae)” by Tim Brophy (Liberty University) and Peter Kramer (Independent Scholar). Baraminic distance correlation analyses and hybridization data suggest that the entire family of mole salamanders constitutes a single monobaramin.
- “Evidence that Some Toothed Mysticetes are Archaeocetes (Mammalia: Cetacea)” by Todd Wood (Bryan College). A very interesting talk which showed that in baraminic analyses the so-called toothed mysticetes strongly cluster with the archaeocetes (implying continuity) and are negatively correlated with modern odontocetes and mysticetes (implying discontinuity).
- “Taxonomic Distribution of ‘Thorns and Thistles’” by Roger Sanders (Bryan
College). A survey of the flowering plants for the relative occurrence of species bearing thorns, spines, prickles or stinging hairs, showing that armed species occurred in 110 of the 252 recognized families.
The proceedings of the conference can be downloaded here and a selection of conference photographs can be viewed here.
