Paul Garner’s book The New Creationism has been reviewed in the latest edition of the Creation Research Society Quarterly (Volume 46, Number 2, p.118). The reviewer is Don Ensign, who concludes that it is “a good introduction to current creation thinking” and written in “a very clear style that nonprofessional readers will appreciate.”

Dr Kevin Anderson, CRSQ Editor, has kindly given permission for the entire book review to be reproduced on Paul’s blog. Visitors to the Creation Research Society website can order the book for $16.00 ($14.00 for CRS members) plus postage.

The Good Book Stall has also reviewed The New Creationism. They describe it as “controversial” and “an eloquent and compact summary with some interesting ideas on time-dilation and catastrophic plate tectonics.” You can read their review here.

Finally, the Metropolitan Tabernacle Bookshop in London now stocks The New Creationism on its website, so UK readers wondering where to purchase a copy have another option.

This week marks the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. On Tuesday morning, the day of the anniversary itself, Dr Steve Lloyd took part in a short debate about evolution on BBC Radio Kent. His opponent was Richard Norman, Chair of the East Kent Humanists and an Emeritus Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Kent.

In the few minutes available, Steve was able to make some good points about the nature of creationism and the evidence supporting the intelligent design of living systems. For a limited period the debate can be heard on BBC iPlayer by clicking here. The programme was ‘Breakfast with John Warnett and Julia George’ and the segment starts at 2:01:55 (about two hours in).

As of October 2009, Paul Garner has been working full time for Biblical Creation Ministries for seven years. In view of his heavy schedule of speaking, writing and research, the trustees of BCM have decided to give him a short sabbatical in the first half of 2010, during which he will not be taking on his usual speaking engagements.

Between January and March he will be working from home on a special project, and then having a complete break from his ministry responsibilities between April and June. We believe that this will benefit the ministry in the longer term, by allowing Paul to ‘recharge his batteries’ and come back to the work with renewed vigour. Normal service will be resumed in the second half of 2010 and Paul is taking bookings for that period now (see the Diary page for details).

During Paul’s sabbatical, Dr John Peet and Sylvia Baker have kindly agreed to help us by taking on a limited number of speaking engagements on BCM’s behalf. John and Sylvia will be familiar to most of our supporters as well known speakers and authors. They will be managing their own diaries and anyone interested in setting up a meeting is invited to contact them directly by email: jhjohnpeet@ntlworld.com and sbaker4453@aol.com.

Dr Steve Lloyd will be taking on engagements as usual throughout 2010 and, as announced elsewhere, Dr Todd Wood will also be undertaking a short speaking tour for us during Paul’s sabbatical.

Conference report by David Fielding, pastor of Castlefields Church, Derby

The weekend of 13 to 15 November was an exciting time for the members of Castlefields Church in Derby. Seizing the opportunity of the 2009 Darwin anniversaries, the church hired the prestigious ‘Darwin Suite’ in the city centre as a venue to host their Creation Outreach weekend. The room is actually dedicated to Erasmus, the grandfather of Charles Darwin and provided an interesting talking point in getting people coming to the meetings. The title of the weekend, ‘Derby, Darwin and Dinosaurs’ was chosen to attract further interest in the city of Derby and as a link to the subject of the talks being presented.

Nearly 200 people attended the event, with many being non-Christian friends of church members and visitors from other churches in the area. The main speakers were Paul Garner and Dr Steve Lloyd of Biblical Creation Ministries. A varied programme of talks on creation subjects was presented including a very searching analysis of the spiritual lessons that can be drawn from the life of Charles Darwin. Paul Garner showed how God was, ‘pursuing’ Darwin all through his life by placing Christians in his path and bringing scripture to bear upon his thinking. A serious challenge was posed to those listening not to turn away from God’s free grace, as Darwin did but to seek Him and to find Him as Saviour. In addition, Steve Lloyd gave a fascinating and wide-ranging talk entitled ‘New answers to old questions’, in which he explained the work that creationists are doing to build rigorous scientific models in biology and geology.

It was encouraging to see free evangelistic literature being taken away and many books and DVDs being purchased. The church is looking to the Lord to bring lasting fruit from the event and to bless this endeavour for Him.