tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19722540.post8386009006290002341..comments2023-09-09T07:28:35.681-04:00Comments on Science and Religion: A View from an Evolutionary Creationist: Hugh Ross on EvolutionJimpithecushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10143519573877156940noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19722540.post-59989403233172430602012-09-13T22:07:58.745-04:002012-09-13T22:07:58.745-04:00Ross is actually a top-flight astronomer and that ...Ross is actually a top-flight astronomer and that is what is so maddening about his foray into biology. For someone who makes such good cases in his field, to make such inane statements in biology is very disappointing. Jimpithecushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10143519573877156940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19722540.post-86000806717205971372012-09-13T16:39:50.509-04:002012-09-13T16:39:50.509-04:00And my dad can beat your dad up. :)
But seriously...And my dad can beat your dad up. :)<br /><br />But seriously, Ross is no doubt better than me (and maybe even Jim) at physics and astronomy. He's just never written anything that makes sense about biology.PNGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10152649124164862094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19722540.post-33038594055208990152012-09-12T01:21:38.026-04:002012-09-12T01:21:38.026-04:00And why, exactly, is he smarter than me?And why, exactly, is he smarter than me?Jimpithecushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10143519573877156940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19722540.post-20053003509016004282012-09-12T00:25:43.893-04:002012-09-12T00:25:43.893-04:00Hugh Ross is smarter than you.Hugh Ross is smarter than you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19722540.post-31830274899471777772012-04-15T01:39:44.607-04:002012-04-15T01:39:44.607-04:00Why would God intentionally cripple our ability to...Why would God intentionally cripple our ability to make vitamin C and then just happen to randomly cripple the animals that appear, genetically, to be the most related to us?Jimpithecushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10143519573877156940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19722540.post-15846539678984111162012-04-14T16:18:37.133-04:002012-04-14T16:18:37.133-04:00Why is the same coding for Vitamin C production (e...Why is the same coding for Vitamin C production (et al) an argument for common ancestry more than common design? Were you a creationist until such revelations? And how does such an observation (or the "Neanderthal skull") support increased complexity rather than parsing of pre-existing coding?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19722540.post-58109089874319729372011-12-18T01:20:05.608-05:002011-12-18T01:20:05.608-05:00The middle skull is, indeed, the Amud Neandertal. ...The middle skull is, indeed, the Amud Neandertal. The Australian aborigines and native Africans tend to have some regional traits, and none has quite the facial or skull shape of the Neandertals, even those from SW Asia.Jimpithecushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10143519573877156940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19722540.post-42071639852864092352011-12-17T22:07:02.039-05:002011-12-17T22:07:02.039-05:00Also, I was wondering whether or not the middle sk...Also, I was wondering whether or not the middle skull on your background image is that of a neanderthal. If so, and given that you are an evolutionary biologist, I would assume you are aware of the similarities between it and the skulls of Australian Aboriginal persons and native Africans, while the skull ordinarily used for comparison between neanderthal and "modern" man seems always to be of a more European shape.Travishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15060105712063933504noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19722540.post-51818404076086649452011-12-16T21:06:20.265-05:002011-12-16T21:06:20.265-05:00"Why would God create, in successive order, d..."Why would God create, in successive order, descendent species with minor changes, some to run concurrently with their predecessor, until summarily removing one of them from the landscape?" This seems like a rhetorical question intended to imply that God would not do so. If that is the case, then on what grounds would anyone presume him/herself equipped to speak to what an infinite Creator would or would not do? No earthbound being is in a position to even conceive of the possible motivations thereof.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19722540.post-22562145626832900332011-12-16T21:00:53.313-05:002011-12-16T21:00:53.313-05:00"How do researchers like Ross (who is a progr..."How do researchers like Ross (who is a progressive creationist) explain the fact that over 90% of the species in the world's history have gone extinct?" How could you conclude that over ninety percent of species have gone extinct when you do not know how many there have been?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19722540.post-23600416060810777582011-12-02T09:16:30.984-05:002011-12-02T09:16:30.984-05:00Greg, how did I slander him? I simply reacted to ...Greg, how did I slander him? I simply reacted to what he said about evolution. Within the confines of the fact that every scientific theory has gaps, evolution is a pretty dang good one and Ross persistently fails to see that, despite the evidence.Jimpithecushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10143519573877156940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19722540.post-3871709519396729312011-12-01T23:50:36.033-05:002011-12-01T23:50:36.033-05:00Jim, before you slander a person like Dr. Ross, yo...Jim, before you slander a person like Dr. Ross, you need to do some more homework on what he actually believes.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05805147096603628012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19722540.post-75353901230863655442009-05-18T13:35:00.000-04:002009-05-18T13:35:00.000-04:00Thank you for the kind words. I am familiar with ...Thank you for the kind words. I am familiar with Denis Alexander but, sadly, have not had a chance to read any of his work. He is on my list of authors to pick up. One of these days I am going to compile a list of institutes and organizations that are devoted to examining the cross-section of faith and science in an intellectually honest way. The Faraday Institute will be on that list, as will Reasons to Believe, although Dr. Ross needs to work on his understanding of evolution.Jimpithecushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10143519573877156940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19722540.post-47864474271348169152009-05-18T13:08:00.000-04:002009-05-18T13:08:00.000-04:00Thanks so much for this info on Hugh Ross. An elde...Thanks so much for this info on Hugh Ross. An elder asked me if had read him, since I believe in an old earth. I told that I hadn't read anything of him, but had heard of him. At first I thought he too might be a theistic evolutionist, but doubted it. Your post clarified the very thing I needed info on. BTW, I like what I see. I assume you're familiar with Denis Alexander's work. I find him to be the best resource so far defending evolutionary biology and Christian orthodoxy. I look forward to reading more of your work. Cheers!Irenicumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13409091214695782381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19722540.post-28525846791301299422009-04-14T11:17:00.000-04:002009-04-14T11:17:00.000-04:00I agree with your two points, especially the vitam...I agree with your two points, especially the vitamin C pseudogene, especially given that it is rendered a pseudogene by the same 8 base pair substitution in all the primates. <br /><br />Yet, I find ERVs even more convincing, because they are a viral insertion. You might argue the vitamin C pseudogene is actually something else, or by design turned off by the same mechanism in primates. A viral insertion though wasn't there to begin with, so there just isn't any other explanation when they are shared in homologous places across species forming a nested hierarchy pattern then common descent. The only thing you have left is to assert they are not viral insertions at all, something Answers in Genesis is hard at work trying to do. This is such a nail in the coffin I don't take any objection to common descent seriously that doesn't address this point.<br /><br />And yet it isn't one piece of evidence that confirms common descent. It is the converging lines of evidence across multiple fields that draw the same phyogenetic tree within statistical certainty, namely fossils, comparative morphology, biogeography, molecular genetics (especially pseduogenes and ERVs). I think it is this last point that turned Behe, in a interview I read with him recently a creationist journalist tried to understand why he accepted common descent and he remarked there is no other explanation for shared genetic errors.Petenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19722540.post-22060459225737117232009-04-13T12:53:00.000-04:002009-04-13T12:53:00.000-04:00I also want an explanation of homoeobox genes and ...I also want an explanation of homoeobox genes and the effects that they have on different organisms. Common descent also explains this nicely. Also as far as ERVs are concerned, you don't even have to look that far. What are the odds that humans and apes share exactly the same pseudogene for vitamin C production? What are the odds that, while apes have 24 pairs of chromosomes and humans have 23, humans just happen to have what looks exactly like a fused chromosome corresponding to the extra pair in higher apes? Why would an intelligent designer design by fiat, an animal with either of those characteristics?Jimpithecushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10143519573877156940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19722540.post-69025870234412190212009-04-12T16:38:00.000-04:002009-04-12T16:38:00.000-04:00I don't take anyone's objections to common descent...I don't take anyone's objections to common descent seriously unless they explain some other history that could account for the nested hierarchy of pseduogene mutations and ERV viral insertions in the genome of mammals. Common descent explains it exactly. Common design, common designer completely misunderstands the evidence completely.Petenoreply@blogger.com