Creationism - National Center for Science Education
Creationism - National Center for Science Education
Creationism - National Center for Science Education
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got a Ph.D. <strong>for</strong> this subject from the Cali<strong>for</strong>nia School of Theology, describes himself on<br />
the title page as “Director of Probability Research in Biology, Northridge, Cali<strong>for</strong>nia.”<br />
David Coppedge, the group leader, is articulate, witty, and knowledgeable, and is<br />
a very effective speaker, group leader and organizer. He has studied physics and<br />
astronomy at Cal State Northridge, and works in the computer business. He has created<br />
his own multi-media presentation called How Big Is God?, which he presents at church<br />
and religious meetings, and at other Bible-science meetings. Consisting of 500<br />
synchronized slides with music and narration, it dramatically reveals “the Space-Age<br />
glory of the God of galaxies—and the Savior of mankind.” The Coppedges and several<br />
of the lecturers and group members belong to Grace Community Church, John<br />
MacArthur’s super-church in Sun Valley. Coppedge’s Bible-science group carries on the<br />
tradition of natural theology, with many field trips and other outings to appreciate God’s<br />
glory by studying His creation. Coppedge himself organizes and leads hikes, camping<br />
trips, star-gazing trips, various “Creation Safaris,” and other nature-watching expeditions.<br />
The monthly lecturers have included nationally-known creationists such as Walter<br />
Lang (BSA), Nell Segraves (CSRC), George Howe (CRS), Duane Gish and John Morris<br />
(ICR), and many local proponents of creationists and mid-level activists. (Segraves, in<br />
her lecture, told us of several creationist sympathizers in the Cali<strong>for</strong>nia department of<br />
education and in the judicial system who have aided the CSRC lobbying ef<strong>for</strong>ts.) A book<br />
table at the meetings features several dozen creation-science and related books, plus<br />
sample copies of Bible-<strong>Science</strong> Newsletter and other creationist literature. The<br />
organization is “dedicated to: special creation, literal Bible interpretation, divine design<br />
and purpose in nature, a young earth, a universal Noachian Flood, Christ as God and<br />
Man, our Savior, [and] Christ-centered scientific research.” Jim Owen, founder of the<br />
Christian Wilderness Association, spoke about Christian environmentalism and biblical<br />
“stewardship” of nature by man. (This presentation occasioned the only real<br />
disagreement I have seen in any of these meetings. Some audience members argued that<br />
nature was created by God <strong>for</strong> man to exploit—biblical “dominion over nature”—and<br />
they were suspicious of any attempt to thwart this exploitation. They also argued that<br />
animals don’t have souls, so there is nothing wrong with killing them <strong>for</strong> our use.) A<br />
computer and aerospace engineer spoke about Halley’s Comet, and presented the<br />
creationist argument that the short-term comets indicate a young age <strong>for</strong> the universe. A<br />
Los Angeles audiologist lectured on design in the human ear. Art Battson of Students <strong>for</strong><br />
Origins Research spoke about natural selection.<br />
One active member of the group, a graduate student in paleoanthropology who is<br />
writing a creationist anthropology book under the pseudonym Phil Davidson, has spoken<br />
about dinosaurs and the Bible, and has presented his creationist interpretation of human<br />
races. His book, The Origin of the Human Races: A Creation Perspective, tentatively to<br />
be published by ICR’s Master Books, fully accepts “microevolution”—that is, adaptation<br />
to regional and environmental conditions, but says that the originally created human pair<br />
contained enough genetic variability to allow all of this adaptation. He rejects essentialist<br />
notions of human races, and supports the modern anthropological idea that different<br />
human traits are distributed in different clines, making it impossible to define races<br />
strictly.<br />
Another speaker, a UCLA doctoral candidate in Near Eastern Studies who teaches<br />
at Cal State Northridge, spoke about archeological research he has done in Syria (digs