September 2000

Templeton tragedy

The article on the apostate evangelist Charles Templeton inspired by far the most reader reaction. One minister said he bought multiple copies of that issue of Creation (22(3)) to distribute to all the other ministers in his local fraternal.

Canadian pastor, Dave Hensman, told us that when he first read Templeton's book, he had 'mixed feelings of anger and compassion for him'. He tracked down Templeton's phone number and rang him. 'I had the chance to speak with his wife,' he wrote, 'only to learn that he now has the awful disease of Alzheimer's. She said he feels forgotten and alone. … you can't help but feel pity on a man who wasted his call, and gave up the revelation of God for the passing wisdom of this age.'

Templeton's story, said Pastor Hensman, 'has motivated me more than any other book to preach and teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ'.

Peppery punchline

Thank you for the informative publications, both Creation magazine and the Technical Journal.

They have provided me with evidence that helped me argue against the evolution theory with my biology teachers; for example, they conceded after only five minutes of arguing that the Peppered Moth is no example of evolution, but is in the syllabus to provide an easy example of the theory!

N. R.,
Harrogate, England.

Rusty rock

I refer to the article 'Message in a bottle' (22(3):56). In 1968, I found a similar deposit of beach rock containing broken bottles and shells in Port Moresby harbour, Papua New Guinea, adjacent to the rusting hulk of a ship that had been sunk during World War II. The rock layer was about half a metre deep and a metre or so wide in the intertidal zone. It was showing signs of weathering (glass was protruding on the seaward face) which suggested that it had formed some considerable time earlier. The maximum age must have been about 25 years, much shorter than the 130 years mentioned in your article.

ALEX WILLIAMS,
Morley, Western Australia.

Eroding error?

In the article 'Eroding ages' (22(2):18-21), no mention was made of the quantity of soil produced by biological decomposition. Were these values incorporated in calculations? If they were ignored, I would expect that the estimated net erosion values would be much lower than indicated in the article.

CALVIN VEITH,
Vellmar, Germany.

Because decomposition is a cyclic process, its net contribution is negligible. All the resulting mineral matter (calcium, magnesium, potassium, etc.) originally came from the soil anyway.

Carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen eventually return to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, water and nitrogen oxides/nitrogen gas.

A typical agricultural soil has only 1-2% carbon, and some of this would be of non-organic origin. This confirms that very little of the eroded material is due to organic decomposition.

Sophisticated smear

When the trial of [Holocaust denier] David Irving ended, Emeritus Professor Donald Cameron Watson (London School of Economics) commented: 'The evidence is overwhelmingly against him [Irving]. It's ridiculous. It's on a par with creationism and some of these other weird theories that have some public support.'

A believer in a literal Genesis is equated with a man whom a judge had just branded a liar, a distorter of history and a racist.

Why bring creationism up at all? It was just another cunning attempt to write it off without scientific debate. Ironically it is surely evolutionists who would most benefit from a denial of the Holocaust, since it proves what happens when Darwinism is used as a moral code.

PAUL SMITH,
County Durham, UK.

Meatless mutts (2)

My husband and I own a dog, Katie, who will happily pilfer our backyard produce if given the chance.

Last summer she made the discovery that apricots are good to eat, as we found half-eaten fruit strewn across the backyard. By the time we worked out what was going on, there were very few left for our use. Recently she also developed a taste for the wild mushrooms which grow out of our lawn.

On speaking to a number of friends, apparently it is not uncommon; their dogs have raided everything from figs and raspberries to even walnuts. It would seem that some carnivores can and do still have a taste for their pre-Fall diet.

REBECCA BRAHAM,
Nairne, South Australia.

Meatless mutts (1)

The article on the vegetarian lion (The lion that wouldn’t eat meat, 22(2):22-23, March-May 2000) sure was interesting . My cousin has a vegetarian dog. Although she will eat some meat, she prefers fruit and vegetables. She eats apples, capsicum, cabbage, and anything like that given to her. So it's probably not as uncommon as I thought.

Please keep up the fantastic work; remember the three angels' message of Revelation 14:6-7 - your ministry is making people aware of our Creator and Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.

ALEX GORE,
Queensland, Australia.

Hollywood hunk?

Some time ago I watched an ABC-TV [Australia] program about Neandertal man. They went into the usual hundreds of thousands of years and their evolutionary theories - their main piece of 'missing link' evidence being a skull with a very prominent bony ridge above the eyebrows.

I don't see how they can claim that these people died out tens of thousands of years ago. The popular movie Speed features a bus driver who looks for all the world like the dudes on the ABC show, just a little less hair.

Please keep bringing the truth to the world.

GEOFFREY FOLKER,
Queensland, Australia.