A meeting of the minds

This past June it was my pleasure (along with another colleague from AiG) to attend the Fifth Annual BSG (A Creation Biology Study Group) Conference held at Liberty University. My first introduction to BSG was in 2001 when I attended their conference at Cedarville University. This conference played a pivotal role in my decision to become a young-earth creationist. Up to that point, I was basically undecided on the issue. I believed in God and the Bible but also saw the scientific evidence and wondered how to reconcile them. The age of the earth was an especially big issue to me. How can we see distant starlight if the universe is young? What about radiometric dating and the fossil record, which seemed to support the idea of a very old earth? I didn’t yet understand the importance of presuppositions and the role they play in understanding historical science. The scientific presentations at the 2001 conference were great, but it was a Biblical presentation on the meaning of the word “yom” (the Hebrew word for day in Genesis 1) that was of the greatest interest to me. The speaker showed strong Biblical evidence that “yom” used in Genesis 1 can only mean a literal, 24 hour day. I reached a crisis. I either had to believe that God meant what He said and that He created the universe in 6/24 hours days or that He didn’t. I chose to believe that He meant what He said and so began my journey to my current position at AiG.

The BSG has definitely grown over the last 6 years. There were several plenary presentations, many research presentations, and a poster session. The presentations were great but so was the fellowship time with other creation scientists. I reconnected with old friends and made some new ones. The BSG is unique in that presentations at their conferences focus not only on scientific topics but theological and philosophical topics as well. The theme this year was “All Creation Groans: The Problem of Natural Evil.” A sampling of the presentation titles appears below:

• Thorns in the Metanarrative of the Bible: From the Curse of Eden to the Crown of Thorns
• Were There Deserts Before the Curse?
• Designed for Defense: Reptiles and Amphibians Thwarting Predators in a Fallen World
• The Superiority of a Young-Age Creation Theodicy
• Developing Serratia marcescens as a Model to Elucidate Aspects of Germ Genesis Exemplified by Mycobacterium lepra

The proceedings of the conference can be found here.

The BSG was founded in 1996 and describes itself as “a fellowship of researchers and scholars who seek to”:

1. Develop a new view of biology that is consistent with the Biblical record.
2. Encourage high-quality creation biology and baraminology research.
3. Sponsor conferences and other appropriate activities to promote creation biology.
4. Develop a community of creation biologists who share these goals.

For more information on BSG visit their website.

If you are interested in creation science research, the BSG website and conferences are a great place to get you started and keep you up to date.