Age of the Earth, Why It Matters - Dr. Terry Mortenson on Origins

Dr Mortenson explains why the young age of the earth matters.  He shows where the old earth belief comes from and the consequences of accepting it.

Evolution: Science or Religion? Dr. Terry Mortenson on Origins

http://cvtn.org | Dr. Mortenson shows how evolution is a worldview, based on religious faith and is not science.

Dr. Terry Mortenson

Systematic Theology, History of Geology
Lecturer/Researcher, AiG (USA)

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Biography

Like most people, Dr. Mortenson grew up in an education system that taught evolution as fact. During his first year at the University of Minnesota (where he majored in math) and shortly after becoming a Christian, he began to see the fallacy of the idea of millions of years of evolution.
With a PhD in history of geology from the Coventry University in England and an MDiv from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Chicago, Dr. Mortenson has lectured on the creation-evolution controversy in 22 countries since the late 1970s.* He has spoken in homes, churches, schools (primary, middle and secondary), secular universities, Bible colleges and seminaries. Several of his popular lectures have been produced as DVDs and as TV programs. He has also participated in seven formal debates with PhD evolutionary scientists in secular venues in four countries.
He is the author of numerous magazine and journal articles and several book chapters. The revised version of his PhD thesis was published as The Great Turning Point: the Church's Catastrophic Mistake on Geology—Before Darwin (Master Books, 2004). With a deep burden for seminary professors and students, he co-edited and contributed two chapters to the scholarly 14-author book, Coming to Grips with Genesis: Biblical Authority and the Age of the Earth (Master Books, 2008).
He is a member of the Evangelical Theological Society, has presented six creation-related papers at ETS annual meetings, and spear-headed the formation of the "Creation" study group sessions at the ETS annual meeting beginning in 2008. He has also helped to lead six by-invitation-only seven-day rafts trips down the Colorado River through Grand Canyon for seminary and Bible College professors and other key Christian leaders.
He and his wife, Margie, have been happily married since 1976 and have five daughters and three sons.

Born

• 1953 in Minnesota, USA

Converted to Christ

• April 1972, first year in the university

Family

• Married Margie in 1976, together they have five daughters and three sons

Education

• 1975, BA in math, Univ. of Minnesota, USA
• 1992, MDiv in systematic theology, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Illinois, USA
• 1996, PhD in history of geology, Coventry University, UK

Selected Publications and DVD Lectures

Books

• 7 Reasons Why We Should Not Accept Millions of Years
• Answers Academy - The Rocks Cry Out: The Earth Is Young!
• Coming to Grips with Genesis
• The Great Turning Point: The Church's Catastrophic Mistake on Geology—Before Darwin
• Millions of Years: Where Did the Idea Come From?
• Millions of Years & the Downfall of the Christian West
• Noah's Flood: Washing Away Millions of Years
• The Origin of Old-Earth Geology and Christian Compromise (Parts 1 & 2)
• Origin of the Species: Was Darwin Right?

Professional Society Papers

• Boundaries on Creation and Noah’s Flood: Early 19^th Century British Scriptural Geologists, paper given at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society in Colorado Springs, CO, on Nov. 14, 2001, and posted on Zondervan's website: http://www.zondervanchurchsource.com/convention/parallel.htm#DB.

Articles

• Philosophical Naturalism and the Age of the Earth: Are They Related?
• Systematic Theology Texts and the Age of the Earth
• Christian Theodicy in Light of Genesis and Modern Science
• Genesis According to Evolution
• Evolution vs. Creation: The Order of Events Matters!
• Why Shouldn't Christians Accept Millions of Years?
• Why Don't Many Christian Leaders and Scholars Believe Genesis?

*Some evolutionists have questioned Dr. Mortenson's academic training, especially the validity of his PhD. Please see Dr. Mortenson's blog post "Regarding My Academic Training" for his response. Back

Ken Ham vs Bill Nye Post debate Show #HamonNye #CreationDebate - Creation Today

http://creationtoday.org |  Streamed live on Feb 4, 2014

Eric Hovind and a panel of experts discuss the Ken Ham vs Bill Nye Debate live from the Creation Museum.

Noah's Flood - Washing Away Millions of Years | Origins with Dr. Terry Mortenson

Dr. Mortenson of Answers in Genesis shows how many things thought to have taken millions of years to form by anti-biblical scientists could actually have formed very quickly in the global flood of Genesis. The geologic features and remnants of the global flood can be seen all around the world.

Download a PDF with the PowerPoint slides from this episode.

Dr Terry Mortenson

Systematic Theology, History of Geology
Lecturer/Researcher, AiG (USA) Information on his book, The 19^th Century Scriptural Geologists

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Biography

Like most people, Dr. Mortenson grew up in an education system that taught evolution as fact. During his first year at the University of Minnesota (where he majored in math) and shortly after becoming a Christian, he began to see the fallacy of the idea of millions of years of evolution. With a Ph.D. in the history of geology from the University of Coventry in England and an M.Div. from TrinityEvangelical Divinity School in Chicago, Dr. Mortenson has lectured on the creation-evolution controversy in 18 countries since the late 1970s. He has spoken in homes, churches, schools (primary, middle and secondary), secular universities, Bible colleges and seminaries. Several of his popular lectures have been produced as DVDs and as TV programs. He has also participated in seven formal debates with Ph.D. evolutionary scientists in secular venues in four countries.

He is the author of numerous magazine and journal articles and several book chapters. The revised version of his PhD thesis was published as The Great Turning Point: the Church’s Catastrophic Mistake on Geology—Before Darwin (Master Books, 2004). With a deep burden for seminary professors and students, he co-edited and contributed two chapters to the scholarly 14-author book,Coming to Grips with Genesis: Biblical Authority and the Age of the Earth (Master Books, 2008). He is a member of the Evangelical Theological Society, has presented six creation-related papers at ETS annual meetings, and spear-headed the formation of the “Creation Consultation” sessions at the ETS annual meeting beginning in 2008. He has also helped to lead two by-invitation-only 7-day rafts trips down the Colorado River through Grand Canyon for seminary and Bible College professors and other key Christian leaders. He and his wife, Margie, have been happily married since 1976 and have eight children and three grandchildren.

 

Born

• 1953 in Minnesota, USA

Converted to Christ

• April 1972, first year in the university

Family

• Married Margie in 1976, together they have 5 daughters and 3 sons

Education

• 1975, B.A. in math, Univ. of Minnesota, USA
• 1992, M.Div. in systematic theology, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Illinois, USA
• 1996, Ph.D. in history of geology, Coventry University, UK

Work

• 1975–2001: Campus Crusade for Christ staff
  • 1975–77: Campus staff, Purdue Univ., Indiana, USA
  • 1977–79: Campus director, Moorhead State University, Minnesota, USA
  • 1979–89: Country director, Czechoslovakia
  • 1989–92: Seminary staff at TEDS in Illinois, USA
  • 1992–96: Research staff in England
  • 1996–2001: Instructor, Institute for Biblical and Theological Studies, Hungary
• 2001–: Lecturer/Researcher, Answers in Genesis

Publications, refereed or professional

Books

• 7 Reasons Why We Should Not Accept Millions of Years
• Answers Academy - The Rocks Cry Out: The Earth Is Young!
• Coming to Grips with Genesis
• Exposing Progressive Creation
• The Great Turning Point: The Church’s Catastrophic Mistake on Geology—Before Darwin
• Millions of Years: Where Did the Idea Come From?
• Millions of Years & the Downfall of the Christian West
• Noah’s Flood: Washing Away Millions of Years
• The Origin of Old-Earth Geology and Christian Compromise (Parts 1 & 2)
• Origin of the Species: Was Darwin Right?
• Standing Against the Myth
• War of the Worldviews

TJ (Creation Ex Nihilo Technical Journal)

• British Scriptural Geologists in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century:
1. Historical Setting, 11(2):221–252, 1997.
2. Granville Penn (1761–1844), 11(3):361–374, 1997.
3. George Bugg (1769–1851), 12(2):237–252, 1998.
4. Andrew Ure (1778–1857), 12(3):362–373, 1998.
5. Henry Cole (1792?–1858), 13(1):92–99, 1999.
6. Thomas Gisborne (1758–1846), 14(1):75–80, 2000.
7. Rev. Samuel Best (1802–1873), 16(2):89–94, 2002.

Professional Society Papers

1. Boundaries on Creation and Noah’s Flood: Early 19^th Century British Scriptural Geologists, paper given at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society in Colorado Springs, CO, on Nov. 14, 2001, and posted on Zondervan’s website: http://www.zondervanchurchsource.com/convention/parallel.htm#DB.

Other articles and online forum

• Stop the brainwashing!
• Deifying Darwin?
• ‘The Way We Were: Human Origins Research in Ethiopia’
• Response to all-comers on the Washington Post Online Forum, 28 September 2001

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The 19^th Century Scriptural Geologists

In the first half of the 19^th century, there were a number of Christian writers who raised Biblical, logical and geological objections to old-earth theories and to the reinterpretations of Scripture to harmonize with them. These men became known as the ‘Scriptural geologists,’ and were the focus of my Ph.D. research. The articles hyperlinked below outline the lives and key arguments of the Scriptural geologists. More detail can be found in my Ph.D. thesis, and many of its chapters have been republished in recent issues of TJ (above; and some are available online).

1. Historical Background
2. Historical Background (cont.)
   
3. George Young (1777–1848)
   
4. George Fairholme (1789–1846)
   
5. William Rhind (1797–1874)
   
6. John Murray (1786?–1851)
   
7. Andrew Ure (1778–1857)
   
8. The common views and objections of the Scriptural geologists
   
9. Summary of the Scriptural geologists’ objections to old-earth geology

• See also Dr Mortenson’s refutation of anti-creationist critic, Morton: short and long versions.

On The Next Origins
Watch as scientists, researchers and authors share relevant facts
and thought-provoking evidence supporting creation.  Join us for Cornerstone TeleVision's unique program entitled, ORIGINS, and
then decide for yourself the truth about your human origins.

Donn Chapman reminds us, “It’s God’s view that He created you… and that should be your worldview too!” These new programs seen on Cornerstone Television Network and our affiliates throughout the world, continue to offer a forum to use scientific evidence to validate the truth of creation.

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Millions of Years - The Idea's Origin and Impact on the Church - Dr. Terry Mortenson

Presented December 12, 2008 at Rocky Mountain Creation Fellowship.

Dr. Mortenson's talk is titled: Millions of Years: the Idea's Origin and Impact on the Church. Where did the Church's belief in millions of years come from? This historical survey will explain how the idea of millions of years became dominant in geology and the resulting catastrophic damage to the Church and to the proclamation of the gospel. It is a sad state of affairs that most Christian churches today accept millions of years that is taught by man and refuse to believe in the thousands of years as taught by Scripture.

This video has 3 parts:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Dr. Terry Mortenson from Answers in Genesis, like most people, grew up in an education system that taught evolution as fact. During his first year in university and shortly after becoming a Christian, he began to see the fallacy of the idea of billions of years of evolution.

With a Ph.D. in the history of geology from the University of Coventry in England, Dr Mortenson has been studying and speaking on the creation-evolution controversy throughout North America and Europe since the late 1970s. He also holds a Masters of Divinity degree from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Mortenson is now a full time speaker and research scientist for AIG.

Read Dr. Mortenson's blog.

Much of his M.Div. studies focused on various (Biblical, historical and philosophical) aspects of this subject. His Ph.D. thesis analyzed the origins of old-earth geology in the early 19th century and particularly the writings of the 'scriptural geologists', a group of scientists and non-scientists who wrote Biblical, geological and philosophical arguments against these budding old-earth theories. Through study and personal interaction he has been exposed to the many different Christian and non-Christian responses to this controversy. All of this study and teaching has deepened his conviction of the literal truth and foundational importance of Genesis 1-11.

Get more of Dr. Mortenson's resources.