FLOOD.BRF

The Biblical Flood, A Case Study of the Church's Response to
Extrabiblical Evidence, by Davis A. Young. William B. Eerdmans
Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, and, jointly, The
Paternoster Press, Carlisle, 1995. 327 pages, footnotes and index.
Paperback; $19.99.

The second rule of science, after "methodological naturalism," was
coined (I am told) by the Epicureans as "Consider ALL the evidence."
Dr. Davis A. Young, professor of geology at Calvin College, writes
about the use -- and abuse -- of this rule through the many centuries
of scientific and theological investigations of the Genesis flood (Gen
6:9-9:29). He has produced a jewel, a book which deserves a place on
the shelves of every person who takes both Christianity and the study
of science seriously. It is difficult to praise this work enough, or
to recommend it too highly to PSCF readers. The target audience is the
non-geologist scientist, the Bible teacher, the preacher, any person,
clergy or laity, who sincerely struggles with the problems of
interpreting Christianity through the eyes of science and science
through the eyes of Christianity.

This is a "fun" book to read. Technical terminology is kept to a
minimum, commensurate with telling the fascinating story,
chronologically, of the attempts of thinkers through the ages to deal
with both the Genesis record and scientific data. Of particular
interest is chapter 4, The Impact of the Exploration of the New World.
Young is perhaps too kind to Calvin and Luther, who wrote after data
from those explorations was available, yet, curiously, ignored nearly
all of it. In the final chapters, the modern-day flood theories of
Whitcomb and Morris are analyzed. Young is critical  of many current
evangelical writers for their "departure...from a familiarity with and
an appreciation of mainstream science..." (pg 301), suggesting that
writers of a century ago occupied "higher intellectual ground.".

The book's usefulness is enhanced by generous footnotes, an adequate
index, and by the author's pattern of concluding each chapter with a
short "Analysis and Application."  Young argues that debates on the
flood have been confused by appeals to obsolete data and discredited
theories; often appeals have been made, uncritically, to "yet another
miracle" to bridge a difficulty. If Christians are to witness
effectively to today's scientifically literate civilization, he
asserts, we must necessarily include today's knowledge of geology,
paleontology, and other scientific disciplines. This book is a
first-class overview of this knowledge. Get it.

Reviewed by    John W. Burgeson
               IBM Market Research (retired)
               6715 Colina Lane
               Austin, Texas 79759
               Compuserve 73531,1501
               e-mail 73531.1501@compuserve.com

Other writings:

Writings in Compuserve's Religion (not
Religious Issues) library:

Section File      Date      Title

2       TOUR.TXT   5 Jun 95 Just passing through...
2       IMAGE.TXT    Jun 95 A Review of Morris's SCIENCE & THE BIBLE

Writings in Compuserve's 
Religious Issues (not Religion) library:

Section File      Date       Title

1       LIS.TEN      Jun 95  The art of listening to one another

2       PAT.TXT    4 Jun 95  On Governmental Paternalism
2       SING.BRF   3 Jun 95  Rethinking Life & Death (a review)
2       DUTY.TXT  15 May 95  Our Duty to Others...
2       ACTS.TXT   8 May 95  On Affirmative Action

3       FACES.TXT  8 Jan 95  The masks we wear ...
3       PN1.TXT   14 Jan 95  Argument against Philosophical Naturalism
3       PN2.TXT   18 Jan 95  Argument for Philosophical Naturalism
3       PN3.TXT   26 Jan 95  2nd arguments against Philosophical Naturalism
3       PL.BRF    31 Oct 94  Review of Casti's "Paradigms Lost."

5       CUP.BRF    4 Jun 95  Review of "Creationism's Upside Down Pyramid"
5       SFC.BRF    1 Dec 94  Review of Casti's "Search for Certainty."
5       XTIAN.CHA  1 Dec 94  One page exposition on Christianity
5       UNNAT.TXT 18 Jan 95  A personal account of encountering God  
5       GISH.TXT  19 Jan 95  Two reviews of a book by ICR's Duane Gish