Origins
by David Cartwright [email protected] 405-517-2081
What is the origin of the human race? Did God use evolution to create, or is the Bible literal in the Genesis account? Was there a world-wide flood? Where did the fossils come from? How did Noah get all the animals on the Ark? What about radioisotipic dating methods, distant starlight, ancient civilizations, and the accuracy of biblical history? How does Christianity compare with other major religions and philosophies?
This class will explore the origins of the universe from a historical and scientific perspective in these seven major sections:

1. Worldview: while many characterize the debate as “science vs. religion”, the reality is rather more complicated.
   
2. Hydroplate Theory, Noah’s Flood, the antediluvian world and the Ark: This section will cover the question of whether the Flood was a local flood or really did cover the world, and will include a feasibility study of the Ark and some of the things we can learn about the world before the Flood.
   
3. Paleontology and the fossil record: We will examine the “missing links”, the Cambrian Explosion, stasis, paraconformities and other aspects of strata.
   
4. The biological sciences: we will examine the origins of Darwinism genetics, chemical origins of life, and the challenge of attaining life from non-living matter.
   
5. Geochronographs: Radioisotopic dating, dendrochronology, coral reef growth, erosion and deposition of sediments, plutonium halos, resident helium in granite, recession of the moon, and other ways to measure the age of the Earth and Universe will be studied in this section.
   
6. Physics: Entropy, distant starlight, stellar birth, retrograde motion, the “fine tuning of the universe” and other aspects of astrophysics will be covered in this section.
   
7. Archaeology: What support does the Bible have in the various excavations done in the areas
   Students should expect to spend 2-3 hours per week discussing the section, learning a few vocabulary words, and writing a short reaction paper at the end of each section. This class is designed to be a science elective, and is ideal for 9th grade and above. Parents are welcome to attend so long as there’s room!
   This class could count as a high-school level Earth Science, a lab can be added if necessary. No textbook or prerequisite is required, and the homework will consist of some vocabulary, concept questions, and short reaction papers. As most of my students count this as an elective, these assignments will be challenge-by-choice.