Bill Nye’s Reasonable Man—The Central Worldview Clash of the Ham-Nye Debate

[Easton]

#3 - If I took a chainsaw back in time, the day after God created trees and cut a tree down, would there be growth-rings in the trunk of the tree? (Without the rings, the trees are weak & fall down.)

#4 - Did God create the stars (and galaxies of trillions of stars) with their light already visible from Earth? If He did, then that implies age - a nonexistent age. Is He trying to fool us? Is this deception?

#8 - If a medical doctor traveled back through time to Day 6 of Creation kidnapped Adam and laid him out for a full and complete medical examination, how old would Adam be? We can assume from scripture that Adam and Eve were adults, so the day after their creation, how old would they be? Would their bodies imply an age that didn’t exist? Again, is God trying to fool us?

These are fairly hilarious. Is God under some sort of obligation to do everything so that there is no possibility for misunderstanding his act? If God were going to create ex nihilo, why not start with an apparent adult?

#7 - Did Adam and Eve have “belly-buttons” or navels? Don’t laugh - if they did not, they were not human.

I used to work in a care home for special needs kids. One under my care was born without eyes. Was he human?

If your issue is specifically with the navel, it seems to me that, as you did with the above questions, you are imposing your requirements about how it all would have to have gone down to be legit upon Someone who might not have to submit to such requirements.

If your issue is specifically with the navel…

No, it’s not, and, out of all of the questions above, I find it hilarious (and curious) that you focused on belly-buttons…

…you are imposing your requirements about how it all would have to have gone down…

I don’t believe I’m the one imposing anything on God (like I could). If God created out of nothing, anything & everything is possible. But we have now moved out of the realm of any known science and into the realm of the supernatural, i.e, “magic”…

So, asking questions based on science or debating scientists is of little use.*

*Unless you have a museum to fund or an ark to build…

I am pleased to agree with your last two lines.

[Easton]

#1 - If God had to create “light,” what was there before “light?” Don’t say dark, because in order to have dark you need light. So what was there before “light?” Is this formless void called Earth existing in some dimension outside of normal space/time?

I am going to say dark, because the Bible says “Darkness covered the face of the deep” before God said, “Let there be light.”

Actually Easton, I read the follow up. While there are questions remaining, it is inaccurate to say the tracks were debunked. However, I acknowledge that the updated evidence is currently inconclusive.

[Easton]

#2 - How can there be plant life before the sole source of their energy was created? Photosynthesis requires sunlight, but, the Sun doesn’t exist yet…

Plants require *light* not sunlight. (You can visit any underground marijuana growing facility to verify.) There was light before there was the Sun. The plants were just fine.

You said supernatural = “magic”.

Are you a Christian?

Lessons from the Ken Ham vs. Bill Nye Creation Debate

Competing Worldviews, not Science. It was glaringly obvious that Ham and Nye view the data before them through the lenses of two differing worldviews.

Jim,

This has been one of Ham’s most emphasized points for years. Both groups work with essentially the same data, but their approach greatly influences their outcome.

You said supernatural = “magic”.

Are you a Christian?

supernatural — attributed to some force beyond scientific understanding or the laws of nature, i.e., magic

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” ~ A.C. Clarke

Not sure what that has to do with my status as Christian or Pagan.

The action of God, in my opinion, is not magic. It concerns me that you, claiming to be a “fundamentalist” Christian, thinks it is. It’s accommodation…as noted by quoting A.C. Clarke.

This way of thinking is why this argument is so intractable.

It concerns me that you, claiming to be a “fundamentalist” Christian… as noted by quoting A.C. Clarke.

Not sure how I would register on The Official Fundamentalist Christian Meter — the needle (assuming an analog meter) may peg, hit the center or just quiver a bit.

I do know, however, that many “fundamentalist” Christians read (and sometimes quote) Arthur C. Clarke.

If you think God’s actions are magic…you have issues.

Jesus being resurrected…was that “magic”? The Sun standing still in the sky with Moses…magic? The Red Sea crossing…magic? The Centurion’s servant being healed…magic?

Magic is either paganism or a word used to belittle the miracles in the Bible.

Magic is either paganism or a word used to belittle the miracles in the Bible.

Magic is a simple description of processes we do not and, possibly, cannot understand.

What you are saying is what my “Lutheran” lesbian co-worker who thinks Jesus was a space alien thinks. He worked “magic”…ie technology that we don’t know of.