Faith, Reason, & Earth History

The ground is shifting. New research programs, and new discoveries, are constantly changing the landscape of our knowledge of “how it all began.” And for those considering these matters from a position of biblical faith, there are new and promising frontiers to explore.

Many of those remarkable recent changes are addressed in this fully updated third edition of this landmark work, now in its twentieth year of publication. With additional contributions from joint author Arthur Chadwick, Faith, Reason, and Earth History presents Leonard Brand’s continuing argument for constructive thinking about origins and earth history in the context of Scripture, showing readers how to analyze available scientific data and approach unsolved problems. Faith does not need to fear the data but can contribute to progress in understanding earth history within the context of God’s Word while still being honest about unanswered questions.

In this patient explanation of the mission of science, and its application to questions about origins and earth history, the authors model their conviction that “above all, it is essential that we treat each other with respect, even if we disagree on fundamental issues.”
The original edition of this work (1997) was one of the first books on this topic written from the point of view of experienced research scientists. Brand and Chadwick, career researchers and teachers in biology and paleontology, bring to this well-illustrated book a rich assortment of practical scientific examples.

This thoughtful, rigorous, and thoroughly up-to-date presentation makes this classic work highly useful both as a college-level text and as an easily accessible treatment for the educated lay person.

Leonard Brand (Ph.D., Cornell) is professor of biology and paleontology at Loma Linda University, and has been teaching at the university level for four decades. An active researcher, he is well published in professional scientific journals in the fields of paleontology, animal behavior, and ecology.

Arthur Chadwick (Ph.D., University of Miami) is research professor of biology and geology at Southwestern Adventist University. Chadwick began his professional career by retraining in geology and paleontology at the University of California (Riverside) and accepting a visiting professorship at the University of Oklahoma in geology and geophysics before taking his current position. His research and publication profile spans these disciplines.

CONTENTS

• Preface

• CHAPTER 1: What Is Science?

• CHAPTER 2: The Path to Scientific Discovery and Its Limits

• CHAPTER 3: Highlights of the History of Science

• CHAPTER 4: Understanding Science

• CHAPTER 5: Naturalism and an Alternative

• CHAPTER 6: The Relationship of Faith and Science

• CHAPTER 7: The Origin of Life

• CHAPTER 8: Microevolution and Speciation

• CHAPTER 9: Can a Creationist Accept the Process of Evolution?

• CHAPTER 10: Challenges to Macroevolution

• CHAPTER 11: The Case for Macroevolution and Its Scars

• CHAPTER 12: The Case for Informed Intervention

• CHAPTER 13: Sociobiology and Altruistic Behavior

• CHAPTER 14: The Geologic Record

• CHAPTER 15: Why Does It Matter What We Believe about Geological Time?

• CHAPTER 16: Two Geology Theories

• CHAPTER 17: Evidence for Long Time

• CHAPTER 18: Evidence for Short-Age Geology

• CHAPTER 19: Research and Predictions

• CONCLUSION: Faith, Reason, and Earth History

• Glossary

• Bibliography

• Notes

• Index