Dr. Ross takes all (the following quotes from lectures or publications)
1. Concerning the creation of life in the universe: "It only works in a
cosmos of a hundred-billion-trillion stars that's precisely sixteen
billion-years old This is the narrow window of time in which life is
possible.
"Therefore it allows me to make an interesting paraphrase of John 3:16 if
you'll permit - For God so loved the human race that He went to the expense
of building a hundred-billion trillion stars and carefully shaped and
crafted them for sixteen-billion years so that at this brief moment in time
we could all have a nice place to live. " (Dallas Theological Seminary
Chapel Service September 13, 1996)
Our Comment Read John 3:16 for yourself and compare it to the above!
Also: "Life is only possible when the universe is between 12 and 17 billion
years " (Toccoa Falls Christian College, Staley Lecture Series, March 1997)
Comment: God is omnipotent - He could make a fully functional universe ready
for life right from the beginning, for with God nothing is impossible. (See
Man. 19:26; Mark 10:27; Luke 7:1)
2. Dr. Ross defending his belief that Noah's Flood was only local: "But here
are some reasons why physical reasons why the flood cannot be global. Number
one is the limited extent of sin. Given that human beings had not yet'
civilized and inhabited Antarctica there'd be no need for God to flood
Antarctica because there'd be no sin there in Antarctica.
There'd be no need for God to kill off all the penguins because those
penguins had no contact with reprobate humanity. And in that case I don't
think Noah took any penguins on board the ark... Only bird and mammal
species according to the Levitical Law can be impacted by sin (Toccoa Falls
Christian College, Staley Lecture Series, March 1997)
Comment Read Genesis 6: 19-20. The Bible clearly states here that all kinds
of land animals - including penguins - were on the ark. By the way, most
penguins live in other parts of the world, including the Galapagos Islands
near the Equator!
3. Dr. Ross defining what he calls the sixty-seventh book of the Bible":
"Not everyone has been exposed to the sixty-six books of the Bible, but
everyone on planet Earth has been exposed to the sixty-seventh book - the
book that God has written upon the heavens for everyone to read
"And the Bible tells us it's impossible for God to lie, so the record of
nature must be just as perfect, and reliable and truthful as the sixty-six
books of the Bible that is part of the Word of God...And so when astronomers
tell us [Ross uses the example of scientists attempting to measure distances
in space and goes on to say that] it's part of the truth that God has
revealed to us. It actually encompasses part of the Word of God " (Toccoa
Falls Christian College, Staley Lecture Series March 1997).
Comment: Indeed God cannot lie, so when He tells us in Romans 8:22 that "the
whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain" because of sin, then how can
sinful fallible human beings say that their interpretation of the evidence
is as perfect as God's written revelation? (Especially when nature itself
has been cursed - God's Word has not.) Scientific assertions must use
fallible assumptions and fallen reasoning - how can they be the Word of God?
4. Dr. Ross's Creation story for children states: Starting about 2 to 4
billion years ago, God began creating man-like mammals or 'hominids.' These
creatures stood on two feet, had large brains, and used tools. Some even
buried their dead and painted on cave walls.
"However, they were different from us. They did not worship God or establish
religious practices. In time, all these man-like creatures went extinct.
Then, about 10 to 25 thousand years ago, God replaced them with Adam and
Eve. "
(Reasons to Believe Web Site, updated July 8, 1997)
Comment: Dr. Ross accepts and defends the evolutionist radiometric dating
methods, so all evidence of humans, descendants of Noah, if given
evolutionary dates of more than 25,000 years (e.g., The Neanderthal cave
sites) must be redefined as related to spirit-less "hominoids" which the
Bible doesn't mention. However, the same methods have been used to "date"
the Australian aborigines back at least 40,000 years (some have claimed much
older). By Ross's reasoning, the Australian aborigines could NOT be
descendants of Adam and Eve. However, read Acts 17:26. Interestingly, some
scientists now date the American Indians' ancestors at earlier than 40,000
years.
5. Dr. Ross commenting on God's knowledge and wisdom: "The Creator of the
universe must be a Being that's a minimum of a-hundred-trillion times better
educated, more intelligent, therefore more powerful, more creative, and even
more caring and loving than we human beings. " (Focus on the Family, radio
broadcast, August 7, 1997)
Comment: Our Creator is NOT a minimum of a hundred-trillion times better
"educated!" He is INFINlTELY more knowledgeable. (See Col. 2:3; Job 21:22,
42:1)
6.'Dr Ross defending death, bloodshed, disease, and suffering before Adam's
sin: "The spilling of blood before Adam's sin in no way affects or detracts
from the doctrine of atonement. Upholding that central doctrine in no way
demands a Creation scenario in which none of God's creatures received a
scratch or other blood-letting wound before Adam and Eve sinned.. Even in
an ideal natural environment animals would be constantly scratched, pricked,
bruised, and even killed by accidental events and each other... Could it be
that God's purposes are somehow fulfilled through our experiencing the
'random, wasteful, inefficiencies of the natural realm He created?"
(Creation and Time, Chapters 6 & 8)
Comment: Read Genesis:29,30; Genesis 9:3; Genesis 1:31; Genesis 2:17;
Genesis 3: 17-19; Genesis 3:21; Hebrews 9:22; Romans 5; Romans 8: 20-22;1
Corinthians 15; Acts 3:21; Isaiah 11:6-9; Revelation 21:4 Revelation 22:3.
God created a perfect world at the beginning - all the animals and man were
vegetarians (Gen 1:29). Plants were given for food - they do not have a
"nephesh" [life spirit] as man and animals do.
God killed the first animal in the Garden and shed blood because of sin if there was death, bloodshed, disease and suffering before sin, then the basis for the atonement is destroyed. Christ suffered death, for death was the penalty for sin. There will be no death or suffering in the perfect "restoration" - so why can't we accept the same in a perfect ("very good”) Creation before sin?
7. Dr. Ross on space-time dimensions: "What follows, then, from string
theory and from all these recent findings in particle physics and
astrophysics is that God must be operating in a minimum of eleven dimensions
of space and time, or their practical equivalent." (Beyond The Cosmos,
Chapter 3)
Comment: Dr. Ross bases much of what he says on "string theory," which is
NOT universally accepted, and is just one of many arcane speculations being
discussed by theorists. It is so vague and speculative, and without
experimental support, that to use it to apply to defining attributes of God
is foolish.
In the same book Dr. Ross declares: "We are the only people ever to see (or
need) direct scientific proof not only for God's existence, but also for His
transcendent capacity to create space and time dimensions, as well as to operate
in dimensions independent of our own four. " (Beyond The Cosmos, Chapter 3)
Comment: What about Hebrews 11:3,6? Whatever happened to faith? String theory
is NOT proof for God's existence. Remember Romans 10:17: "faith cometh by hearing
and hearing by the Word of God." The Spirit of God uses the Word of God to bring
people to Christ.