Weird Science
There are numerous examples of bad science in Calvary Chapel. Some of these include:
- Dinosaurs and Man lived at the same time
- Young earth creationism
- Velikovsky
Dinosaurs and Man
Chuck Smith claimed on TEMAA (7-31-98) that dinosaurs and man lived at the same time. Smith claims that the Paluxy River bed proves this. Smith continues to discredit himself with these sorts of claims.
This can also be seen in the following quote:
How is is that you have the footprint of a man within the footprint of a dinosaur if the dinosaurs were extinct long before man ever inhabited the earth? (Read quote from Genesis commentary by Chuck Smith).
Smith's claims come from information like the ICR book Tracking Those Incredible Dinosaurs: and the People Who Knew Them, by John Morris, CLP Publishers, 1980.
This has since been refuted as noted here:
Paluxy River: it has been widely claimed by creationists that fossil human footprints have been found alongside dinosaur footprints at the Paluxy River near Glen Rose, Texas. Parker (1982), for example, claimed that they "are much more obviously human" than the Laetoli footprints. Scientists showed that many of them were indistinct or infilled dinosaur prints. Some other supposed footprints are either erosional features or, in a few cases (such as the Burdick footprint (Whitcomb and Morris 1961)), carvings. In 1984 the dinosaurian origin of many of the "better" prints was dramatically confirmed when Glen Kuban and Ron Hastings found color markings which preserved the outline of three-toed dinosaur feet. Although there have been some insinuations that these markings could be artificial stains, core samples show that they were caused by an infilling of secondary sediment into the prints. This evidence has caused most creationists to abandon the Paluxy footprints, although claims about them continue to circulate. For further details read Kuban (1996), or Strahler (1987).
See also
* Paluxi FAQs
* Retracking...
* Man Tracks?
* On the Heels of Dinosaurs
* The Taylor Site "Man Tracks"
* Do Human Tracks Occur in the Kayenta of Arizona?
Old Earth/Young Earth?
Some have claimed that Calvary Chapels are all young earth creationist. However, I had been told that Chuck Smith, Jr. is an old-earther. Additionally, I have been told that Chuck Smith (Sr.) espouses the gap theory - and old earth variant.
Additionally, Calvary Chapel has no item in their Statement of Beliefs concerning the age of the universe and the age of the world in particular. Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa has had a long-standing supportive relationship with the Institute of Creation Research, a young earth creationist ministry.
Finally, I was told to get the Word For Today Tape # 7032, on Exodus 19-20. On this tape (near the middle of the rear side) is an extended monologue concerning the Sabbath day rest in the 10 commandments. There, Chuck Smith makes a series of statements supporting the Old Earth position, using the "gap theory" which purports a time gap between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2 and the old earth. He even apologizes to the ICR for not agreeing with their requirement for a young earth.
For a very good book on the age of the universe and earth that is critical of the young earth cosmology and is from a Christian perspective, read Calvary Chapel attendee Don Stoner's book A New Look at an Old Earth - What the Creation Institutes Are Not Telling You About Genesis (Order through Amazon.Com).
Catastrophism and the Velikovsky Connection
Calvary Chapel and Chuck Smith are into "catastrophism". This is the belief that multiple catastrophes have happened in the earth's past that are responsible for many various phenomenon such as the flood, the longest day of Daniel, the plagues in Egypt, etc.
One of the primary writers on this subject was Immanuel Velikovsky who wrote a number of books on the subject including:
- Worlds In Collision
- Ages in Chaos
- Ramses II and His Time
- Earth in Upheaval
- Peoples of the Sea
There are many articles and books "out there" against Velikovsky and his strange views. Many of these are from skeptical sources:
- Velikovsky Critiqued
- Counter-culture - Forbidden Archaeology
- Is Venus Young?
- Society for Historical Research
- UCI Catastrophism site
- Velikovskian Tectonics and Pangaea
The newsgroup new:alt.catastrophism has continual discussions of Velikovsky and his works. Frequent debunking of his theories are presented there.
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