Good introduction to a flawed worldview

I'm not a young earth creationist, and I consider Jonathan Sarfati's "presuppositionalist" faction of the creationist movement to be one of the more extreme. However, I admit that "Refuting Evolution" is a relatively good introduction to the young earth creationist worldview.

The book was first published in 1999, when Sarfati was a leading member of an organization known as Answers in Genesis (AiG). After a split in 2006, Sarfati formed a new group, known as Creation Ministries International (CMI). More recent editions of "Refuting Evolution" therefore lack the foreword by Ken Ham, who still belongs to Answers in Genesis. The theological differences between the two groups seem to be minor, however. Both are evangelical and based on presuppositional apologetics, something associated with certain strands of the Calvinist tradition. Presuppositionalism means that, strictly speaking, the Biblical worldview is presupposed rather than "proven" evidentially. Of course, presuppositionalists believe that all worldviews are biased in this way, including Darwinism. To quote Sarfati: "It's not really a question of who is biased, but which bias is the correct bias with which to be biased!" Since the author cannot explain how the correct bias should be chosen, his position - if consistently applied - is really a form of hopeless dogmatism.

"Refuting Evolution" is a written in the form of an extensive response to a book published by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, "Teaching about Evolution and the Nature of Science". Most of the standard young earth creationist arguments are featured: micro-evolution doesn't entail macro-evolution, all mutations are harmful, there are no transitional forms (Archaeopteryx is debunked), radioactive dating methods are unreliable, the big bang never happened, etc. The first chapter presents the presuppositional apologetics of AiG/CMI, while the last one argues that intelligent design should be considered a valid scientific explanation.

Despite Sarfati's strong Biblicism, the book doesn't contain any specific chapters on Bible interpretation or Jesus Christ. Even rather extreme points, such as the literal interpretation of Noah's Ark, are mentioned in a very calm, laid back and almost "rational" manner. This suggests that "Refuting Evolution" is geared towards the general reader. Apparently, Sarfati has been quite successful on this score - "Refuting Evolution" might be the most bestselling creationist book ever written. Evolutionists of most stripes, for rather obvious reasons, don't like it!

Those interested in young earth creationism should definitely read "Refuting Evolution" by Jonathan Sarfati, together with "Scientific creationism" by Henry Morris and "The fossils say no" by Duane Gish. These three books could be considered the classics of the YEC movement. It probably never gets any better (relatively speaking!) than this, and frequently gets even worse. Of course, reading the chapters on the creation and the Flood in the Biblical Book of Genesis, pretending it's all a quite literal story, might also tell you what we're up against here...

Since Dr. Jonathan Sarfati's book is a good introduction to a flawed worldview, I graciously give it five stars.