Kurt Wise and Jerry Bergman couldn't be more different, but both became creation scientists⤒🔗

The world is full of apologists for all sorts of points of view. Among academics today there are humanists, atheists, agnos­tics, and even some who are officially Christian, Jewish, Muslim or adherents of any one of a vast array of Eastern religions. Nev­ertheless most scientists ignore any religious implications for their disciplines. There are, of course, exceptions, some of them well known. The stories of why these people made the choices that they did, are often very interesting.

A different sort of witness←↰⤒🔗

Dr. Jerry Bergman, for example, was born into a religiously indifferent household. His father was an agnostic, very dedicated to science and very hostile to religion. When the boy was eight years old, his mother became a Jehovah's Witness. As a result of this development, the parents later divorced. Jerry and many relatives on his mother's side became Witnesses, but he still felt closer to his father than to his mother.

In time, at university, the young man became disillu­sioned with the Jehovah's Witnesses and he then embraced the atheism of his father. During these years he met many of the big name atheists including Madalyn Murray O'Hair. He published in several atheistic journals, the last time in 1977. By this time he was an assistant professor in the department of educational foundation and inquiry at Bowling Green State University in Ohio.

Shortly after 1977, Dr. Bergman began to wonder about the validity of the atheistic position. It seemed that the writings were biased and the advocates were very defensive, unwilling to engage in real discussion about the issues. Dr. Bergman felt that he had seen the same pattern among the Jehovah's Witnesses. This academic then decided to evaluate the atheistic position for himself. In his opinion, the two arguments the atheists used to prove their worldview were

the existence of evil in the world, and the assumption that evolution (meaning evolutionary naturalism or Darwinism) could totally explain the existence of the living and nonliving world.

Persuaded by the Evidence p. 42

As far as the first argument was concerned, he concluded, "that the historic orthodox Christian answer was the most vi­able solution to the omnipresent problem of suffering in our world" (p. 43). It was furthermore clear to him that atheists themselves had no solution to the problem of evil, other than to criticize Christians.

About 1978 Dr. Bergman then began to research the main arguments in favor of evolution. Since he distrusted religious writings, he read only secular studies. In this way, he declares:

"Slowly, but surely, I was able to eliminate all the main argu­ments used to support evolutionism by researching secular lit­erature only. At some point I crossed the line, realizing the case against evolutionism was overwhelming and conversely, so was the case in favor of the alternative, creationism."

p. 44/45

Eventually, after examining the three main world religions, he came to the conclusion that historic Christianity was true.

During this time, Dr. Bergman's university colleagues be­came aware of his Christian conversion. This was particularly so after he wrote a booklet in 1979 entitled Teaching about the Creation/Evolution Issue.

Abandoned by all, even Christians←↰⤒🔗

Soon it was time for Dr. Bergman to be considered for tenure at his university. If a candidate is successful (most are) he is rewarded with a permanent position at the university, and if not successful, he would have no job. Dr. Bergman was not worried. His research, publication and teaching records were all excellent.

He found out however that none of this mattered. His col­leagues voted against his tenure. They did not need to have any valid reasons. During depositions for a subsequent court case on the matter, it transpired that his colleagues did not like the fact that he was a Christian. This is not a valid criterion for tenure considerations, but that did not matter. One colleague even cultivated Dr. Bergman's friendship for the sole purpose of be­traying his confidences. Various appeals were lost and Dr. Bergman was indeed out of a job (The Criterion p. 68/69).

His wife decided that she did not like Christians either, es­pecially unemployed Christians, and a divorce followed. As a re­sult, secular institutions refused to consider Dr. Bergman because of his Christian views, and conservative Christian institutions refused to consider him because he was a divorced man. At one stage, while job hunting, Dr. Bergman landed in a hospital for indigents because he had no job and no medical coverage.

A hard but fruitful journey←↰⤒🔗

Eventually Dr. Bergman obtained a position at Northwest State College in Ohio. He has taught science there for a num­ber of years. During that time Dr. Bergman has continued as a very active participant in the community of scientists support­ive of the creation model. He does not regret his intellectual journey which has taken him far from his roots. This was a case where an inquirer found secular attitudes and conclusions to be inadequate. Thus he declares:

"Eventually after much study … I came to accept orthodox Christianity. When I began my quest, I had no faith in reli­gion, only a set of very negative experiences with religion. I demanded facts, and, as was true of many other people, it was science research that led me to reject Darwinism and accept theism."

FortWayne.com Feb. 18/06

Taking scissors to the Bible←↰⤒🔗

The story of Dr. Kurt Wise is quite different. Born into a Christian household, from a very young age, he dreamed of be­coming a scientist. Already by the eighth grade, his ambition was to study at Harvard University. That year, when he was thir­teen years old, he undertook an ambitious project for a re­gional science fair. His project dealt with evolution, and he did a very thorough job including a free-standing geological col­umn, complete with real fossils, models of other fossils, and arrangements of continents at various stages, all displayed. There was just one little problem, in his own mind – he could not reconcile the details of evolution with the Biblical record.

A couple of years later, he could no longer stand the men­tal conflict over the issue of evolution. He then resolved to come to a conclusion about the issue. As a preliminary, he read through the entire Bible and he cut out every verse which would have to be discarded if evolution were true. The last verse he cut out, with trembling hands, was Rev. 22:19

If any man shall take away from the words of this prophecy, God will take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

To his horror, the young Kurt realized that the remaining portions of Scripture were like a doily, so much had been removed. It was then that the young Kurt decided that he must accept the Word of God in its entirety and reject all that would ever counter it, including evolution. This was a remarkable decision for a fifteen year old (In Six Days p. 354).

As far as the young Kurt was concerned, he had thrown away all his hopes for a career in science. Strange as it may seem though, his dreams still came true. In 1981 he graduated with a B.Sc. in Geophysics from the University of Chicago. One of his mentors there was the famous palaeontologist David Raup. This man recommended Kurt to his colleague Stephen Jay Gould at Harvard, and shortly thereafter, Kurt Wise arrived at Harvard to study fossils with Dr. Gould. Apparently when Dr. Gould accepted Kurt Wise into his graduate program, this pro­fessor had heard nothing of the young student's views on evo­lution. By the time the young Kurt arrived in Boston however, Dr. Gould had heard the news. Upon arriving for the first time on campus, late in the evening, Kurt Wise encountered an angry Dr. Gould. The professor berated the new arrival concerning his creation-based worldview. From then on however, the two in­teracted in normal professor/student fashion and Dr. Gould rarely referred to the issue of views, and even when he did so, it was in a very matter of fact way.

One of the qualities that Stephen Jay Gould exhibited, was that he was brutally honest about some of the shortcomings of evolution theory. This meant that in certain academic circles, Dr. Gould was himself quite unpopular. This may be why, although he did not approve, he was nevertheless so tolerant of Kurt Wise' views. All this exposure to the biggest names in geology meant that Kurt Wise graduated with a very detailed background on the shortcomings of evolution. However, such a discussion was not his objective. His goal was much more ambitious.

Thus he once stated: "My goal is to develop a theory that explains the data of the universe better than conventional theory but is con­sistent with Scripture."

He did not want to point out weaknesses in evolution theory. Thus he remarked: "by the time I finished at Harvard, I realized I could destroy macro-evolutionary theory at will. I don't want to challenge evolution ... I intend to replace it."

cited in Slaughter of the Dissidents p. 335

Accepting the Bible, not trying to prove it←↰⤒🔗

A frequent criticism of creationists is that they are trying to prove the Bible true. But as Dr. Wise points out in his book Faith, Form and Time, that simply isn't true.

Thus he declares: "the Bible should be understood to be authoritative on all matters it addresses."

p. 22

In addition he maintained: "It is important also to assert that this book assumes the veracity (the truthful­ness) of God and His Word. It does not seek evidence for the veracity of God or Scripture, because such evidence would then have a higher status than God and His Word."

p. xiv-xv

Unlike most graduates in geology from Harvard, Dr. Wise has contented himself with positions at small Christian insti­tutions rather than in prestigious universities or museums. When he goes to meetings of professional geologists, many of his colleagues take whatever evasive action is necessary (such as climbing over furniture) in order to avoid even walking near him in the building.

Nevertheless Dr. Wise has positively influenced a large number of young Christian academics in science in the United States. His amazing grasp of detail and his analytical abilities have led to some important new interpretations of nature such as baraminology – the study of, and search for, the cre­ated kinds (for more on baraminology, see Reclaiming Galapagos in the Sept. 2005 RP issue). Everyone who has heard him speak on fossils, or other details of science, declares that he is the most interesting individual that they have ever heard. This man is a wonderful resource for the Christian community. His renouncing of personal ambition in order to mentor others has been a great blessing for young Christians in science, particu­larly those in very technological fields such as DNA sequenc­ing and in geological studies.

Conclusion←↰⤒🔗

The annals of science are full of stories of scientists who re­ceived Christian training in their youth, but who later rejected such faith once they were exposed to evolution in university. This situation makes it all the more interesting to learn about the lives of scientists who chose to give up fame and fortune in order to show forth the praise of God not only in their per­sonal lives, but in their careers as well. May God raise up many more such individuals in the days ahead!

Books cited:

1. John F. Ashton's In Six Days: why fifty scientists choose to be­lieve in creation
2. Jerry Bergman's The Criterion: religious discrimination in America
3. Jerry Bergman's Slaughter of the Dissidents: the shocking truth about killing the careers of Darwin Doubters
4. Doug Sharp and Jerry Bergman's (eds) Persuaded by the Evi­dence: true stories of faith, science, & the power of the creator
5. Kurt Wise's Faith, Form and Time: what the Bible teaches and science confirms about creation and the age of the universe