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The Origin and Destiny of LifeIn the beginning...THE ORIGIN AND DESTINY OF LIFE This is the fifth volume in a series by the author under the title, Evidence for Truth, in which Dr. Pearce seeks to defend the faith. However, I find it to be a mixture of the useful, the speculative and the apparently inaccurate. One of the most frustrating aspects of the work is the lack of documentation. The form of the work makes it difficult to read as well. The chapters are short and appended by a list of 'checkpoints'. These checkpoints read like speaker's prompts and are sometimes meaningless to the reader. The author takes a strong anti-evolutionary stand, but would probably find few allies among the creationists. He believes in a series of creation acts over large periods of time. He makes a number of claims that I believe are not valid. He equates the fossil distribution in the geological column with the creation account. This can only be achieved by selective choice of examples. For example, the fish were created on the fifth day and were not an earlier form of earthly life; the birds too were created on the fifth day, before the reptiles. There is a clear difference between the geological record and the creation account - the former is about death, destruction, agony and so on; Genesis 1 is concerned with life, beauty, that which is good. Chapter 6 concentrates on claims of fraud by evolutionists. Some of these are valid accusations, but the archaeopteryx feathers are not fraudulent. His use of the Black Sea flood reported recently as evidence of the Noahic Flood is in conflict with the Scriptural account and can only be equated by the selective use of Scripture. Dr Pearce's claim that the creation of plant life was the source of oxygen in the atmosphere is unsubstantiated and questionable scientifically. He perpetuates the story that Darwin was converted before his death, but, sadly, this is not consistent with the facts, the evidence being at best circumstantial. Other matters of speculation leave one wondering about the reliability of other claims. For example, he claims that Matthew practised shorthand and kept a record of the Lord's ministry in that way. The last section of the book is on prophecy. There would be plenty of dispute here too about the detail among Christians. There are many other points of detail which cause me to advise against this book, but these comments suffice to show the nature of my doubts. I would not recommend the book to the undiscerning. JHJP© Evangelicals Now - May 2001 |