In Six Days: Why Fifty Scientists Choose to Believe in Creation

by John F. Ashton (Editor)

What do geneticist James Allan, geophysicist John Baumgardner, and electrical engineer Stephen Taylor have in common? They're all respected scientists with Ph.D.s who believe in a literal 6-day creation. Drawing on current scientific research and solid scriptural evidence, 50 professional scientists witness to the truth of the Genesis account. Enlightening!

Genres: Science, Christian, Nonfiction, Faith, Religion, Christianity, Creation Science

384 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2000

About the author

Dr. John F. Ashton PhD CChem FRACI is an Australian scientist. He writes, edits and co-authors books which provide evidence for creation and the historical accuracy of the Bible. He also co-authors books on health and nutrition.

He holds research degrees in both chemistry and philosophy and is a Chartered Chemist and Fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute. He also serves as an Adjunct Professor in the School of Applied Sciences at RMIT University, Melbourne and as an Adjunct Professor in the School of Biomedical and Health Sciences at Victoria University.

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book.It helped me to realise that God did just what His written Word said He did in Genesis.I like to read articles that tell us how big the Universe is anyway.You learn facts like this for example:like how long would it take ...with our current technology and with enough engines etc. just to get to the first star, not our own sun but the star called Proxima Centauri , the star that is roughly 4.3 light-years away.They estimate that it would take 150,000 years to get there.150,000 years to get to the nearest star to the Earth in a Universe with ( the most current estimates) approximately 100 to 200 billion galaxies in the Universe ( some scientists believe there are a lot more...some less), each of which has hundreds of billions of stars. A recent German supercomputer simulation put that number even higher: 500 billion.There are spiral galaxies out there with more than a trillion stars, and giant elliptical galaxies with 100 trillion stars....I have to repeat that number again, that's just massive...giant elliptical galaxies with 100 trillion stars.As far as to how many stars God created and that are in the whole Universe, it's believed that there are a septillion of them..that's 1 followed by 24 zeros or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000....or a little less or a whole lot more.
( Spoiler coming up, please skip to the paragraph following the one coming up if you haven't read this book yet & you want to be surprised) )I really enjoy the honesty in this book also.One of authors..Dr Baumgardner.. shares on the light from distant stars.I'm not a scientist but it has something to do Einstein's Theory of Relativity and how God stretches out the heavens etc. No one knows the answer to this particular problem yet but Dr Baumgardner feels that the answer is getting closer.
This book has turned out to be one of my all time favorites.I really do wished that every Christian would get a hold of this book and read it.It really encourages ones faith and it makes me wonder why this isn't being taught in our schools since there is a lot more evidence for the Creation "theory" than there is evidence for the Theory of Evolution... as you'll find out when you read this book.Of course we Christians know the reason for this. God's Word tells us about the spiritual battle going on all around us.And until Jesus Christ comes to set His kingdom up on the earth,this is Satan's world-system.
Here's some good news for someone...you no longer need to buy this book if you can't afford it or whatever the reason might be.If you are online simply type in John F. Ashton and go to the site where his name is tied in with the Creation Ministries International site.Then you'll see what I mean.
Myself, I still enjoy reading books the old fashion way and also enjoy giving them as gifts.This would make a great gift for someone to be sure.
May God bless you and fill you with His love as you abide in Jesus, put on the whole armor of God each day and by faith enjoy your fellowship with Him as we pass through this world.And remember what the apostle Paul said..we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 2 Corinthians 4:8-11..Trust in our loving caring Lord...He knows what it takes for each one of us to become more like Jesus.We'll soon be Home.And let all things be done with love....God bless.

[Peter · Rating 1 out of 5]

In a second hand shop, I picked up this pristine, as-new book not realising what was in it. What an entertaining read! I didn't realise reputable universities gave degrees to crackpots. Surely the Editor is pulling our leg!

Picking myself up from the floor where I had momentarily fallen, I groped around for words to express my astonishment. I must be leading a very sheltered life. Granted, my fields of expertise are only geology & geophysics, and education, but it seems to me in almost every case the authors start from a presumption of the verity of Their Holy Bible (which as far as I know (correct me if I'm wrong) has no basis in verifiable data) and then criticise those scientists who make postulates and test them against verifiable experimental data. I mean, come on. Is it not simpler to take The Holy Bible as just another piece of observational data, model it and test out it's predictions? It's been spectacularly wrong in the past. Where shall I begin ...

But never mind, to each his own. I'm not here to argue a case, just to give you, dear reader, fair warning. Indeed, perhaps I should have given this book a 5 star review for the entertainment value.

Required further reading: D. Robson, "The Intelligence Trap: why smart people do stupid things"

[Petersam · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a great resource, with plenty of references to additional reading!

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe you haven't made up your mind yet to believe in a literal six day creation or ascribe to [theistic] evolution. Or, perhaps you have already made up your mind one way or the other, but you want to understand the six-day 'side' of things better. So, you look up a young-earth scientist and read his case against evolution. Perhaps it is a very compelling case, but... The thought nags you, "Maybe this guy is just really good at spinning his story. What information has he conveniently left out to make it all hold together? Is this 'what they all say'? Would it hold up in a court with multiple testimonies?"

If you have ever been in this situation, as I have, then this book is (no pun intended) a Godsend. After persevering through fifty testimonies from highly educated scientists with a wide variety of specialties and backgrounds, I can probably safely make some conclusions about the case for a six day creation. Some articles were simple enough to fit on one page, while others went so deep into the science of it all that I honestly had no idea what the author was saying. That's actually what I love about this book. The responders were not forced to fit any sort of framework or standard. They were free to speak from their hearts and minds. Now, I can be free to respond with mine.

And in case you are wondering, I began the book believing in a young earth but without any real defense of that idea apart from "because God says so." I still conclude to believe in a young earth, and now I have enough reasons why to, well, fill a book! ;)

[Jason McIntire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this in 2013 to preview for a skeptic friend. First few chapters are pretty interesting; after that, the reasoning starts to repeat and it gets a bit dull. To me, what's important about this book is not its content but its very existence. Many skeptics believe that biblical creation is an irrational school of thought, the sole province of illiterate fundamentalist fanatics. When you hand them a book in which 50 scientists assert otherwise, that might occasion a bit of rethinking - maybe enough to get them to question other things, like their assumptions about Scripture itself.

[Sunrise (Brit) · Rating 5 out of 5]

95% = 5 Stars

I originally gave this 4 stars but it added up to a 5. Good job John Ashton!

I will say that if you are interested in the topic, this is a good book. It'll also work well with short attention spans as each scientist only has so much space to explain their reason. Obviously, there isn't enough room in the book for there to be a comprehensive explanation from each one, and so it falls flat in that way.

I know many would attack this book because of the beliefs espoused, however this material is worth reading and thinking on.

[99Kylies · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I began this book, I began the draft for this review with 'I suppose, if asked, I would call myself a creationist.' This book has made me a die hard Creationist. While I still hold to the value that my mom instilled in me (If, tomorrow, they proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that evolution was true, it wouldn't shake my faith in the Lord.), I'm now absolutely certain that a Christian should be a creationist, and that any Christian who delves into the topic, must either call God a liar, or believe Genesis.

This book made me realize how totally unfounded evolution is - from such basic facts as life being unable to come from nothing to the fact that mutations and changes only ever *lose* information, never gain it, evolution is a desperate theory designed purely to try to find any reason other than God for the universe's existence. While both evolution and creationism have unanswered questions, creationism has a lot fewer, and fits much better with such simple laws as the law of thermodynamics. That alone should be enough to content most of society with not believing the Myth that is evolution.

Now that I've talked about how the book has informed me, onto the actual material -

The people in this book have all come to the same conclusion. Diverse in both history (from born creationists to previous atheists) and scientific fields, they've all come to the conclusion that the scientific facts we can observe right now support the historical account of the bible. I enjoyed reading the credentials of the scientists and walked away suitably impressed and satisfied with their qualifications. These are not random people who run science channels on youtube, these are people with careers and reputations within the scientific community. (Not dunking on youtube, btw.)

While I'm not going to pretend to be 100% informed on every scientific fact that supports or contradicts creationism and evolution, a lot of what they were saying made (common) sense to me.. I'll admit that this book is far more...academic than i normally pick. It was a hard read for me. I think it's good to branch out and read stuff that I'm not used to, and while some of it flew right over my head, I definitely benefited and grew from reading this.

It can, at times, be dense and full of big words and mathmatics, but there's different styles from different people. Again, what I understood made sense to me.

I appreciated hearing about 'theistic evolution', or the theory that God set evolution in motion and then stepped back. It seems to be something rarely mentioned or entirely debunked, and for obvious reasons that are set forth in the book. It also touched on some theories for interpreting the bible and immediately debunked them, which I found informative.

I think it's good to ask questions of both theories and try to find whatever fits the facts and accounts we have. I'd like to read things refuting this book, and further rebuttals of that, as people genuinely try to parse and find the answer to how the universe was formed. But that's not likely, I suppose. Besides, we'll never know everything, and anyone who pretends otherwise is being dishonest. We cannot answer everything about the universe. But creationism answers a lot more than evolution.

There were some really good parts of this book. At one point, Jerry R. Bergman talks about how Adam was made - entirely, fully, instantaneously. I was a bit confused about why he was talking about something I thought all creationists took for granted - until he pointed out that as Adam was brought about with his blood already flowing through his veins, so too could the universe have been brought about with light already reaching its destination. (Rephrased by me, since I won't quote the whole passage.)

Some of the people in this book are more entertaining or more accessible than others, so if you don't like one person's testimony, you might like the next person's. I think that's a strength in the book.

There are some points where people veer off from pure facts and talk about faith. Particularly John K.J. Kramer, who's religious talk was quite strong. While I enjoyed it, someone who's reading this because they're interested in Creationism vs Evolution, rather than Christianity, might be annoyed at the segues into talk about faith. But, I rather liked it. Kramer in particular doesn't separate his religion and his science. His entire life is steeped in Christ, and he doesn't pretend otherwise. I enjoyed hearing about how he prayed while he was working on a ten year study into canola oil's danger.

In conclusion, I absolutely believe that this book is an essential read for Christians, especially those on the fence about the whole issue, or who wish to use it in their testimony. I'm so glad I read this book, and I'll likely return to it when I'm older.

[Nathan Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Those of us who've followed the Evolution-Creation debate for any amount of time, whether continually or intermittently, have no doubt encountered some statement to the effect that such-and-such scientist will toe the Evolution line and then, the moment the recording device stops, will promptly state, "Everything I just said is bull." Often second-or-third-hand, many of us have been left wondering just who and where these scientists are who purportedly reject Evolution in favor of some version of Creation.

Here, as the title implies, is a collection of essays by fifty such scientists practicing a wide variety of disciplines explaining why they reject Evolution. As one might expect, some of these essays are compelling, and others not so much. Also as one might expect, there's a substantial amount of overlap, with several essays dealing in whole or in part with the problem of the Second Law of Thermodynamics, for example. Further, I repeatedly had the impression that the book as a whole is almost "Angling in the aquarium," as is often said in Christian circles. Almost. There's a little of that, to be sure, and for a student--or a parent of such a student--trying to wrap their heads around the debate, it's not a bad place to start. For others, especially those firmly on the side of Evolution, it might be a decent read for no other reason than to maybe discern what the bleep is up with Intelligent Design and whether there's more to it than just a bunch of Christians trying to, apparently, cobble together a cogent-sounding alternative to evolution.

Many of the contributors supplied references that the interested reader can cross-check. Several of the contributors do discuss some problems that Evolution has yet to adequately address. I do wish that more of the contributors had chosen to focus on aspects of the debate more relevant to their specialties.

[Cary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every Christian should read this book. It's 50 different articles, some a couple pages, some several pages, but they're all pretty brief. Each article is a defense of literal 6 day creation by a PHD scientist approaching the topic from their field of study. Some are really techy, but most are in relatable layman's terms. A few of them take the approach that this is a faith issue, and trying to defend from a scientific viewpoint is moot and unnecessary. I really enjoyed this and found it really encouraging to my faith in God and His Word.

Also, because each chapter is a different scientist and pretty brief, it can be read like a devotional, a chapter a day. I have a particular time of day where I have a few minutes of available reading time. That was a perfect time to read one chapter each day.

[Todd Stockslager · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just like the title says. Some scientists here have written their responses specifically for this book, others are obviously taken from other articles. Either way, the weight of evidence and logic weighs throughout to show the requirement for design, intelligent design, creative power and design beyond human comprehension.

The cumulative impact is impressive.

When I wrote my review, among the suggested tags were "bad science" and "creationist crap." Some reviewers apparently struggled in applying considered and balanced thought to their reviews.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

The reason I found this collection of essays interesting is that the writers not only believe in intelligent design, but in a six-day creation. The essays are by scientists who have found, in their own work or the others' research, evidence of creation. Specific examples range from agricultural evidence and biology to astronomy and physics. More philosophical evidence is also given. I found this book very comforting, as Christianity is commonly accused of being anti-science.

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

The scientists chosen to write essays on this topic do an excellent job of presenting evidence for Biblical creation and pointing out obvious holes in the Darwinian theory of evolution. The only down-side to this book is the fact that many of the writers cite similar facts, so once you have read half the book you are re-reading much of the same information. Still a great resource!

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Some essays were better than others and it is clear that not every author was writing for the exact same purpose, but each essay had something important to say. I learned a ton about faith and science and I feel that this book has helped me to deepen my faith in a way that no other book, sermon, etc. has before.

[Ohsomanybooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best cases for creationism I have yet read

[Victoria Silbernagel · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMGSH!!!!!!! This book was so amazing, I loved it to death, I plan to read it over and over again. You just can't believe how many scientist don't believe in creation. Everything is right there it should be a duh. It was unbelievable!

[Sean McGowan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great! Repeatedly through out the book was the testimony of many men who once held to belief in evolution that eventually crumbled under the weight of the evidence. So much for young earth creationism only being the belief of those "wacky fundamentalists" who do not know anything about "science".

[ade_reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's written by fifty different scientist who work in different areas of science, and it's amazing. I definitely recommend it if you are into science/nonfiction or simply are interested in reading more about the creation vs evolution issue.

[Will Harrub · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very very boring and barely escaped a 1 star rating. I liked the concept of having 50 different Ph.D. scientists from various fields of expertise give evidence as to why they believe Creationism. However, a lot of it was quite repetitive and just not easy to read whatsoever.

[Gerlinde · Rating 5 out of 5]

Need to dip into this book off and on over and over. Very inspiring and good for the heart and brain.

[Paul Forrest · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here, you'll find powerful arguments from practising scientists indicating that Darwinian evolution cannot explain the origins of life. If we consider the matter from a philosophical view, it doesn't stand up to reason, and if we look at its claims from a technical position, we find the probabilities to be so small as to render the idea impossible.

Many of the contributors go further and insist that God created within six literal days less than ten thousand years ago. It was good though to see honesty about some of the challenges to the creationist position.

One important point is the age of the book itself. There have been updates, but it was originally published 25 years ago. As a result, not only are some of the arguments now not employed by creationists, but there have been developments since then in, for example, the matter of time and space.

If the book is to be given to a sceptic, they should be provided with the most up-to-date edition. For the creationist, the book will serve as a good reminder of the insurmountable difficulties inherent in Darwinism. Given the knowledge we now have about the intricacy of life, I doubt even Darwin himself would retain his belief were he around to see it.

[Wesley Palla · Rating 4 out of 5]

A profitable book for anyone who would entertain the idea that current "science" is sorely lacking, and at times, even misleading in the question of origins. The book is basically a collection of articles/essays. In some, the scientific data or probabilities are considered. In others, it is the underlying the philosophy that is examined. The book does a good job of letting a young-earth believing, scientifically inclined mind know that they are not alone, and that they are not some sort of neanderthal for accepting the biblical account of creation ex nihilo.

The book's weak points, for me, were the sometimes extremely brief chapters where there was not much of substance discussed; it was merely a quick summation of someone's particular worldview. The were several chapters in this category. There is also the issue of a few of the chapters being a little outdated in their information or approach. On the whole, however, the book offered abundant considerations that inform the reader that the biblical position is not remotely extinct, even in the world of modern science.

[Michael Land]

This book brought together a vast array of highly-educated scientific minds to discuss the Biblical account of a six-day creation from the vantage point of several scientific disciplines. It is a collection of well-written and well-researched opinions that explain their faith in the scriptural account. It is a volume I have returned to many times

[Jordan Maloney · Rating 1 out of 5]

I feel like this book was passable for what it was, but I don't see it changing anyone's mind about anything. Most of the essays boil down to "I believe in creation because that's what the Bible tells me". I don't think anything presented in this book would classify as evidence.

I think this was somewhere between a one star and two star book for me.

[Annaliese Layaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting. But as someone who isn't really good with scientific stuff, I found the more in-depth essays very confusing, and I skimmed over them. But it was interesting seeing these many different scientists' well researched reasonings for believing in intelligent design and a literal six day creation.

[Lee Button · Rating 3 out of 5]

The arguments are excellent but many of the scientists use the same one. Corroboration is not a bad thing but perhaps the testimonies could have been further refined. 50 is a compelling number but 25 may have been more fluid for reading

[Joel Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read

It was cool being able to see the different areas of expertise point out so much amazing proof! All PhD in their areas. I had to read and reread some chapters as it can go way over my head. Worth you time to read. I would love to see a updated 2022 version of this book was so many New scientific discoveries have been made.

[LeAnne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to dismiss this book as written by mere "religious quacks," as each contributing author has multiple degrees in fields of science, & many of them hold positions at respected institutions and have contributed to many scientific journals and work.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is hope in a hopeless world when you read how not all scientist have doomed us to die in 12 years.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not religious at all but an interesting read just to see ‘the other side’ of evolution from the perspective of scientists.

[Kami Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very repetitive but lots of great info. Over all I enjoyed!!