Jim Wiltshire is a Film Producer and Educationist from England. Thoroughly committed to the authority of Scripture and the mission of sharing the gospel with the world, his thoughtful remarks were written in April 2003.
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I do not envy Petersen the task of writing with the intent of unlocking, in one book, the mysteries of creation.
The first question is ‘Can it be done?' The answer is ‘No'. But were we to ask whether the intentions of even the Bible itself were also realisable - from a writers' viewpoint, that is - the answer would similarly have to be ‘No'. To chart a Paradise Lost to a Paradise Regained over thousands of years and across untold generations is a job requiring nothing less than the authorship of God. To attempt to unlock in one volume the mysteries of creation is an attempt doomed to fail the ‘Perfection Test'.
The Author knows this, of course, but mercifully in the will of the Lord he still published. So the second question is ‘What can he safely say?' The answer is: ‘Nothing'. If books may only be written once the data is so totally and completely understood as to be banal, there is no longer any point in publishing. But in creationist writings, it is most unlikely that we shall ever reach that stage of certainty. With such a subject the data is sometimes unclear and always open to interpretation thereby causing the experts to disagree - often heatedly between themselves! Nor does the Bible upon which Petersen's book draws so faithfully offer a totally scientific description of all the events it lists.
Yet the Bible wants us to understand the clear principles of Creation.
Petersen had two choices. He could have taken the safe route and stayed at home. Thankfully, he has risked all and published – and published successfully. The author's challenge was to make accessible the often-opaque ideas perhaps better understood by experts at conferences. The essential thing is to grasp the bedrock truths that are consistent with the Bible and worry less about the shifting ground of theory. Theories will all change over time; some will even be discredited. Petersen's clear aim is the former.
This intention has been met through a brilliantly eye-catching presentation and a courage to tackle issues that will whet appetites that dry tomes will never touch. Such an approach is high risk and someone somewhere is bound to take umbridge at the examples chosen. [British for “take exception to”]
So is it reasonable to expect perfection? I doubt it. But then, we may also safely assume that no author of even the driest tome has yet achieved perfection either. At the end of the day, all writers on this most difficult of subjects do their level best to anchor their writings into the principles and guidelines found within the Bible. But unlike the Bible, no contemporary author was there at the event nor has he yet the perfect understanding required to interpret everything.
Did Petersen do right in publishing? Unqualifyingly, “Yes!” The book is an excellent resource and one that makes difficult ideas intelligible to all ages providing thereby a springboard for further reading. What greater accolade could one bestow?
My advice: Buy it, Read it, and Take gratefully the help it offers.
Jim Wiltshire, Film Producer and Educationist.
For more information on Unlocking the Mysteries of Creation, contact your local Christian or secular bookstore with ISBN number 0-89051-371, or log-on to www.creationresource.org, or phone toll free (866) 225-5229.
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