Acts & Facts – December 2012

The December edition of Acts & Facts was actually a little less Christmas-y than I expected. This was not a very difficult accomplishment, however: if you have already had enough of the season then I suggest you stop reading, as I have already looked at most of the non-Christmas articles and there wont be much else that’s new.

Because it’s still December as I write this, the usual page on the ICR’s website is still current. There’s also a pdf of the magazine here, and all of the relevant links are below.

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Page 3: Wait for the Light (Jayme Durant)

According to this month’s editor’s column, Durant has had a fairly normal experience in the past with regards to children getting up early in the morning in the hope of opening presents. That’s about all that is even remotely interesting, though I’ll note here that Durant has finally been promoted to “Executive Editor” according to the information at the bottom of the pdf page.

Pages 4-5: The Lamb and the Lion (Henry Morris III)

Morris writes of the “paradox of [Jesus’] presentation as a lamb and also as a lion” – this is a typical theological article for the magazine, and has no relevance to creationism.

Page 6: Wanted: Young Creation Scientists (Jake Hebert)

As has been mentioned both here and elsewhere, the ICR has apparently noticed the lack of young creationists slogging through higher secular education to allow organisations like theirs claim “we have PhDs!” Jake Hebert offers some advice to budding creation scientists.

Pages 8-10: Christmas, Vikings, and the Providence of God (James J. S. Johnson)

Johnson shows how the precise outcomes of some random battles were divinely ordained so as to ensure both that the glorious nation of the United States would be founded and that the Authorised Version of the bible would be written.

Pages 11-13: Evolutionary Math? (Jason Lisle)

In a classic Lisle article, the ICR’s director of research that “mathematics is an inherently creationist field of science” – and, it would seem, that all mathematicians are creationists. I decided not to wade through it all for a post after the Sensuous Curmudgeon did it for me. I suggest you find the time to read the comment thread below the SC post as well, it is well worth it.

Interestingly, this article was also posted to Your Origins Matter a week or so ago – the first of a number of recent cross-postings. It has received all of two comments, which is above average of late.

Page 15: An ‘Impossible’ Task? (John Morris)

Morris defends the feasibility of Ark construction on the grounds that it would have taken a maximum of 65 years (out of an allowed-for 120) for Noah and his sons to shift the required volume of lumber – not that volume is the correct quantity for consideration. I also pointed out that the numbers used in the calculation are so arbitrary that any conclusion that you wish to draw can be produced by slightly tinkering with them.

Page 16: Christmas Island Zoology (Frank Sherwin)

There are many places called “Christmas Island,” but this particular island is off the coast of Australia. Sherwin talks about all the amazing animals that live (or lived) on the island, and how the island is “a lush example of our Creator’s unique, diverse, and glorious creation.” In other words, he doesn’t have a better answer to the question of why the animals on the island live there than “goddidit.”

Page 17: Lions and Tigers, Tigons and Ligers (Brian Thomas)

Thomas updates his earlier article on Lion-Tiger interbreeding, but fails to build a stronger case.

Page 20: Letters to the Editor

I’m sure you can predict the contents and tone of most of the letters on this page, but there was one line that particularly stood out to me: “Dr. Johnson is always direct and to the point, getting at the root of the issue in a way the common layman can easily grasp it.”

Really?

I don’t think “T.J.” is talking about the same James Johnson…

Page 21: The Treasure of the the Heart (Henry Morris IV)

Once again, Morris IV wants some donations, if you would be so kind. We’ve seen it all before, but what is interesting is the following:

Our agenda for 2013 is positively bursting with new initiatives, and we pray that our Creator will provide the means to see these bear much lasting fruit.

“Bursting” he says? I’ll try to keep up…

Page 22: God Gave Himself (Henry Morris)

The nth reprinting of a Days of Praise article on the subject of John 3:16 rounds off the month.

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In other trivia:

• By my count this will be post 401 at this site, which means that I have posted at a rate of nearly 5 a week over the last ~19 months. I have no idea how that happened, but it has.
• Normally there’s an events page in an Acts & Facts magazine, but I can’t find it for this month. Presumably that means there are/were none.
• Tau Ceti might – might – have planets, potentially including a vaguely Earth-like one in the ol’ habitable zone. My information is unclear about whether one of the planets is a hot, dry world housing a race of lizard-like beings bent on conquering the savages of “Tosev 3” for the Empire, so we will have to wait to find that part out.
• The latest post at Your Origins Matter is just a reprint of the Tomkins article from Monday, if you were wondering.
• There was supposed to be a That’s a Fact video in the weekend, but it has been delayed, yet again, and according to the site will arrive in mid-January (see above image).
• Merry Kitzmas!