Dr Terry Mortenson

Systematic Theology, History of Geology Lecturer/Researcher (USA)

Information on his book, The 19^th Century Scriptural Geologists

Biography

Like most people, Dr Mortenson grew up in an education system that taught evolution as fact. He started to see the fallacy of billions of years of evolution shortly after becoming a Christian during his first year in the university and has been studying and speaking on the creation-evolution issue since the late 1970s.

Much of his M.Div. studies focused on various (Biblical, historical and philosophical) aspects of this subject. His Ph.D. thesis analyzed the origins of old-earth geology in the early 19^th century and particularly the writings of the ‘scriptural geologists’, a group of scientists and non-scientists who wrote Biblical, geological and philosophical arguments against these budding old-earth theories—see below for a summary and links to some brief articles on these significant people and search this site for longer articles about the scriptural geologists. Through study and personal interaction he has been exposed to the many different Christian and non-Christian responses to this controversy. He has spoken on the subject to various kinds of audiences (young children, teens, university students, lay people, professors) in various settings (homes, churches, schools, university classrooms and public lectures in university auditoriums) and in many countries (America, England, Russia and most countries of Eastern Europe). All of this study and teaching has deepened his conviction of the literal truth and foundational importance of Genesis 1–11. He currently works for Answers in Genesis (USA).

Born

• 1953 in Minnesota, USA

Converted to Christ

• April 1972, first year in the university

Family

• Married Margie in 1976, together they have 5 daughters and 3 sons

Education

• 1975, B.A. in math, Univ. of Minnesota, USA
• 1992, M.Div. in systematic theology, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Illinois, USA
• 1996, Ph.D. in history of geology, Coventry University, ENGLAND

Work

• 1975–2001: Campus Crusade for Christ staff
  • 1975–77: Campus staff, Purdue Univ., Indiana, USA
  • 1977–79: Campus director, Moorhead State University, Minnesota, USA
  • 1979–89: Country director, Czechoslovakia
  • 1989–92: Seminary staff at TEDS in Illinois, USA
  • 1992–96: Research staff in England
  • 1996–2001: Instructor, Institute for Biblical and Theological Studies, Hungary
• 2001–: Lecturer/Researcher, Answers in Genesis

Publications, refereed or professional

• British Scriptural Geologists in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century:
• Historical Setting, 11(2):221–252, 1997.
• Granville Penn (1761–1844), 11(3):361–374, 1997.
• George Bugg (1769–1851), 12(2):237–252, 1998.
• Andrew Ure (1778–1857), 12(3):362–373, 1998.
• Henry Cole (1792?–1858), 13(1):92–99, 1999.
• Thomas Gisborne (1758–1846), 14(1):75–80, 2000.
• Rev. Samuel Best (1802–1873), 16(2):89–94, 2002.

• Boundaries on Creation and Noah’s Flood: Early 19^th Century British Scriptural Geologists, paper given at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society in Colorado Springs, CO, on 14 Noember 2001.
• The origin of old-earth geology and its ramifications for life in the 21st century, paper given at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological international academic symposium, ‘Man and the Christian Worldview: Vital Values and Ideals for the 21^st Century’, in Simferopol, Ukraine, 10–11 October 2002.
• Philosophical naturalism and the age of the earth: are they related?, The Master’s Seminary Journal (TMSJ) 15(1):71–92, Spring 2004

• Deifying Darwin?
• ‘The Way We Were: Human Origins Research in Ethiopia’
• Response to all-comers on the Washington Post Online Forum, 28 September 2001

The 19^th Century Scriptural Geologists

In the first half of the 19^th century, there were a number of Christian writers who raised Biblical, logical and geological objections to old-earth theories and to the reinterpretations of Scripture to harmonize with them. These men became known as the ‘Scriptural geologists,’ and were the focus of my Ph.D. research. The articles hyperlinked below outline the lives and key arguments of the Scriptural geologists. More detail can be found in my Ph.D. thesis, and many of its chapters have been republished in recent issues of TJ (above; and some are available online).

1. Historical Background
2. Historical Background (cont.)
3. George Young (1777–1848)
4. George Fairholme (1789–1846)
5. William Rhind (1797–1874)
6. John Murray (1786?–1851)
7. Andrew Ure (1778–1857)
8. The common views and objections of the Scriptural geologists
9. Summary of the Scriptural geologists’ objections to old-earth geology

• See also Dr Mortenson’s refutation of anti-creationist critic, Morton: short and long versions.

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