As Bible students like me come across various debates such as these, questions arise that sometimes are not addressed. Here are some I wished would have been asked:
Questions I wished they asked Bill Nye:
1) How did matter arise in the universe, if no extra-physical/supernatural entity brought it about through extra-physical means?
2) If there is no creator, how do you explain why the universe is rational and we as conscious beings an understand it as rational?
3) Can you explain why the universe looks designed, an assertion most scientists would agree to?
4) How can you account for the existence of, not only human consciousness, but of human conscience, and how it evolved?
5) How do you account for the transformation of one species to another over millions of years, when we have found millions of fossils only of individual species, not of “linking” species?
6) What observational proof can you give that the universe has evolved itself to become more complex?
7) What studies have you done on the negative consequences of the various innovations that have come from America, and how the epistemology and world-view of those who innovate and use innovations affect their decisions? (examples like nuclear weapons)
8) Why must you maintain that creationists are by default anti-science, even as your debate opponent demonstrated otherwise?
Questions I wished they asked Ken Ham:
1) Can you explain why the first two chapters of Genesis are written in exalted prose, making its composition distinct from, not only the rest of the book, but from the rest of the Pentateuch?
2) Can you explain why the first two chapters of Genesis present different accounts of the same series of events?
3) Do you believe that the amount of time matter has existed in the universe, before and/or after that matter was then formed by God (after his spirit had been hovering over it), would allow evolution if it were in the billions, or would molecule-to-man evolution still be impossible, no matter how old the earth is?
4) What comment do you have about the various interpretations of the genealogies of the Old Testament, including the interpretations that acknowledge that there are gaps in the lineage? Also, how do you reconcile debating these genealogy lengths with 1 Timothy 1:4?
5) What do you find validates your belief that the flood of Noah had to be of the entire earth, and not of all parts of the earth known to man?
6) Would you charge students of the Word as lacking in faith if they fully believe Genesis to be history, but believe the expression of that history to be poetic whenever exalted, poetic language is being used? Would you charge them as having ulterior motives, or would you view them as trying to understand the Bible they hold so dear in its Ancient Near East, Hebraic context?
7) Would you charge all students of the Word who doubt an aggressively literal interpretation of the English rendition Genesis 1-2 with the desire to account for evolution as the motive behind a poetic interpretation that said students earnestly claim was led by a reading of the original Hebrew text in its Ancient Near East context?
8) How much time have you spend reading scripture in Hebrew?
Question for the moderator:
1) So, was this a debate over THE Creation model, or over Ken Ham’s creation model?
2) Why did we choose men who more fill the role of pop science icons than expert scientists (on both sides)?
I can answer moderator question #2: So the debate wouldn’t be boring.
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