I went to see Creation Ministries International speaker Jonathan Sarfati (opens new window) give a couple of talks in Wellington last week. Jonathan was brought up in New Zealand, and was once the national chess champion.

The first talk was at a Messianic Jewish service (Jonathan considers himself a Messianic Jew), and the second at a Christian church. In both I was surprised at the level of arguments that were used, which seemed to be gross distortions of what scientists believe. Of course, when you are arguing that the earth is only 6,000 years old, it's hard to come up with good, solid arguments to support your belief.

His arguments included:

• Scientists think that fossils are buried over millions of years (he had a picture from an old science textbook to prove this). This wouldn't happen, as the dead animal would rot or be eaten in that time.
• Radiocarbon dating doesn't stretch back far enough to prove a very old age.
• The reason there are no dinosaur and human fossils found together is similar to why we don't find whale and coelacanth fossils.
• Evolution is just a religion, like Christianity - and needs a lot of faith to believe in it. It shouldn't be taught in schools.
• Dinosaur bones have been found with blood vessels attached.
• Cells are very complicated
• The Grand Canyon looks like it was created by one big flood.

I managed to get Jonathan to sign a book I have of his, called "The Greatest Hoax on Earth? Refuting Dawkins on Evolution".