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GENESIS WEEK
40 Classic Books and Monographs on the Creation/Evolution Controversy
Author: Jerry Bergman, Ph.D.
Subject: Overviews
Date: 08/14/2004
There are now many classic works that discuss the evolution-creation issue in a fairly
objective manner suitable for secular libraries that have stood the test of time. Following is a
list of some of the more useful books. Some are out of print but can be obtained from supply
houses that furnish used books such as www.addall.com (used section). Although not without
their shortcomings, they all are fairly well done, and many contain information that is
devastating against evolution. Most are by well-known scientists or authors, and most are
published by secular presses. As most either do not mention the religious arguments for the
creationist alternative, or mention it only in passing, they are thus all suitable for public
libraries. Librarians will often not accept openly creationist works but should have few
reservations about most of those books on this list.
A brief review of each is provided in order to help the reviewer discern its focus and
the usefulness of each title. To help balance public, university, or even school libraries it is
suggested that the reader request his or her local branch to order select titles from this
list. Most provide a form which can be completed by the patron for this purpose. Often
libraries are glad to receive book suggestions, although many will not order a work if they feel
it is biased (which is often the case with openly creationist books, yet not with openly anticreation works). A library can obtain the specifics of these books (such as the price, etc.) by
doing a search on the OCLC system or Books in Print. The listed books either support
creationism and/or are critical of evolution. Most were published by non-creationist presses,
many by non-creationists. Also, included are books against or critical of major aspects of
evolution.
1. Allford, Dorothy. Instant Creation—Not Evolution. New York, N.Y.: Stein and
Day, 1978. A very readable, excellent, general defense of creation by a secular
publisher. The author, an M. D. and medical researcher, includes much excellent
useful information on the human body that refutes evolution.
2. Behe, Michael J. Darwin’s Black Box; The Biochemical Challenge To
Evolution. New York, NY: The Free Press, 1996, 307 pp. A best seller and one of
the major texts of the intelligent design movement which argues that irreducible
complexity renders the macroevolution paradigm impossible, at least in its early
stages. Focuses specifically on the origin of life, of the cell, and of the major life
forms. In this work Behe develops his famous mouse trap analogy arguing that a
mouse trap is totally functionless unless it has a certain minimum number of parts,
and below this cannot function, and thus is an irreducibly complex machine. Behe
then argues that the cell and many the structures in the cell are likewise irreducibly
complex.
3. Bender, David L. et al, (ed.). Science and Religion; Opposing Viewpoints. St. Paul,
Minnesota: Greenhaven Press, 1988. This is a fairly well balanced collection of
chapters written by both creationists and evolutionists mostly on the creation
evolution issue. It is one of the few secular press books that "allows" the creationists
side in.
4. Bergman, Jerry. “Teaching About the Creation-Evolution Controversy.” Phi Delta
Kappa Educational Foundation, Bloomington, Indiana. Bergman briefly reviews the
history of the creation-evolution controversy and discusses various means of arriving
at conclusions, called “ways of knowing.” He notes that one of the most effective
teaching techniques is “teaching by contrasts,” requiring teaching both sides of the
controversy. It is stressed that public schools are to be foremost a forum for
discussion and debate on controversial issues. Thus, to exclude one side of a
controversy is pernicious to the extreme. Unfortunately, many persons are often
guilty of labeling, and after the labeling process is completed, excluding the side
which has been adversely labeled. For example, evolutionism is often labeled
"scientific" and creationism “religious,” and then creationism is excluded from the
curriculum on these grounds. The publisher, Phi Delta Kappa, is a highly respected
education organization.
5. Bird, Wendell R. The Yale Law Journal, Vol. 87, No. 3, Jan, 1978. Bird, a graduate
of Yale Law School, concludes that the Establishment Clause of the constitution
requires neutralization in teaching evolution, requiring teaching either both evolution
and creation, or neither theory. The preferred solution, Bird stresses, is the twomodel approach. Bird also concludes that scientific creationism is a viable alternative
to evolution. Although problems exist in his discussion with definitions (as is true of
most articles on this topic) Bird, is nonetheless able to specifically contrast the
"general theory of evolution," which states that all life forms on Earth have arisen
from a single source (which itself came from an inorganic form), to the special or
limited theory of evolution, which states that many living animals can be observed
over the course of time to undergo changes due to limited genetic variation and minor
"mutations" (copying errors). Bird notes that the chief tenets of creationism are also
outside the realm of science, although reality as covered by science points to the
origin and development of man and the living and non-living universe as a product
and result of purpose and design.
6. Bird, Wendell R. "Freedom From Establishment and Unneutrality in Public School
Instruction and Religious School Regulation." Harvard Journal of Law and Public
Policy, Vol. 2, June, 1979, pp. 125-205. Bird here summarizes the meaning of the
Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the constitution, concluding that it
permits public school instruction in creationism along with evolution, and prohibits
public school instruction in evolution alone. Bird also proposes what he calls a
"substantive neutrality test" that he concludes should replace the present tripartite test
in construing and applying the First Amendment. He concludes that his proposal
would "restore the neutrality requirement intended by the framers of the First
Amendment so that government would neither advance nor oppose religion, in place
of the absolute separation requirement that often creates tension between the
Establishment and Free Exercise classes and suppresses free exercise of
religion." Bird is specifically referring to programs and curricula in school that
actually advance atheistic or humanistic orientations and that are often openly hostile
towards all theistic religions.
7. Bird, Wendell R. The Origin of Species Revisited; The Theories of Evolution and of
Abrupt Appearance. New York, N.Y.: Philosophical Library. The book is in two
hardback volumes of 550 pages each, with 5400 footnotes. Volume 1 assesses
scientific claims of the theory of evolution (330 pages) and of the theory of abrupt
appearance (200 pages) about the origins of the universe, the first life, and the various
organisms, with a summary chapter. It sketches punctuationalist, macromutationist,
neutral selectionist, structuralist, and other challenges to orthodox Darwinism, as well
as the natural order systematics, transformed cladist, panspermia, discontinuitist, and
creationist attacks on macroevolution. Volume 2 compares the scientific, nonreligious, historical, educational, and constitutional natures of the theory of evolution
and the theory of abrupt appearance. It discusses the definitions of science and
religion, their applicability to theories of origins, the scientific and religious history of
the origins conflict, the educational rationale for alternative explanations and
nonindoctrination, and the constitutional requirements of academic freedom and
separation of church and state.
8. Broad, William and Nicholas Wade. Betrayers of the Truth. New York,
N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, 1982. Discusses the serious corruption common in science
and how science actually works. A must for those who worship modern science, as
do many anti-creationists. Shows that fraud and decent has been common historically
and is common today.
9. Cohen, H. I. Darwin Was Wrong; A Study of Probabilities. Greenville,
N.Y.: Research Publications, Inc., 1984. This work primarily evaluates the
probabilities of various structures evolving. It covers a wide variety of topics, from
punctuated equilibrium to trilobites, eyes, botany, and other subjects. It is an
intriguing pendulum of a variety of topics, some that appear as more of a collection of
articles, all of which conform to the author's conclusions and support of his
thesis. Evaluates the highlights of the past concepts of evolution and translates these
into a series of conclusions, among which is that the millions of nucleotides within a
DNA spiral could not be a result of random mutations, thus species could not be the
result of evolution based on mutations.
10. Dembski, William A. (ed). Mere Creation; Science, Faith & Intelligent
Design. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1998, 475 pp. A discussion of the
intelligent design movement by several of its leading proponents.
11. ______. The Design Inference; Eliminating Chance through Small
Probabilities. Cambridge University Press, 1998, 244 pp. A discussion of the
evidence for design and how this evidence can be evaluated.
12. ______. No Free Lunch; Why Specified Complexity Cannot Be Purchased without
Intelligence. Lanham, MA: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2002, 404 pp.
13. ______ and James M. Kushiner (editors). Signs of Intelligence; Understanding
Intelligent Design. Grand Rapids, MI: Brazo Press, a division of Baker Book House
Co., 2001, 224 pp. A review of intelligent design theory for the general reader. The
14 essays included discuss the evidence and problems of the intelligent design world
view and philosophy.
14. ______ and Jay Wesley Richards. Unapologetic Apologetics. Downers Grove, IL:
InterVarsity Press, 2001, 280 pp. Apologetics from an intelligent design world
view. Many of the authors are Princeton graduates and often refer to Christian work
done at Princeton.
15. Denton, Michael, Evolution: A Theory in Crisis. New York, N.Y.: Adler and Adler,
1986. The author clearly shows that evolution suffers from many major scientific
problems. He focuses on the biochemical problems, but covers many others as
well. He reviews some of the basically empirical and scientific arguments against
Darwinism specifically focusing on the missing link problem, the puzzle of
perfection, and especially the problems in biochemistry in demonstrating
evolution. Also, is critical of some of the basic theories used to support evolution
such as homologies that have been adequately covered elsewhere. Discusses
Creationism primarily in historical context relative to its overthrow and replacement
with Darwinism.
16. Donald, E. Chittick. The Controversy: Roots of the Creation-Evolution
Conflict. Muttonamah Press, 1985. A brief overtly creationist review of both the
science and Biblical arguments for creation by a secular publisher. This work,
although very basic, is a good introduction to many of the issues for non-scientists.
17. Drlica, Karl. Understanding DNA and Gene Cloning. New York, N.Y.: John Wiley
and Sons, 1985. A must for those who assume that recent developments "prove"
evolution. Although written for laymen, it is a very useful, brief review of current
thought, in this area.
18. Eads, Buryl R. Let the Evidence Speak. Atlanta, GA: Peachtree Press, 1982. A
useful short book from a popular standpoint in support of creation using largely a
secular orientation.
19. Fix, William. The Bone Peddlers. New York, N.Y.: Macmillan Co., 1984. An
absolute must! Fix shows the severe problems in "making up theories" about human
evolution and the dishonesty of many physical anthropologists. The author, not a
creationist, shows evolution to be seriously lacking in scientific support and the
methods used to support the theory highly questionable. It is highly readable and
flows like a detective novel.
20. Gale, Barry. Evolution Without Evidence. Albuquerque, N.M.: University of New
Mexico Press. This work demonstrates that Darwin actually had little evidence of any
kind when he formulated his theory. It is obvious from his work that many of the
same problems still exist with evolution today.
21. Grasse, Pierre P. The Evolution of Living Organisms. New York, N.Y.: Academic
Press, 1977. One of the best attacks on several of the major aspects of evolution by a
leading, world-famous zoologist. Clearly college level, but extremely useful for
advanced high school students. He focuses on arguments and data from biology.
22. Hedtke, Randall. The Secret of the 6th Edition. New York, N.Y.: Vantage Press,
1983. Shows that Darwin himself later lost belief in much of his own theory, even his
cornerstone of evolution, natural selection. An excellent work that is very readable,
and highly accurate. He relies mostly on original sources for his conclusions.
23. Hitching, Francis. The Neck of the Giraffe - Where Darwin Went Wrong. New
York, N.Y.; Ticknor and Fields, 1982. An excellent broad, general readable review
for the general reader about the many major problems with evolution. Not a
creationist work, but shows the evidence is clearly against atheistic evolution. A
must for all high schools and public libraries.
24. Kelly, Alfred. The Descent of Darwin. North Carolina: University of N.C. Press,
1981. Reviews the history of Darwinism, and some of its many serious major
problems. A good study of some historical aspects of the controversy, and the actual
sources of Darwin's ideas.
25. Kerkut, G.A. Implications of Evolution. New York, N.Y.: Pergamon Press,
1960. A must for all libraries. This small book shows that classical NeoDarwinism is
impossible. Much useful information, even though it was printed 44 years ago. It is
far more readable than what most non-biologists expect.
26. Lovtrup, Soren. Darwinism: The Refutation of a Myth. New York,
N.Y.: Methuen. The author reviews what he calls a half a century of biology's dead
end caused by micromutation theory. He concludes that the micromutations that do
occur cannot alone account for evolutionary change, an unfalsifiable, hence
metaphysical theory. He also stresses that it is a great misfortune that an entire
branch of science has become addicted to a false theory, but this is what has happened
in biology. He concludes that for a long time evolutionary problems were set in a
“Darwinian” vocabulary—“adaptation,” “selection pressure,” “natural selection,”
etc., in the belief that these ideas contributed to the explanation of natural events,
which they do not—and the sooner this is discovered, he concludes, the sooner we
shall be able to make more rapid progress in science.
27. Monsma, John Clover. (editor) The Evidence of God in an Expanding Universe.
New York, NY: Putnam, 1958, 250 pp. A compilation of 40 American scientists,
who range from conservative creationists such as John William Klotz to those who
would be classified as progressive creationists, all writing about the evidence for
creationism and what they conclude are the positive aspects of religion. The chapters
cover topics from God in a modern medical practice, to the evidence of God as the
controller of the universe. Most deal with origins or cosmology, and many criticize
evolution.
28. ______. (ed.) Science and Religion. New York, N.Y.: Putnam, 1962, 253 pp. A
compilation of the writings of 23 creationists in the area of science, its limitations,
use, advantages, disadvantages and select other areas of the religious science
conflict. Many focus on historical or current conflicts that relate to the question of
origins and cosmology in general, and several of the writers focus on the problem of
scientism, although many discuss the abuses by both scientists and theologians.
29. ______. (ed.) Behind the Dim Unknown. New York, NY: Putnam, 1966, 256 pp. A
compilation of 26 “notable scientists” and their conclusions or thoughts on origins;
includes a number of well known creationists such as Duane Gish, A. Kurt Weiss,
Harold Hartzler. The topics cover the gamut from botany, to cytology,
thermodynamics, astronomy, meteorology, nuclear physics, electrodynamics,
geology, geophysics, zoology, natural law and psychophysics. This useful collection
includes several authors who are strict conservative creationists, but most accept the
progressive creationist view.
30. Moorhead, Paul and Martin Kaplan. Mathematical Challenges to the NeoDarwinian
Interpretation of Evolution. Philadelphia, PA: The Winston Press, 1967. A very
scholarly attack on evolution by a group of prominent scientists. A must for all
college libraries.
31. Pitman, Michael. Adam and Evolution. London, England: Rider, 1984. More
openly creationist (but not overtly so) than most books listed here, it is nonetheless
thoroughly researched. I could not find any major problems with this work for public
libraries. It is an excellent historical and scientific summary of the evidence for
creation by an Oxford University graduate.
32. ReMine, Walter James. The Biotic Message; Evolution Versus Message Theory. St.
Paul, MN: St. Paul Science, 1993. Argues that the natural biological world is
designed to look like it was designed and did not evolve. This is the “message” found
in creation which, the author argues, is clear if the biological creation is objectively
studied.
33. Roth, Ariel A. Origins; Linking Science and Scripture. Hagerstown, MD: Review
and Herald Publishing Association, 1998, 384 pp. Considered one of the most
scholarly recent books defending creationism. Dr. Roth is a professor at Loma Linda
University.
34. Shapiro, Robert. Origins; A Skeptic's Guide to the Creation of Life on Earth. New
York, N.Y.: Summit, 1986. Discusses a lot of the problems of not only evolution but
also creationism which it titles “Religion as Science." Includes a great deal of
historical background which is necessary to understand various theories of origins.
35. Sunderland, Luther. Darwin's Enigma; Fossils and Other Problems. San Diego,
California: Master Books, 2nd Ed., 1988. An excellent review of some of the major
serious problems of evolution. Many reviews have been highly favorable, even in
some secular journals. This work does not openly, formally discuss creationism,
although the author was a creationist. Its focus is the position that the abrupt
appearance theory fits the evidence better than gradual evolution.
36. Taylor, Ian T. In the Minds of Men; Darwin and the New Word Order. Toronto,
Canada: T.S.E. Publishers, 1984. This is an excellent history of the whole creationevolution affair. A wealth of information from history, philosophy and science is
presented that is easy to follow. Its scholarly style tactfully, but forcefully, presents
the creationist position. The work cites primarily scholarly and highly accepted
sources.
37. Taylor, Gordon Rattray. The Great Evolution Mystery. New York, N.Y.: Harper
and Row, 1983. This excellent work by a major British evolutionist/author discusses
some of the many major problems of evolution. It is well written and easy to follow.
38. Thaxton, Charles et al. The Mystery of Life's Origin: Reassessing Current
Theories. New York, N.Y.: Philosophical Library, 1984. Shows that atheistic
evolution is impossible. The authors focus on the problems of atheistic theories of
biogenesis. An excellent review of all currently held secular origin of life
theories. Most all references are from highly "respectable" sources.
39. Thurman, L. Duane. How To Think About Evolution. Downers Grove, Illinois: The
InterVarsity Press. Thurman, a botany Ph. D. from the University of California at
Berkeley, holds somewhat of a "middle of the road position" on the
creation/evolution issue, but shows the creationist's side to be more viable on most
areas of the debate. His work includes a good review of the creation/evolution
textbook controversy in California and a discussion of the problems of knowing if
something is scientifically true, and the process of arriving at scientific
conclusions. It is an excellent beginning source for one interested in the scientific
aspects of the conflict.
40. Willis, John C. The Course of Evolution. New York: Hafner Press, 1940. Discusses
some of the many serious problems with the neoDarwinian evolution model. Dated
but still very useful to show the many major flaws with neoDarwinian.