Paradigms on Pilgrimage: Creationism, Paleontology and Biblical Interpretation

In this book the two authors recount the pilgrimages of understanding that have led them from the young-earth, "scientific creationist" position they were taught in their youths to new perspectives on what it can mean to believe in God as Creator. Dr. Godfrey describes the field work he has done as a descriptive paleontologist and the successive paradigm shifts that his discoveries led him through as he sought new ways to understand what he had been taught in light of the evidence he was uncovering. Dr. Smith describes how the integration of his background and training in literary studies with his work in biblical interpretation similarly led him to a new way of understanding the Bible, especially the early chapters of Genesis. The book as a whole presents an alternative way of understanding how the Bible and natural history relate to one another. Dr. Godfrey and Dr. Smith have both given seminars and presentations on the topic of this book in church and academic settings. This book will be of personal interest and practical use to college students and college-educated adults who have evangelical or fundamentalist backgrounds and who are seeking to integrate the study of the Bible with a commitment to academic and scientific inquiry.