Wilmington, DE: Local creation scientists bring passion to evolution debate

Paper: News Journal, The (Wilmington, DE)

Title: Local creation scientists bring passion to evolution debate

Author: Gary Soulsman

Date: January 8, 2005

Section: Life & Leisure

Page: E1,E4

By GARY SOULSMAN The News Journal

When Harry Wolfe was a young chemist working on his doctorate, he believed that God set the world in motion and natural selection altered life.

But as a evangelical Christian he longed to reconcile evolution with the Bible, so he began 20 years of research into science and religion.

Wolfe likes to say he "evolved," in that he grew to accept Genesis - that God made the world in six 24-hour days. Such creationist views are widely shared and have drawn national attention in recent months.

In October, a school board in the small town of Dover, Pa., voted to teach students about gaps in the theory of evolution and to discuss other theories, such as the world's being made by an intelligent designer.

In November, National Geographic devoted its cover and lead story to Darwin's theory, noting that most scientists accept the theory of evolution, and that the evidence supporting that view is "overwhelming." The magazine also reported that in poll after poll, creationist theories have never drawn less than 44 percent support in the United States.

Even so, "the evolutionists have a stranglehold on science teaching today," says Wolfe, who leads adult classes in creation science at Red Lion Evangelical Free Church.

Today, he says he believes that the Earth is no more than 20,000 years old, a core concept of what is sometimes referred to as Young Earth Creation Science.

"The more I thought about the details of evolution and how one species led to another, the more I thought there is no way it could have occurred," says Wolfe, now retired, and living in the Newark area with his wife, Mary.

Passionate about his conversion to believing in the Bible as the word of God, Wolfe teamed with two friends - Preston Cocke and Jack Wagner - to bring a Back to Genesis seminar to the Bob Carpenter Center in 1992. The seminar was an overview of creationist ideas, conducted by scientists from the Institute for Creation Research in San Diego. More than 4,000 people turned out for the two-day event, many of them students.

Then in 1998, the three friends formed the Scientific and Biblical Creationist Fellowship. The informal network of people interested in creationist topics meets at 7 p.m. on the first Tuesday of each month for support, worship and discussion. The meetings are held at Bible Fellowship Church of Newark, 808 Old Baltimore Pike, near Newark.

At Tuesday's meeting, 31 people came together to pray and to see a documentary called "Icons of Evolution," shown on the big screen in the sanctuary.

The film was chosen because it gives an account of the criticisms that modern research has raised about the theory of evolution. The documentary tells the story of Roger DeHart, a high school biology teacher in Washington state. In 2000, he was forbidden by the Burlington-Edison School District from assigning students articles raising questions about Darwin's theories.

Later in the film, scientists supporting creationist views say that airing the evolution debate in classrooms would probably pay off with greater student interest in science.

It's an idea that appeals to Wolfe, though he says the fellowship has not been politically active in challenging the teaching of evolution in Delaware. However, on Feb. 1 the fellowship will take up the theme: "How we can cure our problems with the teaching of science in public schools."

Leader of the discussion will be Wagner, fellowship vice president. A research technician, he is also a member of Lighthouse Baptist Church in New Castle.

Wolfe says he often meets Christians who want to know more about creationist concepts. Usually, he directs them to web sites such as Answers in Genesis (www.answersingenesis.org) and the Institute for Creation Research (www.icr.org).

For some Christians, just attending church is enough.

"My wife, God bless her, says that if the Bible says it, she believes it. She doesn't need all the details, and that's fine by me."

Contact Gary Soulsman at 324-2893 or gsoulsman@delawareonline.com.