Dialogue

Back in the days when television was new to North American society, there was a show called Perry Mason. This featured a lawyer who specialized in courtroom drama. In predictable fashion, Mr. Mason set out to defend an accused person, but the facts of the case looked very discouraging for the defendant. However, thanks to great sleuthing by Perry Mason’s two assistants, some important new details were discovered. In the courtroom, as the show drew toward a close, Mr. Mason triumphantly asked a witness, “Isn’t it true that ….?” And some new facts were revealed which changed the whole story. Everyone was all smiles when the defendant was exonerated. The point is that partial information can lead to wrong conclusions.

The importance of the mineral calcium phosphate to living organisms can hardly be overstated. It is used by many organisms, including humans, to build their bones and skeletons.  This is especially true for fish, crustaceans, and some brachiopods.  Besides that, and even more importantly, phosphate ions are required for major building blocks of life, such as DNA and RNA.  It is also required for the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP)—the molecular fuel of living cells (Brady, Tostevin and Tosca 2022).

Evolutionists struggle to explain how life could have arisen from non-life—a concept known as “abiogenesis” or “spontaneous generation.”  One of the problems is the importance of phosphate ions for biological molecules and the prohibitively low concentrations of phosphates in nature for those molecules to form spontaneously.  There just isn’t enough phosphate.  Phosphate minerals tend to be insoluble under most conditions, so only trace amounts exist as dissolved minerals in seawater.  In fact, on average, seawater contains only about 0.071 parts per million of phosphorous (Simandl, Paradis and Fajber 2012).

Small boys love stories about large earth moving equipment. They love to look at the pictures, identify the types of machine and hear the stories again and again. Other children love to identify dinosaur pictures or birds. Even long after the children have grown up, they value these books as important mementos.

Some scientific words come from what was originally everyday language, but the concept has long been almost forgotten. Take the word ‘chaperone’ for example. Until recent times, a chaperone was a respectable mature lady who needed to be present on any social occasion to ensure that courting couples conducted themselves in a sedate and appropriate fashion. That certainly sounds old fashioned, doesn’t it? There was even a play written, called Charley’s Aunt, by Brandon Thomas (about 1890), that lampooned the efforts of two young Englishmen to entertain some young ladies to tea. In order to do this, they needed a chaperone to be present. They therefore persuaded another male friend to masquerade as a rich aunt from Brazil so that the tea party could take place. Hilarious escapades and disasters followed (including the real aunt showing up).

Challenges, Motivation and Hope

In the early years of the existence of Creation Science Association of Alberta, CSAA brought in many excellent speakers from the Institute for Creation Research. All these speakers were scientists with excellent experience and credentials. These included biochemist Dr. Duane Gish, geologist Dr. Steve Austin and biologist Dr. Gary Parker. In more recent years, ICR moved from California to Texas and set about becoming established in a new region. Now once again, CSAA is delighted that one of ICR’s research scientists, Dr. Brian Thomas, has agreed to be our featured speaker for Creation Weekend on October 24 and 25, 2025. The sessions are scheduled to take place at Providence Canadian Reformed Church which hosted the event in spectacular fashion in October 2024 (12905 122 Avenue NW in Edmonton).