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Long a ghostwriter for several high-profile names, Kevin Miller’s serendipitous encounter with filmmaker David L. Cunningham at a hotel in Hawaii provided the nascent screenwriter with his first professional gig: After…, a psychological thriller set in the world of base jumping and urban exploration.

Miller’s latest project, starring Ben Stein, is Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, a documentary that looks at the turf wars in the science community over Darwinian evolution and the field of “Intelligent Design.”

As part of Past the Popcorn’s lead-in to coverage of Expelled, I took the opportunity to spend half an hour on the phone with Miller, chatting about his experience in the business. Next week, PtP will publish the second half of the interview, which focuses on Expelled.

Ben Stein’s new project Expelled is a critical look not at the shortcomings of Darwinian theory per se, but at the ways in which the Darwinian scientific establishment is apparently seeking to suppress open dialogue about competing theories. The justification for this suppression is that competing theories are not really “scientific,” so free speech is not the issue, “academic respectability” is.

But as Mr. Stein stated, “I think we’re missing something extremely basic in our understanding of the world, and how it got created and I’d like us to return to that. And, I think, by returning to those bigger subjects of how the world got created and what our place in the world is, we will find a new moral fence which is very much lacking.”

Past the Popcorn Managing Editor Greg Wright reports on a recent conference call with Stein.

If you’re at all interested in the origins debate, keep an eye on this new Answers in Genesis off-shoot. AiG recently launched a new site devoted to peer-reviewed scientific research on creationism.

The Answers Research Journal “is a professional, peer-reviewed technical journal for the publication of interdisciplinary scientific and other relevant research from the perspective of the recent Creation and the global Flood within a biblical framework.”

Here are the first three articles from their first volume:

Proceedings of the Microbe Forum

Microbes and the Days of Creation

Catastrophic Granite Formation

Yesterday we highlighted a few articles from the ministry of Scibel. Today, I thought it would be interesting to read responses to some of those same issues from another ministry in our community, Answers in Genesis.

AiG is primarily an apologetic ministry that seeks to enable “Christians to defend their faith and to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ effectively.” To that end their web site is brimming with resources for anyone who has questions about how their faith might interact with science.

Here’s a little bit more on their ministry from their about us page:

We focus particularly on providing answers to questions surrounding the book of Genesis, as it is the most-attacked book of the Bible. We also desire to train others to develop a biblical worldview, and seek to expose the bankruptcy of evolutionary ideas, and its bedfellow, a “millions of years old” earth (and even older universe).

(more…)

Increasingly, the debate over science and religion–specifically when it concerns origins–has moved beyond the walls of academia. Christians are being asked some tough questions that demand they explore these issues for themselves.

The ministry of Scibel emerged in 1996 out of a paper researching perceptions of science and Christianity. The group that formed called themselves Christian Students in Science (CSIS). Since then, they changed their name to Scibel, but their beliefs on science and religion have remained the same.

Scibel is based upon the principle that, “mainstream Christian faith and mainstream science are in basic harmony.” If you’re interested in learning more about their ministry, I’d recommend reading their About Us page. They do a thorough job of explaining the foundations for their theology and approach to science.

About four months ago, we covered Scibel’s question and answer section on their site. You can read that here. This crop of essays explore some of the tough questions that face us as we weigh the impact of faith on science and vice versa.

Was there really a literal Adam and Eve

To be a real Christian do I have to take the Bible literally?

Does it make sense to believe in miracles?

Is there any evidence that God exists?

Can any Scientists Today Accept that Jesus Rose from the Dead?

“Today, Scibel helps young adults to think about some of the big questions in life - whether they are Christian or not, students or not, or studying science or not.”

Before Darwin, did all Christians take the Bible’s creation account literally? Is evolution incompatible with Christianity? Have Christians ever contributed much to modern science? The Scibel science ministry tackles these tough questions in their Top 5 Myths about Faith and Science. Scibel is committed to helping both Christians and non-Christians better understand the relationship between science and religion–so if you’ve ever heard it said that modern science is incompatible with religious belief, Scibel is here to challenge that idea.

If you finish reading through their myth-debunking and have more questions about how science fits into the Christian faith, they’ve also got a page answering common questions about Christianity and science.

Answers in Genesis has been working for years to build its Creation Museum–and the grand opening is finally here! There’s been a flurry of media attention centered around the Museum (it was recently featured on Good Morning America and the New York Times); and Answers in Genesis has responded to recent criticism of the Museum on its website. Now that the Creation Museum is open, stop by the website to see what’s in store, or to plan a trip out to Kentucky to visit it yourself.

Few figures from modern history are so universally recognized as Albert Einstein, whose scientific genius shook the entire world. But what did the brilliant scientist think of God–did his love of science get in the way of belief in a Creator? GetReligion posts some interesting highlights from an NPR piece that delves into Einstein’s humble and difficult-to-pin-down thoughts about God, Jesus, atheism, and the “unattainable secrets” of the universe that science cannot always illuminate.

The description of Noah’s Ark in Genesis is very brief–but that hasn’t stopped countless artists from trying to portray it in paintings and illustrations! Answers in Genesis has an interesting article looking at how Noah’s Ark has been depicted in art over the centuries. From the extremely detailed and realistic depictions of the 17th century to more fantastic portrayals in later centuries, the Ark has certainly been imagined in all manner of shapes and sizes. Read the full article for the details (and pictures!).

What’s in the news lately about biology, evolution, and creationism? Answers in Genesis has a weekly feature called News to Note in which they look at recent news reports from a creationist perspective. This week, the News to Note column covers some Creation Museum updates, efforts to put Darwin’s writings online, and recent buzz about a newly-discovered fossil, among other things.