Hugh Ross (astrophysicist)

Hugh Norman Ross (born July 24, 1945) is a Canadian astrophysicist, Christian apologist, and old Earth creationist.

Hugh Ross
Born
Hugh Norman Ross

(1945-07-24) July 24, 1945
Montreal, Quebec
Alma materUniversity of British Columbia (B.Sc.)
University of Toronto (M.Sc., Ph.D.)
Spouse(s)Kathy
Children2
AwardsTrotter Prize 2012
Websitereasons.org

Ross obtained his Ph.D. in Astronomy from the University of Toronto[1][2][3] and his B.Sc. degree in physics from the University of British Columbia.[4] He established his own ministry in 1986, called Reasons to Believe that promotes progressive and day-age forms of old Earth creationism. Ross rejects both abiogenesis and evolution as explanations for the origin and history of life. He promotes what he claims is a testable creation model,[5] and rejects the pseudoscientific argument of intelligent design as it is not science.[6][7]

Early life and education

Hugh Ross was born in Westmount, Quebec and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia. His parents are James Stweart Alexander Ross and Dorothy Isabel (Murray) Ross.

Ross became interested in Astronomy at the age of seven, visiting his local library to find out why stars were hot.[8] He soon became convinced that Expansion of the universe and the "The Big Bang" required a divine Causal Agent.[8] At 17 he began to serve as director of observations for Vancouver's Royal Astronomical Society and examined religious texts.[8] He was not persuaded by any Eastern religious texts provided by his neighbors and reading the Bible held that its Cosmology correlated with the Astronomy he was studying. After two years of studying Bible texts, Ross concluded "I had essentially proven to myself that the Bible is more reliable than the laws of physics I focused on in my university courses. The only reasonable conclusion I could see was that the Bible must be the inspired Word of God."[8]

Ross received a provincial scholarship and a National Research Council of Canada (NRC) fellowship and earned a B.Sc. in physics from the University of British Columbia in 1967,[8] going on to earn a M.Sc. in 1968, and Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of Toronto in 1973. While in Toronto, Ross began joining with his fellow Christian students to share their faith.[8]

The NRC sent Ross to Caltech as a postdoctoral research fellow to study quasars and galaxies from 1973-1978.[9][10][11][8] While at Caltech Ross met Dr. Dave Rogstad and joined his Bible study group which included his future wife Kathleen Ann Drake.[8] The group encouraged him to spread his personal story about scientific evidence and Christianity.[8]

Apologetic career

Ross began serving as a minister of evangelism at Sierra Madre Congregational Church from 1975-1986. In 1986 Ross and Kathy founded the apologetics ministry "Reasons To Believe" based out of Sierra Madre, California.[8] He began making radio and television appearance, plus making audio tapes to advance the ministry. In 1991 Ross began authoring books of Christian apologetics.[8]

In addition to apologetics writing, Ross speaks regularly in academic venues and churches, as well as regular podcasts "I Didn't Know That" (formerly Creation Update), and "Science News Flash." He spoke at the 2008 Skeptics Society' "Origins Conference" at California Institute of Technology alongside Nancey Murphy, Victor Stenger, Kenneth R. Miller. Sean Carroll, Michael Shermer and Leonard Susskind.[12] Ross has publicly debated scientists Jerry Coyne, Eugenie Scott, Victor Stenger, Peter Ward, Lewis Wolpert, Michael Shermer, Peter Atkins and Rob Tarzwell. Ross has also debated young Earth creationists, including Ken Ham, Kent Hovind, Duane Gish, Danny Faulkner, Andrew McIntosh, John Morris and Ray Comfort. In 2012 he won the Trotter Prize, delivering the Trotter Lecture at Texas A&M University on "Theistic Implications for Big Bang Cosmology."[13]

Old Earth Creationism (OEC)

Ross believes in progressive creationism, a view which posits that while the Earth is billions of years old, life did not appear by natural forces alone but that a supernatural agent formed different lifeforms in incremental (progressive) stages, and day-age creationism which is an effort to reconcile a literal Genesis account of Creation with modern scientific theories on the age of the Universe, the Earth, life, and humans.[14] He rejects the young Earth creationist (YEC) position that the earth is younger than 10,000 years, or that the creation "days" of Genesis 1 represent literal 24-hour periods. Ross instead asserts that these days (translated from the Hebrew word yom[15]) are historic, distinct, and sequential, but not 24 hours in length nor equal in length. Ross and the RTB team agree with the scientific community that the vast majority of YEC arguments are pseudoscience and that any version of intelligent design is inadequate if it doesn't provide a testable hypothesis which can make verifiable and falsifiable predictions, and if not, it should not be taught in the classroom as science.[16][6]

Ross is a critic of young-Earth creationists, in particular Russell Humphreys and Ken Ham.[17]

Personal life

Ross has been married to Kathy for 40 years, and has two sons.[18]

Bibliography

Ross has written or collaborated on the following books:

  • The Fingerprint of God. Orange, Calif.: Promise Publishing, 1989, 2nd ed. 1991, 3rd ed. 2005 ISBN 978-0939497188
  • The Creator and the Cosmos. Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1993, 2nd ed. 1995, 3rd ed. 2001, 4th ed. 2018 ISBN 978-1886653146
  • Creation and Time. Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1994 ISBN 978-0891097761
  • Beyond the Cosmos. Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1996, 2nd ed. 1999; Orlando, FL: Signalman Publishing, 2010, 3rd ed. ISBN 978-0984061488
  • The Genesis Question, Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1998, 2nd ed. 2001 ISBN 978-1576831113
  • The Genesis Debate, Mission Viejo, CA: Crux, 2002 (with five other authors) ISBN 978-0970224507
  • Lights in the Sky and Little Green Men, Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2002 ISBN 978-1576832080
  • A Matter of Days, Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2004 ISBN 978-1576833759
  • Origins of Life, Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2004 (with Fazale Rana) ISBN 978-1576833445
  • Who Was Adam? Colorado Springs, NavPress, 2005 (with Fazale Rana) ISBN 978-1576835777
  • Creation as Science, Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2006 ISBN 978-1576835784
  • Why the Universe is the Way it Is, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2008 ISBN 978-0801071966
  • More Than a Theory, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2009 ISBN 978-0801014420
  • Hidden Treasures in the Book of Job: How the Oldest Book of the Bible Answers Today's Scientific Questions, Baker Books, 2011 ISBN 978-0801072109
  • Navigating Genesis: A Scientist's Journey through Genesis 1-11, 2014 ISBN 978-1886653863
  • Improbable Planet: How Earth Became Humanity's Home Baker Books, 2016 ISBN 9780801016899
  • Always Be Ready: A Call To Adventurous Faith, 2018 ISBN 978-1886653016

Additionally, he has contributed to the following volumes:

  • The Creation Hypothesis, Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1994 ISBN 978-0830816989
  • Mere Creation, Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1998 ISBN 978-0830815159
  • Why I Am a Christian, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 2000 ISBN 978-0801012105
  • The Day I Met God, Sisters, OR: Multnomah 2001 ISBN 978-1576737866

See also

References
  1. Utter, Glenn (August 1, 2001). The Religious Right, 2nd Edition. ABC-Clio Inc. p. 111. ISBN 978-1576072127.
  2. "Faculty Page". Meet Our Faculty. Northern California Bible College. Retrieved January 14, 2014.
  3. University of Toronto, DEPARTMENT OF ASTRONOMY and ASTROPHYSICS Theses 1930-1996, Ross, Hugh Norman/ Radio sources with low frequency outoffs, 1972
  4. "Reasons to Believe - About -Who We Are". Reasons to Believe. 2012. Retrieved 2012-05-18.
  5. Hugh Ross. "Summary of Reasons To Believe's Testable Creation Model". Archived from the original on 2016-02-01.
  6. "Creation Scientists Applaud PA Judge's Ruling Against 'Intelligent Design'-Dressing Up ID Is No Substitute for Real Science". Reasons To Believe. Archived from the original on 2007-10-08. Retrieved 2007-09-25.
  7. Hugh Ross. "A Beginner's-and Expert's-Guide to the Big Bang: Sifting Facts from Fictions".
  8. Dr. High Ross. "My Story: Dr. Hugh Ross". Cru.
  9. Dr. Hugh Ross, President & Founder of RTB, about
  10. Caltech Campus Pubs, January 22, 1999
  11. Caltech Campus Pubs, Jan. 15, 1999
  12. "Origins Conference October 3–4, 2008". Skeptics Society. 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
  13. "Astronomer Hugh Ross Receives Prestigious Trotter Prize and Speaks at Texas A&M for Endowed Lecture Series March 8, 2012". Red Orbit.com. 2012. Retrieved 2012-12-07.
  14. Pennock, Robert T. (February 28, 2000). Tower of Babel, The Evidence against the New Creationism. The MIT Press. p. 20. ISBN 0-262-66111-X.
  15. Brown, Driver, Briggs and Gesenius. "Yowm". The Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon. Retrieved 2006-10-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. Hugh Ross. "More Than Intelligent Design". Facts for Faith, Issue 10. Archived from the original on 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2015-03-23.
  17. Samuel R. Conner and Hugh Ross Ph.D., The Unraveling of Starlight and Time, March 1999
  18. "Kathy Ross".
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