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{{Short description|Australian young earth creationist and chess player}}
]
{{distinguish|Jack Sarfatti}}
'''Jonathan D. Sarfati''', (born ], ]) is an Australian author and chess player who works for ] (CMI), formerly part of ] (AiG), a non-profit ] ] ministry specializing in ]. He is the author of ] articles and three books on the subject; ''Refuting Evolution'' (1999), ''Refuting Evolution 2'' (2002), and ''Refuting Compromise'' (2004).
{{Use New Zealand English|date=August 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
]


'''Jonathan David Sarfati''' (born 1 October 1964) is a ] who writes articles for ] (CMI), a non-profit ] ministry. Sarfati has a PhD in chemistry, and was ] in 1987 and 1988.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=39623|title=Jonathan D Sarfati|publisher=chessgames.com|access-date=9 June 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://creation.com/content/view/3547/ |title=Dr Jonathan D. Sarfati BSc (Hons.), PhD, F.M. |access-date=7 January 2009 |publisher=Creation Ministries International}}</ref>
A ] in ], he achieved a draw against former world champion ] during a tournament in ] in 1988, <ref></ref> and was ]'s national chess champion in 1987-8, <ref></ref> representing that country in Chess Olympiads in 1986, 1988, and 1992.

He has a Ph.D. in ] from ], ].


==Background== ==Background==
Born in ], ], Sarfati moved with his family to New Zealand as a child, where he became a ]. He attended ] in New Zealand, later graduating from ] with a B.Sc. (Hons.) in ], and a Ph.D. in the same subject for a thesis entitled "A ] Study of some ] Ring and Cage Molecules." Born in ], ], Sarfati moved with his family to New Zealand as a child, where he became a ] ]n and ] citizen. He attended ] in New Zealand, later graduating from ] with a BSc (Hons.) in ], and a PhD in the same subject for a thesis entitled "A ] Study of some ]ide Ring and Cage Molecules". He co-authored a paper on ]s that was published in '']'' in 1987 ("Letters to Nature"),<ref>Mawdsley, A., Trodahl, H.J., Tallon, J., Sarfati, J. and Kaiser, A.B. (1987) </ref> and from 1988 to 1995, had five papers on ] of ] samples published in other ] scientific journals.<ref>Five articles can be found by searching for at </ref> In 1996, he returned to ], ] to work for the ], then ], then its current name ]. In 2010, he moved to the American office of that ministry.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Genesis Account |publisher=Creation Book Publishers |page=786|year=2015 |first=Jonathan |last=Sarfati |isbn=978-1-921643-91-0 |author-link=Jonathan Sarfati}}</ref>


==Creationism==
He co-authored a paper on ]s that was published in '']'' in 1987 ("Letters to Nature") <ref>Mawdsley, A., Trodahl, H.J., Tallon, J., Sarfati, J. and Kaiser, A.B. (1987) </ref>, and from 1988 to 1995, had several papers on ] of ] samples published in other ] scientific journals. <ref> Five articles can be found by searching for at </ref>
Sarfati was a founder of the Wellington Christian Apologetics Society in New Zealand, and has long retained an interest in Christian apologetics and the ].<ref>Sarfati's biography at CMI-Australia, </ref> His first two books, ''Refuting Evolution'' in 1999, and ''Refuting Evolution 2'' in 2002, are intended as rebuttals to the ]' publication ''Teaching about Evolution and the Nature of Science'' and the ]/] series '']'', respectively. ''Refuting Compromise'', published in 2004, is Sarfati's rebuttal of the ] teachings of ], who attempts to harmonise the ] with mainstream science regarding the ] and the possible size of the ], against which Sarfati defends a ] timeline and a global flood. ] and ] of the ] called Sarfati's ''Refuting Evolution 2'' a "crude piece of propaganda".<ref>Scott E.C. and Branch G. (2003). ''BioScience'': '''53'''(3):282-285</ref>


Sarfati is a critic of ],<ref>Robert Carter and Jonathan Sarfati, , creation.com, 12 February 2015.</ref> the ]<ref>Jonathan Sarfati, , ''Creation'' '''35'''(3):20–23, April 2013.</ref> and ] teaching,<ref>Robert Carter and Jonathan Sarfati, , creation.com, 3 September 2016 .</ref> ] behaviour,<ref>Jonathan Sarfati, , creation.com, 30 June 2012.</ref> and ]<ref>Jonathan Sarfati, , creation.com, 2002.</ref> except to save the life of the mother.<ref>Jonathan Sarfati, , creation.com, 3 January 2014.</ref> While opposing ] research, he supports ] research.<ref>Jonathan Sarfati, , ''Journal of Creation'' '''15'''(3):19–26, 2001;</ref> Sarfati also supports ] and rebuts ].<ref>Jonathan Sarfati, , creation.com, 2018.</ref>
In 1996, he returned to ], ] to work for the Creation Science Foundation, then Answers in Genesis and now Creation Ministries International, as co-editor of their magazine, ''Creation'', <ref>CMI's '''' magazine </ref> and their technical journal, ''Journal of Creation'' (formerly ''TJ''). <ref>AiG's '''' Archive</ref>


]
Fellow creationist Gary Bates, in an interview with Sarfati in ''Creation'' magazine, says:
:"''Sarfati'' means ''Frenchman'' in ]. Despite having no religious upbringing, Jonathan was driven to investigate his ]ish roots after his conversion. As a ], he has also passionately imbibed knowledge about church history and theological issues."<ref> article ''An awesome mind - A talk with one of Christianity’s foremost defenders, Jonathan Sarfati'' by Gary Bates. First published: Creation 26(3):36–41 June 2004. Referenced ], ]. </ref>

==Writings==
===Religion and science===
According to the ''Answers in Genesis'' website, Sarfati was a founder of the Wellington Christian Apologetics Society in New Zealand, and has long retained an interest in Christian apologetics and the ] debate.<ref>Sarfati's biography at CMI-Australia, </ref>

His first two books, ''Refuting Evolution'' in 1999, and ''Refuting Evolution 2'' in 2002, are rebuttals to the ]' publication ''Teaching about Evolution and the Nature of Science'' and the ]/] series "Evolution," respectively.

''Refuting Compromise'', published in 2004, is Sarfati's rebuttal of the ] teachings of Dr. ], who attempts to harmonize the ] with modern science regarding the age of the earth and the possible size of the "Flood," against which Sarfati defends a literal biblical timeline and a global flood.{{Clarifyme}}<!-- Do we not have comments on it?-->

====Chemical evolution====

He has written in the general field of chemistry criticising ] theories, pointing out what he considers difficulties in ], such as polymerization,<ref>Sarfati, J. (1998) ''Journal of Creation'' '''12'''(3):281–284 </ref> chirality,<ref>Sarfati, J. (1998) ''Journal of Creation'' '''12'''(3):263–266</ref> instability of building blocks,<ref>Sarfati, J. (1999) ''Journal of Creation'' '''13'''(2):124–127] </ref> and the origin of self-reproduction.<ref>Sarfati, J. (1997) ''Journal of Creation'' '''11'''(1):4–6 </ref> He also accuses many origin of life researchers, such as ] of MIT and ] of the Scripps Research Institute, of having a religious kind of faith in materialism.<ref>article "Does ribozyme research prove Darwinian evolution?" by Jonathan Sarfati</ref>

===Religion and morals===
====Abortion====

Sarfati says: "Right throughout Scripture, murder — that is the intentional killing of innocent humans — is regarded as a heinous sin (Exodus 20:13, {{bibleref|Matthew|19:18}}, Romans 13:9). Since abortion kills an innocent human being, it is nothing less than murder. So all the usual 'hard cases' pushed by pro-abortionists, e.g. 'What if the woman was raped?', 'What if the child is deformed?', 'What if she can't afford to keep the child?' are completely irrelevant. We should also remember Ezekiel 18:20, which prohibits executing a child for the crime of his/her father — this means that even the tragic cases of pregnancies due to incest or rape are no justification for killing the innocent child conceived." <ref> article "Abortion — The answer’s in Genesis" by Jonathan Sarfati First published in Prayer News (Australia), May 1998, page four.</ref>

====Racism====

He has argued that "the Bible speaks against racism regardless of any way in which people have misused it." <ref> series ''Feedback'' from its 2001 article titled "The Bible vs slavery and apartheid" by Jonathan Sarfati.</ref>

====Marriage v gay rights====
He defends marriage as an institution joining one man and one woman, and opposes ]. <ref> article "Does the Bible clearly teach monogamy?" by Jonathan Sarfati.</ref>

He opposes ] behaviour, while advocating "love the sinner, hate the sin." <ref> series ''Feedback'' from ], ] titled "Objections to homosexuality article" by Jonathan Sarfati.</ref>

He has endorsed ]'s suggestion that ] ]s who molest teenage boys should be called "gay priests" rather than "pedophile priests." In the same article, he used the terms "homonazis" and "sodomofascist" to refer to gays who advocate the imprisonment of pastors for calling homosexual acts sinful:

:"Homosexuals are now a politically protected victim group, about which it is ''verboten'' to say anything negative. And certain homonazis want Christians punished if they quote from the Bible against homosexual behavior. Indeed, 63-year-old was jailed in Sweden for just that, because they have such a sodomofascist law restricting Christian freedom. Fortunately his on appeal, to the ire of homosexual activists, by a higher court because it was such an egregious violation of Sweden's free speech laws." <ref> series ''Feedback'' from ] ] titled "The disingenuous and anti-Christian nature of 'gay rights' rhetoric" by Jonathan Sarfati. </ref>

==Criticism==

Sarfati has been criticized for the wide range of subjects he discusses. On the ] web site, Reed A. Cartwright and Dr Douglas L. Theobald have commented on Sarfati's views on vestigial organs, noting that his doctorate was in physical chemistry, not biology and that his understanding of vestigial organs is lacking.<ref>Cartwright, R.A. and Theobald, D.L. (2001)
, Talk Origins archive.</ref> Sarfati himself has criticised some of his opponents for their lack of appropriate credentials, noting of one researcher, that he was an ], and therefore "anything he says about ] should be taken with a large grain of salt."<ref>Sarfati argues that Colin Groves, an anthropologist, is not an expert on radiometric dating </ref>

It is widely believed that Sarfati posts at TheologyWeb and other online forums using the screen name "Socrates." <ref>In 2003, in a titled "Reply to Jonathan Sarfati" at ], the introduction states "Dr. Sarfati posts at under the screen name "Socrates" with the habit of referring to himself in the third person".
, , , , and provide evidence it is widely believed.</ref>

] and ] of the ] called Sarfati's ''Refuting Evolution'' a "crude piece of propaganda", <ref>Scott E.C. and Branch G. (2003). ''BioScience'': '''53'''(3):282-285</ref> while ] has labeled Sarfati's understanding of developemental biology as "hopelessly confused" <ref></ref>


==Chess== ==Chess==
Sarfati is a ] ], and achieved a ] against former ] ] during a tournament in ] in 1988,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1129514 |title=Jonathan D Sarfati vs Boris Spassky 1988 |access-date=7 January 2009 |publisher=ChessGames.com}}</ref> and was ] in 1987–88.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.poisonpawn.co.nz/titles.htm|title=Title and Trophy Holders|access-date=7 January 2009|publisher=Poison Pawn|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080318234430/http://www.poisonpawn.co.nz/titles.htm|archive-date=18 March 2008}}</ref>
] A [[New Zealand Chess Championship|New Zealand national chess
champion]] in 1987-8, he represented New Zealand in three ]s: the 27th in ] <ref></ref> in 1986, the 28th in ] <ref></ref> in 1988, and the 30th in ] <ref> </ref> in 1992. He also represented New Zealand at the 5th Asian Teams in ] <ref> </ref>. He also tied Rey Casse in the ] in 1981, but was not eligible to share the title because he was a resident of New Zealand at the time. <ref></ref>

He is currently the club captain/director-of-play for the Logan City Chess Club, Australia. <ref></ref>


Although tied with Rey Casse for first place in the ] of 1981, he was not eligible to share the title as he was a resident of New Zealand at the time.<ref>{{dead link|date=April 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> He represented New Zealand in three ]s: the 27th in ]<ref></ref> in 1986, the 28th in ]<ref></ref> in 1988, and the 30th in ]<ref></ref> in 1992. He also represented New Zealand on top board at the 5th Asian Teams in ].<ref></ref>
He is known for giving ] exhibits at creationist conferences <ref> </ref> and chess clubs, <ref></ref> and has played twelve such games simultaneously. <ref></ref>


He has given ] exhibitions at chess clubs<ref> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322121835/http://www.croydonchess.com/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=nuUo7sinjIs%3D&tabid=64&mid=476&language=en-AU |date=22 March 2012 }}</ref> and other events,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=18&articleid=20110903_18_A15_CUTLIN574018 |title=Creationist to speak on young Earth theory|work=Tulsa World |first=Bill |last=Sherman|date=3 September 2011 |access-date=6 September 2011 | location=USA}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last= Richardson |first= Bryan |date= 27 August 2013 |title= Check Mates |newspaper= The Manhattan Mercury |location= ] |publisher= Seaton Group }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.kstatecollegian.com/2013/08/27/speaker-challenges-evolution/ |title= Speaker challenges evolution, offers alternative view |last1= Lawrence |first1= Jeana |date= 27 August 2013 |website= ] |access-date=22 December 2013}}</ref> and has played twelve such games simultaneously.<ref></ref> His previous best was winning 11/11 at the ] Chess Club in New Zealand.<ref>Roberts, Earl N., , ''New Zealand Chess'' '''29'''(3):23, June 2003.</ref>
His previous best was winning 11/11 at the ] Chess Club in New Zealand <ref>(Roberts 2003)</ref>.


== Bibliography == == Bibliography ==
* ''The Genesis Account: A theological, historical, and scientific commentary on Genesis 1-11'', 2015, Creation Book Publishers {{ISBN|978-1921643910}}
* ''Rescuing the Bible from John Shelby Spong'', ISBN 0-89051-417-8 (forthcoming)
* ''Christianity for Skeptics'', 2012, with Steve Kumar (first author), Creation Book Publishers {{ISBN|978-1921643491}}
* ''Refuting Compromise'', 2004, ISBN 0-89051-411-9
* ''The Greatest Hoax on Earth? Refuting Dawkins on Evolution'', 2010, Creation Book Publishers {{ISBN|1-921643-06-4}}
* ''The Revised & Expanded Answers Book'', 2003, with ] and ], edited by ], ISBN 0-89051-395-3
* ''By Design: Evidence for nature's Intelligent Designer—the God of the Bible'', 2008, Creation Book Publishers ABN: 978-0-949906-72-4
* ''Refuting Evolution 2'', 2002, ISBN 0-89051-387-2
* ''Refuting Compromise: A Biblical and Scientific Refutation of Progressive Creationism'', 2004, Creation Book Publishers {{ISBN|0-89051-411-9}}
* ''Refuting Evolution'', 1999, ISBN 0-89051-258-2
* ''The Revised & Expanded Answers Book'', 2003, with ] and David Catchpoole, edited by Don Batten, {{ISBN|0-89051-395-3}}
* ''Refuting Evolution 2'', 2002/2011, Creation Book Publishers {{ISBN|0-89051-387-2}}
* ''Refuting Evolution'', 1999–2010, Creation Book Publishers {{ISBN|0-89051-258-2}}


==External links== == References ==
{{reflist}}
*


== External links ==
'''Opposing views'''
* at creation.com
* on ]
* {{FIDE|name=Jonathan D. Sarfati}}
*, National Academy of Sciences, undated, retrieved ] ]
* {{Chessgames player|name=Jonathan D. Sarfati}}
*


{{Creation Science}}
==Sources==
{{Authority control}}
<references/>


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Latest revision as of 19:09, 24 December 2024

Australian young earth creationist and chess player Not to be confused with Jack Sarfatti.

Jonathan Sarfati

Jonathan David Sarfati (born 1 October 1964) is a young Earth creationist who writes articles for Creation Ministries International (CMI), a non-profit Christian apologetics ministry. Sarfati has a PhD in chemistry, and was New Zealand national chess champion in 1987 and 1988.

Background

Born in Ararat, Victoria, Sarfati moved with his family to New Zealand as a child, where he became a dual Australian and New Zealand citizen. He attended Wellington College in New Zealand, later graduating from Victoria University of Wellington with a BSc (Hons.) in chemistry, and a PhD in the same subject for a thesis entitled "A Spectroscopic Study of some Chalcogenide Ring and Cage Molecules". He co-authored a paper on high-temperature superconductors that was published in Nature in 1987 ("Letters to Nature"), and from 1988 to 1995, had five papers on spectroscopy of condensed matter samples published in other peer-reviewed scientific journals. In 1996, he returned to Brisbane, Australia to work for the Creation Science Foundation, then Answers in Genesis, then its current name Creation Ministries International. In 2010, he moved to the American office of that ministry.

Creationism

Sarfati was a founder of the Wellington Christian Apologetics Society in New Zealand, and has long retained an interest in Christian apologetics and the creation–evolution controversy. His first two books, Refuting Evolution in 1999, and Refuting Evolution 2 in 2002, are intended as rebuttals to the National Academy of Sciences' publication Teaching about Evolution and the Nature of Science and the PBS/Nova series Evolution, respectively. Refuting Compromise, published in 2004, is Sarfati's rebuttal of the day-age creationist teachings of Hugh Ross, who attempts to harmonise the Genesis account of creation with mainstream science regarding the age of the Earth and the possible size of the Biblical Flood, against which Sarfati defends a literal biblical timeline and a global flood. Eugenie Scott and Glenn Branch of the National Center for Science Education called Sarfati's Refuting Evolution 2 a "crude piece of propaganda".

Sarfati is a critic of geocentrism, the Myth of the flat Earth and flat Earth teaching, homosexual behaviour, and abortion except to save the life of the mother. While opposing embryonic stem cell research, he supports adult stem cell research. Sarfati also supports vaccination and rebuts anti-vaccination arguments.

Sarfati playing chess against multiple players at a creation conference, 2011.

Chess

Sarfati is a chess FIDE Master, and achieved a draw against former world champion Boris Spassky during a tournament in Wellington in 1988, and was New Zealand's national chess champion in 1987–88.

Although tied with Rey Casse for first place in the Australian Junior Championship of 1981, he was not eligible to share the title as he was a resident of New Zealand at the time. He represented New Zealand in three Chess Olympiads: the 27th in Dubai in 1986, the 28th in Thessaloniki in 1988, and the 30th in Manila in 1992. He also represented New Zealand on top board at the 5th Asian Teams in New Delhi.

He has given blindfold chess exhibitions at chess clubs and other events, and has played twelve such games simultaneously. His previous best was winning 11/11 at the Kāpiti Chess Club in New Zealand.

Bibliography

  • The Genesis Account: A theological, historical, and scientific commentary on Genesis 1-11, 2015, Creation Book Publishers ISBN 978-1921643910
  • Christianity for Skeptics, 2012, with Steve Kumar (first author), Creation Book Publishers ISBN 978-1921643491
  • The Greatest Hoax on Earth? Refuting Dawkins on Evolution, 2010, Creation Book Publishers ISBN 1-921643-06-4
  • By Design: Evidence for nature's Intelligent Designer—the God of the Bible, 2008, Creation Book Publishers ABN: 978-0-949906-72-4
  • Refuting Compromise: A Biblical and Scientific Refutation of Progressive Creationism, 2004, Creation Book Publishers ISBN 0-89051-411-9
  • The Revised & Expanded Answers Book, 2003, with Carl Wieland and David Catchpoole, edited by Don Batten, ISBN 0-89051-395-3
  • Refuting Evolution 2, 2002/2011, Creation Book Publishers ISBN 0-89051-387-2
  • Refuting Evolution, 1999–2010, Creation Book Publishers ISBN 0-89051-258-2

References

  1. "Jonathan D Sarfati". chessgames.com. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
  2. "Dr Jonathan D. Sarfati BSc (Hons.), PhD, F.M." Creation Ministries International. Retrieved 7 January 2009.
  3. Mawdsley, A., Trodahl, H.J., Tallon, J., Sarfati, J. and Kaiser, A.B. (1987) Thermoelectric power and electron-phonon enhancement in YBa2Cu3O7-6 Nature 328: 233–234.
  4. Five articles can be found by searching for Jonathan D Sarfati at Science Direct
  5. Sarfati, Jonathan (2015). The Genesis Account. Creation Book Publishers. p. 786. ISBN 978-1-921643-91-0.
  6. Sarfati's biography at CMI-Australia, Creationist Physical Chemist and Spectroscopist
  7. Scott E.C. and Branch G. (2003). Antievolutionism: Changes and Continuities BioScience: 53(3):282-285
  8. Robert Carter and Jonathan Sarfati, Why the Universe does not revolve around the Earth: Refuting absolute geocentrism, creation.com, 12 February 2015.
  9. Jonathan Sarfati, The flat earth myth, Creation 35(3):20–23, April 2013.
  10. Robert Carter and Jonathan Sarfati, A flat earth, and other nonsense: Dealing with ideas that would not exist were it not for the Internet, creation.com, 3 September 2016 .
  11. Jonathan Sarfati, Gay ‘marriage’ and the consistent outcome of Genesis compromise, creation.com, 30 June 2012.
  12. Jonathan Sarfati, Antidote to abortion arguments, creation.com, 2002.
  13. Jonathan Sarfati, What about abortion to save the mother’s life?, creation.com, 3 January 2014.
  14. Jonathan Sarfati, Stem cells and Genesis, Journal of Creation 15(3):19–26, 2001;
  15. Jonathan Sarfati, CMI, vaccines, and vaccination, creation.com, 2018.
  16. "Jonathan D Sarfati vs Boris Spassky 1988". ChessGames.com. Retrieved 7 January 2009.
  17. "Title and Trophy Holders". Poison Pawn. Archived from the original on 18 March 2008. Retrieved 7 January 2009.
  18. Search for Rey Casse and Chess
  19. Chess Olympiad 1986
  20. Chess Olympiad 1988
  21. Chess Olympiad 1992
  22. Asian Teams 1983
  23. Croydon chess club Archived 22 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  24. Sherman, Bill (3 September 2011). "Creationist to speak on young Earth theory". Tulsa World. USA. Retrieved 6 September 2011.
  25. Richardson, Bryan (27 August 2013). "Check Mates". The Manhattan Mercury. Manhattan, Kansas: Seaton Group.
  26. Lawrence, Jeana (27 August 2013). "Speaker challenges evolution, offers alternative view". The Kansas State Collegian. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
  27. Chess games at Logan Chess Club site (archive)
  28. Roberts, Earl N., Chess from behind a blindfold?, New Zealand Chess 29(3):23, June 2003.

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