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Dr Jonathan Sarfati (born 1 October 1964) is a New Zealander/Australian author, editor, chess master. He has a Ph.D. in Chemistry and currently works for the Christian apologetics ministry Answers in Genesis (AiG). He is well-known for his defence of Young Earth creationism and biblical inerrancy.
Biography
Born in Ararat, Victoria, Sarfati moved to New Zealand as a child, where he became a dual national. He attended Wellington College (New Zealand), and later he graduated from Victoria University of Wellington with a B.Sc. (Hons.) in Chemistry and a Ph.D. in Chemistry, based on his thesis: A Spectroscopic Study of some Chalcogenide Ring and Cage Molecules. He has also had papers published in peer-reviewed scientific journals including co-authoring in the journal Nature on high-temperature superconductors in 1987, when he was 22 . (Sarfati's name is last on the authorship list)
Ethnically Jewish, Sarfati converted to Christianity in 1984. He describes himself as a Messianic Jew and Hebrew Christian, which he uses interchangeably (there are distinctions as well as overlap between the two movements).
In 1996 he returned to Brisbane, Australia to work for the Creation Science Foundation (now Answers in Genesis) as co-editor of their magazine, Creation, and the more technical TJ (Technical Journal).
TJ is a refereed journal, reviewed mainly by scientists in the creationist community. It has a primarily theological (as opposed to scientific) purpose, and its guidelines begin with
- TJ is dedicated to upholding the authority of the 66 books of the Bible especially in the area of origins. All members of the Editorial Team adhere to the Answers in Genesis (AiG) Statement of Faith and most papers will be designed to support this.
(This can be contrasted with mainstream scientific journals that do not inquire regarding the religious orientations of their editors or contributors.)
Sarfati is married, with one stepson.
Writings
Sarfati has written numerous publications, including three books, with a fourth soon to be released. Refuting Evolution, his first book, was published in 1999, a rebuttal to the National Academy of Sciences' teachers' guidebook Teaching about Evolution and the Nature of Science (*). It has since sold more than 450,000 copies. This was followed by a sequel, Refuting Evolution 2, a response to a major PBS/Nova 7-part series and a Scientific American article.
His latest book, Refuting Compromise is a rebuttal of the day-age creationist teachings of Dr Hugh Ross, who attempts to harmonize the Genesis account of creation with the belief that the earth is billions of years old, a position which Sarfati rejects. Sarfati has also authored a number of booklets, besides contributing chapters and articles to numerous books and magazines, as well as many of the articles on the Answers in Genesis (*) website. He is a popular speaker at churches and conferences on the issue of creation versus evolution.
Sarfati has controversially called for pedophile Catholic priests to be referred to as gay priests instead . In the same article, he also referred to homosexuals who advocate the imprisonment of pastors who preach on the traditional teaching that homosexual acts are sinful as homonazis.
See also: History of gays in Nazi Germany and the Holocaust
Chess
Sarfati also maintains a keen interest in chess. A former New Zealand national chess champion (1987/88), he represented New Zealand in three Chess Olympiads: the 27th in Dubai (1986), the 28th in Thessaloniki (1988), and the 30th in Manila (1992). He also tied Rey Casse in the Australian Junior Championship (1981), but was declared ineligible because of his New Zealand residency (yet Casse was born in England). He was three times New Zealand junior champion. In a tournament in Wellington in 1988, he drew with former World Champion Boris Spassky.
He enjoys playing chess "blindfold", and has been known to play twelve such games simultaneously (see some games and photos). His previous best was winning 11/11 at the Kapiti Chess Club in New Zealand; Roberts, E., New Zealand Chess 29(3):23, June 2003.
Sarfati was one of the top 1000 reviewers at Amazon.com. In addition to chess-related books, his reviews also cover religious and scientific books.
Scientist?
Critics and supporters of Sarfati often disagree whether he should be considered a scientist. Young Earth Creationism is considered a pseudo-science by evolutionary scientists. Supporters would argue that he has a doctorate in physical chemistry and has published in undisputed scientific journals, so is a scientist. Another issue is whether one can be a scientist in some domains of work even if one advocates an ostensibly non-scientific position in others. However, the young Earth creationist site Answers in Genesis lists many creationists who are active in science (though for work unconnected to creationism), and points out that many of the founders of modern science, such as Isaac Newton, Robert Boyle and Michael Faraday were biblical creationists (though it should be noted that the theory of evolution was not seriously developed until after all of the preceding had died).
Sarfati received his PhD in physical chemistry. Thus, some critics find it reasonable to question his knowledge in apparently unrelated fields- namely the creationist perspective in biology and astronomy. Sarfati himself has raised this point regarding writers in skeptic journals, eg he called one such writer "An anthropologist, so anything he says about radiometric dating should be taken with a large grain of salt."
Education
- B.Sc. (Hons.) in Chemistry (with condensed matter and nuclear physics papers substituted)
- Ph.D. in Spectroscopy (Chemistry)
Honors/Awards/Associations
- 1988, FIDE Master title, The International Chess Federation
Bibliography
Official Biography and Interview
- Answers in Genesis' biography of Sarfati and list of his articles
- Interview in Creation magazine, Creation 26(3):36–41, June 2004
Books by Sarfati
- Rescuing the Bible from John Shelby Spong (ISBN 0890514178) (to be released)
- Refuting Compromise (ISBN 0-890514-11-9) 2004
- Refuting Evolution 2 (ISBN 0-890513-87-2) 2002
- Refuting Evolution (ISBN 0-890512-58-2) 1999
Articles by Sarfati
- Uncut chapter from In Six Days: Why Fifty Scientists Choose to Believe in Creation, ed. John F. Ashton, ISBN 0890513414, 2001
- Loving God with all your mind: logic and creation, TJ 12(2):142–151, 1998
- Biblical chronogenealogies, TJ 17(3):14–18, 2003 (defends Masoretic chronology of Gen. 5 & 11, and rejects gaps)
- Book review: Climbing Mount Improbable by Richard Dawkins, TJ 12(1):29–34, 1998
- Stem cells and Genesis, TJ 15(3):19–26, 2001 (opposes embryonic stem cell research; supports somatic/adult stem cell research)
- Olfactory design: smell and spectroscopy, TJ 12(2):137–138, 1998
- What’s Wrong With Bishop Spong? Laymen Rethink the Scholarship of John Shelby Spong Apologia 4(1):3–27, 1995
- Presuppositionalism vs evidentialism, and is the human genome simple? (6 June 2005 reply to AiG feedback)
- Defending vital doctrines and the deity of Christ (23 May 2005 reply to AiG feedback)