Jonathan Sarfati - Biography

Jonathan D. Sarfati (born 1 October 1964) is a former New Zealand national chess champion and creationist author with a PhD in chemistry. Sarfati works for Creation Ministries International (CMI), formerly part of Answers in Genesis (AiG), a non-profit Christian Apologetics ministry specialising in Young-Earth creationism. He is the author of many articles and books about creation science.

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 B.Sc. (Hons.) in chemistry, and a Ph.D. 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 several 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 and now Creation Ministries International, as co-editor of their magazine, Creation, and their technical journal, Journal of Creation (formerly TJ). Fellow creationist Gary Bates, in an interview with Sarfati in Creation magazine, says:

"Sarfati means Frenchman in Hebrew. Despite having no religious upbringing, Jonathan was driven to investigate his Jewish roots after his conversion. As a Messianic Jew, he has also passionately imbibed knowledge about church history and theological issues."

Writings

Creationism

According to the Creation Ministries International 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 creation versus evolution debate. 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 Dr. 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 a "crude piece of propaganda".

Sarfati's critics, such as Reed A. Cartwright and Dr Douglas L. Theobald, have criticised Sarfati's claims such as one that accuses scientists of continually changing the definition of vestigial to match the evidence. In their criticism, Cartwright and Douglas note that Sarfati's PhD is in physical chemistry, not biology. Sarfati himself has criticised some of his opponents for their lack of appropriate credentials, noting of one researcher, that he was an anthropologist, and therefore "anything he says about radiometric dating should be taken with a large grain of salt."

Chess

Sarfati is a FIDE Master in chess, 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 representing that country in Chess Olympiads in 1986, 1988, and 1992.

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. After becoming New Zealand national chess champion in 1987-8, 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 is known for giving 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 Kapiti Chess Club in New Zealand. His chess exhibitions at creation conferences have been publicised by creationist organisations.

Bibliography

• The Greatest Hoax on Earth? Refuting Dawkins on Evolution, 2010, ISBN 1921643064
• By Design: Evidence for nature's Intelligent Designer—the God of the Bible, 2008, ABN: 978-0-949906-72-4
• Refuting Compromise: A Biblical and Scientific Refutation of Progressive Creationism, As Popularized by Astronomer Hugh Ross, 2004, ISBN 0-89051-411-9
• The Revised & Expanded Answers Book, 2003, with Carl Wieland and Ken Ham, edited by Don Batten, ISBN 0-89051-395-3
• Refuting Evolution 2, 2002, ISBN 0-89051-387-2
• Refuting Evolution, 1999, ISBN 0-89051-258-2

External links

• Biography of Dr. Sarfati and links to some of his internet articles
• Creation Ministries Website
• ChessGames.com page