ROME TOWNSHIP — A series of personal tragedies forced James Gardner to start thinking about his own mortality, sending him on a quest for what he considered the truth.

The result of that journey has become a series of lectures whose purpose is to show that scientific reality and the Biblical story of creation are not polar opposites.

“What I learned is consistently what we see in God’s world agrees with what we read in God’s word,” Gardner said. “I didn’t coin that but it describes what I am talking about. Science consistently points to the truth of God’s word.”

Gardner will bring four in his series of lectures on science and creation to First Baptist Church of Proctorville Aug. 11 and 12. The lectures are free and open to the public and part of Answers in Genesis, a Christian-based ministry.

Those personal challenges coupled with attending a Genesis seminar forced Gardner to start asking himself questions. These same questions are the ones he offers up to his audiences each time he speaks — Who am I? Where did I come from? What happens to me when I die and what is the meaning of life?

“I heard four different speakers and they talked about things I had never considered before,” he said. “Prior to that I was like many people that all the scientists had proved that the world is million of years old through carbon dating.”

From that seminar his faith in the popular presentation of scientific fact was shaken and replaced with a search to answers his questions.

“I was a person who essentially did not think about the implications of these questions,” he said. “When you are young, you think you will live forever. I never gave it much of a thought, the things that make you start to think of the things of eternal nature.”

Now a retired businessman based in Tennessee, Gardner spends between 35 to 40 weekends on the road, offering a multi-media presentation to churches and universities.

His topics rang from what the Bible says about aliens and UFOs to whether dinosaurs and dragons are mythological creatures.

“I am strongly and firmly convinced that no matter what the scientific disciplines, if you look at the scientific evidence, it points back to the truth of the Bible,” Gardner said. “There is a misconception that no person with a real PhD from a real university believes in creation. They know that evolution is a fact. But there are thousands of scientists who believe God created the heavens and the earth.”

 

IF YOU GO:

James Gardner lectures will be “Aliens, UFOs and Incredible Creatures,” at 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 11; “Dinosaurs and Dragons: Fact or Myth,” at 9:15 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 12; “Consequences of the Path You Choose, 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 12; and “Fossils, the Grand Canyon and the Global Flood,” at 6 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 12. All lectures will be at the church.