Jonathan Sarfati

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

BackgroundEdit

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"),<ref>Mawdsley, A., Trodahl, H.J., Tallon, J., Sarfati, J. and Kaiser, A.B. (1987) Thermoelectric power and electron-phonon enhancement in YBa₂Cu₃O_7-6 Nature 328: 233–234.</ref> and from 1988 to 1995, had five papers on spectroscopy of condensed matter samples published in other peer-reviewed scientific journals.<ref>Five articles can be found by searching for Jonathan D Sarfati at Science Direct</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite book</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 creation–evolution controversy.<ref>Sarfati's biography at CMI-Australia, Creationist Physical Chemist and Spectroscopist</ref> 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".<ref>Scott E.C. and Branch G. (2003). Antievolutionism: Changes and Continuities BioScience: 53(3):282-285</ref>

Sarfati is a critic of geocentrism,<ref>Robert Carter and Jonathan Sarfati, Why the Universe does not revolve around the Earth: Refuting absolute geocentrism, creation.com, 12 February 2015.</ref> the Myth of the flat Earth<ref>Jonathan Sarfati, The flat earth myth, Creation 35(3):20–23, April 2013.</ref> and flat Earth teaching,<ref>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 .</ref> homosexual behaviour,<ref>Jonathan Sarfati, Gay ‘marriage’ and the consistent outcome of Genesis compromise, creation.com, 30 June 2012.</ref> and abortion<ref>Jonathan Sarfati, Antidote to abortion arguments, creation.com, 2002.</ref> except to save the life of the mother.<ref>Jonathan Sarfati, What about abortion to save the mother’s life?, creation.com, 3 January 2014.</ref> While opposing embryonic stem cell research, he supports adult stem cell research.<ref>Jonathan Sarfati, Stem cells and Genesis, Journal of Creation 15(3):19–26, 2001;</ref> Sarfati also supports vaccination and rebuts anti-vaccination arguments.<ref>Jonathan Sarfati, CMI, vaccines, and vaccination, creation.com, 2018.</ref>

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

Sarfati is a chess FIDE Master, and achieved a draw against former world champion Boris Spassky during a tournament in Wellington in 1988,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and was New Zealand's national chess champion in 1987–88.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref>Search for Rey Casse and Chess Template:Dead link</ref> He represented New Zealand in three Chess Olympiads: the 27th in Dubai<ref>Chess Olympiad 1986</ref> in 1986, the 28th in Thessaloniki<ref>Chess Olympiad 1988</ref> in 1988, and the 30th in Manila<ref>Chess Olympiad 1992</ref> in 1992. He also represented New Zealand on top board at the 5th Asian Teams in New Delhi.<ref>Asian Teams 1983</ref>

He has given blindfold chess exhibitions at chess clubs<ref>Croydon chess club Template:Webarchive</ref> and other events,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and has played twelve such games simultaneously.<ref>Chess games at Logan Chess Club site (archive)</ref> His previous best was winning 11/11 at the Kāpiti Chess Club in New Zealand.<ref>Roberts, Earl N., Chess from behind a blindfold?, New Zealand Chess 29(3):23, June 2003.</ref>

The Genesis Account: A theological, historical, and scientific commentary on Genesis 1-11, 2015, Creation Book Publishers Template:ISBN
Christianity for Skeptics, 2012, with Steve Kumar (first author), Creation Book Publishers Template:ISBN
The Greatest Hoax on Earth? Refuting Dawkins on Evolution, 2010, Creation Book Publishers Template:ISBN
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 Template:ISBN
The Revised & Expanded Answers Book, 2003, with Carl Wieland and David Catchpoole, edited by Don Batten, Template:ISBN
Refuting Evolution 2, 2002/2011, Creation Book Publishers Template:ISBN
Refuting Evolution, 1999–2010, Creation Book Publishers Template:ISBN