Central to Cedarville’s mission statement is the commitment to an education “grounded in biblical truth.” Every course in every
area of study begins with a biblical foundation that reveals God as the source of all wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and
truth.
Cedarville Magazine
asked professors from eight programs to share what biblical integration means in their areas of study.
GEOLOGY
Fewer than six evangelical Christian
colleges and universities have geology
majors. Among these, Cedarville is the only
one that treats the biblical book of Genesis
as historical text. We believe the days of
Creation were literal days, not figurative.
We believe Genesis is true history, not a
figurative account to be reinterpreted. We
do not believe evolution occurred over
millions of years; we believe that events like
Noah’s Flood greatly affected the earth’s
geology only thousands of years ago.
We don’t avoid topics like evolution and
the age of the earth; we rigorously teach
these subjects, along with their pitfalls, to
our students.
We take a “two-model” approach where
students are trained in both secular and
biblical approaches to geology and then
taught to think about the pros and cons of
each paradigm. We believe this approach
helps students develop incredible critical-
thinking skills and helps them to ask
questions about rocks, fossils, and the
earth that secular scientists often miss
because of their worldviews.
We offer geology field trips to places
like the Grand Canyon, one of nature’s
best geology classrooms. People are often
in awe when they view the Canyon for
the first time; they worship God for the
incredible beauty they see in His creation.
This is a proper response to the God who
created the heavens and earth and allows
us to enjoy its incredible beauty. However,
within the beauty is sadness. Encased
in the rocks of the Canyon are millions
of fossilized marine animals that died
and were buried during Noah’s Flood.
These marine rocks not only occur in the
Grand Canyon, but blanket every single
continent on the earth. The rocks are a
sobering reminder of the consequences of
man’s sin, God’s righteous judgment, and
the Truth we find in Scripture.
John H. Whitmore, Ph.D.
Professor of Geology
STARTING FROM
SCRIPTURE
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Cedarville Magazine
