Hugh Norman Ross (born July 24, 1945) is a Canadian astrophysicist,

Christian apologist Christian apologetics (, "verbal defense, speech in defense") is a branch of Christian theology that defends Christianity. Christian apologetics have taken many forms over the centuries, starting with Paul the Apostle in the early church and Pa ...

, and old-Earth creationist. Ross obtained his Ph.D. in astronomy from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

and his B.Sc. degree in physics from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

. He established his own ministry in 1986, called Reasons to Believe. Ross rejects both

abiogenesis Abiogenesis is the natural process by which life arises from non-living matter, such as simple organic compounds. The prevailing scientific hypothesis is that the transition from non-living to living entities on Earth was not a single even ...

and

evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

as explanations for the origin and history of life, contrary to the

scientific consensus Scientific consensus is the generally held judgment, position, and opinion of the majority or the supermajority of scientists in a particular field of study at any particular time. Consensus is achieved through scholarly communication at confer ...

. Ross' position overlaps with that of

intelligent design Intelligent design (ID) is a pseudoscientific argument for the existence of God, presented by its proponents as "an evidence-based scientific theory about life's origins".#Numbers 2006, Numbers 2006, p. 373; " Dcaptured headlines for it ...

, but Ross argues that the evidence points to Jesus Christ as the designer, instead of an undefined intelligent designer.

Early life and education

Hugh Ross was born in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, and raised in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

after moving there at the age of five. His parents were James Stewart Alexander Ross and Dorothy Isabel (Murray) Ross.He was interested in science from a young age, often reading science textbooks as a child. As a teenager, Ross read works by philosophers such as Immanuel Kant and Rene Descartes, but felt their works contained inconsistencies and contradictions. Ross also read Eastern holy books from religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Zoroastrianism. He began studying the Bible in secret due to his family's disapproval. He was inspired by the way the Bible described historical and scientific information, eventually becoming a Christian. Ross described his upbringing as moral, but not religious. Ross became interested in astronomy at the age of seven, after asking his parents whether stars were hot when gazing up at the night sky. He visited the local library to find the answer. He soon became convinced that the

expansion of the universe The expansion of the universe is the increase in proper length, distance between Gravitational binding energy, gravitationally unbound parts of the observable universe with time. It is an intrinsic and extrinsic properties (philosophy), intrins ...

and the

Big Bang The Big Bang is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models based on the Big Bang concept explain a broad range of phenomena, including th ...

required a divine "cosmic beginner". At 17 he began to serve as director of observations for Vancouver's Royal Astronomical Society and started examining religious texts. Ross received a provincial scholarship and a National Research Council of Canada fellowship and earned a B.Sc. in

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

from the

in 1967, going on to earn a M.Sc. in 1968, and a Ph.D. in

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

from the

in 1973. While in Toronto, Ross began meeting with his fellow Christian students to share their faith. The National Research Council of Canada sent Ross to

Caltech The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private university, private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small g ...

as a

postdoctoral research fellow A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a Doctor of Philosophy, PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, h ...

to study

quasar A quasar ( ) is an extremely Luminosity, luminous active galactic nucleus (AGN). It is sometimes known as a quasi-stellar object, abbreviated QSO. The emission from an AGN is powered by accretion onto a supermassive black hole with a mass rangi ...

s and

galaxies A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, and dark matter bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Greek ' (), literally 'milky', a reference to the Milky Way galaxy that contains the Solar Sys ...

from 1973 to 1978. While at Caltech Ross met Dave Rogstad and joined his Bible study group, which included his future wife, Kathleen Ann Drake. The group encouraged him to spread his personal story about scientific evidence and Christianity. Hugh Ross presenting

Career

Ross served as a minister of evangelism at Sierra Madre Congregational Church. He was encouraged by leaders in his church to start his own ministry, and in 1986 he and Kathy Ross founded the apologetics ministry ''Reasons To Believe'' in Sierra Madre, California. In 1991, Ross began writing books on Christian apologetics, with his book sales exceeding a quarter million copies. In 2012, Ross won the Trotter Prize, delivering the Trotter Lecture at

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

on "Theistic Implications for Big Bang Cosmology." Ross has made radio and television appearances, and his work has been covered by news outlets including Christianity Today, The Houston Chronicle, The LA Times, The Washington Post, and Fox News. In July 2022, Ross stepped down as CEO of Reasons to Believe to focus his efforts on writing and other endeavors.

Beliefs

Ross believes God has revealed his existence and divine nature through both the Bible and creation. He also believes that his creation model is empirically testable, and equally plausible as the evolutionary model. Ross also believes that the Earth is fine-tuned for life, and that science and Christianity intersect rather than contradict each other. Ross believes that God has created the universe for a reason and desires a relationship with humans. Ross believes the record of creation is "like the 67th book of the Bible." He attempts to use science to find common ground with people, including secular scientists who reject the idea of God.

Old-Earth Creationism

Ross believes in

progressive creationism Progressive creationism is the religious belief that God created new forms of life gradually over a period of hundreds of millions of years. As a form of old Earth creationism, it accepts mainstream geological and cosmological estimates for the ...

, a view which holds that while the Earth is billions of years old, life did not appear by natural forces alone but that a

supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

agent formed different lifeforms in incremental (progressive) stages, and

day-age creationism Day-age creationism is an interpretation of the creation accounts in Genesis. It holds that the six days referred to in the Genesis account of creation are not literal 24-hour days, but are much longer periods (from thousands to billions of y ...

, a system of reconciling a literal Genesis account of creation with modern scientific theories on the age of the universe, the Earth, life, and humans. He rejects the young-Earth creationist positions that the earth is younger than 10,000 years and that the creation "days" of Genesis 1 represent literal 24-hour periods. Ross instead asserts that these days (translated from the Hebrew word '' yom'') are historic, distinct, and sequential, but not 24 hours in length nor equal in length. Ross agrees with the scientific community that any version of

is inadequate if it does not provide a testable

hypothesis A hypothesis (: hypotheses) is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. A scientific hypothesis must be based on observations and make a testable and reproducible prediction about reality, in a process beginning with an educated guess o ...

which can make verifiable and falsifiable predictions, and if not, it should not be taught in the classroom as science. Ross has criticized young-Earth creationists, in particular Russell Humphreys.Samuel R. Conner and Hugh Ross Ph.D.
The Unraveling of Starlight and Time
, March 1999

Personal life

Ross married Kathy in 1977 and they have two sons. Kathy was formerly the senior vice president of Reasons to Believe and oversaw the organization’s communications. Ross has been diagnosed with

Asperger syndrome Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger's syndrome or Asperger's, is a diagnostic label that has historically been used to describe a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and no ...

Bibliography

Ross has written or collaborated on the following books: *''The Fingerprint of God''. Orange, Calif.: Promise Publishing, 1989, 2nd ed. 1991, 3rd ed. 2005 *''The Creation Hypothesis'', Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1994 *''The Creator and the Cosmos''. Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1993, 2nd ed. 1995, 3rd ed. 2001, 4th ed. 2018 *''Creation and Time''. Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1994 *''Mere Creation'', Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1998 *''Beyond the Cosmos''. Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1996, 2nd ed. 1999; Orlando, FL: Signalman Publishing, 2010, 3rd ed. *''The Genesis Question'', Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1998, 2nd ed. 2001 *''The Genesis Debate'', Mission Viejo, CA: Crux, 2002 (with five other authors) *''Lights in the Sky and Little Green Men'', Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2002 *''A Matter of Days'', Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2004 *''Origins of Life'', Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2004 (with Fazale Rana) *''Who Was Adam?'' Colorado Springs, NavPress, 2005 (with Fazale Rana) *''Creation as Science'', Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2006 *''Why the Universe is the Way it Is'', Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2008 *''More Than a Theory'', Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2009 *''Hidden Treasures in the Book of Job: How the Oldest Book of the Bible Answers Today's Scientific Questions'', Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2011 *''Navigating Genesis: A Scientist's Journey through Genesis 1–11'', 2014 *''Improbable Planet: How Earth Became Humanity's Home'', Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2016 *''Always Be Ready: A Call To Adventurous Faith'', Covina, CA: RTB Press, 2018 *''Weathering Climate Change'', Covina, CA: RTB Press, 2020 *''Designed to the Core'', Covina, CA: RTB Press, 2022 *''Rescuing Inerrancy: A Scientific Defense'', Covina, CA: RTB Press, 2023

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Hugh 1945 births Living people 20th-century Canadian astronomers 21st-century Congregationalists Canadian Congregationalists Canadian male non-fiction writers Canadian people of Scottish descent Christian apologists Christian Old Earth creationists Congregationalist writers Scientists from Montreal Scientists from Vancouver University of British Columbia Faculty of Science alumni University of Toronto alumni Writers from Montreal Writers from Vancouver Canadian lecturers