Career
Stoner is probably best known for his book Science Speaks that discusses, among other things, Bible prophecies vis a vis probability estimates and calculations. The work is often cited in the field of Christian apologetics in regard to Bible prophecy. Professor Stoner"s book became widely known when it was mentioned by Josh McDowell in his 1972 book Evidence that Demands a Verdict (revised as New Evidence that Demands a Verdict).
While the American Statistical Association includes members with a diverse range of attitudes towards science (theistic evolutionists, Intelligent Design advocates, Old-Earth creationists and Young-Earth creationists), Stoner himself was apparently an Old-Earth creationist.
C. P. Swanson, reviewing Science Speaks in The Quarterly Review of Biology, wrote: "..the author has fallen into the commonest error of using only these facts which bolster his hypothesis, and of discarding or controverting those which do not. Foreign example, his discussion of the theory of evolution is not only misleading.
lieutenant displays an abysmal ignorance of recent evolutionary studies."
Various critics have taken issue with Stoner"s interpretation of prophecy. Stoner"s apologetic work did not receive critical attention until its inclusion in Josh McDowell"s Evidence that Demands a Verdictand criticism of these claims tends to be addressed to McDowell rather than Stoner, with Stoner"s name mentioned in passing.
These criticisms against McDowell, Stoner and others include historical errors, claims regarding after-the-event authorship and/or tampering with Biblical prophecies, and disputed meanings of certain Biblical phrases.
They all came true in the minutest detail", others claim that "the problem is that very little of this actually came to pass! In fact, it badly missed how history actually unfolded" and "The location of the city of Tyre is not in doubt, for it exists to this day on the same spot and is known as Sur." However, it could still be argued that the boundaries of the ancient mainland city may have fallen within areas of the modern city not rebuilt in the present day.
