I just have to point my readers to this article about Kent Hovind. I am not a fan of creation science. I think it starts with the wrong premise about what the Bible is even meant to convey. Putting all that aside, it's sad that people like Dr. (?) Hovind are out there representing the kingdom of God.
Click here for more info about this guy.
ht: willzhead
Problem #5: We are needlessly turning people away from the gospel.
Our story is not primarily about how we got here. It’s about why we’re here. It’s about making things new. It’s about getting in on what God is doing in the world. But we give people an either/or attitude. Either you subscribe to creationism or we will not let you be a Christian. We make people to feel as if they could never hope to belong in our family.
Years ago, I worked under a pastor who told me about how his brother had been turned away from the faith because of this kind of thinking. I was a fairly staunch creationist back then and I dismissed his story. I basically thought that's too bad, but I can't help it if people won't accept the truth. I think I've grown since then. I realize that the truth does hurt sometimes, but I also realize that I don't have to use the truth to hurt people. Do you see that distinction? Hurling truth missles at people is not a requirement of the gospel.
"Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ." (Ephesians 4:14-15)
I think many of use have tended to think that "speaking the truth in love" means always speaking the truth, even when it hurts. But what if it means speaking the truth only when it is in love? I don't want to gloss over the context from verse 14. I understand that we don't want people to be blown around by "cunning and craftiness." But part of what I've been trying to get at in this series of posts is that we ought to be careful about what we label "deceitful scheming." I think we have to be willing to examine our own views of the truth to see if there is any deceit in us. I think we also have to be able to differentiate between what is dangerous about a teaching and what is potentially helpful. We don't have to assume a dichotomy with everything. There is sin in all of us and therefore there is going to be at least a tinge of falsehood in our teachings, no matter who we are.
Problem #4: Evolution does not have to be equated with evil.
Yes, an awful lot of evolutionists are atheists, but then again, many of them are Christians. I’m not necessarily trying to push evolution here. But I do wonder what would happen if we could just accept some of the explanations that scientists are earnestly trying to provide. What if God created a process we call evolution? If you ask yourself that very question, you might begin to look at evolution as a beautiful thing, just like all of the other “very good” things God created.
These are of course my top 5. You may have your own. Do they all always occur? Of course not. They are what I see as potential problems. And now on to #3...
Problem #3: It is unfair to vilify men and women who are earnestly seeking the truth.
Hopefully, many of the scientists who support the theory of evolution do so for intellectually honest reasons. Yes, there will be those who simply scorn the belief that there is a God. Yes, there are some that may be on the warpath against Christianity. But hopefully, many of them are simply trying to do good science, using the abilities and intellect that God has given them. It is extremely unfortunate that we tend to vilify these people, assuming that their motivation is anti-biblical.
It's also unfortunate how some creationist apologists make a habit of oversimplifying the facts about evolution and using a lot of rhetoric to make their points. Jesus told us to “do to others what you would have them do to you.” I don’t know about you, but I get upset when detractors from Christianity oversimplify my beliefs...or when they call me stupid for believing what I do. I get upset when they’ve been misled into missing the point about the Bible and so on. So I don’t want to do the same to others.
Do you remember what the 9th Commandment says? “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.” Don't believe in evolution? That's cool. There are plenty of scientists, both Christian and non who would agree with you. But if you’re going to criticize what scientists are doing or saying, you ought be very sure both of your testimony and the way you are delivering it.
Problem #2: It is intellectually dishonest to ignore God’s general revelation.
“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20)
I think the point of that verse is that God’s creation tells us about its own origin and purpose. I think that creation also speaks for itself when it comes to the “efficient causation” questions—the “How does it work?” questions. Because God has created a universe that operates in an orderly way, we are able to learn about this universe by observing its inner workings. To many people today, the theory of evolution gives the best explanation of some of the inner workings God set in place.
Problem #1: Christians have a bad track record on this subject.
Do you remember the trouble that men like Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo got into? Basically, they asserted that the earth was not at the center of the universe. Theologians heartily disagreed. A man named Giordano Bruno was burned alive for such beliefs. Galileo was sentenced to a life of house arrest because he wouldn’t stop teaching this Copernican concept.
The following is a quote from Johannes Kepler, a Lutheran who lived in the 16th century. Kepler is known for his three laws of planetary motion and even made contributions to what would become calculus.
“To teach mankind about nature is not the purpose of Holy Scripture, which speaks to people about these matters in a human way in order to be understood by them and uses popular concepts…Why is it surprising then, that Scripture also talks the language of human senses in situations where the reality of things differs from the perception?”
I wanted to post my New Year's resolutions tonight, but I just realized it would be a good idea to talk about some of the incredible things that have happened this year first.
I hope that doesn't sound like some kind of brag-fest. I'm just truly happy about what a great year it's been. Praise God! Of course, there has been hardship, too. There has been doubt. There has been a struggle with fear. I've gotten angry at people in my church. I even said a few stupid things...okay, a lot of stupid things! But all in all, it has been a journey forward. So much has changed and there is so much promise for the future. I have an incredible wife who is both willing and excited to be on this journey with me. I just have to say hallelujah!
I started blogging this year on June 1st. My introductory post explains the name of my blog and is a good introduction to the journey I've been on. I'll cheat by not including that as one of my top 5!
These are in the order that they were written:
1. untitled
A poem that describes the pain of the "emerging" journey I have been on.
2. Loser
More raw emotion. Sometimes writing in stream-of-consciousness is the best way for me to really say something. This one's for all those who have felt like a loser at some point this year!
A no-holds-barred view of some problems I perceive in the church of today. I left this one out when I sent my links to Bob Carlton so that I could include my recent post concerning my vision for Emergent. Please check it out if you haven't already. (See how easy it is to cheat and fit in 7 instead of 5?)
I wrote this because I was annoyed about the American basketball team at the olympics. The real issue is not basketball, though. This post is about globalization and how the U.S. continues to resist being a part of the world community.
When it comes to the war in Iraq, what can we all agree on? This is my answer to that question.
Want to see top 5 lists from other bloggers? Click here.
We have a dependency problem here in America. We are dependent on energy. 65% of the fuel we use comes from the Middle East. In an address on May 25, in Portland Oregon, Senator John Kerry compared this figure to the 3% "that God gave us" in this country. He also said the following:
"There is no way possible for our nation to drill its way out of this predicament. We have to invent our way out of this predicament."
Both presidential candidates seem to understand the predicament that Senator Kerry referred to. Both candidates have plans. Bush says it will take 15 years for the technology we need to be ready. Kerry has said 10. Kerry has mentioned his "20% by 2020" plan. He wants to see 20% of our electricity be produced by an "alternative and renewable energy" source by the year 2020.
I think both of them are lacking in vision. I think both of them have too little faith in our nation's fight for independence. I'm certainly not an expert on the subject, but during World War II our nation somehow delved into the inner workings of the atom because we had to. Our safety and the safety of our neighbors was at stake. Our independence was riding on it and the clock was ticking. We could certainly debate about the pluses and minuses of the atom bomb and nuclear energy in general, but my point here is to make an analogy, not to debate about the past.
The clock is ticking. We are wasting away the resources of the earth over which God made us stewards. We need a newfound faith. We need to believe that answers can be found quicker than in a decade or two. We need to exorcise our greed and laziness. We need to stop raping the environment now.
As they said of Col. Steve Austin, "We [can] have the technology." We can be "better, stronger, faster." It's going to cost more than 6 million dollars, but we need to spend whatever it takes.
_______________________________________
P.S. Don't pass up the chance to click on the "Col. Steve Austin" link and see the original opening titles to the "Six Million Dollar Man."
In Philippians 2:8 we are told that God humbled himself in the person of Jesus Christ. What if we look at all of God's creation as an act of humility?
"...some theologians have proposed that the omnipotent God humbly contracts or 'withdraws' the divine presence in order to allow the world to be at all." (Responses to 101 Questions on God and Evolution by John F. Haught)
Think of it. God is everywhere. Before creation, he rightfully occupied all the "was" that was. We're not talking about space here, we're talking about being. The Being created being outside of himself. He made room for a reality that exists apart from himself. Unless you think we are all a figment of God's imagination, you must agree to this.
One critique of the concept of creationism is that it describes a static world. Things do not continue to become. In one creative act (lasting six literal days), God made everything that is.
"...it would be a purely passive implementation of the divine will. It would be a frozen universe, one without a future and one incapable of supporting life since, by definition, living beings must continually transcend (go beyond) themselves to be alive at all." (Ibid.)
This brings us back to the age-old question of free-will vs. determinism. In allowing human beings to do their own thing, so to speak, God is once again expressing his incomparable humility. Can you see that?
The evolutionary view of history goes way beyond that. It says that God has designed the very fabric of physical reality to be self-creative. It has the potential for change. Free will is not the right word in this case because matter is not acting on the basis of "mind." So what is it acting upon? Is design the right word? Paul Tillich described God's role in this process as "the ground of being." (Ibid.) God is not the controller, then, he is not the machine operator as modernists tend to picture him. Instead, he is the source of all things. He is the basis for all creativity.
Again, God's unsurpassed humility is expressed as the Creator allows a whole creative process to take part in the unfolding of the world he has authored. Amazing!
Recent Comments