Countering my assertion that the YEC position will be largely dead in
another generation, Glenn described a couple of recent personal anecdotes
involving YEC's. One a young convert, under the influence of YEC's, who
has become a YEC, and the following nasty situation:
> The only other geophysicist in my group who is a believer goes to a
> conservative Presbyterian church also. Since I agreed with your assertion
> that YEC would be dead in a generation, this man came to me and asked me for
> help. It seems that a woman (who is not a scientist) in his church is
> crusading to turn their church into a YEC enclave. My friend told me that he
> thought he could avoid this battle but now he realized that he couldn't.
> The lady is collecting quite a contingent of those who view my friend as an
> unacceptable 'liberal' on the board of elders. This was one of the things
> that made me doubt my agreement with your assertion.
Consider, as a working hypothesis, my thesis that the YEC position is
crumbling and will effectively be dead in a generation. Then ask yourself
whether this example really casts doubt on it? I think not. At most it
seems neutral. For if we are to pass from the present situation in which
YECs wield influence in American churches to a situation in which they do
not, we should expect some unpleasant confrontations like this. In fact,
this particular situation will likely do more damage for the YEC cause
than good -- no matter how it turns out. And no matter how it turns out,
I bet this church is not a YEC church 25 years from now.
Your example of the young YEC convert is more problematic. Right now he
sounds cocky and self-assured. I was too shortly after I became a
Christian thirty-some years ago. But, thankfully, the Lord did not leave
me there. Likewise, I doubt this young Christian will be so cock-sure
about his YEC attitudes 25 years from now. My guess is that he will have
jettisoned it before then.
What would help here would be some input from Christians who have studied
the American church more closely than you or I, who could better assess
trends and make comparisons with earlier situations in which church-member
attitudes have changed.
For example, in the last 25 years, I have seen a nearly complete
turnaround of attitude toward contemporary Christian music. When my
oldest daughter was an early teenager, her emerging tastes in Christian
music were frowned upon by the Christian school she attended, and by many
Christians. She had learned about contemporary Christian music by talking
to a disc jockey on a secular radio station, who had an interest in it.
Contemporary Christian music was hard to find. It was not on the radio.
Occasionally I would take her over to Raleigh for a fledgling concert
(nothing like what one sees today), more akin to a recital than a concert.
Today, about 25 years later, that same Christian school is advertised on a
local Christian radio station which specializes in contemporary Christian
music. And the Southern Baptist church that supports the school airs it
sermons on this station every Sunday morning.
Whatever it might be, the American church 25 years from now will be quite
a bit different from what it is today. My bet is that few Christians in
that church will be vitally concerned about the age of the earth.
Gordie