You ask, "What I was curious about was whether any of you in a
YEC church have ever
> had any problems or experiences expressing old-earth or TE views? I
> know
> Glenn has mentioned this in the past, and others probably have too.
> Has
> anyone ever managed to convince anyone? A few years back, in a
> different
> (Baptist) church, I had a long-running discussion with a friend who
> *was*
> interested in the issue, and I even loaned him several secular books
> (Scientists Confront Creationists) which he read and we discussed. I
> don't
> think he was convinced, but it was an honest open exchange. Rare,
> though."
>
At the moment, I'm teaching a "Physical and Environmental Science"
course at a nearby Bible college/seminary (it's a bit of "moonlighting"
over and above my full time job). The constituency is mainly
Mennonite/Baptist. The first semester was spent in introducing basic
concepts of physics and chemistry. I had the students read "God did it,
but how" by Robert Fischer and had them write a critique. I did my best
not to show my hand until the students had completed the critique to
avoid biasing their writing, although I did use examples (e.g the Oklo
phenomenon) that hinted at an earth that is older than Bishop Usher's ~6
000a. Reading the critiques was an interesting and enlightening
exercise: some students adhered to a six-day, 24 hour creation; others
were quite open to a much older earth. I found it important not to be
too dogmatic but simply provide examples from nature and a plausible
explanation. My main interest is to make students figure these things
out for themselves and to give them information as to where to find the
information and what tools they should use.
Indispensable in all of this is a concern for the students, and others,
as part of the body of Christ, a knowledge that they will go forth and
bring the Gospel and a respect for their opinion. I think that, if we
can show our faith and our assurance that we have that we are saved by
the blood of the Lamb, we stand a much better chance to convey our ideas
than if we come prepared to 'set them straight." The last thing we want
to do is to accentuate the gap between those who believe that the Bible
can be used a science textbook and those who have problems with this
view.
I could go on, but there are deadlines to meet.
Finally, we need to remember two things:
* we don't necessarily have the whole truth...yet
* what united us is more than what divides us.
*
* Chuck Vandergraaf