Re: YEC/Other View points Debate

R. Joel Duff (joelduff@nls.net)
Tue, 12 Oct 1999 17:19:02 -0400

>Bill Hamilton wrote
>>A second glimmer of hope is the fact that when these home-schooled kids go
>to
>>college, if they go to a school like Wheaton or Calvin they will not be
>>taught young-earth creationism in geology and biology classes.
>
>As a Presbyterian I am some what outside on this debate, but as a point of
>curiosity (since from my parent's home in Grand Rapids Calvin is just down
>the road and Cornerstone is just up the road), I would be interested in
>knowing how much grief the science department at Calvin gets for not
>teaching from a Young Earth perspective? Are universities such as Calvin
>that while solidly Christian in orientation but who teach what might be
>termed mainstream science, albeit from a Christian perspective, rejected by
>families from more conservative Christian backgrounds as "too liberal".
>(Ok, you have to have grown up in Grand Rapids, Michigan in the 70's to know
>why the idea of Calvin being too liberal is funny, but take my word for it,
>it is. ) Seriously, how does an institution like Calvin balance being
>considered too liberal or non-Christian on one hand versus preparing their
>students for the world of science on the other? This can't be easy.

Janet, Bill and others,

I don't take too much confort in students going to Calvin or Wheaton.
While it may be true that many were brought up in an YEC environment at
home and in their church for Calvin the dominant source of students is from
within the CRC (Christian Reformed Church). While the CRC is not as
"liberal" as its college is on the issue of evolution it has long since
abandoned a literal 6-day view although there are certainly members and
clergy that hold to this view within the church. I find that the converts
to YEC are not being won, in large numbers, from within the CRC and so the
ministry of Calvin in this respect is somewhat diminished and probably
isn't having a huge effect. The conservative reformed evangelicals (not
CRC) that I know are actually tending to send their kids to Covenent
College (where 6-day creation is the norm as far as I can tell) and even
more so to schools like Bob Jones University which although are not
"reformed" they have the correct views in this area. As a reformed
christian myself I am disturbed by the fact that this issue of creationism
has taken on such importance in the mind of many that they are willing to
overlook the theological weaknesses (very weak in my estimation) of some
schools in an effort to shield their kids from supposed "cultural
attrocities" such as evolution so reformed colleges are losing out in some
respects even though they should have more in common. I know of several
individuals parents who will not consider, Calvin, Wheaton, Dordt or even
Geneva college mostly because of the high profile creation question. More
fundamentalists -type christians who have been indoctrinated with YEC
litererature are already prone to attending colleges that take a strong
literal 6-day creation stance.

Personally I received a B.S. from Calvin and went on to get a Ph.D. in the
field of plant molecular systematics and am teaching a course in
phylogenetic reconstruction right now. Hence, I apparently did receive a
good background in biology at Calvin. That said, I am fairly certain I
won't send my kids to Calvin but that is based on other problems that
Calvin has and not its stance on 6-day creation.

Regards,
Joel

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R. Joel Duff, Assistant Professor
Dept. of Biology, ASEC 185
Campus Mail 3908
University of Akron
Akron OH, 44325-3908
Office: 330-972-6077
rjduff@uakron.edu
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