>I couldn't sleep because of this note written by Johnson. So, I came
>upstairs to write this. And this is a sad thing. Many may disagree with me
>on this but from my perspective Johnson's rather arrogant in-your-face
>message that Christianity is not on the top of his agenda bothers me. On
This is exactly how he came across on Dobson's show. Although I do not like
to judge someone based one one "meeting," I believe Christians that love God
with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength (or strive to at the very
least) exude a "fragrance" of the Spirit - or the fruit of the Spirit
mentioned in Galatians 5:22 (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control). These things are evident
through a person's lifestyle, speech, actions, writings. Whereas the acts of
the sinful nature are: "...hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish
ambition, dissensions, factions and envy..." (Part of Gal 5:20). When I feel
the fruits of the Spirit coming from a person in "authority" (whether
author, minister, teacher, or friend), that is who I choose to listen to. I
don't care how intelligent or how many college or seminary degrees someone
has, if I don't feel the Spirit, I do not consider them someone I should be
influenced by.
>the 18th of November I e-mailed Paul Nelson to cite some things that
>saddened me about the ID movement the main thing. One of them was Johnson's
>statement in Touchstone last summer. I am saddened that they want to remove
>the Bible from the public discussion. And what is so surprising to me is
I absolutely think the Bible should be used in every way possible when
discussing all sorts of issues, including creation-evolution, or when
talking to non-believers. I believe that the Bible is absolutely the
inspired Word of God, that has power far above and beyond anything I could
say. Of course, believers can help illumine some passages to those who don't
understand (because the Bible does say to those who are "perishing" the
gospel is "folly" - they often don't have the spiritual capacity to
understand until they accept Jesus as Lord and Savior).
I have found that when discussing certain "arguments" about the Christian
faith, people may react harshly if I state something as opinion, but if I
quote Scripture, even if they don't believe, they have sort of an innate
tendency not to harshly attack it. I believe that is because in the core of
most people's beings, they connect through the Word of God when they hear
it, even if they don't (yet) accept it.
Johnson's wanting to take the Bible out of his arguments for intelligent
design, in my opinion, is absolutely counterproductive to spreading the
gospel. Johnson claims to not be in a faith-based organization. If not,
isn't his (and Well's) desire to destroy Darwinism then akin to "selfish
ambition"? Matthew 12: 30 "He who is not with me is against me, and he who
does not gather, scatters."
And also very relevant to all this, "But I tell you that men will have to
give account on the day of judgement fore every careless word spoken. For by
your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."
Matthew 12:36-37.
(All quotes from NIV Bible)
Wendee