From: Joel Cannon (jcannon@jcannon.washjeff.edu)
Date: Wed Mar 19 2003 - 11:53:50 EST
RFaussette@aol.com wrote:
>
> Ham is wrong about science but right about morality - people are
> abandoning Christianity altogether and the Levitical prohibitions St.
> Paul maintained for us and we are being "spewed out of the land." Who
> is to defend morality in the face of science if Ham doesn't?
>
> rich
This recreates the feeling I had while visiting a CMA Sunday School
class where the teacher was wistfully bemoaning our country's moral
decadence and remembering the former days by asking the question,
"When was the last time you heard about a blue law being passed?" I
had walked into a world where the worldview was in many ways as
different from mine as if I had entered a country in Africa (or the
French Quarter in New Orleans). To recover, I had to go home and have
a glass of wine with lunch to assure myself that the world hadn't
changed, and read Psalm 46 to assure me that the Lord with remain with
his people even if the world did change.
The Leviticus statement also gave me an abrupt cross-cultural
experience. I suspect that what motivates this view of Leviticus is a
desire for elevating particular prohibitions and ignoring others. For
all of us (I include myself), if we admit it, the biblical text often
derives its authority to the degree that it confirms what we know (or
want) to be true (and what we know or want to be true may come from
our particular traditions).
This does not say that there is no such thing as truth, nor that we
should not pursue an honest understanding of God's word. Rather, it
says we can be more honest in attempting to be faithful to God's word
if we humbly acknowledge this dimension of our personality and work to
understand how our tradition and personality may prevent us from
hearing what we are intended to hear. This need is particularly great
when entering into "culture wars" (or any wars). My superficial
knowledge of Ken Ham does not give me hope that he is capable of
doing this.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Joel W. Cannon | (724)223-6146
Physics Department | jcannon@washjeff.edu
Washington and Jefferson College |
Washington, PA 15301 |
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