Greetings:
I am writing to ask list members to help with a challenging project.
An ASA member has offered a five figure sum to the organization to support a project that seeks to educate the lay Christian community (adults/youth) on issues related to the 'young earth' movement.
His letter notes: "...The young-earth message has bitten very deeply into the evangelical culture, and people trust this message. What will it take to show people believably that the young-earth view is
not the only possible one, without undermining the Christianity or sincerity of those that hold that position? [This grant is offered] to ASA, to promote serious discussion of the feasibility of working on publications that show the range of views that Christians have,and/or the necessity of believing the evidence for an ancient universe and the possibility of finding compatibility with Scripture."
He is rightly concerned with the tensions that can emerge in any evangelical church or denomination over age and related origins questions. PSCF and this list reflect this tension. In spite of the diversity of views about details there is a broad consensus upon which to base a Christian view of science - including (I think) age and origins. The question before us is how to communicate this consensus to the Christian public.
I am representing the ASA Council in asking for your input. What do you think about the project? What kind of approach should we use? What kind of materials should we use? What types of media? Are your aware of things in print that may be useful? Writers? My role is to collect ideas. The next step will be to present them to a committee which will set the course of the project.
We are open to any and all ideas!
Jack Haas
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