Re: Biblical Interpretation Reconsidered

On Wednesday, December 24, 2003, at 03:23 PM, Jan de Koning wrote:

> At 05:46 PM 23/12/2003 -0500, William Hamilton wrote:
>
>> educating Christians about science, and doing it in a loving
>> Christian way, I don't think accusations of
>> heresy are very helpful (except in cases where heresy is really being
>> practiced of course)
>
> While I am thinking that YEC is incorrect, it is always true that
> accusations of heresy are helpful where heresy is really practiced.
>
> I think you wanted to say something more profound?
No. The point is simply that we should not accuse someone of heresy
unless they are really engaging in it.
For example, the following, lifted from a post by Michael Roberts, with
all due respect to Michael, IMO
accuses YEC's of heresy without cause:
YEC is heretical for a variety of reasons;
1. It causes division among Christains
        So does denominationalism.
2. tends to demonise those who dont accept YEC
        So do certain doctrinal distinctions.
3 Uses a plethora of subchristian methods to make its case -
misrepresentation etc etc.
        So do some doctrinal camps when disparaging other doctrinal camps
4 Uses bad philosophical and scientific argument so that it is
pseudo-science in the common sense of the word.
        To a scientist or a philosopher this is "heresy". I maintain that
most YEC's are not trained in
        the sciences or philosophy, so this behavior can be characterized as
ignorance, but I'd hesitate to
        characterize as heresy in a Christian sense.
5 totally unwilling to listen to counter-arguments
        The YEC's make the same accusation of us.
6 Claims that it is the only possible interpreetation for a Christian.
        So do some denominations

Some of the above behavior can constitute heresy some of the time, but
not always.
I maintain that if we're going to win over the individual in the pew,
we had better use the honey of
Christian love and reason rather than the vinegar of accusations of
heresy -- except when they are really
merited, of course.

Bill Hamilton Rochester, MI 248 652 4148
Received on Wed Dec 24 23:56:26 2003