Re: ICR - Jan 2005

Glenn Morton wrote:

"...We are losing in my opinion because they
won't listen to anyone who says that the Bible is not meant to be taken
historically. Since that is the position of most on this list and in
the scientific community, we have almost zero impact among the laity. ..The fact is there are more YECs today than there were in 1960...."

Are there really more YECs today? The laity I've been exposed to have always been dominantly YEC, while many of the better-educated clergy have been far more open-minded. In at least one denomination the laity rebelled against their open-minded clergy and effectively threw them out. Granted, their leadership is now more YEC than it used to be.

To those who've looked at the geologic evidence, a strictly literal interpretation of Genesis 1 is as blatantly false as saying the sun rises and sets in the east. But the laity as a rule don't know this, and I know of no way to educate them except via incessant confrontation. Such confrontation would only annoy them, because all too often they don't want to know facts but rather want to hold on to their strong feelings while coddling their ignorance. They consider this a virtue; it demonstrates their "faith." We can respect them as fellow Christians, but we can't walk their walk.

IMO our calling is to make alternative views known so that educated people can be aware that Christianity is not a YEC monopoly. To force knowledge on the willfully ignorant is a lost cause.

Don

  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Glenn Morton<mailto:glennmorton@entouch.net>
  To: 'Either Carol or John Burgeson'<mailto:burgytwo@juno.com> ; asa@calvin.edu<mailto:asa@calvin.edu>
  Sent: Monday, January 31, 2005 4:16 PM
  Subject: RE: ICR - Jan 2005

  Burgy wrote:

> -----Original Message-----
> From: asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu<mailto:asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu>
> [mailto:asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu] On Behalf Of Either Carol
> or John Burgeson
> Sent: Monday, January 31, 2005 12:53 PM
>
> ICR Vol 34, #1 -- Jan 2005
>
> CAn it be true? 33 years of disseminating YEC nonsense! 33
> years of a slow -- but steady -- gain in YEC views among US citizens.

  Yes, we are losing, Burgy. We are losing in my opinion because they
  won't listen to anyone who says that the Bible is not meant to be taken
  historically. Since that is the position of most on this list and in
  the scientific community, we have almost zero impact among the laity. We
  can deny this (like the YECs deny the age of the earth), but the fact is
  there are more YECs today than there were in 1960. People may not like
  my views, but they were designed to address that issue of historicity
  and I have gotten a few YECs to listen when I laid out the theology
  first.
Received on Tue Feb 1 05:09:20 2005