Re: [ACG] ASA position on age of Earth

Steve wrote:

> I agree with Keith. ASA and ACG should not have an official
> position on the age
> of the earth or any particular theory of origins. Our position
> should be to
> strive for integrity and ethics in our scientific work, deriving
> from our
> Christian convictions. Our organizations should be safe places for
> discussion,
> but that does not mean that bad ideas need to be tolerated. We
> should be free
> to speak the truth in love, as in any community of Christians. We
> have been
> doing that in the ACG, as evidenced on this list serve. It does
> get sticky
> though when there is a majority view. I would be reluctant to have
> YEC promoted
> on our website as if it were an equally valid alternative for
> Christians,
> because most members of the organization just don't believe that.
> So, how far
> do we go?

This is not an issue of a majority versus minority view. There is no
scientific validity to arguments for an Earth only 10's of thousands
of years old.

You misread me a little. While I do not support making a statement
on the age of the Earth as part of the ACG membership requirement, it
is worth discussing whether there is value in making such an official
statement as an organization. The only purpose for doing so would be
its value as part of our outreach to the non-scientific Christian
community. Such a statement would have the benefit of making it
clear that there is no scientific dispute over an ancient Earth on
the order of several billion years old. But this message may easily
be countered by an appeal to the existence of organizations like ICR
or AIG -- which in the view of many are scientific organizations.
Also, an official statement might also prevent the ACG from gaining a
hearing among those who accept YEC out of ignorance of other
theological options, and ignorance of science. The impact of such
an action is very hard to assess.

I think a large part of this issue is how we understand our primary
mission as an organization.

Keith

Keith B. Miller
Research Assistant Professor
Dept of Geology, Kansas State University
Manhattan, KS 66506-3201
785-532-2250
http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~kbmill/
Received on Mon May 22 19:07:03 2006