Re: RATE Vol. II

On 5/23/06, David Opderbeck <dopderbeck@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I want to echo what Merv and Iaian have said. It's extraordinarily
> difficult, in my experience, to be a non-YEC in most American evangelical
> chuches. For many of us who are part of such churches, abandoning
> evangelicalism isn't an option, because we are convinced of many of our core
> theological and spiritual commitments. Nor is it an option to confront or
> engage faulty YEC thinking on a regular basis, because that quickly leads to
> disunity and demolishes ministry effectiveness.
>
> One thing that hasn't surfaced in this discuss yet is the spiritual
> dimension of this problem. I'm convinced that it is at heart as much a
> problem of spiritual unity as it is of any particular views about science.
> The YEC leadership organizations often are spiritually divisive. And the
> non-YEC response sometimes can be equally divisive. Have groups like the
> ASA and the ACG confronted this with spiritual weapons, namely prayer,
> mercy, repentance, and love?

Even going from a denomination, the PCA, where the politically
dominant interpretation of the WCF is hostile to non-YEC viewpoints,
to the EFCA which is at least not confessionally hostile, nevertheless
I tend to be silent when the issue comes up in a public setting. I do
this for the reason David outlined, namely that I don't want to
destroy another's faith. Where we can be the most helpful is not
shouting down the YECs in a public setting but coming alongside
individuals when the doubt creeps in. This is when people need
examples of those of us who don't believe in YEC but remained
Christians. David, we are precisely the kind of Christians,
evangelicals, that are most needed. You know that when the NCSE claims
that an old earth and evolution are not hostile to religion, it comes
off to evangelical ears as political dissembling and posturing whose
goal is to wipe out all religious expression in the schools. This is
because there are some who oppose YEC who have that goal and thus they
are the wrong messengers. The message needs to come from messangers
that can be trusted and that means from inside evangelical churches
(and it doesn't hurt to be politically conservative, too).

Many have expressed worry about whether you can be a member of the ASA
and believe YEC. The real question is can you be a member of an
evangelical church and not hold to YEC. Old Earth Creationist Hugh
Ross has noted the kind of pressure he is under from the church. It is
no wonder that those who hold to ID will equivocate on their fairly
substantial differences with YEC. On a personal level we need to
minister to Christ's sheep giving them comfort and binding the wounds
inflicted by YEC. They need to see that if they chose to reject YEC
they do not need to reject Christ, too.

As for the big picture level I don't have a clue and from perusing the
comments here I don't think anyone else does, either. Thus, we should
add a prayer for wisdom to your excellent suggestion. I say wisdom
rather than the truth because "the truth" is often used as a weapon.
(1 Cor. 8:11: So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed
by your knowledge.) We need to not only have the truth but wisdom so
that when apply the truth it heals rather than kills. We also need
pray for strength to avoid the temptation of returning evil for evil
because we cannot depend on the other side "playing fair". The stakes
are high. People's souls are at stake. Good intentions are no excuse
for destroying people.
Received on Tue May 23 11:57:57 2006