Re: RATE Vol. II

As Karl says, the fundamental question is theological. Little impact will be made on YECs as a group (& on anti-evolutionists generally) if we can't convince them that their peculiar (in both senses of the word!) notions are not necessary in order for one to be a faithful Christian. But good science does make a difference. As long as YEC advocates can convince their followers that there are good scientific reasons for thinking that the earth is young, they will not feel any pressure to re-evaluate their presuppositions about the way scripture is to be read.

Shalom
George
http://web.raex.com/~gmurphy/
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: cmekve@aol.com
  To: dickfischer@earthlink.net
  Cc: asa@calvin.edu
  Sent: Tuesday, May 23, 2006 1:16 PM
  Subject: Re: RATE Vol. II

  Dick,
  I don't really disagree with what you said, but I don't see it as particularly useful either. The type of articles you suggest have been done over and over and over again. And as has been noted time and again on this list, with very, very few exceptions, no one committed to YEC is going to listen to them.

  I agree with Keith that it boils down to what the aim of the organization is. If we are making virtually no inroads into YEC, perhaps it's time to reevaluate our goals. Frankly, the question is mainly theological not scientific. Until we can provide theologically adequate alternatives for YEC folks, they are not going to abandon their position on the basis of negative evidence alone. It seems to me that this was the approach of the Orr's, the Warfield's etc. -- i.e., the classic Evangelicals of the late 19th and early 20th century. How many times have we cited those folks on this list? Where are their equivalents today? Mostly not in ASA. BTW, I'm not trying to bad mouth ASA. It just seems sometimes that we're fighting the battles of the 1920's incessantly. But perhaps it's just a corollary of the increasing shallowness of American evangelicalism -- as pointed out repeatedly by such notables as Mark Noll, D.G. Hart, David Wells, etc.

  Karl
  ***********************
  Karl V. Evans
  cmekve@aol.com

   
Received on Tue May 23 20:21:14 2006