Re: Conflicts and confrontation

I too fear that my faith / faith-walk is less than it should be in recent years,
 but I don't hold evolutionary science up as the culprit. Truth will be what it
will be, and to paraphase both you and Martin Luther, here we stand -- how could
we do otherwise?

But I'm more suspicious of a kind of "evolutionary philosophy" which seems to
mystify others on this list, but has loomed so large in my mind that my thought
processes are virtually taken over by it. Others may wonder what it is, but for
me it is the proverbial elephant in my apartment. It may be unfair (or even the
YEC camp's fault) that my first thought is to associate this mindset with
evolutionary science. But meanwhile, I hope others can see my dilemma that I am
feeling like less than a bastion of faith which will do nothing for my YEC
friends but confirm their suspicions about the evils of liberal
thought/evolution/... My only reason for not breaking camp and joining the
conservatives is that my perspective of the religious right is/would be even
more dissillusioning for my faith than where I am now. But such dwelling on
negatives makes me long for the positive stand. I want to be certain of things
too, but instead I'm repeating all the "right" theological answers (and believe
me, I'm well versed in all of them) as much as a reassurance to myself as to any
around me. May the Lord be merciful.

--merv

Quoting Carol or John Burgeson <burgytwo@juno.com>:

> Merv, you write:
>
> >But have any of you, because of your
> > evolutionary beliefs, found your faith enhanced -- built up?
>
> You hit a hot button with that question. I just read Bob Schneider's post
> in reply. This is one of those rare times where I have to part company
> with Bob.
>
> In my heart of hearts, I know that my faith today is less firm than when
> I did not know so much. The story of evolution (not the young earth) has,
> in some measure, contributed to this. At times I really envy my ICR
> friends in their certainty.
>
> Yet -- I am committed to following the truth (and living by it) -- and I
> can do no more.
>
> In this respect, I admire Glenn for so often posing the hard questions on
> this list.
>
> Bob commented: "...every person I know
> involved in the science/religion dialogue, or who is a Christian in
> science,
> who accepts evolution, whether they call themselves a TE or not, does not
>
> merely "tolerate" or "accomodate" evolution--I mean the science, of
> course,
> not the philosophy (people too often confuse the two and YECs and most
> IDers
> refuse to make any distinction)--but rather "integrate" it into their
> religious world view. I confess that my range of contacts is limited, but
> I
> know of no TE whose faith has been "weakened" or "destroyed."
>
> You know one now, Bob.
>
> Burgy
>
Received on Mon Jun 5 15:07:39 2006