Re: [asa] American Scientific Affiliation — Whatever happened to its mission?

Here was my response on the web site:

Bill,

I find it utterly ironic that the thread Denyse misquoted was started by a
young geologist who found the ASA after almost losing her faith reading Lee
Strobel's the Case for Creation and finding his utterly weak arguments
slaughtered by infidels.org. This is at the core of many of our concerns.

My opposition to YEC (I cannot speak for all of the ASA because some are YEC
as some are also ID like yourself) is not because of what separates us but
rather is because of what we have in common, viz. a desire for the spiritual
welfare of those who are in the scientific disciplines and the propagation
of the Gospel. We aren't enemies as we are the loyal opposition. This is no
different than the relationship between YEC and ID. Just because you
disagree doesn't make you enemies. More on this later.

I am currently attending a Sunday School class in an evangelical church. We
are having YEC, ID, and TE proponents presenting. We have no problem
ministering side by side with our brothers where our only disagreement is
HOW God created. My question is if we can do this at the grass roots why
cannot the same be done at the leadership level?

ASA's Executive Director found out about the class, also hearing that an ASA
member was presenting on TE. He asked me to see if I could collect some
materials in order that we might accomplish the goals above. He also noted
that a number of our members are doing precisely that kind of ministry for
the Body of Christ. That's what motivates us and gets us out of bed in the
morning.

Now look at what upset you for a second:

The young-earth message has bitten deeply into the evangelical culture, and
people trust this message. What will it take to show people believably that
the young-earth view is ***not the only possible one***, without undermining
the Christianity or sincerity of those that hold that position?

The reason why we desire that is because we want to avoid the as that young
geologist put it a "spiritual meltdown" that weak arguments inevitably
cause. If YEC is the only option then if it goes down, the whole faith goes
down as was almost the case with the young geologist. That's why we want
people to know there are other viable options, including ID.

We fight the same fight against materialism. Just because we chose a more
irenic path does not mean we are not engaged. In fact, I have found it to be
quite fruitful as being quick to accuse rarely is a good witness. I'm sure
you share that same sentiment.

Your Brother in Christ,
Rich

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Received on Mon Apr 23 21:18:03 2007