Re: [asa] YEC the default Christian belief? (was: (aliens) November Newsletter from Reasonable Faith)

One last data point on this. Although I said there were many on this list (if not most) that came from a YEC background, I will further venture the following: I know that there is a much higher representation on the list of those from the more theologically liberal backgrounds, i.e. Presbyterian, Lutheran, Catholic, than there would be in general in a cross section of American religious denomination affiliation. I say this because of the science background and education level of those that find their way to this list would be more from those denominational backgrounds I would wager. In contrast if we took this same poll on a more relevant barometer of typical American Chrisitan belief like the subscribers of eHarmony.com, or the customers of Christianbook.com, or the viewers of CBN, or Sarah Palin's constituency :), etc, I think you would find my experience more typical. One challenge I feel very secure about, I doubt you can find anyone with the testimony of Blake or Ted that grew up down South in an evangelical denomination, which would be primarily mean Baptist but which is still a huge proportion of church attendees in the South, that wasn't taught YEC by default. In fact the opposite of Blake and Ted would be true, it wouldn't be that they didn't hear about it, it would be that they didn't hear of anything else, which was my experience. John ________________________________ From: Blake Nelson <nelson.blake@gmail.com> To: Ted Davis <tdavis@messiah.edu> Cc: asa@calvin.edu; wybrowc@sympatico.ca Sent: Wed, November 18, 2009 8:36:44 PM Subject: Re: [asa] YEC the default Christian belief? (was: (aliens) November Newsletter from Reasonable Faith) Since I have not chimed in for a year or two, I might as well chime in on this because in my experience the importance of YEC seems so large in these discussions compared to my own experiences growing up.  As someon who grew up a little more recently than Ted (in the 80s), but in the Lutheran tradition in the Upper Midwest -- what would be Augustana synod before the formation of the ELCA -- like Ted, I had no clue what the YEC view was while growing up, nor was it an issue (George Murphy growing up earlier and in a different synod at an earlier point in time might have a different experience). I presume this is true of many "mainline" protestants, but have nothing other than personal experience to go by in that respect.  My first experience of YEC views was from non-mainline protestant denominatons.  (Mainstream may have a different meaning, but mainline, I think, had a pretty well-defined meaning encompassing about seven denominations). And, of course, was not aware of the Scofield Bible. And, shockingly, evolution was never really an issue that I recall being of any import growing up.   On Wed, Nov 18, 2009 at 7:56 PM, Ted Davis <tdavis@messiah.edu> wrote: Unexpectedly, I found free wifi in the airport, and I'm taking advantage of it to chime in on this one. > >To answer Cameron's question: no, I didn't know what the YEC view was while growing up, in the home of a PCUSA minister.  My dad never talked about science--he didn't know the first thing about it, and he knew that.  Nor did I get it anywhere else.  The first time I can remember hearing about YEC was in the mid-1970s.  Shortly after that I took a teaching position at a fundamentalist school, where I heard a lot more about it.  I didn't agree with it, taught alternatives, and was permitted to do so. >(SNIP) > >-- >The contents of this message, together with any attachments, are intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which they are addressed and may contain information that is legally privileged, confidential and exempt from disclosure.  If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this message, or any attachment, is strictly prohibited.  If you have received this message in error, please notify the original sender immediately by return E-mail and delete this message, along with any attachments, from your computer.  Thank you. >

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Received on Wed Nov 18 20:58:40 2009