When I first read Johnson’s book, Darwin on Trial, it was a revelation of a sort, my background being steeped in simple (“there’s oil because all the dead dinos sank to the bottom of the one-earth ocean”), succinct (“6,000 year old earth, ten thou at the max is all you’re going to be allowed if you’re a good Christian”), and not so sweet (YEC is rife with strident and harsh polemicists). Johnson launched me on an intellectual search that explored with great interest and curiosity Australopithecus-es and other past creatures. I proudly claim, by DNA mind you, about 4% Neanderthal. Those hairy, thick-brow Dred, muscular northern Europeans were plenty human enough.
I think I’ve lived long enough to see YEC diminish to a noisy tertiary teaching with its own theme park and energetic cottage industry which is where it belongs. Believe what thou wilt about the age of the earth, I’m long past arguments about the matter.
See Christianity Today’s nice piece on Johnson, here.
You know where I stand: https://sbcvoices.com/admonitions-to-a-disappointed-young-earther-by-ken-hamrick/ While I might not have lived as long as Brother Thornton, I have lived long enough to see a major change in how the world relates to Christianity. It used to be that the world (at least in America) seemed to tolerate the Church. While sinners disagreed with our faith, they had in general a certain grudging respect for the strength of our worldview—not that they admired it, but that they could not disprove it (not even in their own consciences). Hatred for Christianity was hampered by a lack of legitimacy—there was no foothold… Read more »
If we allow ourselves to be bowled over by supposed evidence that contradicts a literal six-day, supernatural creation, then we unknowingly surrender to the “irrefutable evidence” against any man physically rising from the dead after three days. Every battle that the Church is currently losing results from the delegitimization of our truth claims. By losing our reasonable ground of legitimacy, we lose all moral high ground, and the nation loses its collective conscience. What hampered hatred and persecution of Christianity is disappearing, and the world itself is “long past arguments about the matter.” Can we afford to take the same… Read more »
Ken, Science cant show how a man can walk on water, or how the sick can be healed with a word, or how thousands can be fed with a boys lunch with much left over. Science cant show that people have souls or whether or not God exists. Science is a wondeful tool that does amazing things and explains complicated worldly material truths both microscopic and universal in scope. Science relies on its tools and methods to learn about this world but can only SPECULATE on past events they cant repeat. Was there really a flood that killed all humans… Read more »
The “old testament law” was clear; the woman caught in adultery must die. The men with stones in hand were supported by the “truth”. When confronted by the “Truth”, they all had to walk away. The rich young ruler was well acquainted with the same “truth”. When confronted by the demands of the “Truth”, he walked away sad. When Jesus came on the scene, many religious leaders faithfully taught and adhered to “truth” claims. These claims were codified in their hearts, minds, and the public square. These men were blind to Jesus. For now we see in a mirror dimly.… Read more »
Ken, I never understood how someone could hold to John 3:16 and not Gen 1:1. That just doesn’t make sense to me.
woody
Do any of you remember the Perry Mason Tv shows? Some may not. To my recollectionthey followed a pattern which went something like this: Perry Mason, a lawyer represented the accused and believed in his clinent’s innocence… And the evidence all seemed to be against Mason and his client. The more evidence that came in, the more it looked like the client was guilty. So it looked like Perry would lose the case. But then another piece of evidence came in that changed the whole perspective of the case. And then the older evidence was seen in a new light,… Read more »
Johnson addressed matters that ken hamrick raises. The YEC always plays the trump card first – if you’re not with us all of biblical truth is demolished.
But, it’s not worth another discussion. I respect most who adopt YEC dogma but am not much interested in going down that road. It’s a tertiary issue.
William,
When you hit a tennis ball over the net, sometimes it gets hit back across.
I’m sure you are not surprised.
William, Most well constructed things take a while to demolish. And in the realm of ideas, it usually isn’t your understanding of truth , or Dave’s or Bill’s, or any well established believer who is affected by what Ken is referring to. Rather, it is those new to the faith, the unestablished, the future believers. They ask the questions you wouldn’t ask. It is to them the Enemy whispers in the ear. And as our society worsens morally, the Church, as a whole is also getting worse. Where does the downgrade begin? It begins when the Word of God is… Read more »
Am reading your book now…
I have lot’s of atheist relatives on my wife’s side of the family and lot’s of liberals on my mom’s side of the family. My dad argues the same as Ken, that because of the rejection of YEC the world doesn’t believe us. Trouble is, I have never heard any of my friends and relatives say this. What they say is that while the liberal left is trying to feed the poor and love their neighbor the Christian right is trying to build a wall and take away health care. I remind them of the truth of my life- the… Read more »
There was a time, perhaps 10 years ago, when I was convinced that non-Calvinism, YEC, abstentionism, and dispensationalism were going to be added to the next iteration of the BFM. Or perhaps at least a movement to include them.
I thank God for Phillip Johnson and the intelligent design movement that he helped to launch. This movement has done a good job of showing the scientific side to the evidence for God that is seen in creation. Sadly, Christians who have “deconstructed” as well as many atheists, view science as a reason to reject the Bible and Christianity. The truth is that science provides strong evidence for a mighty, wise, super-intelligent Creator of the universe, our planet, and life. I’m not a scientist, but before the Lord called me to full time ministry I worked as a nuclear engineer.… Read more »
Pardon my ignorance on this issue…. So, when people are talking literal days, are they meaning actual 24 hour time periods like we have now? Is that it? Or are they arguing for the specifically delineated time periods where the specific things stated in the bible occurred in a particular order/day? They’re not arguing 24 hour days were a must, right? Tell me that’s right. Because if our 24 hour days are based off the rotation of the earth on its axis as it orbits the sun.. The one that wasn’t created until the 4th day….. I just want to… Read more »
Kimberly,
Why would the creation of the sun suddenly speed up the earth’s rotation? That’s been answered here: https://kenhamrick.com/2015/02/06/shedding-light-on-the-length-of-pre-sun-creation-days-a-text-based-approach/
Will try to read it after work if I get a chance. But I didn’t say not and I don’t believe the bible addresses when or how the Earth started rotating and orbiting or when it settled into the pattern that we are accustomed to etc. Was it orbiting and rotating around a light prior to the creation of the sun? I don’t know. It doesn’t say how the light exactly caused day and night to happen. Just that God created it and it was good. I do know from the genesis account that great changes were made in those… Read more »
I am a Christian because of my faith in Jesus Christ and not because of some assumptions about the mechanics of origins. Consider the question of which came first – the chicken or the egg. If the chicken, then it must have been created with characteristics of age, and it would also be true of sticks and stones. If the egg came first, then an equally profound series of miracles would have occurred. Arguing over the specific mechanics of the creative act is little more than contemplating your navel and a total distraction from the truth of the Gospel of… Read more »