>I do not think I am requiring a modern historical text from Genesis. I get
>that objection a lot and I find it to be a red herring. All I am asking
>for is that the outline of events be actual events. And if they are actual
>historical events then I see no reason why one can not lay out a proposed
>scenario which fits those events into the other parts of history we know from
>other sources, such as archaeology and paleontology. If the events are truly
>historical (regardless of what kind of literature their memory is preserved
>in) there must be a way to mesh the events with known history. A poor model
>may be Homer. Homer wrote poetry but he preserved a memory of a real event
>that can now be meshed with the rest of the history of the ancient world. I
>know approximately when Troy was, where it was.
I don't believe Glenn and I are really very far apart on this issue. I
totally agree that we ought to investigate correlations between the Bible
and geology, paleontology, anthropology, etc. However, if we find events
in the Bible that steadfastly resist our efforts to tie them in with events
verifiable from the sciences, then what do we do? If we decide the Bible
has reduced credibility, or that science has reduced credibility because of
a failure to be able to correlate the two, we lose. In these sorts of
cases it seems to me better to simply admit that we can't correlate
Scripture with science. Different people have different threshholds of
difficulty -- where they will stop trying to correlate Scriptural and
nonScriptural knowledge. Somehow we have to respect the perseverance of a
Glenn Morton who keeps on trying, and the Joe Doaks who came to church
immediately after shutting down his lathe Wednesday night, and doesn't want
to hear any science. But he's just as convinced as Glenn that Jesus Christ
is his savior.
Why do I accept the Scriptures? Because in 1972 I decided to give the New
Testament one more try. I read it that summer, and I came to church and
heard the testimony of Christians in their 40's and up, telling what Jesus
Christ had done in their lives. I began to have a strong conviction that
what I read, and what I was hearing from Christians was true, and by July I
had accept Jesus as my savior. It was not the historical accuracy that
convinced me. Years later, when the pastor of my current church explained
the Reformed view of regeneration
to me I understood what had happened: The Holy Spirit was at work
preparing me that summer, so that I could recognize that Jesus Christ is
truly Who He claims to be. Without that I would have never accepted Him.
I am glad that the Bible is as historically accurate as it is. I wouldn't
expect anything less of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But He had to
reach out to me before _any_ amount of propositional truth would do any
good.
Bill Hamilton | Chassis & Vehicle Systems
GM R&D Center | Warren, MI 48090-9055
810 986 1474 (voice) | 810 986 3003 (FAX)
hamilton@gmr.com (office) | whamilto@mich.com (home)