Dennis Sweitzer's June 19 account of Cal Dewitt's story goes in part as
follows:
"At the end, he (Cal DeWitt) raised the question, "when we stand before the
judgement seat
of Christ, will God question us on whether we determined correctly the
origens and age of the earth?"
The consensus was no, that God is not particuliarly concerned (or impressed)
with our knowledge.
"Then what will God ask about our relationship to creation?"
"He will judge us on what we did with it, not how old we thought it was."
The point is is that the Bible (and it's author :-) ) is much more
concerned with what we do and how we act, than what we know. To a large
degree, the age of the earth is irrelevant to the living our daily lives.
On the other hand, creation stewardship does affect everyday life."
To me, however, discussions and debates about the origins and age of the
earth and related matters, are not trivial. Who's to day God is not
concerned about our knowledge of these matters? The iscussions are based on
the mandate given by God to Adam to have dominion over the earth and all that
is in it (Gen. 1:28). The search for age and origins is relevant to that
mandate, although it may not affect our every day lives. Stewardship, to
me, involves understanding the earth as well as caring for it. It's not an
either or thing.
Peace in Christ,
Bob DeHaan