It is well known that I prefer a concordistic approach to the Scripture.
This morning while reading the paper I ran into an interesting illustration
of why concordism is important. It is from an article entitled "Faithful
not worried about who said what in Columbine slayings" from the Houston
Chronicle Sund Jan 9, 2000, p. 2A
The article says:
>>>>"Witnesses had said 17-year-old BErnall closed her eyes and clasped her
hands in prayer when one of the gunmen pointed a shotgun at her and asked
if she believed in God.
Yes, she said--and he killed her.
The story turned Bernall into a martyr who had found God after falling in
with the wrong crowd, dabbling in the occult and experimenting with drugs.
But more than eight months after the April 20 shooting attack the picture
has become muddied.
Authorities now say it was survivor Valeen Schnurr who professed her
belief to gunmen Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. A similar story has also
emerged about Rachel Scott, who died.
Among Christians, however, some say the question is irrelevant.
'It doesn't matter who said it or if no one said it,' Evans said. 'But if
people believe in God, that's what's important.
Doug Clark, director of field ministries of San Diego-based National
Network of Youth Ministries, said he encourages other students to follow
the teen-agers' example of boldness.
'Mincing words over what was said in the library is a minor part,' Clark
said, 'The greater part is how they lived their lives, and it's not going
to change anything.
REligious experts said attempts to clarify the confusion surrounding the
stories of Christian faith actually could help embed the story in religious
circles.
'This rethinking can be chalked up to media scrutiny, which I think the
faithful would dismiss as a cynical attempt to debunk the story,' said
Randall Balmer, professor of American religious studies at BArnard College
'In some ways, it may make the faithful dig in a little bit deeper and
resist those attempts.'<<<<
Without a doubt the story has had a tremendous impact on people's lives. I
don't want to take away from that. But what bothers me is the cavalier
attitude some have for the truth or falsity of the story itself. Have we
taken a person who was not a Christian and turned them into a Christian
martyr? I don't know and at this point only God really knows.
But if this is the standard of truth that we Christians hold to, of what
value are our statements? Trust is earned because one is trustworthy and
represents things as they really are. When we don't care about the truth,
why should anyone trust us?
And this is why I believe that it does matter whether there is any
historicity in Genesis. Not caring about whether it is 'true' or not is
very similar to what may be happening with this Columbine story--truth is
thrown out of the window in order to score quick points for our religion.
If we do that, what separates us from the lowliest huxter?
glenn
Foundation, Fall and Flood
Adam, Apes and Anthropology
http://www.flash.net/~mortongr/dmd.htm
Lots of information on creation/evolution
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