Re: Challenges to teaching biology

I heard Gish reply, when he was asked what evidence could change his
mind, "There is none." When one is RIGHT, nothing can change the
position, for it would be WRONG. The fact is that human beings can hold
contradictory views, sometimes by twisting them somewhat. For example, I
have encountered the claim that God is not lying in the difference
between YEC Bible interpretation and what is evident in the world: he is
merely testing our faith. On this basis, you failed the test. But it's
impossible to tell definitively whether you are damned or will be saved
"so as by fire." I trust you'll fit Zechariah 3:2.

You have to remember that many YECs believe that at least their heavenly
status, if not their eternal salvation, depends on holding to their
interpretation of creation and the flood. There are churches and colleges
that have 6 24-hour day creation in their statements of faith. It's no
wonder they feel they have to challenge science. Michael spent time going
through YEC publications checking the references to scientific studies.
He reported that they were consistently misquoted or taken out of
context. This misrepresentation can be more strongly characterized. They
claim they are serving the light, but I think it is the light noted in II
Corinthians 11:14.

Remember, among many matters, that radio-dating doesn't count, that the
amount of coal being greater than any stand of trees can provide doesn't
count, that the necessarily slow precipitation of limestone doesn't
count--all because they are RIGHT.
Dave

On Sat, 01 Apr 2006 19:31:42 -0500 Dave Wallace <dwallace@magma.ca>
writes:
> The YEC position seems totally baffling, unless one believes that God
>
> lies, and I fail to see how one could hold that position.
>
> On the way to our cottage there are 50 to 100' cuts through
> limestone.
> I know that if we stop and break pieces of limestone off that the
> rock
> will contain images of living creatures. If the limestone was not
> layered and did not contain images of living creatures, then maybe
> one
> could believe that a grown up universe was created. I know there
> are
> lots of other indications of age but this one seems to me so obvious
> and
> conclusive. Not far from here is a 100+' cut in the limestone that
> was
> made in about a century at the end of the last ice age when the
> great
> lakes drained through the Outawais river. While a cut can be made
> that
> quickly, laying down limestone takes much longer. One could argue
> that
> the rate of laying down the limestone was order of magnitude faster
> than
> today, but then why does any science/technology work if the laws of
>
> nature change arbitrarily, the pagans where I grew up believed that
> and
> sacrificed to prevent it happening.
>
> With a global flood and a limited number of life forms saved on the
> ark,
> how does one account for the diversity of life we now find? If they
>
> really believe that evolutionary diversity happens that fast, then
> what
> is the whole issue? Having lived in the tropics the diversity of
> life
> there seems overwhelming compared to northern climates. Even at
> 4000 to
> 6000 feet up the diversity is very obvious, let alone down on the
> savanna..
>
> Since the YEC crowd want to be so simplistic and literal, maybe they
>
> should be pushed all the way, to openness theology. That seems much
>
> more logical to me, given their presuppositions and would allow them
> to
> be much more consistent
>
> Dave Wallace.
>
> Keith Miller wrote:...
>
>
>
Received on Sat Apr 1 23:39:06 2006