Re: [asa] dialog with YEC brethern

I think Bill, Merv, Iain, et al. are right. Yet I think Roger makes
a good
point about being clear in our position (as individuals if not as an
organization). There's a time and place for both approaches, and
there's a
question of culpability in how we employ each.

Folks like Bill, Merv, Iain and myself are involved in work and ministry
with other believers who are at widely varying places in their
understanding
of the faith. We work in churches and organizations where much of the
leadership perhaps has been sympathetic to YEC for many years. Most of
these people we work and minister with aren't culpable concerning
their YEC
beliefs. They aren't trained scientists who should know better.
They're
regular people trying to live faithfully to the Gospel in a "wicked and
perverse generation." Calling their YEC beliefs "crap" won't move
them any
closer to a more balanced view of faith/science issues, nor will it
serve
the many other purposes we *do* hold in common with them. It will only
cause division. This isn't a reaction of fear, it's a response of
wisdom.
(We could say the same about lots of other divisive questions -- say,
the
nature of the "end times," the continuance of so-called "sign" gifts,
infant
baptism, conservative politics, etc.)

OTOH, there are places where clear and direct language probably is a
good
thing. I think Roger is right that the evangelical academic community,
including academic theologians at the seminaries who think about these
things, should be bolder to speak with a bit more authority. That
kind of
authoritative voice helps as it filters down to the "everyday"
community.

On 9/6/06, Bill Hamilton <williamehamiltonjr@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> We need to remember the preamble to the ASA statement of faith:
>
> As an organization, the ASA does not take a position when there is
> honest
> disagreement between Christians on an issue. We are committed to
> providing
> an
> open forum where controversies can be discussed without fear of unjust
> condemnation. Legitimate differences of opinion among Christians
> who have
> studied both the Bible and science are freely expressed within the
> Affiliation
> in a context of Christian love and concern for truth.
>
> There 'tis. Yes, YEC is bad science, but it's bad science that some
> Christians
> (Christian brothers) consider an integral part of their faith. We
> have two
> not
> easily compatible requirements: promote good science, and practice
> Christian
> love.
>
> --- Iain Strachan <igd.strachan@gmail.com> wrote:
>

To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@calvin.edu with
"unsubscribe asa" (no quotes) as the body of the message.
Received on Thu Sep 7 02:16:43 2006