Re: [asa] Re: How to approach YECs was Empiricism, Faith and Science

Paul,

Here are some examples I have in mind.

A1 (translation) Assuming that when the word earth appears in a
    translation it has to mean the entire planet
A2 (non sequiturs) Some have been mentioned this week on this forum.

B (ignore or concoct a weird interpretation) I don't know whether there
    are any passages that all YECs ignore. Maybe someone has figured out a
    strange explanation for them. I don't know what they say about Psalm
    148:4-6 that tells us what happened (or rather didn't happen) to the
    waters above the firmament. I have heard some strange explanations as
    to why the geography of the Middle East before the Flood (in Genesis
    2) sounds so much like the geography after the Flood. There is also
    the olive leaf that was not stripped by the Flood.

C1) (inventing Hebrew grammar) We have the YEC claim that if yom is used
    with an ordinal number, it must mean a 24-hour day. Hosea 6:2 seems to
    be a counterexample. My search of my concordance turns up no instance
    in which an ordinal is used with any word other than yom for an
    indefinite time period.
C2) (context) If one reads the verses Rom. 5:12 and I Cor. 15:21 in their
    entirety, it appears that Paul is referring to human death, not that
    of other creatures. Psalm 104:6-9 seen in the context of vv. 5-9 or of
    the structure of the entire psalm to be referring to the creation in
    Genesis 1 and not to the Flood. YECs have taken Gen. 2:5b out of
    context and apparently not considered how vv. 5-8 fit together

    A specific example of a non sequitur that I have seen on this forum is
the claim of a global Flood based on the connection between the Flood and
the Second Coming in the Olivet Discourse.

Gordon Brown
Department of Mathematics
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309-0395

On Sat, 30 Sep 2006, Paul Seely wrote:

> Gordon wrote,
>
> I think that many of the "Biblical" arguments that I have seen or heard
> for the YEC position employ hermeneutical principles that would not be
> endorsed by the average Christian influenced by YEC teaching.
>
> I don't mean to imply that all YEC spokesmen are guilty of all of them or
> that they are the only ones that commit any of them. Here is my list:
>
> YEC Principles of Biblical Interpretation
>
> A. General Principles
> 1. Rely on an English translation, presumably the King James Version.
> 2. Non sequiturs are allowed.
>
> B. Handling Apparently Contrary Passages
> 1. Ignore them.
> or
> 2. Concoct a weird interpretation.
>
> C. Proofs for YEC
> 1. Invent new rules of Hebrew grammar.
> 2. Don't read the context.>>
>
> This may very well work, and could influence pastors. How about filling in
> the examples of each, and if others have examples, they can send them to
> you. As I replied to David Campbell, let's get this stuff into a form that
> can be promoted, distributed, etc--just like the YECs do with their stuff.
>
> Paul
>
>
>
>
>
>

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Received on Sat Sep 30 18:11:26 2006