Re: [asa] YEC--What can we offer them?

Don said: * In other words, it's really hard for intellectuals to make an
effective emotional pitch. But that would be true no matter what the
differences in beliefs between YECs and ASA members (ASAs).*

I think you're right Don. And I certainly agree with you that how we
approach the Bible is also a big issue. I guess what I'm suggesting is that
the "how we approach the Bible" question is one part of a bigger whole. I
think Mark Noll outlined this well a number of years ago in "*The Scandal of
the Evangelical Mind*." There is a gap that seems very hard to bridge
between populist expressions of the faith and serious intellectual
exploration of the faith, without going to either pole of a mostly emotional
or mostly "head" faith -- at least that's a tension I feel.

On 7/5/07, Don Winterstein <dfwinterstein@msn.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> "I'm starting to think that one of the Big Issues for us in communicating
with people who hold strong YEC views is how we think of conversion and
worldviews."
>
> In other words, it's really hard for intellectuals to make an effective
emotional pitch. But that would be true no matter what the differences in
beliefs between YECs and ASA members (ASAs).
>
> I believe the BIG issue between YECs and ASAs is attitude towards the
Bible. YEC leaders (not all YECs) contend that a Bible passage that appears
to be history must be a factually correct account of past events, or
(unthinkably) God has made a mistake. Genesis to them appears to be
history: it's got person names, person ages and place names;
therefore Genesis must be literally correct. Of course there are problems
harmonizing chapter 1 with chapter 2, etc., but YECs are well aware of such
problems and have been waving their arms for at least a century to make them
disappear. ASAs will get nowhere telling YECs they don't know how to
interpret the Bible. YECs are well acquainted with the Bible's use of
figures of speech in the poetic writings ( e.g., Psalms and prophets) and
know not to take them literally, but the writings that appear to be
historical must be taken at face value.
>
> YEC leaders for their part believe many ASAs have simply caved in to the
pressures of the sinful world.
>
> I see no chance of having a significant influence on YECs without first
getting them to accept a more realistic view of the Bible. While that
borders on the impossible for the leadership, the average YEC is often far
more open to suggestion.
>
> Don
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: David Opderbeck
> To: James Mahaffy
> Cc: asa@calvin.edu
> Sent: Wednesday, July 04, 2007 3:25 PM
> Subject: Re: [asa] YEC--What can we offer them?
>
>
>
> This has been an excellent discussion, but I think we've been only
pinching at the periphery of the Big Issues here and there. I'm starting
to think that one of the Big Issues for us in communicating with people who
hold strong YEC views is how we think of conversion and worldviews.
"Evolution" is symbolic of the godless worldview from which we are expected
to be dramatically converted. A primary attraction of the YEC view is the
pristine alternative worldview it provides – by converting into a YEC view,
one moves into a completely alternative community that includes a simple,
clear explanation of why there is suffering in the world and of how each
person's life is meaningful and not merely driven by chance.
>
>
>
> It's easy to criticize this as naïve, simplistic, and immature – a little
bit of study shows that, while the Bible and the Christian faith do indeed
offer an alternative metanarrative that provides answers to the problems of
pain and purpose, they are not always easy, immediately satisfying answers.
  Yet, without the backbone of a well-defined "Fall," I think we have to
admit that the Christian metanarrative doesn't seem as compelling and
immediate as we might like. Can you imagine a street-corner evangelist
thundering about Adam the Neolithic farmer who basically lived like tens of
thousands of other hard scrabble new stone age people, or Adam the
mytho-poetic symbol?
>
>
> The evangelical "battle for the Bible" tradition and questions of
hermeneutics clearly are keys to our problem, but I think so also is the
evangelical pietist-revivalist tradition. We do believe in the reality of
sin and the necessity of conversion, but our way of explaining the faith
necessarily has to be more complex and nuanced than a YEC view allows.
Somehow, I think we need to provide more compelling conversion narratives –
like C.S. Lewis did, or Alister McGrath, or Francis Collins – that also
demonstrate intellectual and even scientific depth.
>
> And of course there is this: what "they" need from us and we need from
"them" maybe most of all is love, patience, and grace. I even wonder if
some of these problems are something God uses to make us learn how to love
and accept each other unconditionally. I know I find that hard.
>
> >
> >
>
>

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Received on Thu Jul 5 07:33:36 2007