Re: [asa] How to respond to a YEC's version of "science"

As Bernie says, the Galileo affair is a good illustration of divine
accommodation and overly literal interpretation. But the errors of
the Catholic church can be easily dismissed by Protestants. It may
be helpful to show that Luther and Calvin also fell into similar errors:

“Scripture simply says that the moon, the sun, and the stars were
placed in the firmament of the heaven, below and above which heaven
are the waters... It is likely that the stars are fastened to the
firmament like globes of fire, to shed light at night... We
Christians must be different from the philosophers in the way we
think about the causes of things. And if some are beyond our
comprehension like those before us concerning the waters above the
heavens, we must believe them rather than wickedly deny them or
presumptuously interpret them in conformity with our understanding.”--
Martin Luther, Lectures on Genesis

"People gave ear to an upstart astrologer who strove to show that the
earth revolves, not the heavens or the firmament, the sun and the
moon. Whoever wishes to appear clever must devise some new system,
which of all systems is of course the very best. This fool [or 'man']
wishes to reverse the entire science of astronomy; but sacred
Scripture tells us that Joshua commanded the sun to stand still, and
not the earth."- Martin Luther, Table Talk

"Those who assert that 'the earth moves and turns'...[are] motivated
by 'a spirit of bitterness, contradiction, and faultfinding;'
possessed by the devil, they aimed 'to pervert the order of
nature.'"- John Calvin

“Who will venture to place the authority of Copernicus above that of
the Holy Spirit?”- John Calvin

Kirk

On Jan 6, 2009, at 8:38 AM, Dehler, Bernie wrote:

> Also explain to him how the church went thru this already with the
> Galileo affair- same thing only different.
>

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Received on Wed Jan 7 11:35:01 2009