First, I am taking this opportunity to formally sign off from this
discussion (not that most of you would notice my absence - my
contributions have been minor). I wish to thank everyone who has
(perhaps unknowingly) aided my in sharpening my understanding of this
debate.
I am now off to spend the summer cavorting in the sun with children (!)
as a science instructor and lifeguard at a camp in Massachusetts. In the
fall I will join the ranks of the professional educators as a (high
school) physical science, biology and ecology teacher at Wilmington Christian
School in Hockessin, Deleware.
And that is where my challenge to you comes in. As a biology teacher I
am painfully aware of the difficulties of teaching about evolution in a
christian school setting. Although I have little experience, I dare say
that I have thought and read as much or more about the issue than anyone
else my age. I have a concern for stopping the spread of false
information about this debate. In Christian schools it becomes
difficult to be faithful to both scientific evidence and to scripture,
especially in the face of beliefs held by parents. I have watched as a
Calvin professor went through the ordeal of nearly losing his job, and
have seen a friend at a Christian high school go on probabtion for
mentioning that he believed in "theistic evolution". And it has hit
closer to home. I have lost *two* job opportunities that were nearly
sure bets, both because I was willing to accept the *possibility* of
evolutionary creation (I was not insistant upon it). In most of these
cases the problem arises when people have insisted upon a particular
interpretation of scripture, and have allowed dishonest critiques of
evolutionary theory by certain christians to color their view of
evolution.
I think that there are far too many Christians in the world who are
ignorant about evolution. Those of us who have training and interest in
this area can help others understand more fully the scope of the debate.
Of course, evolution is far from being the most significant issue facing
Christians as they seek to show God's light to the world. But ignorance
about evolution can cause Christians to fight, hurt each other, and even
unessesarily lose their jobs. (As Glen Morton and Steve Clark have
recently pointed out) My challenge to all of you is to continue
educating fellow christians about the origins/history of life debate, that
they may be better witnesses to fellow christians and to non-christians of
the power of the love of Christ - through their intelligence and
understanding.
Well, enough said. I hope to rejoin the discussion (or at least listen
in) in the fall, provided I can get computer accesss! God bless.
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John Ausema | If you are not part of the
email:jausem03@calvin.edu | solution, you are part of the
Calvin College Department of Chemistry | precipitate.