> My question is, if one is a Christian and believes in the inerrancy of
> scripture, how does one defend one's belief in either or both of these
> ideas? I am particularly interested in the old earth arguments used
> by Christians who have training in geology.
Tony,
I'm a Christian and finishing up a PhD in geology (soon, I pray!). The old
earth arguments used by Christians with training in geology are the same as
those used by non-Christian geologists -- those found in any introductory
geology textbook. I'm not sure why you might imply that Christians need
different arguments from non-Christians.
A couple of other points that popped into my mind while reading your
post...
First, that you seem to be equating "Christian" with "believer in the
inerrancy of Scripture." Many Christians, maybe even most of those who
call themselves Christians, do not believe in the inerrancy of Scripture.
Being a Christian means believing in, and having a relationship with, Jesus
Christ. In my opinion, it has nothing to do with the historicity of
Genesis 1-11.
Second, inerrancy does not necessarily imply stricy Biblical literalism.
Inerrancy is a tricky thing to define exactly yet there are some, such as
myself, who state that they hold to an inerrant view of Scripture yet reject
the literal seven day creation story.
Third, even those who hold to Biblical literalism accept that some things
in the Bible are not literal (trees clapping hands, Jesus saying "this is
my body... this is my blood", Jesus's parables). Remember, the 6000 year
ago seven day creation is a particular INTERPRETATION of Scripture. Those
passages have been interpreted in many different ways, even by those who
hold to a high view of Scripture.
Fourth, Geologists ideally study nature, not books. Assigning a date for
the age of the earth by reading Scripture is not science and geologists like
to think of themselves as scientists :). The evidence for an old earth is
writ large in nature and if you spend some time studying geology you will
see that the evidence is overwhelming and the idea of a 6000 year old earth
appears quite ludicrous.
Just my opinions...
- Steve.
-- Steven H. Schimmrich Callsign KB9LCG s-schim@uiuc.edu Department of Geology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 245 Natural History Building, Urbana, IL 61801 (217) 244-1246 http://www.uiuc.edu/ph/www/s-schim Deus noster refugium