I think this is a very good question. I was born and
raised a Southern Baptist and have always preferred
the small churches to these megamonsters we have=20
nowadays (but not in OH, of course). As a youngster
I was brought up in a very small Southern Baptist
church in Texas, on the Gulf Coast about 50 miles
south of Houston. I know the stereotype for
Southern Baptists is generally close-minded
fundamentalism. Actually, I used to think of myself
as a fundamentalist. In my naivet=E9 I thought a
fundamentalist was one who thought that fundamentals
are important ;-). The fairly recent takeover of the
Southern Baptist Convention by real fundamentalists=20
has been a real education for me. I'm proud to say
though that the church I now attend has the honor
of being "black-listed" for having the audacity
to ordain a divorced man as a deacon :-).=20
But I'm digressing. In my youth I cannot recall
the subject of evolution ever coming up either
in Sunday School or in sermons. Maybe I wasn't
paying attention :-).
The only things I remember learning about evolution when I
was young were taught to me by my dad, a research chemist,
chairman of the deacons in our small Southern Baptist church
in Texas, theistic evolutionist, and just recently returned
from Kenya where he and mom spent four years as a missionaries.=20
I say he was a theistic evolutionist, actually he never
has come right out and told me his views on evolution.
I have just gathered this from the various things he
has said here and there. I always have had a fascination
for science and can remember digging my old mans Scientific
Americans out of the closet and reading them, not really
having a clue what they were about :). I remember my dad
giving me several different religious interpretations of
evolution, probably he was afraid I might have been
confused by something I read there :).=20
The only thing I remember from my freshman biology class is
the day that the professor took a few minutes of class time
to explain to the class how evolution could be interpretted
as God's method of creation and that it is not necessary to
reject one's religious beliefs in order to accept evolution.
[the university was Texas A&M, BTW :)]
Based on my experiences, I think it's essential for Christian=20
parents to take an active role in their childs education, not=20
as a milatant opposing evolution, but rather to try to learn=20
as much as they possibly can about the science of evolution=20
and to devolop ways, despite their own personal views, of=20
presenting a theistic view of evolution. In this way they can=20
avoid putting their child in an either or situation.
When I was in high school someone (can't remeber who) "explained"=20
to me how evolution violates the second law of thermodynamics.=20
I must admit, the argument seemed very convincing at the time.=20
To my credit, I did ask myself a good question namely:
"don't biologists understand thermodynamics?" but I wasn't mature
enough at this time to follow through on this question. But this=20
does illustrate another problem, if one is going to persist in=20
arguments of this type one will eventually be forced to the=20
conclusion that scientists are engaged in some type of massive=20
conspiracy to hide the real truth from the public, a view that is=20
absurd beyond all belief. Anyway, back to my story. It was only 2=20
or 3 weeks into my first course in thermo that I discovered the=20
fallacy in the entropy argument. I came to this conclusion all=20
by myself and in spite of the fact that I had a predisposition=20
to favor the argument. This represented a real critical point=20
in my faith adventure. I remember struggling with this for a=20
long time and also struggling with Genesis and Creation and the=20
whole bit. I still vividly remember the turning point. One day=20
I prayed diligently for a long time. I told God that Genesis=20
didn't make any sense to me but that I was willing to accept
it all if this is what he wanted. That I was willing to be an=20
utter fool to the world if this is what he wanted. The "message"=20
that I received, not audible of course :-), but loud and clear=20
nevertheless was that it didn't matter. It didn't matter whether=20
I believed Genesis literally or not and it didn't matter whether=20
I believed he created all at once or through evolution,=20
"These things don't matter, follow me". This was a liberating=20
experience for me and allowed me to pursue an understanding of=20
evolution without being threatened by it. A really diligent pursuit=20
of such knowledge was not to occur for another 15 years or so,=20
but the freedom to do so was gained as an undergraduate.
So, I came out of this trial in good shape. The reason for this is
probably that my parents had graciously prepared me for it by not
putting God in a box.
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
Brian Harper | "I can't take my guesses back
Associate Professor | That I based on almost facts
Applied Mechanics | That ain't necessarily so"
Ohio State University | -- Willie Nelson
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