>
>"Think of it. In any school science lab the first experiment in
>biology would be to put some chemicals in a beaker and when the
>students reurn the next day, a self-replicating molecule has grown all
>by itself. A student from a Christian home might say `But God created
>the laws which caused the chemicals to spontaneously generate life'.
>The teacher would simply say that God wasn't necessary."
And at that point the teacher should be threatened with a lawsuit :-). The
teacher cannot justify such a claim scientifically, so it is not admissible
in a science class. Christian students need to know this and be willing to
challenge teachers who get out of line in this way. When they don't, it is
a failure of the church, IMO.
I might also add that a self-replicating molecule is not life and all its
complexity, nor does it tell us anything about the ability of humans for
introspection or about our spiritual condition.
>
>While theists with a strong faith (including me) might be able to
>rationalise it, the effect would be devastating on our "weaker
>brothers" (1Cor 8:11), and children.
I'm not saying no one would be taken in. That's why Christian education is
so important. Most churches tend to be overly lax in the way they evaluate
their teaching programs and the students that pass through them. We need
to include among our objectives the teaching of enough theology and logic
so that Christian students will feel confident in either challenging
teachers who teach secularism/naturalism or in taking other students aside
and helping them understand why the teacher is off base. We are on the
winning side. The early Christians had no political power, and were often
barred from employment. But they kept preaching the gospel and winning
people to Christ. And eventually we had a Christian Europe. Don't tell me
that any worldly philosophy can upset the Lord's plan. If we whimper and
stay out of the fight, we may be left out--the people who build on straw
and are saved but as though through fire (somewhere in one of the
Corinthian letters), but it need not be that way. the Lord has already
won. Cheer up, Stephen!
Bill Hamilton | Chassis & Vehicle Systems
GM R&D Center | Warren, MI 48090-9055
810 986 1474 (voice) | 810 986 3003 (FAX)
hamilton@gmr.com (office) | whamilto@mich.com (home)