>"I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of
>season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful
>instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound
>doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a
>great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear." NIV
>
>What struck me forcefully is that this is directed at the Christians not the
>unbelievers. It is the Christians who have those itching ears and want to
>hear only what agrees with them! For years I have heard this verse used
>against non-christians and evolutionists but since a non-christian cannot be
>encouraged by the Wrod of God and they hold NO doctrine the passage can't
>apply to them.
>
>Here is the controversial part. It has been my experience that vast numbers
>of young-earth creationists will not read anything that disagrees with their
>own opinion. This also applies to many of the old-earth anti-evolutionists.
> Is this unwillingness to read that which disagrees with an accepted opinion
>an example of gathering "around them a great number of teachers to say what
>their itching ears want to hear."?
Peter says essentially the same thing in 2Peter 2 and 3, where the
passages were also directed to the church, not to the unbelieving world,
and in chapter 3 the passage suggests it is those who ignore the Bible
teachings on origins who are the source of a large part of the problem. Of
course this does not conscience the use of devious methods to "coerce"
others to believe as we do. But I feel that you try too hard to decimate
those who are now where you were yourself once. I have used this analogy
before, but it is a good one. My father in law, once he quit smoking
became one of the most intolerant opposers of smoking I have ever seen. I
mean this is a man who ran a club in Dallas for years, and he wouldn't even
allow a smoker in the room with him after he quit.