I’M CAPTIVATED d by a series of sermons that my pastor is preaching because it’s right up my alley: Wrestling with the Bible.
Tomorrow, his sermon topic will be “Dinosaurs on the Ark: The Bible and Science.”
He’ll be exploring the two headliner theories: Evolution vs Creationism.
Evolution is the idea that life evolved over eons of time, and continues to evolve. Most scientists embrace this theory.
Creationists usually read the Bible story of creation literally, concluding that the world is just a few thousand years old. They get their numbers from a literal read of family trees recorded in the Bible, though many Bible experts say those family trees represent only the highlights–the big branches on the tree.
Bill Nye the Science Guy made news this week when he released this 2 1/2-minute video, urging parents to let their kids study evolution:
The Creation Museum countered with a 3 1/2-minute video featuring a couple of science profs lobbying for their case:
Surprisingly, at least to me, almost half the Americans that Gallup polled this summer said they agreed with Creationism: 46%.
What frustrates me most is that neither side does a good job presenting their case. It’s like they’re Republicans and Democrats nagging us to believe what they believe, but without carefully explaining why they believe what they believe.
I still don’t have anything close to a good grasp on the theory of evolution, though I respect the educated guesses of our top scientists who embrace it. That includes one man who teaches in a conservative Christian university; he refused to publicly answer a question I raised about evidence supporting evolution and instead he met with me in the hall afterward (he wanted to keep his job).
As for Creationism, I’m perplexed about why so many Christians feel compelled to read the Genesis account of creation as though it’s literal history. I know a little about the different genres of ancient lit, and I know that many Bible experts don’t read the creation stories literally.
Given the debates among Bible scholars who make their living studying the Bible, I find myself wondering why more Christians don’t kick back and relax with an “I don’t know, but in God I trust” approach to the debate.
Any thoughts on the matter?
By the way, I’ll follow up with a video link to the pastor’s sermon once it’s posted, probably on Monday or Tuesday.
Leave a Reply