Monday, February 22, 2010

The Great Divide

Melanie Smith of the Decatur Daily writes on the Great Divide that separates creationism from evolution. While it is mostly a summary of the problems, it does have one quote that is remarkably telling:
A nonprofit in Montgomery, Apologetics Press, holds to strict Bible teaching similar to Answers in Genesis. Apologetics Press publishes books, articles and other materials on creationism and presents conferences.

Its leaders believe God made the universe in six 24-hour days and the earth is not billions of years old.

“If someone does not choose to believe that, it’s unfortunate and sad, and they will have to deal with God at the Judgment,” said staff member Eric Lyons.
It is difficult to imagine a more heartfelt, strongly believed sentiment than what Mr. Lyons espouses. It is also amazingly pompous, arrogant and myopic and reveals that for Mr. Lyons, this debate has nothing to do with science. If it did, he wouldn't bring eternal judgment into the mix. Another sad commentary on an increasingly polarized debate.

2 comments:

  1. I think what's most sad is the fact that, for Lyons, salvation hinges on whether one believes the earth is young rather than whether Christ is their saviour.

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  2. You are right. As Conrad Hyers remarked, after awhile, it is not the faith that is being defended, but rather a narrow interpretation of certain passages. I used to get the ICR publication "Days of Praise" which is a Bible study aid because I thought that it would provide me with sound insight regarding the rest of the Bible. No such luck. The tract is laced with how you should think about creation. It is like, as I said, there is a myopia of sorts that everything in scripture has to be viewed through this perspective.

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