Monday, February 10, 2014

Pat Robertson Blasts Ken Ham's View of Scripture

The Bill Nye/Ken Ham debate was watched by many, many people.  One of the them, it appears, was Pat Robertson, the head of CBN and host of the 700 Club.  As the Christian Post reports, on his show he took the time to say exactly what he thought of Ken Ham's theology:
Robertson said that Ham was using faulty data from Bishop Ussher, an Irish Christian, who lived in the 16th and 17th centuries. To make his claims, Ussher calculated the date of creation, based on his knowledge of the Bible, the ancient Persian, Greek and Roman civilizations, astronomy, ancient calendars and chronology.

The televangelist said that science had since refuted Ussher's claims.

"The dating of Bishop Ussher just doesn't comport with anything that is found in science and you can't just totally deny the geological formations that are out there," said Robertson.

"Anyone who is in the oil business knows he's drilling down, 2 miles, 3 miles underground, you're coming into all these layers that were laid down by the dinosaurs," said Robertson. "And we have skeletons of dinosaurs that go back like 65 million years. And to say that it all came around 6 thousand years ago is nonsense."
This is not the first time that Robertson has taken a stab at Young earth creationism.  He did so in 2012 as well, in response to a question about how old he thought the earth was.  Interestingly, in that response, he gave no clues to his views on evolution.  In this particular response to the Ham/Nye debate, Robertson does actually endorse Evolutionary creationism. 

Here is the relevant video from the program.



Like so many of us who watched Ken Ham present his theology, Robertson replies: "There just ain't no way that's possible."  How many people Robertson will sway is not clear.  He has made some missteps in recent years and is not viewed with as much credibility as in the past.  Nonetheless, it will get attention. 

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous5:27 PM

    I must agree with Dr. Robertson concerning creation. Young Earth Creationism did not occur. It seems to me that God through the Logos (Jesus) could have used Progressive Creation or evolutionary creation. In any case, God the Father spoke and the Son created everything (John 1). Charles E. Miller, BA in German; MA in Religion

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  2. Anonymous9:26 PM

    I must agree with Dr. Robertson that Evolutionary Creation is correct. God the Father spoke and the Logos who was born on earth as Jesus, the stepson of Joseph and son of the virgin Mary created everything. I believe that the Young Earthers are wrong when they say that dinosaurs and human beings lived together. Charles

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  3. Anonymous11:30 AM

    I must accept the view that Rev. Robertson is correct in reference to Evolutionary Creation.
    The Roman Catholic Church is also correct in this area. I have no problem with that. My wife and I are United Methodists. Do my wife and I accept a literal Adam and Eve? Yes! I feel Genesis I fits very well into Theistic Evolution as accepted by the Pope. I have a book given to me by Father Hanlan, Head of Maryknoll Vocations in New York. The view presents this view very well and I enjoy ready it. The holidays are coming, and I wish everyone who read this a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May God bless all n the world.

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