Creation vs. Evolution: Does it really matter?
Dr. Terry Mortenson from Answers in Genesis discusses the impact of evolutionary thinking on culture and the Church.
2 Responses to “Creation vs. Evolution: Does it really matter?”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
February 9th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Thank you to Cornerstone Church for bringing this needed apologetic to Americus, Ga. What a wonderful gift to our community.
However, I’m confused Rev. Vreeland. Your church hosted Dr. Mortenson from Answers in Genesis, but the extensive comments in your “Response” reveal that in important ways you cannot agree with the teaching he offered. A friend of mine, and her husband, attended the seminars. She was ecstatic about the coherent and reasoned presentation and found it very impactful in affirming her belief in the inerrancy of scripture (based on her own extensive study of scripture and the Spirit’s attesting to it in her spirit). More impactful was how it addressed doubt on the part of her husband. Doubt about the goodness of God, doubt about the veracity of scripture, which reflect a conflict between what the world teaches about origins and truth and what the bible teaches.
It seems that you are also torn to some extent. You posted a lengthy commentary on the points of his teaching. It seems primarily to undermine it. I’m confused about the apparent discrepancy between your views and the views of your guest. Such an exhaustive effort to diffuse some claims of Mortenson and Answers in Genesis begs a question. Why was it necessary to post it? Is it God that caused you to write it or your own struggle with the account in Genesis? Listening to the Jan. 27 MP3, as I’m writing this, I just heard Mortenson say, “You knew your pastor was infallible anyway. Only the Bible is infallible.” That’s an interesting coincidence! God has a sense of humor. Pastors often exhibit more doubt about the Genesis account’s veracity than the faithful in the pews. Seminary obviously isn’t generally a place to find faith but to struggle to keep it.
I believe the inspired Word of God, in which the mind of God and his nature is revealed, is reliable because our God is reliable. It is consistent. It is plain. It is systematic. It is coherent. It reflects the mind of God, not the mind of man. It’s easy to see how we would struggle with it. Do we have liberty to hold to “interpretations”? Yes, because of free will. But is it our calling to believe and accept God’s Word and his account of creation which provides support to and a reason for “the rest of the story” the Bible reveals to us?
Granted, God’s account of creation is brief. So brief as to be perplexing to those whose doubt begs for more details. Perhaps God chose to infuse mystery intentionally. Perhaps God’s view is his account is entirely sufficient and complete and it is our limited and finite minds that are the problem. I just know that God and his Word are trustworthy. God spoke the universe into existence. He didn’t need billions or millions of years to make it. Six days is more than sufficient for the job. Mystery simply points out the fact that unlike God I don’t have perfect knowledge. I must lean to faith rather than skepticism. Otherwise confusion reigns, not to mention a climate for doubting the goodness of God. I find Mortenson’s assertions plausible, even reasonable. My spirit is not troubled, but comforted, despite the points you raise.
I pray your church will continue to be blessed by God in its efforts to seek truth, through this recent event and others I know you have hosted. I appreciate Cornerstone’s mission-minded spirit. Other believers in the community benefit from your ministry. Thank you for what you are doing.
February 25th, 2008 at 10:43 am
Thanks for your thoughtful comment.
Yes, Dr. Mortenson and I disagree on some of the key issues of his position. I wrote two different responses to him. I first wrote “A Response to Mortenson’s ‘Why Shouldn’t Christians Accept Millions of Years?’” (http://www.cornerstoneamericus.com/aig/A_Response_to_Mortenson.pdf) before he spoke at our church. Then I wrote “Conversations with a Young Earth Creationist” (http://www.derekvreeland.com/2008/01/conversations-with-young-earth.html) after the conference. I had not yet talked with him at the time he spoke on Sunday morning, which is the MP3 you listen to on our site.
The reason we invited Dr. Mortenson to our church, even though I disagreed with some of his points is because we find it acceptable for Christians to disagree in some areas of doctrine. As our elders (myself included) discussed our church’s understand of creation, we adopted the following position—
We hold that the doctrine of God as maker of heaven and earth is an essential and non-negotiable doctrine. This includes our unswerving confidence that God created the universe out of nothing (creation ex nihilo); God created as recorded in the book of Genesis; God created Adam and Even from the dust and from Adam respectively. As an essential and non-negotiable doctrine, we hold them with a closed hand. There is no debate or discussion about this position.
We hold the age of the earth as a non-essential and negotiable doctrine. We believe a Christian can believe the earth is 6,000 years old or millions of years old or anywhere in between. We believe they can passionately hold either opinion and discuss their reasons for holding that opinion. There is room at the table for both Old Eathers and Young Earthers at our church. We hold the age of the earth with an open hand and therefore welcome dialog on the issue.
I discussed this in a message on the Sunday before Dr. Mortenson arrived. (http://cornerstoneamericus.com/sermons/maker-of-heaven-and-earth/)
For these reasons, I had no trouble inviting Dr. Mortenson into our church. After sitting though his lectures and speaking to him in great detail, I have great respect for him and the work he is doing. I found that we are much closer in our positions than I first assumed. I choose to write both of my essays so that our congregation could hear ideas presented from a different point of view. My essential position with the Young Earth View is that it is plausible, but it is not necessary.
Here is where we agree. We both believe:
– The Scripture is our final and absolute authority
– The book of Genesis is historically accurate
– God created the heavens and earth out of nothing
– God created Adam and Eve
– Observational science must be viewed through a biblical lens
– Christians should engage popular culturally assumptions and the assumptions of the scientific community
– Evolution contains a set of presuppositions which are atheistic
– Evolution presents a philosophy which is unbiblical and potentially harmful
– Theistic evolution (the concept that God used evolution in the creation process) is incompatible with historic, orthodox Christianity
We disagree on:
– The age of the earth
– The necessity of a Young Earth view of Genesis
– The poetic nature of Genesis 1&2 (I see the text as poetic prose; he sees it as historical prose with no room for poetry)
– A literal interpretation of the word “day” in the days of creation (He sees them as literal 24-hour periods. I see them as specific but not definable amounts of time.)
– Animal death before the fall (I accept that animals died before the fall; he does not)
– The effects of an Old Earth view (He believes that an old earth view causes problems with the doctrine of biblical inspiration, salvation, and the nature of God; I do not.)
I sincerely believe that healthy theological dialog on non-essential matters is good for the church. This is how we grow and learn from each other. This is how we love the Lord with our minds. It is important for us at Cornerstone to boldly and creatively proclaim the essentials of the faith and cause room at the table for Christians from various traditions to share their ideas on the non-essentials. We want to do this in a way that does not divide the church on non-essential matters.
“In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity.” — Rupertus Meldenius
Thanks again for your thoughts.
Pastor Derek Vreeland