Home With Joe

I recently posted some comments on a forum where the discussion was about finding Noah’s ark. A comment about the literalness of the story led the discussion into an argument over creationism vs. modern science. When I pointed out that even creationist Christians believe things that contradict the Bible (like the earth being round), I was attacked for questioning the infallibility of the Bible. I never got a good answer to my question.

I have a hard time understanding the creationist view that it is so important that the first few chapters of the Bible must be believed without question, when other passages that incorrectly describe something in nature are ignored. Why is there not the same level of outrage over these other conflicts?

I believe the Bible itself gives us clues that the creation stories are not meant to be literal. For example, was Man created before or after the animals? The stories disagree. I’ve not seen a good explanation for this. It makes more sense that they are meant to explain God’s involvement with nature to ancient people who had no clue about things like DNA or how huge the universe really is. The stories are meant to teach us about God and why we are here, not how he did anything.

I grew up in church as a “young earth creationist”. But my Sunday school teachers were housewives and blue collar men. They were not equipped to teach science. As I studied science in college and on my own afterwards, I learned that scientists are actually smart people and they want to find the truth about nature. I also continued studying the Bible and learned that it has many styles of writing: history, poetry, wisdom, apocalypse, and parables & mythology. Parables & mythology are stories that are meant to teach a point, but are not historical records.

Most of what I’ve seen from creationists are examples of things science cannot explain yet, or things that science used to teach but are now known to be wrong. From these we are supposed to conclude that everything they teach is wrong. I’d like to think people can see through this false logic. Even though I now accept what science teaches about nature, I am still looking for good, thoughtful resources from the creation side. I want to learn everything I can and decide for myself, not just jump on a bandwagon.

As Christians, we have a job. Like it or not, it includes making disciples of evolutionary biologists! Calling them names and trying to discredit their work is not going to result in much success. As Paul did with the Athenians, we need find a way to meet them where they are. I don’t think the natural process of evolution rules out God’s work in nature.

I do think that science is meant to study nature, and God is supernatural, so trying to use science to prove or disprove God’s work is pointless. Most of what I’ve seen so far from the creation side is propaganda. Can anyone point me to good, thoughtful creation information?