tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6410615559824660051.post5210943708997736804..comments2023-10-18T05:31:21.249-07:00Comments on Peregrinations: More about Slippery SlopesRick Gerhardthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10478878021692544533noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6410615559824660051.post-4279916248651694302009-11-11T08:08:00.588-08:002009-11-11T08:08:00.588-08:00Jordan: I couldn't agree more. I blame modern ...Jordan: I couldn't agree more. I blame modern churches for distorting Christianity in this way, making belief in a young earth and universe part of Christianity, which it never has been.<br /><br />This is what Dinesh D'Souza had in mind when he wrote, "the atheists have had it too easy... They have been flogging the carcass of 'fundamentalism' without having to encounter the horse kick of a vigorous traditional Christianity."<br /><br />D'Souza's right, and when the New Atheists attack Christianity, it is invariably a straw man, a modern caricature of our faith that is not historical Christianity (even though many modern Christians do actually hold the views being attacked). Sam Harris explains (in the Note to the Reader) his motivation for writing Letter to a Christian Nation. He points out that 53% of Americans believe that the entire cosmos was created 6,000 years ago, that "those with the power to elect our presidents and congressmen... believe that dinosaurs lived two by two on Noah's ark, that light from distant galaxies was created en route to the earth," that 44% of Americans are convinced that Jesus will return sometime in the next 50 years, and that "beliefs of this sort will do little to help us create a durable future for ourselves..."<br /><br />Harris is right, of course, but he doesn't seem to realize that these views that he spends the rest of his book challenging are not Christianity but a modern (albeit popular) set of misinterpretations. <br /><br />So, you're absolutely right--the church needs to quit wrongly telling its young people that the Bible teaches a young earth and universe. It is the church's fault if people walk away when the falsehood of that belief is made clear to them.<br /><br />I heard an interesting and pertinent result of a poll conducted by AIG (though Ken Ham, naturally, came to the wrong conclusion about that result). They found that young people who attended Sunday school all their childhood were more likely to abandon a Christian worldview than those who had only attended church service throughout their childhood. My take is that we teach children a whole lot of nonsense about what the Bible says, nonsense that by and large is not explicitly shared from the pulpit. So Sunday school kids are much more likely to grow up believing that a global flood, a young earth, and dinos on the ark are fundamental beliefs of Christians.<br /><br />All of this is why I spend so much of my apologetic time trying to help people see that YECism is a modern, incorrect interpretive scheme and not a part of historical Christianity.<br /><br />Thanks for reading!Rick Gerhardthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10478878021692544533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6410615559824660051.post-35639142234156401022009-11-10T07:57:42.191-08:002009-11-10T07:57:42.191-08:00What I'm afraid of is that young high-school a...What I'm afraid of is that young high-school and college students abruptly encounter "old-earth" science and are "forced" to choose between science and Christianity as a whole. I'd much rather these young people toss out the idea of a young earth than toss out the idea of a saving grace of God through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.Jordannoreply@blogger.com