By Greg Neyman
© Old Earth Ministries
Although this is a good story of a father/daughter teaching session, it indicates the strategy employed by young earth creationist organizations. In the first paragraph, he quotes his daughter as saying "The girl next doors' teacher believes in evolution." Unfortunately, Dr. Morris is wrongly making the claim that it is an either/or choice. Despite his beliefs, one can believe in evolution, and the Bible, at the same time.
The main point I would like to make, though, has to do with the indoctrination of children. Young earth creationist organizations are good at reaching out to youth, through rocks, dinosaurs, and any other fascinating tool they can utilize. If they can reach children during their formative years, they probably have them for life. Thus, one of their main goals is to reach them while they are young.
If you see this within your church, don't be afraid to speak up and correct the errors of the young earth teacher. It is better to do it now, than to have the children indoctrinated, and have to do it later.
In addition, many people, when they reach college age, learn about evolution, and leave the church. They have been taught this either/or attitude, and when faced with the evidence, they abandon the church. If we can reach them while they are young, we may be able to prevent this, and keep them in the church.
I'm not saying that evolution is correct, but it is a good possibility, and theistic evolution is just as valid a belief as young earth creationism or progressive creationism, therefore at the very least, children should discuss and be open about the old age of the earth.
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Dr. John's Q&A #1, published on the web at https://web.archive.org/web/20090417224427/http://www.icr.org/index.php?module=articles&action=view&ID=1061
If you are not a Christian, and you have been holding out on making a decision for Christ because the Church always preached a message that was contrary to what you saw in the scientific world, then rest assured that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God, and you can believe in Christ and receive salvation, while still believing in an old earth. Click here for more.
Are you a Christian who believes in young earth creationism? Now that we have shown the many difficulties of the young earth creation science model in this and many other articles, how does this impact your Christian life? If you are a young-earth creationism believer, click here.
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about old earth creationism, see
Old Earth Belief,
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Can You Be A
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and honor God by properly presenting His creation.