Creation Science Rebuttals -

Institute for Creation Research News Report - Time and Newsweek Attack Christians

First Published on the Answers In Creation Website

A recent news report by the Institute for Creation Research shows the sad state of affairs that is facing young earth creationism. Lawrence Ford reports on two news articles, one in Time magazine, and the other in Newsweek, where creationists (obviously the young earth variety) are seen as on the losing end of the recent elections. It predicted the demise of conservative Christian influence in the political arena. Sadly, we have the young earth creationists to thank for this coming demise.

As the Newsweek article notes...

Despite a full century of scientific insights attesting to the antiquity of life and the greater antiquity of the Earth, more than half the American population believes that the entire cosmos was created 6,000 years ago. This is, incidentally, about a thousand years after the Sumerians invented glue. Those with the power to elect presidents and congressmen—and many who themselves get elected—believe that dinosaurs lived two by two upon Noah's Ark, that light from distant galaxies was created en route to the Earth and that the first members of our species were fashioned out of dirt and divine breath, in a garden with a talking snake, by the hand of an invisible God.

This backlash against the Christian right appears to be a direct result of the backwards thinking of young earth creationism. With the evidence clearly in favor of an old earth, they still dogmatically cling to the notion that the earth is young, despite the fact that you can be a Christian, and believe in an old earth. As a conservative Christian myself, I can honestly say that you can still have the same moral positions on abortion, homosexuality, and other issues, and believe that the earth is old.

The same backlash can be seen in the Time magazine article...

…a growing proportion of the profession is experiencing what one major researcher calls "unprecedented outrage" at perceived insults to research and rationality, ranging from the alleged influence of the Christian right on Bush Administration science policy to the fanatic faith of the 9/11 terrorists to intelligent design's ongoing claims. Some are radicalized enough to publicly pick an ancient scab: the idea that science and religion, far from being complementary responses to the unknown, are at utter odds…

It is quite true that science and religion (young earth religion) are at utter odds, and cannot be joined together no matter what amount of twisting and distorting young earth creationists do to the scientific facts. The more they resist, the more they force the church into a corner, both politically and socially. Over the last century, young earth creationism has done more harm to the church as a whole than any other factor. The sooner we realize that you can accept science and the Bible...the sooner the church as a whole accepts that the earth is old, the sooner we can start healing from the wounds caused by young earth creationism.

Finally, the author reports on a debate between Professor Richard Dawkins, an outspoken atheist, and Dr. Francis Collins, a professing evangelical Christian who is a theistic evolutionist. Dawkins, in his typical cynical way, states, that when dealing with young earth creationists, Collins could “save himself an awful lot of trouble if he just simply ceased to give them the time of day. Why bother with these clowns?” This is indicative of where our church is heading. Young earth creationism is taking the church into the big top, where we will all be labeled as clowns. We need to reverse course now, and stop letting a few outspoken young earth creationist organizations influence the church.

In typical young earth fashion, the author uses the words of Dawkins, the atheist, to support young earth creationism. Dawkins says...

If God wanted to create life and create humans, it would be slightly odd that he should choose the extraordinarily roundabout way of waiting for 10 billion years before life got started and then waiting for another 4 billion years until you got human beings capable of worshipping and sinning and all the other things religious people are interested in.

This is a fair point, but a moot point. As we all know, God is eternal...He has always existed. He was here 6,000 years ago...and 4 billion years ago...and 100 billion years ago. Time has no meaning to an eternal God. If He wanted to take 14 billion years to make our universe, that’s OK. It just proves to me that God loves us even more, that He would go so such extreme lengths of time to build a universe and world for us to live in. The depth of His love for us cannot be understood nor expressed!

At the end, the author asks if there was a winner between Dawkins and Collins. He says yes...it was Time Magazine. I would ask the same question. Is there a winner between the conservative church (with young earth creationism) and the world. Yes...eventually, the world will win. Christians used to say the universe revolved around the earth, until science proved them wrong. Eventually, young earth Christians will diminish. The question is, how will the church adapt? Old earth creationism is the only answer.

You can be a Christian, and believe in an old earth, either with or without evolution. And you can do so with a conservative stance, while believing in an inerrant Bible. I have done so for the past 25 years, as have many others.

References:

Newsweek: A Dissent: The Case Against Faith

Time: God Vs. Science

ICR: http://www.icr.org/articles/view/3133/

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.

More Institute for Creation Research Rebuttals

Did you know that you can be a Christian, and believe that the earth is billions of years old? You can even believe in evolution and be a Christian. There is no conflict between science and the Bible...all one needs is a proper understanding how to merge science and the Bible. To learn more about old earth creationism, see Old Earth Belief, or check out the article Can You Be A Christian and Believe in an Old Earth?

Feel free to check out more of this website. Our goal is to provide rebuttals to the bad science behind young earth creationism, and honor God by properly presenting His creation.