CreationCrisis.com
 
Message to Young-Earth Creationists

  
MUST READ:
   
Origin Views — Creation/Evolution Comparison Chart
 

 
I'm Mark Bradford, a layman with absolutely no formal training in science and no college degree of any kind.  My opinion can be considered of no more importance than anyone else's.  I have simply attempted to research this issue in order to come to a logical conclusion, which turned out to be easier said than done.
  
My initiation, as an amateur, arm-chair researcher, into the field of origin science was similar to being dropped into a tank of freezing cold water, only to find a whirlpool that could very easily swallow you into oblivion.
 
From childhood on up, I was raised a strict fundamentalist.  Though my parents tested the waters of the Charismatic movement, and we called ourselves non-denominational, we rarely strayed far from conservative Baptist values and principles.  My schooling from 2nd - 12th grades was in ABeka curriculum, from a bastion of ultra-conservatism, Pensacola Christian College.  Saying that God created the world in anything but six literal days would be the equivalent of a mortal sin to hard-core PCC'ers.
 
I actually met my wife on the campus of Pensacola Christian College in '92, and we even homeschooled our two older boys using A Beka Academy home video school, a wonderful program we are very grateful for, despite our recent change in certain theological perspectives, regarding Creation in particular.  
    
Over the years, I have staunchly defended most conservative evangelical Christian beliefs.  But in the past two or three years especially, I started thinking for myself a little more, regarding peripheral issues of Christianity.  And on occasion, I ended up with a view held by only a small minority of Christians. 
 
In other words, I've recently conditioned myself to be more concerned with uncovering the truth about an issue than 'holding the line' on this or that belief - just to fit in with the crowd (or the denomination).  This is a very freeing experience, though it can certainly be hazardous to your spiritual health, if you're not careful.
 
Following this line of reasoning, seeking the truth no matter what, I came across some information about starlight, explaining that the light we see in the night sky is (almost unbelievably) from stars that are hundreds of millions or even billions of light years away - meaning the light we see has been traveling for millions or billions of years before we ever see it!  If you're hearing this for the first time, take a minute to let that sink in.
 
Watching educational programs like NOVA, I also began to really pay attention to what was being said - information I previously tuned out as 'evolutionary lies.'  It wasn't long before I realized this was not a conspiracy to convince the world that God was non-existent.  The simple fact was that every field of science that has anything to do with gauging the age of the earth, was providing evidence for a planet that was much older than my theology previously allowed it to be!
   
 
     
So I caved in, and decided I'd accept that the earth was seriously OLD, and see where that took me.  I started posting on a forum I'd found not long before this change of heart - TheologyWeb, a place where atheists and Christians of all flavors debate everything from science to slavery.
 
The threads I started on that forum took me from anger and confusion  (when people dared to suggest I might not want to interpret the Creation story literally) to near-Atheism (when I suddenly felt I couldn't even trust the Scriptures anymore) after discovering that what I'd always believed about Creation just didn't match up, even remotely, with the facts of science from multiple fields of research. 
  
When I learned about recent DNA research from the Human Genome Project, showing 'shared ancestry' in the DNA, I was floored.  The thought that humans could have biologically evolved from chimps and apes made me wonder if the whole of Christianity was a huge lie.  For several days, I wondered if I might lose faith in God altogether.  If I hadn't immediately begun praying and researching further - to find answers toward reconciling these two seemingly-opposing forces of Scripture and science - I might have thrown in the towel, and joined a growing list of 'former Christians' who once loved God with all their hearts, and now consider Him a liar, a fake, or complete fiction. 
 
But God sustained me, and my research paid off.  I visited site after site, watched a powerful online video by Dr. Francis Collins, the Director of the Human Genome Project, and read one book in particular, Coming to Peace with Science, by committed Christian, Darrel Falk, which further convinced me theistic evolution was (quite possibly) the only scientifically-sound Christian view or origins.  That is, at least until additional research is available, which 'might' change things, though it seems highly unlikely, based on the DNA evidence available now.
 
Both Collins and Falk believe it is unimportant whether or not Adam was a literal person or a figurative character in God's imagination.  I find this very troubling, as I believe the veracity of Scripture in both the Old and New Testaments depends on Adam being a literal and historical person.
 
So for them, it's fairly easy to accept theistic evolution.  They can turn the first eleven chapters of Genesis into a biblical fairly tale, and then it doesn't really matter what you believe about origins.
 
[Note of clarification:  I recently heard from Dr. Darrell Falk (Christian biologist referenced above and author of Coming to Peace with Science) by e-mail.  He said, "I also want to emphasize that although I have no doubt but that humans were created gradually, I also believe it is quite possible that Adam was a real person into whom God breathed spiritual life 6,000 years ago.  So, I’m feeling it’s not quite accurate to depict my position as 'allegorizing away a literal Adam.'  I try to leave the matter open."  Dr. Falk was also very gracious and encouraging in his e-mail related to the struggles of this spiritual journey.]
    
Agonizingly, I came to accept that the Creation story itself could be read figuratively.  But when genealogies are involved (from Adam to Noah, and beyond), and when biographical details of these generations are provided, and when the New Testament refers to individuals as literal people, there is just no denying the historicity of the accounts (in my mind at least), unless you also undermine the authority of Scripture, as a whole, in the process.
 
Caught between a rock - the literal, historical details of Genesis - and a a hard place - the unavoidable evidences for evolution - I am left with a faith that I can not fully reconcile with science. 
 
In the future, the scientific evidence and the record of Genesis may eventually line up in a more congruent fashion.  But for now, all I can do is continue trusting that God can handle this dilemma, despite the cognitive dissonance I feel.
   
If you haven't already, please read the OVERVIEW of how the pieces seem to fit together so far - from my perspective - that is.  And here's an
Origin Views — Creation/Evolution Comparison Chart  that provides an easy way to compare the competing perspectives.
 
You can also check out these forum threads I started, where I debated, questioned, and spouted online - changing my views a number of times along the way:
  
 

It's not easy maintaining your faith when some things just don't make sense!  But as I've been encouraged myself many times, don't lose heart!  God is bigger than all the confusion, and He will keep you, no matter how 'darkly' the glass we're seeing through down here seems to get!

Read other stories of Christians who changed their views without losing their faith.
  

CreationCrisis.com
 
Message to Young-Earth Creationists

  
MUST READ:
   
Origin Views — Creation/Evolution Comparison Chart