Cavemen on Dinosaurs

[Velenne]

I'll also just answer Imax's questions. The rest of this discussion is silly and pointless. And I'll tell you why if you read on.

1) Do you believe that God created the world from nothing in a literal 7-day period? Like if we had been there, we wouldn't have had time to grow a decent beard?

Don't know and don't care. What I do know is that when I start mincing the Bible down to its components so my brain can make sense of every minutiae, it loses much of its luster. I think God understands that part of the essence of beauty is the mystery behind it. If he wanted to make the universe in exactly 7 solar days, or 7 nanoseconds, or 7 sidereal days, or 7 periods of indeterminate time, it doesn't change the context of the creation story to me. There are layers of far more significant meaning to that story than how many days it took.

2) Do you just say that carbon dating is a tool of the devil? Because if you don't, how do you reconcile a considerable pile of scientific evidence that would really destroy the Lost World theories for people who are not allowing religion to overrule science?

Well, I think the devil gets far more credit than he's due. His tactics really don't change (shame, flattery, and divisiveness primarily) and he isn't the reason for sin as I understand it. The nature of science is and should be an inherently humble one, exhibiting a willingness to admit wrong and change. But some people just can't be humble and so we get scientists and Creationists alike who just want to bicker and push their own agendas.

(I'll skip #3 since it doesn't apply to me.)

4) Can anyone explain why God couldn't have used evolution to create the world?

I spent several years of my life defending the scientific merits of the Bible as a work of history. I mean I must have read shelves of books on philosophy, theology, hermeneutics, ontology, apologetics etc. And when I finally devised what I thought was a pretty ironclad system, I tried talking to people about it.

And wouldn't you know it- nobody wanted to listen!! Plenty of people I spoke with face to face or chatted with on the internet (bad idea) had made up their minds and refused to carry on an open, intellectual discussion. And when I'd thoroughly reasoned circles around them, they remained unconvinced. It was infuriating! More importantly, my own faith didn't grow a single ounce. It was like I was stuck in the first step of the race, analyzing that step to the nth degree.

So about 1 am one weeknight at a Waffle House, I'm talking to a guy who seems to really know his stuff. We'd been going back and forth for nigh on four hours when out of nowhere it hits me that I've been chasing a red herring. This guy didn't have a problem with the Bible, he had a problem with Christians. So you know what I did? I apologized sincerely for wasting his time and misrepresenting Christ to him. I paid his tab, got in my car, and did some soul searching for the next few weeks.

Since that night, I've purposely tried to forget everything I learned in those stupid books. I might call those years a waste of time, but there was a lesson there for me and I hold tightly to it to this day: people don't want a reason to believe, they already want to believe its true. What they need is an experience that can't be explained with their brain. They need relevant truth, not theocratic gobbledygook. They need the kind of truth that shifts the way they approach life and their loved ones. They need their needs met with humility and sincerity instead of judgment and duty. Under my own power, I am utterly unable to give them any of that. I can only represent Christ in the best way I can (which I'm certainly not all that great at), by loving people as He would have loved them.

I still have a mission, but thank God it's not up to me to do the hard part. Your faith is your business, and if God wants to meet you, the absolute worst thing I can do is try to talk you into it. I remain convinced that an unbiased search for truth will inevitably lead one to God. We each have our own such journeys and I remain hopeful that He knows what He's doing with mine.

Of course, if none of that answers your question, there's always this...





I wish I could color that but I lost my Rapturous Red crayon.