A fairly common remark that biblical creationists hear is something like, "Creation, evolution, the age of the earth — all those things are side issues. We need to focus on preaching the gospel." I had one of these a spell back, only this one was amazingly sanctimonious.
Unfortunately, because so many people misrepresent us, we need to frequently point out that believing in a young earth and rejecting evolution are not salvific (required for salvation) issues. This does not mean that they are unimportant or even irrelevant!
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| Creation Tiles, Unsplash / Alex Shute |
One simple reason to refute evolution as well as affirm creation and the young earth is that those things have been stumbling blocks to many people. Also, it should make an impression on Christians how the church fathers as well as the way people in the Bible viewed the importance of creation.
Irenaeus (c. 130–202 AD), a significant leader in the early Christian Church, wrote Against Heresies to counter wrong ideas in his time.
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Irenaeus includes agreement with the truth of God as Creator among the fundamental truths which must be believed lest a person despise Christ and the Father and stand condemned as a heretic.
Sadly, in the Church today there are those who do not view the doctrine of creation to be a foundational truth. They assert that the doctrine of creation is of secondary importance. Many would assert that it doesn’t really matter what we believe about how or when God created so long as we have repented of our sins and believed in Jesus as our Saviour.
The full article is found at "Creation is a foundational truth."
