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Showing posts with the label Compromise

The Gap Theory and Old-Earth Compromise

It is consistently baffling that many professing Christians put the authority of science above Scripture, especially regarding the age of the earth. These owlhoots are grossly inconsistent — they think science is right about long ages, but then believe the Bible about the unscientific Resurrection of Jesus. When asked why it is so important to them to elevate the ever-changing pronouncements of scientific philosophies over the word of God, they do not provide satisfactory answers. The same may be wondered about John Nelson Darby and Cyrus Ingerson Scofield. First page of Genesis, RGBStock / Billy Frank Alexander The Gap Theory is a way of inserting billions of years between the first two verses of the Bible. It is handily refuted by biblical creation ministries ( here is one example ). What is interesting is how the Scofield Reference Bible, Darby, and others were influential in promoting old Earth creation while not accommodating evolution.  On a personal note, regular readers may ri

Denying Original Sin and the Plain Meaning of the Bible

It is both annoying and baffling how some folks do not want to take the Bible at face value, instead elevating their opinions or secular science views above Scripture. If you study on it a spell, false religions do something similar: We  will tell you what the passages mean, do not think you  can understand it. When someone cites William Lane Craig, I am on guard. While he can dismantle atheism, he has compromised in key areas of Christian doctrine . One of these is original sin. The Garden of Eden with the Fall of Man , Jan Brueghel the Elder and Peter Paul Rubens,1615 I'll allow that the words  original sin  do not appear in the Bible, but other essential Christian doctrines, such as the Trinity, are not found under the names we know. That does not make them any less real. Although Craig mocks original sin (Adam and Eve at the forbidden fruit, and we inherit the sin nature), it is clearly evident from a plain reading of Scripture. This heresy is serious, and people should be very

The Meaning of Day in Genesis 1

Some time ago, I sat up pondering where the sun went after it set, and then it dawned on me. There are many Christians who are unwilling to believe that day  in Genesis 1 is a literal day. They try to scheme ways of obscuring the plain reading of the text. When I was young, I read the creation account and had no reason to think day was anything unusual. That is the way people have treated it for a very long time, with few exceptions. Sun obscured by tree, Unsplash / Cowboy Bob Sorensen With the advent of belief in deep time in the past couple of hundred years, Christians compromised and tried to find ways to force long ages into the Bible. For them, does day still mean day? Allegories, mythologizing, compromising and other shenanigans do violence to the text. Opinions of secular science cannot tell us what Scripture means. Why do those Christians insist on this? Is it to look good to atheists as well as other Christian compromisers? Do they seek the approval of men over that of the Cr

Why There is no Compromise on Creation

It may seem fair and reasonable for mainstream evangelicals to ask biblical creationists to compromise on literal six-day creation. Indeed, sometimes we are seen as a niche group in an offshoot of the Fundamentalist movement. It is ironic that the Fundamentalists were not exactly biblical creationists . Again, belief in recent six-day creation is not required for salvation. Accepting theistic evolution (TE) is not a disqualifier, nor is acceptance of billions of years. Those beliefs do show, however, that people are not understanding or have a low view of Scripture. Silhouette of group at sunset, Pexels / Min An Some do not understand Scripture or the failings of secular science, and many do not believe Scripture. (I believe that knowledgeable TEs are actually Deists because they reject the inerrancy and authority of God's Word.) Joining in with a group hug and affirming the "Why can't we all just get along?" sentiment involves degrading the Bible. Evolution is not co

Rising Hostility to Creation from the American Scientific Affiliation

The American Scientific Affiliation provides an example of what happens when an ostensibly Christian organization begins with an uncertain foundation and continues to compromise on Scripture. Not to be confused with other groups with similar names, it had an interesting approach to science and religion working in harmony. People of varied religious persuasions were members. Unfortunately, they did not seek the authority of the Word of God, but wanted validation from secular science. It did not go well. Secularists insist on naturalism. Sure, it's great to have those st00pid djumb theists promoting evolution and pretending it came from God, but that's not enough. The ASA had a "big tent" approach, but that turned into a circus. It has drifted into not only theistic evolution, but also open hostility toward biblical creation and its proponents. Note that the god of TE is not the God of the Bible, and numerous compromises and scriptural tap dancing are constantly requir

Adam, Made from Dust

When reading the beginning of the Bible, people who actually believe it reach Genesis 2:7 and see where God made Adam from the dust of the ground. Okay, that is interesting, another miracle during the week that was full of them. Then they move on without further thought. Same with me. There are some owlhoots  that claim to believe the Bible but somehow reject what it plainly says. These types generally take a liberal view of Scripture, and that most likely includes evolution — which is taught in seminaries. Some views merging Adam and evolution are...truly bizarre. Hands with dirt, Unsplash / Gabriel Jimenez (cropped) Sometimes Adam and Eve are relegated to mythology or symbolism, but there are people who don't want to so blatantly dismiss parts of the Bible, though they still reject its authority. These will force in something resembling magic where Adam was some evolving creature, then God made it fully human. Well, if someone truly believes the Bible, the wording in the account

The Impossibly Long Creation Week

It is a distressing fact that many professing Christians are unaware of  what  and why  they believe, and many mix in opinions and beliefs, getting results that are...truly bizarre. Others have accepted atheistic naturalism science opinions that Earth must  be billions of years old. People will believe whatever they want. For Christians, our ultimate standard of truth and authority is the Word of God. Over at Piltdown Superman , I link to numerous creation science articles that show how the science for deep time is fundamentally flawed. Such resources are shared by many folks online, but there are still professing Christians who try to shoehorn long ages into the Bible so they can have the best of both worlds. It's not just regarding origins and the age of the earth, either. People tamper with what the Bible says in order to justify things that it clearly condemns. They often take pride in that. Biblical creationists uphold the authority and inerrancy of Scripture. We also equip pe

Claiming that Jesus was Wrong about Creation

Although unplanned, this post fits well with " Old-Earth Inerrancy Contradicts Itself ." There are quite a few professing Christians that claim to believe the Bible, but upon further inquiry, we see that they are riding the owlhoot trail — they rejected the authority of Scripture. One way to distort the truth is to blur it by putting secular science views in the magisterial position. Some go as far as to say that Jesus was wrong about creation because he did not have the enlightenment of modern science. It is easy for a Bible-believing Christian to wonder if those folks, who are married up with an old earth view, have bothered to think things through. Such a position cascades throughout all of Scripture. Some say Jesus was wrong, as were Peter, Paul, and others. This negates the Bible's trustworthiness, and also denies the Deity of God the Son, who is the Creator. Salvation become impossible! Recently, I was involved in an exchange with someone whose thinking on the age

Five Kinds of Life in Genesis

Mockers as well as compromisers on biblical authority point to Genesis 2:17 and say that it is untrue, that Adam did not drop dead when he ate the forbidden fruit. Therefore, Genesis cannot be taken more than a fictional story or allegory. A more in-depth approach shows that they are wrong. Knowledge of the Bible is necessary, and it is very helpful to get the perspective of people who have spent time studying and writing about it. One of these is Charles Haddon Spurgeon. Although this child has taken heat from both Calvinists and Arminians for refusing to identify with either group, Spurgeon is popular with Calvinists. That doesn't matter here, because the man referred to as the Prince of Preachers has some important material for us. He preached a huge number of sermons , and was known for keeping his listener enthralled. Spurgeon also was faithful to Scripture and spoke so that people could understand his messages. The sermons on Five Kinds of Life help give us a fuller understan

Courage is Necessary for Christians

Ask around, and people have many definitions for courage. Some folks have the mistaken notion that courage  includes doing something reckless. "Yep, took lots of courage to try to jump that active volcano with a bicycle." No, that is stupidity.  Bravery  is often used synonymously with courage, but  there are differences . A person can be courageous and scared silly, but doing what is right is more important than giving in to fear.  Christians need to cowboy up and show courage, standing up for the truth. Pixabay / Bruce Courage is an act of will. There are people who are vainglorious, but the truth is revealed when danger falls from a tree, they turn their backs and bravely flee. Other times, some people are surprising when they show courage in the face of danger. What dangers do biblical creationists face? In Western countries, it is mostly fear of ridicule from unbelievers. They should ask themselves if enemies of God are people from whom they want admiration. I almost joi

When Undermining the Truth, Money Talks

Christians are confronted with unbelievers of various stripes, including atheists, the apathetic, moral relativists, cultists, evolutionists, false teachers, and many others. Biblical creationists uphold not only essentials of the faith, but the authority of God's Word as well. Genesis is foundational to the faith. Things get more difficult when a well-heeled fifth column undermines not only the truth of Genesis, but trust in the Bible itself. The owlhoots at the Templeton Foundation are using their money to finance compromise among Christians. Mostly made at PhotoFunia For a Christian, humility means that we are entirely dependent on the work of Christ for our salvation, and our works cannot earn or keep it. In addition, good works are a result  of our salvation. We give glory to Jesus. John Templeton, however, redefined humility  as uncertainty about the truth, and it definitely  does not come from sacred texts. The ever-changing whims of manmade science philosophies, though —

Human Wisdom Elevated above the Wisdom of God

As many Bible-believing Christians know, there is a disdain for the authority of the Word of God. This is to be expected from unbelievers, as they are blinded to spiritual truth. Sadly, many professing Christians also downplay the importance of Scripture. As Christians, the Bible is the foundation of our thinking in every area — or should  be. It is true from the very first verse, and Genesis is the source of all major Christian doctrines . The Bible is the source of real knowledge and wisdom. Unsplash / Priscilla Du Preez Some owlhoots have a problem with the biblical authority and the source of wisdom, and they misrepresent biblical creationists for believing those things. Part of the difficulty comes from definitions. Connotations, really. In the eyes of God, atheists are fools (Psalm 14:1). The word fool, × ָבָל ( nabal ), means a vile person, and is not necessarily that someone is stupid. However, the noetic effect of sin  means that sin infects all areas, including the thinking pr

Animals and Dinosaurs on Noah's Ark

There are people who promote compromise views against creation and in favor of an old earth. However, the ×žַבּוּל ( mabbul , the Hebrew word that is used only for the Genesis Flood) was very destructive and caused what is seen in geology today. Secularists and churchian compromisers adhere to uniformitarianism (slow and gradual processes), so they cannot have the global deluge in their paradigms. Credit: Wikimedia Commons /  Cimerondagert  ( CC by-SA 4.0 ) The Bible makes it clear that the earth was created in six literal days, and that the Flood was global, not local. Those who ridicule biblical creationists have problems with biblical authority, and since we know believers by their fruit, they need to examine themselves to see if they are indeed in the faith. That's right, I said it!  Atheists, Deists, and old earthers ride for the same brand. Why is that? Mayhaps they prefer the praise of men over the praise of God. It may come as a shock, but the global Flood had both punishmen

Augustine Did Not Support Old-Earth Views

There are professing Christians who falsely claim that the church fathers believed that the earth was far older than Scripture indicates, and that biblical (young age) creationists are wrong. It would be a mighty big help if they did their homework on people like Augustine. St. Augustine in his Study , Sandro Botticelli, 1490 It is important to note that Augustine did not consider his writings to be sacred writ, his views changed in some areas, and he freely admitted that his understanding was imperfect. It did not help matters much that he was unskilled in Hebrew and Greek, and he had access to weak Bible translations. He believed that everything was created in an instant (he should have consulted Exodus 20:11, 31:17). Old-earthers must reject the global Flood as well. While Augustine was in no wise a young-earth creationist as we understand the term, claims that he believed like the pagans that Earth was far older are disingenuous. Old-earthers claim Augustine as support for figurati

Losing Faith in an Old Earth

It may come as a surprise to many people that a number of those involved in biblical creation science ministries had quite different views before becoming biblical creationists. Some were atheists, others theistic evolutionists, and some like Dr. Brian Thomas held to an old earth view. Credit: StockSnap / Lauren Mancke One problem people like Dr. Thomas and others have is that they are only aware of one side. Many do not even know that other — superior — interpretations even exist, and have never heard of biblical creation science. Brian's faith in long ages was challenged by several factors. He could not reconcile the old earth narrative with observed evidence, and most importantly, he saw that secular interpretations of the facts did not fit the truth of the Bible. A student recently asked what I believe about the age of the earth. I replied that at one time I felt absolutely certain that the world was billions of years old. I even wrote a song that mentioned “the age of

The Fall of Man and Animal Death

It has been a month ago today that we had to make that awful trip to the vet and put an end to the suffering of Basement Cat, but I still get misty. When the box with her ashes arrived, I was upset all over again. When I was drifting off to sleep that night, I "heard" her meow like she often did at bedtime. When did animal death enter God's very good creation? Animals suffer and die, and it hurts those of us who love them so much. Biblical creationists maintain that death entered the picture with the Fall of Man. After all, God does not approve of the mistreatment of animals (Prov. 12:10), and he even providing for birds (Matt. 6:26). For some reason, professing Christians who insist on exegeting huge amounts of time into the Bible concoct weird interpretations of Scripture — some even say that death is a good thing! Also, suffering and death are, to some owlhoots, a part of God's creative process through evolution. Such absurdities are inconsistent with God, ou

Behemoth Baffles Bible Scholars

If in Job 40:15 behemoth was simply noted and God moved on, it is easy to assume that Bible readers and scholars would have imply written it off as some animal of which Job was aware. The confusion results from the further descriptions of behemoth in the rest of the chapter. Image cropped from Pixabay /  Ladycoffee There are several reasons why scholars and us reg'lar folk may wonder what that beasie is, what with having immense power and a tail like a cedar. The first is that the Bible does use real animals and names in symbolic passages, such as Rahab (Joshua 6:25, Isaiah 51:9) and Leviathan (Job 41:1, Isaiah 27:1). Since the behemoth was unknown, maybe this was something strictly symbolic. But that doesn't fit with the text because God was not referring to mythical or symbolic creatures. A second reason people are baffled is because this animal is unknown and apparently no biblical references exist outside the book of Job. Biblical creationists believe that the text

Denying Genesis Compromises the Gospel

Perhaps, as some tinhorns claim, those who deny Genesis and recent creation try to appear moderate or reasonable. After all, science has proven that evolution happened and that Earth is billions of years old, right? Not hardly! Such antics are expected from those who ride for the atheism brand, but it is not fitting for professing Christians to do so. Image credits: Original from Morguefile / JCKL8888 , then processed through PhotoFunia People who have little or no understanding of theology, even though they may have attended a church, often reject the plain reading of Genesis because evolution. Because uniformitarianism. Because science. Because they want to look intelligent in the eyes of enemies of God. Because rejection of biblical authority. People also compromise because their church leaders are liberal in their theology or have not bothered to think through how Genesis affects the gospel message. While Christians need to understand God's Word, their leaders have a gr

COVID-19 and Natural Evil

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen Since the Coronavirus has several names and there are several corona viruses, I think the best thing to do is stay with COVID-19 in this context. People refer to COVID-19 as evil , but more specifically it is a natural evil  as opposed to moral evil . Bible-believing Christians know that natural evils are the result of the fall of man way back in Eden. Credit: Freeimages /  Marie Jeanne Iliescu Although this virus is not like the Bubonic Plague that killed a large part of Europe's population in Medieval times which was pneumonic (airborne), people act like COVID-19 is that severe. On the other hand, it could be rightly considered evil when people have cavalier attitudes about spreading it — or using it for monetary gain. To rightly understand evil, we need to go to the Bible. Evolutionists are using the pandemic to further their agenda , and theistic evolutionists seem to be joining right in. Theistic evolution is a fifth column to undermine the

Creation and Embarrassment

It has long seemed contradictory to me that there are Christians who ride for the defense of the Bible, but then shy away from the Genesis Flood, creation, and the young earth. It appears that those Christians are not fully signed on with the inerrancy of the Word, treating biblical authority like a buffet . Credit: Morguefile / imelenchon (modified) Am I doing them a disservice by questioning their commitment to the authority of the Bible they profess to believe and defend? I'll go a bit further and also say that I think that they have a problem with pride. We want the hands at the Darwin Ranch to think we're sorta smart after all, so we cede the age of the earth and the Flood to secular views. In an older article, I asked if we shut up about creation, would unbelievers leave us alone ? I disremember where i said it, but I attended a church that claimed to believe in recent creation. They did not want to be "labeled" and kept their belief tied up out back. I