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2009
An emotional response to the age of the earth
by CMI staff
Published: 28 March 2009(GMT+10)
Photo by Joy Luke
The girl (not the sister in this article) with a tear running down her cheek, has
won several photography awards (photographic judges are emotional too!)
Peter Milford’s article ‘But the New Testament does
not make a big deal out of the Age of the Earth’ prompted a reader
to send this account of a quite remarkable experience:
What a troubling issue this is in Christianity today! My sister, who helped me become
a Christian many years ago, and her family, will now no longer talk to me about
this topic. They appear to be long-age Christian believers.
The last time I tried to talk to her about it she burst out crying, her head in
her hands, pleading that she just “wanted to be left alone!”, yet I
had hardly said a thing to her.
She and her family cannot bear to even think about a young Earth. I must admit,
it actually seems to be an abomination of an idea to them; an extremely troubling
idea.
How confusing for me! I don’t understand their distress.
The last time I tried to talk to her about it she burst out crying, her head in
her hands, pleading that she just ‘wanted to be left alone!’, yet I
had hardly said a thing to her.
So much for the oft-heard contention that the age-of-the-earth issue is “not
an issue”! We asked selected CMI staff from our offices around the world if
they could offer any insights into this quite astonishing account. They sure did!
We reproduce them here, as each was able to make some quite astute observations,
each from their own perspective, which readers might find useful to bear in mind
when the topic of a “young earth” comes up in conversation.
I think a reaction like this comes from people who very clearly see the inconsistencies
(death before sin, a loving God using evolution to create [i.e. God made all of
our problems] etc) that we point out but still believe in evolution as fact. The
intellectual turmoil of not wanting to lose your faith and living with the dichotomy
of two conflicting beliefs is the only thing I think would bring forward such an
emotional reaction (just leave me alone, I don’t want to think about it!).
Editors: Of course, evolution and long ages are not fact,
as the articles on this website make clear. Note that we don’t claim that
one can’t be a Christian and a long-ager. Many people are saved despite ‘blessed
inconsistency’—there is no hint in the Bible that the ability to hold
mutually contrary thoughts in the same skull is an unforgivable sin. See also:
I think it could be an emotional reaction possibly due to the following things:
- The discomfort that they believe they will endure being young-Earth “pariahs”.
- The thought of having to get their heads around it is too much to contemplate.
- The wrong assumption that it causes people to lose their faith.
- That arguments about creation ensue destroying fellowship.
- And of course, it’s not a salvation issue.
How about the—false—image the Dawkinsian media and many churches associate
with YEC? You know, the good old flat earth society (invented
by Washington Irving) nonsense …
You never know how your words or actions will challenge a person.
There could be other factors at work too, such as conflicting loyalties. Perhaps
her husband or father is a long-ager and she feels pulled in two directions. Crying
too can simply be a “get-my-own-way” behaviour like anger and suffering.
Another possibility is that debates in the past have become personal and she has
felt hurt or offended by the way she was treated. It’s obvious that this is
not just a matter of evidence and logic but there are very strong emotional conflicts
at work.
“Cognitive dissonance” is a powerful psychological force and surprisingly
easy to trigger in certain circumstances. The spiritual aspects of this are not
to be taken lightly, and play an ever larger role than psychology. You never know
how your words or actions will challenge a person. They are living through a string
of circumstances we know little about and then we walk up and say things like, “Do
you trust Jesus as your personal Lord and savior?” or “Face it, the
Bible says the earth is only 6,000 years old!” Depending on the moment, they
might react in all sorts of ways. Sometimes our words fall like a lead balloon.
Sometimes—Shazaam!— they get hit with a lightning bolt. But even then,
the lightning might be enlightening or just plain uncomfortable.
our sincere desire is to see the authority of the Bible being upheld, and to see
people putting their faith in our Saviour Jesus Christ
We battle not against flesh and blood. We are ambassadors of a Greater Power. And
we know not what we do! We are not completely in the world, and therefore we do
not completely operate by the world’s rules. Things happen that cannot be
accounted for because 1) the enemy knows us and resists God working through us,
and 2) the system is gamed in our favor by the Creator of that system (making #1
a moot point). There is not much left in this old world to shock and surprise me.
I don’t feel like a puppet, but I do know that I am being used for purposes
I cannot fathom.
Editors: One of those purposes is not to “stir up
division” between Christians over the age of the earth. Rather, our sincere
desire is to see the authority of the Bible being upheld, and to see people putting
their faith in our Saviour Jesus Christ, and to see them grow as Christians and
be effective in helping fulfil the Great Commission.
As one CMI speaker has said recently “I’m so happy when I can get past
the issue of Creation/evolution and the age of the earth, and on to the real task
of encouraging people to trust in the authority of the Bible, and begin applying
it, with confidence, to all of our lives.”
A reader’s commentG B., Canada, 9 April 2009
Good article, and nice to take a candid peek into the mind of some of your contributors. I can relate somewhat, as I remember the strong dichotomy many years ago of a strong biblical faith, yet the feeling I had to hold that faith over against ‘facts’ of evolution and geology. It took a lot of thought and study (from both sides, including eg. talk.origins when usenet was young) to get to the understanding that these are not facts, but interpretations of data, and that there is a very credible worldview which takes the same data and discusses them in a well-thought-out coherent framework based on and consistent with the creation account as found in Genesis.
To get to that stage I had to get past some rather unconvincing creationist ‘propaganda’ (see your articles on Arguments creationists should NOT use) and some in depth articles which explained radiometric dating, ice core layers, and some other things presented as ‘facts’ which seemed to me earlier somewhat incongruous with the God of order and truth I confessed.
Patience may be the best approach for this person to take with their Christian family. |
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