Denying creation = denying the faith
February 12, 2012 7 Comments
The Apostles’ Creed is, in my opinion, a lowest common denominator confession of the Christian faith. Subscribing to it doesn’t necessarily mean one is a Christian, but denying any point certainly puts one outside of the faith.
The Apostles’ Creed states that God is creator of heaven and earth.
Deny what the Bible teaches about creation and you have placed yourself outside the faith.
What I find really strange these days is that a professing Christian will get more grief for stating the obvious (which I did above) than for denying the Apostles’ Creed. To be sure, such denials are usually cloaked in scientific jargon which does nothing to change the fact that they still express unbelief.
O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called “knowledge” – which some have professed and thus gone astray from the faith. (1 Timothy 6:20-21 NASB)
About Stan McCullars
Do you ever wonder how anyone can devote his entire existence to the study of some aspect of creation and not end up convinced of at least God’s existence?
To be sure, such denials are usually cloaked in scientific jargon which does nothing to change the fact that they still express unbelief.
A particularly distressing aspect of this for me is that this denial is taught so prevalently in the public school system, thereby causing impressionable children to trip over the stumbling block of “evolution”. Even those who are believers can become seriously confused about how to fuse Scripture with whatever official view the scientific community has currently latched onto.
I don’t typically think of mockery as a form of persecution…but it is. And it is a little unnerving to realize how hard it is for me to accept that westernized Christians who cling to “God created…” ought to expect to be called backward or stupid by those who place more faith in man’s ability to comprehend creation than in God’s written revelation to us.
Well said my friend.
Another aspect of this whole thing is that Jesus’ sheep will hear his voice. And what does his voice say?
And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2Pe 1:19-21 ESV)
And again:
And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. (2Pe 3:15-16 ESV)
This is what troubles me so much with Piper, Keller, C.S. Lewis and their aberrant teaching on the subject. Keller and Lewis teach/taught the heresy of theistic evolution and Piper teaches silliness that distorts the gospel. There are so many that teach these things and it cracks the foundation of the gospel at best.
I know next to nothing about Lewis.
Keller, while generally solid can get rather timid when challenged. I’m not sure if he has made his position known. Piper, I believe, is solid with the exception of his thoughts on gifts which can be a bit silly. I don’t think either man distorts the gospel.
I am curious to know your thoughts on young earth creation?
I agree with the plain, untwisted reading of Genesis 1, namely that the creation took place in six literal 24 hour days.
I should add that by “untwisted” I don’t mean to suggest that ALL people who hold to an old earth are twisted, although some of them certainly are. I simply mean that to arrive at a six day (of the literal 24 hour variety) creation doesn’t require one to perform linguistic and interpretive gymnastics.