Having a great conversation with someone can be wonderfully satisfying. Newlyweds enjoy this. College students thrive on it. No one wants to be involved in uncomfortable conversations, like students with teachers, or workers with bosses. There are one-way conversations, which are tiresome, and there are conversations that generate a lot of talk without ever getting down to what's really important.
My friend Tim Dudley at New Leaf Publishing, where many of Henry Morris' books were published, is facilitating conversations about the Bible and science at his Creation Conversations website. Others who honor the Lord as Creator hold similar conversations as a means to encourage and edify believers in truth.
Much of the Internet is now geared around conversation. Facebook facilitates millions of conversations every day. Blogging has become a form of conversation, often characterized by ill-mannered speech, ad hominem attacks, and freedom from the constraints of journalistic discretion. Evolutionary biologist P. Z. Meyers every day on his "science" blog stirs up angry responses from like-minded followers who routinely throw insults and threats at creationists and Christians. Civil conversation or dangerous discourse?
Of course, we expect anti-Christians to spew insults at believers. What we don't expect is evangelical leaders to communicate errant views of Scripture through public conversations, such as the BioLogos Foundation is doing. While promoting their affirmation of the inspiration of Scripture, the scientists and theologians at BioLogos believe that the Bible contains errors, that God did not mean what He said in the text of Scripture, that evolution is a fact and biblical creation is a fallacy, that Adam and Eve were not historical humans, that the Fall may not have actually occurred…and the list goes on. They disseminate these aberrant ideas through what they call "conversations" about issues of science and faith--the forum of BioLogos that features the blogging of the experts and the endless back-and-forth commentary of the readers. Civil conversation or dangerous discourse?
Civil? To a certain degree. Dangerous? Absolutely. Men and women who claim expert status in the Church casting doubts on the Bible--this is dangerous conversation that preys on the uninitiated Christian in the pew. Let's be clear. Do you want your children to be subjected to "Bible curriculum" authored by a theologian who doesn't believe that Adam and Eve really existed or who suggests the Bible has errors? Absolutely not! With the Bible as your source of truth and the Holy Spirit as your guide, engage in conversations that unquestionably honor Jesus as Creator and His Word as authentic, accurate, and absolutely authoritative.
Acts & Facts and the various communication arms of the Institute for Creation Research are not intended to be forums for "conversation" to dispense doubts about the Bible or to dance around the truth, as many in this debate prefer to do. Our passion and purpose is to study the Scriptures and the sciences in humble respect for the text of the Bible and for God our Creator, acknowledging that the wisdom of man is but foolishness to God--He holds all the mysteries of life.
Read this issue of Acts & Facts thoroughly, with your Bible by your side, and prayerfully commit yourself to the study and communication of His truth.
* Mr. Ford is Executive Editor at the Institute for Creation Research.
Cite this article: Ford, L. 2010. Civil Conversation or Dangerous Discourse? Acts & Facts. 39 (9): 3.
