Yesterday C. Michael Patton wrote on John MacArthur on the “lie” of Evolution. Here is an excerpt:
Quote:
“The evolutionary lie is so pointedly antithetical to Christian truth that it would seem unthinkable for evangelical Christians to compromise with evolutionary science in any degree. But during the past century and a half of evolutionary propaganda, evolutionists have had remarkable success in getting evangelicals to meet them halfway. Remarkably, many modern evangelicals . . . have already been convinced that the Genesis account of creation is not a true historical record. Thus they have not only capitulated to evolutionary doctrine at its starting point, but they have also embraced a view that undermines the authority of Scripture at its starting point.” (from “The Battle for the Beginning“).
There was a time, ten or twenty years ago, when I would have taken the bait and swallowed this hook, line, and sinker. Today I won’t. Not because I am now convinced about a God-guided theory of evolution, but because I just don’t know. I am not confused or disturbed about the issue, nor does it put any of my faith in jeopardy in any way. I just don’t know whether or not God used evolution as a means to create humanity. Neither do I know how long it took to create the earth. I don’t know if Genesis 1 is meant to be taken literally, metaphorically, symbolically, ideologically, mythologically, or accommodatingly. I simply believe that when it is interpreted rightly, it is true.
But I don’t think that it is here we find the central battle for our faith. I believe that there are more important issues. Much more important issues.
Either way, the gauntlet is going to continue to fall and Christians who believe in evolution are going to continually be accused of compromise. Maybe they have compromised; I don’t know. But to me, it only makes a difference when people push for it to make a difference.
End quote.
Not only is this assinine, its completely against Scripture. What's to not know? God has told us how He created: by HIS Word, and immediately things came into being. He told how how long it took: six days. So simple children understand and believe.
Rev 4:11 "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created."
Gen 1:3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.
Gen 2:7 then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
Heb 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
Psa 33:6 By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
Psa 148:4 Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens! 5 Let them praise the name of the LORD! For he commanded and they were created.
Heb 1:2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
Joh 1:3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Isa 45:12 I made the earth and created man on it; it was my hands that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host.
Belief in the Literal Six Day Creation as Genesis clearly says, IS of eternal importance for a few reasons:
* God said He created in six literal days and that's enough to believe it.
* To deny the above IS to sit in the seat of scoffers (Ps. 1:1-2) and say what the Serpent said, "Hath God said?"
* Hebrews 1:3 lists FIRST SLDC (six literal day creation) as the object of our faith.
* Deny SLDC leads to denial of a real Fall, historical Adam and Eve, Justification, Total Depravity, and therefore Salvation.
For one who doesn't know things, Patton sure says alot. He reminds me of Joel Osteen who kept saying "I don't know" in his interview with Larry King a few years ago. For men who teach, they sure don't know much.
This isn't surprising, considering Patton has already declared war on the Word in doubting Its inerrancy (clearly his thinking is VERY Post-Modern and even tries to redefine "inerrancy" accordingly). He promotes that there's a DANGER to holding to the inerrancy of Scripture. So with this war started, he now battles against Genesis' account of Creation.
Scripture says those in Christ do know the Truth, for God's Word is Truth, Jesus is Truth, and we have the Spirit of Truth Who will lead us into all truth.
Patton's (and others') feigned ignorance reeks of arrogance against God's clear Word. Moreover, ignorance isn't a virtue. Besides being accountable for knowing Truth (for we are saved by the Word of Truth, that is, the Gospel--James 1:18), God also says:
Eph 5:17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
1Jo 2:21 I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because NO LIE IS OF THE TRUTH.
2 Thes. 2: 13 But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit AND THROUGH BELIEF in the TRUTH. 14 He called you to THIS THROUGH OUR GOSPEL , that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. (caps for emphasis by me)
Joh 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Joh 8:30 As he was saying these things, many believed in him. 31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
In addition to all of this, Scripture commands us to not be conformed to the THINKING of the world, nor hold to the philosophies of the age, which Evolution and Post-Modern thinking is.
Psa 1:1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
Col 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.
1Co 2:14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. [Remember what Faith is and what we place our faith in, in Heb. 11:1-3?]
2Co 10:5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,
Biblical Truth trumps EVERYTHING including science. Patton seems to be swayed by popular "scientific" theories instead of the sound, faithful Word of God, you know, the Word that proceeded from the mouth of God our Creator. Wouldn't that trump spiritually dead, philosophized God-hater's presuppositions and their religion of science? In fact that's what Patton and others like himself have done: traded the religion of science for the Truth of God's Word.
Instead of trying to intergrate humanistic God-hating philosophy like evolution with the Bible (remember no LIE is of the Truth, and once you add lies to truth you no longer have truth--a little leaven example), Patton ought to go to a solid ministry like Institute for Creation Research, which holds Scripture above even science:
Taking God at His Word by Lawrence Ford (Ford, L. E. 2009. Taking God at His Word. Acts & Facts. 38 (4): 3. ) :
"Please open your Bibles to Genesis chapter one." With this, Dr. John MacArthur opened the 2009 Shepherds' Conference. For the next hour, he told nearly 3,200 church leaders that no self-respecting pastor, evangelical, or Christian should attempt to deny that God created the heavens and earth in six literal days. Those who have difficulty believing the historical account of Genesis, he warned, will have much more difficulty trusting the rest of the Bible and its accounts of the virgin birth, Christ's atonement for our sins, and the resurrection of the dead, all miracles that cannot--that must not--be subjected to the reasoning of finite men.
End quote.
And in this article:Anchors Away? Confronting biblical drift among today's evangelicals by Lawrence Ford (Ford, L. 2009. Anchors Away? Acts & Facts. 38 (3): 4.)
Quote:
Those who claim that God sparked the Big Bang, that "evening and morning" in Genesis 1 really represent millions and billions of years, that there were too many events on "Day 6" for God to have accomplished them in 24 hours, etc., exalt the science of men over the Word of God. It's a drift from orthodoxy. And ICR is concerned about this in two fundamental areas.
First, the "science" of those who refuse to take God at His Word, opting rather to trust in naturalistically-based theories, is fundamentally flawed. And second, these same leaders suggest that God does not mean what He said; evidently, only Ph.D. scientists can interpret the Bible correctly. Both issues contribute to a growing lack of confidence in the Bible, as the young Bible college student I met illustrates.
End quote.
Dangerous Turn Ahead: Traveling down the road to compromise by Henry Morris, Ph.D.: (Morris, H. M. 2009. Dangerous Turn Ahead: Traveling down the road to compromise. Acts & Facts. 38 (6): 4.)
Genesis 1:1 states, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." This is the first and foremost apologetic. If a person stumbles on this one profound truth, a lifetime of doubt and confusion lies ahead for him, full of uncertainty about the ultimate purpose for being alive. But when a Christian attempts to alter this ultimate statement of reality to fit the compromising philosophies of men--even scientifically-trained professionals--then woe to him for his unbelief and, even graver still, for teaching others that unbelief. The following article by the late Dr. Henry Morris, published some years back, contains a timeless warning about the failure of Christian scientists who compromise the truth. Today, the names of Christian leaders who advocate compromise in the Genesis record are different, but the precipice on which they stand is just as dangerous. -- Lawrence Ford, Executive Editor
The road of compromise looks attractive at first, but long experience has proved it to be a one-way street. The evolutionists at the end of the road are never satisfied until their opponents travel all the way to the atheistic void at its end.
Charles Darwin set the pattern. Starting out as a Bible-believing creationist, he first became enamored of Charles Lyell's uniformitarianism and his "progressive creationism." Soon he abandoned the Bible and creationism altogether, moving on into the domain of theistic evolutionism. Eventually he became an agnostic and finally an atheist.
A good modern example is found in the writings of Davis Young. As a beginning graduate student, Dr. Young originally believed in a literal six-day creation and flood geology. Under the guidance of his Princeton professors, however, he converted to "progressive creationism" and the venerable "day-age theory" of Genesis. This position he strongly advocated in two influential books.4, 5 He did acknowledge, however, that the "natural" interpretation of Genesis, as well as the teaching of the early Christians and the Protestant reformers, was the literal interpretation. He had simply decided this had to be abandoned because of its supposed geological difficulties.
End quote.
When someone denies the clarity, inerrancy, and authority of God's Word, why would anyone listen to anything he has to say about God, theology, or Scripture? He's just ripped out the only authority he had on which to speak about spiritual things. He has reviled God's Word...let him now be shunned.
For a Christian to mouth the words of Satan, "Hath God said?" in the name of "knowledge" (how ironic, since the temptation by Satan was to eat from the Tree of KNOWLEDGE of Good and Evil), is an absolute treason. Rather than proclaim the truth of Jesus Christ, Patton and others like him, dismiss Him and join in the chorus of God-haters against Truth. The enemy is within the churches, folks.
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