Further to my post from yesterday, I did apologize. What I apologized for was my lack of civility in interrupting my host. There is no precedent for theological debate or discussion in the group, let alone when someone is sharing a devotion. Whether the speaker's thoughts were mindless drivel, erudite scholarship, or something in between, challenging him at that point was tactless.
I believe his hermeneutical starting point is fatuous, if not dangerous. The future well-being of individual believers generally and that of the Church in North America specifically are jeopardized by teachings that start from a position which lacks knowledge.
This is not to say people who hold such positions are stupid. Young Earth advocates simply lack information and refuse to accept it because their faith cannot accommodate what God has given humans the ability to learn about the universe that He created. They do not have room within their faith constructs for such a large God. Yet scripture is full of encouragement to gain knowledge and understanding. All truth is God's truth and we need not fear it.
The Young Earth hermeneutical starting point creates a barrier to spreading the Gospel. People who are knowledgable about the scientific realities humanity has uncovered will never be interested in joining an apparently mindless organization. The Church becomes nothing more than a backward sub-culture, along the lines of the Amish communities that have a negligible impact upon society, rather than the world-changing counter-culture Jesus left in the care of his disciples. I admire such faith for its apparent strength, yet pity it for its calcified, dogmatic outlook.
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