.JPG)
For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Acts 20:29-30
O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: I Timothy 6:20
Ambrose University in Calgary, Alberta is the denominational school for both the Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada and Church of the Nazarene Canada; it's been heading downward, leftward, and Romeward for years (see the links to my previous posts on Ambrose at the bottom of this post). A new adventure in apostasy for Ambrose is the 2020 edition of Faith, Life and Learning Days; according to their website (bold, links in original):
FAITH, LIFE AND LEARNINGSince I'm suspicious of everything that Ambrose does, it came as no surprise to this blogger to see Dr. Falk's connection with BioLogos, which promotes theistic evolution, i.e., the idea that God created, but did so using evolution. By evolution, they mean macroevolution, the changing of one kind of creature into another kind of creature. I think theistic evolution is worse than "secular" evolution, because it tries to have a foot in both camps. The secular evolutionist believes that God isn't necessary at all in order for evolution to take place, while the believer in creation believes that macroevolution is supported by neither the evidence nor the Bible.
Join us for our Faith, Life and Learning Days on February 12 & 13 as we welcome guest speaker Dr. Darrel Falk* and discuss the topic of faith and science.
Public Lecture: “Evolution, Creation, and the Breath of God" (Airhart Theatre): Wednesday, February 12, 7:30 p.m.
Chapel (Ambrose Gymnasium): Thursday, February 13, 11:15 a.m.
Open Lecture in Dr. Matthew Morris' class “Principles of Evolutionary Biology." (A2212): Thursday, February 13, 2:30 – 3:45 p.m.
*Darrel Falk is Emeritus Professor of Biology at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego where he has been based since 1988. In 2009, he, along with noted geneticist, Francis Collins and others, founded BioLogos, an organization dedicated to showing the compatibility between mainstream science and the Christian faith. Falk, who began his advanced education with one year at Canadian Nazarene College, a predecessor of Ambrose University, earned a doctorate in genetics from the University of Alberta and followed that with postdoctoral fellowships at the University of British Columbia (in the lab of David Suzuki) and the University of California, Irvine. Besides his extensive writing at the BioLogos website, he is the author of Coming to Peace with Science (InterVarsity Press) and, with Dr. Todd Wood, The Fool and the Heretic: How Two Scientists Moved beyond Labels to a Dialog about Creation and Evolution (Zondervan).
The BioLogos blog has a number of posts by Dr. Falk. I glanced at just one--written when he was president of BioLogos--and that was enough to convince me that he is not a sound teacher, and should not be invited to speak at a Christian school. An abridgement (bold, links in original):
BioLogos and the June 2011 “Christianity Today” Cover Story
The cover story of the June issue of Christianity Today, entitled "The Search for the Historical Adam" (the full article can be viewed here), notes that our website The BioLogos Forum has played a prominent role in moving the discussion surrounding the historical Adam forward and cites various blogs and articles that appear on these pages. We are pleased that a matter deemed so important by us is beginning to play a prominent role in the discussion for the Church as a whole.One of the reasons I believe that the account of the serpent in Genesis 3 is true is because the lies spoken by the serpent are the very lies that are believed today. In the case of BioLogos, the relevant lie is the first one: "Yea, hath God said...?" Dr. Falk and the BioLogos crowd are trying to sow doubt and uncertainty where God's word isn't uncertain. Dr. Falk seems to be trying to have it both ways regarding creation (using words in a way that must please Gordon T. Smith, Ambrose's Jesuit-trained president), but it's apparent that whenever the Bible and "science" disagree, he comes down on the side of "science."
As detailed extensively on these pages over the past two years, there is now little doubt that God has created all life forms, including human beings, through an evolutionary process. God could have created in an instant. After all, in the supreme divine act of all time Jesus was raised from the dead—in an instant. However, it now seems certain that this is not the way He chose to create the human body. God’s process was gradual, not instantaneous...
...the data with regard to human creation has been accumulating for 150 years, and the conclusions have been substantiated through a wide variety of scientific disciplines. Astronomy shows that the universe is billions of years old. Geology independently shows that the earth, though a little younger, is also billions of years old. Paleontology poignantly lays out the parade of created life forms and graphically documents the species-changes over hundreds of millions of years. Comparative anatomy and developmental biology show feature after feature in living bodies, each with its distinctive trademark pointing to gradual alteration from that which came before. And, with the sequencing of the human genome, genetics provides the final confirmatory lynch pin. Creation through a gradual process is not a hypothesis that emerges from a peripheral scientific sub-discipline. To show it wrong would involve overturning principles that independently lie at the very core of the findings of most of the natural science disciplines. True, they all together cry out in unison with a loud voice—“Created!” However, they also, in a subtle, but persuasive whisper, add the all-important qualifying phrase—“…slowly and not in an instant!”
The Christianity Today cover story is important because it engages the Church in one of the most important questions of all: was there a historical Adam and Eve? There has been much discussion of this point on these pages and although we strongly encourage ongoing discussion, BioLogos does not take a position on the issue. Denis Alexander, Director of the Faraday Institute and a frequent contributor to the BioLogos conversation says ‘yes’ in this BioLogos article, and Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City affirms it in this one. Denis Lamoureux and Peter Enns believe otherwise and have expressed their views here and here, for example. The scientific data are silent on the possibility of a federal headship—two unique individuals singled out by God from all others to enter into relationship with him and to bear his image. Similarly, science is silent on the veracity of the alternative possibility— that the story of Adam and Eve is not a story of two unique individuals. According to this latter view, the story of Adam and Eve is in a very real sense the story of all humankind—we have all sinned and we are all in need of redemption.
These are theological questions, not scientific ones. Science makes it abundantly clear, we believe, that God has created through an evolutionary process and that there was never a time when there were just two individuals on earth. It goes no further though. Beyond that, we are in a different realm, one deeply steeped in the traditions and creeds of the church, and in theology, biblical scholarship, and philosophy...
...The “Federal Headship” model that accepts the scientific findings while at the same time holding to the historicity of a real first couple has not yet been carefully worked out by theologians...
...The purpose of BioLogos is to show that there can be harmony between mainstream science and evangelical Christianity. We are in complete agreement with Richard Ostling (the author of the aforementioned article) and the Editors of Christianity Today that working through the historicity question is of the utmost importance to the Evangelical Church. Within the framework outlined above, it boils down to theology not science, and we urge the Church to reserve judgment for a while. Let’s keep both possibilities before us. Here’s hoping that some of our greatest theological minds will work on the question of what a model based on “Federal Headship” would look like. Here’s also hoping that some of our finest theologians will continue to work on how the view of a non-historical Adam would address some of the issues that puzzle and concern most evangelicals...
...This is an exciting time for the Church because there is much interesting work to be done. Personally, I reserve judgment and I urge that all of us proceed with caution. Let’s see what emerges. Let’s see what our theologians and philosophers come up with, especially those who hold to a historical Adam and Eve...
Dr. Falk denies that God created instantaneously. However, in Genesis 1 we repeatedly see the words, "And God said, Let...and it was so." He spoke, and it was. He formed the first man from the dust of the ground (Genesis 2:7), and the first woman from a rib of Adam (Genesis 2:21-22). There's no indication from the account in Genesis that this took a long time.
BioLogos itself is more than a little disingenuous when it "does not take a position" on a historical Adam and Eve. To "not take a position" on an issue on which God's word definitely does take a position is in fact to take a position--of unbelief. That Adam and Eve were the first two people and were actual historical figures is taught not only in the Old Testament, but in the New Testament, and was believed and taught by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. To deny that there was a time when there were just two people on Earth is outright unbelief. Dr. Falk, like the organization he's affiliated with, isn't honest enough to come right out and say that he doesn't believe the Bible's account of creation.
The duplicity of the BioLogos crowd and institutions such as Ambrose University that give them a platform offer more evidence of why Christian parents should conduct a careful examination before sending their children to "Christian" colleges and universities. Ambrose should change the name of its event to "Doubt, Apostasy and Disinformation Days."
See my previous posts on Ambrose University:
Why is an Alliance-Nazarene college named after a Roman Catholic saint? (March 2, 2009)
The Ambrose-contemplative connection (March 4, 2009)
Ambrose University College trains Nazarene pastors using materials from a company with ties to Mormonism (March 6, 2009)
Ambrose University College and "Transformation" (March 6, 2009)
The Outhouse (aka The Shack) in God's house (May 5, 2009)
Ambrose Seminary teaches contemplative spirituality in 2009-2010 (February 24, 2010)
Ambrose University College hires Jesuit-educated contemplative spirituality proponent as its new president (May 30, 2012)
Ambrose University College's "Jazz Day" provides evidence of increasing worldliness in evangelical schools (March 5, 2014)
No comments:
Post a Comment