There must come a point we do something about that.
WE? How about trusting God to provide datapoints we don’t have. That’s happened over and over in the creation science movement. Right when it looked like the YECs didn’t have a case, an immense breakthrough occurred.
2 Kings 4:27
and the LORD has hid it from me and has not revealed it to me
Trying to pound scripture and hermaneutics into the church goers – it works for some, and drives out the very people whom God has gifted to do research and solve some of the problems.
John Sanford, for example, after becoming a Christian at age 39, was a Theistic Evolutionist for almost 10 years before becoming a YEC/YCC/YLC. He went from athiest, to Christian, to Old Earth Creationist, to Young Earth Creationist. Getting rid of Old Earther’s or Theistic Evolutionists out of the church isn’t the solution, imho. Giving them the space and grace to ask questions, to think about things, to let God work in their lives while they are welcomed in Christ’s fellowship is the answer. Demonizing them, trying to purge them out of the church unless they accept YEC/YCC isn’t the solution.
I was a Theistic Evolutionist for a short time and Old Earth Creationist for a long time. I can tell you, the crusading attitude of YECs did more harm to my conversion to YEC than it helped. The video that started this thread with Paul Price shows exactly the sort of thing that turned me off to YEC.
Ironically, what changed my mind was actually studying physics, and studying it HARD with some very smart classmates and professors. I crawled, but it was after this I saw YEC/YCC was promising. Seeing someone build 100 milliion dollar amusement parks and claiming this is will help people’s faith in YEC? Not for me. That’s like taking them to Disney land and building someone’s faith in Mickey Mouse.
On the other hand, I’ve seen many YEC physicists like John Hartnett and Russ Humphreys honorably say some their previous solutions to the distant starlight problems were WRONG. I found that far more trustworthy behavior than going around trying to do thought-policing in the church.
There are disputes in the church regarding baptism, predestination, gifts of the spirit, eschatology, etc. etc. and for a while even GeoCentrism!
Several Old Earth Creationist and even a few Theisitic Evolutionists did a lot to restore me to faith when I nearly left it. They did more for me, even though I now believe they are mistaken, than Answers In Genesis and a 100 million dollar amusement park. Though I now oppose Hugh Ross’s views of the age of the universe, I personally thanked him a couple of years ago when he visited University of Maryland, because of his organization’s work on criticism of Abiogenesis. Same for Stephen Meyer (who is an old Earth Creationist).
And if I can relate a very sad story of Biology Professor Caroline Crocker at my undergrad alma mater, George Mason University. She is an Old Earther but a devout Christian. She lost her job because of her pro-ID views. The martyrdom of her promising career as an immunology researcher inspired me to fight what I felt is the real problem, the idea that Abiogenesis and Evolutionary theory are good scientific theories. They are not, even Jerry Coyne, and to a degree Eugene Koonin (on abiogenesis) admit as much, and they are top evolutionary biologists.
Dr. Crocker’s courage, inspired me to fight evolutionary and abiogenesis theory. But for YEC to be doing some sort of witch hunt against people like Old Earther Caroline Crocker? Not for me, and I’ll stand at her side as I did when the Darwinists kicked her out of George Mason University.
So my suggested solution, admit when God hasn’t given us the data points to make a convincing case, but don’t on the other hand start biting and devour other Christians as if they’re some sort of cancer on Christianity because they believe the Universe is Old. Nowhere in the Bible are such mistakes (and I believe they are mistakes) to be treated as if they were guilty of crimes worthy of ex-communication or labeling as apostates.
Personally, I found far more offensive is a creationist back stabbing CMI for financial gain and then not being called into account, or a YEC getting caught preaching morality and a clean life on Sunday and then hiring male prostitutes and getting high on meth in his private life – being an Old Earther is not a moral deficiency – that was Ted Haggard.