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A Conversation About Origins

Stirring the Pot

Evolution. Intelligent design. Young earth creationism.

These phrases represent theories pertaining to the origins of life on earth. And they all stir up their share of controversy.

I'd like us to consider this question of origins. How did life get to be how it is here on earth? Has it evolved, over eons of time, via this process we call evolution? Did God create everything — every plant and animal species, every natural process — a few millennia ago, without using evolution? Or was it some combination of the two — did God create everything billions of years ago, and set in place the processes that would lead to life as we now see it?

Here on TrueU we've talked plenty about the whole evolution/creation thing. We've gone back and forth about which position is the right one. We've even discussed whether or not the whole debate is a "salvation issue."

Well, I'd like to stir the pot again.

An Open Dialogue

For this installment of the Truth Lab, I'd like you to check out a few entries on a blog written by Dr. Del Tackett, a professor at the Focus on the Family Institute and founder of Focus on the Family's "The Truth Project." A while back he posted about the movie Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, starring Ben Stein (you know, the man who plays the boring economics teacher in the 1980s classic Ferris Bueller's Day Off: "Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?").

Dr. Tackett encourages people to go see the movie (I would too), and then discusses the "deep hostility that exists in science and academia toward those who dare raise problematic issues with evolutionary theory ..."

One of the respondents to Dr. Tackett's post is a man named Rich, who happens to be an engineer with the American Scientific Association, a "fellowship of men and women of science and disciplines that can relate to science who share a common fidelity to the Word of God and a commitment to integrity in the practice of science." Rich disagrees with Dr. Tackett's take on the film, and says the following:

What is desperately needed is people who are truly dedicated to the truth and not just promoting "their side." Believers in science are caught in the middle and while you think you are doing us a favor, you are not.

Interesting words, to be sure. Dr. Tackett asks Rich if he would engage in a dialogue about intelligent design and evolution. Rich agrees.

For this installment of the Truth Lab, I'd like you to take a look at their discussion, and then come back here to TrueU and let us know that you think of their ideas and their dialogue.

So, here's what I'd like you to do:

1. Read Dr. Tackett's initial post, entitled "The Debut of Expelled." (Be sure to scroll down to Rich's initial comment, which he posted at 7:08 p.m. on May 7th, 2008).


2. Take a look at Dr. Tackett's initial response to Rich.


3. Check out the conversation between Rich and Dr. Tackett, a blog post entitled "An Open Dialogue with Rich." You'll want to read the comments on this one — that's where the "dialogue" happens.

As you read these exchanges, I'd like you to pay particular attention to two things. The first is the civility with which these two men — two brothers in Christ — discuss a topic on which they so heartily disagree. John 13:35 says, "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (NIV). I wonder how many people have been pushed away from the faith by Christians who find it easier to be right than to be loving. I like what Rich has to say in his initial comment on "An Open Dialogue with Rich": "It is far better to lose an argument than to lose a brother." Though winning an argument doesn't necessarily mean we'll lose that brother, we should always be sensitive to others' hearts.

Secondly, I'd like to highlight one of Dr. Tackett's last comments. He says that "we have a tendency to see what we want to see. This is true for believers as well as unbelievers, and we need to be aware of it." How true. Too often we humans believe something simply because it's what we've been told. Instead, we need to heed the example of the Bereans, who "searched out" everything they were told to determine if it was true. Be sure you do your own searching.

Tackle the Sticky Ones

C O F F E E  S H O P

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What do you think of Dr. Tackett's conversation?

Join the discussion!

Well, there you have it. Clearly, the origins of the universe is a sticky subject. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't tackle it.

Indeed, I think we should.