Doc Rock's Chart on Creation/Origination Beliefs

This is my recreation of a chart that I first received from my 9th grade geology teacher, Dr. Roberts. It gives a general sense of the variety of beliefs regarding the origination of the universe on a spectrum from "beliefs derived solely from the Judeo/Christian Bible" to "beliefs derived solely from scientific studies without any acknowledgment of God". There are many more varieties of belief that probably fall between these two extremes, but this covered the basic set of theories as they stood back in the mid-1980's when Doc Rock handed these out to our geology class.

I have also added a pdf version and an Excel spreadsheet version of this same chart if you'd like a downloadable copy.

	< --- Bible only					Science only --- >
Topic	Traditional	Diluvialist/ Flood Geology	Gap	Day-Age	Non-Concordist	Non-Christian
Views on the Bible	Bible is the inspired word of God and contains much science.	Bible is the inspired word of God and contains much science.	Bible is the inspired word of God and contains some science.	Bible is the inspired word of God and contains some science.	Bible is the inspired word of God and contains no science.	The Bible contains little or no science.
Views on Nature	All Nature is the creation of God, God's handiwork.	All Nature is the creation of God, God's handiwork.	All Nature is the creation of God, God's handiwork.	All Nature is the creation of God, God's handiwork.	All Nature is the creation of God, God's handiwork.	Nature originated by natural causes, not from God.
Views on the Age of the Earth	6,000 years old (young Earth)	6,000 years old (young Earth)	billions of years old (old Earth)	billions of years old (old Earth)	billions of years old (old Earth)	billions of years old (old Earth)
Interpretation of Genesis 1:1-3	Earth was created about 6,000 years ago out of nothing in six literal days.	Earth was created about 6,000 years ago out of nothing in six literal days.	Original Creation    -- Destruction --  Re-creation in 6 literal days	The days in the Bible correspond to geologic ages.	Bible gives a "theological" (not scientific) description of creation.	An ancient myth of creation.
"Day" in Genesis	24 hours	24 hours	24 hours	geological eras	geological eras	24 hours
Fossils	were never living things	animals that died in the flood	Fossils are remains of animals and plants that lived in the geologic past.	Fossils are remains of animals and plants that lived in the geologic past.	Fossils are remains of animals and plants that lived in the geologic past.	Fossils are remains of animals and plants that lived in the geologic past.
Sedimentary Rocks	created in the week of creation	the result of the flood	The sedimentary rocks were deposited in ancient seas during the geologic past (during gap).	The sedimentary rocks were deposited in ancient seas during the geologic past (during days).	The sedimentary rocks were deposited in ancient seas during the geologic past.	The sedimentary rocks were deposited in ancient seas during the geologic past.
		Tries to link science and the Bible.	Tries to link science and the Bible.	Tries to link science and the Bible.	Doesn't link science and the Bible.

Attachment: docrockchart
Attachment: docrockschart.pdf

Free to Love

In the movie Happy Feet, there were stern leader penguins who fit the stereotype of  sanctimonious church leaders to a T. In fact, their Scottish accents and the fact that they were referred to as "elders" makes me wonder if the screenwriter hadn't grown up in a stiff Scottish Presbyterian church. The media, even the Christian media, has painted a very clear picture of the problems of arrogant, inflexible leadership. But one of the religious opposites to that uptight, old time religion is the radical, hip young leader. With a shaved head and a soul patch, these cutting edge preachers show that it's not all just about rules. Grace is important, too. In fact, it's so important, that if you don't do grace the way they do grace, then they're going to treat you pretty much just like a sanctimonious church leader would and shun you. I've seen it happen in various denominations, in various locations and among various ages. The theme is the same: I get it and you don't.

John Alexander writes,

"I've been in many places where people were committed to radical discipleship..., and my observation is that in those places we were not lovers of God or of each other. That's what failure is--failure to love God and each other. My conclusion is that confronting people with law, even Jesus' 'law,' doesn't free them to love. Instead, it sets up a dynamic of condemnation and tension and anger and superiority. An understanding of the law (or better, a misunderstanding of law) sets people up to try to straighten others out. to fix each other, whether anyone wants to be fixed or not. When that happens (which is often) live-in churches [which is the type of church Alexander was a part of] explode in fiery holocaust. All in the name of Jesus. ... Oddly enough, none of that frees people to love."

Jesus said that others would see that we are his disciples by our love for one another. He never said people would make the connection due to our understanding of the creeds, or our cool music during services, or by how authentic we are, or how polished, or how well we create a spiritual ambiance. All of those things can be helpful to people depending on their personality types, but they're not the crux of the matter. What shines out of us and lets the world know that we are followers of the Christ is our love for one another. At least, that's what Jesus said. You don't have to be cool to love people better. But you do have to be humble, and caring, and kind. And you do have to practice. And you do have to take time to love others well.

And as we become conduits of God's love, loving those that are different from us as well as those that we "click" with or agree with or feel comfortable around, that in turn frees others to love. That is the gospel in action.

Grace and Love and Sabbath Rest

More quotes from John Alexander's book:

"'Don't be anxious' isn't mostly a command. It's mostly a promise. A promise that God is taking care of us. That is at the heart of everything in the Bible. Not that you must gird yourself up to grind through some costly duty, but that God loves you so much that you're free to stop guarding your rights and to start loving extravagantly."

We fail to "grasp experientially the grace and love of God. Gene Edwards illustrates this beautifully. Imagine a man buying a horseless carriage when they first came out without grasping where the power came from. Suppose he knew he wasn't to use horses any more, but the person who sold him the car forgot to tell him about the ignition. So some days he sits in the carriage and goes nowhere, and other days he gets out and sweats and strains to pull the carriage himself. This is the Christian life if we don't grasp that we have died and Christ is the power, Christ the one who lives our life through us. We really can't do it. So we either sit around in our magnificent theology going nowhere, or we strive to be good Christians with tragic failure after tragic failure. We don't quite grasp that our power, the ignition switch, the driving force of our lives, is the love of God in Jesus. But that doesn't mean we do nothing, that we sit in the horseless carriage without moving. No, it means we zip around on the love of God."

"...Sabbath rest is little more than an embodiment of salvation by faith. At least, that's the way it seems to me."

"Sabbath is about God being in control of the whole universe and lovingly holding his people in the palm of his hand."

Trafficking and Slavery (via Cat)

Cat is a friend of mine in San Francisco and she posted a couple of articles today about trafficking in her own back yard. The first post is more personal. The second gives some good suggestions on what we can do to help combat trafficking and slavery in the world today. I recommend them both.

heavy heart

What we can do about Human Trafficking

Keeping Christ's Mass in Christmas

I've seen a lot of billboards around town that say,"Keep Christ in Christmas." They all seem to be sponsored by the Knights of Columbus, so I assume this is a nationwide campaign.

I think it's fine to want to celebrate a Christmas that is Christ-focused. But what grabs my attention on these billboards is not what they say, but what they don't say.

Christmas is short for Christ's Mass. The Mass is a Roman Catholic liturgical celebration. So is the implication in these bulletin boards that the Catholic mass should also be kept? I'm sure the Knights of Columbus would reply to that with a resounding "Yes!" as they're one of the largest Catholic fraternal service organizations in the world. But what about all the people who echo the "Keep Christ in Christmas" phrase?

Back in 2005, Christmas fell on a Sunday. What a perfect time for Christ and Mass to collide. And yet the New York Times reported that many megachurches (which tend to be Protestant, so we're really talking about "services" rather than "masses") canceled their Sunday morning events. (Here's the NY Times article or if you can't view that, try this repost.)

What's my point? I think it's just that this is a band-wagon and people love to jump on it without thinking through what it means. Shall we celebrate the Christmas holiday (Christ's Mass Holy Day) as Catholics - with a midnight mass which we attend in reverence and probably also a sense of obligation? Or is this rather a phrase to be used as a weapon of the culture wars, more for bludgeoning others than anything else?

I'm not a big fan of religious bandwagoning. I'm all for jumping on the Doctor's bandwagon ("Bow ties are cool.") or a viral bandwagon (Chanukah with the Maccabeats) or perhaps even a technological bandwagon (Kindle vs. iPad). But God is not a bandwagon, and I don't believe the birthday of Jesus is a divinely sanctioned time to bludgeon others with words. If a non-Christian celebrates a time of Santa and evergreens and lights, what is that to me? They're not making a religious claim by that, so why should I respond with a religious polemic? On the other hand, it seems like a far more interesting and meaningful discussion to approach "Christ in Christmas" Christians and discuss the intersection of the birth of Christ with pagan rituals involving trees and garland or corporations' co-opted version of Saint Nicholas. If you're going to push the Christ back into Christ's Mass, then why celebrate with the non-religious trappings of the holiday rather than with... well, a Mass?

... because for some people, this is what it's all about.

North Point's iBand

Happy Chanukah (with a song from The Maccabeats)