Re: United Methodist Minister not happy about new policy

"Rodjk #613" <rjkardo@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:436a9885-7bb3-47d0-9ebd-0304e74c4965@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Aug 30, 6:38 pm, Kid_Ego <kidego...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Aug 30, 12:04 pm, Jablair <jablai...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:



http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080830/FEA...

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I am responding to the story about the local layman, Al Kuelling,
unfortunately changing our denomination?s policy to say basically that
the theory of evolution is not in conflict with theology. As a United
Methodist pastor who was a former high school biology teacher, I think
I can speak to this issue to help bring clarity.

Let me say that Christian theology is not in conflict with real
science. However, Christian theology is definitely in conflict with
the theory of evolution. In fact, the theory of evolution is in
conflict with real science.

First, let us look at the definition of evolution. Evolution simply
means change. Now if we are talking about developmental change, such
as an infant growing into an adult or variety within a species such as
the different varieties of dogs or different colors of roses, this is
completely consistent with Scripture.

However, the prevailing theory of evolution goes far beyond this. It
says that simple chemicals by chance association become more complex
and turned into living organisms that eventually turned into people.

The theory of evolution is less of a scientific theory and more of a
philosophy about the origins of life and the meaning of humanity. The
Bible everywhere declares that God is the creator of the heavens and
the earth and everything in it. (Acts 17:24)

Second, the theory of evolution is at variance with the laws of
genuine science. Let us examine some of them.

The first law of thermodynamics says ?that matter can neither be
created or destroyed.? That leads us to the question, where did all of
this matter come from? The evolutionist must reason that matter
created itself. The Christian by faith accepts divine revelation ?all
things were made through him.? (John 1:3)

The second law of thermodynamics says basically that everything tends
to run down. This scientific law is an observation of the obvious.
Things grow old, run down and eventually die or decay. They lose their
structure. Yet the theory of evolution says that things develop their
complexity and structure over time. How much time is needed for the
chance formation of even the simplest living organism? The science of
probability in mathematics shows that the odds are against the chance
formation of even the simplest organic molecules. It would be like a
tornado sweeping through a junkyard and producing a 747 jumbo jet, and
even if it formed, it would tend to fall apart.

Does life come from non-life? People used to believe in a theory
called spontaneous generation. They thought that flies came from
rotten meat and that rats came from garbage. Louis Pasteur, a fine
Christian man and probably the greatest biologist of all time, showed
us through his experiments that flies lay their eggs in rotten meat
and rats are attracted to garbage. Life arises only from life. Yet
evolutionists tell us that life spontaneously arose from non-living
chemicals in some ancient area.

Are mutations beneficial? Evolution teaches that over time changes in
gene structure or mutations are beneficial to the organism, while
nature shows more than 99 percent of all variations are harmful to the
organism. The theory of evolution contradicts observable phenomena.

Are there transitional forms? Darwin himself said there should be many
transitional forms at least in the fossil record. Yet there are huge
gaps in the fossil record between fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds,
mammals, etc. If evolution were true, there should be millions and
billions of transitional forms in the fossil record. Guess what? After
200 years of evolutionary teaching, they have never even found one
transitional form in nature or in the fossil record. Instead what we
find in nature and in the fossil record is just what the Bible says.
Each animal and plant is there after its own kind with no crossing of
the kinds.

How many of us learned in our textbooks that people evolved from
monkeys? Well, guess what? All of that has been proved false. All of
the so-called ape-men were shown to be false conclusions or forgeries..

The theory of evolution not only contradicts Christian theology, it
also contradicts real science. Both the theory of evolution and the
theory of special creation are faith assumptions, and on the basis of
the evidence one must choose one or the other. I choose Genesis 1:1:
?In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.? There are so
many problems with the evolutionary theory that many good scientists
and philosophers now consider it an inadequate theory.
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Just because one teaches biology does not mean they have a degree in
biology. One can teach a subject as long as they have a few credits in
that area not necessarily a degree. Just look at the fraudster Kent
Hovind! HTH.

According to the info at the bottom of the page, he does have a degree
in Biology:

The Rev. David Ballinger is a pastor at Trinity United Methodist
Church in Huntington. He is an ordained elder in the United Methodist
Church and holds a master of divinity degree from Asbury Theological
Seminary and a bachelor?s degree with a double major in biology. If
you want to submit a column (750 words or less), send it to Rhea
Edmonds, The Journal Gazette, 600 W. Main St., Fort Wayne, IN 46802;
fax 461-8893; or e-mail redmonds@xxxxxxx Please include your name,
religious organization and a phone number where you can be reached.
For more information, call 461-8728.

I do find it interesting that to contribute an article, you should
list your 'religious organization'.

Rodjk #613
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Re: our Fort Wayne rev:

Is that Bachelor's degree also from the theological seminary? [no] Or is
there some subtext here? How can you have a "double major" in biology?
[are double majors an American terminology?] And learn so little in the
process?

I checked their web site--no biology, so he must have take his degree
somewhere else--I'd like to know where.

--
Mike Dworetsky

(Remove pants sp*mbl*ck to reply)

.

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