The Heresy of an Older Planet?

Should believers who need to grow further in their understanding of the Old Earth/New Earth controversy be put up on charges at a heresy trial?  When we look at the basics of the faith, we have a grand heritage to draw from.  Historic creeds, confessions and catechisms.  For example, consider the Apostle's Creed:

 

I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth;

And in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord,

Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,

born of the Virgin Mary,

Suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, dead, and buried.

He descended into hell;

The third day he rose again from the dead;

He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;

From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost;

I believe in the holy catholic church, the communion of saints;

The forgiveness of sin;

The resurrection of the body:

And the life everlasting. Amen.

 

Note that God's role as Creator is brought forth at the very beginning, but the exact dating of t₀ is not provided.

 

Francis Schaeffer* spoke of the "heart of the Christian faith" and includes three truths: authority of the Bible, Christ's deity and the real meaning of salvation.  He went on to give a positive affirmation of the series of books known as The Fundamentals published from 1910 to 1915 which had such authors as B.B. Warfield & G. Campbell Morgan.[1]  These writings did not set a date for Creation Week.  Instead, they made the case for these Bible basics:

 

•   Inspiration of the Bible
•   Inerrancy of the Scripture
•   Deity of Christ
•   Virgin birth of Christ
•   Substitutionary atonement
•   Literal resurrection of Jesus
•   A literal return of Christ

 

I have documented elsewhere that Schaeffer belongs more so in the camp that take Genesis as true history than those who mix the first two chapter of the Bible with Deep Time.

 

According to Matt Slick (Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry, CARM), "A heretic denies an essential Christian belief and asserts some error in its place."  That of course bring up the query, "What are those key doctrines?"  Matt gives us this list:

 

• The Deity of Christ
• Salvation by Grace
• The Resurrection of Christ
• The Gospel
• Monotheism
• Jesus is the only way to salvation
• Jesus' virgin birth
• Doctrine of the Trinity

 

Nothing in here about an Earth that's around six millennia old.

 

Erwin Lutzer (Hitler's Cross) summarizes the Gospel around six key points:

 

•   God is holy (Lev. 11:44)
•   Jesus is God in the flesh (1 Jn. 4:1-3, Heb. 1:8)
•   Substitutionary Atonement (1 Peter 3:18)
•   We are sinners by nature & choice (Eph. 2:1)
•   Salvation is by faith alone (Rom. 3:28)
•   Assurance of Salvation (1 Jn. 5:11-13).[2]

 

Although I have a high admiration for Lutzer's writing and radio ministry, I must sadly admit that he does hold to the traditional reading of Genesis as implying a young world:

 

... the earth was not created in 4004 BC as the study notes in one Bible affirm. Many of us hold to a "young earth," but since the Bible does not tell us when God created the heavens and the earth, we must respect those who believe that the earth is much older than some creationists have believed.[3]

 

We read this in 2 Peter 2:1, "But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them …"

 Robert Bowman, writing in Orthodoxy and Heresy, tags heresy as “a teaching which directly opposes the essentials of the Christian faith, so that true Christians must divide themselves from those who hold it.”[4]  I would call rejection of a young earth as errant teaching and would label it an Old Earth Fallacy (OEF), but I would not call it heresy.  I am willing to dialog/debate my brothers and sisters in Christ on the age-of-the-earth controversy in order to improve our mutual understanding.  A few months ago I bought a book advocating Deep Time from a Christian view with respect to the Grand Canyon.  I want to represent the other side respectfully.  I have written two book documenting a young earth from history and science:

 

   Is a Young Earth Possible?

   YES - Young Earth Science

 

You can find my biblical argument you a recent creation here.

Let me know what you think:  ned_oa_1657@yahoo.com

 

 

Notes:

1) Complete Works of Francis Schaeffer by Francis Schaeffer (Crossway, Wheaton, IL, 1982), Vol. 4, p. 349.

2) Who are You to Judge? by Erwin Lutzer (Moody Pub., Chicago, 2002), pp. 69-72.

3) 7 Reasons Why You Can Trust The Bible by Erwin Lutzer (Moody Pub., Chicago, 2015) p. 160.

4) Who are You to Judge? by Erwin Lutzer (Moody Pub., Chicago, 2002), pp. 65, 66.

 

* we named our son after Francis Schaeffer

Kudos:  special thanks to Justin Derby for the 2nd Lutzer ref.

500 Years of the Reformation (What Do You Know About Luther?)

Tomorrow we celebrate the beginning of the Reformation when Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the Wittenberg church door.  He was baptized when he was one day old on the feast day of St. Martin of Tours (d. 397 AD) and so was named Martin.

St. Martin actually met Caesar Julian (Julian the Apostate) while in the Roman army.   Martin refused to fight and told the emperor "I am the soldier of Christ: it is not lawful for me to fight."  He was charged with cowardice and jailed, but later was released.  Where did this happen?  In Worms, Germany‼  Truly, the Lord is in control of history (Is. 46:10).  Another Martin opposed authority boldly with gospel truth in Worms.

The Renaissance, printing and nationalism all helped make way for the Reformation.   The end of the Little Ice Age helped spread Luther's views to Northern Europe.

Luther's wife Katie had an interesting way of getting her point across:

She was solicitous of her husband and guarded his times of prayer and study, nursed his infirmities, mothered his students, cheered him in dejection, and worried about him when he travelled. They helped each other focus on God, despite life’s troubles. One day, when Luther was depressed, Katie put on a black dress. Luther asked her: “Are you going to a funeral?” “No,” she responded, “but since you act as though God is dead, I wanted to join you in the mourning!”

Erwin Lutzer wrote Rescuing the Gospel: The Story and Significance of the Reformation and says this in the book (p. xiv):

Here is an audio piece by Max McLean where her describes the Diet of Worms and performs Luther's "Here I Stand" speech.  Truth for Life (Alistair Begg) has put out a great booklet on the 5 Solas of the Reformation:

1. Sola Scriptura: by Scripture alone

2. Solus Christus: by Christ alone

3. Sola Gratia: by grace alone

4. Sola Fide: by faith alone

5. Soli Deo Gloria: glory to God alone

What are some of the consequences of the Reformation?  The Pilgrims and Puritans came to America in search of freedom for their faith.  Methodists John Wesley and George Whitefield (d. 1770) had a tremendous impact on the spiritual health of our nation.  Thus, 1517 let to 1776 and the Constitution.  In 1904, the German sociologist Max Weber wrote The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism arguing that hard work and saving your money has a Reformed heritage.

A number of academics have made the argument that the Reformation gave impetus to modern science.  Reijer Hooykaas, who wrote Religion and the Rise of Modern Science, said this:

Modern science arose when the consequences of the biblical conceptionof reality were fully accepted.  In the 16th and 17th centuries science wasled out of the blind alley into which it had got through the philosophy ofAntiquity and the Middle Ages.  New horizons were opened.  The pictureof the world as an organism was replaced by that of the world as amechanism.  It is not generated but made; it is not self-supporting, but itneeds maintenance.

Speaking of science, what did the reformers think of the age of the earth?  Luther held that this planet was around six millennia old.  Hugh Latimer (d. 1555) was martyred by fire for his Reformed faith along with Nicholas Ridley.  Latimer famously told Ridley “we shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace, in England as I trust shall never be put out.”  Latimer said that "all learned men" accepted a young earth of around 6,000 years. [1]  John Calvin said that "... the duration of the world, now declining to its ultimate end, has not yet attained six thousand years." [2]

Be sure to get your copy of YES - Young EarthScience today.  It protests against Old Earth Fallacies (OEF) and contends for a youthful world from history, philosophy and science.

Reformation Resources (Books):

The Anatomy of a Hybrid by Leonard Verduin (Church-State issues)

The Torch of the Testimony by John W. Kennedy (Bible-believers through history)

The Anabaptist Story by William Roscoe Estep

Martin Luther: The Man Who Rediscovered God and Changed the World by Eric Metaxas 

Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther - Roland Baintan

Reformation Resources (Videos):

Martin Luther - Heretic (BBC)

Martin Luther (1953)

A Man Named Luther

Luther - the Life and Legacy of the GermanReformer

Notes:

1)  quoted in “A Brief Overview of the Exegesis of Genesis 1-11: Luther to Lyell” by David Hall in Coming to Grips with Genesis ed. by Terry Mortenson and Thane Ury (Master Books, Green Forest, AR, 2008), p. 55.

2)  quoted in "Luther, Calvin and Wesley on the Genesis of Natural Evil" by Thane Ury in Coming to Grips with Genesis ed. by Terry Mortenson and Thane Ury (Master Books, Green Forest, AR, 2008), p. 406.