It was the selling of indulgences that prompted Martin Luther to nail his 95 theses to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg, Germany. Apparently, he found the practice so exploitive and unbiblical that he chose to voice his displeasure publicly—(kind of a 16th century version of a blog rant).
In my mind, I have a sort of “running list” of things about the 21st century American church that I find appalling. (That’s the theme of this category.) But, I haven’t yet written anything down. Partly because I’m not a good blogger, and a bit lazy about writing sometimes. But also because I’ve not been sufficiently “prompted.” I’m prompted now!
Memorial Day weekend saw the opening of the Creation Museum in Northern Kentucky. Reportedly, $27 million was spent on this state of the art, entertainment-oriented facility, designed to inspire belief in creationism and discredit Darwinian evolution. Give me a break!
Isn’t it time we moved beyond this fight? I, for one, am tired of the “battle of the fishes”.
Who decided that it had to be an either/or proposition, anyway? Why must we pit scientific knowledge against matters of faith? Nothing in the Bible itself suggests that the creation poem in Genesis has to be interpreted as historically, scientifically, and literally accurate. Surely, it’s about more than how creation happened. Isn’t the BIG idea in the book of Genesis: the concept of a Creator-God? Neither science, nor Darwinism does much to refute that faith claim.
The Bible is really a book about faith. It is filled with metaphors, because spiritual reality (God) and faith experiences defy literal description. When talking about such things, we are in the realm of mystery, not very often hard, observable fact. Of course, that doesn’t make it less true . . . just less objective.
Which brings me back to why I’m so offended by the Creation Museum: (more…)
