This bit is from another thread, but is probably better as a separate discussion:
As for the evidence of God's Creation, let's consider the Geocentrism fiasco for a moment. The Church believed that the Sun and the stars revolved around the earth, and insisted that Scripture mandated this was true, and yes, a plain reading without taking the evidence of God's creation into account would indicate Geocentrism. They believed that to deny geocentrism was to deny the validity of the Scripture. Then camea time when we were better able to observe and understand the evidence of God's Creation. Based on that evidence, the Christian community had to finally acknowledge that their initial interpretation of Scripture was faulty, even though it WAS based on a plain, literal reading.
In short, without taking into consideration BOTH the Scripture and the Creation, it can sometimes be difficult for us to choose between two or more possible interpretations of a given Scripture. There had always been more than one interpretation and the Scripture had ALWAYS been correct, but it was not until man chose the correct interpretation (even though it was the less "plain" one) that the conflict was resolved.
I am sure that for a long time after the truth became obvious about geocentrism, there were stubborn groups who insisted that the majority of Christians (who had accepted the scientific facts and realized that the alternate interpretation was correct) had just compromised their beliefs to accomodate the World. The clung to their geocentrist interpretation and believed that they were the ones standing firm for God and the Scripture. They were wrong, of course.
I believe the same is happening now. The majority of the Christian community has accepted an old earth, and even the truth of evolution to some degree. They have realized that their human interpretation of Genesis had been faulty. There still is, however, a group which is following in the philosophical footsteps of the "geocentrist holdouts", and they are the YEC's.
BTW, there are still some people who hold out for Geocentrism to this day.
As for the evidence of God's Creation, let's consider the Geocentrism fiasco for a moment. The Church believed that the Sun and the stars revolved around the earth, and insisted that Scripture mandated this was true, and yes, a plain reading without taking the evidence of God's creation into account would indicate Geocentrism. They believed that to deny geocentrism was to deny the validity of the Scripture. Then camea time when we were better able to observe and understand the evidence of God's Creation. Based on that evidence, the Christian community had to finally acknowledge that their initial interpretation of Scripture was faulty, even though it WAS based on a plain, literal reading.
In short, without taking into consideration BOTH the Scripture and the Creation, it can sometimes be difficult for us to choose between two or more possible interpretations of a given Scripture. There had always been more than one interpretation and the Scripture had ALWAYS been correct, but it was not until man chose the correct interpretation (even though it was the less "plain" one) that the conflict was resolved.
I am sure that for a long time after the truth became obvious about geocentrism, there were stubborn groups who insisted that the majority of Christians (who had accepted the scientific facts and realized that the alternate interpretation was correct) had just compromised their beliefs to accomodate the World. The clung to their geocentrist interpretation and believed that they were the ones standing firm for God and the Scripture. They were wrong, of course.
I believe the same is happening now. The majority of the Christian community has accepted an old earth, and even the truth of evolution to some degree. They have realized that their human interpretation of Genesis had been faulty. There still is, however, a group which is following in the philosophical footsteps of the "geocentrist holdouts", and they are the YEC's.
BTW, there are still some people who hold out for Geocentrism to this day.
Are you thinking thru the consequences of what you are saying?
