![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/peteenns.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/Mohler-2.jpeg?resize=258%2C195&ssl=1\" "\\"Mohler")
<\/a>Al Mohler believes that God created the cosmos, including humanity, about 6000 years ago, but with \u201capparent age.\u201d<\/p>\nThat means that the cosmos only looks billions of years old because God created it to look old.<\/p>\n
This is Mohler\u2019s solution to why the earth looks so old when the Bible says it is so young.<\/p>\n
\u201cApparent age\u201d allows Mohler to accept the observations<\/em> of science while rejecting the interpretation<\/em> of those observations by scientists. The interpretation of those observations remains securely with Scripture itself, not with scientists or others who refuse to accept the Scripture\u2019s \u201cclear\u201d teaching.<\/p>\nThe strategic benefit is clear: Mohler can\u2013in a sense\u2013\u201caccept\u201d the scientific data while also remaining a biblical literalist.\u00a0Science only studies what God appeared<\/em> to have done, and scientists are free to have at it. Scripture, however, tells us, without fear of contradiction, what God actually did<\/em>.<\/p>\nThis kind of thinking may appear to be a tidy solution the problem, but in fact it creates many more.<\/p>\n
The most pressing problem\u2013not only here but at any point where Mohler\u00a0discusses the science\/faith issue\u2013is that Mohler simply asserts that Genesis is prepared to tell us how old the earth is<\/strong>. That assertion is what puts him in the bind of having to \u201creconcile\u201d Genesis and science in the first place.<\/p>\nBut Mohler\u2019s opinions about a literal reading of Genesis need to be articulated and defended, not simply asserted\u2013which would require Mohler to interact patiently\u00a0with those many Christians who have very good reasons for not reading the opening chapters of Genesis as a literal account of history.<\/p>\n
That is a topic for another day. Here,\u00a0even accepting Mohler\u2019s literalism for the sake of discussion, \u201capparent age\u201d loses its traction fairly quickly. We will look at one reason why today and two more in my next post.<\/p>\n
\u201cApparent age\u201d is an arbitrary claim that makes the \u201cfacts fit the theory.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nIt is surely obvious that the theory of \u201capparent age\u201d is generated to make the observations of science fit Mohler\u2019s literal reading of Genesis. Unless one were precommitted to a literal reading of Genesis, one would never think of making this sort of claim.<\/p>\n
Making facts fit theory is an unfortunately common, yet still unacceptable, method of establishing one\u2019s point. It is particularly common in theological debates, where one assumes that one\u2019s own theological\u00a0pre-commitments\u00a0are the sure and unassailable point of departure.<\/p>\n
One\u2019s theology is to be defended, never examined.\u00a0Counterarguments are either molded to fit the theory or ignored altogether.<\/p>\n
This is why true discussion\u2013an exchange of ideas\u2013is often unproductive in these instances. The issues at stake are bound up with ideological self-preservation.<\/p>\n
If Mohler were to admit that the Bible can be read in a less than literal manner regarding Genesis\u2014well\u2014the dominoes would start unraveling down the slippery slope. This is not an option for Mohler.<\/p>\n
When fear of losing one\u2019s \u201call-encompassing narrative\u201d is at stake, reasonable assessment\u00a0of contrary evidence is an early casualty, which leaves us with \u201cexplanations\u201d like \u201capparent age.\u201d<\/p>\n
Such explanations\u00a0demonstrate\u00a0that the theology driving them is a barrier to truth more than its guardian.<\/p>\n
If an opponent of Mohler\u2019s were to employ the same type of ad hoc<\/em> explanation to establish a contrary point, I imagine Mohler would not find it convincing.<\/p>\nMany\u2014might I say, most\u2014Christian thinkers trained in these matters (science, biblical studies, theology, philosophy) are deeply invested in working through how Genesis is to be read not only in view of evolution, but of our growing understanding of how \u201corigins stories\u201d worked in the ancient Near Eastern world (a whole other topic).<\/p>\n
I do not think it is wise for Mohler to cut oneself off from these potential conversation partners and retreat to an ad hoc<\/em> explanation like \u201capparent age.\u201d<\/p>\nIt is even less wise for Mohler to counsel others that they must follow his lead.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Al Mohler believes that God created the cosmos, including humanity, about 6000 years ago, but with \u201capparent age.\u201d That means that the cosmos only looks billions of years old because God created it to look old. This is Mohler\u2019s solution to why the earth looks so old when the Bible says it is so young. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14516,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[]},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14515"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/peteenns.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/Mohler-2.jpeg?ssl=1\" "\\"Mohler")
<\/a>Al Mohler believes that God created the cosmos, including humanity, about 6000 years ago, but with \u201capparent age.\u201d<\/p>\n