Why Stuff the Creation Story Into a Tiny Box?

As the city of Richmond prepares to hear and see the neo-conservative Christian presentation of Creation "science" at the Civic Hall, let me add my fuel to the fire of this debate.

As a confessing Christian and an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ, with a doctorate in theology, I feel that it is my duty to say that I accept both the modern evolutionary theory about the origins of the universe and the development of life on Earth and the Biblical account of Creation. I do not stand alone. Most of the leading Old Testament scholars from the 1950's to the 1990's took the same stand including Claus Westermann, Gerhard Von Rad, Walter Brueggeman, and Eugene Roop, the recently retired president of Bethany Theological Seminary here in Richmond. If you can not find their commentaries in your own church library, you can certainly check them out at the Earlham College Library. Each in their own way stated in their commentaries on the Book of Genesis, that the scientific theory of evolution explains the mechanics of how and when life emerged on the Earth. They also assert that the Biblical account of Creation reveals what science can not explain, namely who created life as we know it, and why.

The Church has always tried to squash any scientific discovery which does not fit into the Biblical account of Creation. When Galileo looked through his telescope and saw that the Earth was not the center of the Universe, but that the Earth revolved around the Sun, the Catholic Church cut off his head. When Copernicus looked through his telescope and confirmed what Galileo saw, the church forced him, under the threat of the pain of death, to recant, though both Church officials and Copernicus knew that he was right. Now that the Church no longer has the power to cut off the heads of scientists, the neo-conservatives ask Christians and even school officials to perform their own frontal lobotomy. They are asking you to cut off the logical thinking, scientific part of your brain from the sentimental, feeling, theological side of your brain.

Some theologians try to assert a theory of "intelligent design" as a bridge between faith and science. Yet, this concept fails to reflect what the scientists observe, and what the Bible reveals. Science suggests that life on this planet evolved in a “topsy, turvy” way. The Biblical account reflects a God whose primary character is not intelligence, but joy in the creative process. The Earth is God's partner in this process. Life is blessed. We have an image of a God who is not just intelligent, but an ecstatic designer.

Once you realize that the Biblical Creation story is about an ecstatic Creator, there is no need to try to stuff the findings of evolutionary scientists into a very tiny, inappropriate, unnecessarily narrow linear box that insists that the Earth is only 6,000 to 10,000 years old.



Dr. Greene is an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ and a resident of Richmond, IN. He is also the author of Benjamin's Dog Joseph, Feeling Better: The Wisdom of the Doc, You Can Feel Better: How to cope with chronic pain and physical disabilities, and co-author of Walking Free: the Nellie Zimmerman Story.

For further information about his books, please visit www.densmorereid.com

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