Church Fathers And Creationism
Author: Greg Neyman

One of the many things that I observe in the debate between
young-earth and old-earth creationists, is the constant appeal
to the works of past theologians. People are constantly
appealing to this church father, or that medieval theologian,
in the hopes that they will justify their belief in an old or
young earth.

Old-earth creationists have pointed to Justin Martyr, Origin,
Augustine, and others from the first four centuries after
Christ, as believing in an old earth. At the same time,
young-earth creationists have defended these past Christians as
believing in a young-earth. Both cases look strong, leading me
to believe that these men were seeking the truth, and may not
have reached a conclusion.

Why Does it Matter?

Why do people seek out the beliefs of Christian that have gone
before us? A Christian who is struggling with these issues may
need the support, so that they can make up their minds one-way
or the other. Or, a person may simply be trying to be as
thorough as possible before committing to a choice.

People today have been conditioned to fully research their
beliefs. This is good. But in many cases, I get the distinct
impression that people will not commit to a belief, unless they
can find a crutch to lean on…fellow Christians, past and
present, who believe the same thing. We must move beyond this
"crutch" mentality, and decide issues for ourselves.

Be Decisive!

But there eventually comes a time when the believer must make a
choice of their own. How important is this search for support
from the Christians that have gone before us? Not important at
all. In the end, we must rely upon our own conclusions, based
on the evidence that we have. In fact, with advances in
science, and new archeological discoveries, we are in a better
position to decide this issue than any of the church fathers
that have gone before us.

Geology as a science did not really get going until the 1800's,
therefore none of this scientific data was available to these
past theologians. What would Justin Martyr have decided, if he
had the evidence we have today?

I'm not saying to ignore the church leaders of the past, but I
am saying that we have much more evidence than they ever had,
and can reach our own conclusions. Don't be afraid to come to
your own conclusions about creation and the Bible.

I have concluded that the earth is 4.5 billion years old. If
you believe that the earth was created in six 24-hour days,
great! Hold fast to that belief. If you have evidence and
believe that the days of creation are each 3.76 seconds each,
great!

Conclusion

Each of us has the evidence in the Bible and God's creation. We
don't need to appeal to the theologians of the past to support
our belief…they didn't have the same evidence that we have, due
to scientific and archaeological discoveries…why then are we
seeking to trust in their views which were based on limited
evidence?

You have the evidence yourself, and it's up to you to come to
your own conclusions.


About The Author: Greg Neyman is the founder of the website
ministry Answers In Creation, located at
http://www.answersincreation.org.