Does being a fundamentalist Baptist mean that....

Does being a fundamentalist Baptist mean that we have to relegate the life and earth sciences to the realm of Satan or spiritual ignorance? Can a fundamentalist Baptist believe in all the Baptist Distinctives, the virgin birth of Jesus and His Miracles and resurrection but still agree with the findings of contemporary research in the life and earth sciences so long they are not contrary to academically defensible Biblical truths? To put it another way, does being a fundamentalist Baptist mean that we have to relegate to “worldly human knowledge” academically defensible interpretations of the Bible?

 

Evolution! Who said anything about evolution, and what does evolution have to do with academically defensible interpretations of the Bible?

 

Interesting! The earth and life sciences cover a vast away of subjects, Darwinian evolution being only one of them.

 

Yes, they do.

It is true than many if not most humanists believe in Darwinian evolution to the degree that they understand it, but so do millions of evangelical Christians and even an ever increasing number of fundamentalist Christians. However, I did not start this thread to discuss evolution, and I do not care to discuss it any further.

 

I am not acquainted with even one scholar specializing today on Genesis and publishing today his/her research on Genesis in peer-reviewed biblical journals who does not believe that the first eleven chapters of Genesis are a heavily redacted series of epic tales, myths, legends, or sagas—or that the first eleven chapters of Genesis is allegorical rather than literal. Some of these scholars are liberals who deny the inspiration of Scripture; others are evangelicals who tenaciously hold to the belief that the Bible is the inerrant word of God and that we need to allow God some latitude in the manner in which He reveals to us the truth. I personally believe that the Bible is inerrant, but I can see for myself that the first eleven chapters of Genesis are written in a genre of literature that is found nowhere else in the Bible—and I do not believe that that is just a coincidence that should be overlooked in their interpretation.

Moreover, the Christian fundamentalists with whom I am familiar pick and choose which parts of Genesis 1-11 are to be understood literally, and which ones are not. For example,

Genesis 1:6. And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” (NRSV)

This is a strictly litteral translation of Gen. 1:6 that is perfectly harmonious with other parts of Genesis, especially chapters 6-8 in which we read of the flood. Notice especially 7:11,

7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. (KJV)

7:11. In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened. (NRSV)

What were the flood gates of the sky if they were not gates (or windows, KJV) in the dome? This was the literal interpretation of Christian fundamentalists until nearly the middle of the last millennium. Indeed, these Christians dearly held to the ancient Jewish interpretation that the earth was flat and covered with a dome that separated the waters above the dome from the seas and oceans of the earth. This was seen as a biblical truth that Satan and his hosts were seeking to destroy by the liberal teaching that the earth was nearly a perfect sphere rather than a disk covered by a dome. After all, if the earth was spherical, it could not be covered with a dome and the biblical account of the flood could not be true. Today’s Christian fundamentalists argue that the NRSV was translated predominately by liberals—and so it was—but their translation of Genesis 1:6 is a very literal translation that is in perfect harmony with the understanding of the story of the flood by Christian fundamentalists until comparatively recent times.

Therefore, I ask myself, “Is the story of the flood in Gen. 6-8 an accurate account of an historic event, or is it something else? Has God chosen to teach us fundamental truths about Himself and His creation, including man, using a series of epic tales, myths, legends, or sagas? In these latter times, is God making clear details regarding Genesis 1-11 that had not been clear in earlier times? Should not Genesis 1-11—and indeed all of Scripture—be approached in an attitude of prayer and a desire to learn from our heavenly Father through the ministry of the Holy Spirit the truths that He desires for us to know and understand?”

 

Greetings, Hank!

Thank you for this very courteous and helpful post .