Why Creationism?

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As I have grown in faith, I have been on a journey. Growing up in a family that one may deem semi-religious with a father that was not a church person and a mother that was somewhat I did not have what one would call a strong biblical upbringing, though, I did have some great influences in my life in and out of my family. There have been a great many ways that God has prepared me in the faith which has led me to where I am today.

One of the greatest changes that God has brought in my life that has transformed and continues to transform me is the centrality of the Bible into my life. This process is ongoing and continues to work within me chipping away layers that I am often not aware of in my own living. I am not a legalist being one who believes that I must live according to Levitical law or feel bound by the legalism that many can be caught up within any religious movement. In my study and growth in faith, I have been convicted as Martin Luther urged Christians at the time of the Reformation in which he called us to read the Scriptures, the Word of God, plainly, meaning as it is written. At the time of Luther and the Reformation, there was great difficulty for him and for Christianity. The academics of the time which were also leaders within the Church were enamored with ancient philosophers like Aristotle and Plato and liked to allegorize much of the Word of God. Now allegory can be useful in application and understanding. However, allegory can be dangerous because it may cause one to see the whole of Scripture as being meant to be read as allegory, a story meant to point to something greater.

Most often this begins with Genesis 1. Growing up, I was taught Evolution in school. This wasn't problematic overall, though, I never bought into the evolving from ape-like creatures bit but the Big Bang, Billions of years, and the evolution of animals all seemed to make sense since that was what the scientists said. As God worked upon my spirit, this changed from evolution to Intelligent Design, and now I am a Creationist. My desire is not to tell people to set aside rational thinking but to realize that the starting point of Origins is based upon belief. This belief is in Scripture as the Word of God or a belief in Naturalism which tries to define Creation as a natural event. Ultimately, it is a question of where one's faith truly lies. The question isn't a question of salvation for those who trust in Jesus Christ, but it makes it easier to develop a faith that may not necessarily be trusted in the biblical Jesus or may make everything into myth. The foundations of our faith are based on our trust in the Word of God. If we begin to tear that foundation down beginning with Creation as written in Genesis beginning with chapter 1 verse 1, it becomes easier to discredit and discount other aspects of Scripture as being myth and/or untrustworthy. First, the Genesis account of Creation is a story, the next to often fall is the Flood account and so on until we question the Virgin birth of Jesus, to the miracles of Jesus, to the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection, so the whole of Scripture becomes a spiritualized book of stories to help us in living and it loses power over our understanding of life and how we should live our lives.