Young People Leaving The Church
Towards the end of March, Christianity Today published a book review of an author’s work where they sought to harmonize evolution with the doctrine of original sin.1 Now, I have written against attempts to somehow change or synthesize the creation account of Genesis with evolution. Anyone wanting to study this area more should certainly follow individuals like Jason Lisle or Ken Ham who are prolific in this arena. Yet, there was one particular aspect of this Christianity Today piece that caught my eye. I want to quote the first two paragraphs of this piece, then offer some thoughts. The author of the book review, Jay Johnson, says:
“The past few years haven’t been kind to evangelicalism. Every other month a new scandal or controversy seems to appear. Sexual and spiritual abuse. Patriarchy and toxic masculinity. Critical race theory and racism. The list goes on. Following in the wake of these self-inflicted wounds, deconstruction and exvangelical have become buzzwords in Christian discourse. No one should be surprised.”
“Given the circumstances, it seems almost quaint to revisit questions of evolution, original sin, and the historical Adam and Eve. How do these decades-old theological controversies bear upon our present predicament? The answer is simple. Despite appearances, the phenomenon of deconstruction isn’t new, and the story researcher David Kinnaman told in his 2011 book, You Lost Me: Why Young Christians Are Leaving Church … and Rethinking Faith, still rings true. Younger people have been leaving the faith in increasing numbers for decades, and one of the main reasons is the perceived anti-science mindset of the church.”
There are numerous areas to untangle from this article, but I want to zero in on the idea of deconstruction, or leaving the faith, being driven by the perceived anti-science mindset of evangelicalism. You see, at its core, it is not Christianity which is anti-science, but when taken to its logical conclusion, deconstructionism is anti-science. Let me explain . . .
Radical Gender Theory and Deconstruction
As one illustration of deconstruction being tied to antiscientific, we can take the manner by which it is often tied to radical ideas on gender. Check out this section of an article from Forbes as one illustration:
“Deconstructing the gender binary and revolutionizing the way gender exists in our world are essential to moving the gender equity movement forward. The gender binary is the idea that there are two natural, distinct, complementary genders. Those two genders are ‘woman’ and ‘man.’”3
They go on in the piece and later state:
“To be clear, gender is an identity that is separate from biological sex or sexual orientation. It is expressed differently by each individual and can mean being a man, woman, both, neither, somewhere in between, or something entirely different. Gender is complex and dynamic, and we need to get more comfortable with its breadth of identities, including but certainly not limited to: gender fluid, agender, androgyne, bigender, demigender, genderqueer, gender nonconmforming, cisgender, and transgender.”
If you want an example of being against basic scientific reality as determined by God, here it is in this article. Gender is not separate from a person’s biological sex whatsoever. There are not multiple genders, furthermore, gender is not “complex” and “dynamic.” You are either a man, or you are a woman, there are no other genders, nothing in-between these two genders, and no changing of genders. Yet, what we see is a tie between deconstructionism and the opposition of concepts such as male and female being the only gender. That, my friends, is most unscientific! However, the very idea of there being male and female alone as genders created by God is revealed in the opening chapter of the book of Genesis. My point is that if you want a worldview grounded in objective truth, then do not go to the deconstructionists because when taken to their logical conclusion their belief system fundamentally targets basic aspects of reality like the fact humanity is made male and female.
The Foundation For Science
Undoubtedly, and frankly unsurprisingly, Christianity Today has attacked the wrong foe. The issue with evangelicalism is not those who hold to a literal interpretation of the book of Genesis, rather, one of the major issues are those who seek to compromise the Word of God by inserting secular ideas like evolution into the text. If you want a basis for science in your worldview, go to the Scripture! There we learn about the perfect God who has created the universe for His own glory. He has put natural patterns into place which we can learn about as we study His creation standing on the foundation of the Word. The sun rises and sets each day because God has created it for that purpose to follow that specific pattern. There are only two genders, because of God’s perfect design. Humanity did not evolve from pond scum, but was specially made by God from the dust of the ground being wonderfully created in His image (see Genesis 1-2). It is the Scripture which provides the foundation for scientific investigation of God’s world, Christianity is not anti-science, rather if you reject the Bible you have lost the only stable ground for a worldview that includes scientific analysis.
I want to specifically address those who are younger in my readership for a second. This propaganda about you needing to buy into the “deconstruction movement” is being aimed at you in rapid fashion. It is not biblical Christianity, but the deconstruction movement which will take you down a path filled with lies blatantly against the Word of God and reality as He has created it. Don’t nibble at the bait on the hook only to be jerked down a path you do not want to tread, stay firm holding to the Scripture. The Holy Word will not lead you astray. Evangelicals do not need to adjust the first few chapters of Genesis to fit the culture. We need to clearly say what God has revealed in Scripture. Our goal, is to preach the Gospel and call the nations to obey the commands of Jesus Christ. May we be faithful to that end!
Sources
1 All quotes from the Christianity Today piece can be found at this link: https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2022/march-web-only/when-sin-begin-loren-haarsma-evolution.html
2 All quotes from Forbes can be found in this article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/civicnation/2020/04/09/5-ways-to-deconstruct-the-gender-binary-in-gender-equity/?sh=69fa4d9544f7
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