I need to make it clear that I am writing this "spur of the moment", and without any research, but here goes anyway.
A side bar on one of my favorite blogs had an "I Like Mike" link to the Mike Huckabee campaign web site. Now this particular blog is by a Baptist pastor who's viewpoints I appreciate, who's insights I find edifying, and who's doctrine I (as far as I can see) agree with. Mike Huckabee is also a Baptist pastor, but I know nothing of him outside politics.
Listening to conservative talk radio as I often do at work, I have heard the opinion expressed by one of our local talk show hosts that Mr. Huckabee is very liberal on every issue except abortion. Now given a choice between a liberal who is pro abortion and one who is anti abortion, there is no doubt in my mind I would chose the one who is against murdering babies. However, I would much prefer an anti abortion candidate who is also a conservative.
A couple days ago I caught a news snippet of a small portion of what I assume was the last Republican presidential debate. In it Mike Huckabee was being "hounded" for an answer about his belief as to the biblical story of creation. Mr. Huckabee would not affirm his belief in the Bible's version, that is, six days. The best he could do was to express his belief that God did the creating, but he did not know how long he spent at it. If I am not mistaken, his answer alluded to the "day/age theory." (in other words, each day mentioned in Genesis was a metaphor for an age or undetermined length of time)
I have to admit, this really gives me more doubts about Mr. Huckabee than the accusations of liberalism I have heard. I am perfectly willing to accept that someone can hold a different view on the proper role of government in our lives. As a conservative I am no fan of big, nanny state, tax and spend government. I may reject his political views for that reason, but could still "look up" to him for his stand against abortion and his Christianity.
However, his answers on the creation issue leave me wondering. There is little doubt that the bible describes creation as taking place in six literal days. The text explicitly states "and the evening and the morning were the first day" after each day of creation. Not only that, but if each "day" were indeed an "age" (what ....10 thousand years, 10 million years, or even 10 billion years?) then you may have a tough time explaining how the plants created in the third "age" survived until the sun was created in the fourth "age".
The possibilities as I see them are as follows:
1 Mike Huckabee as a Baptist pastor does not know the bible very well
2 Mike Huckabee as a Baptist pastor does not believe the bible to be reliable
3 Mike Huckabee as a Baptist pastor is willing to compromise his beliefs in order to not be looked down upon as a hopelessly uneducated hick by mainstream evolution believing voters.
Of these three possibilities I honestly can't decide which I would find most disappointing. Can anyone think of any other possibilities that would leave me feeling better about "Mike"?
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
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2 comments:
Bless your heart St. Lee for your public stand for Christ. You asked at the end of "I Like Mike" for a comment with an alternate conclusion about Gov. Huckabee's position. I will try:
I'm a fundamentalist, I believe that the Bible is inerrant. I, on the other hand, error often, because I lack complete understanding. But I have faith that the God of the universe told us in Genesis I that the Lord God created the entire universe. I believe it, I have faith that it is true. I don't need to understand how He did it. If I understood, I wouldn't need faith, and my faith couldn't be counted for me. The Lord God created, and he told us about the organized way in which he created. If He created in days, epochs, or millennia, it wouldn't detract from His work. If someone says that the universe was created in 6 days, I say "God is good". If someone says God created the universe in 6 "stages", I say "God is good".
There are fundamental truths that God has revealed to us. My limitations to understanding those truths do not in any way limit what God has done. All I would say to Gov. Huckabee is "God is good, praise God for making your public stand".
Thanks for the comment, and yes I continue to affirm Gov. Huckabee's stand against abortion. In fact, I would like to soften my "take" on his position (or non-position) regarding creation, but upon re-reading this post, the only other thing I can come up with is that he may have looked on this "dodge" as a way to avoid de-railing the broader support he enjoys, thereby accomplishing a greater long range good; kind of an "ends justify the means" sort of thing.
However, I still think he may be missing the larger picture. There are a wide range of implications to accepting an old earth creation, and once you dig deep enough, trying to fit the Genesis narrative into it winds up like trying to put a square peg in a round hole . I could make arguments (from the Bible)for a young earth, but instead I recommend going to https://answersingenesis.org/ where you can find a multitude of resources that lay out the issues better than I am able.
I do have to say that I am happy to see that a 10 year old post still gets the occasional reader.
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