Blog

by Bill Seng

I had to speak with Dr. Derkins again. I was very enthusiastic to find out how he would respond to what I learned from Dr. Rex Dino. I approached him after class to let him know that we needed to talk again and he seemed interested and curious. We met in his office again and so our discussion began.

“Dr. Derkins, I see where I was at fault now.”

“What, do you mean to tell me that you no longer believe in God?”

“No, in fact I believe more now than ever.”

“Haha. Really? And why is that?”

“I don’t believe that the world is as you say it is. You say that it is billions of years old. But there is a problem with that according to the Bible. Animals could not have died out before mankind came into existence because the curse of sin had not yet entered the world, therefore, death could not happen. I believe that the world is much younger because of that.”

“Just how young do you think it is?”

“I believe it is somewhere around six thousand years old.”

“A student in my class believes that the world is only six thousand years old? I never thought I would live to see the day! You see, this is the problem with education these days. Creationism has been allowed to exist way to long in the context of public schools, and this is what it results in. College freshmen believing that the world is 6,000 years old. Give me a break!”

“Sir, in all fairness, I was never taught about creationism when I was growing up. It’s just recently that I have come to believe in it.”

“So you are committing intellectual suicide then? You just decided that thinking just isn’t for you. How can someone that I thought was so bright and inquisitive believe such nonsense? I thought that maybe you would have learned after last time we spoke.”

“Actually, sir, I did. What I learned was that you were right with many of your assertions, if I were to accept your premise and approached science with your presuppositions. You believe that the universe is billions of years old. If you truly believe that the universe is billions of years old, you must look at the world through lenses that paint the world in such a light. I have learned that it is not your logic that is flawed, but your foundations.”

“My foundations? You mean that I don’t base my perception of the world off of some ancient text that contradicts itself thousands of times over. Why do you think this ancient book is any better than any other book? Why do you think that it is any better than, say, the Quran, or the Bhagavad Gita?”

“First of all, I am not sure why you are so offended by what I am saying. Second, my answer to that question will not satisfy you. I believed in Jesus before I fully accepted what the Bible had to say because it was the Holy Spirit that opened my eyes to the truth. It was only then that I knew that I had to believe what the Bible says because it is the Word of my Lord.”

“Do you have any idea of how absurd that sounds? You are basing all of your belief off of so-called personal experience. Lots of people believe some outrageous things based on personal experience. Ryan, I think that we need to stop talking right now. This conversation is not going to end well and I think you should think about everything that you have said to me today and compare it to reality.”

“That is fine, sir. I will leave you alone. But I will keep you in prayer.”