The Literal Truth

Posted December 3rd, 2009 by Ervin Taylor

Ervin Taylor Introductory Comment: From time to time, I receive materials which, upon reflection, it seems should be shared with those who read this blog. Such materials serve as a window through which we can all better understand the great challenges that the SDA administrative clergy have in maintaining balance in the Adventist Church in North America.

The following is by a Mr. Ron Spencer of Portland, Oregon. He describes himself as "a devout member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church who has studied deeply into the relationship of science and faith." He states that he is also a long-time reader of both Adventist Today and EducateTruth.

He noted that when he visited EducateTruth he was "appalled at the anemic position taken by those who developed that web site. The dangers from science FAR TRANSCEND the teachings of Charles Darwin! In the following short paragraphs, [Mr. Spencer states that he will] outline that threat and what we need to begin to do TODAY in Adventism to remedy the situation. Call it a Modest Proposal, if you will." By the way, he addressed his email to "Elder Taylor." In the interest of accuracy, I should explain that I was ordained many years ago as a local church elder.

: : :

Science was a very big deal back in the late 1950s.

Those were the days of the Red Scare and Sputnik, and from the top echelons word had come down: "Democracy needs better scientists to stop the Red Tide."

So my earnest little (5'1") Adventist school teacher followed orders from Washington and introduced us early to Pythagoras, Euclid, Einstein, Galileo, Newton, and a footnote or two on Charles Darwin.

Darwin was the Great Satan, so to speak, but some of the others were dangerous, too. Pythagoras, we were told, "worshipped numbers" and "did not believe men should marry women (the word "homosexual" was not used, of course).

Einstein too was shown to be dangerous. We were warned that Einstein's ideas "teach that the universe is billions of years old." That Einstein was of Jewish descent explained it, of course. Satan was using him to destroy faith in Jesus. So my stalwart little teacher said little about Einstein, except that his views were nonbiblical and therefore dangerous. But I still got a kick out of his smile, in pictures.

She told us that Galileo was heroic, for he had stood up against that great menace, the Roman Catholic Church. But his views on gravity were troubling, as were Newton's. For if the sun was not literally created until the Fourth Day of Creation, how could the earth have been rotating around it in literal evenings and mornings of time?

If the stars were not created until the Fourth Day, how was the earth held in space for three full days? The Newtonian concepts of immutable gravity were clearly at odds with a literal interpretation of Genesis 1, and the teacher warned us not to accept their views as the "best explanation."

She said that more probably, the Throne of God in Orion is the Center of the Universe, and that the earth was held in place by God in this way, until He created the solar system and the rest of the universe. "This is a better explanation, and Ellen White's writings support it," she smiled. I was convinced.

Then, very quietly, in a conspiratorial stage whisper, she warned, "Some Adventist scientists are saying that the sun, moon, and stars were not created on the Fourth Day, but became visible that day. These are dangerous thoughts. The Bible says clearly, 'God made' the sun, moon, and stars that day. That means that the universe as we know it did not exist until the Fourth Day. Only God, heaven, and the earth existed until that moment. We simply cannot accept, as Adventists, that the universe has existed for billions and billions of years."

Then she explained an alternative theory that I accepted then, and still hold today. It's all so logical: "When God created the universe, before the entrance of sin, light obviously traveled much, much faster than it does today. Sin slowed light down. That's always the nature of sin."

What a relief! Certainly God inspired the thinking of this wonderful little lady!

She went on to tell us, "God will not allow sinful man to walk on the moon. Mrs. White has told us that sin will not be allowed on other planets. So if you ever hear that man has reached the moon, don't believe it, any more than if your dead grandfather appeared by your bed at night. Satan wants to deceive us, and he will try to fool us by making it appear that man has reached the moon."

Sure enough, Satan did just that about 10 years later. I have been surprised by how many Adventists have been deceived. But I had been forewarned by that little angel of light, my second-grade teacher. July 20, 1969 was the Great Hoax of the Century.

I have remained firm in my faith, though many so-called conservative Adventists now believe that the universe is many billions of years old; that the sun, moon, and stars simply became visible, on the Fourth Day of Creation, and that Orion is neither the center of the universe nor the probable seat of God's throne.

Most now have been led astray by Einsteinian views, including the myth of moon landings.

How can Jesus return to gather us to heaven while so many of the very elect are so deceived? Our universities must help return us to the earlier days when our belief in the literal truth of the Bible was absolute.

I am not a scientist or academician, so what I say, I say modestly. Here is my proposal:

1. Teach Adventist students in our schools that modern science is riddled with fallacies and deceptions.

2. Publish science texts that cast serious question on the views of Darwin, Einstein, Galileo, and Newton, and that prove that the lunar landing did not actually occur.

3. Terminate and if possible disfellowship any Adventist teacher who at any time allows for the possibility that these men's views have any valid content whatsover.

4. Develop a coherent scientific explanation, based on the Bible record, to offer a true picture of how (1) the speed of light has slowed down dramatically, since the introduction of sin, (2) how God—not matter—is the ultimate gravitational force in the universe, and (3) how Darwin's views, junk DNA, and Carbon decay can all be explained within a 6,000-year time frame by showing how the incidence of mutations and carbon decay have accelerated since the entry of sin, in direct and inverse proportion to the downgrading of the speed of light.

I would be happy to spearhead this effort, though I lack traditional scientific credentials. But I am a fairly smart guy, as you can tell by my writing, and I'm not clueless. I believe that I have been called to stand in the breach at such a time as this, in defense of the literal truth. I am calling on Adventist scientists to stand up at such a time as this and lead the charge!

Even so, come Lord Jesus!

Ron Spencer

Portland, Oregon

The Literal Truth

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