Volume IV, Issue 1

www.midwestapologetics.org

 

Welcome to the monthly Midwest Apologetics newsletter.  Each issue is designed to keep you informed on the latest news concerning the ministry and provide timely articles to help strengthen your faith.  Be sure to check out our website for articles, book reviews, and answers to some of the tough questions concerning the Christian faith.

Dismantling the Framework Hypothesis – Part Two

       In the last issue of our newsletter, we began a critique of what is commonly called the Framework Hypothesis.  This is a relatively new view of Genesis 1 – 2 that attempts to identify literary devices and non-literal language in these chapters.  If these can be found, then adherents to this view argue that Genesis 1 – 2 should not be taken literally and that a person is free to believe whatever they want to about cosmic origins.

       While many Christians have not heard of this view, they recognize the effects of it.  Many Christian leaders claim that Genesis 1 is not important, as long as we understand that God created everything and that man is made in His image, then we can believe whatever we want about it.  This is a direct result of the influence of the Framework Hypothesis.  That is why it is so important to refute. 

       At a recent conference at which I spoke on this subject, the conference organizers received phone calls telling them not to allow my talk on this subject.  Apparently, I had struck a nerve.  Christians who hold this view do not want their compromise to be made known.  So far, very little has been done to refute it so I wanted to spend several newsletters addressing this very subject.

       In this article, we are going to examine the first of three major arguments used in support of this view.  It is known as the argument from Textual Parallelism. 

       The late Meredith Kline was the view’s leading promoter.  As a professor at Westminster Theological Seminary, he had tremendous influence in pushing the Framework Hypothesis.  He wrote that “…the successive members of the first triad of days correspond to the successive days of the second.”  Hebrew professor Mark Futato wrote, “Days 1 and 4 are two different perspectives on the same creative work.” 

       What these men are saying is that days 1 and 4 are not two different days in the creation week but the same day viewed from a different perspective.  After all, day one saw the creation of light and day four brought the sun, moon, and stars.  They believe that parallelism exists for days 2 and 5 and days 3 and 6.  At first glance, they may seem to have a decent argument but upon careful review of the text, this argument is seriously flawed.

       The claims of parallelism are overblown.  Framework advocates often claim that God made water on the second day when God separated the waters from the waters to create the expanse or firmament.  However, water was present on the first day because we read that “the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Gen. 1:2).  This throws off all of the parallelism because perhaps days 1 and 5 should be parallel.  After all, the sea creatures were made on the fifth day and the water on the first.  Or maybe days three and five are parallel.  God named the waters “Seas” on the third day and the sea creatures were on the fifth.  Also, the birds that fly in the air (2^nd day) were created on the fifth day yet they “multiply on the earth” (Gen. 1:22), which was made on the third day.

       There are more problems with this notion of parallelism.  God made the expanse (firmament) on the second day and He placed the sun, moon, and stars “in the firmament” (Gen. 1:17).  So perhaps days two and four are parallel.

       The biggest problem with this argument is that it fails to recognize that the order of the creation events is crucial.  Framework advocates claim that they are topically arranged rather than chronologically arranged.  This is impossible because each day builds upon the previous day.  Water was made on day one but separated on day two.  Dry land appeared from the midst of the waters on the third day and the plants of the third day grew on the land (third day) and into the air (second day).  The stars (fourth day) were placed in the firmament (second day).  The birds (fifth day) multiplied on dry land (third day).  Most importantly, man was given dominion over all of creation so he had to be created last.  Each day after the first day needs the events of the previous day(s) in order to be possible.  This completely refutes the claim of topical parallel arrangement.

       This argument is the most common promoted by Framework advocates.  It is not considered to be their strongest argument yet it is probably the easiest to understand.  In our next newsletter, we will tackle what is known as the argument from ordinary providence. 

Canyon Forms in Days – Not Millions of Years

      Young-Earth Creationists are often mocked by the secular world for denying that Grand Canyon is millions of years old.  Of course, it is impossible to prove this one way or the other from a scientific perspective (since we weren’t there to watch its formation). 

      Nevertheless, there is a great deal of evidence that supports that a large canyon can be formed rapidly.  Five years ago in Texas, an overflowed spillway carved a canyon that is 80 feet deep in some places and one and a half miles long.  (For the full story, click on the Yahoo News link below.) 

      Unfortunately, the article makes the claim that Grand Canyon is 5 to 6 million years old.  This new canyon, as well as the much larger “Little Grand Canyon” near Mt. St. Helens in Washington, provide strong evidence that Grand Canyon could have been formed quickly and recently.  We believe that Grand Canyon was formed rapidly soon after the worldwide flood described in Genesis 7 – 8, which occurred about 4,350 years ago.  Again, this does not prove our point of view on the Grand Canyon but lends support for it.

(http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071006/ap_on_sc/new_canyon)

Upcoming Events

      Below is a list of the places Tim will be speaking at in the coming months.  If you would like to have Tim speak at your church, school, camp, etc., please visit our “Contact” page to reach us. 

November 16-17 – Living Waters Bible Camp / Westby, WI (two talks at Creation Apologetics conference)

November 18 – Grace Church / Viroqua, WI (Leukemia and the Lord)

January 18-20, 2008 – Bethel Baptist Church / Green Bay, WI (several talks at Worldview conference)

Miscellaneous

      As always, if you have any questions, comment, concerns, corrections, ideas, prayer requests, etc., please email us and let us know.  Also, thank you for your prayers.  Please continue to keep us in your prayers throughout this month.

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