Expelled: No Intellegence Allowed

There is a new movie not yet released that takes on the academy's bias. In particular, science's bias and persecution of those who hold to intellegent design. I missed it, but last night they showed the moive before release at Dallas Theological Seminary. If I would have known I would have gone to see it. I was already on campus in the library. The movie is called Expelled: No Intellegence Allowed.

Check out the Expelled: No Intellegence Allowed trailer.

Without having seen the movie I think the concepts are good ones as observed from the website. I don't mind challenging intellectual thinking with the aim of arriving at the objective truth. I believe in creation ex nihilo (out of nothing) and I do not believe in evolution in the sense that there were developments in creature forms and that each creature is created in its own kind/form. I don't mind those aspects of the message in the movie. However this too needs to be balanced among Christians with their normative view about Gen 1-11.

I would like to see Christians deal honestly with the genre issues of Gen 1-11 and the archeaological records that question a strictly literal interpretation of Gen 1-11. If intellectual dishonesty exists in the secular academy I would not doubt that it also probably exists in the Christian seminaries and Bible colleges as well (especially in regard to Gen 1-11). Can a balance be wrought where the truths are not railroaded on both aspects? Can we admit that there is indeed a way to reconcile the issues better than maybe we as biased Christians previously understood them to be? I think so.

The truth is much more of a fine line than perhaps we expect on most issues. The more I learn the more I realize this. Sometimes I don't have enough information to decide on a spectrum from possibilities to probablities. Other times I have enough information to ascertain what is the probable answer to questions. However, I have also learned to hold things tentatively and by that I mean, yes, hold an opinion, but if more evidence is provided in the future you may need to make minor adjustments to what you previously held to hold to a more precise answer. Hence, truth is on a fine razor edge. Simplest answers do not always mean it is the best solution/opinion.

For example, I often listen to radio personalities and have heard the bashing of McCain of late. I am not pro McCain, but I know that when I have seen him on TV before this election he always seemed to take a lot more issues into account than most talk show hosts ever do when talking about a matter. I found McCain to be honest with the oppositions concerns and honest with his own party's concerns. My point is, I think McCain is good at being precise on matters however when others simplify his statements and twist his statements he comes out as someone people should oppose. I feel for McCain because people on both sides can misinterpret and miscontrew the truth of what he is saying because he and others walk such a tightrope of what the truth is.

I'm not saying McCain or anyone walks the truth line at all times, I'm just saying it is disconcerting to me to see people be so judgmental about an opinion without really understanding that a lot of issues are so complex and complicated. This is especially so on the genre issues of Gen 1-11 and all the science involved in the intellegent design v. evolution debate. Recognize that they are two different debates. One can hold to intellegent design and ex nihilo creation by the creator God who created all creatures in their different kinds and hold to a different understanding than a purely literal reading of Gen 1-11. They are related issues but there are mutually exclusive aspects as well. To assume that one who holds to non-literal interpretation of Gen 1-11 also denies intellegent design and ex nihilo is to make a false assumption. Don't get me wrong, some do deny a literal interpretation of Gen 1-11 and deny intellegent design and creation ex nihilo but not all who deny a literal reading of Gen 1-11 hold to evolution either.

While I have not seen the movie itself, I would hope that if the movie does what it says it does in challenging intellectual dishonesty among secular academies to consider intellegent design, I hope this blog challenges intellectual dishonesty among Christians when it comes to the false assumptions that people who hold to a different view of the historigraphy of Gen 1-11 based on its genre within the ancient Near East must hold to evolution as well.