I was going to post this on the imonk forum, but you know what they say about getting into arguments with an idiot. And even if you don’t know, those of you who have tried to argue with me have an experience with it that you can point to in the absence of propositions. For those of you interested, I offer an idiot’s reply to the young earther:

“Genesis is a historical narrative” is nonsensical. One might as well assert that:

• The Psalms constitute a complete liturgy
• Revelation is prophecy
• The book of Acts is normative for believers
• John’s Gospel is a time-sequence narrative account, so Jesus must have cleansed the temple twice.
• While we’re at it, the Bible may as well be a complete compendium of all truth.
• Jesus was on speed, or at least very fast, because Mark always has him moving from one seen to the next “immediately.”

I can’t even begin to describe what’s wrong with the statement that literal understandings of Revelation are limited to extreme branches of pentecostalism. If someone said that to me in person, I’d kick them in the Left Behind.

The list of things that scientists can’t explain is endless. And there are always a few on the fringe who are willing to espouse some weird theory for the sake of attention. Since there’s no real explanation for how gravity works, I imagine that someplace there are a few scientists who are willing to say that the earth sits on the back of a large turtle swimming through the heavens.

Science is based on the truth that within the natural world we observe evidence of processes. The whole modern YE approach is to look for weak spots in current theories about the nature of some of those processes and then stand back and say “nnnaahh nnnnahhh” while sticking one’s tongue out at those who are developing the theories. When pressed for alternative theories, the YE answer is essentially the same explanation that managers have for how computer’s work: “it’s [insert expletive here] magic!” They can’t stomach abandoning their medievalist/magical worldview, so they stick to literalist incantational hermeneutics, and they brand anyone who disagrees with them a heretic. I must be a witch, because wood floats in water. These people live in a very small world.

For a non-idiotic response to the YE’er, I recommend reading Josh’s reply, which betrays yet again the truth that Josh can think and argue rings around me, while all I can do is taunt and smirk..