[Vision2020] Evolution: Of Pat Robertson

[Art Deco]

 [image: RSS] <http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/feed/>
    [image: Pat Robertson challenges creationism]
Pat Robertson: "There was a time when these giant reptiles were on the
Earth, and it was before the time of the Bible."
  November 29th, 2012
04:04 PM ET
   Pat Robertson challenges
creationism<http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/11/29/pat-robertson-challenges-creationism/>

By *Dan Merica*, CNN

*Washington (CNN) –* Televangelist Pat Robertson challenged the idea that
Earth is 6,000 years old this week, saying the man who many credit with
conceiving the idea, former Archbishop of Ireland James Ussher, “wasn’t
inspired by the Lord when he said that it all took 6,000 years.”

The statement was in response to a question Robertson fielded Tuesday from
a viewer on his Christian Broadcasting Network show "The 700 Club.” In a
submitted question, the viewer wrote that one of her biggest fears was that
her children and husband would not go to heaven “because they question why
the Bible could not explain the existence of dinosaurs.”

“You go back in time, you've got radiocarbon dating. You got all these
things, and you've got the carcasses of dinosaurs frozen in time out in the
Dakotas,” Robertson
said<http://www.cbn.com/media/player/index.aspx?s=/archive/club/700Club112712_WS&search=700ClubEpisodes&p=1&parent=0&subnav=false>.
“They're out there. So, there was a time when these giant reptiles were on
the Earth, and it was before the time of the Bible. So, don't try and cover
it up and make like everything was 6,000 years. That's not the Bible.”

Before answering the question, Robertson acknowledged the statement was
controversial by saying, “I know that people will probably try to lynch me
when I say this.”

“If you fight science, you are going to lose your children, and I believe
in telling them the way it was,” Robertson concluded.

Forty-six percent of Americans believe that God created humans in their
present form at one point within the past 10,000 years, according to a
survey released by Gallup in June. That number has remained unchanged for
the past 30 years, since 1982, when Gallup first asked the question on
creationism versus evolution.

The Gallup poll has not specifically asked about views on the age of the
Earth.

Ussher’s work, from the mid-1600s, is widely cited by creationists as
evidence that Earth is only a few thousand years old. Answer in Genesis,
the famed Christian creationist ministry behind the Creation Museum in
Petersburg, Kentucky, cites Ussher as proof of Earth’s age. They describe
the archbishop<http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v1/n1/world-born-4004-bc>as
“a brilliant scholar who had very good reasons for his conclusions
concerning the date of creation.”

For Christians who read the creation account in Genesis literally, the six
days in the account are strictly 24-hour periods and leave no room for
evolution. Young Earth creationists use this construct and biblical
genealogies to determine the age of the Earth, and typically come up with
6,000 to 10,000 years.

Most scientists, however, agree that the Earth is 4.5 billion years old and
the universe is 14.5 billion years old.

The idea of creationism has been scorned by the mainstream scientific
community since shortly after Charles Darwin introduced "The Origin of
Species" in 1859. By 1880, The American Naturalists, a science journal,
reported nearly every major university in America was teaching evolution.

The question about Earth’s age has been in the news recently. Earlier this
month, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida attempted to walk the line
between science and faith-based
creationism<http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/11/19/rubio-ignites-debate-with-answer-about-creationism/>in
remarks that that provoked the ire of liberal blogs and left the door
open to creationism.

“I'm not a scientist, man,” Rubio told GQ’s Micheal Hainey. “I can tell you
what recorded history says, I can tell you what the Bible says, but I think
that's a dispute amongst theologians and I think it has nothing to do with
the gross domestic product or economic growth of the United States.”

*– CNN’s Eric Marrapodi contributed to this report.*


*Name:* (required)
   *E-mail:* (required, but will not be displayed)

CNN welcomes a lively and courteous discussion as long as you follow the
Rules of Conduct set forth in our Terms of
Service<http://www.cnn.com/interactive_legal.html>.
Comments are not pre-screened before they post. You agree that anything you
post may be used, along with your name and profile picture, in accordance
with our Privacy Policy <http://www.cnn.com/privacy.html> and the license
you have granted pursuant to our Terms of
Service<http://www.cnn.com/interactive_legal.html>
.

<http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/11/29/what-we-may-have-in-common-with-two-and-a-half-men-actor/>
    [image: Advertisement]


-- 
Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)
art.deco.studios at gmail.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20121129/7736416b/attachment-0001.html>