So who is a Christian to believe: God, Darwin, or a Theologian?

In the early 1970’s the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod was rocked by controversy:  Preus against Tietjen.  Conservatives against Moderates.

I was about ten years old at the time and I wasn’t even a Lutheran, so I have no memories of these events to pass judgment on who was right and who was wrong.

However, a confessional document from that controversy remains.  It is listed today on the LCMS official website, under the heading of “Doctrine”.  Its title is  “A Statement of Scriptural and Confessional Principles”.

In my humble layman’s opinion, it is very well written.  But I am a conservative Lutheran who believes in the literal interpretation of the Bible.  I’m sure liberals and a good number of moderates dislike it.

The reason I like this confessional statement is that, along with the Lutheran Confessions, it gives a clear guide on how the lay Christian is to read and understand the Bible.

At the other extreme on this issue are liberal interpretations of Scripture that at their very extreme allow each individual to interpret the Bible as he or she sees fit.

There are also positions in the middle, with big theological names, which tell the man in the pew that he cannot read the Bible on his own but needs the  assistance of theologians to understand when to believe God literally and when to read his Word allegorically or hypothetically.

Who is the Christian layperson to believe?

Now, even though I believe the Bible literally, does that mean that I believe that the earth is flat because Scripture states that the earth has “four corners”.  No, of course not.

But I still believe that the earth has four corners!  I believe it because God says so.

God says that Christ is really present in the Eucharist and I believe it, even though science would say that my belief defies logic, reason, and the laws of physics.

I believe that Christ is really present in the Eucharist without having to go further, as our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters do, and give a theological explanation on exactly how God does that (transubstantiation).

God says he created the world in six days.  I believe it.

God says Jonah was in the belly of a great fish.  I believe it.

God says the Israelites walked across the dry sea bed of the Red Sea.  I believe it.

God says that a virgin was impregnated by a Spirit.  I believe it.

But just because I believe in all these supernatural events doesn’t mean that I shut my mind to science and scientific evidence.

What it means is that I believe both!  I believe both the Bible and science even if saying that I believe both makes no sense to non-Christians.

I’m not going to try and stop the teaching of evolution in my child’s public school.  I want him to learn science and learn to distinguish between scientific fact and scientific theory.  I don’t want the public school teaching Creationism, because in my reading of the Bible, it is not the mission of Christians to impose their faith-based beliefs on secular society. 

My children will be taught the theory of evolution AND they will be taught that somehow, someway, God created the universe in six days just as He says in the Bible.  They will be taught that man was created in the image of God and that he is not an evolutionary descendant of apes.  Could God have used some ape DNA to make man?  Sure!  Alot of things are possible, but the concept that all of creation developed from thin air in a "Big Bang", devoid of God, is not. 

Bottom line:  Believe God and scientific fact.  Study and learn scientific theories. 

My position makes no sense, but Lutherans should have no problem in believing in paradoxical, seemingly contradictory positions.

Lutheranism is full of paradoxes!  Why should the doctrine of Creation be treated any differently?