Comment on PUC Professor: The Noachian Flood was just a local flood? by Larry Pena.
As a recent PUC grad that has taken science courses from Bryan Ness, I’m shocked to find that even this esteemed site has found anything controversial in his teaching. I and every one of my classmates can assure you that while Dr. Ness will freely and openly acknowledge that conflicts exist between mainstream science and Adventist theology, he will just as freely and openly proclaim his personal reliance on the Bible and promote the fact that evolutionary science does not have all the answers that it claims.
I myself was an ardent evolutionist for a time, and Bryan Ness was one educator who was able to shake the dogmatism in me that is so prevalent in many evolutionists. He, like no one I’ve ever learned from, showed in a clear and earnest way that creationism does have something to offer on a scientific basis. I want to thank him for opening my mind—not toward the “error†of believing in evolution, as the managers of this site claim, but toward the merits of a creator God and a biblical interpretation of our planet’s and our species’ history.
There are only two real apostasies here: First that people who claim to be defending the faith have so little faith themselves that they will try to censor anyone who will even acknowledge alternate views in the classroom. They passionately ignore Christ’s call to be sheep among wolves, so afraid of the power of the world that they will try to silence or destroy anyone in the church that opens the doors of the safe Adventist fortress they have built.
Second, the eagerness with which these accusers will tear down fellow believers and undermine the impact of the church. Have they run out of victims down in Riverside, so that now they must hunt out intelligent, honest, and GOD-FEARING educators on other campuses, to the detriment of the community of faith? Congratulations, EducateTruth, you’re doing your best to ensure that the final generation of Adventists (not an eschatological reference) is a pure race, free from contaminating influences: honest dialogue about faith and science, intellectual vigor, and especially possible infection by new converts.
I pray that this stone-throwing spirit that is making Adventism sick will die out before it’s too late for the church. Thank you, Dr. Ness, for providing an intellectually stimulating AND spiritually resonant educational experience.
