Creation Science - Getting the Message into Schools
Steve Layfield

Supernatural creationism (ex nihilo) is not presently respected as a credible paradigm of origins within mainstream education. It is typical for the RE staff to teach that Genesis Ch 1 is poetry and therefore needn't be interpreted literally. It is likewise typical for Science teachers in general to present big-bang cosmology, biological evolution and old earth geology as substantially established facts. In such a context the Christian who 'sticks his neck out' and ventures to suggest that the Genesis account may be actually historical and true stands to meet with a barrage of criticism & scorn. If he/she is an 'average teacher' his respect and status among the pupils may already be minimal. Among the staff his 'fundamentalist' views can be expected to arouse rather more vocal or undercurrent antagonism causing his self-esteem to take yet a further dive. It is therefore somewhat understandable that for the most part, Christians who believe the Biblical account of Genesis tend to keep their views private. Is this the right (& therefore the spiritual) response? Can God be pleased with such a situation?

It is this author's sorry testimony that this situation persisted in his own teaching experience as long as it did. However, over recent years and with support and encouragement from sympathetic Christians some turn around and measurable progress and development has occurred.

Just What Can Be Done?

• Firstly, be seen & known to be a conscientious & hardworking teacher who takes his/her responsibilities seriously. Good evangelism (communication of a message) is like a song: the message is in the words) the musical accompaniment is analogous to the quality of our actual lifestyle and the general tenor of our conversation! Personal holiness is the lever which God uses to open the hearts of unbelievers. (Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn hack to you [Ps 51:10-13]).
• Utilise wall space in your laboratory for creation-type posters. These can be easily manufactured and illustrated using CD-ROM micropaedia and/or Internet pictures, etc. (Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door-frames of your houses and on your gates [Deut 6:7-9]).
• Bite the bullet! Let one or two of your colleagues know about your aversion to the myth of evolution. There will be a plethora of opportunities for you to do so. The topic & its multiple offspring/related cousins crop up all the time. I now find I have to bite my tongue in general social conversation in case I am making passing comment abound the subject or its social implications too frequently!! (The wicked man flees though no-one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion. [Proverbs 28:1]) For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. [2 Timothy 1:7]
• Have literature available to hand to lend/give to interested pupils &/or staff. The factual data coupled with illustrations and pertinent quotations will serve well to disarm those who are genuinely open minded whilst being doubtful of the integrity of your assertions. There is a wealth of excellent material available! (Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. [1 Peter 3:15])
• Organise an occasional Creation/Evolution lecture & invite a well qualified Creationist to speak. Such an event may prove popular with some or all of the Sixth Form who may be able to appreciate the drift & sense of some of the lines of argument. This will be especially the case if you the teacher have already primed them and taken the opportunity to rehearse some of the lines of reasoning with them. This is really an invaluable exercise given the relative open-mindedness of young people at that age & stage in life. Free literature should be available afterwards along with a transcript of the lecture. (You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine [Titus 2:1])
• Organise a Creation/Evolution debate in the sixth form. Such an event, when properly and fairly planned, represents a good opportunity for interested third parties (together with those who may have been previously disinterested and/or unconcerned) to gauge how well the available data fits the respective world views of the Creationist/Evolutionist. It is the conviction (and happy experience) of this writer that much prejudice and ignorance can be undermined by conducting oneself with both charity and rigour and by making full use of such an opportunity. (We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. [2 Corinthians 10:5])

All the material is subject to copyright restrictions. You may make COMPLETE copies for yourself, but you may not alter the material, publish it in whole or in part or use it for any commercial purpose without our written permission.
© Steve Layfield, 1998.

Contact email address: earthhist@aol.com
This page updated 1 March 2000

2nd Creation Activists Conference 1998
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