I know I’m late to the party here, but I’ve been mulling over your post for several days now and reading the responses that others have given. Your story resonates with my own in so many ways, and I want to thank you for taking the time to share your story here. You are asking all the right questions.
The easy answer here would be that origins is an isolated issue, so even if Evangelicals are wrong about evolution and the age of the earth, we don’t need to question everything else in the process. But, as I think you’ve already figured out, it’s just not that simple. Part of the problem is that Evangelical perspectives on faith and science are bound up in bigger ways of seeing the world (“worldview”). Young-earth creationism in particular is not first and foremost an origins perspective. It’s a total package of answers and explanations about the entire sweep of modern history, which is meant to give Christians a frame to segregate the world into categories and equip them to live faithfully.
Great question. Here’s what I’d say: In my experience, there are a lot of people who are sort of “accidentally” YEC, in that it’s part of their faith tradition or community, and it’s just sort of assumed. I know plenty of wonderful Christians who are YEC and continue to have a big impact in my life. Being YEC does not automatically make someone untrustworthy.
HOWEVER: I have become convinced that Fundamentalism, which is the root perspective behind YEC, is a dangerous and unhelpful way to practice the Christian faith. Fundamentalism is weaponized faith. Its focus is first and foremost on being right, and its faith communities are centered around that. It separates the world into easy categories of right and wrong. Fundamentalism, in my opinion, steamrolls the Bible into an answer book, and thus flattens the Christian life. Evangelicalism was supposed to be a critique of Fundamentalism, but in many ways, it has failed to finish the sentence. Origins is one area where Fundamentalism has absolutely dominated the evangelical conversation. I honestly think Evolutionary Creationism is the first honest and full-throated attempt at a non-Fundamentalist Evangelical perspective on origins.
So there’s no black-and-white answers here, because there’s no easy radar system for Fundamentalism that lets you detect when you’re encountering harmful levels. I’ve had to make some really, really tough decisions in my life to walk away from faith communities that ended up being too toxic. I’m very blessed to be currently attending a wonderful non-Fundamentalistic evangelical church.
The good news for you is that Fundamentalism is a modern phenomenon, and there’s absolutely no need to throw out the whole faith in the process of rejecting it. There are so many wonderful and faithful Christians out there who are non-Fundamentalist, and I would strongly advise reading deeply of books by C.S. Lewis, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Karl Barth, Tim Keller, N.T. Wright, Roger Olson, and Scot McKnight (Barth is chunky, but all these others are very accessible).
A final, more pastoral thought: The foundation of Christianity is the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, as well as the testimony of the saints. The authority of the Bible is important, but it’s not the foundation of our faith. When Jesus came, many of his early followers struggled with how to reconcile his teachings with what they knew from their Bible. Nobody expected him; he was a surprise. Our faith is founded on an event with obliterated people’s pre-conceptions of just about everything.
So yeah, evolutionary science is a big surprise. Not many people saw it coming. It forces us to rethink a lot of things, some of which are quite messy. But for me, I see the fingerprints of God all over it. It makes sense to me that God would do things in surprising and messy ways—even in ways that challenge traditional religious ways of thinking. Isn’t that exactly what the Bible’s story is about? Isn’t that exactly like God to do? Fundamentalists have a lot of trouble with a God of surprise, and try to make a faith that can never be surprised by new things. I think this is toxic, and it’s one of the reasons I’m not a fundamentalist.
This has been long-winded. Sorry about that. I hope this conversation has been helpful for you. Please consider us your friends and allies in your journey. We’re rooting for you! Keep asking good questions.
Grace and Peace,
Brad