Hello , my name is Ryan , I am a Pentecostal apostolic theistic evolutionist , I came to this by two undeniable (personally) facts .
I received the holy ghost according to the book of acts and I cannot deny the event .
I have raised various breeds of domestic pigeons and cannot deny Evolution.
It is not yet a commonly held belief among Pentecostals that Evolution is true , so I was forced to find reconciliation on my own , after much study I found that my faith and my knowledge were not in direct conflict .
"Blessed are the peacemakers ,for they shall be called the children of God "
The disputes between faith and sciences needs to be put to rest , science was birthed among the clergy , it’s time for that child to return home .
One love (agape) ,God bless
Have they changed their stance from intelligent design to theistic Evolution? , I don’t follow Pat Roberts ,mainly due to theology differences .
Last I knew he supported ID , but the terms have become muddy I suppose , I’m not a fan of the Official stance , although individuals seem to vary on their description of intelligent design .
Either way , I don’t really follow a particular school of thought on theistic eveolution , but rather attempt to reconcile unmolested mainstream science with careful adherence to scriptures.
I try to be very careful to change neither , just try to find the common ground
Pat Robertson is now an evolutionary creationist. He also follows ID, but he is a theistic evolutionist. His Regent University School of Divinity received a great from Templeton Foundation, a support of theistic evolution.
I was mentored in my early Christian life by an old-school Pentecostal minister who had come out of the Teen Challenge movement. While aware of the excesses of some Pentecostal and “charismatic” streams of the church, I owe a lot personally to them and find a lot to appreciate in them.
I agree with you when you say that “It is not yet a commonly held belief among Pentecostals that Evolution is true.” In fact, though I grew up an evolutionary creationist, I was introduced to full-fledged YEC theology by this Pentecostal mentor of mine.
Judging from him and other experiences I’ve had in Pentecostal (and Pentecostal-esque) settings, it seems to me that this stems in part from their emphasis on letting go of one’s rigidly cerebral fixations and allowing room for the Spirit to work and to infill and to bring the gift of tongues. I actually appreciate this to a point, but the Church needs both spirituality and intellectual rigor. Letting oneself be overcome by God on an emotional level is one thing; promoting anti-intellectualism is another. I think sometimes Pentecostal churches blur that line, to their detriment.
I wouldn’t quite say that. As a Physics Faculty at Regent, I would argue it’s harder to pin down where Pat or the School of Divinity cuurently stand on these issues. Certainly while Amos Yong was the head of the SoD, this would be more indicative of the position held by the school, but there has been a shift away from the Templeton’s position as a whole. For example, one recent time that Hugh Ross was on the 700 Club, Pat was so inspired that he went out to create a new masters program. As part of the inspiration, Pat also wanted to see ALL new SoD students take a course in the program. It ended up being not a whole course, but instead it is a series of 4 teachings done by Hugh Ross who would be advocating for Reasons to Believe’s model which is entirely anti-evolution in every way shape and form though is obviously an old earth position.
So it’s a bit more nuanced but generally speaking, the disposition of a large percentage of the university would be anti-evolution and amongst undergraduate faculty, it is also likely for them to hold a young earth position as well. I do appreciate there is a freedom to some degree for different positions to be held under a general unifying statement of faith.
When one had a diagnosis of bipolar or ADHD they see it as being demonic or demon oppressed; but really it’s a chemical imbalance — the whole thing reminds you of R. Ron Hubbard and how vocal they are against shrinks. I have an answer on Quora that I would like to add to this.
I am glad to talk with you, Professor. It is interesting how he keeps changing his mind. I knew about Hugh Ross being on the 700 Club. That is interesting. I wish to thank you for letting me know. I cannot hold a YEC position. I believe there are some cities in the Middle East that are older than that. Please correct me if I am wrong. Regent is an attractive university. I lean between an Evolutionary Creationist and a Progressive Creationist view. My church in Chesapeake is YEC. I do hold also a Christian ID position. I took Dr. Denis Lamereaux’s course online from St Joseph’s College, and I must say that he is a nice guy. We even talked on the phone together. May God bless you and your teaching responsibilities.
Very insightful into general Pentecostal-ism .
“Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.”…
Thank you , but my father has been passed a long time , although his brother is dying as we type and my nephew just lost his child yesterday .
I would ask you redirect your prayer , it is much needed and appreciated.
Thank you , God bless you
True. And also alarmingly common. A sweet, charismatic octogenarian that I met last year suggested the same thing regarding my daughter’s (clinical, not in the watered-down sense of the term) OCD.