Yesterday, I preached a sermon that addressed the role of secular knowledge.
The video is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5xhSyrb-GY
Sermon at Green Lake Church, June 17, 2017
I also wrote a manuscript, but in this case, I think the spoken sermon is far more pointed and captures what I was intending to say, than the written sermon. In short: I referenced the Bible’s description of Solomon’s wisdom for which he is so celebrated. His wisdom was entirely secular. First, it was knowledge of the natural world–what we would call science (1 Kings 4:29). Second it was political or judicial (1 Kings 3:16). Kings in the region sent ambassadors to “go to school” under Solomon. The ambassadors were not coming for sermons. They were coming for lessons in natural science and political science. Once in Jerusalem they would be exposed to the spiritual treasures of Israel, but they came because of Solomon’s secular knowledge–knowledge that could be validated or falsified by direct experience.
Today, we who are believers can hope to gain a hearing among nonbelievers if we demonstrate solid competence in areas of secular knowledge. When we demonstrate incompetence in areas of secular knowledge, we undermine our overall credibility. Why would someone listen to us speak about God, the highest of all truth claims, if we demonstrate stubborn resistance to truth in areas open to investigation and direct observation.
This is where we stand as a church in regard to our current “Adventist geology.” Adventist geology is demonstrably false. Noah’s Flood did not create the Phanerozoic portion of the geologic column. (“Phanerozoic” refers to the portion of the geologic column in which fossils are abundant.)
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