Cosmogony & Anthropology
Pastoral Audit
(Original Content Only) (850 words) (APA citations) (in-text citations are a must)
STEP #1: Set Up:
- Set up an interview: Near the beginning of the course, students should set up a time to interview a pastor or church elder about his or her views on the age of the Earth and how they handle controversies about Genesis in their congregation.
STEP #2: Interview:
- Take notes to record what the person states. Here are some ideas for interview questions. Feel free to add your own questions as the conversation develops.
- What are your views on what the Bible teaches about the age of the Earth?
- What is your understanding of the days in Genesis 1? Are they 24-hour days or long periods of time? Do the days describe actual historical events or are they merely literary structures or ancient near eastern mythology?
- How old do you think the Earth is? Why do you hold that view?
- Do you ever teach on Genesis 12? How do you handle controversies about interpreting Genesis 12 in your church?
- Do you think Christians can trust the findings of mainstream science?
- How much weight should Christians give to what mainstream science says about the age of the Earth or questions of origins?
- What is your understanding of evolution? Do you think God could have created through evolution? If so, to what extent? All life? Just higher life-forms? Just humans?
- How were Adam and Eve different from the hominids? What key biblical verses support this view?
- What kind of outreach events has your church done to reach scientists and analytically-minded non-Christians?
STEP #3: Conversation Summary and Analysis:
- Write a 3-page (850-word) reflection essay about the interview. The debrief should consist of two parts:
- The summary section should include some of the following:
- Discuss your impression of the pastors general attitude toward the age-of-the-Earth issue and how he/she handles Genesis controversies in their congregation.
- What is his or her general view of mainstream science? Positive or negative?
- What is the pastors view of evolution? Does he or she believe God could have used evolution to make higher life-forms develop from lower ones?
- What is the pastors view of humanity and the role evolution may or may not have had in humanitys origin?
- What does the church do to target outreach to scientists, skeptics, and other analytically-minded non-Christians? Or, what were the leaders thoughts were this kind of targeted outreach?
- The analysis section (what you learned as a result of this conversation) should include the following:
- How will you handle creation controversies in your current or future congregation?
- What ideas do you have to reach out to analytically-minded non-Christians?
- What will you do to encourage and disciple congregation members (Christians) who work in STEMM fields or are analytically-minded?
