T he twentieth century boasts of its great intellectual achieve ments, but the Scriptures ask the question, “Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” (I Cor. 1:20). It is still true today, as it always has been, that neither position nor age can guar antee true wisdom for men. " I have more understanding than all my teachers; for thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, because I have kept thy precepts” (Psa. 119:99-100). This frequently creates the back wards situation of school children knowing by faith in God’s Word more about ultimate origins than their mature and well-trained sci ence teachers! In such a case, what should be the proper attitude of Christian young people toward their non-Christian teachers? In the first place, the Bible says they are to honor their teachers and give them all the respect that is their due. “Render to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due . . . honor to whom honor" (Rom. 13:7). Do your assignments faithfully, speak respectfully about your teachers, and talk with them privately about your faith in God’s Word rather than contradict them openly in the classroom. Maintain a good testimony for Christ before teachers and students alike. In the second place, try to un derstand the problems which evolu tionists face. Apart from a true and saving knowledge of the personal, living infinite God, it is impossible for any science teacher, no matter how sincere or brilliant, to accept the Genesis account of creation! “Now the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; and he cannot know them, because they are spiritually judged" (I Cor. 2:14). Also, it is “by faith we un derstand that the worlds have been framed by the Word of God . . .” (Heb. 11:3). In the last analysis,
total evolution is a fable (II Tim. 4:3), and some of the world’s lead ing scientists are frankly admitting this fact (e.g., G. A. Kerkut, Impli cations of Evolution, New York: Pergamon Press, 1960, pp. 153- 155). But it is not your responsi bility as a student to demonstrate the fallacies of evolution to your teacher. In rare cases, a teacher will read books written from a creation ist standpoint when they are offered to him in the right spirit by a stu dent. But generally speaking, his mind is saturated with evolutionary interpretations of the biologic world through years of training by men whom he highly respects. Nothing but the miracle of regeneration can change such a mind (Rom. 12:2; Eph. 4:23). This leads us to our final sugges tion. Trust God to give you an op portunity to bear the kind of testi mony to your teacher that will lead him to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. That means prayer, first and foremost. When you are challenged for your faith in God's Word and supernatural cre ation, “fear n o t . . . neither be trou bled; but sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord: being ready always to give answer [that is, your per sonal testimony] to every man that asketh you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, yet with meek ness . . .” (I Peter 3:15). God cer tainly can, and many times has, used students (even though they may not be great scholars) to point their teachers to Christ. It is the Word of God, not our scholarship, that is “ living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit” (Heb. 4:12). God can use you to be a channel of blessing to your science teacher, and he, too, might some day re joice in the blessings of Christ Jesus. | John C. Whitcomb, Jr., is Professor of Old Testament at Grace Theological Seminary, Winona Lake, Indiana. Reprinted m th permission from Breth ren Missionary Herald.
to your science teacher
*»ir John C. Whitcomb, Jr.
MARCH, 1970
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