Understanding creation and K-12 homeschooling
The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. (Psalm 19:1 ESV)
I had one of those moments that reminded me of the importance of a parent knowing what their child is learning. Our fifth-grader is preparing to move into a unit on the atmosphere in her science curriculum, and, of course, Psalm 19:1 came to mind. I explained that we are "thinking God's thoughts after Him" when we learn how the design of the world helps us to survive.
As I was flipping through her notes in preparation, I noticed a page that starts, "So where did our atmosphere come from?" I sighed. "Evidence seems to suggest..." is not a known or testable statement; it is a statement of faith just as much as believing God created it, with the exception that creationist evidence is censored in major scientific journals.
It continued to say that "when the Earth first formed, it had little or no atmosphere at all." That is a line drawn in the sand. Either the 10-year-old can choose to believe their dusty Bibles and Sunday School teachers' coloring pages, or they can choose to believe this very official and professional pronouncement by the leading contemporary minds. Understand that I don't know of or accuse the writers of the curriculum of anything underhanded, but the end result is a call away from a biblical view of creation.
I pointed out the silliness to my daughter: "Volcanoes and fissures in the earth burped out gases such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen, but no oxygen." The attempt at humor is not lost. It continues, "An amazing thing happened. Scientists believe that the first life on earth was simple bacteria. Through photosynthesis, these bacteria released oxygen. After billions of years there was enough oxygen in the atmosphere for other kinds of life to come about." That is amazing. My daughter said that they should ask where the bacteria originated.
You have to love the section's concluding statement: "In this way, life itself made more life possible." Oh, you mean God? No, not that life. That is Romans 1:18 in action: they try to suppress the truth, but little beads of truth still pop up to the condemnation of all who would choose to follow unrighteousness.
It's sad that a unit that should evoke worship had to become a lesson in apologetics. It's just as sad that this is in homeschool materials, but as K-12/CAVA is an extension of the public schools, we're not surprised. Neither is God, who is sovereign, and we are happy for the opportunity to help our kids learn to evaluate what they read.
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. (Psalm 19:1 ESV)
I had one of those moments that reminded me of the importance of a parent knowing what their child is learning. Our fifth-grader is preparing to move into a unit on the atmosphere in her science curriculum, and, of course, Psalm 19:1 came to mind. I explained that we are "thinking God's thoughts after Him" when we learn how the design of the world helps us to survive.
As I was flipping through her notes in preparation, I noticed a page that starts, "So where did our atmosphere come from?" I sighed. "Evidence seems to suggest..." is not a known or testable statement; it is a statement of faith just as much as believing God created it, with the exception that creationist evidence is censored in major scientific journals.
It continued to say that "when the Earth first formed, it had little or no atmosphere at all." That is a line drawn in the sand. Either the 10-year-old can choose to believe their dusty Bibles and Sunday School teachers' coloring pages, or they can choose to believe this very official and professional pronouncement by the leading contemporary minds. Understand that I don't know of or accuse the writers of the curriculum of anything underhanded, but the end result is a call away from a biblical view of creation.
I pointed out the silliness to my daughter: "Volcanoes and fissures in the earth burped out gases such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen, but no oxygen." The attempt at humor is not lost. It continues, "An amazing thing happened. Scientists believe that the first life on earth was simple bacteria. Through photosynthesis, these bacteria released oxygen. After billions of years there was enough oxygen in the atmosphere for other kinds of life to come about." That is amazing. My daughter said that they should ask where the bacteria originated.
You have to love the section's concluding statement: "In this way, life itself made more life possible." Oh, you mean God? No, not that life. That is Romans 1:18 in action: they try to suppress the truth, but little beads of truth still pop up to the condemnation of all who would choose to follow unrighteousness.
It's sad that a unit that should evoke worship had to become a lesson in apologetics. It's just as sad that this is in homeschool materials, but as K-12/CAVA is an extension of the public schools, we're not surprised. Neither is God, who is sovereign, and we are happy for the opportunity to help our kids learn to evaluate what they read.
