The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 73, No. 38, Ed. 1, Friday, February 7, 1986 Page: 2 of 10
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opinion
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Editor's note:
The University will begin mailing Friday the following Ut-
ter to parents of students. Parents will also receive three Op-
timist editorials.
Dear Parent:
For eight decades Christian men and women
committed to God's Word and to his work in this
world have worked taught and given their lives in
service at Abilene Christian University. Hand in hand
with parents and friends the school has met may
trials since 1906.
Our goal is to prepare young people to take their
places successfully in the world. Toward that end In-
struction is supported and strengthened by an
underlying commitment to the truth of all scripture.
Wo believe In God's Word as the final authority.
We teach our students that God's Word is true and
inerrant. We teach them to observe its sanctity from
Genesis 1 :1 through Revelation 22:21 . We teach our
students to rely on His authority to live by His Word
and to present themselves "a living sacrifice"
(Romans 12:1).
We believe w are responsible to prepare our
students to meet and answer those who in the future
will challenge their faith. We teach them about the
lifestyles of the world and why we believe in the
sanctity of marriage. We teach them about
totalitarianism and why we believe in the freedom
and dignity of each individual. We teach them about
Darwinism and why we maintain an unshakable
belief in the Genesis account of creation.
In recent months we have been accused of
teaching evolutionary theory as fact. We have been
wrongly accusedl
The professors against whom this allegation has
been brought have stated repeatedly their belief in
God's Word and in the Genesis account of creation.
A comprehensive investigation by the administration
and Board of Trustees has found support for the
teachers and their innocence from hundreds of
students colleagues elders in the church and alum-
ni. No evidence understood in its context supports
the conclusion reached by our accuser.
Many parents have received a mailing on this topic
from Apologetics Press. We assume this publisher
obtained addresses from a. student directory sup-
plied by a student. The University does not share its
mailing lists.
Our prayerful desire is to refrain from arguments
or debates that would dishonor Jesus Christ. We ask
for your prayers and support in thje entire matter.
Sincerely yours .
William J. Teague
If you have specific questions please write: ACU
Station Box 8099 Abilene Texas 79699.
Editorial: Establishing the truth
Last week Melva Craig who's
freshman daughter Kelly la at
ACU received a letter from so-
meone who says the university Is
teaching evolution as fact.
Melva believes the whole situa-
tion is very troubling. "I'm sur-
ftrised the university would put
tself in a position for such bad
publicity" she said.
Melva has already read Dr. Bert
Thompson's It Genesis Myth? and
she says from the information
available to her "it looks like
Thompson's right" about his
accusations.
Now the parents of every student
on campus are left wondering if
evolution is being taught as fact.
The recent mailing of the
Apologetics Press jarring tetter to
!arents has resulted in many anx-
ous phone calls to students from
their parents who are just being in-
itiated to the controversy.
Students have had access to the
facts. Numerous news stories
editorials speeches and discussions
about the controversy have helped
many students make up their
minds about the controversy And
the overwhelming majority of
students are standing behind ACU.
Senior Stacy Wright said "Ob-
viously my parents are going to
believe the university. From what
I've told them and from what
they've read they wonder how it
ever got so blown out of
proportion."
But some parents may fall prey
to Thompson's acidic prose.
So the university is refuting the
charges in print.
Letters to parents will be sent
Friday that refute the Apologetics
charges. Ads in brotherhood
publications will be printed this
month.
The university is spending
precious time and money to correct
what President Teague calls a
"volume of misinformation."
However this action by the
university is not in the damaging
form like that of its accuser.
"This institution has rejected the
approach of survival throui
(iMtnirtlnn " Tmct.. aM 1
have no wish to destroy anyo
but to establish the truth."
And to establish the truth thi
university will circulate as much
as is possioie its position in Uicl
controversy.
"Wc are limited in what we can
do but it's a limitation the Lord
places on us" Teague said.
However even hi limited Im.
tions the truth can prevail. And
witn tne help of students who
reassure their parents that the
university is not teaching evotutta
as fact the university and ti
brotherhood can save themselves
from further damage.
cr-
H V
Apologetics
Editor's note:
Dr. Bert Thompson of the Apologetics Press Inc. and
author of Is Genesis Myth? is sending the following letter to
the parents of ACU students. Also appearing on the let-
terhead from Apologetics is Wayne Jackson editor of the
Christian Courier.
Dear Parents:
In an age when the terrible problem of "child
abuse" grabs our attention almost daily in the news '
media your are to be commended for the love and
concern you have for your children. You want the
very best for them; that's why you decided to send
your youngster(s) to a Christian school. Nobody has
to remind you that you have a right to expect that
school personnel will provide your children with a
quality education within the context of Christian
teaching. That's what this letter is about.
Perhaps you have heard that in recent months
Abilene Christian University has been embroiled in
controversy concerning certain charges that the
theory of evolution has been taught as scientific
fact in the school's biology department. Maybe
you've even dismissed the matter as too incredible
to believe "Surely not evolution on a Christian
university campus?" Well so did we until we began
to look into this matter about a year ago. As a result
of a careful investigation a voluminous file of infor-
mation has come to light that is absolutely
astounding.
Evolution has been taught at ACUI Consider the
following facts. (1) Some of the most athelstically
oriented books in print have been used as texts in
ACU biology courses. (2) The works are pro-
evolution and rabidly anti-creation. (3) ACU officials
have privately admitted that absolutely no refuta-
tion whatever of these infidelic materials was given
to the students. (4) Materia) authored by an ACU
professor has affirmed that "the fact of vofcrtton Is
beyond dispute." (5) An ACU professor has cased
Genesis 1 & 2 creation "hyms" and charactsrlzsd
this inspirsd writing as "myth" etc. It Is an kwredfele
nightmare.
If you've heard of this sxptosive controversy you
may have been toW that the matter has been In-
vestigated by ACU officials and that the charges
have been thoroughly refuted. In fact this was the
claim of an editorial in the December 13 issue of the
Optimist the university newspaper. The fact is the
only "refutation" that has been made Is the empty
and meaningless assertion that the charges have
been answered. And people are expected to simply
believe that! You as a parent and supporter of
ACU have the right to know the whole story; and
may we kindly say you have the obligation to deter-
mine the facts in this matter.
The evidence against ACU has been documented
in a newly published book Is Ganasls Myth? 77m
Shocking Story of tha Teaching of Evolution at
AbUana Christian Unrvarstty. This publication Is not a
witch-hunting hypsr-critical book. It Is the calm and
careful preeentatlon of the reeults of a year-long
well-documented investigation.
All that we ask is that you as a concerned parsnt
simply consktsr the evidence; Just look at it and
make-up your own mind. It will cost you nothing to do
so and could prove trerrtendously helpful to you. For
your free book Is Ganasls Myth? write to
Apologetics Press (address above) and request your
personal copy. If you find that the evidence warrants
such write to ACU and protest this evil situation.
Changes will be made only if and when the right kind
of pressure is appliedl
letters to the editor
theistic evolution Bible
incompatible senior says
To the editor:
It's not a matter of "Is atheistic evolu-
tion being taught at ACU?" No one on
'catiopus advocates that. The question is
"Is theistic evolution being taught at
jKCu?" I'm not going to try to answer
jfliat.
want to respond to the 75 percent of
student body who jumps down my
oat saying "That doesn't matter.
ause the Bible just says that God
ited everything. It doesn't tell how he
ated it."
'""At risk to my social standing on cam-
pus I beg to differ. For sake of brevity
Til limit my comments to two.
""'I. TheisUc evolutionaists claim that the
.earth is about five billion years old. They
father claim that man has been on the
"earth a maximum of five million years.
This means that man has been here for
'bfily .1 percent of the earth's history at
'Jthe tall end of it. Jesus on the other hand
"says "From the beginning of creation
God created them male and female.' "
'(Mark 10:6) Theistic evoludon makes a
"liar out of the Lord.
2. The philosophy of evoludon is that
from a maximum state of disorder and
imperfection man has grown to his pre-
sent state (the "Adolescent Stage of
Man.") and is on bis way to eventual
perfection.
The Bible on the other hand states that
man began his career in perfection and
then sinned and has been on an ever
downward trend since Jesus has provid-
ed a way out of that downward spiral
eventually leading back to the perfection
God Intended.
These two philosophies are totally
incompatible.
Let's recognize theistic evolution for
what it Is Satan's subtle way of under-
mining faith in God's Word.
Kent West
Senior
Secondary education major
Fort Worth
Professor enjoys
evolution discussion ' '
T t - -4
To the editor:
Thank you for running Tuesday's let-
ter by Tom Walker. If as he says Dr.
Bert Thompson believes in horizontal
evolution within a family that would
make him a theistic evolutionist at least
by a broad definition of the term.
I know many creationists who insist
that the "kind" of Genesis 1 must be the
species not the genus or the family.
These folks would call Thompson a
theistic evolutionist since he draws the
line a little farther up the scale of
classification. The idea of him being a
theistic evolutionist is ironic in view of
the vigorous attack he just launched on
two of our biology professors.
All this points up the fact that we are
using a phrase "theistic evolution" that
Is terribly elastic so flexible that it pro-
bably cannot function effectively in this
debate. The "kinds" of animals mention-
ed in Genesis 1 may be as large as the
family. That is God may have created
the great Proto-cat and let all our feline
variations develop from that prototype If
this is what happened then surely a
limited amount of devclopmentalism can
be harmonized with Genesis 1. It all
depends where you draw the .line as to
whether you are a theistic evolutionist or
not.
I am personally enjoying the
stimulating discussion touched off by Dr.
Thompson's book J Genesis Myth?
However I would warn the reader that
this Is an intense polemical treatise and
such works always run a high risk of com-
mitting the fallacy of Special Pleading.
This is where you dramatize the
material and the evidence that favors
your position and ignore or de-emphasize
the material that works against your posi-
tion. A good example would be the
landlord who proved he was providing
enough heat for his apartment but he
placed the thermometer on the radiator
rather than on the wall.
Those of use "on the inside" of this
matter already know that Thompson's
book ignored a lot of material on the
other side of the question. After ACU is
able to marshall all of the evidence on the
other side it may indeed become evident
that Thompson placed his thermometer
on the radiator rather than on the wall.
A.J. Hoover
Professor of history
Optimist
drtdi patterson edfcarbtcMsf
angle myo fciday editor
mlcheSe niontt features edNsr
themes graham parts iriHor
kertycc4eaeetaparts editor
terete trembly elaatjH atlttor
lora poctehvait Mdey copy editor
rick patterson Malay cfctef photographer
kanneth pybu stats
dr. durles metier advtter
sherri sutler- ad director
soott bray-saws
dave cow- sake
connle swtek production manager
(arnes bfllingswy oast production
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letters policy
Letters to the editor should be miilJB
to ACU Box 8203 or hancWeUverexl to
the Optimist office Morris Room 306.
Letters should be received no later than 5
p.m. Sunday for the Tuesday issue or 5
p.m Wednesday for the Friday Issue.
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The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 73, No. 38, Ed. 1, Friday, February 7, 1986, newspaper, February 7, 1986; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth92036/m1/2/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 15, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Abilene Christian University Library.