Legalism, when it rears it's head, is quite a sight to behold. I recently heard a preacher state his case for a 6,000 year old Earth and then proceed to demand that anyone who rejected his claim be disciplined by the church. Simply put, it was his way or the highway because he was so sure he was right. And he went on to state quite strongly that anyone who rejected his claims were in effect denying the Bible in it's entirety and therefore committing the one unforgivable sin. It had to be his way because he was so sure he was right. And about half the congregation that day fell in line. I thought back to the letter I saw once proudly on display in the Vatican where they were going to condemn Galileo for his scientific research. At least they owned up to their mistake on that one.
There are those of us who don't believe the whole thing is that simple. That God's methodology might be a wee bit more complex than a literal interpretation of the first eleven chapters of Genesis. Given that they have to jump through all sorts of intellectual hoops just to make those eleven chapters say what they insist they say I'm betting that they're just as wrong as I am on what it all really means. And like little children at some level or another we simply trust Him when we see the scientific data put forward that it most likely wasn't all created in 144 hours. Science doesn't necessarily have to shake one's faith in God. But there are people who would put us into a position of being driven from our church if we reject their legalism.
It has nothing to do with science. It's all about men seeking control over the church and promoting their agendas instead of doing the work we are charged with doing in the Great Commission. It's a tremendous time waster, money waster, and ultimately it loses more souls than it saves.
= new reply since forum marked as read