Evolutionary theory attacks Christianity
Some time ago there was a letter to the editor promoting evolutionary theory as strengthening faith. This is not Christian or scriptural.
Since evolutionary theory is atheistic, we as Christians do well to believe in God as our creator. True science does not support evolutionary theory, even though evolutionists have hijacked the word “science.”
For a wealth of helpful, biblical information and literature, visit creation.com or call 1-888-251-5360. Creation Ministries International (CMI) is a non-profit, non-denominational, Christ-centred group of evangelistic ministries. CMI provides scientific, scriptural answers to evolutionary attacks on Christianity.
Daniel M. Martin, St. Clements, Ont.
A prayer for healing mercy: Do not give up hope
Re: “More transparency please,” Dec. 14, 2015, page 2.
After reading the editorial from Dick Benner, I was left sitting in my chair wishing I could scream loud enough for all my Mennonite brothers and sister to hear one word: “Stop.”
Take a deep breath and remember that we are all raised and taught well in God’s Word. We have to accept the times in which we are living. The devil is working overtime on our brains, especially with all the talk about sexuality.
I’m glad that the John Howard Yoder case and the Vernon Leis story are being talked about. It is now healing time for the victims and for all those affected by these situations.
The cross is still there for each and every one of us. And the blood of Jesus heals all wounds. How about starting to prayerfully run the path into our Father’s loving arms, because his heart has been waiting for us for a long time already.
My prayer is healing mercy for all my Anabaptist Mennonite brothers and sisters in Christ, and do not give up hope.
Marlene Hiebert, Altona, Man.
Honest, accurate reporting sought from Canadian Mennonite
Re: “A moment from yesterday,” Dec. 14, 2015, page 11.
Highlighting archival photos is interesting, but I did not appreciate the personal opinion that condemned the “oil industry’s use of water in fracking” as it pertains to global water issues. All too often Canadian Mennonite and other periodicals send messages that reflect badly on industry.
I spent childhood summers and many weeks as an adult living on Shoal Lake, bordering Manitoba and Ontario. I still drink the lake water right off my paddle and enjoy swimming, diving and skiing in its waters. Yet there are those who cry for the injustices of a first nations group that has faced the plight of undrinkable water from the lake for the past 17 years. It’s all about information as it is sold or marketed. Telling an honest, complete and accurate story is what journalism should be about, particularly a journal such as Canadian Mennonite.
There is so much hypocrisy that too many people are afraid to expose. Being Christian—and even Mennonite—should be about helping people, rather than putting ourselves on a soap box, invoking others to understand who we are as Mennonites, and debating social media issues until we are so tired we can’t open our hearts to the needs of others.
Harold Funk, Calgary
Where is a ‘differing view’ on same-sex marriage in Canadian Mennonite?
Re: “Clean or unclean” feature, Jan 4, page 2.
This is typical of the journalism that is polarizing the church on the issues surrounding the same-sex marriage debate.
Why does Canadian Mennonite continue to portray this issue as one-sided and never offers a voice from the many who have a differing view?
Doug Klassen uses great Scripture and a powerful story from our history. It’s just that neither have anything to do with the issue he addresses. Peter’s encounter with the sheet was simply the Lord releasing the transforming gospel to go outside the Jewish world to the gentile world. Klassen is correct in stating that it’s about bringing down walls, but there’s no pretence in this event at defining how gentiles who follow Christ would live.
Klassen is fair in defining this issue as either a disputable matter (Romans 14) or a sin issue. If this issue is a disputable matter, then there should at least be recognition and hearing of the dispute, and not painting the other side as unthinking bigots. If it falls into the sin category—along with gossip, gluttony and greed, as the author suggests—then it still begs for an answer as to what we believe about sin and what it means to live holy lives.
I suggest that we get Jesus’ perspective from Revelation 22:14-15 and then answer the excellent questions listed in this article from the Voskamp blog and the “For discussion” questions at the end of the feature.
Ken Funk (online comment)
Disarming Conflict ‘not silent about the immorality of war’
Re: “War is ‘development in reverse,’ ” Jan. 4, page 26.
I found the review of Disarming Conflict by Ernie Regehr rather muted. The book holds out some quite dazzling prospects. For example, we may be witnessing the end of centuries of wars between sovereign states. Since the end of the Cold War, they have become rare, and what has become much less rare is that many contemporary political leaders have lost faith in the practical utility of war. After “a succession of spectacularly failed wars” over the last 25 years, any western political leader who has not lost faith in war now finds himself squarely among the lunatic fringe.
Civil wars, however, continue to rage—29 of them, by Regehr’s count—with horrific carnage. But even here, as reviewer Barb Draper points out, the evidence is overwhelmingly against the utility of war as a “last resort” in resolving conflict. Wherever a conflict has been successfully resolved, argues Regehr, it has been resolved by political negotiation, not by military force, even when the military capability of one side far exceeded that of the other.
Regehr does not beat his breast about the slaughter of thousands of people being morally wrong, and Draper rightly hints that this makes his argument stronger, not weaker. But the book is not silent about the immorality of war: “A secure society relies ultimately on the active consent of a population confident that its laws are just and fairly applied.” That sounds like a moral statement to me.
Nowhere in this book does Regehr claim that a half-century of concerted peace activism has begun to bear fruit. During much of that time, he himself has been one of the most prominent peace activists in Canada, so perhaps he felt it would be immodest to make that claim. But I have no reason to be squeamish about making it.
Erwin Wiens, Ottawa
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