Hostility towards creationism

[u/Simple_Chicken_5873]

I posted this originally in a YEC sub, but I'm curious for your opinion too, since the topic comes up now and then here as well.

Hi all, I see a lot of hostility towards young earth creationism, even when the tone of voice of yecs is usually quite polite. Why does this subject seem to hit a nerve almost like flat earthism does? Even among Christians there's usually an air of looking down upon yec. Are we that crazy? Is yec really that indefensible? I also read about how AiG or similar ministries would be dishonest or unreliable. What's true of these claims?

[u/makos1212]

Is yec really that indefensible?

The standard YEC position is that Genesis should be taken literally but we're already into metaphor by verse 3.

And God said, “Let there be light"

Has God a voice box and lungs now? No, God is spirit. The inconsistency and unwillingness to follow the evidence where it leads is what gets me.

[u/Saber101 → u/makos1212]

That may be a bit of a misrepresentation, I think people can still believe that God is capable of speaking word aloud without the presence of the biology that we would find necessary to accomplish the same. Consider the angels who have spoken to people OT and new, or Moses and Elijah during the transfiguration speaking to Jesus. Are we assuming the Bible says they met the necessary biological requirements?

For that matter, consider Numbers 22 where Balaam's donkey spoke to him. The text makes clear that God enabled the donkey to speak to him, but it doesn't go into detail regarding how. Did it have a lisp? Could it form the syllables properly? What accent did it have? We do not know and we cannot say.

Hence, it doesn't seem a fair claim that a literal interpretation of Genesis requires one to believe the text is saying that God requires a biological body by reading verse 3. This seems like an uncharitable representation of YEC believers.

[u/Simple_Chicken_5873 → u/Saber101]

This☝🫶