Are people generally aware of OECism?

[Maytan]

I'm curious as to what you guys have seen. It seems to me that most people (not just Christians) think that Christianity has to adhere to the 24-hour interpretation of Genesis.

This question came up after I clicked on this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V_2r2n4 ... grec_index

Granted, I stopped watching it after the first couple minutes. Mainly because, he claimed to be very generous to the 'different kinds of Creationism', yet only presented Creationism from the YEC view. Perhaps there's more in the video, but that's not relevant to my question. I'm just curious, if you had to guess, what percentage of people (in general, not just one camp or the other) are aware of the fact that there's multiple interpretations of these scriptures?

[taylor1025]

Good question.

I'm terrible at estimating things, but most people assume that all conservative Christians adhere to the YEC view. Quite a few are also aware of Christians that believe in evolution, too. But very few have heard of OEC.

To be honest, I only heard about it a year or so ago. (Then again, I'm still just a kid, lol.)

[jlay]

I think if you said YEC, OEC, day-age, etc. to the average church goer, they would be clueless.

We are still shaking off the shackles of anti-intellectualism. This manifest in many ways. Total ignorance of any position. Or the ignorance that OEC proponents reject biblical authority and believe in evolution. This is prevelant in YEC. The other ignorant position is that YEC people are all hard core 6k year, literal six day adherents. And so all this confusion within the church is just fodder for how those outside the church view us.

[Canuckster1127]

It depends how you define "Christians".

Roman Catholicism as a whole generally falls into a Theistic Evolution position. Mainline protestant Churches don't generally have a predominant YEC position.

YEC is most centralized in Evangelical/Fundamentalist denominations. Some Evangelical denominations have addressed the issue and come to the conclusion, like the PCA, that either position (YEC or OEC) is Biblical and plausible. Some Evangelical denominations and churches have YEC stated up front in their Statement of Faith and preach it from the Pulpit and teach it in the Christian Education Programs.

Even then, YEC is predominantly, overwhelmingly in the US. The level of representation in Europe, Asia and Africa is not as strong and where it is present, in general it is not as strident an issue for those who adhere to it.

Very general observations. OEC is probably getting the most exposure in the Christian Community in the US through the Intelligent Design Movement. While most of the leadership of ID is YEC, most of the material and intellectual leadership is OEC.

[Maytan]

Good question.

I'm terrible at estimating things, but most people assume that all conservative Christians adhere to the YEC view. Quite a few are also aware of Christians that believe in evolution, too. But very few have heard of OEC.

To be honest, I only heard about it a year or so ago. (Then again, I'm still just a kid, lol.)

Indeed, I've come to the conclusion that most people assume that. Hence why I ask this question. :p

I think if you said YEC, OEC, day-age, etc. to the average church goer, they would be clueless.

We are still shaking off the shackles of anti-intellectualism. This manifest in many ways. Total ignorance of any position. Or the ignorance that OEC proponents reject biblical authority and believe in evolution. This is prevelant in YEC. The other ignorant position is that YEC people are all hard core 6k year, literal six day adherents. And so all this confusion within the church is just fodder for how those outside the church view us.

I have to think you're right. I don't mean to make assumptions, but I think the majority of the church I attend is unaware that positions other than a 24-hour day interpretation exist.

It depends how you define "Christians".

Roman Catholicism as a whole generally falls into a Theistic Evolution position. Mainline protestant Churches don't generally have a predominant YEC position.

YEC is most centralized in Evangelical/Fundamentalist denominations. Some Evangelical denominations have addressed the issue and come to the conclusion, like the PCA, that either position (YEC or OEC) is Biblical and plausible. Some Evangelical denominations and churches have YEC stated up front in their Statement of Faith and preach it from the Pulpit and teach it in the Christian Education Programs.

Even then, YEC is predominantly, overwhelmingly in the US. The level of representation in Europe, Asia and Africa is not as strong and where it is present, in general it is not as strident an issue for those who adhere to it.

Very general observations. OEC is probably getting the most exposure in the Christian Community in the US through the Intelligent Design Movement. While most of the leadership of ID is YEC, most of the material and intellectual leadership is OEC.

Great post, Canuckster! I thing you summed up the grand-scheme of things quite well.

[zoegirl]

for my part, most of my students get really surprised when I teach them about the different creation models and when I tell them that I am OEC. When we were digging into this in AP bio, there were still quite a few that were wary of it, almost as if they were sinning to even consider it. I think YEC even if they don't know it by name, it still the presented position, especially for kids and students.