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I recently encountered a person, on Steve Martin’s excellent blog An Evangelical Dialog on Evolution, named Herman Cummings.  Cummings espouses his own theory of how to interpret Genesis 1 that he calls the “Observations of Moses”.  To be honest, I thought he was kidding because of his self-declaration:

If you wish to waste your time with those that are not an expert on Genesis (there’s only one), then expect to be given false information.

I wasn’t sure if he was talking about himself or not, so I googled him and found that he was referring to himself, and he is not kidding.  Here is how he introduces himself in a letter connected to a Cobb County lawsuit regarding what position to take in regards to evolution:

At this point, proper introductions are in order. My name is Herman Cummings. I am the foremost terrestrial authority on the book of Genesis.  Until you can disprove that claim, accept it as fact.

Now, this statement has triggered responses all over the Internet.  Though generally greeted with sarcasm, the obvious question is whether he is contrasting himself with an extra-terrestrial authority.  It turns out he is, as he describes in the preface (which he has graciously posted online) of his new book, “Moses Didn’t Write About Creation!”:

It is true that God is the focal point in this book, but He is treated as an “all powerful” Alien.  Yes, that’s right, an Alien.  There are many that call themselves “Christians” (not really knowing what the term means) that will become ‘upset’ if you call God “an Alien”.  Well, what is He…, a terrestrial?  Those people are some of the ones that can’t discuss ‘creation’ without bringing ‘religion’ into the picture.  These are the very ones that have little or no credibility.  They may say that they want creation taught in our schools and universities, but what they really want is to teach their version of “Christ, and Him crucified”…because they have little or no knowledge of how to teach creation when confronted with the fossil record and the true geological age of the Earth.  So they need a place to hide.

While I might agree that science class is not an arena for teaching about Christ’s sacrifice, I must confess to having a hard time doubting a person’s Christianity because calling God an alien makes them upset.  I also reject the idea that people are hiding behind the Gospel to distract you from the fact that do not understand the evidence for Evolution.  Don’t misunderstand me, I actually agree that Young Earth Creationists by and large do not understand Evolution… but to say they are hiding behind the Gospel?  Because their real agenda is to see the Gospel in schools?  And so therefore they may not be Christians?  I may disagree with their position on what is appropriate to teach in public schools, but frankly I am less likely to doubt their faith than that of many Old Earth Creationists… of which I am one!  In addition, even if YECs really had the secret agenda of teaching the Gospel in science class (which I do not believe they do), at least it would be to save souls.

Now, to be fair to Mr. Cummings, I want to give him the benefit of the doubt that his intention is to save souls as well.  That said, I do not believe his tactics will accomplish it.  At least, until now, it does not appear to have.

Okay.  Why am I giving him my time?  He’s been around for over 15 years now, goes through spurts of spamming blogs and bulletin boards, submits ticklers for his book almost everywhere you find his name, and yet he does not appear to have successfully proselytized anyone… or no one that Google knows of at least. 

I have been posting my own version of creationism for over a year now.  I think I have been given insights that are unique, and I hope to persuade others so that the bickering I see in the capital ‘C’ Church might decrease or even stop.  While nothing I espouse about creation is salvific, some people who are on the fence are in dire need of seeing that they can believe both science and scripture without compromising either, lest they lose their faith and go to Hell.  Where no other argument has persuaded them of that fact, I present to them mine, in hopes they will keep their faith in Christ.  Therefore, the Gospel is indeed at the center of my motives, but seeing Cummings’ theories and people’s reactions to them made me question his motives, if just a little.

When I read Cummings’ statements, “I am the foremost terrestrial authority on the book of Genesis. Until you can disprove that claim, accept it as fact,” and “If you wish to waste your time with those that are not an expert on Genesis (there’s only one), then expect to be given false information,” I can only respond by citing Proverbs 3:7a…

Do not be wise in your own eyes

To be clear, I even consider this a warning to myself, in case I might be wrong.  The last thing I want to do is mislead.  In fact, I even adjusted my perspective recently in my post Geocreationism and Concordist Theory (Conclusion) - Inerrancy of Scripture.  Therefore, I sincerely hope that I am not being wise in my own eyes, but merely seeking truth.  I hope I am doing what Solomon exhorted a little further down in that Proverb, verse 21…

My son, preserve sound judgment and discernment, 
       do not let them out of your sight;

It’s a difficult balance to be sure, and here is why it is so important.  Looking back at my citation of verse 7, notice I only cited the first half of the verse.  There is also another half.  Read completely, the verse reads as follows:

Do not be wise in your own eyes;
       fear the LORD and shun evil.

This looks to me like a warning to anyone who believes himself to be wise… you may not be fearing the LORD; you may not be shunning evil.  In other words Mr. Cummings, you may be falling in a different direction then you might realize, though I pray that it isn’t so.  My criticism here is not your belief about Genesis 1 (though I am critical of it).  Plenty of people believe they have the answer… myself included.  But when done in what appears to be a self-important manner, you risk the danger of falling for a trick of the devil, to which Solomon writes this:

 1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom,
       listen well to my words of insight,  

2 that you may maintain discretion
       and your lips may preserve knowledge. 

3 For the lips of an adulteress drip honey,
       and her speech is smoother than oil;   

4 but in the end she is bitter as gall,
       sharp as a double-edged sword.    

5 Her feet go down to death;
       her steps lead straight to the grave.

Proverbs 5:3-5  

Now please do not misunderstand, Mr. Cummings.  I am not equating you with the adulteress, but suggesting that based on your self-important persona, it may be Satan you have been listening to.   Some people are just zealous, and it may well be, Mr. Cummings, that you have the best of intentions and are unware of the unflattering non-Proverbs-like image your writing projects.  I hope that is all it is.  But Proverbs says what it says Mr. Cummings, and in my opinion, you would do well to heed its words.

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 22nd, 2007 at 9:47 pm and is filed under Whatever, Creationism, Evolution, News Stories, Observations of Moses. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.