Charles Templeton was called to faith in 1936 at 21 years of age. He was a contemporary and friend of Billy Graham. By 1945 Templeton was leading thousands of young people to faith in Jesus Christ. He was at that time considered more prominent than Billy Graham as an evangelist. For the next seven years Templeton’s church and ministry grew dramatically. “But all was not well. I was faced with a growing dilemma. Increasingly I was beginning to question some of the essentials of the Christian faith. I had always doubted the Genesis account of creation and could never accept the monstrous evil of an endless hell, but now other doubts were surfacing and, having no one to discuss them with, my personal devotions began to flag.” Finally Templeton fell victim to the deceptive philosophies of this world. “We are told that God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. And indeed this is what the Genesis account says. But every physicist in the world will tell you that such a view is nonsense; that it took billions of years for the universe to evolve. Who should you believe, the theologians or the physicists and geologists? Whom should you believe, the Christian church or your own common sense?” If Charles Templeton had access to good science and true history maybe he would not have given up his faith.
We teach our children what to believe but often times not why it is much more logical to believe in a recent special creation by a loving, caring God who always was and always will be all-powerful and in control of all things despite our rebellion. We can look to the very first words of the Bible, In the beginning God created… and trust that every word is accurate and true in matters of science and history. Christians don’t have to choose between science and the Bible. In fact, we have every opportunity to share our faith using good science and true history.