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Writer's pictureBible Brian

Arguing from consensus is anti-intellectual


Contrary to popular belief, there was never a time when there was widespread belief that the earth is flat. There were those who believed it, as indeed there are today, but the spherical nature of the earth has been common knowledge for centuries. But let's pretend, for a moment, the flat earth genuinely was the consensus among experts.


The first photos of Earth taken from space did not exist until October 24th 1946. Needless to say, actual photos of the planet are fairly convincing proof that the Earth is a sphere, not a plate. Now let's imagine these photos were shown to the world, but the world rejected them, because 99% of scientists still believed the earth is flat.


You can see the folly in this. Consensus is a bad argument. Consensus is not evidence, and consensus can overrule evidence. And yet, consensus is the most common argument for Evolution. It may appear as a primary argument. It may appear as a trump card when other arguments fail. However it appears, it is almost guaranteed that an Evolutionist will appeal to consensus at some point in a given debate.


But what if the consensus is wrong? Should evidence not prevail over consensus? Is it not more logical to be in a correct minority, even if the majority never catches up? To me, this is a no brainer. Of course it is better to be in a correct minority. If 99% of scientists believed the earth was flat, I would remain firmly in the round earth camp. Why, then, should any amount of scientists alter our confidence, or lack thereof, in Evolution?


Let's put it another way: I would rather trust one man who rose from His grave than 10 billion men who are heading to theirs. When Jesus rose, He removed all reasonable doubt that He is the Creator. As such, it is wise to trust His testimony about the beginning.


And the end.


See, while we're here arguing over where we came from, the more important question is where are we going? The Creator tells us there are two possibilities. We can go to Heaven with Him, or we can reject Him and go to Hell. All of us start off rejecting Him. It's called sin. Sin, unfortunately, demands the full wrath of God. But in His mercy, God does not desire to give us that wrath. And so He poured it out upon Jesus instead. All who confess Jesus as Lord and believe He rose from the dead will receive an eternal inheritance in the new creation.

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