Expressions of Faith
Faith not diminished by debate

By H. Murray Hohns
Special to The Advertiser

I followed the recent debate over whether creationism is something our public schools should teach in Hawai'i.

My view was that the debate seemed to feature two main streams of argument.

The "scientific community," which scoffed at the foolishness of creationism, a theory they said couldn't compare to the proofs of evolution, presented the loudest or deepest stream of thought. The second stream, or the "religionists" of our community, retreated in face of those well-presented set of facts, and their stream turned into a babbling brook.

In the end, science and reason won out over faith, and our kiddies up through high school will continue to be "protected" from the notions of faith and learn the reality of evolution.

While most seem glad that the issue is behind us, my wife and I did not throw our Bibles into the trash. I did not hear that any of our churches, synagogues or temples closed after the Board of Education ruled on the issue. Moreover, God did not get mad and leave our islands but continued to send sunshine and rain to maintain his creation and his creatures.

I recall Ralph Moore, who started the Hope Chapel churches 20 years ago, saying there were 15,000 Christians in Hawai'i when he began holding services here. That number has grown to 75,000 today.

When I came into this genre of Christianity in 1961, it numbered 50 million believers worldwide. Today we number more than 500 million. I am now part of New Hope Christian Fellowship, a small denomination that ministers in 108 countries. Part of our policy is to keep accurate records, and last year in just our churches, we counted more than 2,600 people coming to Christ every day of the year. This year we have seen 4,000 people become believers every day. We are just a tiny, insignificant group of churches.

We had nearly 8,000 show up at our church this weekend. A hundred of them raised their hands to ask God to come into their hearts and help them overcome the hurts that brought them to Church.

The Apostle Paul contrasted the wisdom of man and the foolishness of God in his first letter to the Corinthian Church. As you might suspect, he was not impressed with man's wisdom. The first Psalm starts with the words, "Blessed is the person who..." and then lists some simple suggestions as to how one can receive and live in that blessing.

I'm a scientist. I have two degrees and a long career in civil engineering to prove that. But when I hurt, I do not seek out the sacred halls of the science looking for comfort and mercy. No, I go to the one to whom I, like you, owe all. My prayers are directed to my Creator, and I assure you he is a better bet for problem-solving than the scientists and evolutionists.

Indeed, he is the sort of God that loves scientists, evolutionists, and you and me regardless of how afar we might have gone in the wrong direction.

H. Murray Hohns is a Makiki resident, a retired engineer and an associate pastor at New Hope Christian Fellowship.

Expressions of Faith is a column that welcomes written contributions from pastors, priests, lay workers and other leaders in faith and spirituality. E-mail faith@honoluluadvertiser.com or call 525-8036.