Dr. David Tee, World Renowned Denier of Science, Observations, October 24, 2024.
On the back of the book (Stephen Hawkings — The Origin of Everything), and we are quoting from memory, the book said that scientists have finally got to the point where they understand and know where are origins began. Or something close to that.
As we read those few lines, the first thought was, what a waste of time. The secular scientists still have no clue about our origins because they omit the truth concerning that topic. They have yet to verify that our origins were by natural means.
They come up with different theories but not one of those theories puts the biblical supernatural creative act in jeopardy. The second thought we had and another reason we consider the book and the secular scientific work a waste of time is that God already explained our origins.
The scientists exploring and pursuing an alternative to the Biblical creation act simply wasted their intelligence, time, and money. They have spent years and valuable resources pursuing a topic that has already been answered
That is a waste considering the millions of people who could have benefitted from a wiser use of those three elements. But is the secular world for you. They would rather waste precious time, money, and intelligence pursuing a false idea than humble themselves and accept the truth.
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As we have said for years, unbelievers always take the wrong paths, in the wrong directions and look in the wrong places for the wrong answers. They never learn or refuse to learn when the truth is presented to them.
Unbelieving scientists need our prayers so that the truth is revealed to them and their eyes are opened once and for all. Those prayers need to include all those Christian scientists and students who listen to the unbelievers and follow their counsel and not God’s
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Throughout the world Christians can see the difference between the unbelieving world and the believing world. When they do recognize this difference, they will understand why God said to not follow or listen to unbelievers.
Unbelievers do not have the truth and many do not want it. We have read on many occasions where unbelieving scientists say that even if the Bible is proven true, they would not accept it. That is a sad state to be in and shows Christians we still have a lot of work left to do.
The unbelieving world uses its immoral standards and self-righteous attitudes to attack Christians, not realizing how bad off they are. They are merely pawns being used to harm unwary Christians
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The right information does not come from unbelievers.
It comes from God and the Bible. Learn the truth and teach your children the truth before they come under attack from unbelieving teachers and professors. Giving them the right information is protecting your children.
Thiessen is not a scientist, and, as far as I know, has no science training apart from what he was taught in Bible college. He is no more qualified to opine on evolution than I am physics. That’s not to say that Thiessen doesn’t know anything about science. He knows enough to make it seem to uneducated Evangelicals that he is some sort of authority figure. This is common in Evangelical churches where preachers are viewed as authority figures in areas in which they have no relevant expertise.
What follows are excerpts from Thiessen’s latest posts. Laugh, ridicule, or weep, but never forget that scores of people agree with Thiessen, even if they might disagree with his ham-fisted approach.
There is only one single view that all Christians must accept and hold to. That view is the creation act revealed in Genesis 1. Every other viewpoint that alters or disagrees with this one biblical revelation is false teaching.
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Evolutionary scientists make a lot of assumptions. The reason for this is . . . they cannot replicate claims made about ‘historical evolution’. It is an impossibility as they have no way of developing partial samples to experiment with.
This failure is another piece of evidence showing that evolution is not true. We do not have to worry about scientifically replicating any results of god’s creative act as it is done on an hourly basis every day.
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No, other approaches do make scientific sense if science would be more open-minded about our origins. Science cannot study the one-time act nor replicate it. But it can prove that all life goes as stated in Genesis 1. That means God’s creative act makes scientific sense.
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The truth never changes which is why Christian colleges, etc., need to stand with God and the Bible. Neither has changed over the thousands of years this world has existed. Evolution is whatever the evolutionist wants it to be no matter who it hurts.
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There is no scientific evidence for any alternative to Genesis 1. All scientific evidence for those alternatives is manipulated to show support and read into any experiment they make. Plus, science has not discovered or tested one mechanism they say is involved in evolutionary human development.
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To many unbelievers and unbelieving scientists, scientific media outlets and organizations evolution is dogma and settled science, not a theory. Evolution should never be taught in any school except to show why it is wrong and never existed. It is a theory that should never be considered for anything else.
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It [the Bible] also tells us how God created. There is no room for any other theory to explain our origins. We know everything about our origins as the Bible reveals this creative act correctly. The opinion of Mr. Wright is one that is used to justify denying what God wrote about himself and says that God is incapable of writing about himself and his actions.
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Any form of evolution is not true, it is not honorable, especially towards God, and it is not right or pure. Plus, evolution is not lovely or commendable as it caused great harm to millions throughout history and today, and it is not in any way shape, or form excellent or worthy of praise.
Evolution is nothing but a deceptive lie that has no place in any part of Christianity or its academic institutions. One cannot take science over God as the former is not the ultimate authority over anything.
Science, like many tools, is used to destroy people and Christians need to be aware of it before jumping on board scientific research. Christians can not teach other Christians to accept science over God’s word. If they do, they are leading those students to sin against God. That is very wrong.
If you don’t teach creation [ism] as true, then why teach the Bible at all? Or another good question why claim you are a Christian if you think the Bible is in error?
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Good exegesis does require that everyone accept God’s word and does not hint at him being a liar. There is no evidence in scripture or nature that a process was involved in the origin of everything.
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The very first biblical verse [Genesis 1:1] does not imply a process. Neither do the words ‘Let there be’ Every step of the creative act supports a supernatural creative act leaving no room for processes.
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First, there is no evidence supporting evolution. To get evidence, scientists would have to produce the original conditions and let life take its course. With no intelligent being involved in the origination or development of life, scientists cannot be a part of any evolutionary experiment.
Then their ‘experimental’ set-up would have to produce the same results as scientists claim took place in their version of human history. If millions of years are needed for this production of verifiable evidence, then evolution is not true. One does not have evidence to support their extraordinary claims.
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While the information about the fossilization of life forms is true, evolutionists will ignore this fact and claim the fossil record supports evolution. Unfortunately, for the evolutionist, everything about evolution is read into fossils not taken out of it.
Fossils do not support an evolutionary process. They are pawns in a high-stakes game that evil uses to deceive people.
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If Christian colleges are not pursuing truth but academic freedom, then the truth is lost and Christians are not getting the right spiritual food to grow strong and maintain their faith. You get what we have today, false teachers teaching false doctrine to vulnerable people. That is not a recipe for success.
After browsing the science books placed on the tables [at a book fair], we came to the conclusion that we do not need to read unbelieving science books anymore.
There are good reasons for following that realization. First, all the authors are telling the same story. They all do not depart from the main evolutionary claims or themes. Thus, they are boring to read. We figure they are writing these works to avoid the perish part of the academic publish-or-perish mentality.
Second, they offer no new evidence especially any that would be considered groundbreaking or history-changing. No new ‘physical evidence’ has been discovered or reported from the evolutionary side of the creation debate.
Anything they would present would be preceded or followed by the words ‘We Think’, ‘We Believe’. ‘it is possible’, ‘we do not know’, and similar phrases all evolutionary scientists cover their theories with. The last one is the most telling as it openly tells everyone they cannot find an alternative to God’s creative act.
Their evolutionary theories, etc., are merely wishful thinking and a waste of everyone’s time. Third, those first two points add up to the fact that it would be a giant waste of time reading those books.
They are nothing but false teaching and no Christian should be reading them unless they are looking for data and points to refute as well as show students why evolution and the Big Bang are wrong. These books provide no other type of valuable information.
Save your money or use it to buy solid, good Christian books written by true Christian scientists who believe in a 6 24-hour day creation. Remember, unbelievers do not have the truth and that includes all research fields under the science umbrella.
Every alternative to God’s creative act found in the Bible is false and untrue. Find Christian works that support Genesis 1 and 2 and learn the truth about our origins. Learn to strengthen your faith, not undermine it by accepting and adopting false information written by deceived people who are far from the truth.
Only God was there when creation took place and scientists cannot see back in time. It is laughable to think that evidence would survive billions and millions of years untouched by anything else.
— End excerpts
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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Dr. David Tee, an Evangelical preacher and world-renowned Bible archeologist, hasn’t written much about me in recent weeks. Tee, whose real name is Derrick Thomas Thiessen, hasn’t said much about his other nemesis, Meerkat Musings (Ben Berwick) either. Ben and I are pleased when Thiessen moves on to other people to use as “object lessons” for his teachings; which are, in fact, neither. As you will see in a moment, something flew up Tee’s nether regions, causing him all kinds of irritation and aggravation. After you read his words below, ask yourself, “Why”? Why did Thiessen bother to write this post? What did he hope to accomplish? Certainly not interaction or discussion. Certainly not a good faith attempt to reconcile differences of opinion. No, in less than five hundred words, Thiessen goes out of his way to harm and slander. Why? I, for the life of me, can’t figure out Thiessen’s motivations.
What follows is my response to Thiessen’s diatribe. I rarely respond to Thiessen unless he first mentions me on his blog. All spelling, grammar, punctuation, and irrationality in the original. Thiessen hates it when I point this out, but since he has repeatedly accused me of altering his words (even those written on other blogs), I present his writing unedited. He might want to think about hiring an editor. Or, at the very least, find himself a Carolyn who is willing to turn shit into gold.
Why we do not write much about BG & MM anymore.
BG is Bruce Gerencser (that’s me!) and MM is Meerkat Musings, a blog operated by my British friend, Ben Berwick. Thiessen knows he should properly mention our names and link to our content when he uses it in his writing, but, for some unknown reason, he refuses to do so. I’ve been blogging for seventeen years. I have only had a few other people do the same. Thiessen and these writers have one thing in common: they are all hardcore Fundamentalist Christians; people who generally have reputations for bullying, harassing, and demeaning other people. No matter how often I point out their behavior is inconsistent with the teachings of the Bible, they continue to give Christianity a bad name.
You may have noticed that we rarely go to their sites for examples to use. The simple explanation is that God doesn’t want us to do it and one reason for that direction is that they never say anything new.
I assume Thiessen means that over the past few weeks, he has rarely visited “our sites for examples to use.” Previously, Thiessen has written numerous posts about me and my favorite Meerkat.
Thiessen claims that the Protestant Christian God personally communicates with him and instructed him not to use content from Meerkat Musings and The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser. However, Thiessen does not provide any evidence for this assertion, expecting readers to simply take his word for it. According to Thiessen, God communicated to him that he should stop using Bruce’s and Ben’s content on his site and move on because they “never say anything new.”
This is a subjective claim based on personal beliefs and experiences. Readers have various reactions to my writing. I cannot control how people respond to me. All I can do is write thoughtful content that might help others. I strive to write in a way that others find valuable. Email, blog comments, and social media messages suggest that some people really appreciate my writing, while others strongly dislike it.
Thiessen knows that the Bible says “There is nothing new under the sun,” so it is unlikely that I am going to break new ground on this site. Of course, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. I started this blog for one reason: to have a place to tell my story. This is a personal blog, a place where I can flesh out the fifty years I spent in Evangelicalism and the twenty-five years I spent pastoring Bible-believing, Bible-preaching, Jesus-loving churches in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan.
In December, this blog will celebrate ten years of blogging glory. By then, I will have written over 6,000 posts — many of which have been edited by my dear friend Carolyn (she doesn’t edit short posts or the Black Collar Crime series). She has edited thousands of posts, making me a better writer in every way — even if she is unable to exorcise some of my stubborn grammar errors and spelling mistakes. If anyone knows my motivations, it is Carolyn. I am confident if she thought I was straying from my purpose and goal, she would say something. If all I ever wrote were Black Collar Crime stories, I doubt she would be interested in being my editor. However, I hope she sees something of value in my writing, and wants to help me make it better, thus reaching a wider audience.
Roughly 20 percent of the posts on this site are Black Collar Crime stories. The rest are primarily personal retellings of past experiences or critiques of Evangelical beliefs and practices. My chosen path for this blog naturally limits how much new, original content I post to this site. Christianity is a closed system of thought; a text-based religion. Theologians, apologists, and pastors rarely, if ever, have new thoughts about Christianity or this or that Bible teaching. Christians have spent the past two thousand years “defending” the faith, so I highly doubt that groundbreaking research is coming any time soon. Thiessen’s blog is typically a regurgitation of Evangelical dogma or posts pointing out that he is right and the other person is wrong. And according to Thiessen, Ben and I are ALWAYS wrong. No matter what we write, we are w-r-o-n-g. Why are we wrong? Cuz, what we write opposes or is contrary to his personal religious/political/social beliefs. I can’t remember the last time Thiessen engaged me on a particular subject; a good faith discussion where there is an honest, open exchange of thoughts, opinions, and ideas. No, all he does is tell me I am wrong, he is right, and that’s the end of the matter. Of course, it is hard to have a thoughtful discussion with someone who thinks you are a child of Satan and headed for Hell.
It is all the same material. BG whines about being told he is wrong, then he points accusing fingers at those he disagrees with./
Thiessen repeatedly makes this claim, yet does not justify saying that all I do is “whine” and “point fingers” at people I have disagreements with. Perhaps he can write a full-throated defense of his claim. If not, I will assume he is just making shit up. I have done all I know to do to engage Thiessen in a way that leads to profitable interaction and discussion for both of us. I have several times offered him opportunities to write guest posts or rebuttals to something I have written. He’s written one post, ignoring all other offers for discussion and dialog. I also offered to debate him — any time, anywhere, any subject. This offer he has also rejected. I suspect he thinks it beneath him to be “ready at any time to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.” (I Peter 3:15) Maybe I am an apostate and a reprobate — one beyond the grace the God — but thousands of other people who read this blog are not. Surely, they are a golden opportunity to put in a good word for Jesus; to warn people of the dangers of listening to the Evangelical-pastor-turned-atheist Bruce Gerencser.
Thiessen, as Christian Fundamentalists are wont to do, thinks he is right. His words excrete certainty. Of course, when you believe the Bible is inerrant and infallible (two claims I would love to debate with Thiessen) and God, in the person of the Holy Spirit, lives inside of you as your teacher, guide, and conscience, how could it be otherwise? One thing I have learned post-Jesus is that I don’t know as much as I think I do;, not only do I know what I know, but more importantly, I know what I don’t know. I know my limitations and weaknesses. I know where my expertise lies, and when it is best for me to keep my mouth shut. Years ago, I got into a lengthy email discussion with a mainline Baptist preacher on psychology. This man, much older than I, was well-educated in psychology and psychiatry. Several emails in, it became clear to me that I was out of my depth. However, instead of admitting this, I doubled down and went into preacher mode. His next email to me was direct: “Bruce, you are full of shit and don’t know what you are talking about.” He was, of course, right.
If you challenge him he starts doing nasty things to people.
What, exactly, are those “nasty things” I do to people? Outside of a few pranks, I haven’t done anything “nasty” to Thiessen, or anyone else, for that matter. Again, Thiessen makes a claim for which he provides no evidence.
Besides, we have had a belly full of his repeated claim of 4000 sermons, pastor for 25 years, song and dance.
I have repeatedly told Thiessen that I treat every post I write as a stand-alone article. I never assume that a reader knows anything about me. This is a courtesy provided to new readers. I wonder, however, if Thiessen is challenging the veracity and truthfulness of these claims? Did I pastor churches for twenty-five years? Did I really preach 4,000 sermons? Why would I lie about these things? Even at three sermons a week (Sunday morning, Sunday night, Thursday) for twenty-five years, I would have preached over 3,900 sermons. For many years, I preached more than three sermons a week, along with holding revivals and conferences. Throw in teaching Sunday school and preaching on the street 2-3 times a week, 4,000 sermons is a conservative estimate.
If my writing causes Thiessen stomach problems, I suggest he make an appointment with a gastroenterologist and get his digestive tract checked out. Either that or avoid foods that cause his belly to ache.
No matter what you say, he will find a way to ignore the evidence provided and repeat stupid claims like ‘I will consider believing if you…’ The evidence is there, he just does not want to believe anymore or he cannot return to his faith.
It is not that I ignore what little evidence Thiessen provides, as much as I find it lacking. Thiessen forgets that I was a pastor for twenty-five years; that I spent, on average, 20 hours a week, reading and studying the Bible and other theological tomes. That’s roughly 26,000 hours. So when I use the number 20,000 hours, I am being conservative. I know his arguments and evidence inside and out. I have weighed the central claims of Christianity in the balance and found them wanting. I am open to compelling evidence for Christianity, but just saying “The Bible says” or quoting proof texts ain’t going to cut it.
If the “evidence” is there for me to see, I would see it and respond accordingly. I am more than willing to engage Thiessen provided he is an honest, thoughtful interlocutor. Hell, I will even engage him if he is an Asshole for Jesus®. I enjoy a good roll in theological hay, even if I know the “sex” will result in a premature ejaculation.
As for MM, who we will call the great distorter. He still does not know what he is talking about and continues to create strawman arguments based on unreality and his socialist views. One of the latest is his distortion who loves money.
I will leave it to Ben to defend himself. I find Ben’s writing to be thoughtful and compelling. Not everything, of course. I am not an F-1 or soccer fan, so I tend to skip over those posts, but I enjoy the rest of his content. He and I hold similar political views — similar, not identical. It should be noted that Ben is not an atheist. I am trying to get him “saved,” but so far I have not succeeded. That’s not to say Ben’s a Christian. He’s not, but as with most of us who are not Fundamentalist Christians, we are on a journey. Where that journey takes us remains unknown.
While we will still check their websites from time to time, we have no interest in bringing attention to their false claims, accusations, and histrionics. Their woe is me, we are victims drama has gotten old. Plus, they do not know how to discuss properly.
What is it that we don’t know how to discuss properly? Again, Thiessen provides no evidence for his claim.
Besides we have other sources we can turn to that can be used to use for teaching moments, examples, and other important topics.
Thiessen has always had these other sources to use for his so-called “teaching moments,” (he sees himself as THE teacher, and the rest of us as students) yet he has primarily used Ben’s and my content for his blog — hundreds of posts over the past three or so years.
By all means, Derrick, move on to other object lessons. I guarantee you, the moment you stop writing about me, you will never be mentioned again on this site. Of course, you won’t do this. For whatever reason, you are obsessed with me. I have offered to send you a large blow-up of me naked that you can place on the ceiling over your bed, but you declined my offer. Others, however, begged for me to send them a photo. Maybe this would be a new way for me to make money.
Maybe our disinterest n their websites content began when we found out that neither of them have very popular websites.
I can’t speak for Ben, but Thiessen is accusing me of lying about the traffic numbers for this site. How did he come to this conclusion? If Thiessen has evidence for his claim, I want to see it. Here’s what I know: last year, this blog had almost one million page views. This number has dropped a bit in 2024 since Google tweaked its search algorithm. Both big and small sites have complained about traffic drops. Mine dropped almost 40 percent, but in recent weeks, it has rebounded a bit.
Maybe Thiessen is using an Internet site that allegedly tells you how much traffic a particular site has. These websites are rarely accurate. For example, I went to one site that said this blog gets 342 page views a day. Thiessen would see this as proof of his claim. When I search for his site, do you know what it says? Thiessen’s site averages three page views a day.
I use several internal SEO tracking programs to monitor site traffic. This blog is larger than many blogs and much smaller than some. As long as the numbers stay consistent or continue to improve, I am happy. Like every writer, I want my writing to be read by as many people as possible. In that regard, I am someone who cares a lot about statistics. Nevertheless, I would continue to write if only 100 people read my blog daily. I find writing to be a form of therapy and a pain reliever. When I no longer personally benefit from writing or people stop finding my work helpful, I will retire my laptop and spend my remaining days of life watching M.A.S.H. reruns.
Thiessen needs to provide empirical evidence for his claims. What metrics is he using? How does he define “popular”? Otherwise, he’s just talking nonsense, hoping to depreciate the value people find in my writing or to belittle me for allegedly having a smaller dick than I say I have.
They do not reach a large audience.
Thiessen needs to define “large.” No, this site is not Microsoft or Google-sized. However, it is larger than most of the blogs on the Internet, especially in my chosen category. Why the sudden obsession with “size”? Is it surprising that Theissen is also a big Trump supporter — a man noted for his obcession with size?
We reach whomever God wants us to reach and we are content with that. So do not expect frequent references to BG or MM and their false content on this website.
Thiessen’s blog, by all accounts, is a low-traffic site. He feels justified attacking my traffic numbers, while at the same time attributing his poor traffic numbers to God. If God wanted more people to read his blog, God’s social media manager would send people his way. Instead of using proven techniques and practices to improve his site, he leaves its success or failure to God; and in doing so resigns himself to obscurity. His choice, but I want to attract as many readers as possible, atheists and Christians alike.
By the way, Thiessen has a new blog where he touts his writing prowess. You can check it out here. Let me know what you think of his new site.
I hope Thiessen will respond to this post, providing actual evidence for his claims. My offer to him to write rebuttals or engage me in a public debate still stands. Count me a one atheist who is “ready at any time to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.”
Saved by Reason,
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
One cannot trust scientists in any aspect of life. Their conclusions are influenced by their lack of Christian beliefs and adoption of the concept humans are animals, thanks to the evolutionary theory.
Humans are not expendable except in the eyes of scientists and some other people groups bent on wresting power and control from legitimate government processes. it is better to trust God and his word as he is the legitimate authority and he has set forth ethical and moral guidelines he will enforce.
His ethics and morals do not change from year to year or when technology is updated. His rules govern every aspect of life equally and the invention and application of technology is submissive to those regulations. They do not change, ever.
This is why we can say what is right or wrong. We have a set of objective moral and ethical guidelines that are not influenced by money, power, or romance. It is also why we can say you cannot trust scientists. They run by their own flexible rules that only benefit them and their work.
It is the scientist who is wrong, not God or the Bible.
— Dr. David Tee, TheologyArcheology: A Site For The Glory of Scientific Ignorance, Why People Do Not Trust Scientists, September 18, 2024
Dr. David Tee, whose real name is Derrick Thomas Thiessen, continues to passive-aggressively respond to my posts, often refusing to mention my name or link to my writing. In a post titled Why Noah’s Ark Will Not be Found, Thiessen wrote:
People want evidence
This is what the modern world has turned into. Due to the rise in scientific influence and its demand for physical evidence, everyday people want to see evidence before they accept a premise as true.
The demand for evidence has overwhelmed the population elbowing the requirement for faith to the sidelines. It used to be that people believed the Bible without the need of any evidence.
That is not blind faith but acknowledging the fact that without faith one cannot please God. Also, it is an act of obedience as faith has always been the requirement for salvation and other biblical topics.
However, when science was placed as an authority the demand for real physical evidence rose and people stopped obeying God and wanted to see more and more physical evidence.
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While we have so much evidence for Noah’s flood, it still takes faith to believe the biblical record. We do not know how Noah and his sons built such a large ship, how they weathered the storm, and much more. Everything about the flood has to be taken by faith.
Except for the lesson that God provided through this biblical event. Instead of searching for the ark, people should be learning what disobedience is going to cost them.
According to Thiessen, people used to “believe the Bible without the need of any evidence.” He provides no evidence or study for his claim, but I will accept his claim for the sake of argument. While there was likely a time when believers generally put their faith in the Bible and rarely, if ever, questioned its claims, thanks to the scientific method and the proliferation of evidence on the Internet that challenges faith claims, Christians are more likely to question and doubt what they hear from the pulpit. Thiessen, of course, will attribute this to Satan. After all, it was Lucifer (Actually a talking snake. The Bible never says the snake was the Devil.) who said to Adam and Eve, “Yea hath God said”? The answer to the snake’s question, of course, is “no.”
We teach our children not to trust people just because of what they say or their position of authority. Smart parents teach their children to be skeptical of all claims, including those uttered by authority figures. If a teacher, preacher, policeman, or other authority makes a claim, they should, at the very least, justify their claim. Every claim should stand on its own two feet. We should remain skeptical until hearing sufficient evidence to justify a claim.
However, when it comes to Evangelical Christianity, people are expected to check their brains at the door. Faith, not reason, is the standard of judgment. If a teaching or belief sounds irrational, just have faith. If a pastor’s preaching seems to run contrary to what we know to be true, just have faith. No matter how crazy a belief sounds, just have faith.
Thiessen says “We have so much evidence for Noah’s flood,” — a claim that is categorically false — but turns right around and says “It still takes faith to believe the biblical record.” Here’s the thing, if we have evidence, we don’t need faith. Faith is what people exercise when they don’t have a good reason to believe. Show me, I will believe, and then I won’t need faith.
Faith is never a good way to determine whether something is true. Faith allows people to believe all sorts of crazy things, including the supernatural claims of the Bible and Donald Trump’s claim that Haitian immigrants are eating cats and dogs in Springfield, Ohio. Thiessen would have us believe everything in the Bible by faith, even without an evidentiary reason to do so. Only in religion do we ask people to place faith over reason, skepticism, and rational inquiry. Imagine a scientist presenting a paper without evidence for his claims. “Brethren, I ask you to take my word for it that eating three Snickers bars a day cures fibromyalgia.” Why, this scientist would be laughed out of the room. His fellow scientists would demand empirical evidence for his claims, and even then, they would likely retest his claims before accepting them as true.
Thiessen wants us to just close our eyes and wish upon a star. Any and every absurd claim can be believed if people will just have faith. But that’s not how the world works in 2024. It’s not 1100 CE anymore. We now live in a scientific era where people are expected to provide evidence for their claims — including preachers, evangelists, missionaries, and Sunday school teachers. If credible evidence cannot be provided, moderns will not believe.
Thiessen longs for a day when people just took his word for it. I am sure it grates on him that he is no longer viewed as an authority on the Bible; and that people rightly challenge his bald assertions. If Thiessen wants us to believe, all he has to do is provide evidence for his claims. Not quote Bible verses or appeal to hermeneutic sleight of hand, but actual evidence. I remain ready and willing to believe. All it would take to convert me is to provide sufficient evidence for the existence of the Christian deity and the central claims of Christianity. So far, this evidence has not been forthcoming.
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
First off, we need to look at the source of scientific information. Are the people bringing us the alternative to Genesis 1 or scientific discoveries actually and truly Christian? If not then we know that they are being led by evil and are deceived people.
They are the blind trying to lead the blind.
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God separates education into two distinct categories—true teaching and false teaching. If the scientists are not following God and the Bible then they are not bringing true teaching to the faithful. They may mix some of the truth in with their alternative ideas but as all con men know, to deceive people you need some truth to make the con work.
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Secular scientists and alternative believers bring a different gospel than the one Jesus and the disciples taught. They are saying that Moses is wrong but Jesus, Paul, and the apostles never corrected Moses and in fact, Jesus stated in John 5:45ff that if you do not believe Moses how can you believe his words? So believing Genesis 1 is important to one’s salvation.
Secular scientists and alternative believers do not believe Moses thus they try to alter the gospel message because they cannot bring themselves to follow God’s rule of using faith to accept a supernatural origin.
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We have help [God and the Bible]. The secular scientist does not have this aid so we know that whatever they conclude or say is not coming from God but from evil. They do not know what the truth is.
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There is only one way for secular science to be compatible or harmonized with scripture and that is for those in secular science to repent of their sins and get right with God then toss out all false teachings from the field of science.
God and the Bible do not humble themselves to secular scientists, science, or alternative believers. Those groups are to humble themselves and give up what is wrong. We cannot put the truth into secular science because it is not made new but a very sinful and corrupt field of research and the Bible teaches us.
….
One is not blessed by God for taking sinful words and counsel over God’s words. Here is a question I have asked many an atheist, alternative believer, and secular scientist: Where in the Bible do both God and Jesus give permission to take secular science over their words?
So far not one of the people I have asked has been able to provide an answer.
They can’t because both God and Jesus tell us to follow them over the secular world and to use faith when we believe. We do not have to use secular science and its rules to combat secular science. We just need to know who God is and what happens if he is wrong to see that the truth lies in Genesis 1 and not with those who have rejected that passage of scripture.
It is not the amount of educational degrees behind a name that finds the truth nor is it the amount of expertise or years of doing experiments that lead us to the truth about our origins. It is following the Holy Spirit that gets us to the truth and the Holy Spirit will not contradict God or the Bible.
— Dr. David Tee, TheologyArcheology: A Site for the Glory of Scientific and Theological Ignorance, Harmonizing Science and Scripture, September 3, 2024
Another day, another post by Dr. David Tee, whose real name is Derrick Thomas Thiessen, about yours truly. Titled Answering More Questions+, Thiessen used my last five posts to say that I was wrong. Of course, his five readers will not know they are my posts. Thiessen does not link to my articles, nor does he mention me by name or initials.
It is amazing how some unbelievers, like LGBTQ, vegans, and vegetarians [vegans and vegetarians, can’t be Christians?] will always tell you information you do not want to know. The person writing that article [Bruce Gerencser] has reached part two and it is the same story he has preserved on hundreds of web pages on his website, yet he feels he has to write about it again.
This and these types of articles are stories of failures. The lesson to take from them is what not to do when you have doubts or are in a crisis. Failures are not someone you should listen to or follow their examples.
They do not have any answers and they have nothing for Christians except information on what to avoid. Quitters are not role models and while we have empathy for them and strive to see if they can be redeemed again, we do not follow their examples or listen to their words.
These types of people are just screaming for attention, similar to those aging Hollywood actresses who continue to take their clothes off like they are achieving some great goal or making a powerful statement. The only people who like seeing the actresses strip are perverts.
The quitters are embarrassing themselves as they hold their failures up for all to see and ridicule. They are not achieving anything or helping anyone.
From day one of blogging in 2007, I determined to use my real name and write openly and honestly about my life. And that’s exactly what I have done. Have I told readers EVERYTHING about my life? No, and I don’t intend to do so. That said, for the most part, I have been honest and vulnerable, knowing that doing so could lead people to view me in a negative light.
Thiessen, a disgraced Evangelical preacher who abandoned his family and fled the United States to avoid legal obligations, goes to great lengths to hide who he really is. While he is certainly free to do so, I don’t understand why he so vehemently objects to me doing otherwise. Why does my story enflame his metaphorical hemorrhoids? Why does the retelling of my story upset him so? If my writing causes him to reach for his tube of Preparation H, why not stop reading it? Why not write original content instead of repeatedly cribbing my writing and that of Ben Bewwick (Meerkat Musings)? Does Thiessen really believe he is “helping” his fellow believers? Or is he just another pissed-off Evangelical who is upset that I am talking out of school?
Thiessen has countless times over the years called me names. He loves saying that I am a quitter; a failure. Thiessen says I am like an actress who takes off her clothes on TV or in a movie. Those who watch her on the screen are, according to a man with lots of skeletons in his closet, “perverts.” Thus, my writing is akin to a naked actress, and you dear readers are perverts for reading it.
Am I a quitter? Sure. I have quit several things in my life, as all of us have. But I will tell you who I haven’t quit on. Unlike Thiessen, I have never quit on my spouse, children, or grandchildren. I suspect if the truth was ever told about the life of Derrick Thiessen, there would be plenty of quitting for all to see.
Thiessen also says I am a “failure.” Again, all of us fail at one time or another. I have had many successes and failures in my life. So has Thiessen. So what is he trying to accomplish with these slurs? Best I can tell, Thiessen is gaslighting us, projecting his failures on me, hoping to avoid careful examination of his own life and accountability for his actions. I suspect most readers see through what he is doing. Of course, Thiessen could clear all of this up by being open, honest, and forthcoming about his life, from his days in Canada to his present domicile and “ministry” in the Philippines. Of course, he will never do this. Thus the endless stream of blog posts about me will continue.
Finally, Thiessen says I am “not achieving anything or helping anyone.” He knows this isn’t true, but he keeps saying it over, and over, and over again. I will leave it to others to determine whether I have achieved anything or helped anyone. My email suggests that I have helped countless people over the years. Comments on the YouTube/podcast interviews I have done lead me to believe that many people find my story helpful and encouraging. Even Evangelicals who disagree with me find my writing engaging and informative. I have been in talks with an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) pastor about speaking to his church school’s high school students. He asked if I would be willing to take questions from them. “Absolutely,” I replied. Two years ago, I gave a similar talk to a young men’s group at a Mennonite church in Pennsylvania. If I am not achieving anything or helping anyone, why do even Evangelicals find my story interesting?
I know nothing I say will make one bit of a difference when it comes to what Thiessen says about me. I just want him to know I see through his bullshit, as do many, if not most, of the readers of this site.
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
The decision to have children should be made long before the couple has sex and long before they get married. As believers of sex after marriage, we do not accept adulterous affairs of any sort. However, we recognize that they do take place.
But, those adulterous affairs do not change the status of the new life developing in the mother-to-be. If the men are going to participate in out-of-marriage sexual encounters, then they need to be prepared to care for the life they have generated. The same thing applies to women.
Everyone knows by the time they are 16 what happens when a man and a woman have sex. They should be strong enough to hold off temptation and prepare themselves for parenthood. Unfortunately, the West and some countries in the East have placed such a high priority on sex that too many people fall to temptation.
They have ignored biblical teaching to pursue their own desires and we are left with the family mess we have today. If you think the Bible does not relate to today’s culture, think again.
The biblical instructions apply to all cultures no matter where they are located. In reading the Bible, specifically the verses about Jesus’ interaction with Mary Magdelene and the verse that says Jesus was tempted in all areas of life, we have come to the conclusion that Mary was his adultery temptation. [Did Jesus get a boner?]
— Dr. David Tee, TheologyArcheology: A Site for the Glory of God, When Does Life Begin, July 24, 2024
Over the years, we [I] have written more than enough articles proving that the theory of evolution is not true.
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Evolution is what anyone decides it to be and then changes the physical evidence to fit their particular version.
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The Bible has the theory of evolution beat no matter how you look at this issue.
Geoff Toscano, a long-time reader of this blog and a personal friend replied:
Oh brother, I’ve wasted at least 5 minutes of my life reading Tee’s article! Just when I thought the fool couldn’t get any more stupid, he proves me wrong, once again! The irony is that he accuses evolutionary scientists of creating fairy stories along the lines of Hansel and Gretel, when it’s actually a book of fairy tales that he seeks to defend.
He misses the most basic understanding of why evolution must be true, and that is its explanatory power. Take away all the evidence we have in terms of DNA, the fossil record, variation, adaptation, and so on, and still we have the explanatory power. Evolution provides an explanation of features we observe in every life form that special creation cannot begin to approach. It explains biodiversity, vestiges and atavisms, bad design (if god designed humans then he did a terrible job!), and especially the manner in which life forms seem strangely to conform to their varying environments. An educated person cannot deny evolution: they are mutually exclusive.
Thiessen refuses to comment on this blog, choosing instead to “answer” comments on his site. Of course, Thiessen refuses to let people comment on his blog, nor does he have a contact page. You can, however, email Thiessen at kinship29@yahoo.com.
Titled Responding to Comments 4, Theissen “answered” five comments from this site. He had this to say to Geoff:
The person missing the point is the quoted commentator. Explanatory power means absolutely nothing. There is nothing to support the ‘explanatory power’. If you remove the made-up evidence, then the explanation makes no sense.
Also, explanatory power is not exclusive to evolution. Any alternative can have the same explanations credited to it. In fact, creation has the exact same explanatory power with one exception. Creation has all the evidence supporting it.
Like the late George Carlin, the commentator is judging God from only seeing humans and creation from the results of the fall and corruption that entered in at Adam’s sin. he did not and cannot see humans and creation as God created it.
God did a perfect job, but sin and corruption ruined what he did. The quoted commentator should blame evil not God. He also says that creatures adapt to different environments.
We have yet to see humans adapt to living underwater and fish to living out of water. Those are different environments. Moving to a different place on the dry surface of the Earth is not moving to a different environment.
It is simply moving to different weather patterns and temperatures. Nothing needs to change for adaptation to take place in that situation. Also, we have not seen one person adapt to the environment on the moon or in space. They still need protective gear to live.
This fact proves evolution false.
Geoff sent me a response to Thiessen that follows below. Geoff responds to Thiessen’s reply to him and several other commenters.
David Tee’s first comment makes no sense. I pointed out the explanatory power of evolution, and he countered with “There is nothing to support the ‘explanatory power’. If you remove the made-up evidence, then the explanation makes no sense.” He either didn’t read my comment properly or he didn’t understand it. Explanatory power IS the evidence so his reference to other evidence for evolution being made up is irrelevant. For example, the laryngeal nerve is explained perfectly by evolution, but makes no sense in his creation beliefs. That is the evidence, end of story.
As for his nonsense about humans adapting to living under water, he gets to be equally silly. Animals adapt to their environment, humans included. Life originated in the sea, then slowly started to move out of it onto dry land many millions of years, perhaps billions, of years ago. Animals that emerged evolved until they were able to live on the land without recourse to water. This explains why humans still have vestiges of gills (tail bones also, I might add). He’s also ridiculous in saying that different parts of dry land on Earth do not represent different environments. Really? Arctic versus the Sahara Desert? They aren’t just different weather patterns or temperatures, they require adaptation in a way almost as great as leaving the sea.
His point about not adapting to living in space or on the moon? (Ignoring that we’ve been able to access space for only a very few decades, whilst evolution requires thousands of years to make significant differences on the scale required). He really knows nothing about evolution. In fact, this comment is perhaps the most stupid I have ever seen from a creationist! It’s precisely because we haven’t adapted to such hostile conditions that we are unable to live in them! Should we be forced through circumstances one day to live on the moon then our bodies would adapt to the conditions, especially the gravity, but it’s unlikely we would ever be able to adapt to the lack of oxygen, which is essential for human existence, indeed all life (there are apparently tiny multi cells that exist without oxygen in parts of the ocean, but these aren’t relevant to Tee’s point). Plus, of course, we’d need water. There are technical ways of producing these but then we’d be adapting the environment to us. We can do this because we’ve evolved to be able to do it!
He says there are thousands of Christian biologists who reject evolution. False, there are almost none. Stephen Meyer of Discovery Institute is the only seemingly qualified scientist who makes the claim and he’s not a biologist. Michael Behe, who really formalised Intelligent Design, has since retreated and I think has either reverted to accepting evolution or at least gone very quiet. The thing is there are always outliers. People who are anti-vaxxers, or moon landing deniers, flat earthers, and many others can appear to be carrying some kind of qualification to lend them credibility. Even so, they remain outliers. They aren’t taken seriously by the scientific community, not because the scientific community is conspiring against them, but because the scientific community exists only because it is historically the only method whereby humanity progresses. Science works (and I define science widely in this regard, to include all methods of reasoning), where faith does not. Faith recently murdered a small child in Australia, a child who had every right to depend on her parents and other guardians for protection, but who was betrayed because her protectors thought the power of God was greater than the power of medicine.
Tee claims that unbelievers seek to exclude God from their work. Ignoring the fact that a very large proportion of scientists are themselves religious believers (though it is a much lower proportion than that found in other areas of life) the fact is that science excludes nothing, not even God. The point is that good science leads where it leads. Isaac Newton was a great scientist, but he was also a fervent believer. When he constructed his theory of gravity it was hailed as, rightly, one of the great scientific achievements of all time. Even so, he knew there was a small error for which he couldn’t account, so he attributed this to God keeping ultimate control of his creation. He was wrong because he didn’t know, and at the time couldn’t possibly have known, of relativity, something Einstein demonstrated centuries later. So God figured in the thinking of one of the greatest scientists of all time, but unfortunately God proved not to be the answer. If God is ever the answer, then science will discover this, it won’t be through faith.
On top of this, many attempts have been made by science to ‘find God’. There have been four peer-reviewed studies that have attempted to establish whether prayer is of any benefit in assisting ill patients to recover. Three indicated it provided no benefit greater than chance, whilst one suggested there may even be negative benefit. Indeed, every aspect of supernatural claim has been carefully investigated by science. Miracle claims, so-called paranormal events, weeping statues, hauntings, exorcisms, NDEs, etc., all have been studied and no evidence of anything other than perfectly natural explanations has ever been found.
Matt Ridley’s main claim to fame is that he was chairman of the bank that initiated the financial collapse in the UK in 2007 (a full year before Lehman Brothers failed) and had to give evidence to a Parliamentary Committee that wanted to know where he was whilst all this happened. He admitted that he didn’t really involve himself, rather it was his name that was important to the bank (he is actually Sir Matt Ridley, and part of a wealthy landowning family). He’s written some good science books aimed at children, but he’s verging on denialism in much of what he writes. His religious beliefs, however, are irrelevant to his science writing.
It is easy to conclude that Tee is simply delusional (which he undoubtedly is) but it’s much more than that, and I think he has to be regarded as an outright liar. He keeps insisting that there’s no evidence for evolution. He’s simply wrong. Evolution is supported by more evidence than any other branch of science. It is now such a vast subject that it has to be subdivided for study purposes. No serious scientist in the world denies it, and certainly no biologists, whether religious believers or not. He insists the bible is true, in the face of all the evidence that proves it is not, other than in minor, trivial, ways. Most believers, and certainly most religions, have come to terms with the realisation that evolution is a stark fact.
Tee yet again demonstrates the impossibility of his ever having obtained a legitimate doctorate. I’ll go further and allege that he’s never passed any formal academic examination in his life. It’s significant that he chooses to limit his reply to the comfort of his website, protected from comments, and certainly not daring to risk direct interaction on Bruce’s forum.
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
