My Map Analogy...

I often get into discussions, and even debates, with Christians and non-Christians about creationism/evolution in all it's various hues and colors, and one of the things that comes up the most is the tossing around of "evidence" on both sides of the debate. Many creationists throw their "evidence" at the evolutionist and can't understand why he cannot see the forrest for the trees, and vice versa. I also often use an illustration about the nature of data, explaining why this happens, by talking about a map and how maps work.

I've wanted to post this for a while (It's been in "draft" status...i.e. "forgotten about" for like a month) but I have never gotten around to it. So, this kinda comes out of nowhere, but I'm going to simply post a quote of something I said about "the map analogy" along with what I often use for examples. This also is my original thought, so rip me off all you want but I'd appreciate the honor of a citation if you rip me off. I was debating someone a little while ago on evolution; specifically the nature of data and evidence. We throw those terms around so loosely and more often then not mean "data" when we say "evidence". Anyway, instead of re-typing the whole thing, here's the quote:

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Well, when I look at the data, I don’t see 4 billion years. But then again, that’s just it: DATA only becomes EVIDENCE when it’s interpreted.

Take a map for example. A map is a whole bunch of lines, shapes, colors and symbols. It could be a road map, a star map, a neurosynaptic map, etc. Now I may look at a map and say “hmmm. I don’t have a clue what this is but I’ll try to decipher it.” I could examine the red lines and think “Hmm, well, these look like roads” and suspect that they’re roads. I could look at the purple “x” marks and think “these must be railroad crossings”. I could go through all the symbols and sort through everything and apply my logic, as best I can, to decipher the map.

But how would I KNOW I was correct?

I’d have to check the legend. The legend is the “key” to the map, which tells me what the lines, colors, shapes and symbols mean.

And when I look at the legend, THEN I have a authoritative basis for interpreting the data of the map.

I’d suggest that if the Bible is true, then it’s the “legend” of creation. It’s the “key” to make sense of everything; and not just morally. The Bible gives us a general foundation for the operation of both ‘hard’ and ’soft’ science; it allows us to make sense of the "data" of the entire universe and see what's what and how it all fits together.

When the Evolutionist examines the map (creation) without refering to the legend (scripture), they misinterpret the data. They see things as they are, but their understanding is horribly misaligned.

So when an Evolutionist examines a fossil record, he thinks “well, I understand how silt is laid down and I understand how pressure works on soil (etc.)” Then, he takes his observations and attempts to make a working interpretation of the fossil record to understand it.

But without the solid foundation of scripture (they eyewitness account of the only living eyewitness), the understanding of the Evolutionist is misaligned.

When I, the Christian, look at the same data, I take the SAME observations. I remember how silt is laid down and I think about pressure, but then I also remember that God says something about a worldwide flood in Earth’s past where EVERYTHING died. Then, I factor in the flood and say “Hmm. This flood helps explain other things like polystratic fossils, or how a dead organism survives long enough to even BE fossilized without being eaten or decomposed.”

Working from the same data, but DIFFERENT foundations, the Evolutionist and the Creationist see different interpretations of the data. In the words of the analogy, we see the same map but we use DIFFERENT LEGENDS to understand the map. The Christian looks at the legend on the map and the non-Chrisitan simply rejects the legend on the map and makes a new legend up.

So I don’t see the earth as appearing 4 billion years old. I don’t see fossils giving the “illusion” of evolution. I see the earth looking several thousand years old and I see the fossils screaming at me that God judges sin.

WAY different conclusions!

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So, heres some pictures and maps. See if you can tell what they all are without the legends, but there is NO wiggle room; you've gotta be either 100% or nothing. Know what the map is a map of, where it's from, what the colors mean, etc. I'm also putting them in order of difficulty, with the easiest one first. I'll eventually post the answers after a few days, and we'll see how close anyone can get to getting them all! I'd turn this into a contest, but I have now prizes or anything. BUT, the person who gets the closest can maybe choose the next post topic or something. HA! Have fun all!










Okay. Now that I'm back on "serious post" mode, this should make for some fun times! Until Next Time,

The Armchair Theologian