Woman
defends creationism
in classroom
Adrienne
Reese turned her interest in
creationism into lectures
By Nan
McKenzie Kosowan
Special to ChristianWeek
 NAN KOSOWAN PHOTO Adrienne Reese with her arsenal of books on creation. |
KITCHENER,
ON–Adrienne Reese spent many an animated
hour verbally sparring with three of her teens
about Christian beliefs. Since that time 20 years
ago, she has lectured hundreds of students on
creationism. It began when her son’s grade 11 teacher called to inform her that the curriculum was to deal with the origins of early humans from an evolutionary viewpoint. "When I told him that there was a lot of material written for a creation viewpoint he asked me to give a lecture on creation to his students," she says. She has been doing high school lectures ever since. Her lively presentations have also gone to summer schools, Sunday schools, women’s groups, correctional facilities and her own church, Benton Baptist in Kitchener, where her husband Jim serves as pastor. She is not paid for her lectures, but says she just enjoys sharing her passion for the subject. |
"Into the political environment of an evolution-oriented educational system I come saying, ‘Hey, kids, you need to realize that for over a century the educational system has arbitrarily wiped out the supernatural in man’s belief about his origin. It’s coming into your classroom today.’"
Bible and history
Her interest in creation theory was sparked years back while studying at William Jennings Bryan Christian College in Dayton, Tennessee. She majored in history and noticed how the Bible and history melded together. She began to read every book she could get her hands on, resulting in her current library of more than 65 books on creation.
In her lectures, she uses that knowledge to set historical background.
Education was largely church-based until the Rennaisance, "when people got heady with their ability to understand the world and decided they need not factor God into their world view," she tells students. Reese argues that Darwin wrote his theory of evolution in an intellectual atmosphere that viewed humans rather than God as the centre of the universe.
"In the last 50 years, the more understanding we’ve gained in the scientific field, the more holes we’ve seen in the evolution theory," she says. "With the present resurgence of creationism thought, we realize we don’t have to be captive to either scientism or religiosity."
In your face
"You’re here because you made wrong choices," she tells youth at Hope Harbour youth custody centre. Nods and murmurs acknowledge her statement and a spirited question period begins. In her confrontational style, she talks about God’s gift of free will.
"As they push me with questions I can push back. When speaking at a public institution, I’m there to present a scientific creationism. With a lot of published material under my belt I give scientific reasons for my belief in creation."
Afterwards, a youth expresses confusion at some of her big words. She listens quietly, then smiles. "Thank you. I’ll watch out for that." Delighted when a class shoots questions at her, she says such involvement shows that her talk has pushed some buttons and opened some minds.
Spiritual questions always come, she says. "I turn to the teacher and say, ‘That’s a theological question, requiring a theological answer. Have I permission to answer?’ Then I can take off."
If someone attacks her as a person rather than her theory, she asks the individual to restate the question. "When kids stick up for evolution and try to push me off my point of God, I say, ‘You choose: a capricious god of materialism or an intelligent Creator God who has a plan and purpose for everything, including you. I choose my option.’ It’s back in their court. You never know when a seed planted will sprout."