Here’s a vocabulary lesson: uniformitarianism, catastrophism, received orthodoxy, the channeled scablands.

Believe it or not, the ideas behind these words can help us to understand our modern world. Some of the worst arguments in the news should be explained, and these words can do that.

Charles Darwin is the originator of the theory of evolution, with his book, “The Origin of the Species.” Darwin is described as a scientist, but his education, at Cambridge University, was preparing to become a minister in the Church of England. Today, this would be like an education in a Bible College, or a Seminary.

He wasn’t really educated as a scientist.

Darwin gave us a universe without God, where life originated from natural forces, and then evolved into the life forms that we have now, including us.

Darwin’s ideas have become received orthodoxy. To most scientists, they are so obviously true that they don’t need to be proven, they must be believed. They are beyond debate, and people, like creationists, who believe God is the creator, are dangerous lunatics.

Today, we have many received orthodoxies, including ideas about sexual orientation, racism, and climate change. For believers and activists, these ideas are so true, they don’t need to be proven. We need to believe and change our behavior, or we could be labeled as dangerous “deniers.”

This is the spirit of our times.

Darwin’s model of evolution included a popular scientific philosophy “Uniformitarianism.” This is the idea that the present explains the past, and probably the future. Conditions on Earth hardly ever change, which allows time for complex life to evolve gradually. Interruptions would make gradual evolution mathematically impossible. The gradual process needs a uniform and stable environment. Think of this as Darwin’s theology. He had a “no God” explanation for how we got here, and where we came from.

Catastrophism is different. It is the idea that our world is formed by catastrophic events, like floods and volcanic eruptions, and extinction events. Bible stories are catastrophic, including these words “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth.” (Genesis 2:2)

There was a famous American scientist, a geologist named J. Harlan Bretz, who discovered evidence of massive floods in Washington State, in the areas called the “Channeled Scablands.”

When he presented his ideas, he was severely attacked and censured by older scientists. The uniformitarianisms shut down the catastrophism upstart.

Catastrophism was too much like a story from the Bible, and senior scientists would not tolerate it, even if it was true.

Decades later, at the age of 96, Harlen Bretz received a medal for his brilliant work, and he told his son “All my enemies are dead, so I have no one to gloat over.”

• READ: J. Harlen Bretz:Wikipedia

And now we have climate change. If you follow the news, climate change is now a received orthodoxy. It is not wise to challenge it unless you are prepared for ugly labels like “Climate Change Denier.”

Activists who warn about climate change describe it as an extinction event. Scientists now believe that the Earth has experienced many, severe extinction events, including the time that an asteroid struck near the coast of Mexico, and wiped out all the large dinosaurs.

The whole world seems to be missing the point, the belief systems that inform us, the ideas we teach to children in school, are beginning to contradict each other. One “truth” could cancel another. Darwin could be a climate change denier.

We have “truth” that cannot be challenged or contradicted, and this informs government policy, we teach it in schools and universities, and it gives direction to our lives. That “truth” is challenged, however, and the challenger is another orthodox “truth” that contradicts the first one. That is the world we live in.

Received Orthodoxy might seem like an over-complicated concept, but it explains all the empty churches. I am writing as a Christian. When we are told, ‘This is the truth, and we don’t have to convince you.’ a generation emerges that was never persuaded and convinced. The end result is always the same, the truth dies in our society.

My friends and I were raised that way in Christian churches, and many of them drifted into other lifestyles. I was persuaded, when I met some convinced Christians, from outside my family and my home church. They challenged me to make my own decisions, and I did.

The Bible tells us “Knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others.” (2 Corinthians 5: 11). When we stop persuading, our truth will disappear, in any place.

So, “uniformitarianism, catastrophism, received orthodoxy, the channeled scablands” there are some words we should know. We each need truth in our lives that will endure. We need to be persuaded and convinced.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39 )