Estelle Bennett, Darwin, and Lincoln
First, of a more personal nature – Estelle Bennett, my wife Nedra’s cousin and one of the Ronette’s, who died a few days ago. The press has been carrying the story, and if you are interested, here are just two reports:
The Star Ledger obituary story written by Jay Lustig with quotes from Nedra and USA Today.
There are a few elements in this USA Today report in regard to the girl’s history that are not quite accurate, but I don’t have the time or inclination to straighten the whole world out.
I do want to thank so many of you for sending your prayers and condolences to Nedra. She is working on funeral arrangements with Estelle’s daughter Toyen. We’ll announce them when they are nailed down.
And talking about accuracy – the Darwin piece I posted yesterday evidently has quite a bit of controversy behind it that I was not aware of. One of our CBN News guys, Drew Parkhill, pursued this a bit, and here is some of his research and comments if you are interested in jumping into the fray:
"Scott…..I vaguely remembered hearing/reading that Darwin supposedly converted late in life, and that such stories were not true. So I did a little research. Check out these links:
From Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Hope
From Answers in Genesis (pro-Bible):
http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v18/i1/darwin_recant.asp
From TalkOrigins (pro-evolution):
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/hope.html
Believe me, there are many questionable stories about Christianity in history, many of which I only found were wrong (or right) after some serious research..."
And one other, that gives extensive background on Lady Hope, who originally reported this testimony on Darwin: http://www.carm.org/secular-movements/evolution/did-darwin-become-christian-his-deathbed
All of this brings to mind the Scripture : "Any story sounds true until someone tells the other side and sets the record straight" (Proverbs 18.17).
Finally, Abraham Lincoln . There was so much occurring yesterday, I didn’t have the time to make a comment on Lincoln on his 200th birthday. (Forgive me Mr. President.) Also, I generally like to keep these commentaries concise as possible. But next week I do want to refer to what is considered Lincoln’s greatest speech, and as great as it was, it is NOT the Gettysburg Address.
Thanks,
Scott Ross