Re: theology of the cross of some theistic evolutionists

Murphy (gmurphy@imperium.net)
Thu, 30 Jan 1997 08:05:48 -0500

Dick Fischer wrote:
>
> George wrote:
> > Of course, I have to say that Luther isn't responsible for the
> >use that I make of some of his ideas. He certainly didn't accept
> >evolution - though what he might have said if he'd been born 400 years
> >later isn't obvious.
>
> Evolution was not the issue of Luther's day. The geocentric earth model
> was still in vogue in theological circles and Luther came down on the
> wrong side of that, stating that Joshua made the sun stand still not the
> earth. Which just shows that in issues of Bible and science, theologians
> rarely get it right, even famous ones.

True - though remember that Luther's oft-quoted comment on this,
like some of his other more provocative ones is from his _Table Talk_.
& what a student remembers years later of what his prof said over a beer
doesn't always do full justice to the prof's fully developed ideas.
My point here, though, was to
a. not blame Luther for my own views, &
b. make a preemptive strike against those who say, "If Luther
(or Augustine, or Einstein, or whoever) were alive today he
would ..." when in fact we often don't know what position an
intelligent person would take on a modern issue he or she
had no opportunity to deal with.
George Murphy