I am new to this list and take the opportunity of opening my account by
commenting on your remarkable suggestion that "... its a wonder
biological evolution was not deduced from Christian theology!". In my
view, the essay 'Evolution and the Christian God' - provided to back up
the idea - fails to acknowledge some important considerations. For
example:
1) The Lord himself warns us to test the fruits of every doctrine before
we accept it as being true (Mt.7:15-20). On this basis - as I'm sure
you'll agree - evolution has a poor track record. This alone, in my
view, should be a major deterrent to all who accept Christ as the way,
the truth, and the life. [To those who will point to the many bad things
perpetrated by the Church, past and present, let me say this: wherever
and whenever the Lord's teachings have been properly applied, great
goodness and blessing have followed].
2) The Lord warns us further that we cannot serve two masters (Mt.6:24).
Are you not aware that evolution carries with it a subtle imperative?
How else can we explain man's enchantment with it? As far as the TE is
concerned it is, moreover, the dominant master!
3) I am troubled by the clear statements (Gn.1:20-25) that birds were
created before land animals. How do you accomodate this fact within a
divinely-ordained evolutionary process?
And one you couldn't have foreseen:
4) Recently, on another list, attention was drawn to Gn.1:1, and good
reasons were given for regarding it, theologically, as the most
important verse of the Torah. Significant then that recent research
reveals it to be even more than that: it turns out to be the most
remarkable combination of words ever written! - its seven Hebrew words
being underpinned by a remarkable structure of coordinated numerical
geometries - themselves linked with the Creator's name. These phenomena
are described at the URLs given below; they provide conclusive evidence
of the Being and Sovereignty of a God more than capable of doing all
that the scriptures describe.
For these (and other) reasons I therefore remain unconvinced by your
thesis.
Sincerely,
Vernon
Vernon Jenkins MSc
[musician, mining engineer, and Senior Lecturer in Maths and Computing,
the Polytechnic of Wales (now the University of Glamorgan), 1954-87]
http://homepage.virgin.net/vernon.jenkins/index.htm
http://www.compulink.co.uk/~indexer/miracla1.htm