James Mahaffy wrote:
...............................
> Now Glenn, if I am not mistaken, Ted Davis is a historian of science.
> If he says you should be VERY careful about quoting White when he talks
> about religion and science that sounds like a professional judgment that
> should be listened to. We should listen to Ted on this score as much as
> we listen to you cautioning us about someone who has a reputation of
> doing poor geology.
>
> I didn't know that White was often that wrong. I thought this was the
> White that blamed Christians for what is wrong in the earth, but I just
> called a friend and he says this was Lynn White. Those are two
> different folks aren't they. Perhaps Ted can tell me if AD White is
> widely known for something. Was he strongly antiCalvinists? It is
> foggy in my mind so maybe Ted can enlighten me again.
A.D. White was anti-traditional theology: He doesn't make a lot of distinction
between Roman, Reformed, Lutheran, &c in his criticism. But to repeat, his book was
not presented as an attack on all of Christianity - & in particular, not on undogmatic
liberal protestantism. (I picked up at a librrary sale a copy of his rather large
autobiography: Clearly the guy didn't have a problem putting words to paper. I haven't
read it but will be glad to lend it to anyone who's like to give a brief review.)
The oft-quoted article by historian Lynn White, Hr., "The Historical Roots of
our Ecologic Crisis" (Science _155_, 1967, 1203), should also not be seen as simply an
attack on Christianity. Its claim is that the idea of humanity being given "dominion"
in Gen.1 & the way it's generally been understood in the Judaeo-Christian tradition is
at the root of the environmental crisis. White recognized that there had been
Christians - Francis of Assisi in particular - who have had a different view of nature.
White's thesis certainly can be debated but I think there's a good deal of truth in it.
"Dominion" often has been taken out of context and been equated with bulldozer and
chainsaw exploitation.
Shalom,
George
George L. Murphy
gmurphy@raex.com
http://web.raex.com/~gmurphy/
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