Jonathan Clarke wrote:
> Hi George
>
> Care to expand?
>
> :-)
>
> Jon
>
> george murphy wrote:
>
> >
> > >
> > > I agree. If Christ is head over all things and yet came to not be served but to
> > > serve, this says something very interesting about human "dominion" of creation
> > > in Genesis 1 and Psalm 8. In what way are we to serve creation?
> >
> > & to take this another step: If cosmic and biological evolution is (& I
> > certainly think it is) part of the way in which God achieves the eschatological goal
> > set out in Eph.1:10, then an adequate theological understanding of evolution will
> > have to be christological.
For a start -
1) God's participation in the evolutionary process via the Incarnation, including
suffering and death, puts a new light on natural selection as God's creative activity and
the theodicy quations associated with it.
2) In the Incarnation, the Word of God takes on the evolutionary history and
organic relationships with other species of humanity. Thus in a sense all life on earth -
and not just _Homo sapiens_ - is assumed by the person of the Word. This makes it
possible to think about how the reconciliation of "all things" (Col.1:15-20, cf. also
Rom.8:18-25) can take place through the Incarnation.
3) Though biology alone can't speak of evolution as having a "purpose" or "goal",
it does have such a purpose when evolution is understood theologically - Eph.1:10.
4) On a larger scale, anthropic principles should not be understood as saying
simply that the _anthropos_ is the purpose of the universe. That purpose is, rather, the
development of intelligent life as preparation for God's indwelling of creation in the
Incarnation (Jn.1:14).
5) The Body of Christ is the future of evolution.
I've written about these things previously but my purpose here is to stimulate
some conversation rather than advertise. Some of the publications are listed on my
website for those interested.
Shalom,
George
George L. Murphy
http://web.raex.com/~gmurphy/
"The Science-Theology Interface"
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