From: EckertWAIII@aol.com
Date: Fri Aug 15 2003 - 06:04:16 EDT
>It seems that you have put your finger on the real issue - at least for
>you and many other Christians. That issue is theodicy -- how to understand
>God's character in light of pain and suffering. I have often stated, that
the
>fundamental issues driving much of the Creation/Evolution debate within the
church >are theological ones. Until those issues are dealt with forthrightly,
arguing about >scientific questions is not productive. We must uncover the
root theological >concerns and deal with those first.
I recall reading in Henry Morris' book "Creation and the Modern Christian"
that theistic evolution is inconsistent with the character of God and how he
operates in that the extinction of species and the pain and suffering involved in
the struggle for survival is not consistent with God's love. However, the
hard fact is that, no matter how little we understand or like it, there is a lot
of pain and suffering in this world that is within God's permissive will. From
this starting point then, evolution by natural selection seems to be
potentially consistent with God's actions/inactions with regard to pain and suffering
in general.
In, "God, Chance & Necessity", Keith Ward argues that evolution and even the
upredictability of matter are necessary for the existence of sentient beings
with free will.
So there clearly are theological grounds relating, for some, to a rejection
of biological evolution and, for others, a preference for theistic evolution.
-Bill
-- William A. Eckert III, Ph.D. Senior Research Scientist Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Durham, NC
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