In speaking of "accomodation" in this context one needs to distinguish
between two possible meanings:
1) The biblical writers made use of contemporary understandings of the
world even though they knew better.
2) The Holy Spirit moved human writers to speak of creation &c using
contemporary understandings of the world which the writers themselves
thought were
correct.
Of course this second option is available only if one believes that the
Holy Spirit did have something to do with the writing of scripture.
(& to do so
does not commit one to any particular view of the mechanism of inspiration,
inerrancy, &c but only to the rather general statement of II Pet.1:21.)
Shalom,
George
George L. Murphy
http://web.raex.com/~gmurphy/
"The Science-Theology Interface"
"Howard J. Van Till" wrote:
> >From: "Robert Schneider" <rjschn39@bellsouth.net>
>
> > This notion of accomodation also turns up in medieval commentaries on the
> > Six Days. There's an excellent example of it in Thomas Aquinas _Summa
> > Theologiae_,
>
> [snip]
>
> > "But since this theory can be seen to be false by solid arguments, it
> > should not be maintained that it is the sense of this Scriptural
>text. Take
> > into account, rather, that Moses was speaking to ignorant people
>and out of
> > condescension to their simpleness presented to them only those things that
> > are immediately obvious to the senses.
>
> But is this anything more substantial than a rhetorical "dodge"? Note the
> two principal hermeneutical options here undestood:
>
> 1. Moses had no privileged science-like information and spoke with integrity
> within the limited vocabulary and knowledge of the day.
>
> 2. Moses did have privileged science-like information but was led by God to
> suppress it and to speak as if he knew no more than what could be said
> within the limited vocabulary and knowledge of the day.
>
> How would Aquinas or Calvin (or anyone else) be able to tell that option 2
> was the correct one?
>
> [snip]
>
> > St. Thomas is clearly seeking to reconcile the biblical text with the
> > dominant scientific theory of his own time, the Aristotelian theory of the
> > elements, which makes air lighter than earth and water, and thus above the
> > waters of the Earth, where it constitutes Earth's atmosphere.
>
> He was also, it seems, trying to preserve the presupposition that the human
> writers of the biblical text had privileged information that could be
> suppressed for various reasons.
>
> [snip]
>
> > It does illustrate that
> > there is a long history in Christianity of trying to relate biblical texts
> > to scientific theory and knowledge, and this was one way, a respected one
> > for several centuries, that was used to do so, whatever one might think of
> > it today.
>
> To be very candid, I do not find it at all helpful.
>
> Howard Van Till
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