Books for Christmas

It's getting late but there's still time to pick up some good new books on
our favorite topic (and no, this is not a commercial!). Unless I missed it,
George has been quite modest and not mentioned that his new book (The Cosmos in
the Light of the Cross) is in the bookstores. I just finished it, and it's a
keeper! The themes will be familiar to this list, but it's the clearest and
most detailed exposition of this particular approach [which, BTW, in not to say
that his previous articles were unclear!!] You may or may not like the
approach, but this becomes the benchmark for future discussions.

This also leads me to reply to Jack Haas' post by saying that perhaps the
best way to answer folks like those he quoted is not to simply supply arguments
against their postions. To do so is usually to accept most of their basic
presuppositions; it's already conceding the playing field. (Kind of like staging
a boxing match on the deck of the Titanic!) YEC's, for instance, have made a
career out of "negating" any real science; assuming that provides evidence
for their position. Unfortunately, we critics of YEC are all too prone to do
the same thing. Rather we need to provide positive arguments within a
consistent theological framework. George has done this within a generally (but not
exclusively) Lutheran framework. So much of American evangelicalism has become
little more than a therapeutic pep-rally that arguments within a given
theological framework (be it Lutheran, Calvinist, etc.) are to be encouraged. This is
why I wish Howard would put his thoughts into a specific framework (although
I understand - at least partly - why he doesn't.) I should point out that
this is not to promote "separatism" of some sort; all major Christian
denominations share so much that good work in one will necessarily have some (often
great) relevance for others.

Anyway, back to my original intent -- books. Methodist theologian Alan
Padgett's new "Science and the Study of God" is also out and in the bookstores. I
can't comment because I think (hope!) that it's wrapped and under my Christmas
tree.

Karl
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Karl V. Evans
cmekve@aol.com
Received on Sat Dec 20 17:50:53 2003