> > An example of Paul accommodating to the science of the time?<<
That to me implies that Paul was trying to make a scientific statement. Instead, I would assert that Paul is using ordinary/layman's language. A seed looks dead and even partly rots, but new life comes from it.
I don't think Paul knew that this was technically scientifically inaccurate, but I don't think he is trying to affirm a scientific statement, either.
Likewise, the imagery of Gen. 1 and many other passages certainly suggest a flat earth and a solid sky. Both are accurate descriptions of their appearance to an ordinary observer. Labeling all creeping things as "four-legged" seems rather analagous to calling them all bugs. These seem to me to be non-scientific comments rather than scientific errors.
To a degree, citing such passages as scientific errors seems to make the same error as taking Gen. 1, etc. as a guide to science. Both assume that the author was trying to make scientific statements.
Dr. David Campbell
Old Seashells
University of Alabama
Biodiversity & Systematics
Dept. Biological Sciences
Box 870345
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0345 USA
bivalve@mail.davidson.alumlink.com
That is Uncle Joe, taken in the masonic regalia of a Grand Exalted Periwinkle of the Mystic Order of Whelks-P.G. Wodehouse, Romance at Droitgate Spa
Received on Mon Sep 27 19:38:33 2004
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