Darwinian exegesis

Jan wrote:
Yes, Darwinian exegesis exists, but I believe that all of us on this forum want to be true to the original text. However, the people who wrote down the first time the chapters of Genesis etc. looked at the world in a different way than we do, they spoke a language we do not understand, and lived in circumstances we cannot imagine.

rich:
Yes, but you imply that Darwinian exegesis is not true to the original text. I have studied what Jewish mystics have determined about genesis and they say there is a science of nature in genesis that is deliberately concealed. Have you explored their contention? They read in the original language. I don't know anyone who has done Darwinian exegesis but me, (please identify someone) and if you haven't read my paper, you can't say it's not true to the texts. I see things in the text none of you have talked about here and as a Christian on Bible history lists I have had to deal with theories about the text that are more startling even than what I've presented here. For example, Biblical minimalists believe the OT was re-engineered by Ezra at the behest of the Persian kings to empower a buffer state on the fringes of the Persian empire that would threaten Egypt. In other words, Genesis is a primer for empowering a people to conquer. I'm not even going that far. I'm simply saying!
 that there is a Darwinian thread in Genesis that runs from the fall to Joseph that deals with personal and social success. I don't create that thread. I simply point it out and show quite simply how it perfectly conforms to Darwinian selection and to Christology. Its not rocket science and its not sleight of hand.
But no one here will even talk about it on the list.

rich
Received on Thu Mar 3 12:46:09 2005