Re: [asa] truth with love award

Mervin:
I agree with you that the late Stephen Jay Gound is a non-Christian who
deserves the commendation that you have made. The non-overlapping
magesteria that he advovcated is unsatisfactory, but it is a step in the
right direction and it demonstrates his respect for Christians.
Another person who might be considered is the late Fred Hoyle. His
distaste for religion is shown by his derogatory label "big bang" to
describe what he saw to be a religion-friendly theory, his remarks about
a tornado in a junk yard producing a Boeing 747 were miles off the beam,
and he fell on his face when he challenged the authenticity of an
archaeopteryx fossil. On the other hand he had the courage to
acknowledge a case of fine-tuning when he saw it. Simon Mitton's
biography "Fred Hoyle: A Life in Science" is well worth reading.
Don

Mervin Bitikofer wrote:

> There is a category of authors that I think most of us recognize – or
> flatter ourselves that we do – which might be called passionate truth
> seekers/revealers who are obviously in love with the grandeur and the
> minutiae of creation. They may be Christian, but not necessarily
> overtly so. Maybe they are even anti-Christian (often reacting against
> perverse aspects of institution) – but their iconoclasm doesn't always
> single out "religion" per se as the "bad guy". They are too
> open-minded for that. But they do delight in swimming upstream against
> any popular trends they prophetically deem damaging.
>
> I'm curious what names all of you would put on such a list. I will
> risk venturing one to know your reaction. I have only read a few books
> by Stephen Jay Gould, the last being "I have landed" (perhaps the last
> one published before he died – or at least it would have to be nearly
> so.) Anyway I would award him such status despite his (in my exposure
> to him) gentle, sometimes sharp mockery of Christianity. Even without
> assenting to all his religious criticism (much of which is doubtless
> well-deserved by Christian establishment), I still see in his writing
> a tenacious commitment to truth. He inspires trust in his readers,
> even religious readers whom I would suspect could forgive him much of
> his suspicions and often wayward musings and assumptions just because
> he has so much to offer from the expansive domains his knowledge does
> command. And he shows a basic respect to his opponents. I suspect he
> knows scripture better than most well-read Christians.
>
> What other famous (or not so) authors who attempt to connect with an
> intelligent lay public would all of you nominate for such a list? (I
> know there are some good authors participating here, but I wasn't
> going to venture there so not to promote sticky popularity contests.)
>
> Perhaps one last defining feature for the category I'm describing
> would be that they inspire a readership among a class of people that
> doesn't necessarily share their ideological basis. Hence my nomination
> of Gould – I presume I'm not alone as a Christian beneficiary of
> Gould's writings.
>
> --merv
>
>

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Received on Sat Jul 29 00:52:15 2006