Re: [asa] comments on evolution and traditional Christian faith

"Gray's anxiety was rooted in his futile attempt to remain true to both his Creationist sympathies and his Positivist philosophy of science. As a good Positivist he steadfastly denied that God 'intervened' or in any way 'interfered' in a I miraculous 'way in the creation' of new species. On the other band, as a good Creationist and orthodox Christian, be was uncomfortable with the full implications of the Positivist logic which denied an epistemic role for God in 'science.'" - Ken Hermann

  Wow - these are some tough words to swallow! I wonder, is there any such thing as a 'good Positivist' these days? It seems that when people are obsessed with questions of origins and processes relating to their theology or their science that they may indeed at one time or another become 'uncomfortable with the full implications' of their views. It also seems a bit strange that the founder of positivism towards the end of his life tried to form a 'religion of humanity,' even though his three-stage theory, at the heart of his positivist message, subscribed theological knowledge to a bygone age.
   
  "In the end Gray was able to accept Darwin's theory of natural selection only by consoling himself that Darwin's denial of God's presence in the world was a personal quirk and not logically entailed by his Positivist biology." - Ken Hermann
  
Do any Christian thinkers in natural sciences today do the same sort of thing with people like Dawkins (e.g. memes, extended phenotype) or Ruse (evo philosof) or E. Scott (evo anthropos)? Or did they do it (write it off as a personal quirk) with S.J. Gould?
   
  Accepting evolution may indeed not necessarily equate with 'denying God's presence in the world' - there are many on this list who attest to that. But what sorts of things (like Ecclesiastes or the Psalms) do natural scientists with theological hearts do (& recommend doing) to balance against the naturalism-scientism-positivism trilogy? I'd be especially glad to hear about a trio of concepts or ideologies (like faith, hope and love) that have made such a difference to human existence as nature, science, and positive thought - without the ism's.
   
  Maybe there're some apophatics out there??
   
  g.a.

                 
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Received on Thu Aug 31 19:30:20 2006