[asa] 2 tim 3:16

I'd like to suggest a different approach to 2 Tim 3:16 than the one Vernon
puts forth. It is worth keeping in mind that this one comes from a devout
Calvinist minister from the late 16th and early 17th centuries--long before
anyone was worried about evolution or the earth's great age.

The quotation comes from Philip van Lansbergen:

"Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, but is is not
meet for instruction in geometry and astronomy."

This is *wholly* in keeping with Calvin's own approach to scientific
matters. Calvin relied very heavily on the principle of
accommodation--derived ulitmately from patristic sources such as Jerome and
Augustine. An identical approach was taken by Kepler -- originally in a
suppressed preface to his first book, "The Cosmographic Mystery" (1596) but
publicly in the preface to his "New Astronomy" (1609), then pretty much
imitated by Galileo in his famous "Letter to Christina" (1615 but formally
published later).

In an essay I have written (not yet published) on Galileo, creationism, and
the priniciple of accommodation, I show how many contemporary creationists
(both geocentrists and heliocentrists) have problems with aspects of the
accommodation principle. It isn't a modern issue, however, and evolution
isn't what drives it.

Ted

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Received on Thu Oct 5 09:26:03 2006