Re: [asa] Moral law - Francis Collins

Gregory Arago asked:

> p.s. Wayne, still curious about your further elaboration on this statement:
>
> "It depends. If you examine the world and see that evolution is a process
> that appears to occur, and then try to reconcile that with what is revealed in
> scripture, then you are accepting it as a fact that you must grapple with in
> your theology. / If evolution becomes your "theology", then this charge could
> possibly stick."
>
> What could it mean - 'if evolution becomes your theology'?
>

Perhaps it was rather flippant of me. I was looking at the converse
direction and thought this looked strange enough to make clear
that the converse doesn't follow.

Your post was on cosmological evolution and your question was
on "theistic theories of cosmological evolution" and whether such
viewpoints shroud themselves technobabble and make particular
interpretations of God's creation.

My framework is more
from biological evolution which (to the best of our understanding)
is true. I am undecided on the matter of multiple universes at this
point, and even less sure what to think of multiple universes under
a sort of "evolution". However, supposing for a moment that we
really find evidence of this, it would require that we take it into account
in our theology. It is in fact important to consider that the there are
multiple universes. It may be an artifice that some grasp for to evade
admitting the G-word, but it could be that it is true. We would want
as Christians to know what is true, and we would not compromise
for anything less. So in as much as we have time, resource, and energy
to do so, we still need to examine these matters with honest open minds.

So, for example, to say that "God used evolution by natural selection"
or even somehow (though we can't explain how), "God directed evolution
by natural selection", these are all basically OK in as much as they appear
to be true. That is just accepting that God is God, and if God
chose to do it that way, what are we going to say. We're the
clay and he is the potter. Does the pot complain to the potter
about how he(she) was made?

This is taking what is known, and trying to understand it the context
of scripture.
 
But the reverse way, "God is evolution" or "evolution is God"
sound even a bit idolatrous: it borders on worshiping the creation
instead of than the creator. These views would be "shrouding
scientific words" and introducing "their own particular interpretations
of God's creation".

Maybe that is a bit more clear.

by Grace we proceed,
Wayne

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Received on Thu Jan 4 01:59:57 2007