Re: [asa] Teenagers and Evolution

Debbie -

I don't think anyone on the asa list (except perhaps some lurking atheists) believes that "evolution is the sole cause of our existence" or that it is "an overall answer to everything." In the 1st place evolution, strictly speaking, is not a "cause." Evolution is a description of what happens (or, if you wish, what is hypothesized to happen), and there are various causes - mutation, genetic drift, natural selection &c - which may account for an evolutionary process. Some of those those can be broken down further.

Now some people - Dawkins et al - think that causes like that account entirely for evolution. I think though that almost everyone on this list who believes that evolution has taken place believes that in some sense the God revealed in Christ is the one who makes all those other "causes" effective in some way. This doesn't mean that God is a "cause" of evolution alongside the causes that science studies, but that God acts "in, with and under" (to use a Lutheran phrase) all those causes. To put it in another traditional way, God is the First Cause who acts through secondary causes.

Shalom
George
http://web.raex.com/~gmurphy/
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Debbie Mann
  To: Asa
  Sent: Friday, January 12, 2007 9:43 AM
  Subject: [asa] Teenagers and Evolution

  I do not believe that evolution is the sole cause of our existence.

  Did your face just turn red and your blood pressure go up ten points? That is a problem.

  Generally, if you cannot listen to someone's point of view without your appendages twitching, there is a problem.

  I come from a math background, and an engineering one. The first contains statistics, the second practicality. I have never seen anything to convince me that there is proof that statistically, advanced evolution - as in evolution of man - could have occurred in the short time available. Yes, I am talking about an old earth - from the mathematical standpoint, I believe that is too short a time. Actually, there are other obstacles to evolution being the total answer that I have not overcome.

  My point is that we do not know it all and that teenagers like to discuss. Teenagers need to be encouraged to come to their own conclusions. Even if you (you evolutionists, you) are totally correct, telling teenagers that their parents are wrong and you are right or dumping tons of information on them is not going to be nearly as effective as a curriculum that allows for the exploration and discussion of both alternatives. Most kids will soon accept the evidence of an old earth - I certainly do. They will particularly, I think, be interested in the opinions of other Christian kids. The evidence for evolution as a contributor to the earth as it is today is also irrefutable for an open-minded person.

  Lest you missed my point:

  The evidence for evolution as an overall answer to everything does not appear as strong to most of us as you seem to suppose. There is a great deal of handwaving going on. The insistance upon an academic dictatorship enforcing the teaching of evolution while virtually censoring any idea of creationism does not strike me as being enlightened. This is a great topic for classroom debate and discussion. 'Who are you and where do you come from?' is a fundamental question. (And it is usually expressed with a dangling preposition.) Failure to include the discussion in a curriculum, in my opinion, is missing the boat.

  Debbie Mann
  AKA Joan Saunders, author of 'Doors of the Megdalines'

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Received on Fri Jan 12 10:14:32 2007