Re: [asa] anti-evolutionism and deism

David -

Of course Christians who accept evolution have some different ways of understanding this, but as far as I - & I think many other evolutionary creationists - are concerned - it's very wide of the mark to say that God "steps aside" while creation progresses. God is involved in everything that happens in the world, cooperating with created agents. That is why we pray "Give us this day our daily bread" even as we understand that our daily bread comes to us through the actions of solar energy, weather, genetics, the work of farmers & bakers, &c. This is simply a traditional understanding of providence, and evolution can, at a certain level, be seen as one example of it.
One article of mine which deals with this is at http://www.asa3.org/ASA/PSCF/2001/PSCF3-01Murphy.html .

Shalom
George
http://web.raex.com/~gmurphy/
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: David Buller
  To: ASA Discussion Group
  Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2007 7:50 PM
  Subject: [asa] anti-evolutionism and deism

  I've been discussing interpretations of Genesis with my youth pastor, and he recently gave me a copy of his YEC-perspective syllabus notes which take an anti-evolutionary stance. In order to refute evolution from a theological perspective, it said that in the evolutionary creationist/theistic evolutionist view:

  1. God creates at the level of minimal existence
  2. God steps aside while creation progresses onward

  I discussed with him how deistic this seemed to me. It presupposes that when God isn't acting supernaturally (creating through evolution), He is "at the level of minimal existence" and has "stepped aside." Yet this is exactly how (with very few miraculous exceptions) God acts in the natural world today! This view forces them to say that God is of "minimal existence" and has "stepped aside" today. In their own YEC view, God was actually only "active" for six days, and left it alone after that.

  My youth pastor responded by saying, "well there are some things that God lets happen," stating that God's ways of working have changed to the less-miraculous. I responded by pointing out that this doesn't mean that God is acting any less, only differently. The syllabus implied that God was acting less today (or at least that is the unavoidable philosophical conclusion). I pointed out the many instances where the Bible says God did something, yet we accept a natural explanation (e.g., meteorology, embryology).

  Anyway, what do you all think? Do the professor's statements lead to a deistic view of the natural world? I would enjoy your insights!

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Received on Thu Apr 19 21:20:41 2007