RE: [asa] E.O. Wilson "Baptist No More"

George,

We must qualify what we mean by "scientific knowledge." If I understand
by that term results obtained by the experimental sciences, then that
kind of knowledge has very little to do with our theology. Therefore,
there is no conflict whatsoever between, say, the Christian faith and
the results of experimental science. Of course, one may infer a Creator
from the fact that things do exist and His rationality by the heavy
mathematics that is needed to develop the laws of Nature. The
historical aspect of the historical sciences gives rise to potential
conflicts. Everyone must scrutinize the assumptions that are being made,
especially in the analysis of unique, past events.

Moorad

________________________________

From: asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu [mailto:asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu] On
Behalf Of George Murphy
Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2007 7:12 PM
To: ASA list
Subject: Re: [asa] E.O. Wilson "Baptist No More"

God's action in the world is indeed one of the major issues in
science-theology dialogue but it isn't the only one. The question of
how scientific knowledge of the world should inform our theology is, if
anything, even more fundamental.

Shalom
George
http://web.raex.com/~gmurphy/

        ----- Original Message -----

        From: Alexanian, Moorad <mailto:alexanian@uncw.edu>

        To: George Murphy <mailto:gmurphy@raex.com> ; David Opderbeck
<mailto:dopderbeck@gmail.com> ; John Walley
<mailto:john_walley@yahoo.com>

        Cc: _American Sci Affil <mailto:asa@calvin.edu>

        Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2007 3:45 PM

        Subject: RE: [asa] E.O. Wilson "Baptist No More"

        George, does it not boil down always to the question of how God
interacts with His creation, which is the apex of all
theological/philosophical questions?

        Moorad

        
________________________________

        From: asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu
[mailto:asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu] On Behalf Of George Murphy
        Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2007 3:23 PM
        To: David Opderbeck; John Walley
        Cc: _American Sci Affil
        Subject: Re: [asa] E.O. Wilson "Baptist No More"

        Of course it's not just "Church: bad; Wilson: innocent." But
our concern should not just be to absolve the church from blame.
Churches in general haven't done a very good job over the past few
centuries of dealing with issues raised by science and technology -
especially biological evolution. Even "liberal" churches in which most
clergy have no problem with evolution usually haven't said anything
about these issues unless people ask explicit questions about them. &
people often don't ask pastors &c the questions they have because
they're afraid of the response they'll get. & the reason clergy don't
have any problems with evolution is often because they don't really
understand it & don't take the trouble to learn.

        Churches - & clergy in particular - need to be pro-active about
these matters, bringing them up in appropriate & sensitive ways in
educational settings & sermons. They need to create an atmosphere which
conveys an openness to issues raised by science & technology & which
encourages people to voice the questions & concerns that they have.
Clergy & others involved in Christian education can't be & needn't be
expert in all scientific areas (who can?), but should be interested in
them & have some tentative ways of dealing with the major theological
issues which are involved. There's nothing wrong with responding to a
question with "I don't know but I'll try to find out" or "I'll try to
see where you can get an answer."

        Shalom
        George
        http://web.raex.com/~gmurphy/

                ----- Original Message -----

                From: David Opderbeck <mailto:dopderbeck@gmail.com>

                To: John Walley <mailto:john_walley@yahoo.com>

                Cc: _American Sci Affil <mailto:asa@calvin.edu>

                Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2007 1:25 PM

                Subject: Re: [asa] E.O. Wilson "Baptist No More"

                I suppose the point here is that the Church was at fault
for not giving Wilson other options. Perhaps there is a fair point
there given the particulars of Wilson's upbringing. But what if
Wilson's response had been to continually ask God to help him better
understand the truth. Would Wilson then have found organizations like
the ASA that existed at the time? Would he have found friends and
mentors to help him work through the questions everyone faces when they
grow out of a childish fundamentalism into a more mature faith? Would
he have felt freer to question some aspects of "evolution" as a
metanarrative while at the same time broadening his understanding of
theology and scripture? In short, do we really have to buy hook, line
and sinker the story: "Church: bad; Wilson: innocent?"
                ..................

To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@calvin.edu with
"unsubscribe asa" (no quotes) as the body of the message.
Received on Wed Nov 28 09:10:22 2007