Re: [asa] Neo-Darwinism and God's action

On 2/20/08, David Opderbeck <dopderbeck@gmail.com> wrote:
> I don't know what you mean by "without a rationale." Why is 1 Cor. 13's
> definition of "love" not a rationale? Do you really argue that elephants
> have notions of "evil" and "truth" that are anywhere near as developed as
> those humans possess (and Michael, do you think your dog has such notions)?
> Do you guys really argue that elephants and dogs have the sort of cultural
> memory that supports notions of "hope" and "trust" as those terms are used
> by the Apostle Paul?
>
> I think a foundational evidence that elephants and dogs do not possess these
> characteristics in the same kind as humans is the fact that there is no
> Apostle Paul of the elephants and dogs. Nor is there an Aristotle, an
> Augustine, a Shakespeare or a Ghandi of the elephants and dogs. Nor is
> there a Hitler, Stalin or Mao of the elphants and dogs; and so on.
>
> Elephants and labradors are not robots; they have emotions and reactions
> that we can call "love". But if there is any content to theological
> statements about "love" such as 1 Cor. 13, it is a "love" that is different
> in kind than the sort of love we humans are capable of displaying.
>
> And if 1 Cor. 13 isn't enough, I think the nail-in-the-coffin "rationale" is
> the incarnation and the atonement. Christ became a human being, not an
> elephant or a labrador, and the atonement frees us and only us (not even,
> apparently, the fallen angels) to experience and live the kind of love
> described in 1. Cor. 13.
>

Let me try one more time, since it is clear from the above that we are
talking past one another.

The claim is that humans are made in the "image of God." What I wish
to do is explore what that might mean. I do not deny it -- indeed, I
affirm it. But I seem to be able to defend the claim ONLY on
religious/theological grounds. Much as you do in your last post above.

What I seek, and so far the search has come up empty, is some
OBJECTIVE attribute of humanity that would distinguish this IOG. For
me, this has to be a difference of kind, not a difference of degree.

Cordially, Burgy

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Received on Thu Feb 21 17:05:22 2008