Re: [asa] a theological exercise

George said: Only a Christian has honestly tried to do this - not
necessarily succeeded but tried - has any business criticizing the views of
Christians who do accept human evolution.

I respond: I agree completely. And I think this is true of any question of
this sort. Nobody has any business criticizing any theological view without
trying to understand that view and to articulate clearly the reasons for the
criticism.

I'm sure we all know people who will criticize particular views about
creation, or politics, or church governance, etc. with a knee jerk and
without really understanding the issues.

But I don't imagine that it's very hard for most Christians to understand
the difficulties presented by human evolution: (1) "The Bible rules out
evolution" is too simplistic, but surely accepting human evolution requires
some difficult exegetical / hermeneutical moves with regard to Gen. 2 and 3
and the NT's depiction of "Adam"; (2) The importance of Adam in the NT also
raises difficult theological / doctrinal questions about original sin and
the Fall; and (3) most confessional traditions have specific references to
Adam as an individual human progenitor in their confessional documents.

So human evolution presents big problems concerning scripture, doctrine, and
tradition. Moreover, (1) and (2) include lynchpins of evangelical theology
-- a "high" view of scripture / inerrancy, and substitutionary atonement --
that make this exercise particularly difficult for evangelicals. Perhaps
the Christian tradition can absorb all this, but IMHO the hesitancy isn't
unreasonable.

On Tue, Jun 3, 2008 at 2:07 PM, George Murphy <GMURPHY10@neo.rr.com> wrote:

> The first book we were assigned when I started seminary was a small
> volume by Helmut Thielicke, *A Little Exercise for Young Theologians*.
> I'd like to propose here what I think is an important little exercise for
> Christians, young & old, who want to engage in theology-science discussions,
> & especially those relating to evolution.
>
> Let me begin with a scientific preliminary. One of the tasks of a
> scientist, & especially a theoreticians, is to try to see how well some new
> discovery fits in with what he/she has up until that point regarded as the
> best theory in the relevant field. E.g., are the data generated when a new
> particle accelerator comes on line consistent with current theories of high
> energy physics? If they are consistent without any tinkering with the
> theory then they can be regarded as predictions of noverl facts by that
> theory. Perhaps some relatively minor adjustments of secondary aspects of
> the theory are required. Or maybe there's just no natural way in which the
> new data can be understood within the theory's framework - in which case
> all but diehards will decide that a new theoretical framework is needed.
>
> OK, assume now that somehow - & "how" is not something I want to debate now
> - it has been demonstrated scientifically, beyond any reasonable doubt, that
> present-day human beings have descended from pre-human ancestors without any
> unexplained gaps - physical or mental - in the process. (Some might claim
> that that's already been done but again that isn't the point now.) The
> exercise is to see how well this could fit in with your theology - with the
> way that you understand God, creation, sin, salvation and other aspects of
> the faith. Does the evolutionary reality flow naturally from your theology,
> does that theology require some modification in its secondary aspects, or is
> there just no way to make human evolution part of your theology without
> changing it (the theology) totally? A really serious effort should be
> made to accomplish the task in some detail. It need not produce a
> dissertation but has to be more elaborate than "Evolution is how God
> creates" or "The Bible rules out evolution."
>
> & now the point of the exercise. Only a Christian has honestly tried to do
> this - not necessarily succeeded but tried - has any business criticizing
> the views of Christians who do accept human evolution.
>
> Shalom
> George
> http://web.raex.com/~gmurphy/
>

-- 
David W. Opderbeck
Associate Professor of Law
Seton Hall University Law School
Gibbons Institute of Law, Science & Technology
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