[asa] Saving Darwin: What theological changes are required?

Karl Giberson's "Saving Darwin" is being released tomorrow. Today he
published an article on my blog called "Evolution in Public Schools: A
Threat or a Challenge?<http://evanevodialogue.blogspot.com/2008/06/evolution-in-public-schools-threat-or.html>"
where he summarizes his 2002 PCSF article "The teaching of Evolution in
Public School". Giberson's primary point is that the evidence does not
support the claim (by Philip Johnson et al) that atheistic and
anti-Christian ideas are being promoted through the teaching of evolution in
public schools.

However, it is Giberson's provocative conclusion that really got me
thinking. He states that the war in the public schools will not be
concluded until the Evangelical Church confronts the theological challenges
posed by evolution. He proposes three changes that must occur:

1. We must abandon thinking of Adam and Eve as real people or even
surrogates for groups of real people
2. The Fall must disappear from history as an event and become, instead, a
partial insight into the morally ambiguous character with which evolution
endowed our species
3. We must consider extending the imago dei, in some sense, beyond our
species

Of course, the majority of Evangelicals would strenuously claim that we must
NOT do any of the above, and to do so would mean the abandonment of orthodox
Christianity. Others (including myself) would claim that neither a
clear-cut "must" nor "must not" is mandatory at this time. Ie. We would
rather live with the tension between the theological and scientific claims
while further work proceeds.

*Quick Poll: Must, Must Not, or Neither?*
I'd be interested in hearing the response of other list members to these
three "musts" that Karl has proposed. Personally, I'm not going to commit
either way on any of them just yet although I'm leaning towards "must" for
#1, "must not" for #3, and leaning neither way for #2.

You can also interact directly with Karl by leaving a comment on his article
at the link provided above.

-- 
Steve Martin (CSCA)
To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@calvin.edu with
"unsubscribe asa" (no quotes) as the body of the message.