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

My very brief response to the query of Steve Martin:
> 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
>

1) I do not think that the paleontological or anthropological record
can resolve this question. The evidence for the descent of humans
and the apes from a common ancestor argues against the special
creation of Adam and Eve as physical beings. It would also argue
against Adam as the genealogical ancestor of all modern humans.
However, it does not exclude them from being historical individuals.
I would argue that the historicity of Adam and Eve is a theological
and hermeneutical question, not a scientific one. It seems to me
that there is a scriptural basis for seeing Adam as a representative
head of humanity. However, this is certainly not the only way to
understand Adam.

2) I see the "Fall" as a symbolic account (this does not necessarily
mean completely non-historical) of the rejection of God's will and
purpose, and the deliberate attempt to place our own will first.
This act of disobedience occurred with the first spiritually aware
individuals, and characterizes the state of all humanity. We each
receive the penalty of sin because we sin.

As others have commented, I do not see the "Fall" as being a fall
from original perfection, but rather as a loss of innocence with the
conscious awareness of, and desire to commit, evil.

3) As I have stated in various contexts in the past, my
understanding of the image of God is that it is relational. It
concerns our relationship with God, with Creation, and with each
other. The "Fall" resulted in the distortion of all of those
relationships (we are 'bent" to use C.S. Lewis' metaphor). The image
of God does not have to do with our physical bodies or our mental
capacities -- it has to do with the nature of our covenant
relationship to God. Humans are uniquely in God's image in both our
covenant relationship to God and in our sinful rejection of that
relationship.

I am not a theologian, and all of the above positions are held with
great tentativeness.

Keith

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Received on Mon Jun 9 23:36:33 2008