RE: [asa] The Fall (humanity source of suffering)

Nucacids said:
"Human depravity. I think the greatest source of suffering and evil on
this planet is humanity."

You might have a point there, because even in great natural disasters,
many more are killed when aid can't reach them. Sometimes (many/most
times?) the aid is blocked because of politics and crime.

...Bernie

________________________________

From: asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu [mailto:asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu] On
Behalf Of Nucacids
Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 7:34 AM
To: asa@calvin.edu
Subject: [asa] The Fall

Karl Giberson was interested in initiating a dialog about how
evolutionary theory, a product of methodological naturalism, should
cause us to rethink and reformulate (?) Christian theology. One change
Karl advocates is as follows:

"likewise 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."

IMO, such a point has less to do with the history as it does with the
*significance* of the Fall. Maybe I am wrong, but the sense I get from
Karl's interpretation is that the Fall is only important in explaining
our "morally ambiguous character" due to evolution. It almost seems
trivial, as I am having a hard time envisioning how the evolution of
human beings can be described as a "Fall."

Regardless of whether the Fall is historic or symbolic of a deeper
reality, it, as part of Christian theology, has long explained three
fundamental aspects of our reality:

1. Human depravity. I think the greatest source of suffering and evil
on this planet is humanity.

2. Natural evil. Others might think the greatest source of suffering and
evil on this planet is Nature (for example, malaria is the number one
cause of agony and death on this planet).

3. The hidden-ness of God. Not only are human beings subjugated to all
the evil in #1 and #2, God is so hidden that it is easy for millions of
human beings to deny He exists and even more view God in all kinds of
contradictory ways.

If the Fall is simply "a partial insight into the morally ambiguous
character with which evolution endowed our species," then does the Fall
really explain these aspects of our reality?

- Mike Gene

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Received on Wed Jun 18 11:24:29 2008