[asa] The Doors of the Sea

I just finished a book that came highly recommended from a cyber-friend and it did not disappoint. It was David Hart's "The Doors of the Sea." Hart is an Eastern Orthodox theologian and he tackles the argument from evil head-on. He makes a subtle, yet very significant argument.

"At the moment it is enough simply to make this point clear: God's gracious will for his creatures - his willing of all things to his own infinite goodness - is the creative power that makes all things to be and the consummate happiness to which all things are called; but this does not (indeed, must not) mean that everything that happens is merely a direct expression of God's desire for his creatures or an essential stage within the dvine plan for history." - pp. 97-98.

Hart argues that a Christ-centered, truly biblical understanding of providence does NOT entail the notion that "everything that occurs at the level of secondary causality - in nature or history - is governed not only by a transcendent providence but by a universal teleology that makes every instance of pain and loss an indispensable moment in a grand scheme whose ultimate synthesis will justify all things."

I am still absorbing his argument, and if anyone has read this book, I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts.

What I can say is that I notice a familiar theme that occurs in the disputes between theistic IDers and TEs. The TIDs seem to be under the impression that randomness in evolution undercuts God's providence (I don't agree). The TEs argue that ID somehow makes God morally culpable for parasites and cancer (don't agree there either).

IMO, the major stumbling block for Christians accepting evolution is the argument from evil. Thus, it is quite interesting to me that Hart's response to the problem of evil can be applied to evolution.

-Mike Gene

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Received on Sun Aug 10 20:02:19 2008