Re: [asa] The term Darwinism

And there was the monograph by Russell Mixter, "Creation and Evolution", published by ASA. In the soon-to-be-published history of ASA by Alton Everest, this is described as the third monograph but it is printed as "Monograph Two." The ASA office has two editions of the monograph. The first is dated 1950, with several printings and the second is 1967 according to one copy but earlier according to another. The second edition includes a chapter on "The Origin of Man" which was not in the first.
In the chapter "Fossils Suggest Creation" of the first edition, Mixter concludes:

"Shall we believe that the gaps will be filled? If the trend of the time continues, new fossils will be found. However, until a major group of organisms such as an order, is connected to another order by a closely graded series of forms, one need not hold the interpretation which derives the members of one order from some other order.

"Summary:

"The earliest representatives of the major groups of animals and plants are complex organisms. They are separated by structural gaps from the members of other groups. As long as the gaps remain unbridged by a series of fossils grading between one group and another, one may conclude that the ancestors of the groups are created and not descended from other orders. Within the orders and families there appears to have been descent with modification as in the series of horses."

Though many have tried to describe Mixter as one of the first theistic evolutionists in ASA, note this paragraph in his chapter "The Origin of Man" in the second edition. It was reprinted from Covenant Youth Today, Oct. 13, 1963:

"It seems to me the order in Genesis does not suggest that God took living flesh of animals and added to it a spirit to form man. God first formed the flesh, then He made it alive. This interpretation of Scripture rules out for me the theistic evolution of man which derives him from a common ancestor with other creatures."

Later in that chapter he writes:

"I conclude there were pre-Adamic creatures but not man as Scripture portrays him."

In the subsequent 50 years or so, considerable progress has been made in fossil discoveries, filling lots of those gaps, and in genetic analysis. It does seem timely to update our perspectives.

Randy

  ----- Original Message -----
  From: George Murphy
  To: Keith Miller ; asa@calvin.edu
  Sent: Tuesday, July 07, 2009 8:00 AM
  Subject: Re: [asa] The term Darwinism

  I agree that TSCC was too hesitant about evolution even in 1986, let alone today. To keep things in perspective, however, we could compare it with a collection of essays by 11 ASA members published under the title Modern Science and Christian Faith in 1948 by Van Kampen Press. This also doesn't state an official position of ASA but with authorship given on the title page as "Members of the American Scientific Affiliation" I'm sure a lot of people thought it did. The chapter on 'Biology and Creation" by William J. Tinkle and Walter E. Lammerts (the latter eventually became one of the founders of the Creation Reasearch Society) comes down flatly against macroevolution. It ends with the sentence "We conclude that the Biblical account of the creation is corroborated, and that God finished His creation, just as Genesis states" (p.107).

  TSCC represents a good deal of progress - after 38 years. Maybe after another 23 it's time for the next step.

  Also worth noting: ASA is described on the title page as "A group of Christian scientific men devoting themselves to the task of reviewing, preparing, and distributing information on the authenticity, historicity, and scientific aspects of the Holy Scriptures in order that the faith of many in the Lord Jesus Christ may be firmly established." I think a lot of us would agree that that's too narrow a description of the purposes of ASA today. (That may have been official ASA language in 1948 - Ted D might be able to comment on this.)

  Shalom
  George
  http://home.roadrunner.com/~scitheologyglm

    ----- Original Message -----
    From: Keith Miller
    To: asa@calvin.edu
    Sent: Monday, July 06, 2009 8:51 PM
    Subject: Re: [asa] The term Darwinism

    For what it is worth, I agree with Allan that it is time to discontinue the ASA publication "Teaching Science in a Climate of Controversy". I was not in favor of its approach and language when it was first published, and I don't think that it is particularly helpful given the current public debates over K-12 science education.

    I am not honestly sure what a good replacement for that publication would be. To be worthwhile it would have to either provide some content not available elsewhere, or be able to reach an audience more effectively than existing resources. As always, the diversity of the ASA puts limitations on what can be done.

    Keith

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Received on Tue Jul 7 10:18:57 2009