On Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 9:57 AM, Terry M. Gray <grayt@lamar.colostate.edu>wrote:
> Gregory and Cameron,
>
> I am delighted to hear you say that Darwinian evolution and Darwinian
> mechanisms are scientific (contra Darwinism). I'm not sure that Cameron
> would agree. I hear him saying that anytime you invoke Darwinian or
> Darwinism that you are invoking something that removes God from the picture.
> Perhaps he could clarify for us.
>
> Without reading the remaining paragraphs first...
I am never going to forget the interview Niles Eldridge gave where he
pulled from his pocket a letter written to Darwin by Darwin's wife. The
letter expressed her sadness at Darwin not being in eternity with her.
Eldridge pointed out the letter had been folded and unfolded many many
times, Darwin having read it over and over. One would think Darwin's wife
understood what he was advocating. But maybe not. Who knows? Its pretty
clear she thought he was incompatible with salvation. Could she have been
wrong? Was she worried about his personal views? Or was she worried about
(some of) his followers who had started a belief system that removed God
from the picture and she thus thought he was culpable? Can historians show
us this latter belief system is not the defining system of thought Darwin
advocated? How could Darwin have not convinced his own wife that he
rejected and dismissed the beliefs of these particular anti-Christian
followers?
So, it seems that it wouldn't be too terribly far off the mark for someone
to indeed say that Darwinism invokes atheism. It would be quite
understandable. But how does one settle the question? Shouldn't it have
been settled 50 years ago? The folks at the 1959 Chicago Exposition
certainly thought it was settled, didn't they? Didn't they declare evolution
means the death of God? Or were they, like Darwin, allegedly
misunderstood too?
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Received on Thu Jul 9 12:19:26 2009
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