Re: [asa] Almost Half of Evangelical Theologians Accept Evolution?

Hi John,

That is a good point on who in included in the definition of "Evangelical"
but I think Waltke's "practical definition" below is a good one for this
purpose

For practical reasons, I restricted “evangelical theologian” to those
> educators within institutions whose presidents belong the Fellowship of
> Evangelical Seminary Presidents (FESP).
>

so I don't think the conclusion can be criticized as localized.

I found two points very, very interesting:

1) I have the same perception as Keith that evangelical Hebrew and OT
scholars have laid some great groundwork here lately (eg. recent books by
Waltke, Enns, and John Walton at Wheaton). However, in the survey, the
straightforward reading of Gen 1 and 2 was the largest single barrier to
accepting evolution (44%) while the barriers 3 and 4 (Adam's Fall, and
Adam's headship) were considered barriers by only 34% and 28%
respectively. So my personal perception that Paul's use of Adam is a much,
much more difficult issue than the interpretation of Gen itself, does not
seem to be shared by evangelical theologians.

2) More of evangelical theologians accepted evolution (46%) than chose any
single barrier identified by Waltke.

thanks,

On Thu, Oct 22, 2009 at 9:18 PM, John Walley <john_walley@yahoo.com> wrote:

> I suggest this is a localized observation and/or it depends on who you
> consider to be evangelical and who considers themselves evangelical.
>
> For instance in a parallel thread we have been discussing the apologetics
> conference at the link below which is a who's who in evangelical circles and
> the only thing in common among all of them is that they all reject evolution
> except possibly Colson. In my neck of the woods it is very rare to find
> anyone who terms themselves an evangelical that accepts evolution. I am
> still glad to hear the report though.
>
> John
>
> www nationalapologeticsconference dot com
>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* Keith Miller <keithbmill@gmail.com>
> *To:* asa@calvin.edu
> *Sent:* Thu, October 22, 2009 10:04:03 AM
> *Subject:* Re: [asa] Almost Half of Evangelical Theologians Accept
> Evolution?
>
> I am not at all surprised by this survey's results. It has been my
> perception that evangelical theologians - particularly Hebrew and Old
> Testament Scholars - has been increasingly outspoken that there is no
> necessary conflict between evolutionary science and a faithful reading of
> scripture. This is true of theologians who have personal reservations or
> doubts about the validity of biological evolution (particularly as it
> concerns humans) - Henri Blocher and J.I. Packer come to mind here.
> However, once it is recognized that scripture does not demand a rejection of
> biological evolution, then that person is open to persuasion by the
> scientific evidence.
>
> Keith
>
>

-- 
Steve Martin (CSCA)
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