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

John:

In my church my pastor has encouraged me to lead discussion relative to
evolution. To date, I have resisted.

I am interested in such discussions, but I am only interested in their
implications regarding our relationship with Christ. I suspect that
evolution, whether fully embraced or not, has had a profound effect upon
our entire notion of the nature of the world, ourselves, and God.

I have no interest in arguing for the truth or falsehood of evolution,
or any number of other similar topics, in a Bible Study. I am
interested, however, in how such views or attitudes (perhaps more
important) infest and indwell our relationship with God. The intent of
such discussions would be lay bare such influences and discuss it
between ourselves and God (a la Job).

There is sin here and wounding.
No, I'm not saying believing in some form of evolution is a sin, anymore
than believing in a Six Day Creation makes us Holy. There is always sin
before God and our neighbor. It requires confession and cleansing in
Christ's Blood.

bill

On Fri, 23 Oct 2009, Pete Enns wrote:

> My experience is yours, John.
>
> Pete Enns
>
> On Oct 23, 2009, at 6:35 AM, John Walley wrote:
>
>>
>> Agian, I contend the schools are localized, and the 46% that accept
>> evolution and the 44% that hold to a literal reading of Genesis are as
>> well. For instance is Southern Evangelical Seminary represented in FESP? I
>> bet you would be hard pressed to find anyone there that accepts evolution
>> and if so it is likley a closely a guarded secret.
>>
>> Excepting what they believe in Ivory Tower seminaries, I can tell you that
>> where it matters on a practical level like on the staffs of churches, down
>> here in evangelical churches, a non-literal reading of Genesis is not
>> really on the table and accepting evolution is a one way ticket out of the
>> fellowship.
>>
>> Hopefully that will continue to change though.
>>
>> John
>>
>> From: Steve Martin <steven.dale.martin@gmail.com>
>> To: John Walley <john_walley@yahoo.com>
>> Cc: Keith Miller <keithbmill@gmail.com>; asa@calvin.edu
>> Sent: Fri, October 23, 2009 5:46:43 AM
>> Subject: 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)
>>
>>
>

To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@calvin.edu with
"unsubscribe asa" (no quotes) as the body of the message.
Received on Fri Oct 23 15:16:28 2009