And over at BioLogos, there's a long blog about a Christianity Today story that lays out the position of many serious Christian scientists.
"[There] is now little doubt that God has created all life forms, including human beings, through an evolutionary process.This is an amazing statement, considering that it comes from devout evangelical Christians. According to these scientists, the Genesis account of creation, which many consider to be at the very core of Christianity, is a metaphor or myth rather than a historical account of creation. (This statement also confirms a favorite thesis of mine: the Theory of Evolution is the best-proved theory in the history of science.)
"The data with regard to human creation has been accumulating for 150 years, and the conclusions have been substantiated through a wide variety of scientific disciplines. Astronomy shows that the universe is billions of years old. Geology independently shows that the earth, though a little younger, is also billions of years old. Paleontology poignantly lays out the parade of created life forms and graphically documents the species-changes over hundreds of millions of years. Comparative anatomy and developmental biology show feature after feature in living bodies, each with its distinctive trademark pointing to gradual alteration from that which came before. And, with the sequencing of the human genome, genetics provides the final confirmatory lynch pin. Creation through a gradual process is not a hypothesis that emerges from a peripheral scientific sub-discipline. To show it wrong would involve overturning principles that independently lie at the very core of the findings of most of the natural science disciplines."
You might think this isn't such a big deal, that scientists who are also Christians are just abandoning some outdated interpretations of their Bible. But in fact, abandoning the creation myth is a stab at the very heart of Christian philosophy. If Adam and Eve didn't sin, then all of the consequences of The Fall are meaningless. There is no Original Sin. Jesus Christ's crucifixion was pointless.
It must be tough to be both a scientist and an evangelical Christian.
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"You might think this isn't such a big deal, that scientists who are also Christians are just abandoning some outdated interpretations of their Bible. But in fact, abandoning the creation myth is a stab at the very heart of Christian philosophy. If Adam and Eve didn't sin, then all of the consequences of The Fall are meaningless. There is no Original Sin. Jesus Christ's crucifixion was pointless.
ReplyDeleteIt must be tough to be both a scientist and an evangelical Christian."
LOVE IT!!!!
Has anyone bothered to consider that this method of denial is only meant to serve the classic approach christianity has oft used in the past to justify their position? That in time, the rejection of the genesis account will be just a stepping stone to put forth a revisionist account of what they choose to embrace as the "correct" version of events? Remember, these are the same people who, when their already flawed logic is subjected to reality, consistently fall back on things like "God did it" or other inarguable positions to justify their beliefs. Is it far fetched to consider that this may be just another effort to further their delusion?
ReplyDeleteThese people are not looking to proven right, after all. They only desire to be right in the eyes of others.
i hear you shadow, and it is something to consider... but what if-- what if it's the start of a slow awakening for the deluded masses that take the bible as the literal truth? We should be skeptical, i agree, but i'd rather reserve my cynicism until its proven to be needed. they've had thousands of years to hone their bullshit, so cautious baby-steps are probably needed.
ReplyDeleteThose so-called Christians must have forgotten about God's omnipotence. If this comment isn't deleted, I suggest all who read it to Google "Unmoved Mover" for a serious lesson in logic.
ReplyDelete