Hello, Russ. I see you are still interested in the subject, just like I
am. (Russ and I were on the committee, that studied "creatuion and Evolution"
for the Christian Reformed Church. Russ and Gordon insisted on Adam's creation
de novo, on the basis of Gen.2. I myself (and others) wanted to leave room for
those who insisted (or at least wanted to leave open the possibility) that God
used evolution. Nothing, even today, happens outside God's will. As humans we
have to be quiet about that. Russ saw rightly the dangers the concept of
evolution has, when it is used for humanly directed activities. The concept of
"progress" (through evolution is a dangerous, and even unchristian one. But so
are all human-directed activities. It does not mean, that I say that God did it
via evolution, but I want to leave open the possibilty for our geologists,
biologists, astronomers etc. to study these matters. It is dangerous for a
church to interfere.
More dangerous I find the Dick's ideas. To act as if the environment is
of secondary importance is not true. God gave man the order to take care of
creation Gen.1:28; when man sinned not only man was punished but creation too,
Gen.3:17. John 3:17 cannot be read without taking Gen.3:17 into account. John
3:17 mentions the "world." If you have any doubt: read Rom.8:19-23, right
where we read about the coming glory.
Connecting environmental issues with economic ones is often causing great
damage to creation. Then we, God's people, have a task. Econmic degradation
through our use of fuels is wrong. We, all of us are include, use too much
fossil fuels. Lakes are killed. Fish die, we do not hear the command of God in
Gen1:28 anymore. Mankind is disobedient. That some interpret the bible in such
a way, that they become God's enemy, is no reason for us to become disobedient.
Our governments may think, that the "Economy" is their first and almost only
task, we as christians ought to know better. We should not say that one task
God gave us (bringing the gospel) is more important than another task God gave
us: obeying Him, when He tells us to take care of creation. That means economic
issues may be secondary or tertiary or . . .. God promised to take care of us.
Think of the sparrow on the temple roof.
Jan
Jan de Koning
E-mail: 75674.3121@compuserve.com