Joel Cannon wrote: [in part]
>
> Allan Harvey, responding to Bryan posted the following concerning
> Phillip Johnson's evolution implies atheism beliefs.
>
> >
> > In a message dated 7/7/00 10:49:08 PM Mountain Daylight Time, crossbr@SLU.EDU
> > writes:
> >
> > > Also, I asked for substantiation for the claim that
> > > according to Johnson "macroevolution disproves God". >
>
> > Though Johnson does not use the word "macroevolution", that is clearly what
> > he means when he talks about an "evolutionary process that was to all
> > appearances mindless and purposeless."
> >
> > Again I come back to my earlier point that, even if Johnson and the rest of
> > the ID crowd do not believe it, the church hears the (unhealthy) message of
> > total incompatibility between evolution (beyond little bits of
> > microevolution) and theism. If that is a misunderstanding of the message,
> > Johnson has dodged innumerable opportunities to correct the
> > misconception. Instead, he seems to revel in being the guy who is battling
> > the natural explanations of science in order to save God from being pushed
> > out of existence.
> >
>
> In fact, a number of Johnson's friends understand Johnson to hold that
> evolution implies atheism or something close to it. At the very
> least, they do not consider it worth refuting.
This sounds to me to be a question as to how obvious God chooses to be.
A guest on "Conversations with Jean Feraca" on Wisconsin Public Radio a
couple of years ago argued that the universe is a self-generating,
closed system, calling that supposed fact "neat." A few observations:
1) If a phenomenon inspires the adjective "neat," either the source of
that phenomenon has an artistic flair, or the beholder should be
accorded godlike qualities for descrying neatness where there is none.
2) There is biblical justification for seeing the workings of God as
non-obvious. Examples include the "Messianic Secret" exhibited in Mark
1:43-45; 4:10-12; 5:43, etc.; Jesus' refusal to produce miracles on
demand (cf. Matthew 12:38-39), and Paul's references to the Psalms,
Moses and Isaiah in Romans 10:18-20.
3) If God worked in natural history through a process of variation and
selection, perhaps there are traces of that process in salvation history
(Heilsgeschichte) as well. Possible examples include the history of
Israel's sin and judgment and the survival of a remnant; Jesus'
references to the delegation of authority (stewardship--cf. Matthew
25:14-30) and subsequent rewards and punishments, and the references to
overcomers in Revelation 2-3. If these are not direct connections,
perhaps the processes are at least compatible.
I suggest that just as God, who began the process of natural history,
occasionally intervened in it for the higher purpose of salvation as
recorded in Scripture, so he will occasionally make exceptions to the
natural laws and processes he has instituted. The exceptions justify the
rule, and both the rule and the exceptions glorify the Ruler.
JMVHO,
Dan Eumurian
M.A. in Theological Studies (Wheaton)
hope4you@CenturyTel.net
La Crosse, WI
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