Re: evolution undercutting faith

From: Bill Payne (bpayne15@juno.com)
Date: Sun Jun 03 2001 - 00:50:05 EDT

  • Next message: george murphy: "Re: evolution undercutting faith"

    On Thu, 31 May 2001 00:32:40 EDT SteamDoc@aol.com writes:

    > I'd agree with your analysis of Dawkins, Sagan, et al. Given that you
    > recognize how wrong they are, I am puzzled why you are a fan of the
    > "Intelligent Design" movement. Their only disagreement with Dawkins is
    with
    > regard to whether or not the gaps really have been explained, when they
    need
    > to disagree with him on the more foundational issue of the
    gap-dependent
    > metaphysical framework. If you reject the God of the Gaps framework,
    then
    > evolution (or any other natural explanation) will not "undercut"
    Christian
    > faith.

    I'm not sure I completely reject the "God of the Gaps" framework. I
    would say the miracles comprise gaps, including the origin of the cosmos,
    the origin of life, the origin of man, etc. Many gaps, eg. the
    blood-clotting cascade, have been filled, but I would say only
    superficially. To simply explain the mechanics of the chemistry does not
    explain the origin of the complexity.

    When I was in grad school and in a "searching" mode, I remember reading a
    chapater in a book, I think by Goldschmidt, about the origin of the
    elements of the universe. As I read the logical explanation, I remember
    thinking, "Well, that's it, there is no God." In my mind, the gaps I was
    looking at were filled and the god-door slammed shut that night in the
    grad school library. It stayed shut for the next seven years.

    I shudder to think that one night a couple of years later in Vietnam, a
    piece of shrapnel came within inches of ending any future opportunity I
    might have had to reconsider my position. But there were those who
    prayed for me; prayers which may well have saved my life.

    I agree that my faith as a Christian will not be undercut by any natural
    explanation, but the way I was thinking before becoming a Christian, the
    filled-gap argument played right into my thinking. The ID arguments
    remind non-believers that gaps are not the end of the game.

    Bill
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