On Mon, 6 May 2002, Shuan Rose wrote:
> Hey, Mike, thanks. I will certainly try. even on science related issues,
> however, there a lot more issues and more pressing issues than CE.Aspects of
> science impact the ordinary American's life more than GEN 1-11. Take
> environmentalism, for example. Genetics. The energy situation.Technology
> sharing with Third World countries.Population control.Space
> exploration.Global warming.
> It seems Christian scientists should have something to say about those
> issues that is scientific and Christian.
While I very much appreciate your encouragement to move us beyond
discussions of the minutiae of biblical hermeneutics, Shaun, I am
genuinely puzzled by your last sentence. Is there anything specifically
Christian that can be addressed to the issues you list above? Does the
Gospel say anything that speaks directly to the problem of technology
sharing with Third World countries? Are there any unique Christian
insights regarding population control? A distinctive Christian position
on space exploration?
It seems to me that, whatever it is that informs our judgments on matters
like the energy situation and global warming, the basis for those
judgments cannot be immediately derived from the Christian Gospel. In
that sense, good and useful insights on these problems are as likely to
come from non-Christians as from Christians. What Christians do have is a
different *motivation* for seeking greater wisdom about these things. We
are convinced that the earth is the Lord's, and that it is good. But the
conversations we have about such technical matters are not directly
informed by anything that is distinctively Christian.
I do not doubt that there are occasionally specific scientific issues that
intersect with specific Christian concerns. And it is always helpful for
me to hear what scientists who are also Christians have to say about these
issues. But I have difficulty imagining that such scientists are
functioning as Christians rather than scientific practitioners when they
are serving in that kind of role, just as I have difficulty imagining that
there is any particular "Christian position" on the environment or genetic
research.
So I would, like you, be happy to hear what Christian scientists have to
say, on these issues, that is scientific. But I am far less convinced
that any of us will have something to say, relevant to these topics, that
is uniquely Christian.
Tom Pearson
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Thomas D. Pearson
Department of History & Philosophy
The University of Texas-Pan American
Edinburg, Texas
e-mail: pearson@panam1.panam.edu
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue May 07 2002 - 11:35:02 EDT