RE: [asa] What is exactly is a TE?

Where does the Fall of Man fit in "the theory that all living things on Earth are descended from a common ancestor through a continuity of cause-and effect processes?"

 
Moorad

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From: asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu on behalf of Keith Miller
Sent: Sat 9/1/2007 4:10 PM
To: American Scientific Affiliation
Subject: Re: [asa] What is exactly is a TE?

Gregory Arago wrote:

        
        What exactly is a TE? This is a great question, David, and one I would love to see addressed at ASA. If it is true that ASA is home to many of the scientists/scholars who contributed to the volume "Perspectives of an Evolving Creation" and if that is the (or a) definitive text for the TE (theistic evolution or theological evolution) perspective, then it should be an excellent place to address this question. Surely, those who hold to TE will be able to mention the names of the most prominent TEs in history and point out the main ideas that TE represents.

Simply stated, my position is that there is no inherent conflict between evolutionary theory and a Christian faith with a high view of scripture. By evolution I mean the theory that all living things on Earth are descended from a common ancestor through a continuity of cause-and effect processes. I believe that there are no necessary breaks or gaps in causal explanations. That is, all transitions in the history of life are potentially explicable in terms of "natural" cause-and-effect processes. Evolutionary theory is no mere guess or hunch, but an extremely well supported explanation of the observed record of organic change. It has great explanatory power in drawing together an incredibly wide range of data from many disciplines in an explanatory framework. It has been very effective in generating fruitful and testable hypotheses that have driven new discoveries and advanced our scientific understanding of the history and dynamics of our living world.

I accept the Bible as authoritative and true in what God intends it to communicate. However, simply accepting the truth of the Biblical writings does not indicate the meaning of those writings. Just as our observations of the natural world must be interpreted within some explanatory framework, scripture also must be interpreted. There is no such thing as an objective reading of scripture. The question for the Christian is then - What is the best interpretive framework for any given passage of scripture? I am convinced that the best interpretation of the first chapters of Genesis is a literary one in which neither time nor chronology are part of the intended message.

Finally, I fully and unhesitatingly accept the doctrine of creation. God is the Creator of all things and nothing would exist without God's continually willing it to be. Creation was not merely a past accomplished act, but rather is a present and continuing reality. God acts in and through natural processes. The best term for this view of God's creative activity is "continuous creation." This is a term used by Jurgen Moltman as well as others. I also believe that God's existence can be known in the creation through faith. However, scientific observation provides no proof of the existence of a creator God, indeed it cannot. Neither does scientific description, however complete, provide any argument against a Creator. Since God acts through process, evolution and the theology of creation are perfectly compatible.

As the above indicates, I prefer the term "Continuous Creation" far more than "Theistic Evolution." The latter term puts the emphasis on a particular scientific theory rather than on theology, and is burdened with a lot of baggage. The critical issue in my mind is that God's creative action is in and through natural process -- this seem clear from scripture. Therefore, any scientific description of natural history (with its focus on natural process) is not in conflict with a fully orthodox theology of creation. Such theological views go back to people like B. B Warfield and James Orr. Understanding what those natural processes are is the task of science.

Keith Miller

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Received on Sat Sep 1 18:10:41 2007