Re: Death to Theistic Evolution?

Steve Clark (ssclark@facstaff.wisc.edu)
Mon, 13 May 1996 17:44:24 -0500

>Death to Theistic Evolution?
>----------------------------
>Overview: The problem of death is central to the Gospel and is antithetical to
>life. How does Theistic Evolution (TE) handle the theological problem of the
>origin of death? I propose that by accepting death before the creation of
>humanity the Evolutionist, to remain consistent, should not be prepared to
>accept the inspiration of Scripture or the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

CLIP
If the scriptures are in
>error, then why would God send his Son into the world to reverse the curse of
>death. Why would Jesus subscribe to receiving the wrath of God for the
>disobedience of humanity?

CLIP
>Conclusion: By compromising the doctrine of Special Creation with those
who are
>"in the world" and are not spiritually regenerated, we have made the Word
of God
>conform to the principles of natural man. This is not an issue of
>methodological science, but of philosophical naturalism. The Church, by
holding
>the Word of God up to the standards of the predominately atheistic scientific
>community, has nullified the authenticity and validity of the Scriptures.

Just a couple of quick responses:

First: This is the same argument used against Galileo--If the Psalms and
the passage in Jeremiah that refer to movement of the earth and heavenly
bodies cannot be taken at face value, then what confidence do we have in the
rest of the text? Well, Galileo was right and the churhc was wrong--the
earth does, in fact, move. Yet, Christianity flourishes.

Second: I believe that the Bible is inerrant, but necessarily your
interpretation of it. By the same token, since God is the creator of all
things, I believe that science is inerrant, but necessarily our
interpretation of it.

Third: To turn the argument around--If you disavow the physics of
radioactive decay as it relates to dating old things, then on what basis do
you trust the rest of physics when you board a plane, drive a car, read this
message, etc.

Hope this helps.

Steve

__________________________________________________________________________
Steven S. Clark, Ph.D. Phone: (608) 263-9137
Associate Professor FAX: (608) 263-4226
Dept. of Human Oncology and email: ssclark@facstaff.wisc.edu
UW Comprehensive Cancer Ctr
University of Wisconsin
Madison, WI 53792

"I had a great deal of respect for that preacher and I was saddened when
he was called to a bigger church. He was a Baptist, but he was still a
loss to the community". Ferrol Sams in EPIPHANY
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