Category Archives: Science

On the resurrection…

Posted on 14/01/2016 by Jon Garvey

… and on a good number of other matters too, from Creation to Scriptural Inspiration…

Posted in Philosophy, Politics and sociology, Science, Theology | Leave a comment

How hard can prevention be?

Posted on 11/01/2016 by Jon Garvey

One of the more glorious moments of my not especially glorious medical career was that I was, quite accidentally, instrumental in catalyzing a medical conference on prostate cancer screening in our town. Here’s how it happened.

Posted in Medicine, Politics and sociology, Science | 10 Comments

The rate- (or purpose-) limiting step of Creation

Posted on 07/01/2016 by Jon Garvey

I was struck by a succinct observation by poster StephenB on an Uncommon Descent thread about theistic evolution: For guided evolution, the design precedes the process. For Darwinian evolution, the process precedes the design (appearance of).

Posted in Creation, Philosophy, Science, Theology | 7 Comments

Outsiders’ insights

Posted on 03/01/2016 by Jon Garvey

I’ve in the past waxed enthusiastic about the BBC radio programme In Our Time, in which presenter Melvyn Bragg asks a specially assembled panel of (genuine) experts intelligent questions about some chosen topic, which might range from the Battle of Marathon to Alice in Wonderland, or from Genghiz Khan to Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Just before Christmas they did a good one on Michael Faraday.

Posted in Creation, History, Politics and sociology, Science, Theology | 2 Comments

Climate change and Christian faith

Posted on 31/12/2015 by Jon Garvey

My wife’s cousin, an academic historian, was staying over Christmas. We were watching the news, of which the first half was about the severe storms causing extensive flooding in northern England and southern Scotland, and the the second half about unprecedented snowfall and tornadoes sweeping the United States. Cousin suddenly remarked, “I think God’s trying to tell us something.”

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Arminius and natural providence

Posted on 28/12/2015 by Jon Garvey

Back in 2012 I posted a piece about the views of the Dutch theologian Jacobus Arminius on creation. The start of my argument was that the still-prevalent semideistic “freedom of creation” teaching amongst theistic evolutionists is most logically taken as a projection of the Arminian teaching on human free-will.

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Cheetahs, gazelles, arms race – just so, just so

Posted on 21/12/2015 by Jon Garvey

Wherever one happens to glance, it seems, evolution is not quite as we are taught to be fact. I went to Wikipedia for a picture of a cheetah, and found instead the deconstruction of another Kiplinesque story – that of the cheetah-gazelle arms race.

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Resurrection, continuity and forms

Posted on 16/12/2015 by Jon Garvey

One of the questions that exercised the rabbis in the discussion of the general resurrection of the dead, even before the Christian era, was the question of continuity. The school of Shammai, working from Ezekiel, believed that God must clothe the dead bones (hence the need for careful burial, and even careful execution of criminals). The school of Hillel, working from Job, believed God would work inwards, filling the skin with new life.

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Humanity, evolution and concurrence.

Posted on 11/12/2015 by Jon Garvey

Nearly two years ago I wrote on the difficulties evolution presents to philosophical realism – the existence of universals like “human nature” – and what it would take for us as Christians to be able to hold the first without losing the latter. It’s a real philosophical problem, and involves who we are. Another recent conversation with Timothy Hicks relates to that issue.

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“God of the gaps” – an accusation from ignorance

Posted on 07/12/2015 by Jon Garvey

Every couple of days, it appears, the “God of the gaps” argument is mentioned in comments at BioLogos, usually with reference to its alleged use by Intelligent Design proponents, but often in an attempt to steer round it whilst still acknowledging a truly theistic understanding of creation and evolution. It seems to function in a kind of negative capacity, in the same manner as discussions of immigration or terrorism that begin, “Of course, I’m not a racist, but…”

Posted in Creation, Philosophy, Science, Theology | 5 Comments