Category Archives: Theology

Gay marriage

Posted on 09/12/2012 by Jon Garvey

I don’t normally write about sociological issues like this here, but followers of British poliutics may know that the Prime Minister is pushing forward a law to allow homosexuals to marry (rather than entering the current “civil partnerships”) in religious institutions. No church, he reassures us, will be forced to participate. The media report that  the Catholic, Anglican, Orthodox and Evangelical (umbrella group) churches are firmly opposed to this, as are the Muslims and the majority of Jews. But, they say, “some churches are in favour”, such as the Unitarians and the Quakers. Or rather, just these two are in favour. The BBC evening news carried an interview with a … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and sociology, Theology | 1 Comment

To coin a term

Posted on 08/12/2012 by Jon Garvey

I’ve now got hold of David L Wilcox’s little book God and Evolution, and think I can add him to the disappointingly small group of TEs who actually do combine biblical faith with a realistic approach to science. The book isn’t world-shatteringly original – well within the genre of “a scientist shows that faith and science are compatible”, but I think it would be just the kind of thing for penman to give to his Reformed Creationist friends as a palatable apologetic.

Posted in Creation, Science, Theology | 5 Comments

Biblical archaeology

Posted on 07/12/2012 by Jon Garvey

Almost as briefly, but rather more seriously, I recently rediscovered a quote from archaeologist Alan Millard which may be food for thought when critics speak of the lack of evidence for biblical characters like Abraham, Moses, or even King David. Millard says:  “Of about 120 kings known from a dozen Iron Age states of the Levant, including Israel and Judah, at the most only 20 have left inscriptions that are known today.” History would read pretty differently if it took the minimalist view overall.

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Intelligent wisdom

Posted on 06/12/2012 by Jon Garvey

I’ve suggested before that inferring design (broadly conceived) in nature might not be scientific, but is nevertheless a basic human faculty that is already used within science, methodological naturalism notwithstanding. Steve Fuller believes that this faculty reflects our creation in the image of God, which is a reasonable hypothesis.

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It’s all about sovereignty

Posted on 04/12/2012 by Jon Garvey

In my last post I alluded to the hardening in the attitude of American Fundamentalists towards evolution after the Great War. And I mentioned that some of the authors of the Fundamentals had previously been sympathetic to evolution. Here’s a quote I turned up from one of them, G F Wright:

Posted in Creation, Politics and sociology, Prometheus, Science, Theology | 21 Comments

The Roots of Creationism

Posted on 03/12/2012 by Jon Garvey

Quite a lot has been said about the issue of Social Darwinism and the Eugenenics movement in the Nazi programme and the Holocaust. I’ve even said some of it myself here and here. Less has been said about the role of Social Darwinism in the First World War, though it probably had more effect on the science and religion question, if not on the death count, though the First War’s 37 million is at least comparable to the Second’s 60 million. The estimates of deaths due to “evolutionary” communism range up to 150m, and so dwarf both wars.

Posted in Creation, Politics and sociology, Science, Theology | 1 Comment

David L Wilcox – another man on the money

Posted on 30/11/2012 by Jon Garvey

Theistic evolution is potentially a very satisfying position for Christians interested in science. It’s sad, then, that it’s so very rare to find TE writers who don’t wander off down all kinds of theological byways – hence my love-hate relationship with BioLogos, which seems particularly fond of hacking through the doctrinal undergrowth. One has to go back to B B Warfield to find an authoritative figure with a good understanding of science and a biblically sound theological position – and he died nearly a century ago, being largely ignored today. As shown in other posts, I was pleasantly surprised by Robert J Russell’s position on divine action and many other … Continue reading →

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Prometheus and Adam

Posted on 29/11/2012 by Jon Garvey

About half a dozen times on The Hump I’ve made passing mention of the Prometheus myth in relation to modernity. Maybe I should expand that, as it truly is a foundation myth in the sense that it is a simple and potent key to understanding much of what our modern world is all about. I stumbled across its scope when researching how the original Christian teaching about the goodness of creation came to be changed into the modern Christian assumption that the natural world is fallen and spoiled – but that’s a smaller and more specialised story which may yet come into print. Prometheus himself may be understood, with little … Continue reading →

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The well-trodden road to somewhere

Posted on 27/11/2012 by Jon Garvey

What with other commitments and the temperamental editing software at BioLogos, I’ve only posted there once recently, but at least I got a reply. My post was on Mike Beidler’s (so far) four-part article on his conversion from Young Earth Creationism to BioLogianism – a common pathway, or so it seems. Expanding a point of Eddie’s I suggested that the Socinian view of incarnation applied to the Bible by Peter Enns, Kenton Sparks and their like, with Scripture’s consequent susceptibility to historico-critical dismemberment, was inherently unstable and will inevitably lead to a re-run of nineteenth century liberalism. My respondent was Cliff Martin, whose main point was that recycling the liberal … Continue reading →

Posted in Science, Theology | 1 Comment

Divine action and human affairs

Posted on 23/11/2012 by Jon Garvey

When I’ve commented about divine action on this blog, I’ve usually been very careful to distinguish the pre- and non-human creation from the affairs of mankind. That’s because it’s usually been in the context of that chimaeric concept of “nature’s freedom”, and many TE’s are determined to confuse that with human free will. And even others, raised on the Promethean myth of human autonomy, are also keener to draw lines in the sand about human freedom that comment about what, if anything, “a creation free to create itself” means. But I’ve come across a biblical example of God’s role in human affairs that raises some interesting thoughts about the detectibility … Continue reading →

Posted in Creation, Prometheus, Theology | 8 Comments