Category Archives: Theology

The Lost World of Scripture

Posted on 24/08/2015 by Jon Garvey

  I’m beginning to feel that my reading of John H Walton’s books is in danger of resembling that of a Harry Potter fan: the next in the “Lost World” series is always a must-read. The Lost World of Scripture is actually a joint effort with NT scholar D Brent Sandy, and being from 2013 isn’t his latest work. And though it arises from Walton’s overriding concern with comparative studies in biblical understanding, its purpose is to apply such studies to the key issue of “Scriptural Inerrancy” in the light of American Evangelicalism’s recent loss of focus and confidence on this issue. It’s an important contribution.

Posted in Theology | 8 Comments

Creation and Election

Posted on 19/08/2015 by Jon Garvey

The BioLogos thread on the historicity of Adam turns out to be another important one, though the most interesting bit has got hived off to a sub-thread involving the Usual Suspects here, one Ex-Suspect and Christy (who so far is not suspected of anything, though she’d be most welcome on The Hump). I venture to suggest that amongst these there is broad agreement (though they may not fully realise it) that classical Christianity requires that Adam and Eve are not optional, and that attempts to make them so at least amount to new doctrine (so Eddie) and more strongly that such attempts amount to heterodoxy. That a significant strand in … Continue reading →

Posted in Adam, Creation, Science, Theology | 21 Comments

You heard it here first

Posted on 17/08/2015 by Jon Garvey

V J Torley, in a piece on Uncommon Descent, cites ex-Biologos TE Karl Giberson writing a blurb for atheist John Loftus’ new book, in which Giberson does a mea culpa for the weakness of his “free creation” defence of Christianity in relation to evolution.

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Every tale…

Posted on 10/08/2015 by Jon Garvey

I caught a snippet on the radio this morning, from a discussion amongst novelists on what led them to start reading books. One particular author, whose name I didn’t catch, but who is evidently Glaswegian from his accent, said that he first read to escape from the chaotic nature of his family life.

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

Some bad scientists, bad theologians, bad philosophers – 2

Posted on 07/08/2015 by Jon Garvey

In yesterday’s post I recounted some of the panoply of thinkers who have propounded the argument from design down the centuries. At the beginning I asked at what point this respectable enterprise had become “bad science and bad theology”. The usual answer would seem to be that Darwin confronted William Paley and overcame.

Posted in Creation, Philosophy, Science, Theology | 2 Comments

Some bad scientists, bad theologians, bad philosophers – 1

Posted on 06/08/2015 by Jon Garvey

Well, it seems BioLogos and the Discovery Institute are once more locked in contention for the heart and mind of (I suppose) the Informed Christian. The recent spat seems mainly to stem from BioLogian Jim Stump’s review of a book on design arguments, and can be summed up (from that side) in the now well-worn phrase: Design arguments are bad science and bad theology.

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

Paradigms that don’t fit

Posted on 04/08/2015 by Jon Garvey

In my last post I mentioned in passing YEC thinker Dr Arthur Jones, who has commented here in the past and who is remarkable in being one of the only people ever to get a PhD in evolutionary biology with original research leading to anti-evolutionary conclusions. The link was intended as an introduction to him, but the essay so linked is educational in its own right. It shows a remarkable degree of perception on the stuff I discussed in the last post, given that it was written back in 1970, even before his PhD, and only eight years after Kuhn published his book on paradigm shifts in science.

Posted in Creation, Philosophy, Science, Theology | 6 Comments

Thereto I plought me my troth

Posted on 30/07/2015 by Jon Garvey

We were fortunate enough, my wife and I, to celebrate our fortieth wedding anniversary last weekend. A good excuse for a family reunion and some bubbles. The great passage of time was remarked by the absence of so many of our original guests, sadly no longer with us, and by the presence of folks we never even invited first time round, most notably our children and their families.

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Theistic science depends on theistic worldview

Posted on 27/07/2015 by Jon Garvey

I put in a couple of comments on a thread on BioLogos that began by tut-tutting Intelligent Design’s “anti scientific” stance. Coincidentally it overlaps with the theme of my last post on ID, whose aim (by provocatively portraying ID as a foundational science rather than the more usual accusation that it is a pseudo-science) was to draw attention to the historical centrality of teleology to science, and the scientific cost of its loss in the last last two centuries. Eddie Robinson continues, currently, to battle away to good effect on that thread.

Posted in Creation, Science, Theology | 13 Comments

Parasites and morality

Posted on 07/07/2015 by Jon Garvey

An anonymous Christian academic commenting on an earlier piece of mine, about the overwhelming witness in pre-modern theology to the ongoing goodness of creation (notwithstanding the Fall), criticized my passing reference to parasitism, because it was passing. Though the old writers were well acquainted with predation, they were simply unaware, he said, of the grave new challenge to God’s goodness posed by parasites: Without microscopy, most parasites couldn’t even be seen; and without molecular biology, their exquisitely designed mechanisms for producing slow, prolonged suffering leading to death—not quick, relatively painless death, such as at the hands of a lion or a shark—were not fully “appreciated.” This is the type of … Continue reading →

Posted in Creation, Science, Theology | 9 Comments