Genealogical Adam – an observation from Eridu.

Posted on 02/03/2018 by Jon Garvey

As I’ve been studying the overall “shape” of biblical theology, in the light of recent work by Evangelicals like John Sailhamer, Seth Postell and a bunch of others including N T Wright, one of the common themes is that the ancient prophets had a much fuller grasp of the universal scope of salvation – we may even say, in a qualified way, of the gospel – than has been recognised either by older scholarship or “the man in the pew.” Continue reading →

Posted in Adam, Creation, Genealogical Adam, Science, Theology | 14 Comments

Learning from uncertainty (according to William Briggs)

Posted on 28/02/2018 by Jon Garvey

Uncertainty – the Soul of Modeling, Probability & Statistics by William Briggs (Springer, 2016). The world really does need a book on the philosophy behind probability, and this is it. Continue reading →

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More on the (supposed) hiddenness of God

Posted on 26/02/2018 by Jon Garvey

Although week by week I play mostly modern songs in church, on guitar, it’s the hymns of my distant childhood that still resonate most with my theology. One I learned, and loved, at primary school was Immortal, invisible, God only wise (number 407 in The English Hymnal – even that fact has deeply lodged in my memory for 60 years! Here it is for those only familiar with Hillsongs: Continue reading →

Posted in Science, Theology | 3 Comments

The Lord is not slow

Posted on 23/02/2018 by Jon Garvey

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

Let’s start with a really basic Christian truth: “No man comes to the Father except by me.” Or from another text, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.”

Now one of the challenging things about the Christian narrative is why, if sin is so deadly and Christ’s work so necessary, the history of salvation seems to unfold so slowly. Continue reading →

Posted in Adam, Creation, Science, Theology | 74 Comments

Cheddar lives matter

Posted on 19/02/2018 by Jon Garvey

Last night Channel 4 aired the documentary on the genome sequencing and facial reconstruction of Cheddar Man, the 8,000BCE mesolithic skeleton discovered in Gough’s Cave in Cheddar Gorge a century ago. It was interesting and well done, though of course the “Hey Presto” effect of unveiling the reconstruction was lost because his photo has been splashed over every newspaper and TV channel for the last fortnight. Continue reading →

Posted in Genealogical Adam, History, Politics and sociology, Science | 7 Comments

Institutional abuse

Posted on 16/02/2018 by Jon Garvey

The revelation that senior figures from the major relief charity Oxfam, whose income is £400m annually, engaged in prostitution and possibly the abuse of minors whilst doing relief work after the Haiti earthquake, has shocked the nation. That’s especially so as it emerges just how many other major charities have experienced the same, and largely winked at it, over recent years. Some in the know speak of deliberate infiltration of the charity industry (sic) by abusers. Continue reading →

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Irenaeus and what the Bible is about

Posted on 14/02/2018 by Jon Garvey

In my last post I pointed out the close match between the description in Genesis chapter 10 of the migration of Semitic peoples to lower Mesopotamia, and the story of the Akkadian Empire of Sargon the great, and also the general correspondence between the table of nations and the western (but not eastern) Neolithic radiation. I suggested how this was an indicator that the writer of Genesis must have been fully aware that non-descendants of Adam existed at this time, and quite plausibly in the time of Adam himself, given his habit of ignoring outsiders. Continue reading →

Posted in Adam, Creation, Genealogical Adam, Theology | 2 Comments

The (selective) table of nations

Posted on 12/02/2018 by Jon Garvey

Genesis chapters 1-11 continue to intrigue because, for all their “under-determination” of meaning for us moderns, and their mythic style, they keep resonating with details of the most ancient human history. And so, quite apart from any theological reasons, I can’t go along with those who regard them as ahistorical, nor have much sympathy with the idea that they are purely late, exilic, additions – they wear their great antiquity prominently. Continue reading →

Posted in Adam, Genealogical Adam, History, Science, Theology | 16 Comments

Being on the side of science

Posted on 09/02/2018 by Jon Garvey

The conversation on BioLogos about the implications of Lenski’s E. coli experiment continued, between Richard Buggs and Joshua Swamidass, after I wrote my piece on it here. It turns out that, after discussion, they agreed that, in contradiction of my conclusion, the situation with respect to human genetics is less unpredictable, rather than more, as I suggested there, because of the highly mutable nature of bacteria in comparison to mammals. Lenski therefore seems to have been dropped from the discussion as irrelevant. As Joshua writes, “Retractions are good”! Continue reading →

Posted in Creation, Politics and sociology, Science | 7 Comments

Three Testaments?

Posted on 07/02/2018 by Jon Garvey

Following on from my recent post, N T Wright provoked another thought, through an offhand reply in a video of his. He described Genesis 1-11 as “The Old Testament of the Old Testament”. And that of course is true, both in its time frame – the world before the call of Abraham into covenantal (= testamental) relationship – and its provenance, in a classical Mosaic torah framework at least, as the ancient traditions that Israel already possessed at the time of the Exodus. Continue reading →

Posted in Adam, Creation, Genealogical Adam, Theology | 3 Comments