In my last post, I talked about how our beliefs about the creation can effect our attitude toward tragedies like we've seen in Japan. In the past, when I've made this point, I've been accused of misrepresenting the position of theistic evolutionists. I feel that I'm being accurate and they simply don't like hearing their position being described so bluntly. If you feel I'm being unfair, I direct you to the blog of a devout, theistic evolutionist.
The Palaeobabbler (PB) has been a visitor to my blog several times in the past and we've had a few exchanges. You can find his remarks among the comments to several of my posts. Anyway, PB hosts his own blog and just recently wrote a post that showcases wonderfully the very attitude ascribed to theistic evolutionsits. You can read his post here but I've included the most telling passage below.
While commenting on John 12:24, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit,” PB said:
Jesus describes a process of change, the bringing about of something new. This can be applied to Christ himself, where his death on the cross changed everything and brought about new life - this alone should be ample reading for seeing the death in the John verse as intended. Evolution by natural selection is a process which involves death, but it does not stop there. The death is instrumental in bringing about change, in bringing about new life. It is an act of redemption, which is small in scale compared to Christ on the cross, yet large in scale with regards to cosmic history. Many scientifically minded theologians have noted that evolution is a cruciform process. It redeems death into new life. What better way for Christ to create?
Now, to be fair, PB wasn't directly addressing the situation in Japan. Of course it doesn't matter. He has echoed the very thing I discussed in my last post. Death is how he believes God creates. PB seems to think that's a good thing. What then would he say to the people in Japan? Would he say, “I'm sorry for your loss but it was for the best”? Instead, we need to share the good news of the gospel – namely that there is life in Christ!
Let me just add that evolution isn't necessarily false because of it's moral implications. It's wrong for a lot of other reasons. I'm not trying to use moral outrage as evidence against the theory. However, many Christians, even sincere Christians, go out of their way to reconcile their understanding of Scripture to this amoral theory. Why they are so anxious to do this escapes me when it paints such a distorted picture of the gospel. It is another reason why I say that evolution is not compatible with the Bible.
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