"Intermediate" Models of Origins
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Being and Time-Less Faith: Juxtaposing Heideggerian Anxiety and Religious Experience
Open Theology 2020; 6: 15–26 Phenomenology of Religious Experience IV: Religious Experience and Description Jonathan Lyonhart* Being and Time-less Faith: Juxtaposing Heideggerian Anxiety and Religious Experience https://doi.org/10.1515/opth-2020-0003 Received October 12, 2019; accepted December 19, 2019 Abstract: In Heidegger, fear reveals the thing to be feared in a fuller way than theory can. However, anxiety is distinct from fear, for while fear is directed towards a specific thing within the world, anxiety is anxious about existence itself, disclosing the totality of Being. A similar method could be applied to faith. Arguably, faith is a mood; a feeling of trust in the divine that can be phenomenologically consistent and overwhelming. However, faith is not necessarily directed towards a specific object within the world. One cannot point and say: “God is right there!” Indeed, attempts to do so through miracles, teleology or dialectics have been roundly critiqued by the Western tradition. But then what is this mood of faith disclosing if not something within the world? Perhaps, like anxiety, faith is not revealing an object within the world, but the world as a totality. Since God—at least the God central to much of the Judeo-Christian tradition—is not a being but Being itself (or in some formulations is actually ‘beyond being’), God therefore cannot be disclosed in the world as an object but has to be disclosed as that which is transcendently beyond it. Such a conclusion does not simply flee the realm of the everyday, but derives from, and legitimates, basic descriptions of religious experience. -
Revelation in the Theology of Walter Kasper
Department of Systematic Theology University of Helsinki Helsinki Event of the Radically New: Revelation in the Theology of Walter Kasper Tiina Huhtanen Academic dissertation to be publicly discussed, by due permission of the Faculty of Theology at the University of Helsinki in Auditorium XV on the 13th of April 2016 at 12 p.m. Helsinki 2016 ISBN 978-951-51-2045-8 (PBK) ISBN 978-951-51-2046-5 (PDF) Unigrafia Helsinki 2016 Abstract The present study analyses the concept of revelation in the theology of Walter Kasper (b. 1933). The method of the study is systematic analysis, which focuses on ascertaining the commonalities, characteristics and possible inconsistencies in Kasper’s thought. The sources for this study consist of works pertinent to the subject in the corpus of Kasper’s writings from 1965 to 2015. In order to offer a full account of Kasper’s understanding of revelation, this study analyses the philosophical and theological background of his thought. The present study outlines and discusses Kasper’s interpretation of the doctrine of revelation, his understanding of how the Bible should be interpreted and his dogmatic method. This study also discusses Kasper’s understanding of the meaning of revelation in the modern era. In line with previous studies of Kasper’s theology also this study concludes that the three influences that have most affected Kasper’s thought are: German idealist philosophy, the Tübingen School and the Second Vatican Council. This study argues that Kasper’s conception of revelation is dynamic and dialogical. With the help of the concepts of German idealist philosophy, especially that of F.W.J Schelling, Kasper sketches a model of revelation theology based on the idea that, precisely because the human being is finite, he is able to conceive that there must lie an infinite ground that is the ground of being of all reality. -
Natural Theology in Evolution: a Review of Critiques and Changes
This is the author’s preprint version of the article. The definitive version is published in the European Journal for Philosophy of Religion, Vol.9. No. 2. 83-117. Natural Theology in Evolution: A Review of Critiques and Changes Dr. Erkki Vesa Rope Kojonen University of Helsinki, Faculty of Theology Abstract The purpose of this article is to provide a broad overview and analysis of the evolution of natural theology in response to influential criticiques raised against it. I identify eight main lines of critique against natural theology, and analyze how defenders of different types of natural theology differ in their responses to these critiques, leading into several very different forms of natural theology. Based on the amount and quality of discussion that exists, I argue that simply referring to the critiques of Hume, Kant, Darwin and Barth should no longer be regarded as sufficient to settle the debate over natural theology. Introduction Adam, Lord Gifford (1820-1887), who in his will sponsored the ongoing Gifford Lectures on natural theology, defined natural theology quite broadly as “The Knowledge of God, the Infinite, the All, the First and Only Cause, the One and the Sole Substance, the Sole Being, the Sole Reality, and the Sole Existence, the Knowledge of His Nature and Attributes, the Knowledge of the Relations which men and the whole universe bear to Him, the Knowledge of the Nature and Foundation of Ethics or Morals, and of all Obligations and Duties thence arising.” Furthermore, Gifford wanted his lecturers to treat this natural knowledge of God and all of these matters “as a strictly natural science, the greatest of all possible sciences, indeed, in one sense, the only science, that of Infinite Being, without reference to or reliance upon any supposed special exceptional or so- 1 called miraculous revelation. -
Answering the New Atheists: How Science Points to God and to the Benefits of Christianity
Answering the New Atheists: How Science Points to God and to the Benefits of Christianity Anthony Walsh Boise State University Series in Philosophy of Religion Copyright © 2018 Vernon Press, an imprint of Vernon Art and Science Inc, on behalf of the author. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Vernon Art and Science Inc. www.vernonpress.com In the Americas: In the rest of the world: Vernon Press Vernon Press 1000 N West Street, C/Sancti Espiritu 17, Suite 1200, Wilmington, Malaga, 29006 Delaware 19801 Spain United States Series in Philosophy of Religion Library of Congress Control Number: 2018904925 ISBN: 978-1-62273-390-3 Cover design by Vernon Press using elements by Kjpargeter - Kotkoa - Freepik.com, geralt – pixabay.com Product and company names mentioned in this work are the trademarks of their re- spective owners. While every care has been taken in preparing this work, neither the authors nor Vernon Art and Science Inc. may be held responsible for any loss or dam- age caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the information contained in it. Table of Contents Acknowledgements v Preface vii Chapter 1 Science Points the Way to God 1 Chapter 2 Christianity, Rationality, and Militant New Atheism 15 Chapter 3 Christianity, Atheism, and Morality 29 Chapter 4 Christianity, Western Democracy, and Cultural Marxism 43 Chapter 5 The Big Bang and Fine Tuning of the Universe 59 Chapter 6 Earth: The Privileged Planet 75 Chapter 7 Cosmological Fine-Tuning and the Multiverse 91 Chapter 8 Abiogenesis: The Search for the Origin of Life 107 Chapter 9 Cracks in Neo-Darwinism: Micro is not Macro 125 Chapter 10 Answering the Tough Questions: God of the Gaps, Free Will, and the Problem of Evil 141 Chapter Footnotes 157 References 171 Index 187 Acknowledgements I would first of all like to thank commissioning editor, Dr. -
The Lions Seek Their Prey from God: a Commentary on the Boyle Lecture
S & CB (2005), 17, 41–56 0954–4194 R.J. BERRY The Lions Seek Their Prey from God: a Commentary on the Boyle Lecture John Haught asks how we can reconcile evolution with the idea of divine prov- idence: ‘The major question for theology, now as in the years immediately sub- sequent to the publication of Darwin’s Origin of Species, is how to reconcile the brute impersonality and blindness … in evolution’s recipe with trust in divine providence.’ In his book Can a Darwinian be a Christian? Michael Ruse1 focuses on the same point. He identifies as ‘the biggest question of all for the Christian believer is the “theodicy” problem. If, as the Christian believes, God is omnipotent and all-loving, then why evil? If He is all-powerful, He could pre- vent evil, and if he is all-loving, then He would prevent evil. Yet evil exists.’ For some this is a definitive proof against the sort of God revealed in the Bible. David Hull2 has written, The evolutionary process is rife with happenstance, contingency, incredible waste, death, pain and horror … Whatever the God implied by evolutionary theory and the data of natural selection may be like, he is not the Protes- tant God of waste not, want not. He is also not the loving God who cares about his productions. He is not even the awful God pictured in the Book of Job. [He] is careless, wasteful, indifferent, almost diabolical. He is certainly not the sort of God to whom anyone would be inclined to pray. This is the sort of interpretation which led to the notorious conclusion of Richard Dawkins3, that ‘Darwin made it possible to be an intellectually ful- filled atheist’. -
God and the Gaps Ross W
Digital Commons @ George Fox University Faculty Publications - College of Christian Studies College of Christian Studies 4-2013 God and the Gaps Ross W. McCullough George Fox University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/ccs Part of the Biblical Studies Commons, and the Christianity Commons Recommended Citation McCullough, Ross W., "God and the Gaps" (2013). Faculty Publications - College of Christian Studies. 341. https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/ccs/341 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Christian Studies at Digital Commons @ George Fox University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications - College of Christian Studies by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ George Fox University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Support FIRST THINGS by turning your adblocker o or by making a donation. Thanks! GOD AND THE GAPS by Ross McCullough April 2013 ost often the story is told like this: There is some feature of the world that science is at a loss to M explain. Christians rush to claim that this feature can only be explained by God. Science later produces probable non-theistic hypotheses, and the Christians must beat a hasty retreat. In the early nineteenth century, the feature was the complexity of life, the scientic explanation Darwinian evolution. Atheist pulses quicken at this story, but its lesson is just as received among theologians: We must not put God in the gaps. We must keep our commitments clear of the contracting ignorance of scientic explanations. As Dietrich Bonhoeer said, we must nd God in what we know and not in what we don’t know. -
Creation and Theodicy: Protological Presuppositions in Evolutionary Theodicy
Journal of the Adventist Theological Society, 25/2 (2014): 3-28. Article copyright © 2014 by Adriani Milli Rodrigues. Creation and Theodicy: Protological Presuppositions in Evolutionary Theodicy Adriani Milli Rodrigues Adventist University of Sao Paulo, Brazil There are different positions regarding the understanding of the doctrine of creation in the face of the challenge of the evolutionary concept of origins. In broad terms, while some deny the theory of evolution1 in favor of a literal interpretation of the Genesis account of creation, many scholars attempt to comprehend this doctrine in certain consonance with that theory.2 1 The present study acknowledges the distinction between macroevolution and microevolution. The references to evolution in this text imply the concept of macroevolution. While microevolution refers to small changes within one species, macroevolution describes “the evolution of major new characteristics that make organisms recognizable as a new species, genus, family, or higher taxon.” Stanley A. Rice, Encyclopedia of Evolution (New York: Infobase, 2009), 253. This distinction between microevolution and macroevolution is used, for example, by Stephen Jay Gould. See S. J. Gould, The Panda’s Thumb: More Reflections in Natural History, reissued ed. (New York: Norton, 1992), 187-192. 2 Edward B. Davis indicates “four main patterns” that “govern most religious responses to evolution today: complementary” (“theological truths exist in a higher realm apart from scientific truths”), conflict against evolution (“rejection of evolution”), conflict against Christianity (“rejection of Christianity”), and “doctrinal reformulation” (“rejection of divine transcendence and the wholesale reformulation of traditional Christian doctrine”). Edward B. Davis, “The Word and the Works: Concordism and American Evangelicals,” in Perspectives on an Evolving Creation, ed. -
Answering Your Question: the Bible and Traditional Beliefs
Digital Collections @ Dordt Faculty Work Comprehensive List 1-23-2015 Answering Your Question: The Bible and Traditional Beliefs Benjamin J. Lappenga Dordt College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/faculty_work Part of the Christianity Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Lappenga, B. J. (2015). Answering Your Question: The Bible and Traditional Beliefs. Retrieved from https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/faculty_work/345 This Blog Post is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Collections @ Dordt. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Work Comprehensive List by an authorized administrator of Digital Collections @ Dordt. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Answering Your Question: The Bible and Traditional Beliefs Abstract "Christians must acknowledge that our readings of Scripture are subject to criteria for determining their validity." Posting about Biblical interpretation from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world. http://inallthings.org/answering-your-question-the-bible-and-traditional-beliefs/ Keywords In All Things, Bible, faith, science, hermeneutics Disciplines Christianity | Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Comments In All Things is a publication of the Andreas Center for Reformed Scholarship and Service at Dordt College. This blog post is available at Digital Collections @ Dordt: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/faculty_work/345 Answering Your Question: the Bible and traditional beliefs inallthings.org/answering-your-question-the-bible-and-traditional-beliefs/ Benjamin Lappenga Christians often talk about the need to avoid reductionism, especially scientific naturalism. -
Responding to Perceived Theological Implications of Evolutionary Creation 234 J
Journal of Biblical and Theological Studies JBTSVOLUME 2 | ISSUE 2 Christianity and the Philosophy of Science Responding to Perceived Theological Implications of Evolutionary Creation 234 J. B. Stump [JBTS 2.2 (2017): 234-246] Responding to Perceived Theological Implications of Evolutionary Creation J. B. STUMP J. B. Stump is Senior Editor at BioLogos and Visiting Scholar at the University of Notre Dame Abstract: In this article I will respond to several common arguments against the position known increasingly as evolutionary creation. I consider an argument that evolution undermines the gospel itself, and other reductio ad absurdum arguments about human uniqueness, divine action, and the problem of evil. These are not technical arguments from academic literature as much as more popularly held views that I encounter regularly in churches and other places speaking to lay audiences about evolution and the Christian faith. Here I attempt to lay out the logic of these arguments (which is often more felt than articulated) and show where they can reasonably be opposed. Key Words: evolutionary creation, theistic evolution, evolution, sin, human uniqueness, divine action, miracles, problem of evil In this article, I will attempt to defend the position of evolutionary creation against what are often perceived to be untenable theological implications of the position. I will not offer evidence or arguments here for the science of evolution, but proceed via the conditional, “if evolution is true. .” As a prelude to that, I will first defend the terminology of “evolutionary creation” (EC) over against the more broadly used (broadly in two senses) label of “theistic evolution.” Historian of science, Edward B. -
Evolution &Creation When Did Death Begin? Adventisttoday Editor J
trump contemporary Book cards christian music Review FaLL 2010 • www.atoday.com adventistToday evoLUtioN &cReatioN WhEN DiD DEath BEGiN? AdventistToday Editor J. David Newman DEPARTMENTINSIDEVOL. 18 NO. 4 Copy Editor Debra J. Hicks Contributing Editors Nathan Brown, James Walters Art Director Chris Komisar Online Editor Marcel Schwantes Webmaster Ryan Harrell Executive Director of Development Edwin A. Schwisow FOUNDATION BOARD James Walter – Acting Board Chair, Clive Holland – Board Chair Designate, Mark Gutman -Treasurer, Larry Downing, COVER STORY Elwin Dunn, Edmund Jones, Chuck Mitchell, Jim Nelson, Randy Roberts, Nate Schilt, J. Gordon Short, James Stirling, Eldon Stratton, Ervin Taylor, David Van Putten, John Vogt 6 Death Before Sin?—No RAYMOND F. COTTRELL by J. David Newman ENDOWMENT BOARD James Walters — Board Chair, James Nelson, Nate Schilt, 10 Death Before Sin?—Yes Ervin Taylor SENIOR LIFETIME ADVISORS ($25,000+) by Ervin Taylor Beth and Elwin Dunn, Patricia and Douglass Ewing, Kathi and Richard Guth, Judy and John Jacobson, Betty and Al Koppel, Joan Ogden, Lori and Thaine Price, J. Gordon Short, 14 Responses to Marilynn and Ervin Taylor, Priscilla and James Walters “Death Before Sin?” HOLDER KATHERINE BY ART COVER LIFETIME ADVISORS ($10,000+) Susan and Hernan Barros, Kelli and Robert Black, Kathryn and James Dexter, Rosemary and Merlyn Duerksen, Patricia Hare, Patricia Phillips, James Stirling, features Nancy and John Vogt UNDERWRITING ADVISORS DEPARTMENTS ($2,500+ during last two years) 16 Trump Cards for Creationists? Stewart Bainum, Arleen and Larry Downing, Sandra and Sam Geli, Mariellyn and Edwin Hill, Carmen and Clive by Beatrice S. Neal 3 Editorial Holland, Erika and Brian Johnson, Carmen and Yung Lau, Susan and Dan Paulien, Tracy and R. -
Is the Theory of Evolution Compatible with the Christian Faith? (Leader's Guide)
Digital Collections @ Dordt Study Guides for Faith & Science Integration Summer 2017 Is the Theory of Evolution Compatible with the Christian Faith? (Leader's Guide) Robbin Eppinga Dordt College, [email protected] Ashley Huizinga Dordt College Lydia Marcus Dordt College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/faith_science Part of the Adult and Continuing Education Commons, Life Sciences Commons, and the Practical Theology Commons Recommended Citation Eppinga, R., Huizinga, A., & Marcus, L. (2017). Is the Theory of Evolution Compatible with the Christian Faith? (Leader's Guide). Retrieved from https://digitalcollections.dordt.edu/faith_science/25 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Collections @ Dordt. It has been accepted for inclusion in Study Guides for Faith & Science Integration by an authorized administrator of Digital Collections @ Dordt. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Leader’s Guide to Is the Theory of Evolution Compatible with the Christian Faith? A Study of Evolution: Scripture and Nature Say Yes! Dr. Robbin Eppinga, Ashley Huizinga, Lydia Marcus Dordt College, Sioux Center, Iowa Summer 2017 1 How to Use This Material? This study of the relationship between the Christian faith and the science of evolution (as presented in Denis O. Lamoureux’s Evolution: Scripture and Nature Say Yes!1) is composed of six/seven “weeks.” Each week contains two sections. The 1st section deals with two sets of questions. The first set, Reading and Reflection questions, are to be completed before each meeting and are meant to help the participant wrestle with the concepts introduced in that week’s chapters. -
In Favor of God-Of-The-Gaps Reasoning
In Favor of God-of-the-Gaps Reasoning David Snoke * Department of Physics and Astronomy snoke @pitt .edu University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA 15260 It is passe to reject “God-of-the-gaps” arguments, but I argue that it is perfectly reasonable to argue against atheism based on its lack of explanatory power. The standard argument against God-of-the-gaps reasoning deviates from the mode of normal scientific discourse, it assumes a view of history which is incorrect, and it tacitly implies a naive optimism about the abilities of science. I encourage apologists to point out gaps of explanation in atheistic theories wherever they see them, and expect atheists to return the favor. For more than fif teen years, I have read the ASA Three Objections to jour nal and par tic i pated in dis cus sions of sci ence and Chris tian ity. Dur ing this time, I have found that Anti-God-of-the-Gaps Arguments while ASA mem bers dis agree over many things, 1. Nor mal Rules of Evi den tial Dis course cer tain unques tioned points of agree ment flow On the sur face, the AGOG posi tion seems strange through all of our dis cus sions. In par tic u lar, I have when viewed from the per spec tive of nor mal sci en- found that no mat ter what the topic, one com mon tific dis course. In decid ing between two com pet ing prem ise seems to reign supreme. This is the uni ver- the o ries, we are told at the out set that we must not 1 sal con dem na tion of God-of-the-gaps argu ments.