I'm quite fed-up with the evolution-creation debate; it polarizes Christians over a non-salvation issue (sorry answersingenesis, your argument is illogical), and it seriously distorts the secular world's view of Christianity.
It used to be that Christians only had to deal with silly confusions such as "it's just a lot of rules and rituals", and "Christians kill in the name of Jesus, like the Crusaders and colonialists". Now we want to add creation-evolution to that? The American religious right has single handedly contributed to creating points of mockery with all sorts of silly unthinking statements (and I say that as an orthodox Christian). Collectively this debate has simply served to fuel the ignorance/arrogance of the latest new religion - the Dawkin's-style militant atheism. Bottom line, Christianity is about relationship. With God. With each other. (Our contemporary apologetics are weak on this). So how to respond to the evolution-creationism issue, either with other Christians or with non-Christians? I engage with a lot of non-Christians, many are what one would call atheist-leaning scientists. Could there a more difficult community to talk to about evolution and creation and God? (Actually, I think there is ... the Ken Ham-style religious right who seem to abdicate their intellect). My approach: 1. Start with the question "Are we mere biology, only the atoms that make us up?" 2. Go back to question 1 and follow where the logic leads. 3. There is no step 3. What's going on here? Q1 has two possible answers, yes or no. If the answer is "Yes" then life is ultimately meaningless, and hedonism is the only rational behaviour. Any personal values are at most self-determined, subjective, and of meaning only to the degree we choose them to be. Evolution is the only apparent answer to our existence, and any debate about that is mere entertainment. Sadly, atheists seem to fail to periodically revisit Q1 (as also should all Christians!). What if, however, the answer is "No, we are more than biology, more than the atoms of our composition, however complex their arrangement may be"? In that case the reasoning goes something like this:
I find the best place to go down these avenues is over dinner and a glass of wine. For myself, that is often at a conference or while travelling, where I can take time for relationship. And whenever I am talking to non-believers, the thought uppermost in my mind is "What spiritual questions would add value to this persons life?" Rarely does creationism or evolution head the list of possibilities!
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Why?
Probably the best therapy is to express yourself. Why do you think psychiatrists make you lie on the couch and talk, while all they do is murmur "hmmm", "uhuh", or "go on"? Archives
May 2017
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