We have been lazy about updating our blog. We have had an early, beautiful spring (maybe the only one in the northern Hemisphere), and have enjoyed doing some home improvement work landscaping outside and painting inside our house. I hope to take and post some pictures soon.
But that is not what this post is about. A while back I preached a sermon at our Church in Blaine, about being a scientist and a Christian. You can find a MP3 of the sermon here. Sorry about the slightly poor audio at the beginning. I was having some microphone issues:). I would love to get feedback on both the presentation and content of the sermon. One big lesson: my public speaking would be a lot better if I slowed down a bit and replaced every "uum" with a pause.
While preparing for the sermon, I compiled some resources from orthodox Christian thinkers who do not preclude accepting the consensus scientific view of the age and history of the earth and its life. Some of these may be of interest.
The Vatican : John Paul I's Message to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, October 22, 1996 "Magisterium Is Concerned with the Question of Evolution for It Involves Conception of Man."
"In his Encyclical Humani generis (1950), my predecessor Pius XII had already stated that there was no opposition between evolution and the doctrine of the faith about man and his vocation, on condition that one did not lose sight of several indisputable points (cf. AAS 42 [1950], pp. 575-576).".....
"In order to delineate the field of their own study, the exegete and the theologian must keep informed about the results achieved by the natural sciences (cf. AAS 85 [1993] pp. 764-772; Address to the Pontifical Biblical Commission, 23 April 1993, announcing the document on The interpretation of the Bible in the Church: AAS 86 [1994] pp. 232-243)."...
"How do the conclusions reached by the various scientific disciplines coincide with those contained in the message of Revelation? And if, at first sight, there are apparent contradictions, in what direction do we look for their solution? We know, in fact, that truth cannot contradict truth (cf. Leo XIII, Encyclical Providentissimus Deus)" "Today, almost half a century after the publication of the Encyclical, fresh knowledge has led to the recognition that evolution is more than a hypothesis. It is indeed remarkable that this theory has been progressively accepted by researchers, following a series of discoveries in various fields of knowledge. The convergence, neither sought nor fabricated, of the results of work that was conducted independently is in itself a significant argument in favor of this theory."
From Tim Keller's The Reason for God "Despite widespread impressions to the contrary, both inside and outside of the church,, modern Creation Science was not the traditional response of conservative and evangelical Protestants in the nineteenth century when Darwin's theory first became known. There was widespread acceptance of the fact that Genesis 1 may have been speaking of long ages rather than literal days. R.A. Torrey, the fundamentalist editor of The Fundamentals ... said that it was possible "to believe thoroughly in the infallibility of the Bible and still be an evolutionist of a certain type (quoted in Mark Nol, Evangelical American Christianity: An Introduction [Blackwells, 2001], p 171). The man who defined the doctrine on Biblical inerrancy, B.B. Warfield of Princeton (d. 1921) believed that God may have used something like evolution to bring about life-forms."
Frances Collins (from a scientific viewpoint). "This narrow interpretation is largely a creation of the last hundred years, arising in large consequence as a reaction to Darwinian evolution."
St. Augustine in Genesis 19:39"usually, even a non-Christian knows something about the earth... and this knowledge he hold to as being certain from reason and experience.
How, it is a disgraceful and dangerous thing for an infidel to hear a Christian, presumably giving the meaning of Holy Scripture, talking nonsense on these topics; and we should take all means to prevent such an embarrassing situation, in which people show a vast ignorance in a Christian and laugh it to scorn.
The shame is... that people outside the household of faith think our sacred writers held such opinions, and to the great loss of those for whose salvation we toil, the writers of our Scripture are criticized and rejected as unlearned men. It they find a Christian mistaken in a field which they themselves know well and hear him maintaining his foolish opinions about our books, how are the going to believe those books and matters concerning the resurrection of the dead, the hope of eternal life, and the kingdom of heaven, when they think their pages are full of falsehoods on facts which they themselves have learned from experience in the light of reason?"
The ACG Affiliation of Christian Geologists:
"Statement on the Physical Age of the Earth and Universe"
The Affiliation of Christian Geologists is committed to the historic Christian faith and to its meaningful integration with the best available science. This effort reflects our desire to serve God with all our minds. Data from science also help us to serve our neighbors and to care for God’s creation. Investigations of the Earth and the universe have been ongoing for hundreds of years using such scientific methodologies as:
-astronomical data from telescopes and satellites
-observation of the physical makeup and arrangement of earth and extraterrestrial materials
-chemical and physical analytical study of rocks, sediments, soils, water, air, ice, and meteorites found on Earth as well as lunar and Martian materials
-experimental synthesis to determine the origins of earth and extraterrestrial matter
-analytical determination of absolute ages of natural materials, and
-mathematical and computer modeling of the above observations and processes.
Beginning in the mid-1600’s, geologists and astronomers (including many Christians) have consistently found that the scientific evidence clearly favors a vast age for the earth and the universe. Current scientific calculations indicate that the universe began about 13 billion years ago and the earth about 4.6 billion years ago. These conclusions are based on cumulative evidence and are refined with each new study. All scientific knowledge is constrained by the limitations of the methods of inquiry and discovery. We are limited and sometimes mistaken in our understanding of both nature and Scripture, but ultimately the two must not conflict, both coming from the same Creator. Although Scripture contains essential information on origins that gives meaning and perspective, technical details of the method and timing of creation are not major concerns of the Biblical text, and many orthodox theologians do not see a conflict between the Bible and an old creation."
Gary B. Ferngren writing for The American Scientific Affiliation on CS Lewis
The American Scientific Affiliation: on Science and Faith
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