{"id":5606,"date":"2010-02-23T06:02:53","date_gmt":"2010-02-23T06:02:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/2010\/02\/of-fleas-and-faith-rjs.html"},"modified":"2010-02-23T06:02:53","modified_gmt":"2010-02-23T06:02:53","slug":"of-fleas-and-faith-rjs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2010\/02\/of-fleas-and-faith-rjs.html","title":{"rendered":"Of Fleas and Faith (RJS)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

There were two interesting posts last week – on two very different kinds of blogs. The first on Jerry Coyne’s blog “Why Evolution is True<\/a>,” where he scratches a flea, and the second, a response, on the BioLogos blog “Science and the Sacred<\/a>,” where the flea responds. <\/p>\n

A brief excerpt from Coyne – in reference to a post<\/a> by Kent Sparks on accommodation in scripture:<\/p>\n

\n

Once again we see that modern theology is the art of turning empirical
\nnecessities into spiritual virtues.  Except for a few dissenters like
\nAugustine and Calvin, the bulk of Christian theology up to the rise of
\nscience in the sixteenth century involved seeing the Bible literally–in
\nits entirety.  Six-day creation, Noah, Adam and Eve–the whole megillah<\/em>. 
\nThat held for cosmology, biology, and evolution.  It was only when
\nreason and empirical studies began to show phenomena in conflict with
\nscripture that theologians began to realize that the Bible was not
\nwholly inerrant.  <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

and later:<\/p>\n

\n

Theology moves ahead not under its own steam, but by pressure from
\nbehind by science and reason. And the “progress” it achieves is not some
\nclearer understanding of a spiritual reality, but simply a new kind of
\ndoublethink that purports to reconcile the natural with the
\nsupernatural.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Enns and Falk respond<\/a> to Coyne pointing out that Christian thinking has always had a level of nuance and dialog. They conclude their response:<\/p>\n

\n

The message of Scripture reflects the cultures in which it is written,
\nyet we also believe it transcends those cultures. There is a delicate
\nbalance but our best thinkers have always understood this. At BioLogos
\nwe, and the many others like us, are simply responding to new
\nknowledge in the way that the Judeo-Christian tradition has long been
\nknown to do. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I have some thoughts on Coyne’s post and the response – but first I’d like to open a discussion here. Read the two posts and offer your thoughts.<\/p>\n

To what extent is Christian theology a final word, a “done deal,” and to what extent is it a living word – revised, reformed, restated in the wrestling and context of each succeeding generation?<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n

If you would like to contact me, you may do so at rjs4mail[at]att.net<\/p>\n


<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There were two interesting posts last week – on two very different kinds of blogs. The first on Jerry Coyne’s blog “Why Evolution is True,” where he scratches a flea, and the second, a response, on the BioLogos blog “Science and the Sacred,” where the flea responds. A brief excerpt from Coyne – in reference…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":297,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,64,54,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible","category-church","category-problems-for-faith","category-science-and-faith"],"yoast_head":"\nOf Fleas and Faith (RJS) - Jesus Creed<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2010\/02\/of-fleas-and-faith-rjs.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Of Fleas and Faith (RJS) - Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There were two interesting posts last week – on two very different kinds of blogs. 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