Re: Evolve/Create (posted for D. Campbell)

From
Date
Reply-To
Mime-Version: 1.0
Date: Fri, 17 Nov 1995 17:17:35 -0500
To: paleonet-owner@nhm.ac.uk
From: bivalve@email.unc.edu (David Campbell)
Subject: Re: Evolve/Create (posted for J. Lipps)
Status: O

Almost any word used in regard to this issue is not given the same meaning
by people on various sides of the issue.  In particular, one should not
equate belief in the literal truth of the Bible with young-earth
creationism.  "Literal" is used in two main ways in this context: 1)an
extreme requiring every passage to mean exactly what someone saying it in
English today would mean, with no particular context.  2) the Bible is
true, but one has to take into account the setting and purpose for each
passage (e.g., Genesis 1 might not be intended to refer to time or methods
at all, but rather emphasizes poetically that everything was created by God
[not necessarily miraculously]).  The first view conficts with scientific
evidence about the age of the earth, evolution, and the like, whereas the
second does not.  It is possible for the second view to conflict with other
scientific ideas, however.
        Ultimately, the questions of the age of the earth and the processes
of evolution are irrelevant to the question of the accuracy of the Bible
(to those holding the second view).  Claiming that geology or biology
disproves it does more to send people into the anti-science camp than to
promote science.  Certainly, the textbook disclaimer represents an
unscientific attitude and a lack of knowledge about what science really is.
All metaphysical claims are non-scientific (as opposed to unscientific)
and should not be presented as science, whether they involve theological or
atheistic presuppositions.  If we do not distinguish between our views and
our science, we are not essentially acting diferently from the authors of
the disclaimer (even though the science is better).

David Campbell   "old seashells"
Department of Geology
CB 3315 Mitchell Hall
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill NC 27599-3315
bivalve@email.unc.edu