A forty minute talk I gave at the Institute for Contemporary Christianity last Saturday for the Christians in Science student conference. A bit of a breathless review of the whole subject area including some thoughts on evolution.
The Talk:
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~rmhasek/misc/Science_Faith_Evolution.mp3
The slides are at the following link although the file is quite big so might need a right click and download as (25Mb):
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~rmhasek/misc/StudentConference2010.pdf
excellent. my only quibble would be where you say that evolution does things.This could suggest it has an indepent existence, motive power etc.
ReplyDeleteAs you rightly say all Christians believe in a creator god. it seems to follow He created evolution(in this context perhaps meaning progressive biological change.)As architect, His plans,He does not need to change them. Species change within them, (timing His),even if our understanding of this species change at present perhaps not complete)
Agree aparent exception in Jesus, but perhaps His emergence just the most significant act of the Holy Spirit, active throughout.
Very good, and thanks for all the info postings too.
Hi John,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments - I think even Richard Dawkins has commented on how difficult it is to avoid Teleological terminology when talking about evolution!
However, when I use the word evolution I normally mean "evolution through natural selection" which although isn't teleological per se, is directed by physical constraints. Thus I do think evolution "does something" in the sense that it leads to the creation of organisms that are better adapted for their environment.
From a Christian perspective I think evolution has also "done something" in the sense that it is the method God used for his creation of us!