Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Faith, Science, and Futility
I continue my Journey through Nancy Pearcey's Total Truth, and there is interesting news, plus a lot on good stuff in that apologetic vein in the blogosphere, like this and this.
Then I ran into this post at Jollyblogger, looking at this post by J Mark Bertrand and I was caught up short. Bertrand says, and david quotes:
And why does all this happen? Because people want it to that's why. It's not like Darwinism is so convincing that everybody just had to buy into it, nor is any counter-argument we posit, regardless of how extraordinary, going to be the answer either.
People have been looking for a way out from under God since Eve ate the apple. Darwin is just the latest exit they have been shown. This is why I have been working so hard to demonstrate that the problem is not science, the problem is not even the naturalistic presuppositions of science. The problem is that people confuse those presuppositions with reality and they do that because they are sinners. Sin makes us run for that nearest exit out from under God, in fact that's a pretty good definiton of sin.
It's so easy to get wrapped up in our little world, whatever that may be. For me, the questions that arise at the confluence of science and faith are fascinating since I am a person of both. But, as I am learning teaching the class on CS Lewis that I am, the most fascinating presentation of those questions as examined in some wonderful fiction (his scifi books) will put the average housewife out like I gave her a sleeping pill.
So, what's my point. You want to overcome Christianity's "cultural captivity?" we need to become Christians that make it seem more appealing than heading for the Darwinian exits. And that appeal needs to be more than mere argument. It needs permeate our lives and fall out of our pores. We need to emit some sort of metaphorical Christian pheremone.
I cannot help but think that which bridges the spiritual/physical divide that Pearcey makes so much of is the Holy Spirit. You see the Holy Spirit can convince a listener even in the face of a mediocre argument.
Related Tags: apologetics, Total Truth, science, faith, Christianity
Then I ran into this post at Jollyblogger, looking at this post by J Mark Bertrand and I was caught up short. Bertrand says, and david quotes:
In many ways, the worldview approach that has gone mainstream throughout evangelicalism deserves the sniggering. We have a lot of people without philosophical training using pseudo-philosophical language in an effort to reassure equally untrained laymen that their belief systems will stand up to scrutiny. A lot of simplistic scorecards are handed out so that unsophisticated young people can discern the "hidden agenda" of the various scary elites. Worldview thinking has been co-opted by the culture wars, so it's no wonder that people disenchanted with those wars are indifferent to worldviews, too.The apologetics questions of ours, or any other times, only become serious issues when they leave academia and float out there in the real world, where they are simplified, homogenized, consumerized and bastardized. Complex arguements become bumper stickers. Deep thought is reduced to slogan. And that is true for arguments on both sides of any issue.
And why does all this happen? Because people want it to that's why. It's not like Darwinism is so convincing that everybody just had to buy into it, nor is any counter-argument we posit, regardless of how extraordinary, going to be the answer either.
People have been looking for a way out from under God since Eve ate the apple. Darwin is just the latest exit they have been shown. This is why I have been working so hard to demonstrate that the problem is not science, the problem is not even the naturalistic presuppositions of science. The problem is that people confuse those presuppositions with reality and they do that because they are sinners. Sin makes us run for that nearest exit out from under God, in fact that's a pretty good definiton of sin.
It's so easy to get wrapped up in our little world, whatever that may be. For me, the questions that arise at the confluence of science and faith are fascinating since I am a person of both. But, as I am learning teaching the class on CS Lewis that I am, the most fascinating presentation of those questions as examined in some wonderful fiction (his scifi books) will put the average housewife out like I gave her a sleeping pill.
So, what's my point. You want to overcome Christianity's "cultural captivity?" we need to become Christians that make it seem more appealing than heading for the Darwinian exits. And that appeal needs to be more than mere argument. It needs permeate our lives and fall out of our pores. We need to emit some sort of metaphorical Christian pheremone.
I cannot help but think that which bridges the spiritual/physical divide that Pearcey makes so much of is the Holy Spirit. You see the Holy Spirit can convince a listener even in the face of a mediocre argument.
Related Tags: apologetics, Total Truth, science, faith, Christianity
