The following is in part responding to Chapter 2 of Cornelius Plantinga Jr.'s Engaging God's World. If you are a random passerby, stop for a minute. Feel free to comment, question, discuss, and/or debate.
Which leads to another point that Plantinga makes, which is that we are not a random genetic mutation, that is to say, we are purposefully the way we are. This is not, however, an anti evolutionary statement. God could have created humans in any number of ways, be it through initially placing us on this planet as we are, or forming us from a small bit of bacteria at the beginning of time. The way that God created us is unimportant, it is just that God created us that is. God has a purpose for each one of us, and that's what conflicts with the idea of considering humans as a random chance. We are created in God's image in order to serve him. "We image God in our personhood, communion, responsibility, dignity, virtue, suffering, and freedom" (Engaging God's World 41). All of these traits are God given and what should be used in order to fulfill his plans for us.
Personhood- We are each individuals and can make decisions for ourselves.
Communion- Possibly one of the most important similarities, God is a trinity, and so is always in communion, but we here on earth are given the blessing to be able to commune with all people and God's creation, and it is extremely helpful spiritually and emotionally to do so.
Responsibility- We have God given responsibilities: tending to the land God has given us, and spreading the knowledge of the gift that God offers, eternal life.
Dignity- We need to be respectful of ourselves and others.
Virtue- We have the ability to strive for moral excellence.
Suffering- We are able to feel the pain of ourselves and others. Suffering allows us to really utilize the other images of God we are given.
Freedom- Free will is a big deal in the christian faith, and this is what makes following all of God's images to out fullest extent so important. When we follow them all, we are using free will to it's best extent.
As Christians, we know that God made our world, and us. I would wonder though, if he is a creator, how many other things he has created. I feel it would be a pompous assumption to believe that we are God's only creation, and that only makes me more excited for the afterlife. What if there's universe where our physics is a paradox? What if that universe's physics is a paradox to ours? Things to ponder.
7 comments:
Ben, I found your topic of other universes really interesting. There is so much we don't know and so much we can't understand. It seems well within reason that God could have created other universes. I especially liked the photo of the paradoxes. They are so fascinating and mind boggling to look at. A clear representation of how little we really do know.
A part that really jumped out at me was what you said about how it is unimportant how we were created. For centuries, Christians have argued about how we were created, or how dinosaurs existed if they were never in contact with humans when the earth was created in 7 days. As humans, we always want to know the answer to everything. Usually in relation to the Bible we end up asking the wrong questions that are beside the point of what message the Bible is getting at. I think that this is something that people have to be really careful about.
You are absolutely right that Plantinga's point about humanity not being the result of a random genetic mutation is not an anti-evolutionary statement. To use Professor Ribeiro's terminology, it is an anti-Evolutionism statement. Who are we to say that God, in His infinite wisdom and glory, did not choose to create us through guided evolutionary processes? Is He not glorified whether he created the Earth instantly or over billions of years? He is still the Creator, the sovereign over all. Food for thought...
I really enjoyed what you said about free will. I took philosophy last year and we spent at least a week on free will alone. Your statement about following all of God's images and how that best uses free will was dead on. I believe it's important that we constantly strive to be image-bearers of God.
Ben, I like how you first explain that God is infinite. It is so hard to understand because nothing here on earth is infinite. In my religion class my professor said that time is a creature just like us in that it is a created thing and therefore God is not bound by it. I also liked that you noted that its not important how He created us just that He did. I think we so often put God in this box of what we think he did. If God wanted to make all of creation in seven days be could have, but if he wanted to make creation in a process of gradual change, than why do we think he couldn't? How God made us should not distract us from the main idea that he is the all powerful creator who made us in his image.
@Kate, I totally agree. One thing that particularly sticks out to me is when I came to fridays at calvin. I am an avid debater and simply love the sport. So the argument of predestination was no new one to me. When I attended a bible study here, the guys asked, in a lighthearted way, what I thought about predestination. I responded smiling, "tell me which side you like best, and I'll argue against it, because as Christians, that's one of many debates that simply doesn't matter." When we argue about how old the earth is, or whether or not we've ever had elf ears in our genes, nothing gets done, and this is a very close to home way the enemy attacks us.
@Andrew Wade, I understand the point that Paulo made and that you agree with it, and to some extent I do as well. Although I must say that it is frustrating that after all the years of scientific research, Christians feel the need to change the idea of the scientific term "Evolutionism." Changing the terminology is just a self righteous and sad statement of "yes we now believe that evolution can exist with creation, but no it's still not what you guys think." Evolutionism is not a religion or belief, it is a theory of evolution as per it's definition. I don't mean to say this in an attack towards you at all, because you are not incorrect in your statement. I believe that God was there the whole time and that we are where he wanted us at this time as a race, but the idea that the church can't get over being wrong since Darwin's time and makes up terms like "Evolutionary Process" makes me upset. As Christians we can still be wrong, and learn things from people of all other religions. So again, I don't mean it as an attack against you, but as a disappointment to the Church's inability to accept being wrong and use scientific terms for what they were made to be.
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