Timber Wolf
05-28-2008, 12:29 AM
An Open Dialogue On Evolution
A few weeks ago, Del highlighted the movie Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed on his blog, Truth Observed. As it turns out, this has sparked an enormous amount of discussion among the Truth Project leaders, readers of Del's blog, and readers on The Truth Project Discussion Forum! Del has engaged, one on one, with Rich, a "theistic evolutionist" who believes God used evolution as His tool over millions of years. Del concludes thus:
"I think Rich's final comments have truly gotten us to the heart of the issue. This is not really about "evidence" per se. It is about a theological position that drives how we see the evidence. I have used the illustration before, but I think it is appropriate here. I recall a championship football game between Tennessee and Auburn (my alma mater for my master's work). Near the end of the game, the Tennessee quarterback threw a pass into the end zone. The wide receiver stretched out parallel to the ground to catch the ball. At the instant he did, the Tennessee players and half of the thousands of fans in the stands immediately saw it as a touchdown. But the interesting thing was that the Auburn players and half of the thousands of fans in the stands, and yours truly, at home watching on my television, immediately saw it as incomplete, that the ball had touched the ground before he caught it.
"The point is that we have a tendency to see what we want to see. This is true for believers as well as unbelievers and we need to be aware of it.
"I believe that Rich has stated his underlying belief that science cannot detect the work of God because science must confine itself to the natural realm. 'Scientists' can detect it, but not 'science.' I believe this implies that the detection can only come through blind faith alone and not through empirical evidence. This presumes several things that I believe are false... "
Visit Dr. Del Tackett's blog, Truth Observed, to read the rest of the story... The Truth Project would like to invite you to watch, or even to participate in, the discussions over these issues on Del's blog, where you'll find the earlier parts of this conversation — Del's Response to Rich Re: My Blog on the Ben Stein Movie, and An Open Dialogue with Rich.
If you've read all that, and would like to participate further, we would love to see your comments on The Truth Project's Discussion Boards (access only for those who have completed a The Truth Project small group).
A few weeks ago, Del highlighted the movie Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed on his blog, Truth Observed. As it turns out, this has sparked an enormous amount of discussion among the Truth Project leaders, readers of Del's blog, and readers on The Truth Project Discussion Forum! Del has engaged, one on one, with Rich, a "theistic evolutionist" who believes God used evolution as His tool over millions of years. Del concludes thus:
"I think Rich's final comments have truly gotten us to the heart of the issue. This is not really about "evidence" per se. It is about a theological position that drives how we see the evidence. I have used the illustration before, but I think it is appropriate here. I recall a championship football game between Tennessee and Auburn (my alma mater for my master's work). Near the end of the game, the Tennessee quarterback threw a pass into the end zone. The wide receiver stretched out parallel to the ground to catch the ball. At the instant he did, the Tennessee players and half of the thousands of fans in the stands immediately saw it as a touchdown. But the interesting thing was that the Auburn players and half of the thousands of fans in the stands, and yours truly, at home watching on my television, immediately saw it as incomplete, that the ball had touched the ground before he caught it.
"The point is that we have a tendency to see what we want to see. This is true for believers as well as unbelievers and we need to be aware of it.
"I believe that Rich has stated his underlying belief that science cannot detect the work of God because science must confine itself to the natural realm. 'Scientists' can detect it, but not 'science.' I believe this implies that the detection can only come through blind faith alone and not through empirical evidence. This presumes several things that I believe are false... "
Visit Dr. Del Tackett's blog, Truth Observed, to read the rest of the story... The Truth Project would like to invite you to watch, or even to participate in, the discussions over these issues on Del's blog, where you'll find the earlier parts of this conversation — Del's Response to Rich Re: My Blog on the Ben Stein Movie, and An Open Dialogue with Rich.
If you've read all that, and would like to participate further, we would love to see your comments on The Truth Project's Discussion Boards (access only for those who have completed a The Truth Project small group).