"Sometimes it takes an atheist to see the truth in a theological argument."
This happens all the time and its really sad to see. Militant Vocal Atheists like Richard Dawkins trumpet their assertion that acceptance of evolution destroys faith in the God of the Bible and Fundamentalists largely agree with them.
Its a really dumb position for a Christian to take. The argument is basically this.
Instead of seeing the atheist as drawing false implications(atheism) from a true set of facts( clear evidence for an ancient earth and common descent) Fundamentalists prefer rather to regard them as drawing a correct inference from a flase set of facts.
Its as if they are saying, "Gee, Mr. Dawkins et al, your logic is so air tight that if I were to accept evolution I would be forced to become an atheist like yourself."
So the response is to vehemently deny evolution in spite of the overwhelming evidence for it.(evidence from diverse fields, like the fossil record, biogeography and DNA that are united under the theory of evolution) and even to concoct evidence and create things like goofy pseudoscientific "Creation" Museums that portray "evidence" that the Earth is 6000 years old and that Dinosaurs and Humans were at one time contemporaries.
In the above article Mohler is is attacking, not atheists or atheism but rather a fellow Christian College professor by the name of Giberson. Giberson is performing the seemingly thankless task of trying to harmonize orthodox Christian theology and evolution.
I say "seemingly" thankless because I am sure many fairly intelligent scientifically semi-literate Christians are very thankful for it. I read one of his books "Saving Darwin" and I was very thankful for it.
He isn't getting any thanks from these self appointed gate keepers of the Christian Faith like Mohler and others that seem to enjoy putting these increasingly bizzare litmus tests out there for the true Christian Faith.
Do I really have to believe Dinosaurs once frolicked around with Adman and Eve in the Garden of Eden, in order for me to be a Christian? When did this happen? I thought the central doctrine of Christianity was redemption through the ressurected Christ?
What ever happened to C.S. Lewis "Mere Christianity"? Does it still exist. I think it does exist. In fact Mere Christianity is alive and well. I recently found out thast Francis Collins head of Human Genome Project converted to Christianity after reading C.S. Lewis' tome. Here is a quote from his interview in Salon.com:
So that one book totally changed your life?
Absolutely. It was as if he was reading my mind. As I read his arguments about the Moral Law -- the knowledge of right and wrong, which makes no sense from the perspective of basic evolution and biology but makes great sense as a signpost to God -- I began to realize the truth of what he was saying. Ultimately, I realized I couldn't go back to where I was. I could never again say atheism is the only logical choice for a scientifically trained person.
As far as harmonizing Christianity and evolution, Giberson admits he is no Theologian. Isn't that usually how it works though? God using ordinary people to do extrordinary tasks? Who else is strepping up to the plate? Are there any Brilliant Theologians out there stepping up to the plate?
Personally, though I think its a serious controversy I don't think its actually as monumental a task as its made out to be. To be a Christian is to be a Creationist by definition. If its true that God used evolution and large stretches of time to create life on Earth in all its diversity, rather than simply *poofing* everything into existence 6000 years ago in six literal 24 hour days-then such was the case when Jesus came to Earth. Such was the case when Paul wrote his epistles. Such was the case when Martin Luther kicked off the protestant Reformation.
Evolution is old news. Its been going on for Billions of years. Atheism is old news too. Psalm 53:1 "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. "
