Can a Darwinian Be a Christian?

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Can a Darwinian Be a Christian?

Posted Jun 12th 2008 4:35AM by Dinesh D'Souza
Filed under: Science, Christianity, Atheism

When Richard Dawkins published The God Delusion, philosopher Michael Ruse was quoted as saying that the book "makes me embarrassed to be an atheist." What especially galls Ruse is Dawkins' pig-headed insistence that anyone who embraces the Darwinian account of evolution cannot remain a Christian.

Ruse is a noted philosopher at Florida State University, an atheist champion of evolution and Darwinism, and author of several critically acclaimed books including Can a Darwinian Be a Christian?

I've been reading Ruse's book, and in it he counters Dawkins' simple-minded argument that God has been proven irrelevant since chance and natural selection now constitute "the blind watchmaker." Ruse writes, "It still leaves open the option of God's designing at a distance. Perhaps God put His design into action through the medium of unbroken law. Perhaps a God who works in this way is superior to a God who has to intervene personally and miraculously."

But doesn't evolution contradict a literal reading of the first chapter of Genesis? Yes, but Ruse points out that there are only two groups of people who insist on reading Genesis in a close-mindedly literal way. The first group is ignorant fundamentalists. And the second group is ignorant atheists like Dawkins.

By contrast, Ruse shows that from earliest times thoughtful Christians like the church father Augustine read the creation account figuratively. And for nearly two thousand years the Catholic Church has followed in this tradition. Ruse adds that while Calvin was a bit more literal-minded than Luther, both leading reformers also allowed for non-literal understandings of creation. Indeed Calvin introduced his doctrine of "accommodation" in which he argued that the Bible is sometimes written in a form as to make itself intelligible to people who are not well educated and don't have a sophisticated understanding of science.

Ruse 's conclusion introduces subtleties that seem entirely beyond the capacity of Dawkins. "Is the Christian obligated to be a Darwinian?" Ruse answers no, but urges Christians to take evolutionary biology seriously because they don't want a Christianity practiced in the dark. "Is the Darwinian obligated to be a Christian?" Again, the answer is no but Ruse adds this advice: "Try to be understanding of those who are." Finally Ruse gets to the big one. "Can a Darwinian be a Christian?" To which he offers the resounding answer: "Absolutely!"

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Reader Comments ( Page 23 of 115)

Previous 15 Comments | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | Most Recent | Next 15 Comments

331. Is it so hard to believe that an infinite, all-powerful being could have created a complex system like evolution as the vehicle for creatinglife? Absolutely not. But conversely, is it so hard to believe that an infinite, all-powerful being could have created Earth and all life on it WITHOUT evolution? No. That's one of the problems that these alleged "fundamentalist" Christians have. Another problem is that so many atheists use evolution as part of the reasoning behind their disbelief in God or a superior being.

The irony is that atheists don't believe in God because "there's no proof," yet there's no proof for the evolution of species. Evolution is a theory. It fails the scientific method. Sure, we can witness mutation among species, but that is ADAPTATION. No one has ever seen one species EVOLVE into a completely different species.

I find it funny that people believe that, just because two things are very similar, one must have come from the other. Who says God couldn't create multiple species that have biological similarities? Maybe God used evolution to create life; maybe He didn't. I don't know. But I don't think the existence of biological similarities among species necessitates evolution. And I think people who insist otherwise have an ulterior motive.

BXP at 6:13PM on Jun 13th 2008

332. Hi Brandon,
Good for you, I was also raised by my stepfather who loved us very much. My father died when I was nine and I don't remember him much.
For Fathers Day I am cooking my husband his favorite meal, Zuupa Di Pesce over linguini. Served with a nice 93 red Latour Pauillac. YUM YUM

I also got him a cute coupon book good for hugs, kisses and massages........
Happy Fathers Day to all daddy's here!

goddess1prevail at 5:20PM on Jun 13th 2008

333. "I never got the sense he's malicious. "

Hi Ryan. He's done it with other stuff, too. The "marriage contract" discussion, for example. Just like the "holocaust denier" charge, it was presented as: if you do not support my position that marriage is strictly a contract to ensure the survival of children, you are a child abuser. Same kind of thing - - if you do not agree with my position "X", then you might as well be Adolph Hitler or some other evil, "Y".

Of course he's dead wrong, but is there a name for this kind of argument, other than juvenile?

brandon at 5:21PM on Jun 13th 2008

334. Hi goddess,

Yeah, tonight's dinner (which I will likely make...I'm the cook around the cobbled-together family here!) will be accompanied by a Michigan Cranbery wine for my lady, and for me, either the Cherry or the semi-dry Red that's made just about 1/2 from where I live. I can't do the sweet wines very much.

When the kids come around, we try not to drink at all. But when they're gone...well, it's time to relax!

brandon at 5:25PM on Jun 13th 2008

335. He's not evil like Renzo.

-LOL
Well I wouldn't say that Renzo is evil. He hasn't made claims of atheists burning in hell (unless I missed it)

I believe Preter got mad at Peter and condemned him to hell for not believing or blaspheming Jesus. I thought he was ok until I saw that. To know someone will burn in eternity with such certainty for denying Jesus is just plain dumb. I guess I also missed him denying the holocaust, what post was it?

goddess1prevail at 5:27PM on Jun 13th 2008

336. Hi goddess,

He didn't deny the holocaust, but rather, PV was saying that anyone who denied Jesus and those who supposedly documented him were history-deniers, exactly like the holocaust deniers.

That kind of thing.

It's the type of argument that makes everyone look to the side of the theater to see if there is an escape route, because the person speaking is clearly quite insane.

brandon at 5:51PM on Jun 13th 2008

337. 326. ATHEIST

Reply to: 264.
Clif Kuplen,
This blog is for everyone.
Freedom of speech and freedom of expression.
If you want Christians to keep their beliefs in a church, then it's only fair that

*** you find a building in which to express all of your hateful atheistic vile foul mouthed beliefs as well. Far away from any believer. ***

xxxxx

wow, what a christian!

You can print anything you want here. That's freedom of speech.

You have no right to govern. Under your government from the tone of your quote, i'd be anywhere from discriminated against for my religious beliefs to publicly executed.

Under my concept of democracy, the one I've lived under, you're welcome to your beliefs and your hatred as long as you obey the law.

If you try to diminish the law, you'll be either ridiculed like people are doing the babymama party right now for haggee and parsley and johnny mac's flipflopping and foley and haggerd and all the babymama party's special pals.

It's all pretty much free speech and rather entertaining, but you're in the jesus cult and that makes you essentially insane. If you practice the ancient tradition of treating your neighbor as you'd want to be treated, though, you'll be welcome in a benevolent secular society that knows a man can't serve two masters. Your need to infiltrate government to impose your shamanism on the unwilling at any cost suggests you are in denial about this despite both the age old biblical and legal proscriptions against it.

Christians, especially fundamentalists get off on war. Just ask mcsames on again off again spiritual mentor 'pastor' haggee.

Clif Kuplen at 5:56PM on Jun 13th 2008

338. I'm just hoping my kids will bbq for me, for a change. That will be a great Dad's day gift. I wonder what DD's gets? Any suggestions so we can all wish him a good one too? (keep it clean; it's fathers day)

fanman at 6:04PM on Jun 13th 2008

339. Chicken or the egg? I like both chickens and eggs.

MrWiteKES at 6:20PM on Jun 13th 2008

340. ATHEIST

As long as we're talking about Demonic Possession and why Christians are idiots, let's look at the Jewish version.

There's a movie coming out around Halloween called "The Unborn." Made by Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes and Rogue Pictures, from a story by David Goyer. It's about a ghost of a boy who died in Auschwitz... and for some reason, Goyer decided to film the concentration camp scenes in Chicago.

the actress who played "Beth" in "Cloverfield" is the star.

From a site: My own understanding of possession is from a very Roman Catholic perspective: a person can succumb to a demon or devil that will take over their body, and the only cure is an exorcism to drive the demon out.

See? Catholicism TEACHES YOU to be Stupid.

Same site: Rabbi Winkler said, "Jews don't believe in demonic possession. We believe that, on very rare occasions, there can be a possession of a living person by the soul of one who has left the body, but not the world, and they're seeking a body to possess to finish whatever they need to finish."

Winkler explained how stories of dybbuk go back to ancient scriptures. In the Old Testament of the Bible, in the Book of Samuel (18:10), a bad spirit is briefly described as attaching itself to King Saul, the first king elected chieftain of the ancient tribes of Israel: "And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul..." Later in the Bible, in the Book of Kings, the prophet Elijah is possessed by the spirit of a dead man who is trying to get the prophet to trick the King into going to war when he wasn't supposed to.

Rabbi Winkler said, "You have stories like that, that just nonchalantly mention spirits of people who have left us coming down to effect some change, some phenomenon in this world."
________

If a story features a Demonic Spirit, or the spirits of dead people who escape Gehenna to finish some task by taking possession of a living person...

it is FICTION.

the story of Jesus is FICTION. duh.

William Hays at 6:23PM on Jun 13th 2008

341. ATHEIST

Reply to: Who says God couldn't create multiple species that have biological similarities? Maybe God used evolution to create life; maybe He didn't. I don't know. But I don't think the existence of biological similarities among species necessitates evolution. And I think people who insist otherwise have an ulterior motive.
_________

this is what I mean.

Stupid people don't grow on trees.

You have to TRAIN people to be this stupid.

You have to tell them, "We want to hear what you believe, even if you haven't done the homework."

The evidence for evolution is 100% conclusive. If you don't know why that is, go find out.

there is no God. God is a fairy tale for silly little children who never grew up.

William Hays at 6:25PM on Jun 13th 2008

342. "As for Peter, we already noted his lunacy and expect him to be a history-denier," - PerVerted

I don't deny history, I don't not deny history. I do not know how to determine the veracity of whether or not Jesus existed as a real being. It's NOT important to me as jesus is a fraud in either case.

Again you either misunderstand, misinterpret or PURPOSEFULLY MISREPRESENT what I've said. From my perspective it sure seems like the later since you don't take correction at all.

"for it took hours to get him to admit that the scientific method is not the ONLY means of determining truth."

That's funny and not true. I've not admitted anything of the sort. Again you put your words into my mouth. Stop that it's dishonest you gutter monkey.

"For example, it took hours to get Peter to confess that the corroborating statements of multiple eyewitnesses constitutes valid truth in a court of law."

I never confessed anything. Eyewhitness statements ARE PRONE TO ERRORS! Even when you have multiple eyewitnesses!

Science will always trump an eyewitness you pityful foolish man.

Science says dead bodies can't rise from the dead after three days ripe rotting dead. Science proves that anyone who believes that dead bodies can is delusional since their belief is clearly false. Thus PerVerted is delusional. QED.

"This universally accepted FACT was hard to get him to admit, but we did it." - PerVerted Fucker

I didn't admit anything. Fuck you.

"He finally admitted that the corroborating testimony of multiple eyewitnesses is indeed a valid means of determining truth." - PerVerted

You are a lying bastard PerVerted. You are a grand deceiver. You are a fucking bastard you small minded asshole of a fool.

You'll note, if you check the record, that I said that eyewitnesses are notoriously unreliable. They can't be trusted. They lie. They cheat. Like you PerVerted, they can't be trusted for veracity.

Do not put words into my mouth mother fucker PerVerted fucked up asshole. You want to piss me off or something? Keep putting words into my mouth and that will eventually get me pissed off.

Have a nice weekend indeed. What an asshole, PerVerted.

How about answering the questions posed to you fucked in the head PerVerted asshole?

Peter at 6:34PM on Jun 13th 2008

343. I certainly can't speak for everyone but I think that the frequent argument that those who believe in evolutionary theory refuse to apply the same logic to the existence of a deity is false. Just the opposite in fact. One accepts evolution as a viable explanation for nature's reality on the basis of an enormous number of readily observable facts that come from multiple disciplines. Evolution has left an extremely detailed accounting of itself. When the skeptic applies the same tests to religion they may find it unconvincing. Many find that religion's dependence upon written records from the past and individual testimony is insufficient to convince.

It is disheartening how most arguments against the theory of evolution have assumed the form of one of Xeno's paradoxes where as each challenge is struck down, the critics just change the bar for proof to another arbitrary level. It appears as if no level of proof will ever be satisfactory save replicating the entire multi-billion year process.

At the same time some of these individuals do not seem to apply these exacting standards of proof to other aspects of their lives.

In my opinion that is one of the ways to identify the true skeptic - the inability to compartmentalize areas of existence into those to be scrutinized and those which are off limits.

Steve at 6:35PM on Jun 13th 2008

344. Everyone please pardon my expletives - except for PerVerted for whom they were directed at as he deserves them. No one in my presense would have gotten away with the slimy techniques that he's using without some kickback. So, everyone excuse me. PerVerted listen UP this is for your own good you foolish little man child.

Peter at 6:35PM on Jun 13th 2008

345. William Hays
I not only enjoy the humor of many of your comments, I appreciate your willingness to express your perception of reality.

Jerry Brown at 6:40PM on Jun 13th 2008

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Mo Rocca appears on a bunch of shows, including CBS News Sunday Morning (with the indescribably wonderful Charles Osgood), The Tonight Show on NBC, and NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! He's a sometime judge on Iron Chef and was featured on Telemundo's Amore Descarado. Last year he starred on Broadway in the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. His expose "All the President's Pets" was published by Crown in 2004.