Irenaeus

So, I was looking in Irenaeus (an early Church Father) for the answer to my questions about creation, evolution, and everything. Instead, I find that he probably started the "Left Behind" series.
Check this out:
For in as many days as this world was made, in so many thousand years shall it be concluded.
And for this reason the Scripture says: “Thus the heaven and the earth were finished, and all their adornment. And God brought to a conclusion upon the sixth day the works that He had made; and God rested upon the seventh day from all His works.” This is an account of the things formerly created, as also it is a prophecy of what is to come. For the day of the Lord is as a thousand years; and in six days created things were completed: it is evident, therefore, that they will come to an end at the sixth thousand year.

How crazy is that! Ol' LaHaye wasn't so original now was he?

Happy 200th Darwin!

You may not realize it, but this is a very historically important year for the science of biology. Today (Feb 12th) is Charles Darwin’s birthday. He was born in 1809, and in November of 1859 he published the famous (and infamous) Origin of Species, making this year a tidy double anniversary. With all the rising excitement surrounding these celebrations we can expect the usual claims and counterclaims about the great scientist. On one hand, expect to see the young earth creationist faction denouncing Darwin as demonically inspired (Henry Morris has said “Satan himself is the originator of the concept of evolution”). On the other hand, there is no doubt that Darwin’s contemporary ‘high priests’ will want to use Darwin as the figurehead for the advancement of materialistic atheism — touting him as the saviour who “made it possible to be an intellectually fulfilled atheist.”

The reality is that Darwin would not have supported either program. He was not trying to overthrow Christianity in favour of atheism because in fact, Darwin was never an atheist. In a letter he wrote three years before his death, Darwin stated “In my most extreme fluctuations I have never been an atheist in the sense of denying the existence of a God.— I think that generally (& more and more so as I grow older) but not always, that an agnostic would be the most correct description of my state of mind.” Equally in his Autobiography Darwin states that in regards to his religious belief he “deserve[s] to be called a Theist” due to his recognition of intelligence in the architecture of the universe. On the other hand, the myth of his deathbed recantation is also false, as has been confirmed by Darwin’s son Francis.
Darwin was religiously a moderate man. Yet as recently as this summer, big time multimedia has been attacking him once again, associating his views with atheism, racism and support of eugenics. In a kind of “strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter” logic, Ben Stein’s movie Expelled quotes the following from Darwin:
With savages, the weak in body or mind are soon eliminated. We civilized men, on the other hand, do our utmost to check the process of elimination. We build asylums for the imbecile, the maimed and the sick, thus the weak members of civilized societies propagate their kind. No one who has attended to the breeding of domestic animals will doubt that this must be highly injurious to the race of man. Hardly anyone is so ignorant as to allow his worst animals to breed.

What Expelled misses (and I can only think that it was intentionally done) is the very next paragraph where Darwin explicitly states that he does not support the idea of eugenics. In reference to humans he says:
Nor could we check our sympathy, if so urged by hard reason, without deterioration in the noblest part of our nature. The surgeon may harden himself whilst performing an operation, for he knows that he is acting for the good of his patient; but if we were intentionally to neglect the weak and helpless, it could only be for a contingent benefit, with a certain and great present evil.

Darwin was a good man, and a great scientist. Not only did he not support eugenics, he opposed racism, was staunchly against slavery, and would have been appalled at “social Darwinism”. He was a prototypical Victorian gentleman, whose letters and books were filled with equal measures of humour and wit. But why take my word for it? Why not take a moment to get to know the man yourself? As the world celebrates his 200th birthday, crack open Origin of Species or read some of his letters, and look past the ugly rhetoric to discover the real Charles Darwin.

http://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/
http://darwin-online.org.uk/

Food for thought.

I went to my professor's house last night. To cook steak. Apparently the English have no idea what to do with it. I realized that must be the case when I suggested we use the BBQ and I got a blank stare and a "Whatever for?" in response.

After that, I decided to take full control of that part of the meal. I even brought my own (cast iron) frying pan. I also made pasta and brought all my own materials, just in case. I asked the prof. to take care of the vegetables. When I got there, she had five different dishes on the go, and salad. When we finished cooking and sat down to the meal, her kids were exclaiming "We haven't had a meal like this since Christmas!"

There was an abundance of food, laughter, and stories. My special steak marinade was a happy success, and even the daughter who had had a tooth out earlier in the morning bravely ate a good chunk of it. I think my favorite part of the meal was when the daughters asked their mandatory "guest questions". One was "Would you rather go to school/work naked, or be squished by an elephant?" It took me about 2 seconds to decide on the elephant.

The warmth and humor of the meal followed by an ultra-intense game of Dutch-Blitz was wonderful. It made me miss home. Family is such a great thing, and despite all the craziness that normally surrounds them, I wouldn't give mine up for anything. The memories of laughing, eating, teasing, and (invariably with my family) talking about fecal matter will always remain precious.

Thanks Mom and Dad.

It has been too long!

Hello dear reader,

I am sorry I have not posted in a long time. I will try to do better in the future. I have been coping with lots lately:

a full grad school course load
publishing a paper
writing a thesis proposal
applications to Ph.D. programs
getting in shape
teaching a course at my church on Genesis

It is this last one I'd like to write about. I just finished my second class with these dear people. They are so brave and smart I am ashamed to be teaching the class! They are understanding in moments what it took me months to get. And they are learning this incredibly challenging material with grace and courage. My course undermines great deals of their presuppositions about Scripture, and is really shaking them, and they are responding so well. Today we looked at the Ancient Near Eastern mythologies and compared them to Genesis. It was criminal how much I threw at them, and they took it in stride. I am so proud of them!
I've never realized this before, but I think teaching might be more for the teacher than for the student.

Well, I'm going to go to bed, with the cat purring beside me, the stars twinkling over the mountains outside, and the sound of opera drifting up the stairs outside my room!

Good night!

We have been immersed in fog here for just about a week. Sometimes, it is so thick you cannot see half a block. At the moment, I can tress about a block away, but after that, all is consumed. Out of the fog though, the haunting sound of fog horns sounding in the bay is almost continuous. I know of no sound that arouses such a longing for the sea and it induces such a wanderlust that I can hardly concentrate on my work.

My work. I have been reading through "Origin of Species" as well as through Darwin's correspondence with a Harvard biologist named Asa Gray. I am now into my 75th letter between them. It is a strange thing to read into their close friendship. These were often personal letters, not meant to be shared. But now I have been involved in Darwin's life and contacts sufficiently that even personal references are familiar and I don't have to go looking to see who "so and so" is. Maybe all this reading of England the descriptions of Cambridge are adding to the feelings of wanderlust. I had such a wonderful time there this summer, and could easily return. And now that I am studying Darwin there is so much more I would ask! All these questions come to mind, and the only reason I did not entirely miss out on what was happening was because Denis Lamoureux had prepared me and told me what to watch for.

Oh wow! I think I've just felt my first earthquake here! Suddenly everything was subtly vibrating, like a big truck was going by. But I am in a quiet neighbourhood, and that does not really happen here. It lasted about 15 seconds. And then everything is back to normal - fog horns, and traffic. I'll check later and let you know - I think it is too early to tell for sure and nothing will be on the web yet.

Until next time!

A Christmas Visitation!

Well, I was studying, and found myself staring at the roof. And no sooner did I do that, than I saw a fantastic vision! Yes, right here in Regent College, we have had a miraculous appearance in the water damage in some roof tiles! It's true! In fact, as soon as I saw it, I flipped my computer around and took a picture...


Can you see him there, in the top left corner? I admit that he does look like he's had a bit of a fight, and has a nice bruiser growing right on top, but otherwise, it is a pretty impressive resemblance.

But resemblance of who?

I'm going to post a couple of ideas, and you need to help. Either vote for one of my options, or post your own! And if you are really enthusiastic, send some friends over to vote too!


Choice 1: The beatific vision of Martin Luther
Martin Luther once saw the devil. So he threw his inkpot at him. (What would you do?). The inkpot broke against the wall and you can still see the stain to this day.
Luther was the great reformer who in 1517 nailed his 95 thesis to the church door in Wittenberg on Halloween night. He is remembered for his love of food, and especially beer. In fact, one of his mottos is "He who loves not women, wine, and song, remains a fool his whole life long". Another was "sin greatly then repent greatly". Needless to say, he'd be a great person to have around at Christmas, with his wife Katherina von Bora who was also a great brewer.







Choice 2: The reverend Saint Thomas Aquinas
Thomas was a dedicated monk. He was also a great scholastic. In fact, he single handedly brought Aristotle into the western world, and created a synthesis between Aristotelian thought and Christian doctrine that would dominate until the enlightenment (and in fact, is still with us in many ways). His family didn't want to have him be a boring monk and scholar. They wanted him to take up the family buisness. So they hired a prostitute to tempt him out, but unfortunately, Aquinas grabbed a fire brand from the open grate and drove her out. Determined guy wasn't he? So determined that he would insist on a Regent visitation in December? That is up to you to find out!


So vote now, and let me know who you think our Christmas visit is from!

Hello!

Hello, Dear Readers!

I know you may think that I have forgotten about you. It's not true. In fact, I think of you often, but just don't get around to posting very often. At the moment though, I am in the ecstatic throes of post-paper-hand-in joy. Well, that and a mixture of denial about the several papers due next week. One at a time I always say! (I usually also say "always a week early", but that fell to the wayside this semester. More like "start within a week", but that's the way it goes.)

I've been getting as much mileage as possible out of the "I'm sick" line to justify my procrastination, but since I'm not really sick anymore, I won't ask for a deadline. Suppose I should get back to work.

I'm writing a paper on a fascinating book called "The Book of Job as Sceptical Literature" by Katherine Dell. It is the best treatment of Job that I have read so far, and it makes so much sense of things by treating Job as a parody/satire in the same way that Jonah is a satire of prophetic leadership in Israel.

Well, take care!