Anyway, this morning on the bus I read something which I thought was quite relevant to the debate. At the risk of getting off-topic, I thought I would share it with everyone that commented last time. It's the words of Ravi Zacharias talking about the State v John Scopes trial.
"In the same manner as the small town trial, we bring this prejudice to Genesis and think that we are capable of deciding whether God acted in six days or thorugh 15 billion years. That was not the intention at all. The four major thoughts of the Genesis text have been lost in the volume of extraneous debate. The principal thrust of the opening pages of Genesis is that God is the Creator and that he is both personal and eternal - He is a living communicating God. The second is that the world did not come by accident, but was designed with humanuty in mind - man is an intelligent, spiritual being. The third thrust is that life could not be lived out alone but through companionship - man is a relational, dependent being. The fourth aspect is that man was fashioned as a moral entity with the privilege of self determination - man is an accountable, rational being."
From the Book "Jesus among other gods" by World Publishing.
2 comments:
Hear hear!
Self-determination is an interesting bit. Are there any Calvinists out there with interesting thoughts?
Actually, I think the sheep and the goats parable directly addresses the free will furore.
The folk who've done good works are welcomed into a kingdom prepared for them before the creation of the world, which seems to suggest that destiny is based in large part on foreknowledge.
interesting to hear this coming from Ravi - had him down as a very conservative apologist. will have to reopen that file.
i'm very much of a similar mind. I, like many I know, view the genesis narrative as myth, not fact, but no less true for that. just not true in the same way as fact.
will check out your previous entry on the subject. good to see you at the empire. look after yourself.
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