Embracing Creation–A Question of Faith
Guest Post by Bev Mitchell
by Roger Olson
February 19, 2014
There are many kinds of faith: faith in human ability; faith in our beliefs; faith in our faith (fideism); faith in our interpretation of Scripture; faith that our faith and reason combined will uncover purely human reasons to believe – and this by no means exhausts the possibilities.
Christianity has a different take on faith. It sees faith as a dynamic gift from God that comes through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. As such, none of the above, or others that could be listed, is true Christian faith. Some may think that fideism comes closest but it does not. The important insight of “Faith not works” does not negate the fact that faith works; it is dynamic. A tested faith, a faith that trusts the Holy Spirit to lead, guide, encourage etc. provides its own assurance, through continual use and the results it yields. This approach to faith contrasts sharply with the suggestion that human reason can somehow convince one to have faith. Contrary to expectations, such presuppositional or propositional approaches to faith have greater and greater difficulty as science continues its advance.
For example, many Christian denials of the materialist interpretation of the findings of the life sciences are founded on the idea that somewhere in creation there must be something materially tangible (the human eye, the first stages of the origins of life, some unexpected mutation) that science cannot ever explain. If we could just prove that such a thing exists, we could prove the existence of God. We would have captured faith and brought it under human management. For this reason, these apologetic approaches get very uneasy with the seemingly endless advance of scientific knowledge.
The kinds of faith listed in the first paragraph are often combined in various ways. Practitioners of some of these approaches are upset when science explains something that was thought inexplicable, as if God has been somehow lessened. The thinking behind this seems identical to that of the atheist believer in the ultimate triumph of science – this new fact will (finally) explain away the Creator.
Yet, seen through the eyes of a living, Spirit-gifted faith, all of the facts of the life sciences are simply further expressions of what God is doing or making possible. They bring us no closer to understanding exactly “how” God accomplishes all of this or, how he uses the freedom inherent in creation to do so. That is a question of exactly how Spirit interacts with, and works with, matter – the causal joint. We would love to know, but we don’t. Faith is required, and trusting faith can observe the results. Approaches based on other formulations of faith seem too quick to want concrete explanations where none are on offer. If our faith is in at least the ultimate possibility of such explanations in the material domain, it will be continually challenged by the advance of science. We will restrict ourselves by a continual search for certainty, when Christian life in the Spirit is based more on confidence and trust in the finished and ongoing work of Christ.
Related to this, perhaps just saying it differently, it sometimes seems that, for many, the gift of faith that comes solely from the Holy Spirit is too vague, too spiritual, too subjective – surely we can do better. A fierce attachment to our particular interpretation of Scripture must be an improvement we can offer. An unyielding defence of a particular theological system is surely another. And, it must be true that human expressions of faith combined with human reason will indeed uncover reasons enough for true faith that, for all intents and purposes, constitute proof.
Our role as members of the kingdom of God and Spirit-led followers of Christ is not to put the Holy Spirit out of a job. Apologetics, however well intentioned, will never come close to accomplishing the work of the Spirit. When our faith has its sole source in the Holy Spirit, the relentless advances of biology are a cause for celebration, not fear and defensive resistance. God’s fingerprints on his great works will not be erased, they are not even there in a way that science can see, remove or explain away – or that apologists can discover.
Bibliography
For an interesting analysis of the philosophical and political foundations of the problem of certainty vs confidence in faith of various kinds, consider the small volume from 1968 by Eric Voegelin entitled “Science, Politics and Gnosticism: Two Essays”. The evangelical authors that I read seldom, if ever, refer to this book. Perhaps it’s time to consider it.
For more on the ever elusive ‘causal joint’ see a relatively new volume by Amos Yong “The Spirit of Creation”. This book is probably not yet widely known and is admittedly a challenging read covering a variety of closely related subjects. But, on the big theme of knowing/observing exactly how the Spirit affects material reality, it may well be the best currently available. I’ve put a short review of the book up on Amazon.
* * * * * * * * *
By Dr. BK Mitchell on February 2, 2014
Format: Paperback
This is an important book. Amos Yong is Dean of the School of Divinity and J. Rodman Williams Professor of Theology at Regent University. His well respected body of work spans several fields and always explores the essential role of the Holy Spirit in those fields. In "The Spirit of Creation" Yong develops his long and growing interest in ways that Christian theology and science (particularly biology) might fruitfully converse. His strong sense that we should expect and develop a complementary relationship between theology and the life sciences, rather than a convergence à la Intelligent Design theory, is as insightful as it is urgent.
This book is theology, philosophy, logic and speculative spiritual theology all presented as a coherent whole. Emergence, holism, non-reductionistic are three good descriptors of the book's ethos. It is a very challenging read and will raise eyebrows and stir the mind and the spirit. It is Pentecostal, or as the author prefers to say, it seeks to give a (much needed) pneumatological assist to our thinking in this important area of intellectual and spiritual interaction. Because of the wide ranging nature of the topics covered in "Spirit of Creation" any thorough critique would run on far too long. You will have to trust that it all holds together - the main ideas emerge in wholeness. I will only summarize my view on the central take-home message of the book.
nom·i·nal·ism
noun
(in medieval philosophy) the doctrine that general or abstract words do not stand for objectively existing entities and that universals are no more than names assigned to them. Compare conceptualism, realism ( def 5a ) .
(in medieval philosophy) the doctrine that general or abstract words do not stand for objectively existing entities and that universals are no more than names assigned to them. Compare conceptualism, realism ( def 5a ) .
- The essential dynamic nature of creation is front and centre; the ever-present nominalism is addressed head on and not allowed;
- a balance between God and creatures as co-creators is established, yet the apartness of God is required;
- the idea of non-monolithic causality is important and should be helpful;
- and not only is the Spirit present throughout, he never stops working.
Adoption of a model like this would solve many current problems.
Addendum
Four scholars' opinions of this and a related work can be found in Canadian Journal of Pentecostal-Charismatic Christianity 3 (2012). This book is much bigger than pentecostalism (though that itself is rather large) and it addresses issues that extend across the entire spectrum of evangelical thought and beyond. If you are not pentecostally inclined, that is no reason to avoid this book - in fact, it may well be a major reason to dive in.
 |
| "Holding to epistemologies that are safe and comforting do not expand very well" |
No comments:
Post a Comment