Discussions in Science and Religion - An Introduction

 

Evolutionary tree showing the divergence of modern taxonomic  groups from their common ancestor
in the centre (black line). The three domains are bacteria blue, archaea green and eukaryotes red.

Introduction

After writing or publishing over 164 articles on the topic of science and religion the past 2 years it seems appropriate that I might take a brief break and study this subject from yet another viewpoint of one well-versed in the trade of (postmodern) theology and philosophy. Especially as it pertains to the idea of theological exploration, examination, and exhortation of the many substantive ideas that we have considered in previous discussions related to the biblical themes of God as Creator, the world as God's creation, and man as God's handiwork. And more especially as it pertains to the troubled areas of biblical examination of the ancient texts of Genesis utilizing more appropriate tools of historical criticism, ANE research, and a developing anthropological hermeneutic that is set amid a sea of multi-vocal narrations beginning from the creation-story's first recitation to ancient listeners to even now as it is pondered deeply by postmodern ears, minds, hearts, and souls far removed from the originating narration's first composition (which is where a diversified, flexible hermeneutic can lead us when appropriately applied).

 

As such, Philip Clayton will be leading a discussion group with Homebrewed Christianity's Tripp Fuller in this much debated area of Christian Creationism into which I wish to provide a weekly diary coupled with mine own thoughts, passions, interests, and absorptions that have percolated over a lifetime of reading, studying, listening, examining, dialoging, and reflection.

 

From the outset my own views of biblical creation is that of Evolutionary Creationism, meaning that from the evidence obtained by present-day science across the genomic, biologic, geographic, geological, anthropological, cultural, quantum, and cosmological spectrum (to mention just a few scientific disciplines), it seems most statedly true that we live in a world begun by applied evolutionary systems onto our present form of cosmos, beginning with the cosmos itself in its pre-postmordial form of quantum soup and multi-verse.

 

Moreover, we use the term creationism to convey the idea that God designed, initiated, developed, maintained, sustained, and produced this cosmos that we live in by His own will, mind, heart, and passion. This is the old idea of Theistic Evolution. But to that idea is the process by which God has developed, which is why we should more rather use the newer term "evolutionary creationism." So that when combining both ideas of Creator (the who) and the process (the what) we are left with a more complete idea of biblical creation as we understand it before us today through our lenses and telescopes, computers and sonic instruments, chalkboards and focus groups, quantum and biological laboratories, and theological and philosophical think tanks.

 

Naturalist Charles Darwin

Thus, to say that evolution was divinely created is to say that we intend to elaborate a theistic system of evolution, and not a non-neutral, nor atheistic system, nor even an agnostic one. Even as the descriptive expressions of Darwinian evolution, or natural selection, or even scientific naturalism have come to be associated with a discipline which remains neutral to personal biases and neutral to unprovable philosophical assumptions... as well it should. And yet, Charles Darwin himself was a 19th century Christian naturalist and biologist believing in God's creational handiwork through natural selection even as he wrote of his theories in strict accordance with scientific principles. Even so, because his theories disavowed the more popular idea of biblical creationism without mediated generation, he was vilified and by passionate Christians wishing to demonize him and his theories (we see Darwin's public characterization  brought to life during the Scopes-Monkey Trial in the early 20th Century). Thus to speak of Darwinian evolution is to tell of a Christian scientist whom the church disqualified on the grounds of a perceived godless theology that went against their understanding of science. Making Charles Darwin not unlike past recepients of this dubious honor like Copernicus and  Galileo whose scientific discoveries drastically altered the way the church viewed itself, its God, its mission, and the world.

Moreover, evolutionary creationism implies God's mediating presence and direction in the formation of life and soul, being and end, as versus the more popular (but unscientific) past ideas of im-mediate formulation by spontaneous generation (as in "poof!" here is the sun, moon, stars... or "poof!" here is man formed complete... or "poof!" here are past fossils and geologic formations locked in the soils of evolutionary drift describing time but denied by Christian 7-day creationists). Between these ideas of a mediated evolution or a spontaneous/immediate generation comes a whole host of in-between Christian theories making allowances for older homo sapien life forms, Earth's biologic development, and the universe's cosmic formation. However, to each of these may be applied the theological idea of a theistic creation - that is, God is viewed as creation's Creator. Not nature per se. Nor cosmic force alone utilizing random chance through chaotic process. But by God Himself as declared within the biblical page.

But, for the evolutionary theist we have a problem. Because s/he must admit at once that evolution occurs within nature by cosmic force, by random chance and by chaotic process. If not, then we do not have the strict application of evolution but an application of some other kind of quasi-evolution that goes beyond the scope and bounds of scientific evolution as begun by the study of natural selection. And so, for the Christian evolutionist we must at all times allow for the fullness of scientific evolution theory without admixture, distillation, dilation, dilution, or synthesis from what has firmly been stated by-and-within evolutionary theory itself  (for a fuller discussion as to what evolution is I suggest Wikipedia's handy summation as found here).

So then, do we have a paradox? Yes and no. Yes if we allow it to become one. And no when we stand back and admit that the entirety of this process was designed, implemented, and ruled over by our Creator God. To admit that God chose all of these processes - and in this way - to form and fashion the earth and ourselves... incredible as it seems. As paradoxical as its mysterious. And yet, for the Christian believer it gives to us an even more amazing God than one that magically conforms to what we think His definition of Creator/creation should be.... By limiting God's definition of Creator-Redeemer to our own imagineless imagination by restricting Him to our own planes of finitude and simplicity.

 

Consequently, for the Christian we will have a distinct difference of opinion as to whether evolution was left to itself to run itself (a Christian Deism as versus an agnostic/atheistic position). Or whether there was always involved an end, a plan, a purpose, to which creation was made and is moving towards. To attend to this latter idea will subsequently require one of two kinds of divine sovereignty. Either a meticulous sovereignty wherein God controls all events and outcomes regardless of the indeterminacy He has built into nature, and to the denial of man's own free will. This might be better described as divine determinism. Or rather posit a God whose sovereign rule shows to us His willful submission to His own decrees; who comes into partnership to those same decrees; and thus, limits Himself in a kind of divine weakness before His holy being and essence (as demonstrated most beguilingly through His own incarnation in Jesus). This idea is what is meant by relational (process) theism as versus its more classic, modern forms (sic, see sidebars for further discussions under Theism). Moreover, this then would interplay the ideas of strict Calvinism (God rules against our own freewill and subtends over that of creation's indeterminacy with meticulous disregard to its very nature) against the more pliable doctrines of Arminianism (which more fully leans towards the fullness of meaning implied by human freewill and creational indeterminacy) (cf. both sidebars and index).

To this idea of divine sovereignty I would like to add one further idea to the idea of evolution - that evolution might bear within itself a latency towards teleology. What? A divine plan and purpose within its random, chaotic process of indeterminate mutation, whereby competitive Natural Selection is predisposed towards the creation of life as fully, and purposely possible, within any given context of (hostile) environment. Curiously, some agnostic and atheistic evolutionists are admitting to this nuanced idea of late - though in a non-Christian context (cf. Evolution and the Separate Problems of Teleology and Human Consciousness). Still, as a Christian evolutionist I could more fully accept the process of evolution should I find behind (or within) this process a Sovereign God who has been directing it towards some meaningful end. Even unto His own Kingdom of Light-and-Life where sin and death are swallowed up before His majesty and glory.

Now how "death" may cease to exist is beyond my imagination because by its very nature of our cosmos "death" inhabits all of its natural processes: from its quantum processes of destruction and annihilation; to its geologic processes with its gross residual affects; to even its biologic process involving death and mutational migration. "Death" is everywhere abounding. However, perhaps God's redemptive removal of "sin and death" may be more a reference towards humanity's "spiritual death" separated from its Creator God - especially as its connected to the immediately preceding descriptor of "sin." From the Bible we know that any fellowship with God would disallow sin's presence within that relationship. As such, the idea of a "new heavens and new earth" would portend a unity of fellowship between God and humanity where sin has been washed away in Jesus's atonement. And with its cleansing, death's presence between man and God no longer withholds man's redeemed (and restored) relationship from God, nor God from man. Truly, "sin and death" have been removed. Moreover, this theologic idea would also affect humanity's caretake of this Earth, remaking it so that it becomes "renewed" within itself, thus creating a renewed Garden of Eden as it were. At least this is how I could imagine a completing (or actualized) evolutionary process that evolves - or emerges - from death-to-life, and from life-to-life-everlasting. Such a process would henceforth bear within itself a teleological process of purpose and means.

And with that I must conclude this summary introduction to await the golden cusps of wisdom from those more learned than myself (and if you detect a bit of cynicism here than I know that you-and-I will agree that men are but mortal and must ever rely on God's own wisdom for our direction and purpose). But if you cannot await Part 2 several weeks from now - and wish to read on - there are 164 articles that may be read as contained here on Relevancy22 by referring to the sidebars under "Science." Moreover, I would encourage all prospective students to join with me and others to reflect upon evolution through Philip Clayton's lifetime of reading, studying, writing and lecturing. We may, or may not, agree with him, but it would behoove us to understand some of the timely issues involved pertaining to Science and the Bible. As ever, may God bless those of His little ones, and the shepherds of their estates, unto the green pastures of His fellowship. That we might together behold His wonder, beauty and majesty. His nearness and weakness. As found within our present-day, and very mortal, lives' filled with His glory and grace. Amen.

 

R.E. Slater

September 10, 2013
edited September 23, 2013 re "teleology"

 

*ps - the books listed below will be part of the online class undertaken.
 

 

 

Biography

Philip Clayton is the Dean of Claremont School of Theology and Provost of Claremont Lincoln University. He also holds the Ingraham Chair at CST. Clayton earned a joint PhD in Religious Studies and Philosophy from Yale University and has held visiting appointments at Harvard University, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Munich. He has published over 20 books and hundreds of academic and popular articles.

 

Over the course of 25 years of teaching and researching, Clayton's interests migrated gradually from philosophy through the science-religion debate to constructive theology.Explanation from Physics to Theology: An Essay in Rationality and Religion (Yale 1989) and several dozen articles explored similarities and differences in how knowledge and explanations function across the disciplines.The Problem of God in Modern Thought (Eerdmans 2000) and a series of accompanying articles explored the fall and rise of theistic metaphysics in the modern era. Clayton then moved into a variety of leadership positions in the international debate on the science-religion relationship, including Principal Investigator of the Science and the Spiritual Quest program. He has been an outspoken advocate for multi-cultural and multi-religious approaches to the field. Clayton has written or edited over a dozen books in this field and spoken on the topic in almost every continent. Recent works include Adventures in the Spirit (Fortress 2009), In Quest of Freedom (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 2009), The Predicament of Belief (Oxford 2012, with Steven Knapp), and Religion and Science: The Basics (Routledge 2012).

 

A series of events precipitated the most recent turn: leading the Ford Foundation grant "Rekindling Theological Imagination" with Marjorie Suchocki; lecturing around the country on emergent Christianity; organizing the "Theology After Google" event; and launching the "Big Tent Christianity" movement with Brian McLaren, Tony Jones, Tripp Fuller, and others. Transforming Christian Theology: For Church and Society (Fortress 2009) argued that seminaries should help prepare Christian leaders for an unheralded transformation in the church, which has already begun in our culture. Soon thereafter the invitation came to help lead Claremont School of Theology as it becomes the Christian member of an interreligious consortium of schools known as Claremont Lincoln University. The offer was too tempting to refuse.

 

 

Book Description - Religion and Science

 

Publication Date: September 22, 2011 | ISBN-10: 0415598567 | ISBN-13: 978-0415598569

 

Religion and science are arguably the two most powerful social forces in the world today. But where religion and science were once held to be compatible, most people now perceive them to be in conflict. This unique book provides the best available introduction to the burning debates in this controversial field. Examining the defining questions and controversies, renowned expert Philip Clayton presents the arguments from both sides, asking readers to decide for themselves where they stand:

• science or religion, or science and religion?

• Intelligent Design vs. New Atheism
 
• the role of scientific and religious ethics – designer drugs, AI and stem cell research
 
• the future of science vs. the future of religion.

 

Viewpoints from a range of world religions and different scientific perspectives are explored, making this book essential reading for all those wishing to come to their own understanding of some of the most important debates of our day.

 

 

Book Description - The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science (Oxford Handbooks in Religion and Theology)

 

Publication Date: July 15, 2008 | ISBN-10: 0199543658 | ISBN-13: 978-0199543656

 

The field of "religion and science" is exploding in popularity among academics as well as the general reading public. Spawning an increasing number of conferences and courses, this field has shown an unprecedented rate of growth in recent years. Here for the first time is a single-volume introduction to the debate, written by the leading experts. Making no pretense to encyclopedic neutrality, each chapter defends a major intellectual position: at the heart of the book is a series of "pro" and "con" papers, covering each of the current "hot topics" (such as evolution versus creation, naturalism versus the supernatural). In addition to treatments of questions of methodology and implications for life and practice, the Handbook includes sections devoted to the major scientific disciplines, the major world religions, and the main sub-disciplines in this exciting and ever-expanding field of study.

Index to past discussions -

 

Index to past articles on "Science & Religion"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An Arminian Ordo Salutis (Order of Salvation)

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/rogereolson/2013/08/an-arminian-ordo-salutis-order-of-salvation/

 

by Roger Olson

August 23, 2013

Comments

 

I was recently asked here to provide an Arminian order of salvation (ordo salutis).

 

First, what is an order of salvation? In theology the technical term is “ordo salutis.” From now on, here, I’ll simply refer to it as “ordo.” An ordo is an attempt to put into logical, not chronological, order the events that lead up to, and take place in, and follow, a person’s initial salvation. But these are chronological terms, of course, and there isn’t any way to delineate an ordo without using chronological language at least some of the time. Many theologians, however, would argue that, like the decrees of God, these ordo events are not necessarily chronologically sequential—especially from God’s point of view.

 

The Bible and Christian tradition use many terms to identify things God does - and things the person being saved does - in relation to turning from being “lost” to being “found” (to use evangelical language) or from being “damned” to being “redeemed.” The Bible nowhere lays out a single, clear ordo, so a major task of systematic theology has been to bring together all the biblical concepts of personal salvation and put them in logical order.

 

Why? Because inquiring minds want to know what God does and what we do in our becoming saved persons.

 

This issue of a proper ordo became pressing during the Protestant reformation which is not to say it want't an issue before. However, Protestants, with their emphasis on grace alone and faith alone, felt the need to offer an alternative ordo to the typical Catholic ordo which emphasized sacraments and works of love as instrumental causes of saving grace. Calvinists worked out their own ordo (with some variations) that emphasized the priority of grace over human decisions or actions.

 

Arminianism, and Remonstrantism [(sic,  Dutch Arminianism's doctrinal differences with strict Calvinists as set forth in c.1610)], was, in many ways, simply an attempt to mediate between Catholic and Calvinist ordos - both of which were viewed by Arminius and the Remonstrants as imbalanced.

 

To put the matter simplistically, Arminians have always viewed the Catholic ordo as over emphasizing Philippians 2:12 to the neglect of the immediately following verse and the Calvinist ordo as over emphasizing Philippians 2:13 to the neglect of the immediately preceding verse. According to classical Arminianism, the biblical ordo must do justice equally to God’s action and ours in salvation with priority being given to God’s without neglecting ours as essential. [Essentially, this is the difference between Faith and Works.... That is, if a believer has faith then there should proceed from his/her's life works of the Spirit, and without those works that believer's faith had never occurred.  - R.E. Slater]....

Philippians 2

English Standard Version (ESV)

 

Christ's Example of Humility

2 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, ² complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. ³ Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. ⁴ Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. ⁵ Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,^{[a] 6} who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant,^[b] being born in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ⁹ Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Lights in the World

¹² Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³ for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

¹⁴ Do all things without grumbling or disputing, ¹⁵ that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, ¹⁶ holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. ¹⁷ Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. ¹⁸ Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.
 

 

So here is my attempt to lay out an Arminian ordo:

 

1) God’s electing grace in Christ of all who will believe in him;

 

2) Christ’s atoning, reconciling death for all sinners;

 

3) Prevenient grace given by God to sinners through the Word [and perhaps, "through baptism by water"*] (calling, convicting, illuminating, enabling);

 

4) Conversion (repentance and faith) enabled by assisting, prevenient grace;

 

5) Regeneration, justification, adoption, union with Christ, indwelling of the Holy Spirit;

 

6) Sanctification;

 

7) Glorification.

 

Remember—these are not necessarily chronologically sequential. Especially 3, 4, 5 and 6 may be temporally simultaneous. (Of course, some Arminians will view all as temporally simultaneous in God’s awareness as God does not experience temporal sequence of events.)

 

- *Now, some Arminians, especially high church, sacramental Arminians, will want to insert baptism into the ordo. I would simply say they include that with 3—baptism as a means of prevenient grace but they will want to add “the water” after “through.”

 

- Some Arminians will view 6 as a process beginning with 5 and ending only with 7 while others, especially Wesleyans, will view 6 as potentially complete before 7.

 

The main point is this: In this Arminian ordo, in contrast to a typical Catholic one, a clear logical distinction is made between 4, 5 and 6. 6 is in no way a cause of 4 or 5. And in contrast to a typical Calvinist ordo, 5 logically follows 4.

 

Why does this matter? Well, Arminians believe this is the pattern of evangelism in the Bible—the call to repent and believe is serious; without repentance and faith, enabled by prevenient grace, one cannot be fully saved (regenerated, justified, etc.).

 

Nor may one cannot count on God doing that for him or her apart from his or her free acceptance [that is, the usage of one's free will as given him/her by God to actively and willfully choose for God. - RE Slater]. There is urgency to the call to conversion. It is something we do, enabled by God, in response to God’s call, and not something that just happens to us. It is freely entering into a new relationship, not just having a new condition imposed.

 

 

continue to -

 

Index to past articles on "Calvinism v. Arminianism"

 

 

 

 

 

 

Discerning the Christian Meaning of Targeted Words

Literally Changing What It Means
http://homebrewedchristianity.com/2013/08/22/literally-changing-what-it-means/

by Bo Sanders

August 22, 2013

Comments

 

Yesterday it came out that the definition of ‘literally’ was literally being changed in the dictionary. A CNN report said in places  as informal as Google and as official as  Mariam-Webster and Cambridge dictionaries it is now “”Used to acknowledge that something is not literally true but is used for emphasis or to express strong feeling.”

 

The writer of the article was snarky:

Next thing they’ll be telling us that there’s no ham in hamburger, no egg in eggplant, a boxing ring isn’t round and tennis shoes aren’t just for tennis.

We’re literally over it.

The meaning of words drift, adapt and change over time. There is the famous example of “Thou” that Martin Buber brought so much attention to. The dictionary does not determine their meaning as much as it reflects their use.

 

Today an article appeared over at the Sojo blog by our beloved friend (and co-host of the Culture Cast) Christian Piatt who had a chance to interview Eric Elnes, author of Phoenix Affirmations: A New Vision for the Future of the Christian Faith and Asphalt Jesus, about the changing face Christianity in 21st America.

 

Elnes walked across the country:

  in 2006 with a group called CrossWalk America, which included a network of 150 churches from a dozen or so denominations and over 11,000 individuals. We walked to raise awareness that not all Christians are alike, and that large — and growing — numbers of Christians embrace a more “progressive” vision of Christianity than what one finds portrayed in the media. 

Part of what came out of that experience was an awareness of the need for some new labels and to modify the meaning of some old ones. In both classically liberal/mainline circles and, interestingly, in conservative camps as well.

I will let you read the article for the whole conversation.  The part that stood out to me (and to Geoff Holsclaw who pointed me to it) was the section related to the label ‘progressive’. For the past couple of weeks I have enjoyed a lively set of conversation here about the Liberal Label and ‘progressive’ among others. Elnes explains why he has moved on from simple ‘progressive’:

Don’t get me wrong when I back off of the word “progressive.” This has been my adopted label for years, and the walk was made in the name of Progressive Christianity. But I’ve had to come to terms with its weaknesses. For many Christians, “progressive” is just another term for classic Christian liberalism. They have adopted the label because it’s more publically acceptable than “liberal.” 

Christian liberalism was an important movement in America in the 19th and 20th centuries, and without it, Christianity would be struggling even more than it already does to embrace science and issues of social justice. But like any movement, liberalism has had a certain lifespan. We gleaned the best insights of liberalism and moved on long ago.

My favorite line is “ We also appreciate many of the fruits of liberalism, like social justice, inclusivity, and openness to other faiths. We affirm the positive role that doubt and uncertainty play in a healthy faith, recognizing that faith and science can be allies in the pursuit of truth.”

 

The reason I enjoyed the article so much was that it reflected some classic journeys about how people came to envision themselves as liberal, conservative, and progressive. I hear these stories all the time. I love these stories. Listening to people’s faith journey is one of my favorite things about what I do.

 

The problem is that I do not find myself in those stories – not exactly....

 

I grew up Evangelical with a hint of the charismatic. In my 20′s I went to Bible college was both emboldened in my charismatic leanings and horrified at the conservative nastiness I often encountered by those I shared the classroom with. People who grew up a little more fundamentalist or reformed than me had a very different experience of being Evangelical. There was some type of culture war … we were wrapped up in evangelism, missions, and issues of holiness – but without that culture clash. (in hind site, it was probably because we were allergic to politics).

 

After college I had a decade-long pastorate in an evangelical/charismatic church plant. I loved it. In the final years of that time I started reading N.T. Wright and then Brian McLaren – instead of Josh McDowell and Ravi Zacharias. I was warned by denominational leadership to be careful with that McLaren guy but by then I was on my way to George Fox Evangelical Seminary. I assumed I would study with Len Sweet until I met Randy Woodley.

 

Fast-forward 6 years and I am presently prepping for qualifying exams as a classically mainline grad school and ministering at a mainline church (albs & stoles – stained glass and lectionary). I never stopped praying however. I never went through that predictable thing that Elnes describes. Yes, I moved on from the superstitious elements of the tradition. Sure, I reformatted my cosmology and even adapted my metaphysics. I engaged Biblical scholarship which radically altered my view of scripture. I realized that politics wasn’t just permissible but, as Jesus modeled, was necessary.

 

All of that is to say that I stand by my posts of the past 3 weeks that we need to move on from the Liberal label and with Elnes we need to nuance ‘progressive’ in ways that are more clear.  I like his distinctions within progressive christianity. I know people in all of those camps.

 

I, however, am going to stick with “spirit-filled processy christo-centric hyperTheist” for myself.

 

 

... if by a liberal they mean

someone who looks ahead and not behind,

someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions,

someone who cares about the welfare of the people -

their health, their housing, their schools,

their jobs, their civil rights, their civil liberties...

if that is what they mean,

then I am proud to be a liberal.

 

- President John F. Kennedy, 1960

 

 

 

 

 

NPR Repost: "Making Better End-Of-Life Care Decisions"

 

http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2013-06-17/making-better-end-life-care-decisions

 

NPR: The Diane Rehm Show

Monday, June 17, 2013 - 11:06 a.m.

 

Image used under Creative Commons from Flickr user Rosie O'Beirne
 

Making Better End-of-Life Care Decisions

 

Most Americans say they want to die at home, but few actually do. How movies made by two Harvard doctors can help patients make better end-of-life decisions.

 

Most Americans say they want to die at home, but 75 percent die in hospitals or nursing homes. Hospitalization often means aggressive, high-cost treatment at the expense of quality of life. And life-prolonging care accounts for 30 percent of total Medicare spending. Now, two Harvard doctors are making movies that visually depict common forms of end-of life care in hospitals. The short films show real patients receiving treatment such as emergency CPR and feeding tubes. Clinical studies show that patients who view these movies overwhelmingly opt out of costly, life-prolonging treatment. Diane and her guests discuss how to make better end-of-life decisions.

 

Guests

 

Angelo Volandes - physician and researcher at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital and co-Founder of the Advance Care Planning Decisions Foundation.

 

Aretha Delight Davis - physician at Harvard Medical School and co-founder of Advance Care Planning Decisions Foundation.

 

Naftali Bendavid - correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, currently based in Brussels.

• Listen
• Comments
• Transcript

 

 

Inerrantism is more Muslim than Christian

Inerrantism is more Muslim than Christian: a thought from Lesslie Newbigin
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/peterenns/2013/08/inerrantism-is-more-muslim-than-christian-a-though-from-lesslie-newbigin/

 

by Peter Enns

August 9, 2013

Comments

And speaking of inerrancy….

 

One common defense of inerrancy is that, without it, confidence in Scripture is eroded, which will spread panic and chaos among the masses.

 

The missionary/theologian Lesslie Newbigin–no stranger to the masses–spent much of his life as a missionary in India, and was a strong voice in the need to bring the Gospel to the post-Christian, pagan (his word) western world that has accepted the myth of Enlightenment objectivity.

 

His blunt thoughts here on inerrancy exude commonsense, especially if you read it with a matter-of-fact British accent.
 

 

If the Bible is treated as a compendium of factually inerrant propositions about everything in heaven and earth, then it is impossible to explain both the contradictions between parts of the Bible and things we certainly know as the results of the work of science, and also the obvious inconsistencies within the Bible itself on factual matters. Even the most convinced fundamentalist who lives in the modern world has to rely at innumerable points on knowledge provided by science and not by the Bible. In fact this way of looking at the Bible is nearer to the Muslim way of looking at the Qur’an and prompts the question: “Why, then, did Jesus not write a book as the Prophet did?”

 

- Lesslie Newbigin, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society, p. 97,

 

The Qur’an-like Bible of inerrantists is an apt observation, and it is not hard to see this mentality at work at some of it most staunch defenders–a book that comes to us whole cloth from the vaults of heaven, always transcending the confines of shadowlands, it’s true home in the Platonic ideal world.

 

If what Newbigin describes above is a, let’s call it, “sub-Christian” view of Scripture, we can gather that:

A Properly Christian View is one that:

• does not treat Scripture as a compendium of  inerrant positions about everything in heaven and earth

• does not ignore advances in science and other fields of knowledge when articulating the nature of Scripture

• is aware, as a simple matter of observation, that the Bible contains contradictions and inconsistencies on factual matters

• understands that there is ultimately no neutrality in knowledge ](that is, we each have our own epistemological socio-economic-political beliefs)], but that does not mean one can take refuge behind “we all have presuppositions” to reject sure knowledge or factual matters derived from science

One can only hold the view of Scripture than Newbigin holds by taking seriously the incarnation and its implications for all of Christian theology. That holds for Newbigin’s view of missions and his view Scripture.

 

The half-serious joke I heard while in seminary (as a student and a professor) was, “Heresy begins in missions.” That’s where you have to deal with actual people. When you do, you may find that you will actually be changed in the encounter at least as much as they, and that your theological system, as airtight and divinely endorsed and immutable as you might think, often does not work when you wander away from home.

 

And so, you need to learn to think differently about yourself, your world, the Bible, even God. The question is whether such shifts are evidence of a move away from pure truth toward heresy, or of growth and humility on the Christian journey.


 

Verses on Humanity and Goodwill, Compassion and Forgiveness

Humanity is the spirit of the Supreme Being on earth,
and that Supreme Being preaches love and goodwill.
Humanity is the spirit of the Supreme Being on earth,
and that humanity is standing amidst ruins,
hiding its nakedness behind tattered rags,
shedding tears upon hollow cheeks, and
calling for its children with pitiful voice.
But the children are busy singing their clan's anthems;
they are busy sharpening their swords
and cannot hear the cry of their mother's breast.

- Kahlil Gibran

The day we recognize our interdependency, and

accept and embrace the oneness of humanity,

is the day of resurrection for humanity.

 

- Hooshmand Kalayeh

Enlivening Global Communities by Willful Embrace

 

We stagger at the incredible reach of mankind in its technologies and communications. Here is a feat in which all the world contributes from every continent, every people, every tongue, and passion. But what more could be done if this old earth could learn to live together in peace and harmony, and not by hatred's war? What then could this pained world look like if the shimmering sword was put down? If ploughshares of goodwill were fashioned from industries of war and hate? It would be a grand vision built from the courageous hearts and minds of a grander people locked in mutual self-interest and God-ordained blessing. - RE Slater, 8.23.2013

 

 

Space Oddity

 

 

Published on May 12, 2013

A revised version of David Bowie's Space Oddity,

recorded by Commander Chris Hadfield on board the International Space Station.
(Note: This video cannot be reproduced and is licensed for online music use only.)
With thanks to Emm Gryner, Joe Corcoran, Andrew Tidby
and Evan Hadfield for all their hard work.
Captioning kindly provided by CHS (www.chs.ca)
Find out more:
Twitter: twitter.com/Cmdr_Hadfield

Facebook: www.facebook.com/AstronautChrisHadfield?­­fref=ts

Google+: plus.google.com/113978637743265603454/po­­sts/p/pub

 

Verses on Humanity,

Goodwill, Compassion & Forgiveness

(or lack thereof)

http://www.rawfoodinfo.com/articles/qte_humanity.html

 

No man is an island entirely of itself; Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; And therefore, never send to know for whom the bell tolls—it tolls for thee. - John Donne 

 

The smallest good deed is greater than the greatest good intention. - anon

 

There is no limit to the good a person can do, if he does not care who gets the credit. - anon

 

Humanity is divinity divided without and united within. - Kahlil Gibran

 

When peoples care for you and cry for you, they can straighten out your soul. - Langston Hughes

If you knew what I know about the power of giving, you would not let a single meal pass wthout sharing it in some way. - Buddha

 

Until we have the courage to recognize cruelty for what it is - whether its victim is human or animal - we cannot expect things to be much better in this world. We cannot have peace among men whose hearts delight in killing any living creature. By every act that glorifies or even tolerates such moronic delight in killing we set back the progress of humanity. - Rachel Carson

 

It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

Ithas become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity. - Albert Einstein

 

The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.  - Albert Einstein

 

When you hold resentment toward another, you are bound to that person or condition by an emotional link that is stronger than steel. Forgiveness is the only way to dissolve that link and get free. - Catherine Ponder

 

Until he extends the circle of compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace. - Albert Schweitzer

 

What is important is to look upon everyone with a deep sense of honor, because your own heart and mind are influenced by the way you look at others. If we could do just that, we would be rendering the greatest service to our fellow beings. - Swami Muktananda

 

We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now. - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

The less you open your heart to others, the more your heart suffers. - Deepak Chopra

 

A good heart is better than all the heads in the world. - Edward Bulwer-Lytton

Not a single human can achieve alone what 2 human beings can do when attuned to the same vibration. Two candles are brighter than one. Imagine what a thousand candles can do... a million candles... 6 billion candles! We are all the living prophecy, awakening to our Unity, One with Life, One with the Universe. - "Pathways to Unity"

Forgiveness is the answer to the child's dream of a miracle by which what is broken is made whole again, what is soiled is again made clean. - Dag Hammarskjold

 

Pride is concerned with who is right. Humility is concerned with what is right. - Ezra Taft Benson

 

The desire of power in excess caused the angels to fall; the desire of knowledge in excess caused man to fall: but in charity there is no excess; neither can angel or man come in danger by it. - Francis Bacon, Essays

 

Those who cannot forgive others break the bridge over which they themselves must pass. - Confucius

 

Decide to forgive, for resentment is negative. Resentment is poisonous. Resentment diminishes and devours the self. Be the first to forgive, to smile and to take the first step and you will see happiness bloom on the face of your brother or sister. Be always the first. Do not wait for others to forgive, for by the forgiving you become the master of fate, the fashioner of life, the doer of miracles. To forgive is the highest most beautiful form of Love. In return you will receive untold Peace and Happiness. - Robert Muller

 

Humanity has advanced, [but] when it has advanced, [it is] not because it has been sober, responsible, and cautious, but because it has been playful, rebellious, and immature. - Tom Robbins

 

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. - Leo Buscaglia

 

The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good. - Samuel Johnson

 

Always forgive, but never forget. If you forget, when the lesson of the past is needed, it may be lost. But if you forgive, when the lesson of the past is heeded, it may be what is needed so you can move forward in life. - Mattie J.T. Stepanek

 

 

May I become at all times, both now and forever,

A protector for those without protection,

A guide for those who have lost their way,

A ship for those with oceans to cross,

A sanctuary for those in danger,

A lamp for those in the dark,

And a servant to all those in need

As long as living beings exist,

and suffering afflicts them,

May I too abide to dispel the misery of the world

 

- anon

 

The true civilization is where every man gives to every other every right that he claims for himself. - Robert Green Ingersoll

 

The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. - Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

 

He who wishes to secure the good of others has already secured his own. - Confucius

 

A realized soul is like a river or a tree, giving comfort and coolness to those who come to him. - Ammachi, Her Holiness Sri Mata Amritanandamayi

 

The dew of compassion is a tear. - Lord Byron

 

Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience. - George Washington

 

The intellect is a beautiful servant, but a terrible master. Intellect is the power tool of our separateness. The intuitive, compassionate heart is the doorway to our unity. - Ram Dass

 

We are called to speak for the weak, for the voiceless, for victims of our nation and for those it calls enemy, for no document from human hands can make these humans any less than our brothers. - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

To be able under all circumstances to practice five things constitutes perfect virtue; these five things are gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness and kindness. - Confucius

 

Compassion, in which all ethics must take root, can only attain its full breadth and depth if it embraces all living creatures and does not limit itself to mankind. - Albert Schweitzer

 

What soap is for the body, tears are for the soul. - Jewish proverb

 

I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice. - Abraham Lincoln

 

May the roads rise to meet you,

may the wind be always at your back,

may the sun shine warm upon your face,

the rains fall soft upon your fields

and until we meet again

may God hold you in the palm of Her hand.

 

- An Irish Blessing

 

The highest exercise of charity is charity towards the uncharitable. - J.S. Buckminster

 

We have a long long way to go, so let us hasten along the road, the road to human tenderness and generosity. Groping, we may find one another's hands in the dark. - Emily Greene Balch

 

Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones. - Proverbs 16:24, the Bible
 

 

Though the works of the human race disappear

tracelessly by time or bomb,

the sun does not falter in its course;

the stars keep their invariable vigil.

Cosmic law cannot be stayed or changed, 

and man would do well

to put himself in harmony with it.

 

If the cosmos is against might,

if the sun wars not in the heavens

but retires at dueful time

to give the stars their little sway,

what avails our mailed fist?

Shall any peace come out of it?

Not cruelty but goodwill upholds

the universal sinew,

a humanity at peace will know

the endless fruits of victory,

sweeter to the taste than any nurtured

on the soil of blood.

 

- Yogananda, Autobiography of a Yogi

 

 

The seed of God is in us.

Given an intelligent and hard-working farmer,

it will thrive and grow up to God, whose seed it is;

and accordingly its fruits will be God-nature.

 

Pear seeds grow into pear trees,

nut seeds into nut trees,

and God seed into God.

 

- Meister Eckhart

 

Our society must make it right and possible for old people not to fear the young or be deserted by them, for the test of a civilization is the way that it cares for its helpless members. - Pearl S. Buck

 

A bit of perfume always clings to the hand that gives the rose. - Chinese proverb

 

Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. - Carl Jung

 

The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves to its children. - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

 

In the final analisis, our most common link is that we inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal. - John F. Kennedy

 

 

... if by a liberal they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind,

someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions,

someone who cares about the welfare of the people -

their health, their housing, their schools,

their jobs, their civil rights, their civil liberties...

if that is what they mean,

then I am proud to be a liberal.

 

- John F. Kennedy, 1960
 

 

If you have an opportunity to make things better and you don't, then you are wasting your time on this earth. - Roberto Clemente 

 

I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration, I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated, and a person is humanized or de-humanized. If we treat people as they are, we make them worse. If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

 

He has the right to criticize who has the heart to help. - Abraham Lincoln 

 

When you look for the good in others you discover the best in yourself. - Martin Walsh

 

Culture of the mind must be subservient to the heart. - Mahatma Gandhi

 

We are each of us angels with only one wing,

And we can only fly by embracing each other.

 

- Luciano de Crescenzo

 

There is no beautifier of complexion, or form, or behavior, like the wish to scatter joy and not pain around us. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

The beloved of the Almighty are the rich who have the humility of the poor, and the poor who have the magnanimity of the rich. - Saadi

 

The highest realms of thought are impossible to reach without first attaining an understanding of compassion. - Socrates

 

Forgiveness is the fragrance that the flower leaves on the heel of the one who crushed it. -       Mark Twain

 

Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity.  - Horace Mann, educational reformer, 1796-1859

 

They have a right to censure, that have a heart to help: The rest is cruelty, not justice. - William Penn, Quaker, founder of Pennsylvania, 1644-1718

 

A wise man will make haste to forgive, because he knows the true value of time, and will not suffer it to pass away in unnecessary pain. - Samuel Johnson, lexicographer, 1709-1784

 

He that plants a tree loves others besides himself. - Thomas Fuller