| more flap about creationism (part 2) | | Date Created: Apr 04, 2006, 03:16 PM |
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Dr Rowan Williams said: 'It's not as if the writer of Genesis or whatever sat down and said, `Well, how am I going to explain all this...I know: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.'
Excuse me? How the oak does he know that the author didn't do that? But, no, let's say that we know somehow mysteriously that that's not what the human author set out to do. What does that prove? |
 There's one biblical author whose mind we know pretty well: the Apostle Paul. What does he think he's doing when he 'sits down to write' (or more likely, stands around to dictate)? Well, one thing we're can be sure about -- he didn't think he was composing Scripture. He says as much in 1 Corinthians 7 when he tells his readers that he has no idea what the Lord would say about thus and such (7:12, 25-26), but here's what he thinks. Tell you what: if he knew that people would be reading his letters for centuries afterwards as God's word, there's no way Paul writes a verse like Galatians 5:12! If you believe in Scripture, you already believe that the writers of Scripture were doing something other, something more, than they intended to do.
Again, Archbishop Williams said, 'Whatever the biblical account of creation is, it's not a theory alongside theories... If creationism is presented as a stark alternative theory alongside other theories, I think there's just been a jarring of categories. It's not what it's about.'
And there I think we can not grant even the premise. Because it's very possible that that is exactly what the biblical account of creation was: a creation story/theory in reply to and to do better than other Ancient Near Eastern creation stories/theories. If you put the author in a society that taught that it all just kinda happened, would he not raise his voice in opposition to that point of view? Put the author in a media conference with Richard Dawkins and would he wind up saying 'Yeah, ok, teach your children that one. We're not really talking about the same thing, there's been a jarring of categories; no problem.'?? C'mon. |
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