fruitful faith

Another observation about some of the theological (as in, not biological) features of the text of Genesis 1…

March 3rd, 2010 | Tags: fill, form, fruitfulness, genesis 1, idolatry, interpretation, literary genre | Category: bible, christianity, poetry, science, theology | Leave a comment

On the 5th day, God filled the skies and seas with all kinds of sky-life (‘every sort of winged bird’) and sea-life (’swarms of living creatures’).  Everything that flies through the sky.  Everything that lives in the sea.  A few points:

March 1st, 2010 | Tags: biology, creation, evolution, genesis, interpretation, spontaneous creation, the fall, youth earth | Category: bible, christianity, science, theology | Comments (15)

There’s a nice parallel between Dawkins’ less-than-informed rant against theism in The God Delusion (God would have to be very, very complex, because I, Richard Dawkins, zoologist, say so) and the recent apparently less-than-informed ‘refutation’ of evolutionary theory by Fodor and Piattelli-Palmarini in What Darwin Got Wrong.
Will the people defending Dawkins (a la ‘Must he [...]

February 25th, 2010 | Tags: richard dawkins, the god delusion, What Darwin Got Wrong | Category: atheism, christianity, philosophy, science, theology | Comments (6)

I picked up a copy of Gustavo Gutierrez’s ‘A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics and Salvation‘ for a) my growing interest in the biblical theme of ‘Freedom’/’Liberation’, and b) the ‘Themes in a Missional Spirituality’ block-course I’ll be taking this semester at Carey Baptist College – with guest lecturer – and author and theologian – [...]

February 23rd, 2010 | Tags: chronological snobbery, faith, hope, justice, liberation theology, love | Category: christianity, politics, theology | Leave a comment

February 2nd, 2010 | Tags: easy-dismissalism, intellectual integrity, michael ruse, richard dawkins, straw-mannery, the god delusion | Category: atheism, christianity, philosophy, science, theology, www | Comments (1)

One way to explain a clock is to talk about how its physical parts (sprockets, springs, wood, metal, etc.) function, etc.  This will involve telling a story of how the design came about.
Another way to explain a clock is to talk about what its parts are composed of.  This will involve telling a story about [...]

January 27th, 2010 | Category: atheism, philosophy, science, theology | Leave a comment

A popular response to the idea of a God as the ultimate final explanation for all things is to ask, “Who made God, then?”  It’s always hard to know how seriously the question is being put forward.

January 26th, 2010 | Category: atheism, philosophy, theology | Leave a comment

Always looking for a more compact/clear way to say things, here’s a current version of what I take to be the only logical possibilities (in no particular order!) for the origin of ‘all things’/’universe’/’multi-verse’/’everything’ (A.T.U.M.E.), with my comments in parentheses.

A.T.U.M.E. has no origin, because A.T.U.M.E. is an illusion (Thanks to Descartes for his observation — [...]

January 26th, 2010 | Category: atheism, philosophy, theology | Comments (2)

I’m really appreciating how significant the theme of freedom is in the Bible.
Freedom is opposed to compulsion, captivity or slavery.
Utterly free of compulsion, God freely acts to create and sustain a free creation, particularly free and dangerous human beings, which constantly, continually and consistently become enslaved, manipulated, captive or otherwise enslaved to and by various [...]

January 5th, 2010 | Tags: bible, freedom, interpretation, liberation, salvation | Category: bible, christianity, ethics, politics, theology | Comments (7)