where faith and reason clash - alvin plantinga
TRANSCRIPT
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,
SPECIAL ISSUE: CREATIONIEVOLUTION AND FAITH
NOTES
PROM
THE
EDITOR
INTRODUCTION TO
THE
SPECIAL
ISSUE
SYMPOSIUM: EVOLUTION AND
THE BIBLE
Alvin P l a n t 1 n g a , ~ , I E i . ' f a n d ' i : . : f Q I 1 ~ I W J 3 i J o l U J . o n ~
_ Wi
Howard
J Van Till,
When
Faith and
Re4son
Cooperate
Pattle Pun, Response
to Professor
Plantitlga
Eman
McMullirI, P u : m t i n g ~ ' s Defense
o
Special Creation
Alvin Planfinga,
Evolution Neutrality and Antecedent
Probahftity Reply
1
Van
Till
and
McMullin
REVmW
R F R S
FOR
VOLUME XX ,3 '
XXI l
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~ ~ P O S I U M
"
8
When Faith and Reason O a s h ~
Evolution
and
the Bible
Sy Alvin Planting'
My qUestiDO t
mpl how
shall
We ChrisUan$
d.,l
with appartnt .olute tWlland l I . g l a n c ~ . 8ul we
are
equoUy
enthu.lo.tic aboul rtl 5{I",' God-given
pow.rby
virtue
01
wlrlch
we
have
knnwl,dg.
of our . v, Our world, OUr pasl, logic and I I \ . t h ~ m a U C , right
,nd
wwng, and God himself; rea",n ls one of the chief
f o ,
0/ Ih. Imago of
God
10
us.
And if
we.re
. lhu.I .lk aboul "'05< enthu.ra..tic
~ b o u t ronl'ttlporary natural .dence, which ts a powerful and
va.tly
Iml'Te$Slve
m . I I . ~ I t l o n of reason. So
this
i my que.tlon, given our
Reformed
prodlvlHes
and tnts apparent
c n r u c ~
whal ates it;
i n ' p i ' ~ t i o n
from " " n r e m p o ' ~ r y pny,ks.
To ovtrsimpHly .harnd,;>ly, Ih".
f, J
problo'll' lighl
erns
10
dlspi.y oolh thu
properti'"
of. w,vtll\ .
mudlum and ,Iso th. propcrtic . of somethinG/h.1 come.
in partida. And
or
w U t ' t ~ the problem i : th:Jt
lhl. "se'
properties are not HKE', s.)},.
beinlgr'''' .nd beiNg "j""Tkh by way
of
territorial
division,
lIke
that
until recently b i t v . ~ n East and West Gtman},1 for instance. \ cJe a$sign some
of
the
oonceplual terrifry to f.ith and xriptUtC, and some
GI
it
Il)
r SOn and
:
to )1r/l lJ1
fmc ;>f (0
=ltlU$
r o n c ~ m i n g
how
things w ~ .
gone
In
the
COStl\OS
sino. the
~ P ? " " " " ' c e
f hu)Jl.l1J1
bemS". Van
Till
U",{t, hi:
approv;a of th. s . p p n : > ~ d for Vert govd ",.son;
tJhrt
.., g " , : , ~ < l a i ~ , the
ront too old, proposed at one lime to
",crllk, ls.aAc In ob.di.:,.ec to the Lord, and 50 on, Even mGr, imFortant, the Bibl.
tell; u&
aboutJ0,.rlo>
to itH.nlra tne_g.: built "Iso tells
u. mud
.1"" aboul Christ. We leWll what h.
did, he I'ruched And taught, ;>Ih';r mu.clos
reported n Scripture,
11
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,
-
So
we
c ~ n ' t
.Iarl, I think, by ded,ring that the teachings of ",ntemporary
.;{.
,.scleoco
lnnot. death"
"'sueredloM,
Qnd
thou""n. other thlngs.
LeI'.
look a little
deepor. A$ ev.ryan.
knows, tho" r e v a r i o ~ . l n t e U . c t u ~ 1 or
cogniHvt p o W e t b ~ b e H d ~ p r o d u d n g m ~ d H m u ; m 5
or
p c w ~ .rious
Ottrt;:Ci
of
peUd and knowledge. For "".mple. there are P'''''ption, memory, "Qu",lon, and
testlmony, or
what
We [earn Irom olhers. The ..
is
abo rea>on, .aken nanowly ".
the 'Ouroo
ollogk
and m'l'hematic$, and . . """ I.ken IIlOre 'broadly i1$lI\cllldlng
percepllon, testimony and roth i n d ~ < t l ' e and deductive proc . . . : it . ~ _ n
taken Ihl. bro.der way
Ihal s
the
""O"'e
of
.done .
Hut Ihe serious Christian
will
all>:>
lake
our gra.p 01 Scrlptu,..
to be
" proper
0 \ of
kIlowledge and
IU$tifi.d
belie .
Just
how d.,., Stian, """ dis.agre. os
to
whot
the
te.chlng ofJo11'U other
way
mut alway.
be
resolved In favor the
furmef.
Sadly
enough, we bolve
no
gworantee
that
on
every
point o ~ r
grasp
01
what Scripture
teacn., Is " m l c t ; hence It Is pcwkl.g. Brill
Hi$lo'll
ojn (New York: Bantam Moo",
1938).
pp, 115 a
.,
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, . c n f h . t i ~ n Schol.u RtvJtw
14
, As [s;>ld sb" ...
we
dgwel\t:s
ore
nol oIrnpl)'
o >t>/QU;I, aT
inmwble. or such
Ihl ,t
"'yone
with
any
$eI13e
wllJ
aulom.lleally be obllged Ie egr.e,
IL F.ilh alld E""lulion
So
I
ClJ\
properly correct my
\ ; ,V
as
to
wrn.t "'son
lenl to
tum dl ectly
to tbe
p ~ t proble""
tne apparnt disparity hetw..,n
what
Scrip-
1te lUll science tea.;h us about the anSin illld development of Ufe. Like
lU\y
g90d
Christi"", Reformed
ptueh
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..
'16
,c ,A. 1 O r ~ I i Q n rtJigio 'ly Nw ruli
C h r l ~ ( . b n S c h o l u ~ Rev ' w
A"ordlng
10
a popular contemporary myth, sdenee is
cool,
r"",on.d,
wholly diopos.ional. atlemp
tl)
l i g u T ~
oul the
trulh ab
...ham
KUyper, Hermon
Dooybo,l[ Inform.lwn
Iflnsfor vlolatl.rts rdollvklte
. the other
f o o ~
It
I.
the devolees 01
"",Iutlon who
sometimes ""press
the
{e",
that
public dhcusston or
doubl'
and diffi
,bored
Wil.y
of understanding
our;;e v,",
at tile
de.p level of ... Igl01l, d ~ . p Inletpret. fun 01 ourselves to oUISeI",., a way of
t ~ U l t 1 g
us why
woUl ",.Mln 1010
' , ,p i Ih, 4 . l h ,
11.
i
'lU
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:..
C h n s t l ~ n
511.
tfltGln ""
. . as litmus
losl to distinguish
th.
isnrant fund,ment.Ust, from the prop.ely enllghl"".d
0)8'"""""/1; Jt {uncnons in th ,e ....y in mllI'y
of
the
d.bal
1n and out of the
court., " 10 whether
t
should be taugltl
in the ""hools,
whether
othe.>: vie".
should
be
given equ.l tim., and
the
Ilk. h u ~ Mlch
1 "the light agaln.t
creationism
Is
fight fo, all kIlow]edge, and
th.t
battle Com b. won if we All work
lQ:see
th.1
D,"";,, ,m. whkh has had a great" " has
an Wen
greater f u l u r ~ . " n
Th. . . . .
~ . ]
point
he", is r e ~ U y D.wkln.' point: D.rwinlsm, the Gr.nd
EvoluHoMry S t ~ r y , make, It
poS>ible
to b. all inlellectually fulliU.d lU1clst. Whal
he mean. Is ,impl. ""ugh, If you are Chrisl .",
or
a theisl of some other ldnd,
you
hav
TOady
an.WOr
10 Ih.
question. how dId
it
aU happen? How is
It
thai
th,re .,..
all Inc
Idnd$ of flo,
. . and Iilunas w.
behold; now dId they all get
h ~ r e 1
TOe
'nower, ",f tou",., s Ih'l they
h.ve
been
ae.teo by
the Lord,
But If
)Iou are
not a
bcllevor in God, thIngs
. t< enonnously mote difficult. How did
aU
the.e
thing.
get h
. .
Haw
did
Ufe
get ,tarted and how did It
come
00 ,ssume
its
pr . . t multifarious lomt.l It seom, monumentaUy implausible to Ihlnk the
fonn. just popp.d Into
. .
lenco;
th.1 SO., contrary
to
all
OUT
""peri.nee.
So
how
dId
II happen? Athel,m and
Secularism
Med
an
al'l$wor to IhU quesllon. And the
Grand
t ; : " " I ~ t l o n ' r y
Story gtves Ihe
.nswer:
;omehow life .roo. from nonliving
matt.r
by
way of I1\1TOly natural ",ean, and
In
,ceord wUh
the
fund'm.ntol L>W
01 phy5 CS; Md
n'
life slartea, aU he v.st profusIon (;/ contemporary ptant and
,n m.lllle
arose trom thos, .arly an. . . oS worms, coral,
"",d :hals sltn\LIr to D . r w i ~ s proposals,
FlrulJy,
there is the da. m that
We Itself developed hom non-Uvlng matt., without
My
special c .... live activity 01
God b ~ t W I
by virtue
of
tht ordInary laws
of
physL;$ omd cl"'ml.s\ry: call thI.; the
N a l w ' R l i s l ~ Origins Thais, Thes. five
theses
.r;:,of ClJurse lmportanily dIU.,...n
from
~ a J ; h
other.
Tiley
.. e I>lso logk.ny
Indep; ndent
In
pairs,
ex5"
"D. """u",
0'1' ', pp,
ll.6-'l7. _ L ' ' ' . v . o ~ u t o n . . ract and
TOwry" In
/1,"', T
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.
:1:0.
.
mo hold .ensibly Ihat the
e . , t ~ is
young. Thero
I.
less ....
Id.nce,
but.1lI
good tvld n
In
the fossil
reoord
for Ihe Prog,.. . Th.,I" Ihe
claim
that Ihere
'.r.
b,cterl. berort
fi,h,
/ish b.lo", "pUles, '.ptll before
mammals,
and
role.
b.furt
men
(or
womb,t,
before
women,
for
th.
l.m niJ;i,
in
the crowd). The
thlrd
""d fourth theses, the CQmmon
Ancestry
and O;uwini;>n Thtse, .... wh.t Is
eommonly and popUlarly id.nUned with e v o l ~ t l o n ; .lIall r.turn to them
In
a
m O f l 1 ~ n t .
The /out1h t"esis, 0/ cou".,
i,
no mO,e lik.ly than the Hurd. ,l"".
it
toclud
. .
lb. thiN and propose. a m""haniJ;m
to
.J'l aenealogical relatednn that Is
. . inn y
established as
the feV it
develop. (0,.. who held this view could
also
hold
thilt
Goo e, God (QuId have donelhipg l
very
ditierently. H. hils
H"TheTh,ory
01
" o l . ~ " " , Rectnl
Svcc. . . . . Mid
Chall.ng
.
"
In lv/1 .nd
C'''''/''n,..J.
m,n McMullln
(Notre
Dune: IJnlnr$lty 01
Noh.
Om.P'
... 1995),
p.
60.
I ~ E v o l v t t o n i\$
Fact
~ n d
Thtory" in
H(jJ s
TedJr
4 R ( I , ~ ' j
Teo
NtW
Yor],t:
W.
W.
Norton
and C""'P'"y, 19i1Ol. pp. 2Sf,..Ss.
If,'''Sv( htHQ"uy BI01Qgy
j.fld tht
Study of
Human
N"'ture/'
prt'Sf'htOQ
t
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"
created mailer
.nd
energy wlth
Iheir
tend,ndes 10 beh.ve
in
~ " r t . l n
woy>-w'ys
'Um",.d
up
In tn.
laws
of
h y s i ~ b u t
perhaps th.", law, are nQI such that given
enough tim., Uf, would .ulom.H"Uy arise, Perh,p' he did sometblng dilleronl
,na .p.dal ln
the
cr
Uon
of life. Perh.p. h. dId $OmeUslng dlffer.nland
_peelal
in
a.atlng
the
v.riOUs
klnd.
of
.nimob and pl.nt>.
Peth,p.
h. did somelhlng
differ.nt and
$ p , . ; i ~ l l n
In.
no.Hon of human beIng'. Perh.ps
in
these c.ses hi.
act;"n with ""pect to
wh.t
he /I... crealed wos dilfererot from the ways in which
Il. ordin.rlly Ir
> ,hem,
How
.h.ll
we decide whiehe
these
is Initially the mor.likolyl That
i$
not
,n
."Y qoe,tlon. It I> ;mporlant
In "'"ember, however,
lh.t
lhe LQrd I ;u; not merely
lell
tne O>smo,
It> d
...
op according to an loill.1 croaUon ana
.u;
{nUW set
01
ph)" ,"ll.,.,. Accord[ng tQ
Scriptu
..... h. ha, ofton Int"",ened in the worldng of
his
. ~ I i k e
..ptc 10 filld
tnon
Iho oldt.
tho5< Io.mou.llriUsh
molh, dJdn', produce a new
.ped . there
were betlt dark light
:not'" IJ'Qu:'ICI
before the dark ane. ooming
pn dOln;note
whon the mdwmal revolution
depo,{ted layer
of
sool on
tr m",. visible.
to
pred.lor;. MaN broadly, while th.,,,
Is
wid
. m e n l
th,t there I, such.
t ~ g
as
mkroevolutlon, the quesrt"" I, whether we cm extrapol.te to m . ~ o " l i c n .
with the claIm
that
e"ough mlcroevolutlon
con
account
for the
ell
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'. )4 .:"
.'
10 Ihink no ;
Ine"
seem, '" be HOrl of . n ~ l o p ~ 0( limited "ariohilily.urround.
.... ' . . ing a
sped",
and tl' nN'
"Ialive
Artilkl. s.lecli(ln can produc.: . . ry.
Next,
thore
Is th. argument f,em the fossil record: hUI . . Gould hirn. . 1
point:;
" u ~ tile
fonil
rl,m,
how
d"", the ten.,
lor ~ p l e get develQPe< by Ine p r o p o ~ d me.ns-"
.
dom &'Inetlc vwt\on
and natu",t Jetoetlan-whe" ot Ihe . .
me
lime thOle has 10 be d.""lol'ment of the
opHe n.""e, the rcl.vlIni
mus, the lvds and .tuzal seloctlon b opemdV1 .) Darwin hi.rn$eli wrote,
"To
suppose thal the
rye,
wJth
aU
Its
Wmlt.ble ,ontrivan,
....
"rowd
havo been Ionn.,)
by
natu.r.1
",I.cllon $'.ms absurd
In
the hlghe.1 degr . ' "When J Ihin):; of h. eye. 1
shudder" he .'li d
(3-4),
And the{omplexHy
"I the eye Is
enormously g".ter than
wo;
known in Darwin's tilf
W. are never, of course, giv.n the/Uluat"plaNl1on
of
the evolution (;1 the
ey., tne aCllUll.volutlonAry l>lstory oitii, eyo (or brainOr h.nd Or whatevcr), That
would t.ke the form, In that orlginal
populotiQIl of
ey .. ;:$' til. fanns, genes A,h.
mutated (due to s o m ~ perhaps ur.'p.e lli.d "U Ie). le.dlng t
ad.pt ively benelid"J; thebe.""
of
A,-A. 11."" had
. advantage Ol'Id < : a m ~ to domiNtethe popul>tlon. Then senes lI,-B, mutated in
individual
or
two, and the
.am.
thIng h'ippened agatn; then gen. C,-C,..
OIIC
Nor
are
we
""tn
given any po
. .
bUiI
. .
01
these
wrts.
c ao
rouldn', be.
sinCl:.
for
most ge" . w< don't know enough about Iheir lunctions.) W einstead iJ:
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)
" .
.
- ....
-
26 mentionod .bove, but broad m.rro;coplc scen.rio.: wh.t Gould calb "JU,I'SO
storic. .'"
And the ....1 preblem
i
thai we
don',
know how
to ev.Iu.te
th.s
lgS"-
1100. To know how
to
do
till
(in lb. eft 01 the eye, say), w. should have
to
start
wltb :;ern. ppul.Uon
of
.nlm.1s Withoul eye.: and then we should Mv.
to
know
Ih. rat 1 which mul.tlon, eccur tor th.1 population; the proporllOfi 01 Ihose
mutations Ih.t.", on one of Iho,,' path:< Ihrough th.t 'P'" to Ih. tion, But
wiolog/cll ly
p"",lbk.
(Whether every e"en ...umber
Is
the
.um
of two
pril""
\$ on cp ... ques\ on;
heru:.
il is op"temi"lIy po&siblo thot every ""en
n"",borls the sum of two prime" and .1'0 oplstemlrn
nontheistic pmp.ctive,
Ih"
firsl hypolhesls will b
hypothesis a
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:28,
. ~ Q r M 1 0 n
an,.; ,y'
it is hard to
toink
of
any
other
teol
pos'ilbHity. The
only
.lternativos, opparently, would be crea u,"" popping into .xisten," lutly formed;
nd
th.1 ;$
whQlly cnnirary
to
our
.l>lly
more conl.nno", daim 110,,1 of .J th, .c.l Cod h3,
ereoted IU.
on
earth and ",uld have dOM it In
TMnY
dUf ... nt woys. "UllMtural,
Sdencc,"
"CrNtlon Sciene"," '''Theistlc
Sdence"-allit wh;n
you
will:
wn.it we
n
d when we won
to
know
how
10
til",).: about the origin and develop"''''' o[
rontempora.ry fife 1$ ",halls mo.l
plausrt>le
nom l Christian point
Ji
view.
What
we
need s sclentillc account of
lire
(hallsn't re.trlcted
by
tha, m e l ~ O < I o l o g l c a l
nlltur.tlim.
Co
What
Sltould
Chris/Ian lnl,-""d
>inC>
"'e
are they, how .::an ~
~
Ih. Cbrutlon Olllllllunity. the Reformed co",
munl/y of which we a 'l port. and, mOfe Importantly, the broad.r sener1l1
Chrlstian
cOll\ll\unltyi
One'
thillS
OIlr I'ahle
law.
of
I1\atht1l\atlcs, afte,
only 60,000 Y.''''
or
$/), thm would
have betn >
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I 30
OuuUJn Scholar. l t t v l c ~
But
I'd like
10
sUI>S,'rldge
UAi,.,,,lty Press, 19112).
--S C1I
0111'
I. tht Origin
oj ~ i f
(Cambridge: u.mbridS
rcspo_ wilt
con",,,, tho.e
",cas where there
Is
some ement and those matters
that
need
turlher
develQpmcnl. Even in thi> end. r I shall n ~ v e to be both selective
.nd
btlef,
A. faith,
Re n
on4
Cnnflkt
hAW long been $D,ely
""".d
the fr'quell0 wiUI which tne
wam",
metapho,
h'$ been
crnplo),ed
in
t
dt;.l:us.t""
of
In
relallon.h p
01 ,",Mal
sd. and
Christian belief.
And y hrlt.tlon seem. 10
b i",."or>iblyamplified
tach
Hme I ob
.
"'e
Ih. proP"
fil.
01
"ae>t on.;denc.' ' the preach,
. o[
modull W
. . o", natlmli,m... ".nlly encourage OM
.notH In the P