Saturday, February 23, 2008

Abi and Evolution

I don't often get into the middle of these kinds of discussions, because I am not thoroughly educated enough on any side of the issue to really engage properly. But that is my predicament in every subject, so I must do the best I can to understand as my limited abilities allow.

So, following another link from Scot's Meanderings, I wound up in this discussion about evolution. My comment may be found here, but it is best if you read the previous comments in order to understand my context. At the time I made this post, there was no response to my comment ... and there may never be! That's okay with me -- I benefited from the discussion! :^)

I am hopeful that some of the other questions that were asked might be discussed ... they are all fine questions.

I do, however, hunger for deeper thinking about these things. I grow weary of heated rhetoric and simplistic thinking and unacknowledged blind faith. Own your leaps of faith for what they are -- leaps of faith. But don't squash me because I am unwilling to make a leap of faith that another chooses to call solid fact. The pieces that they may be looking at might be solid fact, but how they connect and may be extrapolated can be an entirely different story. And the conclusions one makes and the actions one takes based on those conclusions can go very different places.

I guess this is a wee bit of a rant, but I hope you will see that it is not a heated one, but a very sincere expression of my heart.

Leaning--by faith--on Papa.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great comments over at Nicks Musings and you were spot-on.

AbiSomeone said...

Thanks, Rick! I wondered when I saw your comment how you got there. ;^)

I made a final comment posting a link to an interesting rebuttal to the chromosome story and added another link to an interesting article about the Hebrew "YOM" as "extended period of time" instead of "24 hours" -- so many Hebrew concepts have not made the translation to Greek or English well.... :^(

Anonymous said...

So true! Hebrew concepts do not make the translation into English (or Greek) very well. And so many martinets do not realize this.

I need to go read the post you linked to, but as a former student of physical anthropology and someone who is intrigued by the whole thing, I also grow weary of people who want to cap discussions with a final answer (on either side). It's far too intricate and nuanced no matter which path you take, to pretend you can come up with a definitive answer. No one really knows.

AbiSomeone said...

I'll be interested in your take on the conversation, Sonja ... but don't get fried. ;^)

Three little words ... so seemingly difficult to say: I don't know.

KingJaymz said...

You have great patience, oh wise Abbess. It really seemed like Mark was only interested in arguing everyone else out of their view of comfort with ambiguity/unknowingness or their Creationist belief. I don't know that I could have been as gracious as you, which is why I avoid such discussions online.

I'm with you. If Jesus could use mud to restore someone's sight, why couldn't God do the same to form a person? Arguing against that seems to go against the grain of believing in His power.

Besides, the point of the story is what matters. It is a transcendant story that tells us that we all have one Father. Hence, none of us are higher or better than the others. It cuts at the heart of racisim and bigotry. I'm sure there's much more to it, but those principles come immediately to mind.

AbiSomeone said...

Well hello, Jared! Yes ... graciousness in the midst of some, uh, discussions is challenging! I try to stay out of them myself... ;^)