Doubt & Faith - Evolution, Afterlife & History

[1Cor15.54 (Massimiliano)]

@klw

Yes indeed. And for all our failures to fully understand, we see a God who weeps, and who is willing to suffer alongside side us.

Also something you wrote a few days ago stuck with me.

You wrote this

@klw

Yes, exactly. I learned when I was a student in behavioural ecology (and went on to teach in my own classes) that it is not the absolute value of the gift that is relevant, but the effect of that amount on the receiver and donor’s fitnesses that qualify it as an altruistic act or not. So, if a rich person gives something from his luxury it is less likely to be altruistic than a poor person.

one is reminded of the parable of the “generous widow”. Jesus certainly appears to encourage a radical level of altruism that runs counter to evolutionary principles.

And it indeed runs directly counter to evolutionary principles. God does not delight in the selfishness, harshness, and impersonality observable in evolution—not in the slightest. On the contrary, He opposes them, to the point that He commands us to act in ways that directly contradict those principles. It is as though these realities were not what He positively willed, but rather what He has permitted; as though they reflect forces and powers that stand in direct conflict with His salvific, loving, and generous nature.

Efesians 6:12: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers * of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

*From Powers of Darkness: Principalities and Powers in Paul’s Letters—Clinton E. Arnold

“These powers are personal spiritual beings.”
p. 14

“They are organized and have a certain hierarchy.”
p. 13

“They represent hostile, demonic forces opposing God.”
p. 31