Denis Lamoureux didn’t just stumble unto evolutionary creation, though, as he will tell you, there was a great deal of stumbling on his path to get there. In the first part of the conversation he tells the story of faith to atheism, back to young earth creationism, and finally to evolutionary creationism, and how it was the Bible, not science, which led him to where he is today.
His new book, The Bible and Ancient Science: Principles of Interpretation , gives 22 different principles for reading the bible. We focus on a few of those in our conversation, including accommodation, inerrancy, and what he calls, the message incident principle, which is that the most important thing about scripture is the spiritual truths held within. These principles have helped Denis, and now his students, to dig deep into scripture, remain committed to Christ, and also to see to see the beauty of biology.
I can’t speak for who wrote it but I almost never see the word bible capitalized and most of my Christian friends are outside of the evolutionary creationist circles. I see the word God capitalized often, and sometimes I capitalize it but normally I don’t because it’s not his name. Yahweh is our gods name and god is just Elohim , which is a type of being and it’s even used to describe angels.
Welcome @Jessica_Smith ! I think it was just a grammitical glitch, not a intentional thing. I think most here capitalize “bible” when used as the title of the specific book of scripture, as opposed to a generic book like the “bible of brisket smoking…” but sometimes we make mistakes. I personally have to think about when to capitalize pronouns referring to God as my early tradition based on KJV Bible always did so, and now I recognize it as grammatically incorrect. Certainly, I think it is fine if someone wishes to do so, however.
In any case, thanks for contributing, and we look forward to your input!
I finally got the time to listen to this as I sit home this Sunday morning, not going to church due to the surge of Covid in our area. What a great interview! I look forward to the book, on my gift list for Christmas. I find suggesting books is a great way to avoid getting another set of barbecue tongs for Christmas.
As I listened, a couple of things really stood out to me personally. One was Denis’s discussion of accommodation, and particularly meaningful was his statement and personal testimony of how God accommodates some and meets them where they are through YEC. This inspires me to show more grace to my YEC brothers and sisters, despite the differences that we have. The same might well be said for ID, OEC, and the rest of humanity as well, and is something I think Paul was expressing in Romans 1:19 and thereabouts.
The other thing that hit home was his story at the end of the podcast where he spoke of the student that expressed relief that she did not have to feel guilty in biology class. It brought back memories of my pre-med days when I really struggled in comparative anatomy class, as without a vision and a joyous appreciation of how the various body parts related and evolved in different species, it became just an exercise in rote memorization. While I was never really indoctrinated in YEC, literalism was just a given at that point in my life, and it really created cognitive dissonance.
In any case, if you have not had a chance to listen to this podcast, give it a whirl. Thanks, @DOL for the inspiration and good words!
Your mentions of intelligent design (lower case ‘id’ as discussed elswhere here recently ) were especially notable for me.
I discovered the first generation of evangelicals, many of whom are the Princetonians, had no trouble with evolution, so long as they saw evolution as being ordained by God. He ordered it, he sustains it. It’s not deism where he winds the clock and runs away, but God upholds it. He’s omnipresent and that nature reflects intelligent design.
Coming from a Presbyterian and Reformed background, I was of course appreciative of that, knowing that God is providentially sovereign over even the timing and placing of molecular mutations in kidney cancer.
Similarly, I appreciated this, as well:
And your incidental container analogy is apt – I was surprised to learn of your membership in the Evangelical Theological Society.
Thanks Dale. I am a Pentecostal. So that’s certainly in the evangelical side of the Church. Also theology masters degrees at Regent College with Packer, Waltke, Fee, Green et al in the mid-1980s, and PhD theological studies at the evangelical Anglican Wycliffe College in the U of Toronto.
This was such an encouraging and helpful interview. We live in the thick of YEC and AIG and find it so harmful to our kids, who have to face the reality of honest science, when they get to college. Podcasts like yours are such an encouragement to kids, trying to hang on to their faith, while working in science courses. Thank you!
Thank you Kendel for the encouraging message. I’ve just revamped by Science & Religion 101 course on Cousera. Only 9 hrs of lecture with 82 pages of notes and 40 pages of handouts. It’s at high school level to prep students for college. Should be up and running in a week or so.
Blessings,
Denis
Thanks @Dale and @Kendel. Glad to hear you find the podcast interesting and worthwhile. It’s one of my favorite parts of my job to talk to people like @DOL!
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“Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” -Colossians 4:6
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Glad to be back!
) were especially notable for me.