Re: Summary: Something from Nothing (longish)

From: David Moore (dvdmoore@dcfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us)
Date: Tue Feb 20 1996 - 14:09:30 EST


        Because of the length of Will Wagers's post, I'll not quote it
all but summarize that he postulates a mind set in the biblical writers in
harmony with "scientific" ideas of the epoch.

        First, it seems precarious to ascribe Platonistic thought to Paul
whereas his writings show very little influence of the sort. One might
make a better case for the writer of Hebrews along this line, but, even
in his case, one would be hard put to show that Platonism provides more
than cultural window dressing for the message of the Gospel. That is to
say, the Gospel message, with its Hebrew roots, is presented in a way
that is culturally acceptable to the writer's Helenized audience.

        Second, can we really assume that 1st-Century believers (and
specifically the apostles) took their cosmology from the science and
Pagan philosophy current in their day? An assumption like that about
Christians of today would miss the mark, at least in terms of those who
accept the miraculous and supernatural aspects of the Christian
tradition. Thoroughgoing evolutionism is practically dogma in
contemporary science, but many Christians (including yours truly) see it
as a deeply flawed system that provides neither valid origin models nor
satisfactory explanations of the present state of ecology. Are we to
assume that the Apostles were lined up behind the then-current
philosophical-scientific view?

        What we would really need to get at the biblical view on this
matter is a good exegesis of Gen. 1:1. Maybe someone can get that going
on b-hebrew.

David L. Moore Southeastern Spanish District
Miami, Florida of the Assemblies of God
dvdmoore@dcfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us Department of Education
http://members.aol.com/dvdmoore



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