Literalism’s Demise: An Evangelical Journey
Matt Young at Panda’s Thumb reviews Paradigms on Pilgrimage, by Stephen J. Godfrey and Christopher R. Smith, two evangelicals with advanced degrees who made the journey from Creationist thought to embracing evolution as God’s tool for creation.
I haven’t read the book, but will order it. His review includes some of the things my independent study has found, the first time I have seen them juxtaposed the same way. For instance he notes that Smith, with a Ph.D. in theology, was introduced to the idea of Genesis as an example of ancient Hebrew poetry, with the repetition of vowel and consonant sounds … alliteration and assonance … along with what Young calls the “rhyming thoughts” characteristic of Hebrew poetry. I found the same idea expressed in theological works, and thought it applied well to the content of Genesis chapters 1 – 3.
In addition, Smith evidently recounts the creation of light and the later creation of the sun, 4 days later, as evidence that the author was not working from a historical or scientific perspective. I go a bit farther in this regard, in that I believe any man advanced enough to put ink to paper knows the sun is the source of daylight: the allegorical and poetic nature of Genesis is not only there to be discovered, but it was purposeful and intentional.
Beyond the “class warfare” of the rabid atheists and the ID and Creationist proponents lies a common ground where truth can win out. Fair minded reviewers like Matt Young bring that knowledge to the “science side”. Who will bring it into the Sunday morning meetings?
