Where Faith and Reason Clash - Alvin Plantinga

7/24/2019 Where Faith and Reason Clash - Alvin Plantinga

1/14

,

SPECIAL ISSUE: CREATIONIEVOLUTION AND FAITH

NOTES

PROM

THE

EDITOR

INTRODUCTION TO

THE

SPECIAL

ISSUE

SYMPOSIUM: EVOLUTION AND

THE BIBLE

Alvin P l a n t 1 n g a , ~ , I E i . ' f a n d ' i : . : f Q I 1 ~ I W J 3 i J o l U J . o n ~

_ Wi

Howard

J Van Till,

When

Faith and

Re4son

Cooperate

Pattle Pun, Response

to Professor

Plantitlga

Eman

McMullirI, P u : m t i n g ~ ' s Defense

o

Special Creation

Alvin Planfinga,

Evolution Neutrality and Antecedent

Probahftity Reply

1

Van

Till

and

McMullin

REVmW

R F R S

FOR

VOLUME XX ,3 '

XXI l


2/14

~ ~ P O S I U M

"

8

When Faith and Reason O a s h ~

Evolution

and

the Bible

Sy Alvin Planting'

My qUestiDO t

mpl how

shall

We ChrisUan$

d.,l

with appartnt .olute tWlland l I . g l a n c ~ . 8ul we

are

equoUy

enthu.lo.tic aboul rtl 5{I",' God-given

pow.rby

virtue

01

wlrlch

we

have

knnwl,dg.

of our . v, Our world, OUr pasl, logic and I I \ . t h ~ m a U C , right

,nd

wwng, and God himself; rea",n ls one of the chief

f o ,

0/ Ih. Imago of

God

10

us.

And if

we.re

. lhu.I .lk aboul "'05< enthu.ra..tic

~ b o u t ronl'ttlporary natural .dence, which ts a powerful and

va.tly

Iml'Te$Slve

m . I I . ~ I t l o n of reason. So

this

i my que.tlon, given our

Reformed

prodlvlHes

and tnts apparent

c n r u c ~

whal ates it;

i n ' p i ' ~ t i o n

from " " n r e m p o ' ~ r y pny,ks.

To ovtrsimpHly .harnd,;>ly, Ih".

f, J

problo'll' lighl

erns

10

dlspi.y oolh thu

properti'"

of. w,vtll\ .

mudlum and ,Iso th. propcrtic . of somethinG/h.1 come.

in partida. And

or

w U t ' t ~ the problem i : th:Jt

lhl. "se'

properties are not HKE', s.)},.

beinlgr'''' .nd beiNg "j""Tkh by way

of

territorial

division,

lIke

that

until recently b i t v . ~ n East and West Gtman},1 for instance. \ cJe a$sign some

of

the

oonceplual terrifry to f.ith and xriptUtC, and some

GI

it

Il)

r SOn and

:

to )1r/l lJ1

fmc ;>f (0

=ltlU$

r o n c ~ m i n g

how

things w ~ .

gone

In

the

COStl\OS

sino. the

~ P ? " " " " ' c e

f hu)Jl.l1J1

bemS". Van

Till

U",{t, hi:

approv;a of th. s . p p n : > ~ d for Vert govd ",.son;

tJhrt

.., g " , : , ~ < l a i ~ , the

ront too old, proposed at one lime to

",crllk, ls.aAc In ob.di.:,.ec to the Lord, and 50 on, Even mGr, imFortant, the Bibl.

tell; u&

aboutJ0,.rlo>

to itH.nlra tne_g.: built "Iso tells

u. mud

.1"" aboul Christ. We leWll what h.

did, he I'ruched And taught, ;>Ih';r mu.clos

reported n Scripture,

11


4/14

,

-

So

we

c ~ n ' t

.Iarl, I think, by ded,ring that the teachings of ",ntemporary

.;{.

,.scleoco

lnnot. death"

"'sueredloM,

Qnd

thou""n. other thlngs.

LeI'.

look a little

deepor. A$ ev.ryan.

knows, tho" r e v a r i o ~ . l n t e U . c t u ~ 1 or

cogniHvt p o W e t b ~ b e H d ~ p r o d u d n g m ~ d H m u ; m 5

or

p c w ~ .rious

Ottrt;:Ci

of

peUd and knowledge. For "".mple. there are P'''''ption, memory, "Qu",lon, and

testlmony, or

what

We [earn Irom olhers. The ..

is

abo rea>on, .aken nanowly ".

the 'Ouroo

ollogk

and m'l'hematic$, and . . """ I.ken IIlOre 'broadly i1$lI\cllldlng

percepllon, testimony and roth i n d ~ < t l ' e and deductive proc . . . : it . ~ _ n

taken Ihl. bro.der way

Ihal s

the

""O"'e

of

.done .

Hut Ihe serious Christian

will

all>:>

lake

our gra.p 01 Scrlptu,..

to be

" proper

0 \ of

kIlowledge and

IU$tifi.d

belie .

Just

how d.,., Stian, """ dis.agre. os

to

whot

the

te.chlng ofJo11'U other

way

mut alway.

be

resolved In favor the

furmef.

Sadly

enough, we bolve

no

gworantee

that

on

every

point o ~ r

grasp

01

what Scripture

teacn., Is " m l c t ; hence It Is pcwkl.g. Brill

Hi$lo'll

ojn (New York: Bantam Moo",

1938).

pp, 115 a

.,


5/14

, . c n f h . t i ~ n Schol.u RtvJtw

14

, As [s;>ld sb" ...

we

dgwel\t:s

ore

nol oIrnpl)'

o >t>/QU;I, aT

inmwble. or such

Ihl ,t

"'yone

with

any

$eI13e

wllJ

aulom.lleally be obllged Ie egr.e,

IL F.ilh alld E""lulion

So

I

ClJ\

properly correct my

\ ; ,V

as

to

wrn.t "'son

lenl to

tum dl ectly

to tbe

p ~ t proble""

tne apparnt disparity hetw..,n

what

Scrip-

1te lUll science tea.;h us about the anSin illld development of Ufe. Like

lU\y

g90d

Christi"", Reformed

ptueh


6/14

..

'16

,c ,A. 1 O r ~ I i Q n rtJigio 'ly Nw ruli

C h r l ~ ( . b n S c h o l u ~ Rev ' w

A"ordlng

10

a popular contemporary myth, sdenee is

cool,

r"",on.d,

wholly diopos.ional. atlemp

tl)

l i g u T ~

oul the

trulh ab

...ham

KUyper, Hermon

Dooybo,l[ Inform.lwn

Iflnsfor vlolatl.rts rdollvklte

. the other

f o o ~

It

I.

the devolees 01

"",Iutlon who

sometimes ""press

the

{e",

that

public dhcusston or

doubl'

and diffi

,bored

Wil.y

of understanding

our;;e v,",

at tile

de.p level of ... Igl01l, d ~ . p Inletpret. fun 01 ourselves to oUISeI",., a way of

t ~ U l t 1 g

us why

woUl ",.Mln 1010

' , ,p i Ih, 4 . l h ,

11.

i

'lU


7/14

:..

C h n s t l ~ n

511.

tfltGln ""

. . as litmus

losl to distinguish

th.

isnrant fund,ment.Ust, from the prop.ely enllghl"".d

0)8'"""""/1; Jt {uncnons in th ,e ....y in mllI'y

of

the

d.bal

1n and out of the

court., " 10 whether

t

should be taugltl

in the ""hools,

whether

othe.>: vie".

should

be

given equ.l tim., and

the

Ilk. h u ~ Mlch

1 "the light agaln.t

creationism

Is

fight fo, all kIlow]edge, and

th.t

battle Com b. won if we All work

lQ:see

th.1

D,"";,, ,m. whkh has had a great" " has

an Wen

greater f u l u r ~ . " n

Th. . . . .

~ . ]

point

he", is r e ~ U y D.wkln.' point: D.rwinlsm, the Gr.nd

EvoluHoMry S t ~ r y , make, It

poS>ible

to b. all inlellectually fulliU.d lU1clst. Whal

he mean. Is ,impl. ""ugh, If you are Chrisl .",

or

a theisl of some other ldnd,

you

hav

TOady

an.WOr

10 Ih.

question. how dId

it

aU happen? How is

It

thai

th,re .,..

all Inc

Idnd$ of flo,

. . and Iilunas w.

behold; now dId they all get

h ~ r e 1

TOe

'nower, ",f tou",., s Ih'l they

h.ve

been

ae.teo by

the Lord,

But If

)Iou are

not a

bcllevor in God, thIngs

. t< enonnously mote difficult. How did

aU

the.e

thing.

get h

. .

Haw

did

Ufe

get ,tarted and how did It

come

00 ,ssume

its

pr . . t multifarious lomt.l It seom, monumentaUy implausible to Ihlnk the

fonn. just popp.d Into

. .

lenco;

th.1 SO., contrary

to

all

OUT

""peri.nee.

So

how

dId

II happen? Athel,m and

Secularism

Med

an

al'l$wor to IhU quesllon. And the

Grand

t ; : " " I ~ t l o n ' r y

Story gtves Ihe

.nswer:

;omehow life .roo. from nonliving

matt.r

by

way of I1\1TOly natural ",ean, and

In

,ceord wUh

the

fund'm.ntol L>W

01 phy5 CS; Md

n'

life slartea, aU he v.st profusIon (;/ contemporary ptant and

,n m.lllle

arose trom thos, .arly an. . . oS worms, coral,

"",d :hals sltn\LIr to D . r w i ~ s proposals,

FlrulJy,

there is the da. m that

We Itself developed hom non-Uvlng matt., without

My

special c .... live activity 01

God b ~ t W I

by virtue

of

tht ordInary laws

of

physL;$ omd cl"'ml.s\ry: call thI.; the

N a l w ' R l i s l ~ Origins Thais, Thes. five

theses

.r;:,of ClJurse lmportanily dIU.,...n

from

~ a J ; h

other.

Tiley

.. e I>lso logk.ny

Indep; ndent

In

pairs,

ex5"

"D. """u",

0'1' ', pp,

ll.6-'l7. _ L ' ' ' . v . o ~ u t o n . . ract and

TOwry" In

/1,"', T


8/14

.

:1:0.

.

mo hold .ensibly Ihat the

e . , t ~ is

young. Thero

I.

less ....

Id.nce,

but.1lI

good tvld n

In

the fossil

reoord

for Ihe Prog,.. . Th.,I" Ihe

claim

that Ihere

'.r.

b,cterl. berort

fi,h,

/ish b.lo", "pUles, '.ptll before

mammals,

and

role.

b.furt

men

(or

womb,t,

before

women,

for

th.

l.m niJ;i,

in

the crowd). The

thlrd

""d fourth theses, the CQmmon

Ancestry

and O;uwini;>n Thtse, .... wh.t Is

eommonly and popUlarly id.nUned with e v o l ~ t l o n ; .lIall r.turn to them

In

a

m O f l 1 ~ n t .

The /out1h t"esis, 0/ cou".,

i,

no mO,e lik.ly than the Hurd. ,l"".

it

toclud

. .

lb. thiN and propose. a m""haniJ;m

to

.J'l aenealogical relatednn that Is

. . inn y

established as

the feV it

develop. (0,.. who held this view could

also

hold

thilt

Goo e, God (QuId have donelhipg l

very

ditierently. H. hils

H"TheTh,ory

01

" o l . ~ " " , Rectnl

Svcc. . . . . Mid

Chall.ng

.

"

In lv/1 .nd

C'''''/''n,..J.

m,n McMullln

(Notre

Dune: IJnlnr$lty 01

Noh.

Om.P'

... 1995),

p.

60.

I ~ E v o l v t t o n i\$

Fact

~ n d

Thtory" in

H(jJ s

TedJr

4 R ( I , ~ ' j

Teo

NtW

Yor],t:

W.

W.

Norton

and C""'P'"y, 19i1Ol. pp. 2Sf,..Ss.

If,'''Sv( htHQ"uy BI01Qgy

j.fld tht

Study of

Human

N"'ture/'

prt'Sf'htOQ

t


9/14

"

created mailer

.nd

energy wlth

Iheir

tend,ndes 10 beh.ve

in

~ " r t . l n

woy>-w'ys

'Um",.d

up

In tn.

laws

of

h y s i ~ b u t

perhaps th.", law, are nQI such that given

enough tim., Uf, would .ulom.H"Uy arise, Perh,p' he did sometblng dilleronl

,na .p.dal ln

the

cr

Uon

of life. Perh.p. h. dId $OmeUslng dlffer.nland

_peelal

in

a.atlng

the

v.riOUs

klnd.

of

.nimob and pl.nt>.

Peth,p.

h. did somelhlng

differ.nt and

$ p , . ; i ~ l l n

In.

no.Hon of human beIng'. Perh.ps

in

these c.ses hi.

act;"n with ""pect to

wh.t

he /I... crealed wos dilfererot from the ways in which

Il. ordin.rlly Ir

> ,hem,

How

.h.ll

we decide whiehe

these

is Initially the mor.likolyl That

i$

not

,n

."Y qoe,tlon. It I> ;mporlant

In "'"ember, however,

lh.t

lhe LQrd I ;u; not merely

lell

tne O>smo,

It> d

...

op according to an loill.1 croaUon ana

.u;

{nUW set

01

ph)" ,"ll.,.,. Accord[ng tQ

Scriptu

..... h. ha, ofton Int"",ened in the worldng of

his

. ~ I i k e

..ptc 10 filld

tnon

Iho oldt.

tho5< Io.mou.llriUsh

molh, dJdn', produce a new

.ped . there

were betlt dark light

:not'" IJ'Qu:'ICI

before the dark ane. ooming

pn dOln;note

whon the mdwmal revolution

depo,{ted layer

of

sool on

tr m",. visible.

to

pred.lor;. MaN broadly, while th.,,,

Is

wid

. m e n l

th,t there I, such.

t ~ g

as

mkroevolutlon, the quesrt"" I, whether we cm extrapol.te to m . ~ o " l i c n .

with the claIm

that

e"ough mlcroevolutlon

con

account

for the

ell


10/14

__ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~ C ~ h n ~ ' < ~ I I ~ . ~ n ~ S ~ ' n ~ . ~ I . ~ ' ~ . ~ R ~ . V ~ l ~ < ~ ~ '

'. )4 .:"

.'

10 Ihink no ;

Ine"

seem, '" be HOrl of . n ~ l o p ~ 0( limited "ariohilily.urround.

.... ' . . ing a

sped",

and tl' nN'

"Ialive

Artilkl. s.lecli(ln can produc.: . . ry.

Next,

thore

Is th. argument f,em the fossil record: hUI . . Gould hirn. . 1

point:;

" u ~ tile

fonil

rl,m,

how

d"", the ten.,

lor ~ p l e get develQPe< by Ine p r o p o ~ d me.ns-"

.

dom &'Inetlc vwt\on

and natu",t Jetoetlan-whe" ot Ihe . .

me

lime thOle has 10 be d.""lol'ment of the

opHe n.""e, the rcl.vlIni

mus, the lvds and .tuzal seloctlon b opemdV1 .) Darwin hi.rn$eli wrote,

"To

suppose thal the

rye,

wJth

aU

Its

Wmlt.ble ,ontrivan,

....

"rowd

havo been Ionn.,)

by

natu.r.1

",I.cllon $'.ms absurd

In

the hlghe.1 degr . ' "When J Ihin):; of h. eye. 1

shudder" he .'li d

(3-4),

And the{omplexHy

"I the eye Is

enormously g".ter than

wo;

known in Darwin's tilf

W. are never, of course, giv.n the/Uluat"plaNl1on

of

the evolution (;1 the

ey., tne aCllUll.volutlonAry l>lstory oitii, eyo (or brainOr h.nd Or whatevcr), That

would t.ke the form, In that orlginal

populotiQIl of

ey .. ;:$' til. fanns, genes A,h.

mutated (due to s o m ~ perhaps ur.'p.e lli.d "U Ie). le.dlng t

ad.pt ively benelid"J; thebe.""

of

A,-A. 11."" had

. advantage Ol'Id < : a m ~ to domiNtethe popul>tlon. Then senes lI,-B, mutated in

individual

or

two, and the

.am.

thIng h'ippened agatn; then gen. C,-C,..

OIIC

Nor

are

we

""tn

given any po

. .

bUiI

. .

01

these

wrts.

c ao

rouldn', be.

sinCl:.

for

most ge" . w< don't know enough about Iheir lunctions.) W einstead iJ:


11/14

)

" .

.

- ....

-

26 mentionod .bove, but broad m.rro;coplc scen.rio.: wh.t Gould calb "JU,I'SO

storic. .'"

And the ....1 preblem

i

thai we

don',

know how

to ev.Iu.te

th.s

lgS"-

1100. To know how

to

do

till

(in lb. eft 01 the eye, say), w. should have

to

start

wltb :;ern. ppul.Uon

of

.nlm.1s Withoul eye.: and then we should Mv.

to

know

Ih. rat 1 which mul.tlon, eccur tor th.1 population; the proporllOfi 01 Ihose

mutations Ih.t.", on one of Iho,,' path:< Ihrough th.t 'P'" to Ih. tion, But

wiolog/cll ly

p"",lbk.

(Whether every e"en ...umber

Is

the

.um

of two

pril""

\$ on cp ... ques\ on;

heru:.

il is op"temi"lIy po&siblo thot every ""en

n"",borls the sum of two prime" and .1'0 oplstemlrn

nontheistic pmp.ctive,

Ih"

firsl hypolhesls will b

hypothesis a


12/14

:28,

. ~ Q r M 1 0 n

an,.; ,y'

it is hard to

toink

of

any

other

teol

pos'ilbHity. The

only

.lternativos, opparently, would be crea u,"" popping into .xisten," lutly formed;

nd

th.1 ;$

whQlly cnnirary

to

our

.l>lly

more conl.nno", daim 110,,1 of .J th, .c.l Cod h3,

ereoted IU.

on

earth and ",uld have dOM it In

TMnY

dUf ... nt woys. "UllMtural,

Sdencc,"

"CrNtlon Sciene"," '''Theistlc

Sdence"-allit wh;n

you

will:

wn.it we

n

d when we won

to

know

how

10

til",).: about the origin and develop"''''' o[

rontempora.ry fife 1$ ",halls mo.l

plausrt>le

nom l Christian point

Ji

view.

What

we

need s sclentillc account of

lire

(hallsn't re.trlcted

by

tha, m e l ~ O < I o l o g l c a l

nlltur.tlim.

Co

What

Sltould

Chris/Ian lnl,-""d

>inC>

"'e

are they, how .::an ~

~

Ih. Cbrutlon Olllllllunity. the Reformed co",

munl/y of which we a 'l port. and, mOfe Importantly, the broad.r sener1l1

Chrlstian

cOll\ll\unltyi

One'

thillS

OIlr I'ahle

law.

of

I1\atht1l\atlcs, afte,

only 60,000 Y.''''

or

$/), thm would

have betn >


13/14

I 30

OuuUJn Scholar. l t t v l c ~

But

I'd like

10

sUI>S,'rldge

UAi,.,,,lty Press, 19112).

--S C1I

0111'

I. tht Origin

oj ~ i f

(Cambridge: u.mbridS

rcspo_ wilt

con",,,, tho.e

",cas where there

Is

some ement and those matters

that

need

turlher

develQpmcnl. Even in thi> end. r I shall n ~ v e to be both selective

.nd

btlef,

A. faith,

Re n

on4

Cnnflkt

hAW long been $D,ely

""".d

the fr'quell0 wiUI which tne

wam",

metapho,

h'$ been

crnplo),ed

in

t

dt;.l:us.t""

of

In

relallon.h p

01 ,",Mal

sd. and

Christian belief.

And y hrlt.tlon seem. 10

b i",."or>iblyamplified

tach

Hme I ob

.

"'e

Ih. proP"

fil.

01

"ae>t on.;denc.' ' the preach,

. o[

modull W

. . o", natlmli,m... ".nlly encourage OM

.notH In the P

Where Faith and Reason Clash - Alvin Plantinga

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Transcript of Where Faith and Reason Clash - Alvin Plantinga