Systematic Theology, by Louis Berkhof - New Leaven

thus creates very much as the artist creates. It is directive and purposive and yet,
though conscious, does not work according to a preconceived plan, however that may
be possible. It determines evolution itself as well as the direction in which evolution
moves. This ever creating life, “of which every individual and every species is an
experiment,” is Bergson’s God, a God who is finite, who is limited in power, and who is
seemingly impersonal, though Hermann says that “we shall, perhaps, not go far wrong
in believing that he will be ‘the ideal tendency of things’ made personal.” 80 Haas speaks
of Bergson as a vitalistic pantheist rather than a theist. At any rate, his God is a God that
is wholly within the world. This view may have a special appeal for the modern liberal
theologian, but is even less in harmony with the narrative of creation than theistic
evolution.
QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY. What is the real alternative to the doctrine of
creation? Wherein lies the importance of the doctrine of creation? Should the first
chapters of Genesis be allowed to have any bearing on the scientific study of the origin
of things? Does the Bible in any way determine the time when the world was created?
What extremes should be avoided as to the relation of God and the world to each other?
Should the Bible always be interpreted in harmony with widely accepted scientific
theories? What is the status of the hypothesis of evolution in the scientific world today?
What is the characteristic element in the Darwinian theory of evolution? How do you
account for its widespread repudiation at the present time? How does Bergson’s
Creative Evolution or the Neo-vitalism of Hans Driesch affect the mechanistic view of
the universe? In what respect is theistic evolution an improvement over naturalistic
evolution?
80 Eucken and Bergson, p. 163.
178