The Old Testament and Christian Spirituality - International Voices in ...

150 The Old Testament and Christian Spirituality
The essentials of the Darwinian proposal, that the adaptation
(or Darwin’s formulation, so as to escape the idea of progress:
“descent with modification”) 37 of plant and animal species to their
environments are at once random (natural deviances, we now know
from genetic origins) and selectively successful in nature (hence
heightening the chance of survival for that nonstandard strain of
that species in that terrain), 38 have often been popularly
misunderstood. 39 Within non-popular, that is, the broad scientific
community, evolution has become normal science (in the sense of
Kuhn), 40 forming a paradigm of understanding and explanation
that, though not perfect, 41 has been of value far beyond its original
biological parameters.
5. A More Common Creationism-Evolution Omelette
Quite naturally, attempts have been made to combine a literal
interpretation of Genesis 1* with evolution theory. In Christian
circles, by calling on 2 Pet 3:8, 42 and in Jewish circles, by calling
on the Talmud, 43 the most popular strategy has been to redefine the
~Ay of Genesis 1* as a very lengthy period of time, even though the
text itself does not give any such indications. In this way, even
37 Cf. Van Dyk, “Evolusie: die Misverstand tussen Teologie en Biologie,” 286.
38 Van Dyk, “So-called Intelligent Design in Nature,” 853–56; Branch, “The
Theory of Evolution,” 212–18.
39 Cf. J. W. van Huyssteen, Alone in the World? Human Uniqueness in Science
and Theology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006), 60–67; summarised in C. J. S.
Lombaard, “Wetenskap en Bybel Saamgeweef,” Beeld (By-bylaag) 4 Junie
2007: 13.
Online: http://152.111.1.88/argief/berigte/beeld/2007/06/04/B1/13/gvadam.html.
40 T. S. Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1962).
41 Van Dyk, “Evolusie: die Misverstand tussen Teologie en Biologie,” 281–82.
42 “o[ti mi,a h`me,ra para. kuri,w| w`j ci,lia e;th kai. ci,lia e;th w`j h`me,ra mi,a”.
43 Cf. e.g. N. Aviezer, In the Beginning... Biblical Creation and Science
(Hoboken, N.J.: KTAV, 1990), 1–2.