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It Is Written Canada

Chris Holland

Without Compromise

God's book, the Bible, still relevant in today's complex world.

It is written, sharing messages of hope around the world.

Dear friends, thank you so much for choosing to watch It Is Written.

You know, 1 compromise that has been suggested between creationism and Darwinism is something called theistic evolution.

So here's a question, why not compromise?

It would seem to make sense to try to merge science and the Bible.

Wouldn't it just help us pastors and scientists to just get along nicely and compromise?

You know, to help answer these questions and sort this all out, I'm joined by Dr.

Standish, thank you for joining us again.

Standish, we've talked about in previous shows where you're from and what you do, but you are the senior scientist for the Geoscience Research Institute.

And so maybe just briefly tell us, what does the Geoscience Research Institute do?

Well, the Geoscience Research Institute is an institute.

It's located, it's in a building in Southern California.

But we are a group of scholars who are interested in the interface between science and faith.

What kind of compromises might be possible as we seek harmony between these 2 different ways of knowing in our lives.

And so that's sort of the mission that we have in seeking.

I teach classes in Africa and also in Asia at various universities.

We also maintain active research programs.

It sounds like you are doing quite a bit.

And in fact, you have a website that is full of resources where people can look at some of the research you're doing and some of the different events that are happening around the world.

Where might someone find that information?

Standish, it sounds like you might be the perfect individual here to have this discussion and we've had a number of previous discussions on the issue of origins and If you have happened to miss any of our shows on origins, you can go to our YouTube channel, youtube.com forward slash IIW Canada.

And there you can find a number of conversations that Dr.

Standish, we have the biblical account of origins, we have Darwinian evolution, why not just marry those together?

Can we just not compromise and marry those 2 together?

Well, there are very good reasons not to.

Really what's going on in much of this discussion has to do with simply a wrong understanding of what the questions are.

Frequently we talk about creation versus evolution.

And we think about things in in those terms.

So we're looking for a compromise between creationism, which is a belief, and evolution, which is science.

And under those circumstances, I mean, who's not going to go with science?

Because somebody's beliefs should be influenced.

This is sort of the way that people think about these things commonly, or alternatively, they say, well, we reject science and we're going with faith.

Really, when we're talking about these issues, we're talking about creationism and Darwinism, 2 belief systems, 2 beliefs.

So it's that way you are comparing apples with apples.

It depends very much on your definitions and so on.

Doesn't mean that it's right to be scientific.

Whereas Darwinism is a philosophical, it's a religious system, basically.

Now, when you have 2 very different religious systems, you don't get compromise between them that is going to make believers on either side particularly happy.

Now, theistic evolution is basically the idea that God used the process of Darwinian evolution to produce the organisms that we see around us and particularly human beings.

And so just to kind of put it in some of the terms that you and I have used previously, and you threw out a term there real quick.

So theistic evolution is kind of the attempt in simplicity's sake of marrying 2 belief systems of creationism and Darwinism and outcomes, theistic evolution.

And we've used these terms plan and planner, design, designer.

And so theistic evolution says there is a designer that has set forth a plan, but that plan is achieved through this Darwinian mechanism.

Because in reality, when you're discussing these things with people who are advocates of some of these positions, what you find out is that getting a nice general definition is very hard to do.

Sometimes it reminds me of the sound of music.

How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?

Trying to pin down the exact meaning can be quite difficult in conversations.

So it's important if we are talking about these things with specific individuals, that we understand what it is they actually do believe.

Because we might argue something that's completely irrelevant to their belief system.

So it is a little bit of a catch-all thing, but definitely you have God involved and the process of Darwinian evolution.

Those 2 things are pretty much core to theistic evolution.

Now, and I'm gonna ask you an odd question because some people might say I'm advocating theistic evolution, but is there evidence that actually supports the idea of theistic evolution?

It depends on who you ask, but seeing as you're asking me, my answer is no.

And this is possibly the most profound problem that I have with theistic evolution.

It is not biblical, and it certainly isn't scientific.

It just, it's kind of a, from, in my mind, 1 of those compromises that doesn't work for anybody.

And yet, for some reason or other, it is still reasonably popular.

Now, that may be because some people have figured out a way of formulating things that kind of works for them.

But from my personal perspective, I don't see the evidence from either source, science or the Bible, to really justify this strange belief.

So, let's unpack that just a little bit and then we're going to get into, because there's actually a very major religious figure that talks about evolution and we want to talk a little bit about that.

And again, we've done a lot of shows that would help someone understand why you've just said what you've said.

But maybe just to unpack it slightly, You said that theistic evolution is neither biblical nor is it scientific.

Why would you say theistic evolution, first and foremost, is not scientific?

Because it invokes a God, but a God who commonly his action is not detectable in some way.

It's a very common aspect of theistic evolution or belief in theistic evolution that the actions of God cannot be detected in his creation.

So while he may be active, sometimes people say, well it's in the quantum uncertainty that we have with atoms or something like that.

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Without Compromise

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