If we believe that the same God who created asn evolving universe is revealed in an evolving Bible, we can derive some fascinating insights from contemporary studies of genetics. Today's chickens, it turns out, still have the genetic information in their DNA that was used to produce long tails, scales, and teeth in their ancestors the dinosaurs. During embryonic development, some of those primitive dinosaur characteristics still manifest themselves in chicken. (Human embryos similarly have stages where they sport gills and tails, so it is said that our ontogeny recapitulates our phylogeny.) We might say that the Bible similarly retains the record of its own evolution, and in our individual spiritual development we may personally recapitulate earlier stages.
Brian McLaren, A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions that are Transforming the Faith (New York: HarperOne, 2010), 273.
It is tough to even know where to start with this quote. Do you start with the hopelessly outdated (Contemporary? Really?) and abandoned arguments for evolutation based on embryology? (I always knew that dinosaurs had something to do with my spiritual formation. I just could never figure out precisely what. Thanks!) Do you start with the retreaded developmental hypotheses of source criticism? I have not read the entire book in question, so I don't want to be unfair or uncharitable to McLaren, but I was under the impression that he was a prominant voice for the emerging movement. So why is he acting so modern by restating all of their old arguments?
2 comments:
Chad,
McLaren is a leader in the emerging movement. His arguments or basis for "truth" are based on overintellectualizing everything he comes into contact with. I had several friends read this book and fall away from their faith. I have read "Everything Must Change" and thought that he had some good thoughts, but his foundation was poor to say the least. Emerging theology is heretical at best, and destructive at its worst. Never is Scripture consulted when he or Tony Jones begins to make a "new" hypothesis.
I was just waiting for him to start talking about "spiritual memes." I suppose we're still a few years away from that sort of thing..
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