Karl Giberson: October 2008 Archives

Dear Ken:

I am enjoying our exchange very much and appreciate the civility of our conversation, which is on an often hostile topic that generates ad hominem attacks. I believe we are successfully exploring representative positions rather than simply having a contest to see who can out-argue the other.

Let me start with your most interesting question: You ask me how I can be "absolutely certain" when I say "I don't believe we have absolute certainty anywhere...." I think I am obligated to say here that I am not "absolutely certain" about this! What I would say, rather, is that there is no evidence that humans have access to any absolute sources of truth. And absolute truth is such an extraordinary and even dangerous claim that we should have some compelling motivation before we assume we have it in our grasp.

Dear Ken:

Thanks for a most civil and constructive response. Your post is in marked contrast to the atheist PZ Myers' venomous response on his blog to my suggestion on Salon that evolution and belief in God were compatible. I would say that the atheists are much more uncomfortable with this discussion than the religious believers!

While we certainly grew up on opposite sides of the planet, our childhood faith experiences were very similar. Perhaps that is a basis for a mutual understanding over the course of this debate. While I disagree with you in places, I certainly understand exactly where you are coming from.

In my own Christian journey, I have become convinced that we must take God's revelation in nature seriously. In fact, I think that we cannot understand the Bible unless we do. Let me provide some historical examples that illustrate what I mean:

Dear Ken,

I'm glad you've agreed to this exchange. This topic is perennial, but I imagine you share my view that it's also urgent and essential. With that in mind, I'll dive right in--first, to make some general observations on the nature of the creationism vs. evolution debate, and second to offer specific scientific reasons why I embrace evolution.

Karl Giberson is the director of the Forum on Faith and Science at Gordon College and the former editor of the magazine Science and Spirit. His most recent book is Saving Darwin: How to Be a Christian and Believe in Evolution (take a peek inside the book here). He has published over a hundred articles, reviews, and essays, both technical and popular, and written three additional books: Worlds Apart: The Unholy War Between Science and Religion (1993), Species of Origins: America's Search for a Creation Story (2002, with ENC historian Don Yerxa), and Oracles of Science: Celebrity Scientists Versus God and Religion (2007, with Spanish physicist/philosopher and priest, Mariano Artigas). Worlds Apart is the only book on the controversial topic of evolution published by the denominational press of the conservative Church of the Nazarene.