Jesus Creed Admin: November 2008 Archives

This post is from our scientist friend, RJS. She often blogs about science subjects here at Jesus Creed.

I (RJS) have been accused on occasion, on this blog as a matter of fact, of arrogance for dismissing the young earth arguments and simply asserting an old earth as fact.  First I plead guilty and apologize.  My husband, who is neither a scientist nor a professor, claims that arrogance or self-confidence is the one universal trait and requirement for the job.  He should know - he's lived with me for 20+ years and socialized with more scientists and professors than is fair to require of any outsider. 

I was listening recently to a recording of a public conversation between two Old Testament scholars, Dr. Peter Enns and Dr. Stephen Chapman, held at Duke and advertised as Is the Bible Ever Wrong?  It is a fascinating conversation - well worth the time.  At one point during the evening Dr. Chapman was reflecting on the difficulty of the Old Testament in the evangelical church and evangelical scholarship and asked if it is too strong to suggest that there is a conspiracy of silence in our churches.  We all, especially scholars and pastors, know that there are serious issues and questions, but most of the time we dare not talk about it because the topic is highly threatening and controversial.  Textual criticism, archaeology, history, science, - all of these subjects have made it difficult to read or study the old testament, except in isolated bits and pieces.

On the Jesus Creed we have been engaged in a brief discussion of original sin using Henri Blocher's book Original Sin: Illuminating the Riddle (New Studies in Biblical Theology) as a guide. This series is part of an ongoing attempt to wrestle with key doctrines of the Christian faith and the implication that our modern scientific understanding of the world may have on our articulation and understanding of these doctrines.  The first installment in this series considered the science and why Adam, Eve, and the Fall may be topics of some contention, the second installment considered Blocher's approach to the Genesis account of creation and the Fall, and the third installment looked at Romans 5 and considered the intent of Paul in this passage.  In this last installment we wish to look in a little more detail at Blocher's proposal on original sin. Blocher considers Adam as a historical individual and the Fall as an important event - but suggests that the teaching of Paul in Romans 5 is not emphasizing the imputation of Adam's guilt on mankind but the role of Adam in making the judicial treatment of sin possible for all mankind - that Romans 5:13-14 are key in understanding Paul's argument.