Friday, September 19, 2008

Church of England Apologizes to Darwin




Church of England apologises to Darwin

Anglican Church’s neo-Chamberlainite appeasement of secularism

Published: 20 September 2008(GMT+10)

Creation on the Web

This weekend’s feedback is in response to a number of queries about the Church of England (Anglicans) officially apologizing to Darwin. However, they don’t speak for all attenders of this church, since many of them are still faithful to Scripture and are appalled by their ‘leaders’. There are numerous mistakes in the article by the official CoE representative, a Rev. Dr Malcolm Brown, on the official CoE website, and Jonathan Sarfati replies point-by-point.

Good religion needs good science
by Rev Dr Malcolm Brown, Director of Mission and Public Affairs Church of England

The trouble with homo sapiens is that we’re only human. People, and institutions, make mistakes and Christian people and churches are no exception.

Indeed, as the CoE has officially shown with this craven apology—as if apologies for the past are meaningful, given that both Darwin and those who allegedly wronged him are long dead. And who does he really speak for? Certainly not the large numbers of Anglicans who still believe the Bible.

When a big new idea emerges which changes the way people look at the world, it’s easy to feel that every old idea, every certainty, is under attack and then to do battle against the new insights.
Such superficial psychologization may be touching, but in reality, philosopher Daniel Dennett calls Darwinism a universal acid that ‘eats through virtually every traditional concept’—mankind’s most cherished beliefs about God, value, meaning, purpose, culture, morality—everything.

The church made that mistake with Galileo’s astronomy, and has since realised its error.

The church indeed made a mistake with Galileo … adopting the prevaling scientific framework of the University Aristotelians, and adjusting their theology to fit.

It can get tedious to see compromising churchians trot out the Galileo affair as an excuse for their compromise. The church indeed made a mistake with Galileo, but exactly the opposite of what Brown thinks. The church’s trouble was adopting the prevailing scientific framework of the University Aristotelians, and adjusting their theology to fit. When Galileo challenged the prevailing scientific framework, his scientific enemies persuaded the Church that he was attacking the Bible, which he was not.

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GJ - This is no time for tongue-clucking. The American Lutherans have not been able or willing to teach Luther's doctrine. Creation by the Word is foundational for all Christian theology. Teaching against Creation runs parallel to advocacy for soi-disant abortion and homosexual rights.