Chilling Christian expression

Go Tigers!

One can have empirical observation but no general theory of evolution because the sequence of forms is a mystery; it just is there and you cannot explain it by any theory. The world cannot be explained. It is a mythical problem, so you have a strong element of myth in the theory of evolution.

Delightful, LarryLied! I hadn't seen this from Voegelin before. I suppose in a way the theory of evolution is an attempt at myth-making. But in a way, it's a funny kind of myth, for it symbolizes a funny sort of "reality" -- a reality assumed to be purely phenomenal; there's nothing more to it than sense perception can tune into.

Myths have always been about "filling in the gaps" of human existential experience/knowledge. No finite, contingent creature -- man -- can know all there is to know. He "turns on the great wheel of life," so to speak; he himself does not make the wheel turn of his own power (or preference).

The funny thing about the Darwinist myth, however, is its seeming stipulation that whatever the theory cannot account for simply does not exist. It's a "closed" myth, so to speak, while the great myths of the human past have been "open"...to the mysterious All in which we all participate....

Still, we may regard it as a myth in the sense that it does contruct a world view that its adherents find both coherent and satisfying.

Thanks, LL, for pointing me to a new Voegelin site!!! best, bb.

Thank you. FR is great. I debated whether I needed to explain that "myth" is not a derogatory term but decided freepers would get it. And you not only knew, you explained why it isn't better than I could.

Got any more Voegelin sites? I've only recently run across him.

DL>(as if creationism is inherently incompatible with science)

g>Actually, it is.

3 posted on 4/29/02 11:31 PM Mountain by gcruse

Not if you have read Gerald L. Schroeder in either of his two books.

Gerald L. Schroeder BS,MS, Ph.D from MIT

Genesis and the Big Bang : The Discovery of Harmony Between Modern Science and the Bible

The Science of God : The Convergence of Scientific and Biblical Wisdom

Baruch HaShem Adonai Yeshua HaMashiach

Praise the Holy Name of the L-rd Jesus the Christ

chuck <truth@Y'shuaHaMashiach>

Thank you, LarryLied. You said you've only recently found Voegelin. Here's a great site that gets you around ERIC VOEGELIN 's prolific writings.

Voegelin is usually classified as a philosopher of history. To me, the term doesn't begin to do him justice. He is (among other things) a profound philosopher of consciousness, in the manner of Plato and Aristotle. I've been reading him for 16 years now -- found him shortly after he died, in 1985, on the basis of a single citation in another work (it was E.R. Dodds as I recall, The Greeks and the Irrational). The quote goes directly to the subject you raised today; and the rest, as they say, is history:

"The myth remains the legitimate expression of the fundamental movements of the soul."

I later found that quote in his Order and History.

Certainly, to Plato, the myth was not something "false" or "untrue," the meaning it has acquired in our positivist, phenomenalist age.... Certainly that is not the meaning that Voegelin attaches to it.

He's a wonderful, challenging, teacher. :^) I love him dearly, and recommend him highly! best, bb.

Here's another good Voegelin site. There's a "Dictionary of Voegelinian Terminology" and some outlines of his works that are most helpful.

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

I have no doubt that many who urge the strict "separation of church and state" sincerely (though mistakenly) believe that they are acting as foot soldiers for the framers of the Constitution. Others are purely hostile to religion – particularly Christianity – and use perverted constitutional interpretation as just one of many tools in undermining the Christian worldview and policies flowing from it.

I think there are more in the latter category. Much more.

I hate pseudo-intellectualism also. One of my favorite authors ever—Ernest Van den Haag—wrote on crime and political issues. He was a sharp man, but he wrote so clearly and concisely, and with a great wry wit. Many "intellectuals" are just bags of hot air (perhaps because of their haughty elitism?).

Bump

For later reading.