I never cease to be amazed by the beauty of the Ko'olau mountain range here on the island of Oahu. After a light rain or during a sunrise these mountains above the windward part of the island provide some of the most beautiful celestial displays and provide for pristine prayer opportunities.
I wonder how one could live admist such beauty and not hear creation declaring the wonder and splendor of its Creator. In this era of modern materialism there are those, like Epicuris did long ago, who look for a reason to eliminate God from the equation of creation.
I will be blogging over the next few months a series called 'Creation reveals your Majesty' . I will spend some time delving into different concepts in modern theological thought like 'Anthropological Principle' and 'The intelligent Design' movement to determine how they fit into the Catholic Cosmology and how they might add to our knowledge of God, the Church, and the human person . . . . . . .
As theologian Wolfhart Pannenberg pointed out in his work on the eschaton too many theologians these days forget to consider the importance of the metaphysical questions concerning God as well as the importance of surveying the sciences and nature to come to a greater understanding of God’s nature and natural theological truth. Catholics distinguish between theological truths knowable by natural reason (natural theology) and those knowable only through revelation (Sacred Scripture, Dogma, etc.) The Intelligent Design movement (ID) concerns the truths of the former and is very important because an obstacle to reason in relationship to natural theology often blocks openness to Revelation. It is hard to argue for a biblical truth to someone who believes that the universe is governed by chance.
Dr. Benjamin Wiker, a Ph.D. in Theological Ethics from Vanderbilt University, a college professor, and a avid writer is a one of the key players in the ID movement. In the articles he writes and the handful of books he has published , besides reiterating the flaws that scientists have found in the popular notions of evolution, he considers some interesting perspectives on how the theories of evolution have affected modern views on morality and scriptural exegesis. He also champions the idea of Anthropism, the concept that the universe was created especially for man. He writes in his proposal for his upcoming book The Meaningful Universe, in summary of the Anthropism, “ Nothing could be more embarrassing to the materialist’s view of the universe than discovering a growing number of indications that the universe was not a randomly generated possibility, but a cosmos fine-tuned for human-life – Not just the existence of human life, but also intelligible to human beings. Just as a Shakespearean play is not only about man but for man, so also the cosmos seems to have been created for man.”
The Christian, and specifically catholic implications of such a discovery are endless. An earth that science can show was specifically created for man implies a personable God. Furthermore it implies man created as a good, Created with thought and love from the Creator. I plan on showing why Dr. Wiker sees the specifically anthropological aspect of the ID movement as the key to seeing how the created universe implies a Catholic worldview. As the Catechism states: “God, infinitely blessed in Himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in His own blessed life.” (CCC1). Before doing that though, a survey of the Intelligent design as a whole is appropriate.
To be continued . . . (be on the lookout for part #2 of this series)
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