Gerald Bray writes in God Is Love (67–68):
Today it is fashionable to point to the case of Galileo (1564–1642), who was persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church for his scientific beliefs. Few people pause to consider the fact that Galileo was condemned not because he opposed the teaching of the Bible but because he had revealed the inadequacy of the ancient Greek science which the church mistakenly regarded as equally infallible. The real lesson from that and other similar episodes is not that the Bible is wrong but that Christians must not commit themselves to any scientific theory as if it were absolute truth or build a theological system on what might one day turn out to be shifting sand.
I think Bray has a point here that should be considered by Pete Enns, Daniel Kirk, and others who talk as though evolution is the fact in light of which the Bible must be read.
Creation, Galileo, Evolution, and the Bible http://t.co/HEvlFUWAzc
@drjimhamilton James Hannam’s “The Genesis of Science” gives great context to understanding the Gallileo event too. Thanks for sharing.
This is a very good and timely message.
RT @DrJimHamilton: Creation, Galileo, Evolution, and the Bible: Gerald Bray has an important point for Peter Enns http://t.co/qKG8FF7Tdi
RT @DrJimHamilton: Creation, Galileo, Evolution, and the Bible: Gerald Bray has an important point for Peter Enns http://t.co/qKG8FF7Tdi
RT @DrJimHamilton: Creation, Galileo, Evolution, and the Bible: Gerald Bray has an important point for Peter Enns http://t.co/3mfjBAB6gb
RT @DrJimHamilton: Creation, Galileo, Evolution, and the Bible: Gerald Bray has an important point for Peter Enns http://t.co/qKG8FF7Tdi
RT @DrJimHamilton: Creation, Galileo, Evolution, and the Bible: Gerald Bray has an important point for Peter Enns http://t.co/qKG8FF7Tdi
RT @stopsines: Creation, Galileo, Evolution, and the Bible http://t.co/HEvlFUWAzc
A good reminder from @DrJimHamilton http://t.co/NnHUIMpwPn
@DrJimHamilton that’s my thought on God’s relationship to Time. Too many theologians have adopted Greek philosophy on this one.
In one sense the church was right, the earth is the center of the universe from the bible’s worldview. This is the very place that God’s redemptive drama has played out in which the whole cosmos will be redeemed. Since space is vast and the location of the center in the universe is relative according to einstein and his theory I believe the church had a inner sense of not allowing our world’s centrality to be displaced for scientific purposes.
I found this book to be a helpful resource on such questions: 6 Modern Myths About Christianity & Modern Civilization (http://amzn.to/1gyOrWe)