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Michael “Thank GOD for EVOLUTION!” Dowd on the authority of the Bible

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The founder of “Evolutionary Christianity” writes,

There is a world of difference between a pre-evolutionary and an evolutionary understanding of “biblical inerrancy.” With a God-glorifying understanding of deep times, one need not make an idol of human words as a carrier of God’s Word. Rather, from an emergent perspective, we can see that the Bible accurately reveals how the authors and editors of the books of scripture understood themselves, their world, and the nature of Ultimate Reality two or three thousand years ago. Those understandings include many powerful insights we can use today, woven in amongst much that is primarily historical or symbolic value, and even some components that modern sensibilities rightly find morally offensive. It is up to us to find life-serving meanings in the guidance given us by the Whole over time, no matter what the vehicles of delivery.

Thank GOD for EVOLUTION! (p. 345)

The Whole? Here’s Dowd, given at Amazon as an ordained United Church of Christ minister, on … Gowd.

Comments
IMO, The Bible was never intended to be an "authority."Mung
June 11, 2011
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I can hear it now, some fox writes a book why chickens should "unite" with foxes and be thankful for them. Foxes and chickens unite!mike1962
June 9, 2011
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---Michael Dowd: "There is a world of difference between a pre-evolutionary and an evolutionary understanding of 'biblical inerrancy.'" Translation: New insights from process theology have rendered the term "biblical inerrancy" obsolete. --"With a God-glorifying understanding of deep times, one need not make an idol of human words as a carrier of God’s Word." Translation: An evolutionary understanding of nature is a more reliable indicator of truth than God's revelation in Scripture. --"Rather, from an emergent perspective, we can see that the Bible accurately reveals how the authors and editors of the books of scripture understood themselves, their world, and the nature of Ultimate Reality two or three thousand years ago." Translation: The authors' apparent concern about such dire matters as death, judgment, heaven, and hell can be safely interpreted as a metaphor to express their pre-evolutionary and outdated understanding of nature. --"Those understandings include many powerful insights we can use today, woven in amongst much that is primarily historical or symbolic value, and even some components that modern sensibilities rightly find morally offensive. It is up to us to find life-serving meanings in the guidance given us by the Whole over time, no matter what the vehicles of delivery." --Translation: We should not hesitate to disregard the clear meaning of any passage in Scripture that makes us feel uncomfortable or to reframe it in a way that lends itself to our perception of a rich, full life.StephenB
June 9, 2011
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