Evolutionary theodicies – an attempt to overcome some impasses

Eikrem, Asle; Søvik, Atle Ottesen

doi:10.1515/nzsth-2018-0024

Cited by 8 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…Many contemporary thinkers have claimed that a world that evolves in this way is more valuable than a ready-made world (for example, Polkinghorne 2011, 82;Haught 2000, 53;Murray 2008, Ch. 5.1.2;Eikrem and Søvik 2018;Wahlberg 2023). However, the Dominican theologian and biologist Nicanor Austriaco has defended this claim in a particularly interesting way by reference to the traditional idea that creation's purpose is to manifest God's goodness and perfections "outside" of God (Austriaco 2019).…”

Section: Conclusion: Two Explanations Of Why God Permits Scarcity In ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Natural Selection, Scarcity and Evil:

Wahlberg

2024

SetF

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It is often claimed that our knowledge of the evolutionary process adds an extra dimension to the classical problem of natural evil and makes this problem worse. Especially the principle of natural selection is often portrayed as morally inappropriate or “unfitting” for a perfectly good God to use as a means for creating biological complexity. In this article, I argue that this common view is misconceived, and that natural selection is a wholly innocuous principle. The real source of evolutionary evils is the fact that resources in nature are scarce – a fact that was known long before Darwin. The problem of natural and evolutionary evil, therefore, is best construed as a question about why God permits scarcity in nature. I argue that recent research about the interrelation between competition and cooperation in the evolutionary process provides resources for answering this perennial question in a more satisfactory way than could be done before the advent of evolutionary theory.

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Section: Conclusion: Two Explanations Of Why God Permits Scarcity In ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Natural Selection, Scarcity and Evil:

Wahlberg

2024

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“…An insight into the scientific discussion is given by Wahlberg (2015). Wahlberg (2015) tries to refute this view, but the work of Eikrem and Søvik (2018) and Søvik (2018) invalidates his arguments. Eikrem and Søvik (2018:433) write: 'If the world were created ex nihilo it would have been less independent, less self-created, not creative (until now) and not a surprise to God.'…”

Section: Creation and Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The significance of freedom in God’s plan

May

2023

HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies

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By means of a synthesis of Christian faith, theology and natural sciences, the significance of freedom in God’s plan of creation and redemption was contemplated. The triune God is the foundation of all freedom. The freedom of his creatures is extremely important to God. Despite the Angelic Fall, he created our universe, in which on the path of evolution human beings were given the freedom to choose for or against God. Possibly, the humans who committed the Adamic Fall belonged to the species Homo heidelbergensis. Through the perfect obedience of Jesus Christ to the point of death on the cross, the power of evil was overcome. The goal of all creation is ‘the freedom of the glory of the children of God’ (Rm 8:21). This will complete the freedom that God has placed in his creation from the beginning. It can be surmised that ‘the freedom of the glory of the children of God’ includes being integrated into the intra-Trinitarian communion. It is important for the fulfilment of God’s plan of redemption that more and more people follow Jesus Christ and try to become more and more like him. A crucial point in following Christ is obedience. Obedience and freedom are not a contradiction, but the two sides of a coin; and the metal of this coin is love.Contribution: The synthesis of Christian faith, theology and natural sciences made it possible to see more clearly how extraordinarily important human freedom is for God. This is not only important for theological research, but also has practical consequences for human beings.

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“…However, if we reject the idea that evolutionary processes can be free, it is very unclear why it would be good for God to let go of control over the unfolding of evolution. Eikrem and Søvik have suggested that a process of creation that has surprises in store even for God is an intrinsic good (2018). This idea, however, is incompatible with traditional forms of theism.…”

Section: The Problem Of Evolutionary Evil and Malicious Designsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Divine Design and Evolutionary Evil

Wahlberg¹

2022

Zygon

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In this article, I first interpret and evaluate the main argument of E.V.R. Kojonen's book, The Compatibility of Evolution and Design. I then address a challenge against this argument (as well as against design arguments in general), namely the problem of seemingly malevolent and bad designs in nature. Evolutionary theodicists commonly deal with this problem by assuming that the evolutionary process is not fully under God's control. This solution, however, is deeply problematic from the perspective of classical theism. I therefore suggest another approach to the problem, inspired by the thought of Thomas Aquinas.

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Evolutionary theodicies – an attempt to overcome some impasses

Cited by 8 publications

References 1 publication

Natural Selection, Scarcity and Evil:

Natural Selection, Scarcity and Evil:

The significance of freedom in God’s plan

Divine Design and Evolutionary Evil

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