Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Critique of Dr. Tim Keller's View of Evolution

Recently, on the Creation Without Compromise website, Dr. Ted Van Raalte has posted a series of four articles discussing Dr. Tim Keller's support of Biologos and evolution. He is responding primarily to an article that Dr Keller posted a few years ago on the Biologos website. I have critiqued that article myself in my post Genesis and Dr Tim Keller. However, Dr Van Raalte's review is much more extensive. I highly recommend it. 

The four parts can be found below:


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2 comments:

JohnV said...

Just a question, Dr. Byl:

This is a long-winded question, but it presumes that we all know the Form of Subscription of the Dutch Reformed churches.

If Dr. Keller were my minister/pastor, and he took this kind of a stance on one part of the Bible, then would I be obligated to respect him as a church officer, a representative of Christ on my behalf?

Not that he doesn't share or represent my beliefs, but that he admits to not knowing Christ's Word.

It's all human interpretation to him, and not Sola Scriptura, not actual teaching from Scripture alone without man's imposition upon it. That is how the Confessions must be treated in order for him to claim the freedom to equate his own subjective interpretation of Genesis with our confessional standard.

To say it another way, he has no more authority on Genesis 1 and 2 than I do. And if on this part of the Bible he doesn't reign in his opinions, then what about the rest of the Bible?

As someone who is only an ordinary church member, holding no position in the church besides that, this would be my question: If my elder or minister advertised from his office and position his opinion on Genesis 1 and 2 beyond what the Confessions say, would he continue to command the respect due to the office?

Assuming we take seriously the Form of Subscription, of course.

JohnV

JohnV

Unknown said...

As an agnostic I rejected macroevolution on scientific grounds 45 years ago, more than a year before becoming His willing slave. Now as a professor of medicine and biochemistry I find it more absurd than ever, again on the science. It's sad to see this absurd compromise on the plain meaning of Scripture. Compromise on Genesis eventually corroded all. Has God said? was the first strategy to the fall, and still is.