Lawrence has become somewhat problematic in dealing with science. Simply put, he seems to think that all scientists are like, say, Dawkins or Tyson. In other words, they all (or most, as he puts it) write about subjects beyond their actual academic expertise, as if their knowledge of biology or cosmology makes them competent theologians or Biblical scholars. He cites a fellow named Lewontin who wrote a typical passage one finds in such literature, proclaiming that Darwin pitted science against religion, and science won. Certainly celebrity scientists like Dawkins and Tyson write about such things, despite the fact that they have no academic grounding in theology or Biblical scholarship, textual criticism, etc. etc. And theyre wrong to do so, to let their PhD in one subject fool people into thinking they have all the answers on other subjects. One may ask, Why? to which I can but say that, for comparison, the next time one needs ones teeth cleaned, since all expertise is the same, one ought to ask a neurosurgeon to do it. If one breaks ones ankle, a cardiologist is necessary. After all, whats one part of the human body compared to another? Certainly, any expert will do! To be fair, Lawrence criticises Lewontin for his silliness, pointing out that both mainstream liberal Protestantism and Catholicism were not especially troubled by Darwin - they simply adapted their theology around the new scientific discovery. For Catholics, St. Augustine struggled with the Genesis narrative and acknowledged that it could not be literally true. Later, it became a rule to let science speak. God was real, and Christ died and rose again, yes. But if science and scripture conflict, the solution is to modify our understanding of scripture. This doesnt mean to negate scripture - it means to realise that we dont have all of the answers. Lewontin, Dawkins, Tyson, and the rest are correct when they say that science excludes fundamentalist, literal interpretations of scripture. It does not invalidate all scripture, of course. However, I am troubled by Lawrences stance on scientists. Most scientists are busy working in labs. Theyre working with chemicals, with physics, with engineering projects, with genetics, etc etc. theyre not celebrity scientists, with lots of time to write nonsensical books about why God isnt real. They have actual work to do in their field. As a pedantic note, he refers to Darwins controversial text The Origin of the Species. This is a commonly used, but inaccurate, title. The real title is On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life - The Origin of Species for short. The title makes a difference. If it is the Species, the wording suggests that Darwin is writing about only one species and its origin. Based on the noises I hear near me, lets say cats. The Species is cats, and Darwin explores how cats evolved. Darwin, however, was interested in more than cats (for some reason). He was interested in a general origin of ALL species, and the title reflects that. Further, an academic ought to be able to get the title of one of the foremost works of scientific history correct. I admit I have not read more than a couple chapters of Origin - I am not a scientist, and I find it rather boring. However, if I were going to deal with Darwins ideas, Id ensure that I had a better grasp on them than misquoting the title of his most famous book. Its rather like writing about, say, To Kill the Mockingbird or Those Grapes and Wrath. Id get an F for writing a book report on books with those titles, even if otherwise I understand the book contents (hunting techniques and bitter wine, respectively). Lawrence ought to be similarly slammed, and it makes reading the section on evolutionary science concerning, since it is difficult to tell if he actually knows what he is writing about. If he wrote that the book of Nahum, for example, was written by St. Peter, Id know immediately that hes out to lunch. But I am not as familiar with evolutionary science, and require him to be accurate.
Posted on: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 04:13:40 +0000
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