Exploring Ecumenism

The Case Against Materialism

According to his autobiography, Bertrand Russell's grandmother used to say, 'What is mind?  No matter.  What is matter?  Never mind.'

Martin in Does it Matter? constructs a convincing argument against the materialist view of the universe.  Materialism is a an immensely important and successful philosophy.  If to abandon a materialist worldview would be to embrace a supernatural worldview I would see that as a major step backwards for humanity.  Not least because there are some very moving materialist readings of scripture, including the only convincing account of Jesus walking on water that I know of.

The Problem is Idolatry not Atheism

The problem atheists have is they mistake idols for God.  So do many other people, probably all people.  Sometimes they carry around an image of God with no biblical basis, a creation of recent history.  Sometimes Gods from earlier cosmologists persist into the present, clung to despite them being unbelievable in the present day.

Does God Change?

If the universe is being created and so changing, can the same be said of God?  Traditionally, God is seen as perfect and so unable to change.  We cannot know God in any way and so this question, like all questions about God, must ultimately be unanswerable.

God does not Design Things

I have already written about the first chapter of Genesis.  What is fascinating about these verses is the idea that God has to look to see it is good.  If God is supposed to be perfect in everything God does, why does God have to look? 

What do we mean by Design?

Let me be clear from the start: I do not believe in creationism or intelligent design.  The latter I think is a particularly deceptive doctrine and theologically both are deeply flawed.  The problem is with the concept of design.

Non-Human Conversations

In an earlier post, I mentioned in passing the possibility of conversations without human involvement.  At this stage I cannot follow this theme as far as I would like, as I have more issues to explore first, but it might be helpful to indicate something of what I mean.

Nothing Evolves on its Own

Survival of the Fittest focuses on the evolution of single species.  Competition is expressed in terms of what happens within each species.  The fittest individuals survive to breed.  Relationships with other species are of interest solely in terms of any influence they have upon natural selection within a particular species.  So if we focus on rabbits their survival might depend upon foxes and grass and a few other species but the focus is on rabbits bravely evolving away.

Conversations between Theologians and Scientists

I do not usually participate in conversations between theologians and scientists.  My purpose in touching upon this subject is to map out some of the possibilities for ecumenical conversations. 

I am also aware I am assuming an elementary understanding of the issues involved.  The reason is that when I read discussions on websites between Christians and scientists it seems there is a degree of mutual incomprehension.

On Materialism, Science and Theology

One key to unlocking science and the Christian faith is materialism.  There seem to be a variety of interpretations of this word.  I will use materialism and its derivatives in the sense of a belief that is essentially reductionist.  The belief that everything we encounter can be explained in terms of the fundamental particles from which it is made.  This is also sometimes described as a mechanical view of the universe.

Ecumenism and Science

Some time ago I opened up the theme of cosmology and did not pursue it.  The time has come to pick it up and develop it in a more systematic way.  The first thing though is to say cosmology is part of the wider theme of science in general.  My intention is to follow up several themes under this heading, including Darwinism as well as cosmology.  I also intend to touch on the debates about atheism.

Why cover these issues in a blog about ecumenism?