Science, Evolution and the Christian Tradition

Peter Enns has posted his thoughts on an essay by Jonathan Dudley, who suggests that the rejection of evolution is the rejection of the Christian tradition and its view of science. Enns writes,

In the past, Dudley argues, Christian theologians have "valued science out of the belief that God created the world scientists study. Augustine castigated those who made the Bible teach bad science, John Calvin argued that Genesis reflects a commoner's view of the physical world, and the Belgic confession likened scripture and nature to two books written by the same author."

Creationism cannot explain, among other things, "why birds still carry genes to make teeth, whales to make legs, and humans to make tails," "the broken genes that litter the DNA of humans and apes but are functional in lower vertebrates," or "how the genetic diversity we observe among humans could have arisen in a few thousand years from two biological ancestors."

To reject these findings of science is to reject the traditional Christian notion that God created the world scientists study.