In the last month (perhaps even more) the most church-like experience I've had was a Snow Patrol concert I went to two weeks ago in Belfast. The sound, the emotions, thousands singing at once, the lyrics (quite spiritual in a sort of way), the atmosphere... even the preaching (these people can say a thousand things with just one song), the relevance of what they had to say, the down-to-earthness of their talking.
I know this is not what most christians have in mind when they talk about 'going to church'. But when church doesn't seem to offer what is expected of it, then some people have to find alternatives. And, these days, alternatives are not hard to find. Which brings me to the main question I wanted to ask: What is 'going to church' supposed to mean? What is church supposed to deliver? What should christians expect (or not expect) from their 'going to church' experience? And, most importantly, is it being delivered?
01/04/2009
Did Darwin Kill God?
Another program on Darwin was shown on TV last night. The title: "Did Darwin Kill God?". The link to watch it again is here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00jhfwt/Did_Darwin_Kill_God/
The program was unexpectedly better than average. The main argument was that evolution, by itself, is not a challenge to God, since the scientific method has limits built into it that avoid it to be used to draw conclusions outside of science. An obvious point? Perhaps, but not one made sufficiently enough. And in order to prove his point he explains (going to different Church Fathers) that this controversy between evolution and creation is just a very recent development which started in the last century and which most christians never recognized before that. The presenter, Conor Cunningham, is, in fact, a Christian and an evolutionist, showing that both things are not complete opposites.
As an aside, it is always interesting to hear these ideas from the people involved in this battle. Among the people he interviews we can find Daniel Dennett, Francis Collins and Michael Ruse. I would've liked to hear Dawkins himself, who is mentioned a couple of times in the program as believing that evolution proves God's non-existence (I doubt he would've said that with those words - perhaps: "it makes it very improbable"). And he even gets to visit the Creation Museum in the States!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00jhfwt/Did_Darwin_Kill_God/
The program was unexpectedly better than average. The main argument was that evolution, by itself, is not a challenge to God, since the scientific method has limits built into it that avoid it to be used to draw conclusions outside of science. An obvious point? Perhaps, but not one made sufficiently enough. And in order to prove his point he explains (going to different Church Fathers) that this controversy between evolution and creation is just a very recent development which started in the last century and which most christians never recognized before that. The presenter, Conor Cunningham, is, in fact, a Christian and an evolutionist, showing that both things are not complete opposites.
As an aside, it is always interesting to hear these ideas from the people involved in this battle. Among the people he interviews we can find Daniel Dennett, Francis Collins and Michael Ruse. I would've liked to hear Dawkins himself, who is mentioned a couple of times in the program as believing that evolution proves God's non-existence (I doubt he would've said that with those words - perhaps: "it makes it very improbable"). And he even gets to visit the Creation Museum in the States!
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