Hi there!
So I finally had a breakthrough arguing with Evolutionists. For some time their position was that the theory made sense, but at the same time, it was above criticism. I identified this as a moral failing and proceeded to suggest different angles that pointed to the fact that a moral position was needed, even for a scientific theory. Then I hit upon where morality was positioned to be effective with the Evolutionary theory: survival loading.
Survival loading is the idea that Evolution creates an abundance of life, that has no real direction, but that because it is abundant, there is room to shape the outcome of that life, by loading it with values that determine what survival is. It's not a perfect moral solution to the problem posed by Evolution, I will admit, but it is nevertheless an open window of opportunity for moral structure. There are a number of ways you might present it.
For example, you might say that someone with a car has an abundance of places to go, but the places they can get to are maximized by staying under the speed limit, since that means fewer accidents. The survival loading in this case, is an additional limitation on how fast the car travels whereever it is going. As we know, the Law has in fact placed numerous limits on how fast can be travelled, so people are well and truly loaded, as to how best to survive in that case. There are also examples in Christianity.
You might say that Jesus is the best example of the optimum survival load. He didn't listen to Pharisees, He didn't chase after scribes and He certainly didn't entertain Sadducees. Instead Jesus watched after the Father, and stayed within the Law regarding how to carry out what He saw. In this way, we know Jesus did the most that it is necessary to do to survive, but also stayed under an unsafe survival loading limit. It is in effect, the Evolutionary way that Jesus exemplifies in relation to God. So it is possible for an Evolutionist to find God through Jesus, you might say.
The downside to this line of argument though, is of course that you can't push an Evolutionist into it. Survival loading is an optional extra, and one that you would naturally think needs to be demonstrated clearly before a particular survival load is adopted as a living standard. But at least it is a standard and one you can hold Evolutionists to. Now I know I said you can't push Evolutionists into it, but no self-respecting Evolutionist can easily say that even though they believe they need to survive, yet they actually do nothing about it - what would be the point of believing the theory if you did nothing about it. For this I am grateful.
Actually, I couldn't even have come up with this idea, had it not been for Jesus and the work of His Father on the Cross. I knew there needed to be a moral stand taken, in relation to Evolution, but it was Jesus that reminded me to take up my cross and God who carried me through the rest of the way (conceptually) when I did. So I thank God for His Son and His strength in this, and hopefully now we can begin to argue that ultimately God should get the glory, whether you believe in Him because He is God, or just because you think He will help you survive. That is the point.
Your thoughts are welcome.
Questions you might ask are:
- how closely does my survival load resemble the survival load Jesus took on?
- in what ways can I learn from Jesus' survival load?
- what are examples of how Jesus adapted or lead to adaptation bearing up the survival load that He did?
etc.
So I finally had a breakthrough arguing with Evolutionists. For some time their position was that the theory made sense, but at the same time, it was above criticism. I identified this as a moral failing and proceeded to suggest different angles that pointed to the fact that a moral position was needed, even for a scientific theory. Then I hit upon where morality was positioned to be effective with the Evolutionary theory: survival loading.
Survival loading is the idea that Evolution creates an abundance of life, that has no real direction, but that because it is abundant, there is room to shape the outcome of that life, by loading it with values that determine what survival is. It's not a perfect moral solution to the problem posed by Evolution, I will admit, but it is nevertheless an open window of opportunity for moral structure. There are a number of ways you might present it.
For example, you might say that someone with a car has an abundance of places to go, but the places they can get to are maximized by staying under the speed limit, since that means fewer accidents. The survival loading in this case, is an additional limitation on how fast the car travels whereever it is going. As we know, the Law has in fact placed numerous limits on how fast can be travelled, so people are well and truly loaded, as to how best to survive in that case. There are also examples in Christianity.
You might say that Jesus is the best example of the optimum survival load. He didn't listen to Pharisees, He didn't chase after scribes and He certainly didn't entertain Sadducees. Instead Jesus watched after the Father, and stayed within the Law regarding how to carry out what He saw. In this way, we know Jesus did the most that it is necessary to do to survive, but also stayed under an unsafe survival loading limit. It is in effect, the Evolutionary way that Jesus exemplifies in relation to God. So it is possible for an Evolutionist to find God through Jesus, you might say.
The downside to this line of argument though, is of course that you can't push an Evolutionist into it. Survival loading is an optional extra, and one that you would naturally think needs to be demonstrated clearly before a particular survival load is adopted as a living standard. But at least it is a standard and one you can hold Evolutionists to. Now I know I said you can't push Evolutionists into it, but no self-respecting Evolutionist can easily say that even though they believe they need to survive, yet they actually do nothing about it - what would be the point of believing the theory if you did nothing about it. For this I am grateful.
Actually, I couldn't even have come up with this idea, had it not been for Jesus and the work of His Father on the Cross. I knew there needed to be a moral stand taken, in relation to Evolution, but it was Jesus that reminded me to take up my cross and God who carried me through the rest of the way (conceptually) when I did. So I thank God for His Son and His strength in this, and hopefully now we can begin to argue that ultimately God should get the glory, whether you believe in Him because He is God, or just because you think He will help you survive. That is the point.
Your thoughts are welcome.
Questions you might ask are:
- how closely does my survival load resemble the survival load Jesus took on?
- in what ways can I learn from Jesus' survival load?
- what are examples of how Jesus adapted or lead to adaptation bearing up the survival load that He did?
etc.
