I recently heard the
Missa Charles Darwin performed by New York Polyphony, (juxtaposed with a magnificent performance of the
Tallis four-part mass.) I have avoided the distraction of the arguments against Darwin. They are based on uninformed opinion. Fear supports such opinions with its consequence, violence. I can't find the quote I thought I read recently about the strength of opinion being inversely proportional to the degree of ignorance of its holder. But here is a note from Darwin about preconceived opinion:
The day will come when this will be given as a curious illustration of the blindness of preconceived opinion. These authors seem no more startled at a miraculous act of creation than at an ordinary birth. But do they really believe that at innumerable periods in the earth's history certain elemental atoms have been commanded suddenly to flash into living tissues? Do they believe that at each supposed act of creation one individual or many were produced? Were all the infinitely numerous kinds of animals and plants created as eggs or seed, or as full grown? and in the case of mammals, were they created bearing the false marks of nourishment from the mother's womb? Although naturalists very properly demand a full explanation of every difficulty from those who believe in the mutability of species, on their own side they ignore the whole subject of the first appearance of species in what they consider reverent silence.
I know I must deal with the science and faith conundrum. I marvel at what we can know and that the more we know, the further into the created order we are called out of our ignorance.
I am going to miss a lecture today. I am needed as chauffeur. Just as well. The speaker was on the radio this morning, on the morning show, and I was not impressed with his coherence. It is the current
John Albert Hall lecture and will be podcast by next week. Hmm, I see Diarmaid MacCulloch is scheduled for the fall - I won't want to miss that one.
But the speaker, Christopher Hedges, made a prediction this morning (not very hard to make) that the market would suffer another traumatic depression in our time. Why? He says, Because of the unregulated rule (that's an oxymoron) of the 'Christian' right to our south. It's a stretch, but I expect he has a point. I expect that if we could 'follow the money', we would find that Christian is not the right adjective.
Well, not only them, but those who object to the rule of Mammon in preference to caring for the earth and all who are in it. Remember Psalm 24, one of the few (24, 40, 68, 101, 109,
110, 139) that is headed
of David a Psalm.
of David, a psalm.
The earth is Yahweh's and her fullness,
the world and those sitting in her.
The importance of this psalm is underlined by the acrostic that follows it. Incomplete (book 1) or not (book 5), the acrostics follow significant psalms that are themselves significantly related in a circular structure enveloping the whole Psalter. (See
this post for the details.)
It is not only this, our current generation, that has worshiped Mammon. Babylon (Babel, God's sledgehammer) is the symbol of stock market collapses. And the downfall of a few other places too, like Tyre (
Ezekiel 37), a centre of trade, as the prophet describes, and Ashur (
Nahum 3) whose merchants rivaled the population of the chosen (
You have increased your merchants more than the stars of the heavens). There is a lot in the Bible about over-confidence on trade, good and necessary though it is.
Who is this Yahweh that the earth and the word and her inhabitants so belong? I think we need a new testament book that focuses on Job. And there isn't one. Darwin is anticipated in Yahweh's speeches. Oh, didn't you notice the nature, red in tooth and claw (Job 39:28-30 for example)? And how about the virility of Behemoth - an early experiment of Yahweh's, the beginning of the ways of the One.
What can be done to understand and to change behaviour? I am considering writing based on words I have not used, like,
soul,
atonement, and so on. It would make a book, but I think I will have to learn something more first. Maybe another stint as fellow at Uvic? The very place I am avoiding today! And there must be something on the music. And I would not avoid the mechanism of death exhibited by Jesus - as a means of changing the life of all who follow him. Jesus' death is both the means of our evolution and the single best argument against it. He did not propagate, yet he had an impact. Will it last? Is it indeed everlasting, or has it come to its end in the ignominy of Christendom?
Is it because of 'you' that the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles? Romans 2:24.
