Clifford on creationism & generationism - slide 1

Clifford on creationism & generationism

Anne Clifford. “Biological Evolution and the Human Soul: A Theological Proposal for Generationism.” Science and Theology: The New Consonance. Ed. Ted Peters. Colorado: Westview Press, 1998.

Clifford uses as her foil, Francis Crick’s The Astonishing Hypothesis (1994). Modern neurobiology has no need for

soul. Human person can be fully explained

in terms of neurology & evolution

Clifford on creationism & generationism - slide 2

Clifford on creationism & generationism

Crick admits that his position on soul is dependent on future scientific discoveries.

Clifford’s comment on Crick’s hypothesis:

Treats soul as a thing which can be empirically verified.

Clifford classifies Crick’s position as “reductionistic materialism” (163)

Clifford on creationism & generationism - slide 3

Clifford on creationism & generationism

John Paul II’s apparent defense of “creationism” In a 1993 address to the Pontifical

Academy of Sciences, JP II stated that In 1950, Pius XII stated that

biological evolution by natural selection was still an open question.

JP II - is no longer the case.

Clifford on creationism & generationism - slide 4

Clifford on creationism & generationism

Biological evolution is now well-confirmed. The convergence of confirmations is as strong as that of any scientific theory.

Then turned to the “human spirit.”

The human spirit could not have emerged solely from the forces of matter.

Clifford on creationism & generationism - slide 5

Clifford on creationism & generationism

Then quotes Pius XII that “souls are immediately created by God.”

Emphasizes the specialness of humans; they are they only creatures created in the image and likenss of God (imago Dei) (Gen. 2: 1: 26-27 & 5:1 & 9:6)

Clifford on creationism & generationism - slide 6

Clifford on creationism & generationism

Then refers to Aquinas who proposes that the specialness of humans resides in the speculative intellect.

On the origin of human soul, JP II falls back on Pius XII’s “creationism”: each human soul is specially created & infused into the body at the time of conception.

Clifford on creationism & generationism - slide 7

Clifford on creationism & generationism

Creationism has a long history in Western Christianity.

First proposed by Hilary of Poitiers (ca. 315 - ca. 367).

Aquinas (1225-1274) defends it.

Clifford on creationism & generationism - slide 8

Clifford on creationism & generationism

The biblical view of human nature The Jewish & Christian scriptures

treat humans as a unity, not as a soul-body duality. [Perhaps Clifford should say, “for the most part.”] See Anderson for more on this.

Clifford on creationism & generationism - slide 9

Clifford on creationism & generationism

Early Christianity Justin Maryr (ca 110-ca. 160,

active in Rome) described the human as a rational animal composed of soul and body (165).

Augustine (354-430), under the influence of Neoplatonism, defended the notion of an immortal soul. Humans are unique because they have a rational soul.

Clifford on creationism & generationism - slide 10

Clifford on creationism & generationism

Aquinas (Italian, 1224/5-1274) - the soul & body together make up a complete person. But the soul can exist by itself, albeit in an emaciated state.

A brief review of debates in contemporary paleoanthropology - 2 schools 1. Gradualism & multi-regionalism 2. Punctuated equilibrium & localized

emergence of humans.

Clifford on creationism & generationism - slide 11

Clifford on creationism & generationism

Homo neanderthalensis co-existed with Homo sapiens for some time (ca. 35,000 years ago)

What caused the emergence of humans? Science has no answer now, but there is a good prospect that it will find an answer.

For this reason, creationism could turn out to be a God of the gaps argument (168).

Clifford on creationism & generationism - slide 12

Clifford on creationism & generationism

Other arguments against creationism It is inconsistent with biblical

anthropology which refers to human nature as a unity

Promotes dualism & as such tends to denigrate the bodily and physical

Separates humans from the earth & this has affected the ecological crisis [Lynn White’s argument]

Clifford on creationism & generationism - slide 13

Clifford on creationism & generationism

Conflicts with the geneticists’ finding that many mental traits (e.g., musical & mathematical talents) are linked to inheritance.

Suggests an interventionist God vs God is continually acting through natural processes

Clifford on creationism & generationism - slide 14

Clifford on creationism & generationism

Clifford’s alternative to creationism -- generationism What makes us human is our unique

set of anatomical features and behavioral capacities [cf. Ayala], including the ability to engage in a relationship with God. Soul is best understood as a metaphorical naming of this set of unique human characteristics (169).

Clifford on creationism & generationism - slide 15

Clifford on creationism & generationism

And this set of characteristics is inherited from our parents & develops in interaction with our physical & social environment & these characteristics in turn evolved over many generations according to the factors described by evolutionary theory.

Upon conception, a human person results (not only a body)

Clifford on creationism & generationism - slide 16

Clifford on creationism & generationism

God acts continuously in the world through natural processes vs interventionist God

Human dignity is rooted in kinship with God (imago Dei), not in the insertion soul