J. Richard Middleton, "Human Distinctiveness and the Origin of Evil"

J. Richard Middleton: Human Distinctiveness and the Origin of Evil in Biblical and Evolutionary Perspectives How can faithful Christians affirm the distinctive biblical view of humanity in Genesis 1:26-28 as created in God's image (imago Dei) and yet hold to an evolutionary account of human origins? On the face of it this looks like a difficult, if not impossible, task. Not only does the claim of evolutionary descent seem to contradict the idea of human uniqueness, which is usually associated with the imago Dei, but Genesis 2 recounts God's creation of an initial human pair, not a large population group, and the Bible makes no reference to earlier human ancestors.Then there is the traditional picture, based on Genesis 3, of the initial human pair forfeiting a primal paradise through a single act of disobedience, which led to the introduction of death for both humans and the natural world. This certainly contradicts what science tells us about human origins and the nature of biological mortality.Middleton will draw on his expertise as an Old Testament scholar to address the question of how we may take seriously the complexity of what Scripture says about the human condition, while fully embracing an evolutionary perspective on Homo sapiens. Could it be possible that these texts, which are certainly not meant to teach science, can prime us theologicallyin terms of our worldviewto be open to what evolutionary science tells us about ourselves? More info on the conference: http://www.csca.ca/may2018 This project/publication was made possible through the support of a grant from Templeton World Charity Foundation, Inc. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Templeton World Charity Foundation, Inc.