THERE IS NOTHING BUT BLIND, PITILESS INDIFFERENCE IN THE UNIVERSE:’ EVOLUTION AND DIVINE PURPOSE

David O. Brown
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Abstract

Questions of theological interpretations of evolution seem to fall into two categories: those who see evolution as a part of God’s purposes and those who see evolution as counter to God’s purposes for creation. Invariably, these interpretations of evolution emphasise one or more commonly held aspects of evolution: either evolution is genuinely creative - so part of God’s purposes - or suffering and death are inherent parts of evolution (natural selection) - so counter to God’s purposes. However, drawing on Thomas Aquinas, this paper will argue that a third theological interpretation of evolution is possible in which God is neutral towards evolution, that is, it is neither creative and nor does it inherently contain suffering and death. This will lead to the suggestion that theology is at least reconcilable with evolutionary positions that emphasise its ‘purposelessness,’ if not that theology is more favourable to those positions.
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宇宙中只有盲目、无情的冷漠:进化和神圣的目的
进化论的神学解释问题似乎分为两类:一类人认为进化论是上帝旨意的一部分,另一类人认为进化论与上帝创造万物的旨意背道而驰。这些对进化的解释总是强调进化的一个或多个普遍的方面:要么进化是真正的创造性的——因此是上帝的目的的一部分;要么痛苦和死亡是进化的固有部分(自然选择)——因此与上帝的目的背道而驰。然而,借鉴托马斯·阿奎那,本文将论证进化论的第三种神学解释是可能的,其中上帝对进化是中立的,也就是说,它既不是创造性的,也不包含固有的痛苦和死亡。这将导致这样一种暗示,即神学至少与强调其“无目的”的进化立场是可以调和的,如果不是神学更有利于这些立场的话。
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