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14 - A Philosopher in the Age of Creationism

What Have I Learned after Fifty Years Doing Philosophy of Biology That I Want to Pass On to Biologists

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 September 2020

By
Michael Ruse
Edited by
Kostas Kampourakis  and
Tobias Uller
Kostas Kampourakis
Affiliation:
Université de Genève
Tobias Uller
Affiliation:
Lunds Universitet, Sweden
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Summary

Modern-day Creationism, taking the Bible literally, lays claim to being the truly authentic Christianity dating back to the Gospels. But while it is true that there have always been those inclined to read scripture more literally than others, from the first there have been interpretations and more, taking one away from the actual words of the text. St. Augustine, the most influential figure in Western Christianity, was clear on this. The Bible is inspired, the Word of God. God, however, knew that He could not always talk literally. The ancient Jews were not sophisticated, fourth-century Romans and would have had little understanding if, say, rainbows were described in scientific terms. Metaphor or allegory was essential (Augustine 1982).

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Chapter
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Philosophy of Science for Biologists , pp. 275 - 298
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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