[MD] False Messiah

[Scott Roberts]

SA,

SA said:
     You mention emergent Christianity.  I looked up
some of their stuff.  Their inclusion that belief
'fills in the gaps' I would assume these gaps are gaps
in our reason.  It explores how we believe what we
believe, etc...  Is that what you gather from this
emergent Christianity?


Scott:
I don't gather much of anything from them (I'm not a Christian, emergent or 
otherwise). I only mentioned it to point out that even among Evangelical 
Christians, traditionally a pretty conservative bunch, both politically and 
theologically (in the U.S, anyway), there are those who are re-examining 
their static baggage. But I think they still have a long way to go.

My own opinion on this "fills in the gaps" issue is that it is low-quality 
reason and low-quality faith. If there is something inexplicable to science, 
say "what caused the Big Bang", then to respond to this with "God did it" is 
both bad reason and a bad way of thinking about God. Faith is not -- or 
shouldn't be -- a substitute for reason. So if there are gaps, there are 
gaps. It is better to leave them open as gaps than to fill them with 
something unreasonable. However, there is also the option of questioning the 
assumptions that led to the gaps.

- Scott