Diversity and Uncertainty: A productive interface between science and Christianity?D Gareth Jones

Putting aside science for a moment

Clark Pinnock, controversial theologian ongoing debate on ‘biblical

inerrancy’ and ‘open theism’ willing to change his position aimed to be true to the biblical

witness Prepared to stand up for

unfashionable positions

Putting aside science for a moment

Jim Wallis long-time activist on social

justice, biblical orthodoxy, and the contribution of evangelicalism to social issues

being biblically prophetic rather than politically ideological

Meets considerable opposition for his political activism

Putting aside science for a moment

Force us to confront diversity and uncertainty within the Christian communityAny differences are theological, and not mainly political or scientificAre we being sufficiently biblical?Local illustration of problematic reading of current events

Care and discernment are needed in bringing a Christian voice into the public square   

Putting aside science for a moment

At boundaries of science and faith we lurch from science into theology and from theology into scienceWe are tempted to present a definitive front, yet the interaction between the two realms constantly raises difficulties for us

God’s care versus human care

Apparent contrast between human and divine controlDoes God micro-manage our lives?“Even the hairs of your head are all counted”(Luke 12:7) – Is this to be taken literally? What does this mean in terms of nerve cells and genes?

God’s care of us (Luke 12: 4-7); also Luke 12: 22-31

God’s care versus human care

A view of God’s care, not his controlWhat matters is not the formulation of our genes, but how we are able to cope with the genes we do or do not haveHuman control over biological processes is increasing, the challenge is to direct these abilities in ways that will help individuals and communities

God’s care versus human care

What is important is way we care for others; not how we attempt to control othersCharacter of our lives demonstrates extent to which we honour God and image himSignificance of Christians being like Jesus Christ

Being human

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could compare various possibilities in neat objective terms?Quantify everything – ready distinction between therapy and experimental categories?This is not how human beings function, nor is it how God deals with us

Being human

“What are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for

them? Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honour. You have given them dominion over

the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet.”

Psalm 8:4-6 (NRSV)

Being human

“What are human beings that you are mindful of them, or mortals that you care for them? You have made them for a little while lower

than the angels; you have crowned them with glory and honour, subjecting all things under

their feet. Now in subjecting all things to them, God left nothing outside their control.

As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to them, but we do see Jesus . . . .”

Hebrews 2: 5-9 (NRSV)

Being human

Biomedical scientists are condemned for acting as if they were gods

The biblical writers could not ignore the grandeur of the human condition

Crucial juxtapositions; our elevated stature alongside our mortality

We should not shun the possibilities inherent in being designers of the future – requires immense wisdom and discernment

Being human

We need to begin to take science seriously and appreciate its role within God’s economyCan be misused and can misleadBut provides means of overcoming limitationsNeed sufficient faith to recognize God’s hand in blessings that scientific achievements bring

Preventing the future?

Can bioethicists prevent one kind of future while encouraging another?To look into the future is a hazardous pastime

We are notoriously poor at predicting what will turn out to be of scientific value

Preventing the future?

Imagine the world in 2080Information will be nearly instant, although the problems with this will be considerable … there will be no surgery in the old fashioned sense … Alzheimer’s disease will be a phenomenon of the past … Infertility will have been conquered and few people will have babies naturally … Clones will exist as perfectly ordinary members of society … Over 30% of the population will have artificial parts

Preventing the future?

It is difficult to know what is real, the idea of the natural seems to have disappeared … organs are regularly replaced, the implants are said to function better than the natural ones … only healthy babies are born. However, people still die.

Preventing the future?

The origins of all the possibilities are already with us

Human beings will be substantially similar to today’s people

The world has become dependent on technological ‘fixes’, though technology can let them downEveryone will still wither and die

Preventing the future?Between our world and that of 2080 is a continuumIf the world of 2080 is a nightmare, that nightmare is a present realityWe are not surrounded by Frankenstein-like scientists aimed at conquering the world

Preventing the future?

Many Christians cling on to the maleficence of science, exaggerating the issues in order to provide something frightening to combat and argue againstWe are missing the tenor of the actual debatesWe are to be Christ’s people in the consulting room, in the lab, on the committees

The future can be a future of hope even as we face unknowns; we are to face them head on

Forging hope rather than fear

Aubrey de Grey, transhumanist Strategies for Engineered

Negligible Senescence getting old is the biggest health

crisis facing the world committed to curing death and

ushering in a form of physical immortality

prompts reactions of fear and foreboding

Forging hope rather than fear

More realistic: life expectancy gap between rich and poor people in England is widening (10 years)

if African-American people in the US had the same mortality rates as white people there would have been 800,000 fewer deaths over a decade

health inequalities - cost lives, damage people’s health and stunt educational opportunities

Forging hope rather than fear

These inequalities should cause us deep concernScientific knowledge is part of the answer (public health, vaccination etc) Our attention should be directed towards health inequalities not transhumanism

Forging hope rather than fear

Health inequality touches lives of real people who are loved by God and who can be helpedWe should be hopeful rather than fearful, no matter how tragic some of the situationsContrast the two items: efforts put into each of them highlight our priorities

Forging hope rather than fear

Christians look forward to new heaven and new earth: new JerusalemChristians are to work towards rectifying the groaning creationScience is not the answer, but it is a contributory facetBalance scientific contributions and ethical drivers; hope in God and his good purposes

Forging hope rather than fear

A productive interface between science and theology - the commitment to usher in God’s kingdom Honest in our scientific investigations and in applying

scientific data theological and biblical exposition and

interpretationScience can be used productively even in such unnerving territory