What’s your take on imagination? Do you see it as opening up creative possibilities or fraught with dangerous fantasies? If you’re interested in how various poets, philosophers, and theologians over many centuries have pictured this mysterious, yet essential part of being human and what my assessment is, check out this book, now 60% off, Living Imagination. Who am I and What is Real?
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Evolution seems to pose significant problems for traditional interpretations of early Genesis (literal six days creation, A&E, fall, etc.). Instead of trying to fit God in, it’s probably a good move to take God out of evolution. What to believe about God will then have to be considered without including God in nature. Such a move and its effects on developing belief will be challenging and place some ancient pictures of God and the world in jeopardy. The biblical writers, for example, know very little about nature and thus describe God and creation from their own quite limited context, whereas in our contemporary setting we know bits and pieces more. I’d wager we need a new plot to the story; one that negotiates a complicated alliance between science and theology where both have a voice, sometimes louder, sometimes softer, depending on the subject matter at hand.
Finding shelter from the vacuous and inconsequential is getting harder and harder to do. The rhythm of the ‘trite’ leaves us exposed to a devaluing of heart, mind, and imagination. Rapid-fire rhetoric connected to an entertainment based church and culture infiltrates our capacity to think. In contrast to this prevailing and woeful meltdown, there is the possibility of a critical adventure. While it’s true that criticism is never an end in and of itself, it is an essential component to chasten naïveté and to promote the virtuous life. Engage, evaluate, embrace―the Infinite One, other, and world. Enter the spooky haven of relationality (the essence of being relational); the space to dwell in oneself as another.
In the light of the rising power of science to explain the world, rethinking our interpretations of Genesis 1-3 is a crucial enterprise today. If you’re interested in this topic check out our book From Evolution to Eden. Amazon is unloading these at 61% off – now only $3.49.
