Wired Mesh

A Brilliant Ruse

"I'm saying that if in fact you're Christian then you believe you were made in the image of God. And that means—and this is traditional Christian theology—that means that you have intelligence and self-awareness and moral ability. So what I would say then, that not to use one's intelligence, or to deny it or not to follow it, is at one level a heretical denial of one's God-given nature. And so this is the point I made—that in being a scientist, far from being anti-Christian or anti-God, you are utilizing the very things that make one God-like, in the Christian perspective. Of course, on the other hand, Christians are always caught up in this business of faith versus reason. And they love to argue that the most childlike among us can achieve understanding of God, true faith. So faith is very important for Christians. Nevertheless, it's a very important part of Christianity that our intelligence is not just a contingent thing, but is in fact that which makes us in the image of God."

The latest writings from D. G. Hart or George Marsden? Nope: it's a quote from Michael Ruse, a Florida State University philosophy professor who argues that human morality is a Darwinian genetic trait. The Believer published an interview with him in August, and it's finally online.

What's so stimulating about Ruse...

...is how, unlike many Darwinists, he responds with a direct and cogent argument to the Christian objection that naturalism destroys morality. Sure, he says, morality is just a trick of the genes, but it's a trick that's we're a part of, and we can't pull a Raskolnikov and try to transcend it.

"I mean," he says, "David Hume makes this point. If you do philosophy, it all leads to skepticism. You can't prove a damn thing. But does it matter? No! We go on. I take Hume very seriously on this point. Our psychology prevents our philosophy from getting us down. We go on. We play a game of backgammon, we have a meal. And then when we come back to think about philosophy it seems cold and strange."

So Ruse manages to dodge the old "You're not being consistent with your nihlism" gambit by arguing that being inconsistent is also genetically programmed into humans, and (to put it crassly) that's just jim-dandy.

But judging from his quote at the top of this post, Ruse is more than willing to dialogue with Christians about his beliefs and research. It's just my opinion, but I think that the cause of Christ would be better served by engaging this man than by building another creation science museum.

Posted by mesh at September 17, 2003 04:31 PM | TrackBack