Richard Dawkins on Creation

Dawkins was on the ABC television show Q&A on 8 March 2010. He was strident, as always! But to be fair to Dawkins, he said some quite profound things which made me sit up and take notice. Perhaps its because of his ruthless logic, which although on a different worldview/plane to the Christian one is nonetheless rigorous and unearths some powerful conclusions. One of them was right at the start, when he pointed out the inconsistency of holding a belief in God and also holding to evolution:

‘I think there is a kind of incompatibility, which the creationists see clearly’

Another was at the 15-16 minute mark when he was asked the question why he goes after religious people:

‘As a scientist I care passionately about the truth... Either there is a god or there isn’t... This is supremely important. If the universe was created by an intelligence then we are looking at an entirely different kind of scientific theory then if the universe came into existence by natural means.’

Dawkins understands that supernatural creation is extremely important – so important he attacks it ruthlessly. The fear I have is that Dawkins understands the importance of supernatural creation better than many Christians! And he rightly understands that it is not just the creation which is a supernatural event in the Bible, but the miracles as well:

‘Religion makes scientific claims, the miracles being an example. You cannot reconcile an authentic approach to science with a belief in miracles or, I suspect, supernatural creation.’

His argument is correct to link both the creation and miracles – both are stated in scripture, and both are denied by science.

So what do we believe? Some Christians believe the Bible on both (Historic Creationist); others science on creation, and the Bible on subsequent miracles (Theistic Evolutionists); others science on both (Liberals). But as Dawkins has already pointed out in his opening statement, the second position is inconsistent. You cannot have as an authority on Gen 1-3 (or even Gen 1-11) Science, and then the rest of the Bible God. There are really only two authorities and hence two consistent positions – God (Bible), or Science. What will Christians choose?