13AR18-31

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Apologia Report 18:31 (1,167)

August 15, 2013

Subject: Peter Kreeft's idealized Muslim apologist

In this issue:

ISLAM - an author who argues so well for his opposition that the reviewer fears the unintended consequences

ORIGINS - how the Milky Way and solar system are set up just-right to sustain human life

POSTMODERNISM - making short work of historical analysis

SCIENCE - are we too often "Kneeling at the Altar of Science?"

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ISLAM

Between Allah and Jesus: What Christians Can Learn from Muslims, by Peter Kreeft [1] -- in his review, Benjamin B. DeVan explains that Kreeft introduces the book as "a conversation among 'Isa [the Muslim], Libby the feminist, and assorted other characters including Jesuits and a Dutch Calvinist passionate about Christian theology." Kreeft acknowledges: "I have unfairly 'stacked the deck:' I have made 'Isa a very smart and articulate ... 'idealized' Muslim...." DeVan finds Kreeft's books, "many penned in dialogue format, ... witty and incisive [in their] rendering of divergent thinkers and arguments. Kreeft is one of the most gifted popular Christian apologists of our time and is remarkably objective in portraying positions he opposes."

DeVan then makes significant criticisms: "One unintended consequence of Kreeft's lionizing of 'Isa is that Muslims and nominal or spiritually weak Christians may be so captivated by 'Isa's bold and forthright Islam that Muslim readers are reinforced in their religion, and nominal or weak Christians seriously consider converting to Islam.

... Kreeft's stacking the deck for 'Isa could plausibly lead some

readers to prefer becoming or remaining confident Muslims rather than continuing as bumbling Christians, even if Christian theology as Kreeft presents it is comparably more logical, rigorous, or nuanced. ...

"Kreeft's dialogues controversially imply: (1) Both Muslims and Christians worship the One True God ...; (2) Some Christians and Muslims will both go 'to heaven' by Jesus' conceivably saving some non-Christians who do not explicitly before death confess Jesus is Lord; (3) Qur'anic Islam is good, beautiful, and true Islam while Terrorist Islam distorts the Qur'an; and (4) Qur'anic Muslims and Christians are both primarily impelled by righteous religious motives." Westminster Theological Journal, 75:1 - 2013, pp212-5.

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ORIGINS

"Galactic Green: Our Milky Way Is Amazingly Designed for Liby Hugh Ross -- reports on the discovery that the anthropic principle (the observation that the universe is fine-tuned to make possible the existence of advanced life) uniquely applies to our Milky Way Galaxy. Ross refers to "The Mid-Life Crisis of the Milky Way and M31" by Simon J. Mutch, Darren J. Croton and Gregory B. Poole in Astrophysical Journal (736:84 - 2011, n.p. <www.ow.ly/nOxrw>). Ross summarizes: "The Milky Way has maintained its spiral structure thanks to its just-right age, its just-right star-formation history, and the just-right size and location of companion galaxies within its just-right galaxy cluster." Salvo, Issue 21 - 2012, pp48-50.

More recently, in "A Sun Spot On," Ross further explains how "Research shows that it was one thing for the solar system to have developed sufficiently to support unicellular life, but quite another for it to have reached the capacity to host advanced life. And for it to be able to support human civilization presented even more daunting requirements, including the amazingly designed features of the solar system's birth and infancy." Salvo, Issue 24 - 2013, pp46-9.

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POSTMODERNISM

The Historical Jesus: What We Can Know and How Can We Know It?, by Anthony Le Donne [2] -- as if the confusion of historical Jesus studies were not complex enough, Le Donne seeks to "evaluate historical Jesus concerns through the lens of postmodern thought." THAT should give us the conclusive and absolute results implied by the subtitle, eh?

Holly J. Carey's review makes it all seem so easy. "Le Donne's main argument is that there is no objective, journalistic historical account of Jesus. Those who deal with issues of historiography would agree with him that all 'history' is remembered, and that this outcome is a 'history' that is filtered through the presuppositions, interests, emphases, and experiences of the one who is writing it. Particularly admirable about Le Donne's approach is his recognition that the Gospels are more about the significance of Jesus' words and actions, rather than a verification of them." There. Any questions? What a painless way to treat "all history." Stone-Campbell Journal, 15:2 - 2012, pp303-4.

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SCIENCE

Kneeling at the Altar of Science: The Mistaken Path of Contemporary Religious Scientism, by Robert Bolger [3] -- Annemarie van Stee begins her review by noting that "A dominant line of R&S [religion & science] research is to align religious concepts and beliefs with scientific concepts and theory, whether to promote the possibility of integration between religion and science, or of dialogue, or to show how religion and science are in conflict with one another. ... Although he mentions how conflict thinkers like Richard Dawkins are guilty as charged, Bolger reserves his in-depth analyses for prominent integration and dialogue thinkers. ...

"Bolger critiques Ian Barbour and his treatment of 'models' and 'unobservables'; William Dembski's discussion of 'intelligent design' as an 'explanatory theory' of higher 'probability' than evolutionary theory; Philip Clayton's thought on 'divine action'; and Arthur Peacocke's panentheistic use of 'in' when speaking of 'the world in God', among many others. Bolger's general charge is that researchers in these cases have 'thought too much and looked too little' at the meaning concepts have in their scientific and religious contexts of use.

"Bolger fleshes out his own position in the final chapter of the book. Simply put, it is independence; religion and science belong to very different conceptual realms. Religion is not about the facts in the world; it is a stance people take toward existence. ... Bolger occasionally seems to be guilty of the charge he held against others: he thinks a lot and looks relatively little. Surely, there are contexts in which religious concepts and beliefs are treated as propositional. In effect, Bolger develops a view of what religion can be, what it certainly is for some, and, most of all what it in his opinion should be. ...

"Robert Bolger's book is an absolute pleasure to read. It is much more carefully argued than its title may initially suggest. Above all, it is thought-provoking." Zygon, 48:2 - 2013, pp496-7.

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SOURCES: Monographs

1 - Between Allah and Jesus: What Christians Can Learn from Muslims, by Peter Kreeft (IVP, 2010, paperback, 184 pages) <www.tinyurl.com/29kzlka>

2 - The Historical Jesus: What We Can Know and How Can We Know It?, by Anthony Le Donne (Eerdmans, 2011, paperback, 160 pages) <www.ow.ly/nOwkK>

3 - Kneeling at the Altar of Science: The Mistaken Path of Contemporary Religious Scientism, by Robert Bolger (Wipf & Stock, 2012, paperback, 174 pages) <www.ow.ly/nOBHg>

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