A Reasonable Accommodation: Bridging the Gap Between Science and Faith

By David K. Shortess

Have you ever wondered...

Why do people have to suffer?
Did the Garden of Eden really exist?
Is there evidence of design in the universe?
Why is there so much sin and evil in the world?
Was there really a worldwide flood in Noahs day?
Do non-physical, supernatural entities actually exist?
Were Adam and Eve a unique, divinely created couple?
Who was Cains wife, and who did he fear would kill him?
What is the age of the earth, thousands or billions of years?
Was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil really a tree?
Can evolution account for the diversity of life on earth today?

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jun 26, 2013
• ISBN: 9781449786359

David K. Shortess

The author is an evangelical, born-again Christian and a retired professional scientist. He addresses these and other related questions, as he brings to bear both scriptural support and recent scientific evidence, in an effort to arrive at a reasonable accommodation for what are often highly contentious and emotion-filled arguments concerning these issues. As he states, “… what we find in God’s Word certainly should mesh with all the things that scientists have discovered and are continuing to discover about God’s creation.”

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Copyright © 2013 David K. Shortess.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Unless stated otherwise, Scripture quotations used in this book are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

Front cover photo: 620-foot Multnomah Falls, located 25 miles east of Portland, Oregon in the Columbia River Gorge.

ISBN: 978-1-4497-8636-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-8635-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013910610

WestBow Press rev. date: 6/19/2013

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface

1.   Who’s Who in the Class

2.   A Young Earth Creationist Faces an Agnostic

3.   Just a Hebrew Creation Myth?

4.   A New Ager

5.   A Hike on the Ridge: A Novel Idea Emerges

6.   Looking for an Accommodation: Intelligent Design

7.   A Reassessment of Genesis 1: Part I

8.   A Reassessment of Genesis 1: Part II

9.     Darwinian Evolution and Chance

10.   Is God Truly Omniscient?

11.   Is God Truly Omnipotent?

12.   God’s Flexible Plan

13.   The Novel Idea: The Twofold Creation of Modern Man

14.   God Keeps Trying: Noah, Abraham, Moses and Beyond

Epilogue

About the Author

Selected Bibliography

Endnotes

Also by this author:

Like Sheep Among Wolves

He Shall Direct Your Paths

The Web Weaver

Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. (Psalm 25:4-5)

…Jesus said, If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. (John 8:31-32)

Dedicated to all who earnestly

seek to know the truth

The bottom has fallen out of religious observance in the white working class [in America]. This collapse of religiosity has profound implications for how working-class communities work: It’s a kind of growing social disorganization that goes to the heart of what in the past made America exceptionally vibrant in community life. Why has this decline occurred? You had Darwin and evolution. Then you had Freud and the discovery of the unconscious…. [People] basically said, The Sunday school stories we grew up with are obviously wrong, and therefore there is nothing worthy in Christianity.

—Charles Murray, American Enterprise scholar and author From American Abyss, World Magazine, Nov. 3, 2012

PREFACE

I am a born-again, evangelical Christian. I am also a scientist, more specifically, a biologist. My reason for writing this book is to share my thoughts, as well as those of others, in an attempt to bridge a gap that often exists between natural scientists and people of the Christian faith. It deals with some basic questions regarding the origin and ages of the universe and the earth, what life is and how it developed, and how mankind came into being. It also deals with the fall of man, the questions of suffering, sin and evil in the world, and the role that the God of the Bible has played in that unfolding drama. It is not intended to be an exhaustive review of all the scientific, theological or philosophical aspects of these questions. I have written it primarily for the layman, and, as much as possible, I have avoided the use of the particular jargon often associated with each of those highly specialized fields.

Since I am also a novelist, I have chosen to use the dialogue format of a novel to explore these questions. The setting for this exploration is a small seminar class dealing with the nature of God, held on the campus of a hypothetical Christian college. The college and its students and faculty do not exist. I have never been enrolled in or involved with a seminar class concerned with the nature of God. All of that is a product of my imagination. The one exception is the character Dan, the narrator of the story, who by and large represents myself. Aside from that, any similarity of the locales to real places, or the players in the drama to real people, is purely coincidental.

On the other hand, while the setting and characters in the story are fictional, the professional scientists and authors referred to by the characters were or are real people, and their ideas are very significant. I use the dialogue among the players in the story as a vehicle for expressing and exploring those ideas, many of which are concepts that have been published by various individuals. I give credit to them, and I refer to some of their more significant, published work in the course of the narration. A selected bibliography is provided at the end of the book. However, there are a few ideas that are, to the best of my knowledge, mine alone. These I have not previously published, and thus there are no references for them.

Many of these ideas are, to say the least, controversial. Let me assure the reader that I am not trying to be dogmatic regarding any of these more contentious subjects. I am merely trying to share some of my thoughts, and the thoughts of others, about these topics in a way that may make some sense. However, I must be rather inflexible about what I feel are two bedrock, immutable tenets of the Christian faith which relate directly to this discussion. First, I firmly believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, his written revelation of himself to mankind. Second, I also firmly believe that God created the universe, including the planet on which we live, and that he gave to man the unique ability to observe, investigate and understand that creation, from the smallest subatomic particles to the most distant galaxies. These are God’s dual revelations of himself to mankind: his inspired, written Word—the Bible, and his creation—the universe in which we live.

These two revelations, and their relationship to each other, have given rise to serious conflicts and have raised many questions. As a scientist I try to consider those questions by examining as many of the available, relevant facts as possible, using both biblical and natural sources. Then I try to arrive at a tentative synthesis that I feel is best supported by those facts. Because these are areas in which there have been widely varying opinions, it is my hope that this book will provide an incentive for open discussion and perhaps lead to some level of agreement, or at least tolerance, involving some of these often-divisive subjects.

David K. Shortess, Ph.D.

1

WHO’S WHO IN THE CLASS

I was deep in thought as I slowly walked across the quad at Crestbrook Christian College, and I didn’t notice my friend and former neighbor, Paul Romero, coming toward me.

Hey, Dan, Paul called out as we approached each other.

Oh, hello Paul. I didn’t see you there.

Wow! I guess not. You must be pondering the great mysteries of the cosmos by the looks of you.

I smiled. You might say that.

I’m not sure I want to ask, but what’s up?

Well, I was just heading to the library, but we haven’t chatted in a while. Are you busy right now?

Paul laughed. Silly question. You were in this game long enough to know we’re always busy, but not too busy to talk with you.

Good. How about if we go over to the SUB? The coffee’s on me.

We headed for the Student Union Building. We made an interesting pair. I’m fairly tall and reasonably well built, with a close-cropped, full, white beard and a head of traditionally cut, thinning white hair. Paul is short, heavy set, dark complexioned with a bushy moustache, his thick, black, wavy hair styled over his ears and collar and graying a little at the temples.

A few years ago I retired from another college. When my wife died not long after I retired, I decided that a change of scenery was in order. I wanted to live in a college town, so I chose Crestbrook. When I first arrived I rented a place next to the Romeros. Paul is on the faculty at the college, and we soon became friends. After a few years I bought a house with a little acreage just outside of town.

Paul picked up the conversation. So what’ve you been up to? Now that you’ve got your own place, have you developed any interesting new hobbies?

Oh no, not much new. I spend my time doing what I’ve always liked to do. You know, woodworking, hiking, reading, a little writing now and then, and helping out at church.

Oh, yes. That sounds like plenty. It’ll keep you out of trouble.

I imagine it will. How’s your family these days?

Kathy’s real busy with Sunday school and the kids. Ben started high school this year, and his big thing is sports. Angela and Hope are both in middle school and the Girl Scouts. All that and youth group at church keep everybody busy.

Sounds that way. We both paused. There is one additional thing I’ve decided to take on, though. I turned to my friend and grinned. I’ve decided to go back to school. I’m going to be a student again.

Paul laughed out loud. What? Well, that’s a switch. After all those years as a prof, now you want to be a student?

Why not? We should never stop learning, as I’m sure you know.

Well, yes, I certainly agree.

I continued, I’ve decided to take a non-science course with you folks here at Crestbrook Christian. It’s something I’ve thought about for some time.

Excellent! So what are you taking? Something more mentally challenging than basket weaving or pickle ball, I hope.

Oh yes, certainly. Do you know Ned Zatski in the Religion Department?

I know who he is, but I don’t know him personally.

Well, he’s teaching a seminar course called ‘The Nature of God.’ It’s offered on Wednesday evenings, either for credit or not, so I decided to sign up for it. No credit for me, though. Just auditing it for fun.

Oh, that’s great! Paul said as he nodded. You know, I think Ned’s been here at the college for quite a while. Pretty sharp fellow I understand. So, how’s it going? Have you started yet?

We had our first meeting yesterday evening. I think it’s going to be interesting. There are only four of us in the class. I’m surprised they didn’t cancel it, but I’m glad they didn’t. It’s going to force me to get my thoughts together on a number of things.

Well, Paul laughed, you sure were getting a good start on it over there on the sidewalk. Who else is in the class?

By then we had reached the SUB and went inside. We each got a cup of coffee and went to a booth.

As we slid into the seats I continued. We spent most of the time last evening just introducing ourselves. It’s quite an eclectic mix, which is good. I’m the only oldster there. Two are regular undergrads and one is, I take it, a part-time student.

I suppose you had to go by ‘Doctor Ballargian,’ considering your background.

I chuckled. No way. I laid that to rest right away. I told them I left that ‘Doctor’ business behind when I retired. I insisted they call me ‘Dan.’ The two guys were fine with that, but the girl balked a little.

Anybody I know? Paul smiled.

I suppose you know Sue Perkins since you’re in the Education Department.

Good old Leona Sue? Sure do. I’ve had her in a couple of classes. I like to hear her talk. She’s a real southern belle. Seems nice enough on the surface, but man, is she opinionated. She was Leona Sue when she first came here, but when she heard about Leona Helmsley, she decided to go by just plain Sue.

Yes. She mentioned that last evening. She felt that Ms. Helmsley was ‘too unsavory’ for her to share her name with.

Sounds like her. She’s pretty outspoken. She’ll keep things lively.

That’s good, I think. I took a sip from my coffee. Anyway, she’s a solid Southern Baptist from East Tennessee. Teaches Sunday school, sings in the choir, her father’s a long-time deacon, the whole family’s very active in church. When she graduates she wants to be an elementary teacher at a Christian school.

I think she’s picked the right field. She seems like the kind of person who’d really be good with young kids. Who else is there?

I looked up past Paul. Well, one of the guys is a senior named Pat Flaherty. He’s local. His parents own the Handyman Hardware Store over on Cherry Street, and Pat works there part time.

Paul nodded. I think I know him—big, kind of burly fellow with sandy, red hair. Talks a lot. Has a rather loud voice?

Yep, that’s him.

"Right. In fact, I saw him in the store not long ago. We had quite a nice chat. But, if I remember right, he’s a CS¹ major, isn’t he? If so, what’s he doing in that class?"

"Yes he is. Well, it’s an odd situation. He said he’s a second semester senior, and he’s taking the class because he needed a one-hour course to have enough general ed credits to graduate. That was the only one-credit course he could work into his schedule.

"He said he doesn’t go to church. His folks are pretty devout Roman Catholics, and as a kid he went through the whole shebang—catechism, confirmation, the works. He says he was a typical ‘cradle Catholic,’ but when he got older and really started thinking about these things, he said he just couldn’t buy it. For one thing,