Creator God Evolving World by Cynthia Crysdale and Neil Ormerod, Lenten Series: To be held on Wednesday, February 20 and the following 5 Wednesdays of Lent.

Creator God Evolving World

A Journey of the Mind

Lenten Series – 2013

                     I.          Welcome

1. Introductions if necessary
2. Comment on title
   1. Lenten Series
   2. A Journey of the Mind
   3. Creator God Evolving Worl

II.          We begin with the fact that this is a Lenten Series.  So we read in Mk. 1: 14 – 15

After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of God: “This is the time of fulfillment.  The Kingdom of God is at hand.  Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

1. There are two things that Jesus told the people who heard him and two things he asked of them
   1. He told them first that “This is the time of fulfillment.” And then he told them what was the fulfillment; namely, that the Kingdom of God is at hand.”
      1. Keep in mind that the tense of the verb is the present tense; thus the sentences are always in the present of the listener.
      2. That the “this” is his saying it.  His words effectively announce and in announcing make happen the “time of fulfillment.”
      3. What is being fulfilled is their longing for a just and peaceful life; not their individual longing but the longing of the Israelites, the Hebrews, the Jews and through them all the nations [everyone who isn’t an Israelite, a Hebrew, a Jew].
      4. What fulfills that longing is through Jesus, in Jesus, with Jesus but it is “the Kingdom of God” that is the fulfillment.  Jesus is the One Mediator and what he mediates is the Kingdom of God.
   2. Jesus then asked his listeners to do two things.
      1. Repent [A single verb, the subject is the listener but the object is also the listener]

i.     We might think that repentance is a one time thing but we know that such is not the case.  No, it is a life time thing.

ii.     And in our Journey of the Mind we want to facilitate that repentance to occur in this time of our living.

1. Believe but this time there is an object: the gospel.  This is a little tricky though for the gospel is the gospel preached.  And Jesus preached the Gospel of God.
2. There are two levels in that repentance one divine and the other human
   1. Jesus address the divine when he tells his listeners to believe in the gospel and that gospel is “The Kingdom of God is at hand.”  That is the unchanging of our faith – to believe in the gospel, the good news, the Kingdom of God is at hand.
   2. But the first level, the human, emerges, develops, declines, is redeemed, again and again and again over time both individually in our lives as individuals but also communally as our community emerges, develops, declines, is redeemed in the history that spans time.
3. It is on the first level that we will attempt to fulfill during the next six weeks and evidence that we have reached it will be expressed in these three measures:
   1. 1.      To apprehend the world ever more fully
   2. 2.      To judge the truth of things with ever greater clarity and
   3. 3.      To act in the world ever more responsibly. [Quoted from Reid Lochlin, “One Nostra Aetate or Two?  Hermeneutics and the Vatican II.” LRI Graduate Seminar, St. Mary’s College, December 24, 2012, p.16]

III.          Next this Lenten Series is a Journey of the Mind

1. So we begin with what is called a syllogism, something that will give expression to how our mind works.  But, of course, there will be a trick in it so as to get you to think.
2. The syllogism runs as follows.
   1. What God reveals is true.  God can neither deceive nor be deceived.
   2. God has revealed, for example, the Blessed Trinity, the Incarnation.
   3. Therefore the Blessed Trinity, the Incarnation are true.
3. Do you think that everybody agrees with the conclusion?  Do you agree with the conclusion?  How would you explain your two answers?
4. Scholastic tag re: truth
5. Two points to be garnered

IV.          Finally Creator God Evolving World – our text

1. Overview of the book – Table of Content

i.     Chapter 1. God, Religion, and Science

1. The Emergence of Modern Science
2. Newton and God
3. The “Newtonian” Worldview and Deism
4. Beyond the Newtonian Worldview: Darwinism and quantum Mechanics
5. Randomness, Purpose, and Ethics
6. Authority, Tradition, and Reason
7. A Tale of Two Authors
8. Conclusion

ii.     Chapter 2. Evolving World: Regularity and Probability

1. Two Ways of Making Sense Classical and Statistical Science
2. The Interaction of Classical and Statistical Science
3. Is It All Random?
4. Emergent Probability: Order and Novelty Interacting
5. Natural Selection and Chance
6. Conclusion

iii.     Chapters 3 – 6 to follow