(Buried in a Facebook thread):
In terms of simple explanations… there is this tendency in academic theology, particularly of a liberal persuasion, to build layer and layer of speculation like a house of cards… as someone with a science background I find such works of theology frankly annoying.
As such, my bias is toward simple theological explanations… eg that Luke finished Luke-Acts with Paul… in Rome because he finished writing it when Paul was in house arrest there, rather than assorted other convoluted theories.
I personally find the simplest explanation of the nature of humans (morality, spirituality and quest for transcendence, quest for meaning, consciousness, hunger for depth of relationship, curiosity, sophisticated language, creativity, aspiration, reports of profound near death experience, etcs ) that we are in part spiritual beings created by a spiritual God… the evolutionary explanation of such things is utterly unconvincing IMO.
You may find it simpler to think we’re just collections of matter… I don’t.
I find much atheistic writing is actually in opposition to right wing and simplistic religion…, and often a very primal and angry reaction to it, rather than a response to the best Christian apologetics.
It is worthwhile I think to reflect on not only our own academic assumptions but also our more primal drivers for belief, whatever sides of the fence we sit on.
Discussion
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