Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Latter-day Saint
Travel and Religion
A note on the evolution of evolution (and other matters)

A note on the evolution of evolution (and other matters)

Last updated on: December 27, 2024 at 5:29 pm by Dan Peterson

0 Comments

A note on the evolution of evolution (and other matters) 2024-12-27T17:29:33-07:00 Dan Peterson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, “Ruth im Feld des Boaz” (1828, Ruth in the Feld of Boaz”)
Wikimedia Commons public domain image

It’s Friday, so a new article has been published in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship: “The “Allegory” of Ruth as a Prophecy of Latter-day Gathering,” written by Jan Francisco

Abstract: In the historical context of the late fifth century BC, the book of Ruth was a powerful story of hope and redemption for the eventual gathering and restoration of Israel’s covenants. Connecting their golden period of unity under King David to this idyllic tale with a beautiful happy ending may be more than a family story. It could also be read allegorically to prophesy the promised gathering of Israel by the Gentiles in the Latter-days. The key to understanding the symbolic layer of this story lies in deciphering the Hebrew meanings of the characters’ names, with Naomi representing the Israelites, and Ruth the Gentiles. Doing so unlocks the messages in the story of the Gentiles gathering Israel, the marriage relationship of Christ and the Church, and the promise of a Millennial Messiah. Exploring the connection of the book of Ruth, Pentecost, and harvest themes adds more significance to this allegory.

The article above is accompanied, on the website of the Interpreter Foundation, by “Interpreting Interpreter: Gathering a Gentile Ruth,” which was written by Kyler Rasmussen:

This post is a summary of the article “The “Allegory” of Ruth as a Prophecy of Latter-day Gathering” by Jan Francisco in Volume 63 of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship. All of the Interpreting Interpreter articles may be seen at https://interpreterfoundation.org/category/summaries/. An introduction to the Interpreting Interpreter series is available at https://interpreterfoundation.org/interpreting-interpreter-on-abstracting-thought/.

A video introduction to this Interpreter article is now available on all of our social media channels, including on YouTube at https://youtube.com/shorts/8dgj_ZUdgd8.

The Takeaway: Francisco outlines an interpretation of the story of Ruth where it represents Christ (Boaz) gathering in faithful gentiles (Ruth) into the House of Israel (the family of Naomi), helping to support and restore that house after it abandons its covenant status, as fulfilled via the Latter-day restoration of the Gospel.

Charles Darwin, in 1881
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

I’ve just begun reading Martin Hilbert, A Catholic Case for Intelligent Design (Seattle: Discovery Institute, 2024). Born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, Father Hilbert, who is a priest of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in Toronto, emigrated to Canada as a child in the wake of the Soviet invasion of his country that occurred on 20 August 1968. He holds an MASc in electrical engineering and a PhD in the history and philosophy of science from the University of Toronto.

I share here a couple of passages about the history of evolutionary thought in biology that I thought might be of interest:

In late antiquity, Augustine famously introduced the notion of “seminal reasons” to explain how God could be said to create at the beginning things that would only be visibly present in later ages. Just as seeds develop into plants over time, so one created reality could give rise to another as history unfolds. In the fifteenth century, the rediscovery of Lucretius’s long poem De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things), presenting an atomistic/materialistic/evolutionary account of the origin of life, may have sown the seeds of materialistic evolutionary speculation in Europe, though if so, the seeds were very slow to sprout. (Chapter 2)

Augustine’s idea of “seminal reasons” (rationes seminales) strikes me as potentially quite helpful for reconciling belief in divine creation with some sort of organic evolution. In particular, I think it’s interesting in connection with such phenomena as the famous “Cambrian explosion.”

Father Hilbert also talks about the two great founders of nineteenth-century evolutionary theory, Charles Darwin and the unfortunately somewhat neglected but very interesting Alfred Russel Wallace, whose independent formulation of a concept of biological evolution impelled Darwin to publish his own theory so as not to forfeit the credit for it:

Darwin published his Origin of Species in 1859, and it is his name that we now associate with evolution. Darwin was the first to conceive of the theory; and, unlike Wallace, he came from the upper echelons of British society. His mother was from the immensely wealthy Wedgewood family; and he married his cousin Emma Wedgewood. Wallace was abroad doing field work whereas Darwin was right in the heart of England, and as a gentleman of independent means had considerable leisure time to advocate for his theory in subsequent books and through a voluminous correspondence with top scientists in England, Europe, and the United States. Finally, Darwin insisted that his theory could account for all life, even for all the faculties of human beings, a view Wallace ultimately rejected. For all these reasons Darwin, rather than Wallace, become the clear-cut choice for patron saint of modern evolutionary materialism. (Chapter 2)

Jacob van Ruisdael (d. 1682), “Winter Landscape with a Watermill”
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

Even right in the middle of the Winter Solstice holiday, theists and theism continue to wage war on decent people who are otherwise just trying to mind their own business. Here is an example of such shameless misbehavior that I’ve taken from the Christopher Hitchens Memorial “How Religion Poisons Everything” File™: “The Church of Jesus Christ Provides Humanitarian Aid After Flooding in Panama”

But, of course, religion’s crimes against humanity are cruelly distributed throughout the entire year. Here are some examples that, again, have been drawn from the Hitchens File: “Giving Gifts of Love: The Church of Jesus Christ in 2024”

And, thanks to a tip from Dr. Lynn Johnson, I’m also able to share this article from the Hitchens File: Eleonora Papaleontiou-Louca, “Religiosity: Is It Mainly Linked to Mental Health or to Psychopathology?” Religions 15 (2024):

Abstract: The impact of religiosity on human mental health has been much debated over the last few decades. A large number of empirical and theoretical studies have been conducted to understand the impact of religiosity and spirituality on people’s quality of mental health. Though the vast majority of research indicates that religiosity makes a positive contribution to a person’s mental health and can give meaning to life, both the positive and some negative effects of religiosity on mental health are discussed. The impact of religiosity on people’s mental health seems to correspond to the quality of their religiosity.

Eleonora Papaleontiou-Louca is affiliated with the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences of the European University, in Nicosia, Cyprus.

Travel and Religion

History and Religion

Uncategorized

Alfred Russel Wallace

Book of Ruth

Catholic Case for Intelligent Design

Charles Darwin

Martin Hilbert

rationes seminales

Previous Post

December 26, 2024

A Christmas message from Iran's vice president and his wife

Next Post

December 28, 2024 Rating the Book of Mormon

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"I have cpnsidered in my mond if the 4 volume Saints could be made into ..."

John Pack Lambert

From Serbia’s “White City,” Belgrade

"DP: “But Mr. Sutherland worries about the fact that our time, when we can communicate ..."

Theodore Brandley

Learning more about a region of ..."

"Another class of memories are of individuals who previously lived. Some of these remembered individuals ..."

PlasmaMiasma

Accounts of Premortality?

"Sutherland's lecture sounds interesting. He seems to restate the Washington consensus that trade brings peace ..."

B. Wilson

Learning more about a region of ..."

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 March 2014 August 2013 February 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who said: "Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

John The Spirit An angel Jesus (to the church in Ephesus)