{"id":10259,"date":"2016-11-11T17:36:39","date_gmt":"2016-11-12T01:36:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dminlgp.com\/?p=10259"},"modified":"2016-11-11T17:36:39","modified_gmt":"2016-11-12T01:36:39","slug":"the-power-of-shared-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/the-power-of-shared-stories\/","title":{"rendered":"Fallacies of a Darwinian Worldview"},"content":{"rendered":"

The book\u00a0Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind<\/em>\u00a0paints a congruent evolutionist worldview, interpreting the events of history and the possibilities of the future from a strictly Darwinian perspective. The book was a struggle to read,\u00a0not only because it argues for a worldview completely opposite to mine, but also because it makes many unsustained claims with\u00a0the appereance\u00a0of being “scientific.” I was reminded of Albert Einstein’s discussion on science and religion in Berlin in 1930. \u00a0He said, “you are right in speaking of the moral foundations of science but you cannot turn round and speak of the scientific foundations of morality.” (Max Jammer, Einstein and Religion<\/em>, 69). Apparently, Yuval Harari disagrees.<\/p>\n

As the reading progressed I was reminded that this worldview is shared by many non-religious people today. There is a reason why the book\u00a0became translated from Hebrew into more than 30 languages, becoming a New York Times bestseller and receiving the National Library of China’s Wenjin Book Award. \u00a0I may disagree with most of the book, but I cannot disagree with the fact that it represents a\u00a0worldview that is increasingly popular across the globe.<\/p>\n

Summary<\/u><\/p>\n

In Sapiens<\/em>, Israeli professor Yuval Harari presents his perspective of the history of humans from the beginning of time to the twenty-first century.\u00a0\u00a0 Based on a Darwinian worldview, he argues that humans (sapiens) have managed to dominate the world because of their unique ability to cooperate in flexible ways in large numbers. In contrast to any other animal, humans are able to reach this unprecedented level of cooperation because they have the ability to create imaginary stories that are not rooted in the objective physical realm. Once these stories are shared by a large number of people, it allows them to cooperate and to adapt to new ways of life. These ever-changing ways of life have been the result of three key revolutions in human history: the cognitive revolution, the agricultural revolution, and the scientific revolution. Our current way of life was highly shaped by the industrial and biological revolution, and has led us to unprecedented times of world peace and financial prosperity. However, it has damaged the ecosystem, lead many species to extinction, and it has failed to increase happiness. He concludes the book painting a picture of a future highly shaped by the new advances in biology and computer science, in which he sees humans evolving into superior beings that may eventually create new forms of organic and inorganic life. This new stage in the life of sapiens will require new stories, new ethics and new ways of thinking in order to adapt to the new ways of life that lie ahead.<\/p>\n

REFLECTION<\/u><\/p>\n

Harari’s version of history, the nature of humanity, and the foundations of ethics is in complete opposition to the Christian worldview. \u00a0No speech seems to highlight this contrast better than the Apostle Paul’s words while visiting Athens:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. \u2018For in him we live and move and have our being.\u2019 As some of your own poets have said, \u2018We are his offspring.\u2019 \u201cTherefore since we are God\u2019s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone\u2014an image made by human design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.\u201d (Acts 17:24-31)<\/p>\n

Paul had no problem defending his message because it was rooted in historical fact. There were eye witnesses, there was a record, there was evidence. I cannot say that same about Harari\u2019s book.<\/p>\n

Perhaps, Harari\u2019s own words capture well my perception of his worldview: \u201cIt\u2019s hard to accept this line of thinking. The problem is a fallacy of reasoning embedded deep in our psyches.\u201d (383) What Harari fails to acknowledge is that the\u00a0Darwinian worldview that he presents as scientific and historical\u00a0is not a fact evidenced in the organic world, but a story rooted in imagination.<\/p>\n

The process of natural selection<\/em> is the one scientific foundation of Darwinian theory. \u00a0Species develop certain adaptations as they interact with their surroundings. This is scientific fact corroborated by the scientific method. What is not scientific, however, is the belief\u00a0that natural selection leads to macro-evolution;\u00a0that it can, after billions of years, cause a bacteria to become a human being.<\/p>\n

Darwinian worldview argues that cellular life in its most basic form began by chance. \u00a0This may have made sense to Darwin because during his lifetime we did not know much about microbiology. However, we now know that even the most simple bacteria is a rather complex system built through the instructions found in their DNA.\u00a0The idea that chance can lead proteins to organize themselves into molecules, or molecules into an organic code with complete instructions for cellular formation has never been observed in the real world. In fact, scientific evidence clearly demonstrates that proteins can only become molecules and molecules can build cells if there is an existing DNA with the instructions. Biochemist Dr. Michael J. Behe in his famous book Darwin’s Black Box\u00a0<\/em>argues for the concept of irreducible complexity, which has led many scientists abandon strict Darwinian theory for Intelligent Design views.\u00a0 In simple terms, my son can build the Lego Millennium Falcon if he spends several hours following the instructions that came in the box. However, he cannot make a millennium falcon by shaking the box over millions of years. In the same way, cells cannot be built without genetic instructions. DNA is a pre-requisite for life.<\/p>\n

In addition, the idea that DNA mutations can develop new species has never been observed through the scientific method. Instead, as biologist Dr. Douglas Axe has demonstrated in the lab, the protein restructuring\u00a0for DNA mutation is rather too complex for what is required in Darwinian theory. Natural selection has only been observed within species but not across species.\u00a0In other words, a\u00a0bacteria never ceases to be a bacteria, even if it becomes resistant to antibiotics.<\/p>\n

Harari is blinded to his own assumptions, failing to recognize that his evolutionary worldview of molecules-to-man evolution is not history, it is not science, it is not fact. It is a story embedded in imagination. Perhaps, his most congruent assertion in this matter is when he says, \u201cUnfortunately, there are few certainties regarding the lives of our forager ancestors.\u201d (41)<\/p>\n

The major problem of telling\u00a0a version of history from a failed scientific foundation is that it results in moral relativism. \u00a0As Harari points out about Darwinian scientists, “they increasingly argue that human behavior is determined by hormones, genes, and synopsis, rather than by free will-the same forces that determine the behavior of chimpanzees, wolves, and ants. Our judicial and political systems largely try to sweep such inconvenient discoveries under the carpet. \u00a0But in all frankness, how long can we maintain\u00a0the wall separating the department\u00a0of biology from the department of law and political science? (230). \u00a0In Harari’s worldview, we are simply the sum of our cells, with no objective parameter for ethical behavior except for our subjective\u00a0opinion.\u00a0Many scientists disagree with Harari. Among them is Oxford Mathematician Dr. John Lenox who wrote Gunning for God<\/em> to present an\u00a0intricate argument to dismantle the ethical fallacies of Darwinian theory. As\u00a0Einstein’s said, “Every attempt to \u00a0reduce ethics to scientific formulae must fail.” (Jammer, 69).<\/p>\n

Despite the loudness of Darwinian thought and the fallacies within it, Sapiens<\/em> brings some interesting thoughts about the times in which we live and the power of shared stories.<\/p>\n

The book succeeds in describing the influential forces that have shaped our modern world. It brings to the table similar concepts to the ones shared by Benedict Anderson in Imagined Communities<\/em>, or Karl Polanyi in the Great Transformation<\/em>. It also reminds us that technological advances create new ethical dilemmas that society must face. The very definition of what it means to be human, the transformation of the nuclear family, and the advocacy for fluid sexual identities are some of the current dilemmas that society and the church are facing today. In light of the current advances in microbiology and the manipulation of DNA, these ethical issues will continue to get more complex.<\/p>\n

The best insight I gained from this book is the power of shared stories. Cooperation is best attained when we share the same narrative. I must remember that it is not just facts and charts that inspire people to pursue a cause. The intentional use of true stories can be a powerful tool to encourage people and move hearts to action. \u00a0This was the power that led author Lee Stroble to abandon Harari’s worldview and to embrace a new life with God. \u00a0In the same way, I pray that God will use us at Ethnos Bible Church\u00a0to\u00a0influence many more\u00a0as we speak truth in love, so that no matter how popular Harari’s worldview is around the world, they will come to know the true Author of the brief history of\u00a0humankind.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The book\u00a0Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind\u00a0paints a congruent evolutionist worldview, interpreting the events of history and the possibilities of the future from a strictly Darwinian perspective. The book was a struggle to read,\u00a0not only because it argues for a worldview completely opposite to mine, but also because it makes many unsustained claims with\u00a0the appereance\u00a0of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":71,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[689,760,688],"class_list":["post-10259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-ethnos-bible-church","tag-harari","tag-pablo-morales","cohort-lgp6"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/71"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10259"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10259\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}