最近，我讀了一篇採訪著名神學家Dr. Alister McGrath的文章。Dr. Alister McGrath應該算神學界的權威了吧？他的書在Amazon上有很多，他是Heresy：A History of Defending the Truth（異端：基督教護衛真理的歷史）一書的作者。讓我們看看Dr. Alister McGrath在接受採訪的時候如何面對聖經真理。下面的談話摘錄自：An Interview with Alister McGrath
To the person who considers Christianity and evolution incompatible, how do you respond?
The question is, “How do we interpret Scripture and above all, how do
we interpret the opening chapters of Genesis?” Certainly, in recent
years, many Christians have come to think that only a literal reading of
Genesis does justice to the text. I can understand where they are
coming from. For me, the issue is not about the authority of Scripture,
but the interpretation of Scripture. My specialty is historical
theology, which means I’m always asking how Christians read these
biblical passages in the past. What I noticed in the earlier period of
the Christian church is that people didn’t read Genesis in that way. I
think we have more freedom about how we interpret these passages than
some might think. There is no doubt [the Scriptures] teach God made all
things. I don’t think they necessarily teach that God made all things
instantaneously at one moment in time so that what we now see is the way
things always have been. I think it’s more complex than that. Augustine
of Hippo gives us a useful theological framework, which means we can
begin to engage questions of evolution. You can’t simply say, “It’s the
Bible or evolution.” Certainly, I would challenge certain
interpretations of evolution—above all, Richard Dawkins’ idea, which is
atheistic. I think we need to understand both evolution and Scripture
rightly.
Dr. Alister McGrath，在科學的強勢影響下，他使用了另一種辦法解決了進化論和聖經的衝突，他從歷史中尋找基督徒對創世記支持進化論理解的例子，他最後找到奧古斯丁，所以他在紀念達爾文200周年在Christianity Today上發表了一篇文章：Augustine's Origin of Species。有意思的是，新教從教義上來講是恢復聖經的權威性——聖經無誤，但是一遇到困惑事實上使用的權威是歷史人物——他們既不能證明那些歷史上的權威的作品是來自聖靈的默示，又不能按照字面相信相信聖經，更不敢想象神其實願意幫助他們回答困惑（這還了得？讓神解答，對於神學家們來說，這可能是最大的異端了。）
既然相信進化論作為科學等於事實，聖經的神創造變成了有神的進化論，那麼，亞當夏娃如何處理？經上明明說，
神就照着自己的形象造人，乃是照着他的形象，造男造女。創 1：27
耶和華神用地上的塵土造人，將生氣吹在他鼻孔里，他就成了有靈的活人，名叫亞當。 創2：7
耶和華神使他沉睡，他就睡了。於是取下他的一條肋骨，又把肉合起來。 耶和華神就用那人身上所取的肋骨造成一個女人，領她到那人跟前。 那人說：“這是我骨中的骨、肉中的肉！可以稱她為女人，因為她是從男人身上取出來的。”創2：21-23
人既然是按照神的形象造的，進化論如何解決類人猿從何時開始獲得神的形象的尊榮？神把生氣吹進塵土造的人身體，讓人成了活人，這個特殊的人類祖先是從類人猿階段還是從更低級的階段獲得生氣的？為什麼神先讓人從類人猿進化成亞當，再造夏娃？證明女人天生更尊貴榮耀，因為男人是從畜生出來，女人卻從人類開始？這個世界的聰明神學家所能誇口的不過是理性邏輯，問題是，面對這種理性邏輯必然導致的荒唐，他們如何面對？看看Alister McGrath如何回答亞當夏娃問題：
Do you take Adam and Eve then to be literal persons?
We need to take that text very seriously, and try and work out how
best to make sense of it. Certainly, the book of Genesis is saying that
we all come from the same stock. I’m still thinking how exactly we make
sense of that. The text emphasizes the corporate identity of humanity.
We’re all in the same boat. That’s a very important biblical insight.
We’re all in the same mess, and we need someone to get us out of this
mess, and that’s why salvation is such good news.
他繞了一大圈，迴避了直接回答人家的問題：你相信亞當夏娃是真實的人物嗎？從進化論肯定無從認同亞當夏娃的聖經字面解讀，問題是這種迴避最後導致的是否定了福音，這位神學家卻從這種無法make sense的邏輯難題中得出結論：這是為何救恩是個好消息。
不能相信亞當夏娃的聖經字面解讀，無法認同亞當夏娃是兩個開始按照神的形象被造的完美人物，聖經本身就被推翻，他竟然回到福音是好消息上來。當然神學就是如此奇妙，超越人類正常邏輯，既不受無神論的理性和知識限制，又不受基督徒按照信心對聖經的相信限制，他們將教會從信心從神的話語來的信仰基礎上引導進入了不可知論的迷宮。
