This week on Twitter, Redeemer Presbyterian Church founder and popular author Tim Keller posted some interesting thoughts about evolution on Twitter.
He wrote, “If we are merely the product of evolution on what basis can we object to powerful people oppressing marginalized ones? Strong>the weak.”
If we are merely the product of evolution on what basis can we object to powerful people oppressing marginalized ones? Strong>the weak
— Timothy Keller (@timkellernyc) March 19, 2018
There’s a lot to unpack in a single tweet, but it essentially questions the ethics of the idea of “social Darwinism”—what happens if societies operate under a “survival of the fittest” mentality? Obviously, that philosophy is morally and ethically problematic.
The tweet has led to some interesting discussion and debate. As @cngare_ suggests in a tweet, “We may be products of evolution without being subjects to evolution(ism).” @PropheticChxrch replied, “Evolution does not discount the wisdom of Jesus’s kingdom of God ethic. Perhaps this consciousness is a sign of our human evolving to be more like the divine?”
@_goodwilliam posted, “If it is accepted, as many evolutionary scientists suggest, that we can consciously guide our evolution, then perhaps the ideal posture of man, such that he evolves some desirable trait, is that he refuses to turn his teeth on his own kind. Your argument assumes a sin nature.” @keanan_joyner replied, “Because evolution doesn’t say anything about PRESCRIPTIVE ethics, only about the DESCRIPTIVE process of arriving at the current state.”
The full thread of replies is worth reading.
But no matter where you come out on the debate, Tim Keller has done something he’s best at—give followers something to think about.
