Clergy Letter Project

{{quote|''The Clergy Letter - from American Christian Clergy – An Open Letter Concerning Religion and Science''

{{quote|''The Clergy Letter - from American Christian Clergy – An Open Letter Concerning Religion and Science''

Within the community of Christian believers there are areas of dispute and disagreement, including the proper way to interpret [[Holy Scripture]]. While virtually all Christians take the [[Bible]] seriously and hold it to be authoritative in matters of faith and practice, the overwhelming majority do not [[Biblical literalism|read the Bible literally]], as they would a [[science]] [[textbook]]. Many of the beloved stories found in the Bible – the [[Genesis creation narrative|Creation]], [[Adam and Eve]], [[Noah's ark|Noah and the ark]] – convey timeless truths about [[God]], [[human beings]], and the proper relationship between Creator and creation expressed in the only form capable of transmitting these truths from generation to generation. Religious truth is of a different order from scientific truth. Its purpose is not to convey scientific information but to transform hearts.

Within the community of Christian believers there are areas of dispute and disagreement, including the proper way to interpret [[Holy Scripture]]. While virtually all Christians take the [[Bible]] seriously and hold it to be authoritative in matters of faith and practice, the overwhelming majority do not [[Biblical literalism|read the Bible literally]], as they would a [[science]] [[textbook]]. Many of the beloved stories found in the Bible – the [[Genesis creation narrative|Creation]], [[Adam and Eve]], [[Noah's Ark|Noah and the ark]] – convey timeless truths about [[God]], [[human beings]], and the proper relationship between Creator and creation expressed in the only form capable of transmitting these truths from generation to generation. Religious truth is of a different order from scientific truth. Its purpose is not to convey scientific information but to transform hearts.

We the undersigned, Christian clergy from many [[Christian denominations|different traditions]], believe that the timeless truths of the Bible and the discoveries of modern science may comfortably coexist. We believe that the [[theory of evolution]] is a foundational scientific truth, one that has stood up to rigorous scrutiny and upon which much of human knowledge and achievement rests. To reject this truth or to treat it as "[[Teach the controversy|one theory among others]]" is to deliberately embrace scientific ignorance and transmit such ignorance to our children. We believe that among God's good gifts are human minds capable of critical thought and that the failure to fully employ this gift is a rejection of the will of our Creator. To argue that God's loving plan of [[salvation]] for humanity precludes the full employment of the God-given faculty of [[reason]] is to attempt to limit God, an act of hubris. We urge [[school board]] members to preserve the integrity of the science curriculum by affirming the teaching of the theory of evolution as a core component of human knowledge. We ask that science remain science and that religion remain religion, two very different, but complementary, forms of truth.<ref name="Christian" />}}

We the undersigned, Christian clergy from many [[Christian denominations|different traditions]], believe that the timeless truths of the Bible and the discoveries of modern science may comfortably coexist. We believe that the [[theory of evolution]] is a foundational scientific truth, one that has stood up to rigorous scrutiny and upon which much of human knowledge and achievement rests. To reject this truth or to treat it as "[[Teach the controversy|one theory among others]]" is to deliberately embrace scientific ignorance and transmit such ignorance to our children. We believe that among God's good gifts are human minds capable of critical thought and that the failure to fully employ this gift is a rejection of the will of our Creator. To argue that God's loving plan of [[salvation]] for humanity precludes the full employment of the God-given faculty of [[reason]] is to attempt to limit God, an act of hubris. We urge [[school board]] members to preserve the integrity of the science curriculum by affirming the teaching of the theory of evolution as a core component of human knowledge. We ask that science remain science and that religion remain religion, two very different, but complementary, forms of truth.<ref name="Christian" />}}