Tuesday 20 February 2018

Developmental-evolutionary Christian Theology

Developmental-evolutionary Christian Theology is based upon the metaphysical intuition that divine purpose can only be attained via development, through Time.

This fits with the (Mormon) understanding of God creating by 'organisation' of pre-existent 'stuff'.

As the main example; God can only create men and women as fully divine sons and daughters of God by a developmental process, through time.


It contrasts with the Mainstream/ Classical Christian) idea of God creating instantaneously and from nothing (ex nihilo) - which implies that perfection can be attained instantaneously.

The fact that men and women (and the world) are clearly Not perfect then entails that there has been corruption. The inference is that imperfection inside God's creation is always ruined-perfection.

This creates the knock-on problem of why God creates (why God chooses to create) corruption and ruin - in the sense that the possibility of ruin and corruption must have been specifically intended by a God who can create perfection-from-the-beginning.


The problem of explaining the presence of pain, suffering, corruption and ruin in God's creation is therefore very different according to whether our theology assumes creation is developmental-evolutionary-across-time; or instant and ex nihilo.

If our theology is developmental-evolutionary, then we can know and understand the Big Picture Explanation for why pain, suffering, corruption and ruin necessarily exist in God's creation - i.e. broadly because creation is of necessity en route to the full divinity (and 'perfection') of men and women - although we do not know and understand all (or even most) of the specific details.


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