Saturday, July 5, 2014

Former COG Minister Writes Book About God and Evolution








Daniel Samson, reportedly a Worldwide Church of God minister, has written a book about God and evolution.  

Amazon has this to say about him:


Daniel J. Samson is an author, inventor, lecturer and former fundamentalist church pastor. For more than eighteen years, he has ministered and lectured in French and English to large church conventions numbering over 4,000 throughout eastern Canada, the Antilles and the United States. Samson received his B.A. degree from Ambassador University in Pasadena, CA, in 1980 with a theology core. He resigned his pastorate in 1998 allowing him to speak more openly on this important and controversial issue.

Red flags go up when I see all glowing reviews of his books.  Far too many COG folk have padded their book ratings by having church members get on and give them high ratings.  The Philadelphia Church of God and Restored Church of God are experts in this.  They also complain to Amazon when people leave negative comments and have them removed.

One reviewer writes:
 
Someone who actually believes the Bible and the facts of Evolution should write a book explaining how you can believe both. I, for one, do. This author starts out promising that he wants to extend an olive branch to his "fellow fundamentalists". But he calls us incipient Osama Bin Ladens; he has a funny concept of olive branches.

See the book here:

God and Evolution? - The Implications of Darwin's Theory for Fundamentalism, the Bible and the Meaning of Life

10 comments:

old EXPCG hag said...

I'm not reading it!

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Anonymous said...

The Bible and Evolutionary Science go together like submarines and screen doors. Like discussing why a fish would need to ride a bicycle.

Anonymous said...

This seems a bit negative toward one of the better books to come out of WCG culture. I am one of the reviewers on amazon and my review is certainly for real. Dan asked me to write the review and I did, but my review is for real. I do not know about the others, perhaps solicited, but I doubt any are actually fake. I do agree with you regarding the glowing reviews of many amazon books which are off-putting.

But this is a story of a WCG minister, steeped in WCG, who came to embrace science and the scientific method as it pertains to evolution. While the book has occasional rhetoric of evangelical fervor from a Teilhard de Chardin "liberal theology" approach, the overwhelming structure of the book is engagement with solid science and is a serious argument and book. Furthermore, Samson's book appears to have been significantly responsible for something which is rare indeed--a fundamentalist church actually changing on the matter of creationism toward science. Samson's book in short is solid critical thinking nearly from start to finish, whether one agrees or disagrees with every specific point. On a personal level, Samson acted on his conscience, resigned from the WCG ministry because of intellectual honesty, did not attempt to start a new ministry or have people start tithing to him, works for a living at a paying job like a normal person today, an honest man, through this book attempting to help others from fundamentalist backgrounds undertake a path of critical thinking in matters of science and philosophy analogous to his own awakening.

I became acquainted with Samson when he contacted me a while ago after reading my chapter on "Creation and Evolution" in my book "Showdown at Big Sandy" (my chapter on creationism and evolution is available at www.scrollery.com). That resulted in an exchange of books and is how I became aware of the interesting story of Samson and this book.

One of the never-ending surprises in WCG culture and back-story on this book is a few months before Dr. Hoeh died Dr. Hoeh talked to Samson by phone, had read the mss carefully, offered his personal help in editing and helping it be published (I have heard the tape)--and this was an explicit pro-evolution book cutting the foundations from the creationism which was at the heart of Hoeh's lifelong belief-system. In my opinion Samson is on the side of the angels, like Dennis Diehl.

Greg D.

Retired Prof said...

Like old EXPG hag, I do not plan to read this book. To me, 544 pages attempting to explain (as anon says) why submarines need screen doors and fish need bicycles, together with instructions for fitting the doors and teaching the fish to ride, would grow tedious.

However, those who retain some hope that the god of Israel exists might well benefit from knowing in detail the evidence for evolution and considering what it implies about the place of humans beings in the universe. It could be that Samson can lead you to understand what science says without leading you to abandon your faith.



old EXPCG hag said...

Anonymous Retired Prof said...

Like old EXPG hag, I do not plan to read this book. To me, 544 pages attempting to explain (as anon says) why submarines need screen doors and fish need bicycles, together with instructions for fitting the doors and teaching the fish to ride, would grow tedious.

However, those who retain some hope that the god of Israel exists might well benefit from knowing in detail the evidence for evolution and considering what it implies about the place of humans beings in the universe. It could be that Samson can lead you to understand what science says without leading you to abandon your faith.



July 6, 2014 at 1:50 PM

Why read what someone else THINKS it's all about. Not abandoning my faith, just listening to that quiet inner voice.
If being a part of that group of people taught me anything, it was...GOD IS NOT WORKING WITH CONTROLLING ABUSIVE MEN, SO DON'T LISTEN TO THEM ANYMORE!!

Corky said...

In the light of evolution, Genesis makes no sense at all. And, since the "last Adam" depends on there being a "first Adam" and the story being literal...well, so much for the sacrificial atonement for those "in Adam".

Okay, we could say that the bible is all allegory but then it could say anything you want it to say with no way to know for sure what the allegories mean. So, what good is it?

Then there's the fact that the bible has always been interpreted more or less literally, that is, aside from the allegory of Abraham and his two wives, which is assumed to be literal besides being an allegory. So, the stories in the bible are both literal and allegory at the same time? Yikes!

It's a good thing for Jacob that "thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" didn't apply to him and his magical streaked sticks...just an allegory...maybe, I suppose...

Anonymous said...

"old EXPCG hag" wrote: "Why read what someone else THINKS it's all about. Not abandoning my faith, just listening to that quiet inner voice.
If being a part of that group of people taught me anything, it was...GOD IS NOT WORKING WITH CONTROLLING ABUSIVE MEN, SO DON'T LISTEN TO THEM ANYMORE!!"

I certainly agree with your last sentence in all caps, but what does that have to do with the Dan Samson book?

Do you refuse to read anything if it happens to involve someone expressing ideas or taking a position on something? (To me, I don't want to read anything that does NOT do that, have something to say, give some reasons, make their case, challenge me, offer insight, a different perspective, make me think… etc.) If you are not against all reading altogether, why are you singling out this particular book for such venom? What about it provoked this reaction?

I can understand maybe the evolution issue may not be of interest--we all have limited time, cannot read everything, have to make judgements with use of time. Just curious why your first comment has the exclamation point "I'm not reading it!"

What's to fear about science and the scientific argument for evolution? What's to fear about the idea that the universe runs on natural laws which, among other things, has produced evolution? Who told you that that was scary, or sinful, or to be feared, or of the 'devil'?

Listen to some episodes of the current new "Cosmos" and catch a glimpse of the vast mysteries of science and astronomy--that is the true awe, the true reverence, the true glimpses of God.
Greg D.

old EXPCG hag said...

Listen to some episodes of the current new "Cosmos" and catch a glimpse of the vast mysteries of science and astronomy--that is the true awe, the true reverence, the true glimpses of God.
Greg D.

July 7, 2014 at 11:42 AM

Wow. Do you think I was born yesterday? What makes you think I don't watch those things? Obviously you believe you are more knowledgeable and intelligent than me right? I may be light years ahead of you for all you know. I didn't get on this site to argue with you. You bore me!

Anonymous said...

In the Millennium, when everyone believes in God again, this will all make perfect sense. But for now, non-believers can debate origins amongst themselves, as can theists amongst themselves. But, when the two groups are both participating in the discussion, it nearly always degenerates into us vs them, with straw men created to make the opposing side appear intellectually or spiritually inept or ridiculous.

Anonymous said...

Sorry "oldexpcg", just misunderstood the reason for your violent reaction sight unseen to a life-affirming pro-science book by a gentle author who is for human rights and women's rights and critical thinking and has nothing to do with any church (now), who in all likelihood you have never met. It didn't occur to me that such a reaction could be other than from a fundamentalist fearful of science, but apparently that isn't you, sorry. If you react to a random good book this way, I shudder to think how you react to books and men who actually are evil. Let tyrants tremble…:-) Peace, gd