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I. Introduction
During the Darwin-year 2009, I was invited by a Dutch Christian newspaper to discuss the theme of creation and evolution with American creationist Dr. Terry Mortenson, by writing some letters back and forth to one another which were then translated and published over a couple of weeks. In my letters I challenged Mortenson's views by arguing that creationism is neither tenable nor necessary for Christians to embrace, cautiously suggesting that instead Christians should come to terms with the facts of evolution. Apparently our exchange was closely followed by the readership, for it stirred quite a number of letters-to-the-editor. Although I had tried to be as nuanced as I could, these letters were overwhelmingly critical of my position and supported Dr Mortenson on all counts.
One of the letters-to-the-editor was particularly harsh in tone, and a bit over the top to my mind. So I decided to contact its author, just because I was curious to know what was behind his rage. I managed to track down his phone number, and it turned out that he was a dairy-farmer living in a rural area. After having taken some time to become familiar with him, I asked him what I honestly and eagerly wanted to know: why did you become so angry with me on the issue of evolution? His answer was most revealing. Clearly, he could have given a variety of answers. For example, he might have answered that evolution challenges the authority of the Bible by forcing us to reinterpret the first chapters of Genesis. Or he might have argued that evolution rules out the possibility of a historical Adam and thereby destroys the Christian story of salvation, for as the old battle cry goes: "No Adam, no Fall; no Fall, no Atonement; no Atonement, no Savior."2 More sophisticatedly perhaps, my conversation partner might have responded that as a result of its emphasis on randomness and chance, evolution is clearly at odds with the doctrine of divine providence. Or, alternatively, he might have replied that given the incredible amount of evolutionary suffering and waste of life, it is hard to see how evolution can be reconciled with the goodness of God. All such concerns are quite understandable and therefore should be dealt...