What Dr John Owen and Prof. Richard Dawkins Have In Common.

I have come across a very interesting thought in one of John Blanchard's books - Dealing with Dawkins - in which he claims that Prof. Richard Dawkins drew on work by an American physician, John Hartung, who believes that when Jesus taught 'Love your neighbour,' what He meant was '.Love other Jews.'  This is surely re-writing of the biblical data, and Blanchard is not impressed, describing it as a "bizarre idea."

Transfer this to reformed theology and the soteriological argument, and you see exactly the same re-writing of biblical data and its re-interpretation to suit a particular philosophical position as espoused by Dr John Owen.  Dawkins and Owen really are strange bed-fellows.  Or are they really?


Both these men, revered by their respective constituencies, dig from the same pit for their philosophical 'gems.'  The common ground between them is a particular philosophical methodology, one that allows for the re-writing of data so that it squares with their chosen philosophy.  Their common ground is a particular dogma that they hold, regardless of the data with which they are working.


How utterly different the methodology of Calvin is to both these men.  His approach is to come to the biblical data, and on the basis of exegetical accuracy, draws his theological conclusions.  Had both these men read and learned from Calvin, Owen's conclusions would approach those of Calvin much closer than they eventually did, and Dawkins would probably have been converted.