Science & Religion

  • Thread starter Thread starter epiphany08
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
II am talking about assertions science can evaluate, such as " all humans are descended from one man and one woman.’ And even if that turns out to be true, it would not validate the rest of the Eden story.
And if it did turn out to be true, science would then have to explain why the human genome appears to support a constant ancestry of 3,000-10,000 breeding pairs. Perhaps we could argue that God created single Adamic couple, but left faked evidence to suggest to scientists that there had been thousands more humans in the breeding population at the time. Since God determines morality, it would not be immoral of God to falsify evidence.

StAnastasia
 
I was not talking about things outside the competence of science to evaluate, such as miracles, which science cannot evaluate because they only happen once, if at all. I am talking about assertions science can evaluate, such as " all humans are descended from one man and one woman.’ And even if that turns out to be true, it would not validate the rest of the Eden story.
Like I said before IF science one day proves without a doubt that Adam and Eve never existed, people will continue to believe anyway. People have the tendency to believe what they want to believe.
 
I was not talking about things outside the competence of science to evaluate, such as miracles, which science cannot evaluate because they only happen once, if at all. I am talking about assertions science can evaluate, such as " all humans are descended from one man and one woman.’ And even if that turns out to be true, it would not validate the rest of the Eden story.
In the first three chapters of Genesis, I can only think of two or possibly three major things which would be validated by the truth of monogenism.
 
Well, if you believe that the earth is only 12000 years old, you MUST believe that dinos and humans once lived together even without the "soft tissue"being found by a scientist who still believes in evolution.
If I remember rightly, what Buffalo said was that he believed the world was “at least 12,000 years old,” and beyond that was not prepared to say.
Of course, that’s like saying, “I believe the distance from New York to Los Angeles is at least 100 yards, but beyond that I’m not prepared to say.”
 
And if it did turn out to be true, science would then have to explain why the human genome appears to support a constant ancestry of 3,000-10,000 breeding pairs. Perhaps we could argue that God created single Adamic couple, but left faked evidence to suggest to scientists that there had been thousands more humans in the breeding population at the time. Since God determines morality, it would not be immoral of God to falsify evidence.

StAnastasia
God’s creative power is not limited by the limits of the natural world. God is supernatural.
 
Or perhaps there is middle ground. Perhaps we could say that science is telling the truth for non-Catholics and for Catholics who accept evolutionary science, but that you and the Catechism are likewise telling the truth for your own constituency. In other words, I’m arguing for a both/and solution, a win/win situation, that respects the integrity of both science and religion!
This is impossible. Either evolution happened or it didn’t. If it did, it is “true for” everybody; if it didn’t, it is “false for” everybody. The same theory cannot be true for some and false for others at the same time and in the same sense.
Of course, different constituencies can believe opposite things, but that means that at least one side must be wrong. If you are using the word “truth” as a synonym for “belief,” you are falling into the confusion of the relativists. Truth is often independent of belief.
 
This is impossible. Either evolution happened or it didn’t. If it did, it is “true for” everybody; if it didn’t, it is “false for” everybody. The same theory cannot be true for some and false for others at the same time and in the same sense.
Of course, different constituencies can believe opposite things, but that means that at least one side must be wrong. If you are using the word “truth” as a synonym for “belief,” you are falling into the confusion of the relativists. Truth is often independent of belief.
Thank you.

It is a gift to know that someone understands that “Truth is often independent of belief.”
 
If I remember rightly, what Buffalo said was that he believed the world was “at least 12,000 years old,” and beyond that was not prepared to say.
Of course, that’s like saying, “I believe the distance from New York to Los Angeles is at least 100 yards, but beyond that I’m not prepared to say.”
Yeah but he also says that he believes that the distance between NY and LA is more than 100 yards but he can’t say how much more BUT there are studies that show you can walk the distance in 30 minutes.

Ok, he actually said they found soft tissue in dinosaur fossils which, according to him, means they can’t be dead for 65 million years but rather a couple of thousand years.
 
This is impossible. Either evolution happened or it didn’t. If it did, it is “true for” everybody; if it didn’t, it is “false for” everybody. The same theory cannot be true for some and false for others at the same time and in the same sense.
Of course, different constituencies can believe opposite things, but that means that at least one side must be wrong. If you are using the word “truth” as a synonym for “belief,” you are falling into the confusion of the relativists. Truth is often independent of belief.
So, SGWessells, into which camp do you fall? Human evolution did happen, or it didn’t? Granny is in the “human evolution didn’t happen” camp; I’m in the “human evolution did happen” camp. I’m also in the “I believe in God” camp.
 
So, SGWessells, into which camp do you fall? Human evolution did happen, or it didn’t? Granny is in the “human evolution didn’t happen” camp; I’m in the “human evolution did happen” camp. I’m also in the “I believe in God” camp.
Please remember that evolution has a variety of meanings in the 21st century.

When one is dealing with science, it is very important to be specific; otherwise, the “human evolution camp bit” falls apart. Attention to nitty-gritty details is the hallmark of good science. It is important to pay attention. Thank you.

For example. the evolution model is involved in amazing HIV research. Because the cell makeup is in humans, this would come under human evolution. It is now possible to analyze immune mutations in humans.

HIV study even includes beginning research of some genetic samples of an animal species which, at times, carries a minor strain but is immune to its effects. I do not have current results. Maybe the research reached a dead end. Maybe it is beneficial. In either case, what is known so far is part of “evolution” which can eventually benefit humans in that it opens new avenues for medical aid to fight HIV in humans.

There are also scientific studies which demonstrated that over time, a particular group of people living in extreme high altitudes adapted to it through changes in their anatomy. This too is part of beneficial human evolution.

Therefore, I accept and encourage the 21st century “benefits to humans” part of evolution and the “camp” theory falls apart.
 
So, SGWessells, into which camp do you fall? Human evolution did happen, or it didn’t? Granny is in the “human evolution didn’t happen” camp; I’m in the “human evolution did happen” camp. I’m also in the “I believe in God” camp.
I’m in the “human evolution definitely did happen, and there’s no evidence that a god had anything to do with it” camp, and the “if that is true, then it is ‘true for’ everybody” camp. Also the “I believe there may be a god but the Christian version seems very unlikely” camp.
 
Perhaps we could argue that God created single Adamic couple, but left faked evidence to suggest to scientists that there had been thousands more humans in the breeding population at the time.
It is more in keeping with Catholic doctrine to believe God inspired a single couple and gave them the power to distinguish and choose between doing what is right or wrong. Otherwise there must have been complete continuity between their non-human parents and therefore there cannot be any essential difference between human beings and animals.

From the scientific point of view free will infringes the law of conservation of energy…
 
I’m in the “human evolution definitely did happen, and there’s no evidence that a god had anything to do with it” camp, and the “if that is true, then it is ‘true for’ everybody” camp. Also the “I believe there may be a god but the Christian version seems very unlikely” camp.
In my previous post 1567, I commented: “Attention to nitty-gritty details is the hallmark of good science. It is important to pay attention. Thank you.”

In science, it is also important to pay attention to – when did human evolution happen? Is human evolution confined to the past? Does human evolution continue to happen? Can science, through drugs, cause human evolution to happen in specific areas of the genome?

Once one looks at evolution from a 21st century position, the confining “human evolution happened or did not happen camps” are 21st century nonsense.
 
And if it did turn out to be true, science would then have to explain why the human genome appears to support a constant ancestry of 3,000-10,000 breeding pairs. Perhaps we could argue that God created single Adamic couple, but left faked evidence to suggest to scientists that there had been thousands more humans in the breeding population at the time. Since God determines morality, it would not be immoral of God to falsify evidence.
As far as science is concerned the supernatural doesn’t even exist! **
**
 
I’m in the “human evolution definitely did happen, and there’s no evidence that a god had anything to do with it” camp, and the “if that is true, then it is ‘true for’ everybody” camp. Also the “I believe there may be a god but the Christian version seems very unlikely” camp.
What evidence is there that human beings are animals in every respect? Do you find no differentiating features?
 
On the dinosaur tissue controversy, here’s an article on the discovery, with a relevant excerpt. I note that in Buffalo’s post #1463, he justifies the young earth notion for religious, not scientific, reasons; which means that he will interpret evidence like dino tissue to fit that theory, and question the age of dinosaurs rather than prevailing assumption about how fossils are preserved.
Schweitzer herself has emphasized the tentative nature of the discovery, which is not hemoglobin or red blood cells, but degraded fragments of hemoglobin and possible altered blood remnants. The chemicals may also be from geological processes and contamination.

From the Smithsonian article:
"Creation magazine claimed that Schweitzer’s research was “powerful testimony against the whole idea of dinosaurs living millions of years ago. It speaks volumes for the Bible’s account of a recent creation.”

This drives Schweitzer crazy. Geologists have established that the Hell Creek Formation, where B. rex was found, is 68 million years old, and so are the bones buried in it. She’s horrified that some Christians accuse her of hiding the true meaning of her data. “They treat you really bad,” she says. “They twist your words and they manipulate your data.” For her, science and religion represent two different ways of looking at the world; invoking the hand of God to explain natural phenomena breaks the rules of science."

Read more: smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/dinosaur.html#ixzz1dOZizPpb

See also G.S. Hurd, Dino-blood and the Young Earth, talkorigins.org/faqs/dinosaur/blood.html
 
So, SGWessells, into which camp do you fall? Human evolution did happen, or it didn’t? Granny is in the “human evolution didn’t happen” camp; I’m in the “human evolution did happen” camp. I’m also in the “I believe in God” camp.
When one trains one’s eye to see science from the 21st century position, one should ask more scientific questions about this “camp” theory of “human evolution didn’t happen.” Please refer back to posts 1567 and 1571 for initial suggestions. Thank you.

When one reads actual science research, one finds different meanings for the term human; therefore,
one needs to know more precise qualifying information. For example. The change in the pelvic area which made it possible for ancient beings to walk upright would be considered evolution. The key question is-- did this evolution event occur before the rational human being or after the rational human being? Rational is the operative word since current human beings are rational. Did the chance in scull size which would be considered evolution occur as a result of a human being having the tools of reason or did it lead to the future possibility of a human being having the tools of reason?

The above questions are only the start for an intelligent inquiry into pre-history events.
In the 21st century, it is not reasonable to lump all scientific discoveries into a “camp” theory of either yes or no.

One should use the tools of investigative journalism. This means that one needs to find the answers to – who? how? what? when? where? why? when it comes to your human nature which is assumed to be the same as mine.

However, who really knows, since maybe you descended from one section of 10,000 mating pairs and I descended from another section of 10,000 mating pairs.
.
 
What the 10,000 breeding pairs means is that God did not participate in creating human nature.
No, what it means is that God didn’t create human nature in the way you think he did. There are a lot of ways God could have created human nature.
When it comes to human nature, there are only two options. Either human’s spiritual soul exists because God necessarily created it or it doesn’t exist because according to evolution theory, the spiritual soul is not a necessary part of human nature because everything emerges from an evovling material anatomy.
There are only two options that you recognize as possibilities. There are a lot of other religions that teach other options.
When you say, “God necessarily created it,” do you mean “God had to create it” or “God is the only possible source for it”?
 
A false dilemma! Either evolution **occurred **by Design, it happened for no reason or it didn’t occur at all.
Not a false dilemma. If evolution happened by design or for no reason, it still happened in both cases; you are simply dividing one of my alternatives into two subsets; you are not creating a third alternative… In context, my post responded to one which to me implied that it could have happened “for” one group but not “for” another.

As usual, you are using other people’s statements as springboards for your own personal crusade, not addressing what they actually say.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top