Religion and Science
For most people, religion matters more to them than does science. They are more often immersed in some spiritual thought in their lives than they are about some issue of science. Some people pray every day, some go to church every week or at least every once in a while. When confronted, they will say they want to avoid hell or some such terrible result after death, and therefore declare allegiance to their God, and hope and pray that their sufficiently good. Most people are not theologians or even know one. They have many complicated thoughts throughout their life about religion, and plan to die with some petition on their lips for the better outcome.
Most people have none of these kinds of thoughts about science. For them science is exposure to some theories and findings in school, and an occasional scientific event described in newspapers. Unless they are scientists themselves, they rarely if ever become involved in conversations about scientific subjects, whereas religious subjects come up all the time, usually in the form of some political issue, pro-, anti-choice, pro-family or pro-marriage equality. At these times, at least here in America, some Biblical doctrine is called upon to render judgement on the issue. To be successful at this, some greater measure of acquaintance with religions and Biblical tenets are required, and most people have more of this to call upon than they do scientific theories and findings.
Moreover, people who are religious to more than a small degree, consider their relations to their God to be personal, i.e., someone who knows them and what they are doing, and with whom they can talk. Large groups of people who call themselves Evangelical, or Pentecostal, or who belong to one of the more organized religious groups like the Southern Baptists, or Lutherans, etc., are these kinds of people.
Science has been immeasurably effective in raising the well-being of the human race (maybe less so the other members of the animal kingdom), and most people recognize it's achievements even if their knowledge of how they came about is a bit hazy. The amazing achievements of science, however, has created a conflict for the great number of people who have the religious views I've described. A serious conflict that they are mostly unaware of. What they're not aware of is to what degree science has found out about our existence, and the degree to which it creates a problem with their religious beliefs. The scientific evidence is overwhelming, only deism remains. Theism, a belief in a personal God, is denied.
The critical evidence, from biology, is that there was no point in human history when there was just a man and a woman from whom we are all descended. In reality we are all descended from a group of pre-human animals that migrated into Asia and Europe from Africa. This group of pre-humans eventually evolved into a group of identifiable humans from whom we are descended. The details of this evolution is still under investigation, but the study of human DNA rules out our having descended from two people that mated with each other to produce all human descendants now alive. Nor for that matter from eight people who survived Noah's flood.
This is a refutation from which Christianity cannot emerge intact. Further historical research reveals that there was no Moses, no Exodus from Egypt, in fact no presence of Jews in Egypt at all. And now without an Adam or Eve to sin, there is no need of Redemption, no need for someone to die on a cross. Christianity has been hollowed out by science. All that is left is Deism, or no gods at all. What science is able to say on this issue is that there is no reason, from a scientific point of view, for a god to exist. Such an existence cannot be disproved by science, nor can it prove it. But this is really a remote issue. If there was some sort of creature to have brought this universe into existence, it is no longer around. A personal God, that talks to you and listens to your prayers, is disproved by science.
Actually some people do know all these things, but regardless, choose their religious beliefs in spite of the scientific evidence against them. I believe this is what the future holds. Science and the scientific evidence ruling out a personal God, first humans, Adam and Eve, the Resurrection of Jesus, while undeniable, will be rejected and religion and superstition will triumph for another long dark ages.
Most people have none of these kinds of thoughts about science. For them science is exposure to some theories and findings in school, and an occasional scientific event described in newspapers. Unless they are scientists themselves, they rarely if ever become involved in conversations about scientific subjects, whereas religious subjects come up all the time, usually in the form of some political issue, pro-, anti-choice, pro-family or pro-marriage equality. At these times, at least here in America, some Biblical doctrine is called upon to render judgement on the issue. To be successful at this, some greater measure of acquaintance with religions and Biblical tenets are required, and most people have more of this to call upon than they do scientific theories and findings.
Moreover, people who are religious to more than a small degree, consider their relations to their God to be personal, i.e., someone who knows them and what they are doing, and with whom they can talk. Large groups of people who call themselves Evangelical, or Pentecostal, or who belong to one of the more organized religious groups like the Southern Baptists, or Lutherans, etc., are these kinds of people.
Science has been immeasurably effective in raising the well-being of the human race (maybe less so the other members of the animal kingdom), and most people recognize it's achievements even if their knowledge of how they came about is a bit hazy. The amazing achievements of science, however, has created a conflict for the great number of people who have the religious views I've described. A serious conflict that they are mostly unaware of. What they're not aware of is to what degree science has found out about our existence, and the degree to which it creates a problem with their religious beliefs. The scientific evidence is overwhelming, only deism remains. Theism, a belief in a personal God, is denied.
The critical evidence, from biology, is that there was no point in human history when there was just a man and a woman from whom we are all descended. In reality we are all descended from a group of pre-human animals that migrated into Asia and Europe from Africa. This group of pre-humans eventually evolved into a group of identifiable humans from whom we are descended. The details of this evolution is still under investigation, but the study of human DNA rules out our having descended from two people that mated with each other to produce all human descendants now alive. Nor for that matter from eight people who survived Noah's flood.
This is a refutation from which Christianity cannot emerge intact. Further historical research reveals that there was no Moses, no Exodus from Egypt, in fact no presence of Jews in Egypt at all. And now without an Adam or Eve to sin, there is no need of Redemption, no need for someone to die on a cross. Christianity has been hollowed out by science. All that is left is Deism, or no gods at all. What science is able to say on this issue is that there is no reason, from a scientific point of view, for a god to exist. Such an existence cannot be disproved by science, nor can it prove it. But this is really a remote issue. If there was some sort of creature to have brought this universe into existence, it is no longer around. A personal God, that talks to you and listens to your prayers, is disproved by science.
Actually some people do know all these things, but regardless, choose their religious beliefs in spite of the scientific evidence against them. I believe this is what the future holds. Science and the scientific evidence ruling out a personal God, first humans, Adam and Eve, the Resurrection of Jesus, while undeniable, will be rejected and religion and superstition will triumph for another long dark ages.
Comments
Post a Comment