...Issues in Science and Religion April 12, 2012 Science or God? I thought if we question Gods authority in a religious school that we would be shunned, but the first question that was asked in the beginning of class was “Is there a God”? I smiled with relief; because that is the question I have been wondering almost my whole life. Coming from a religious background I was expected to believe that there is a God and we never question if he exists or not because the bible is all the proof we need. Since I was 16 years old I always wondered if there was really a God and if so, where is he when you need Him the most and what is the big deal with this Evolution thing? I always had more reason to believe that Evolution makes more sense and has more concrete evidence than believing in a God you cannot see or do not have much or any other evidence that he really existed other than the Bible. Argument: Is there a God? Personally I think there isn’t, and the Bible makes it sounds like if you do not believe in him you automatically go to hell! However, a good person who does the right thing most of their lives but does not believe that God exists makes them what Christians call: “Devil Worshippers”, and is sentenced to hell forever? That doesn’t sound like a God who cares much about his people on earth, but more about himself, to have a lot of people sent to the burning pits of hell because they do not believe in him although they may do the same thing as what a Christian may do...
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...Introduction How did God get here? Richard Dawkins, among other atheists, thinks he has the ultimate proof that God doesn't exist. If God created a complex universe, wouldn't it take an even more complex entity to have created God? However, such logic assumes that time has always existed, rather than being merely a construct of this universe. Rich Deem Who created God? It is an age-old question that has plagued all those who like to think about the big questions. Having grown up as an agnostic non-Christian, it provided me with a potential reason why there might not be any god. Various religions tend to solve the problem in different ways. The LDS church (Mormonism) says that the God (Elohim) to whom we are accountable had a father god, then grew up on a planet as a man, and progressed to become a god himself. Many other religions have claimed that gods beget other gods. Of course the problem with this idea is how did the first god get here? This problem of infinite regression invalidates such religions. Christianity claims that God has always existed. Is this idea even possible? Does science address such issues? Christianity's answer Christianity answers the question of who made God in the very first verse of the very first book, Genesis: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1) This verse tells us that God was acting before time when He created the universe. Many other verses from the New Testament tell us that God was acting before...
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...is one topic that has been in debate over a decade. The fundamental difference if put it simply, science is based on evidence and religion is based on faith. Certain people believe that God exists and miracles do happen and we all have faith in God for what he does. On the contrary, certain people believe that man has evolved through science and according to science, many factors could not have had an explanation as to how it has happened and hence cannot be believed, as science gives an explanation to every events occurring. When an individual has faith in something, he does not require an evidence to prove what is happening and this is opposed by a scientific mind-set. People analyse a situation through various thinking and it could based on either religious believes or on scientific thinking and this is where the confusion arise. A beautiful debate is being illustrated between Albert Einstein and his student at one of his class sessions. Einstein was an atheist and hence he believed that there is no God and only science existed. In one of his classes a debate accidentally starts related to the topic God vs. Science. He asks one of his students, who are a firm believer in God to answer to his questions. His questions were simple initially and he wanted to make sure that the student was a strong believer in God. He started the conversation by asking whether God was good or bad and what would the student do if he had the powers to heal a sick and dying person...
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...Book of Genesis, God created everything from scratch. God created the heavens, earth, light, darkness, sea, stars, birds, and animals. God created a man and named him Adam. God created a woman and named her Eve. Adam and Eve were put in the Garden of Eden. The Garden of Eden was filled with fruit trees, animals, and there were river flowing all the time. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had plenty to eat. They did not have to work nor make money. Adam and Eve were naked but they were shameless. Adam and Eve did not have much to worry about. In the year 2001, we are living in the garden that is embedded with various scientific stuffs. Let’s just take a look at my life. Few years ago, I used the typewriter to write papers. Now, I am using a computer to write the paper. In the morning, the alarm clock wakes me up. I turn on the faucet to get water to brush my teeth. I pour out already brewed coffee from programmed coffee maker. I drive a car to get to the places. I wash my cloth in washing machine and dry them in the dryer. I don’t wear eyeglasses anymore because I am wearing contact lenses. Furthermore, this winter break, I am planning to have Lasik operation to correct my vision permanently. Then, I could say goodbye to my contact lenses. This is the sketch of my life, but just a part. I am living in the garden with full of scientific devices that I could no longer live without. Wow. How did we get here from the Garden of Eden to the Garden of Science? What makes the...
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...Experiential Essay Suffering and Science: The Possibility of a Loving God Before enrolling in a theology course, I was biased about the views of the possibility of a Christian God. I’ve seen far too many people say that God is their savior and everything they do is because of him, or for him. It was always to some far-fetched point, where I was unable to comprehend where their views came from. I never had the evidence or background to fall back on for a reason to have a foundation for the belief in God. Taking into consideration the numerous contextual readings from the arguments for the pros and cons for the existence of God, I still come to a conclusion that God does not exist in the human experience. Denis Edwards is the most notable author that I was able to relate to. By beginning with the nature of experience, we first encounter an individual and then we have an interpretation and understanding of that individual. Therefore, experience involves both encounters and interpretation of that encounter. We can have similar encounters, but different interpretations. This is where I was able to understand that the interpretive stage of experience can be biased, whether it may be because of emotional blockages, or unconscious motives. Edwards’s claims made me understand why I was unable to grasp the possibility of a God. Throughout my childhood, I was brought up in a Buddhist religion, never having even heard one thing about the Christian God. On the other hand, I have friends...
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...Does science make belief in God obsolete? Yes, if by… No, and yes. Absolutely not! Not necessarily. Of course not. No. No, but it should. No. Yes. No, not at all. It depends. Of course not. No, but only if… Steven Pinker Christoph Cardinal Schönborn William D. Phillips Pervez Amirali Hoodbhoy Mary Midgley Robert Sapolsky Christopher Hitchens Keith Ward Victor J. Stenger Jerome Groopman Michael Shermer Kenneth Miller Stuart Kauffman 2 4 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 Does science make belief in God obsolete? irteen views on the question Online at www.templeton.org/belief INTRODUCTION T he John Templeton Foundation serves as a philanthropic catalyst for research on what scientists and philosophers call the Big Questions. We support work at the world’s top universities in such fields as theoretical physics, cosmology, evolutionary biology, cognitive science, and social science relating to love, forgiveness, creativity, purpose, and the nature and origin of religious belief. We encourage informed, open-minded dialogue between scientists and theologians as they apply themselves to the most profound issues in their particular disciplines. And, in a more practical vein, we seek to stimulate new thinking about wealth creation in the developing world, character is booklet neatly embodies our approach to the Big Questions: the contributors are education in schools and universities, and programs for cultivating the talents of the gifted. scholars and thinkers of the...
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...Can science disprove God? This is a key question in the Reason Series that is especially discussed in Episode One and one that I have always wondered about myself. Disproving anything with science is close to impossible because the scientist would need to rule it out in every situation that could possibly happen. God is outside our universe and can’t be measured, therefore, science can’t disprove him. Solid evidence of a creator does exist, though: something can’t come from nothing, so something must have started our universe. Since God is infinite, he didn’t need a beginning like the universe did. But is there a chance that the universe could have been a coincidence and God had nothing to do with it? It turns out the answer seems to be no because the conditions of life are so improbable, some consider them mathematically impossible. All of this goes to show that science can’t disprove God, and in fact, there is evidence that there is a creator. Science and religion don’t clash at all, in fact, it even seems like they go hand in hand....
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...following in the rise of atheism * Science * Evil Atheism is when someone doesn’t believe in the existence of God. There are two types of Atheism negative and positive atheism. The negative atheism is when someone have no knowledge about God and doesn’t believe in it; while on the other hand the positive atheism is when they have the knowledge but still doesn’t believe in God. Over the years things started to change, Science came and people now have better understanding of things around them. These have made a major impact on people’s faiths and believe, which has caused an increase of atheist people. Back in the old days, everything was seen as either a miracle or a punishment from God. But since Science came along, it gave an explanation for why things happen and supporting it with evidence. This had made people question the existence of God, because God became no longer ‘the explanation’. For example: At first people thought that God had created the universe, but then Science came and argued this fact with a theory called the Big Bang theory, which is the explanation for how the universe started. Stephen Hawking said: “ Before we understand science, it is natural to believe that God created the universe. But now science offers a more convincing explanation”. What he means is that there are no evidence that proves that God did create the universe, but science do. Therefore Science is much logical than believing in God. Here when the rise of atheism began. ...
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...Existence of God; Science As Justification Submitted to Dr. michael chiavone Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary In Partial Fulfillment Of The Requirements For THEO 626 D02 By Daniel Martin Student ID: L25178504 New Orleans, LA December 12, 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page I. Introduction 1 a. Thesis and introductory explanation b. Historical development of doctrine II. Arguments for the Existence of God 3 c. Cosmological Argument d. Teleological Argument e. Anthropological III. Atheism Versus Existence of God 11 f. Evidence used to disprove God’s existence g. The believers evidence to counter IV. Conclusion 13 h. Summary of the arguments i. Applications in the church today V. Introduction The existence of an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, immutable, monotheistic God has come up against enormous resistance from the beginning of time. Early believers such as Moses, Elijah, Paul, and Peter all had to demonstrate that their God is the one true God at times. These believers even encountered persecution and ridicule for holding on to these beliefs at times. Nevertheless the challenges to these early believers tended to be demonstrating that their God was greater than their accuser’s god or gods. At times, it was through the words of men that the God of the Bible was shown to be greater, and other times it was through the action of God in the world...
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...scientific discovery is also a religious discovery. There is no conflict between science and religion. Our knowledge of God is made larger with every discovery we make about the world. –Joseph H. Taylor Jr, God Evidence According to Steve Paulson (2010) “The debate over science and religion is like catnip for anyone wanting to spout off about the improbability of God or the arrogance of scientists”(p.1). Since I was young I remember being told that no matter what I learned in science class about evolution, or the big bang, that God was real. According to Dr. Agustin Fuentes of Psychology today “There are some factions of Christianity whose leaders (and thus their followers) express adamant opposition to “evolution” and this is often used as the key example in the science vs. religion conflict.” Examples of controversial scientific discoveries such as cloning, and genetic manipulation, are considered to be inhumane. In my opinion God created science for humans to better understand the world he created, and according to Steve Paulson (2010) Albert Einstein shared my belief demonstrated when he stated “ Science without religion is lame; religion without science is blind” (p.3). It is well known that some people believe that the universe was started with the big bang as well as the subsequent reactions that followed. This brings into the discussion the Higgs Boson more commonly known as “The God Particle” The primary function of the Higgs according to Leon Lederman (1993) is...
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...E. O. Wilson is quoted saying “Science and religion are the two most powerful forces in the world. Having them at odds is not productive.” Religion is found everywhere. Religion is defined as “a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe” (“religion”). Everyone puts their faith and trust into something. Most people would not put the idea of religion and the genre of science fiction in the same category, but these two ideas are intertwined. In Charles Darwin’s book The Origin of Species, he stated that creation was “originally breathed [to life] by the Creator” (Connor 368). Even a well-known scientist such as Darwin included ideas of religion in his theories. Science fiction has elements within that can...
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... THE GOD-IS-DEAD THEOLOGY A RESEARCH PAPER SUBMITTED TO DOCTOR RICHARD ELLIGSON PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF CHURCH MINISTRY BY EL-FATIH J. AJALA (25927535) THEO 510 LUO LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA JULY 21, 2013 Introduction Paul Enns in his book The Moody Handbook of Theology states of theologians who profess this theology, “deny all forms of traditional ontology and allow for no sovereign and unconditioned Being but only a ‘God’ who at some point in the dialectic wills His own self-annihilation” and that, “man must learn to live without God.”[1] The lack of universal truth in our lives in this 21st century can be directly attributed to the lack of morals and moral values begun in the 19th century; and which took root in the 20th century; and might be the death of man in the 22nd century. In stating that God is dead, it has to be shown that: * Is God dead? * Science and technology can solve the world’s problems * God died as a transcendent God when Christ died * The Bible is narrative (i.e. myth) This review of the God-Is-Dead theology focuses on these four questions. Is God Dead? In an article written in the Chicago Tribune in 1963 it is stated that two men (Thomas Altizer and William Hamilton) experienced the death of God. Upon this statement...
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...Is Science in the Bible? The need to answer this very question has come about all too often throughout time. It has at times driven a wedge between men because in order to gain knowledge and understanding of the truths of the world, Science deems it necessary to prove the truths by presenting the facts through a systematic process. The Bible on the other hand is presented to man by God and offers knowledge of the truths of the world through having faith and building a relationship with Him, which brings forth the knowledge needed to understand the world. In fact many times being a Christian can mean it must be impossible to be a scientist at the same time. But what many people do not understand is that Christianity and science are quite compatible. It has also been said that Science and Scripture are in no way at odds with each other but rather two distinct ways of thinking. On one hand are the believers of creation whom take the Bible as the only truth needed to understand the world. While on the other hand stands the evolutionist who seeks to explain and understand the truths of the world created by a God that cannot be seen or touched. For many years man has worked diligently to explain and prove the phenomena of the universe. This field of study as we know it is called Science. In today’s world Science can best be described as a systematic method used by scientists to prove the phenomena of the universe through observations, measurements, testing and documented...
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...believe such a theory. Moving forward, Bacon tends to divide theology into two categories: natural and revealed. Natural theology is knowing that God exist, we know this because of study of nature and the creatures God created. I am a follower of natural theology, I enjoy studying creations because it makes my faith for God a lot stronger. Anything other than the knowledge of God and his creations is labeled under revealed theology. As I read and read the New Atlantis, I am beginning to see that the society in the story is definitely a scientific society. Also, in the New Atlantis, the need for man to be driven does not exist, also the scarcity is demolished because there is no need for money. It is all based off of science. I can agree on some aspects of science and religion. However, there are a few points that I can make as a Christian as to why religion is not science. The first point is the creation of the world. I do not believe it was science that created the world, I believe it was God who created the heavens and the Earth and everything that lives on it. This can even go as far as believing in evolution, the science of believing man evolved instead of being created. I do not agree with evolution in any aspect of the science, not only have I been taught not to, but also my heart does not believe it. Don’t get me wrong, science and...
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...Sara Ossaba English 101 April 30, 2015 Religion and Science In the beginning there was darkness. Then there was light. Then there was consciousness. Then there were questions and then there was religion. Why are we? Where do we come from? Why does the world and nature act as it does? What happens when we die? Religion tended to the answer to all these questions with the stories of gods and other supernatural forces that were beyond the understanding of humans. Where science seems able to explain everything with prove and evidence right before your eyes. Science deals with the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment. ‘’Creationism", another view on man's origin, means belief in creation in a more general sense. A Creationist may believe that the earth is billions of years old, and that simple forms of life evolved gradually to form more complex forms including humans. In addition to that belief, however, is the belief that a supernatural Creator initiated the life process and continues to control it. The most reasonable view on the origin of mankind is known as naturalistic evolution. It means a gradual process by which one kind of living creature changes into something different; evolution that is not directed by any purposeful intelligence. Another part of the idea is that more complex...
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