Science and faith

General Christian Theology
temporal1
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Science and faith

Post by temporal1 »

”Does believing in God make it harder to believe in science?”
.. “Like any other group of professionals, scientists don't always get this right.
But it's my understanding that most scientists think a lot about ethics.
Do religious people perceive that most scientists are not particularly ethical?” ..


“We don't really have a lot of evidence that there's a widespread lack of ethics amongst scientists.
But it's the perception, and these perceptions can be very important in how communities view each other.
Because new atheist writers, some of whom are scientists, have been so active, there is this perception amongst religious groups that scientists are all atheists, and not just atheists but anti-religious people.
And that's not really accurate either.
So we need to be careful when we let the loudest voices seem the most numerous.”
Dallas News / Opinion
”Does believing in God make it harder to believe in science?”
https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/comm ... ve-science
(i would adjust the last sentence) - :-|
neither the loudest, nor the most numerous voices, determine either scientific fact OR God’s Truth.

this is an interesting piece on questions frequented on MN.
imho, the closing sentence is weak. (writer tired, or ran out of time?!) :lol:

i found it on the Catholic Engineers FB page, which i also find interesting. YMMV
https://www.facebook.com/CatholicEngineer/
CE website
http://catholicengineers.org/

in my life, i admit, some of the most fascinating people i know of are those with both higher (technical/scientific) education, and, authentic obedient faith.
“the more i know, the more i realize i don’t know,” touches and humbles the heart. :)

these are not the noisiest among us. but, they are strong, and effective.
i praise God for them.
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Bootstrap
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Re: Science and faith

Post by Bootstrap »

temporal1 wrote:”Does believing in God make it harder to believe in science?”
Because new atheist writers, some of whom are scientists, have been so active, there is this perception amongst religious groups that scientists are all atheists, and not just atheists but anti-religious people.
And that's not really accurate either.
So we need to be careful when we let the loudest voices seem the most numerous.”
Most of the scientists I actually know are Christian, and I met them in Christian settings. So that's probably a biased sample, but they certainly don't have a problem believing in God.

I had a few college science professors who were clearly against Christianity. I wrote a paper on origins in a class for one of them, saying essentially that origins are beyond what science can really know (on scientific and epistemological grounds), but also pointing out that Genesis has two creation narratives, and the order varies between them, and they don't really seem to be written to tell us precisely how the earth was created. I got a really good grade on it, I was worried because I knew this flew in the face of the opinions he had expressed in class.
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MaxPC
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Re: Science and faith

Post by MaxPC »

T1, good topic.
Re
So we need to be careful when we let the loudest voices seem the most numerous.”
This reminds me of the old saying, "The squeaky wheel gets the oil." Mainstream media always gives the loudest voice opportunity to those who aren't on the side of traditional Christianity.

When I think if my colleagues over the years they fall into the following admittedly broad categories:
Authentic Christians who try to live their discipleship

CINOs (Christians In Name Only)

NonChristians who don't hold anything against Christians

Anti-Christianity(atheists, agnostics)

Those who don't care because they have an intense project in process.

In every profession there are those who fall into these broad categories. Over the years I've learned to recognize that all of them are in dire need of God's mercy and none of them should be put on a pedestal as the secular world likes to do.
YMMV :D
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temporal1
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Re: Science and faith

Post by temporal1 »

MaxPC wrote:T1, good topic.
Re
So we need to be careful when we let the loudest voices seem the most numerous.”
This reminds me of the old saying, "The squeaky wheel gets the oil." Mainstream media always gives the loudest voice opportunity to those who aren't on the side of traditional Christianity.

When I think if my colleagues over the years they fall into the following admittedly broad categories:
Authentic Christians who try to live their discipleship

CINOs (Christians In Name Only)

NonChristians who don't hold anything against Christians

Anti-Christianity(atheists, agnostics)

Those who don't care because they have an intense project in process.

In every profession there are those who fall into these broad categories. Over the years I've learned to recognize that all of them are in dire need of God's mercy and none of them should be put on a pedestal as the secular world likes to do.
YMMV :D
when i stumbled over the CE’s FB page one day, i was interested in what they might have to say.
i do not follow the page closely, but, i find many of their topics interesting. esp about the history of Catholics in science.

in recent months, i’ve stumbled onto a few history-based pages (not specifically Catholic.) world history, ancient history .. i’m thinking of beginning an MN thread for interesting FB pages!

as my granddaughter is now in public school, i’m hoping to find more ways to show her that God is real, and, God is relevant - no matter what she’s told. no matter what she sees.

she’s interested in the sciences.
girls are being pushed into the sciences these days. as if they must be pushed. :roll:

i want her to have a broader understanding than the limited godless curriculum/perspective public schools use. for all subjects.
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temporal1
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Re: Science and faith

Post by temporal1 »

Scientism versus Science
maybe this post would be at home here?
from page 79
http://forum.mennonet.com/viewtopic.php ... &start=780
temporal1 wrote:
Wayne in Maine wrote:I enjoy a good discussion, but clearly this topic is tainted with political philosophy (which I don't care to debate), and I don't have as much time to invest in a defense of a scientific skeptics position as others have to defend the IPCC.

So I too will step out of this, still unconvinced that the popular climate models and measurements support "An Inconvenient Truth(?)" .
Wayne, recently, i’ve been reading about scientism vs science.
different sources. it’s made me think of this thread, and, esp your input, as you describe different distinctions of science.
possibly, more will be heard about scientism vs science as time moves along.
as Robert and others are saying, politicizing everything will lead nowhere, with a painful journey to get there.

3 examples (not an effort to be complete:)
Scientism versus science
“Scientism is not the same thing as science. Science is a blessing, but scientism is a curse.
Science, I mean what practicing scientists actually do, is acutely and admirably aware of its limits, and humbly admits to the provisional character of its conclusions;
but scientism is dogmatic, and peddles certainties. It is always at the ready with the solution to every problem, because it believes that the solution to every problem is a scientific one, and so it gives scientific answers to non-scientific questions.
Owing to its preference for totalistic explanation, scientism transforms science into an ideology, which is of course a betrayal of the experimental and empirical spirit.”


Leon Wieseltier, Perhaps Culture is Now the Counterculture: A Defense of the Humanities, 19 May 2013; http://www.newrepublic.com/article/1132 ... rsity-2013 [Wieseltier self-describes as a humanist.]
Science is a method of inquiry and the knowledge acquired by that method. ... In other words, as I understand it, scientism is the belief that the methods of science and the worldview of science are obviously correct over all other methods and worldviews. Nov 18, 2009
https://philosophyisnotaluxury.com/2009 ... scientism/
“What is Scientism?”
Disclaimer: The author’s views do not necessarily represent those of AAAS or DoSER

https://www.aaas.org/page/what-scientism
it’s increasingly important to differentiate. across the board; not just regarding climate matters.
i think of the abortion debates, and other medical sciences. not limited to those.
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temporal1
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Re: Science and faith

Post by temporal1 »

1784 London: Was this science?

US National Weather Service Central Illinois
Today is National Weatherperson's Day!
It was on this date in 1745 that John Jeffries, one of America's first weather observers, was born.
He took his first observations in 1774 in Boston.
In 1784, he rode a balloon to an altitude of 9,000 feet above London to measure temperature, humidity, and barometric pressure.
Despite the holiday status from our vantage point, we remain at our post to help keep you safe and informed.
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temporal1
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Re: Science and faith

Post by temporal1 »

BRIAN HOLDSWORTH

”How Christianity Led to Science” / 12:26 minutes
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Robert
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Re: Science and faith

Post by Robert »

I always thought that religion tells us who and why. Science tells us how and when.
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Re: Science and faith

Post by RZehr »

Genesis says how and when.
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Re: Science and faith

Post by QuietObserver »

I visited the Museum of the Bible recently. They had a short video with clips by several Christian scientists. All of them seemed to be mainstream scientists. I recall one scientist saying that there is no conflict between evolutionary biology and faith. I was somewhat surprised. I had the impression the museum was the project of fundamentalist Christians. The Ark Encounter has a display promoting Museum of the Bible. I'm surprised that as hard-core as Ken Ham is, he would promote the Museum.
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