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Religion and science: respecting the differences : Comments
By Michael Zimmerman, published 31/5/2010The teachings of most mainstream religions are consistent with evolution.
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"Perhaps we can retrace a steady progress in scientific advancement rather than seeing large peaks and troughs."
I give credit where it is due. Yet, the phenomena of "peaks and troughs" has been studied. In its twilight centuries Rome lost much knowledge about how to match cintemplation to techique, because Attic Greek was lost, as a languange used by the learned. With regards buildings, architechs in Western Europe has to travel to study the ruins in Rome and Greece age, to see how large buildings were constructed. The prior knowledge was lost.
I agree somewhat with what you say about the Enlightenment, to the extent, that the pull away from the power of the State and Church in the West occurred earlier than the break: the Magna Carta, for instance. Where the West's line of progress depart rapidly is with the Great Divergence (c. 1760), when the rediscovered Greek philosophies and contemplations allowed (sciencific) forethought to applied to techniques. What the Enlightenment brought was a break away from conventional orthodoxy in the West. By way of comparison, China, moved pretty much, as you described, with smooth and steady progress.
Engaging the challenge of a too be redefined future will carry a civilization foreward in a manner that an overt fixation on the past shall not.
Herein, I agree with George (if I am presently him correctly), that Christians needs to look beyoond the "God of the Gaps" and accept that scriptures are not science texts. By engaging modern science with ancient sciptures, religion is setting-up a house of cards to fall, for latter. An illogical approach for a believer, because the revered message is lost as the cards fall. And they continue to fall each day.
The hypothesis of a creation agent (George's +1) as an alternative to an ulitimate physical understanding is more rationale, given what we already about anthropology, cosmology and quantum mechanics. The catch is some the +1 beyond science's explanations is that the spiritual is amorphous. Herein, have "a state of mind" vs. demonstrable evidence.
- How old is the universe?