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Author | Topic: The Case For A Creator | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Phat Member Posts: 18650 From: Denver,Colorado USA Joined: Member Rating: 4.3 |
Here at EvC, we tend to be skeptical of the integrity of Christian Apologists. While my critics say that I need to look at the evidence and quit accepting emotions and internal impressions as my evidence of God, they counter by saying that there essentially is no evidence for God...(at least the Christian Trinitarian One)
I bought Lee Strobel's book in order to see how the apologist defends the premise.
quote: The case For A Creator I bought the book and have been reading it. One telling trait that we all have in these types of debates is our own personal bias one way or the other. Indeed, one of the reviews of the book said this much:
quote: The book is a good read so far. InCHAPTER 4: Where Science Meets Faith a fellow by the name of Dr.Alan Rex Sandage is interviewed. I did a bit of fact checking on the internet and found further information on Dr.Sandage from this webpage They asked him some questions. His answer here is noteworthy.(he has valid credentials to back up his assertions) Q. Must there necessarily be a conflict between science and religion?Dr.Sandrage writes: I've not yet perused internet infidels to see what your heroes retort in this book, but shall do so...if only in the name of fair and balanced... In my opinion, no, if it is understood that each treats a different aspect of reality. The Bible is certainly not a book of science. One does not study it to find the intensities and the wavelengths of the Balmer spectral lines of hydrogen. But neither is science concerned with the ultimate spiritual properties of the world, which are also real.Science makes explicit the quite incredible natural order, the interconnections at many levels between the laws of physics, the chemical reactions in the biological processes of life, etc. But science can answer only a fixed type of question. It is concerned with the what, when, and how. It does not, and indeed cannot, answer within its method (powerful as that method is), why. Why is there something instead of nothing? Why do all electrons have the same charge and mass? Why is the design that we see everywhere so truly miraculous? Why are so many processes so deeply interconnected? But we must admit that those scientists that want to see design will see design. Those that are content in every part of their being to live as materialistic reductionalists (as we must all do as scientists in the laboratory, which is the place of the practice of our craft) will never admit to a mystery of the design they see, always putting off by one step at a time, awaiting a reductionist explanation for the present unknown. But to take this reductionist belief to the deepest level and to an indefinite time into the future (and it will always remain indefinite) when "science will know everything" is itself an act of faith which denies that there can be anything unknown to science, even in principle. But things of the spirit are not things of science. There need be no conflict between science and religion if each appreciates its own boundaries and if each takes seriously the claims of the other. The proven success of science simply cannot be ignored by the church. But neither can the church's claim to explain the world at the very deepest level be dismissed. If God did not exist, science would have to (and indeed has) invent the concept to explain what it is discovering at its core. Abelard's 12th century dictum "Truth cannot be contrary to truth. The findings of reason must agree with the truths of scripture, else the God who gave us both has deceived us with one or the other" still rings true. If there is no God, nothing makes sense. The atheist's case is based on a deception they wish to play upon themselves that follows already from their initial premise. And if there is a God, he must be true both to science and religion. If it seems not so, then one's hermeneutics (either the pastor's or the scientist's) must wrong. I believe there is a clear, heavy, and immediate responsibility for the church to understand and to believe in the extraordinary results and claims of science. Its success is simply too evident and visible to ignore. It is likewise incumbent upon scientists to understand that science is incapable, because of the limitations of its method by reason alone, to explain and to understand everything about reality. If the world must simply be understood by a materialistic reductionist nihilism, it would make no sense at all. For this, Romans 1:19-21 seems profound. And the deeper any scientist pushes his work, the more profound it does indeed become.Chance as a real force is a myth. It has no basis in reality and no place in scientific inquiry. For science and philosophy to continue to advance in knowledge, chance must be demythologized once and for all. ~RC Sproul "A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes." ~Mark Twain " ~"If that's not sufficient for you go soak your head."~Faith You can "get answers" by watching the ducks. That doesn't mean the answers are coming from them.~Ringo
Subjectivism may very well undermine Christianity.In the same way that "allowing people to choose what they want to be when they grow up" undermines communism.~Stile
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PaulK Member Posts: 17919 Joined: Member Rating: 6.7
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Isn’t that the one where Strobel goes to Intelligent Design people instead of actual experts? That was obvious even for Strobel.
Sandage seems more reasonable. But there is something missing in the quote you give. There is no reason why the “church's claim to explain the world at the very deepest level” should be accepted. My other objection would be that “why” is ambiguous - there are senses of it that science can answer. And it is far from clear that the “why” questions he raises do have answers in a sense that science cannot address (or have much of an answer at all - I have addressed ”why is there something instead of nothing before” and come to the conclusion that it isn’t likely to have a satisfying answer)
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Taq Member Posts: 10299 Joined: Member Rating: 7.1
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Thugpreacha writes: Here at EvC, we tend to be skeptical of the integrity of Christian Apologists. While my critics say that I need to look at the evidence and quit accepting emotions and internal impressions as my evidence of God, they counter by saying that there essentially is no evidence for God...(at least the Christian Trinitarian One) These apologists seem to be painting themselves into a corner. They are actually agreeing with the argument that if something can be explained through natural causes then God does not exist. They require God to act in contradiction to nature in order for God to create. If I were you, I would take a look at theistic evolution or go to BioLogos to learn about evolutionary creationism.
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Tanypteryx Member Posts: 4597 From: Oregon, USA Joined: Member Rating: 9.2
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Q. Must there necessarily be a conflict between science and religion? Science is based on objective verifiable evidence. If religion is based on objective verifiable evidence there will be no conflict. As far as I am aware, no religion is based on objective verifiable evidence, so...What if Eleanor Roosevelt had wings? -- Monty Python One important characteristic of a theory is that is has survived repeated attempts to falsify it. Contrary to your understanding, all available evidence confirms it. --Subbie If evolution is shown to be false, it will be at the hands of things that are true, not made up. --percy The reason that we have the scientific method is because common sense isn't reliable. -- Taq
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dwise1 Member Posts: 6077 Joined: Member Rating: 7.2
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These apologists seem to be painting themselves into a corner. They are actually agreeing with the argument that if something can be explained through natural causes then God does not exist. They require God to act in contradiction to nature in order for God to create. For decades I have been seeing the exact same thing. With YECs it seems to be inherited from fundamentalists treating science as an enemy attacking their faith by coming up with naturalistic explanations for everything, such that an implicit consequence is to adopt a perversion of the "God of the Gaps" (which is a perversion entirely on its own). A standard simple example would be lightning. Before a scientific understanding, it was only explainable by attributing it to a god (eg, Zeus, Thor, YHWH), but once we understood the phenomenon scientifically, then that god was no longer necessary to explain it. It is that kind of logical reasoning that fundamentalists fear and characterize as science waging war on religion. BTW, the story I read about Benjamin Franklin's invention of the lightning rod is that lightning was believed to be the "Finger of God" meting out his Justice and Wrath. So at first the preachers vilified Franklin viciously for thwarting the Will of God (strange that God the Omnipotent could be so easily thwarted). But then they finally began to realize that the most frequent target of lightning was the churches with their bell towers -- I seem to recall that one particularly disastrous lightning strike ignited the gunpowder that was hidden in the church's basement. Finally, the churches started installing lightning rods and no longer suffered lightning strikes, but they didn't want to talk about it. ID is more explicit about their reliance on "God of the Gaps". First, their primary bugaboo is naturalism, which they characterize as "philosophical naturalism" (ie, the idea that the natural universe is all that exists; there is no supernatural) while they primarily attack science's "methodological naturalism" (ie, the reality that science can only deal with and use naturalistic processes and explanations; there is no position on the supernatural except that science cannot work with it). Second, most of their arguments are of the type of showing something to be highly complex (eg, their "irreducible complexity" arguments) and concluding that since we cannot explain it therefore their "Intelligent Designer" (for Whom they play the same "it's unnamed" game as "creation science" did with their "some unnamed Creator" smokescreen) -- AKA "goddidit". In addition, we have some interesting affirmations of "God of the Gaps" by ID leaders. In particular, I once read an essay by Phillip E. Johnson where towards the end he states that his main reason for opposing evolution is that "it leaves God with nothing to do" (quoted from memory; I have not been able to find that essay again). To my mind, that was an explicit statement of belief in the "God of the Gaps" and in the attitude that you describe. My thoughts on the matter, which I have offered a few times on this forum with no responses, is that creationists' false dichotomy of natural processes versus What God Does is extremely wrong and leads to "faux creationism", a false form of creationism. The way I see it, an Actual Creationist would believe in a Creator who did actually create the entire Universe including all the natural forces and processes that operate within that created universe. Therefore, an Actual Creationist would realize that there cannot possibly be a situation of Nature vs God, since God had created Nature. Even though lightning forms entirely through naturalistic processes, that does not in any manner deny God who had created those naturalistic processes. Evolution does not conflict with God, because it is the cumulative results of life (which an Actual Creationist believes was created by God) doing what life does. Even abiogenesis, the origin of life through natural processes, does not conflict with God since, yet again, God had created those natural processes. Fake creationism (eg, YEC, ID) can only function by creating false conflicts where none exist. To an Actual Creationist, they would be an abomination. Edited by dwise1, : Corrected number on a verb conjugation Edited by dwise1, : Corrected "lightening" to "lightning" as per Pollux
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Pollux Member (Idle past 140 days) Posts: 303 Joined: |
Hi Dwise1,
Your discussion of "lightening" sounds so much like "lightning" that I doubt its existence as a separate phenomenon!
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Phat Member Posts: 18650 From: Denver,Colorado USA Joined: Member Rating: 4.3 |
dwise1 writes: Im glad that you can make that argument, though I wonder if you argue academically without understanding belief in general. ...The way I see it, an Actual Creationist would believe in a Creator who did actually create the entire Universe including all the natural forces and processes that operate within that created universe. Therefore, an Actual Creationist would realize that there cannot possibly be a situation of Nature vs God, since God had created Nature. Even though lightning forms entirely through naturalistic processes, that does not in any manner deny God who had created those naturalistic processes. Evolution does not conflict with God, because it is the cumulative results of life (which an Actual Creationist believes was created by God) doing what life does. Even abiogenesis, the origin of life through natural processes, does not conflict with God since, yet again, God had created those natural processes. I don’t think that preferring rationality to fantasy is subjective. But if that is the way you want to go, I guess you had better stop trying to pretend to be rational. If you put me on the spot, I doubt whether I could defend why I supposedly understand it. Its just one of those things that you know it when you see it. Edited by Thugpreacha, : No reason given.Chance as a real force is a myth. It has no basis in reality and no place in scientific inquiry. For science and philosophy to continue to advance in knowledge, chance must be demythologized once and for all. ~RC Sproul "A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes." ~Mark Twain " ~"If that's not sufficient for you go soak your head."~Faith You can "get answers" by watching the ducks. That doesn't mean the answers are coming from them.~Ringo
Subjectivism may very well undermine Christianity.In the same way that "allowing people to choose what they want to be when they grow up" undermines communism.~Stile
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Phat Member Posts: 18650 From: Denver,Colorado USA Joined: Member Rating: 4.3 |
Science is based on objective verifiable evidence. If religion is based on objective verifiable evidence there will be no conflict. As far as I am aware, no religion is based on objective verifiable evidence, so.. I would argue that the "religion" of Christianity was never meant to be discerned and accepted based on objective verifiable evidence. Of course there were allegedly a few eyewitnesses to some of the major stories within the NT, but the belief seemingly spread like a wildfire through the people afterwards. One could argue that the spread itself was cause for claiming validity...but arguably Islam spread even faster, so truth cannot be used as the reason. Chance as a real force is a myth. It has no basis in reality and no place in scientific inquiry. For science and philosophy to continue to advance in knowledge, chance must be demythologized once and for all. ~RC Sproul "A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes." ~Mark Twain " ~"If that's not sufficient for you go soak your head."~Faith You can "get answers" by watching the ducks. That doesn't mean the answers are coming from them.~Ringo
Subjectivism may very well undermine Christianity.In the same way that "allowing people to choose what they want to be when they grow up" undermines communism.~Stile
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Phat Member Posts: 18650 From: Denver,Colorado USA Joined: Member Rating: 4.3 |
Taq writes: In paying true homage to cafeteria Christianity I have never cared much whether Genesis was literally true or not. I saw it all as an allegory or parable. In contrast, I have and do believe that the Resurrection is in fact a literal event and that Jesus Christ was more than a mere man, prophet, or ordinary guy. I doubt whether anyone will be able to prove that either way---I certainly am unimpressed with Richard carrier and the modern mythicists. They seem to have an axe to grind despite their distractive charm and innocence regarding the search for truth. In addition, I believe that we are in a spiritual war and that there are literally principalities, powers, and assignments against the Christian message. Dont ask me why---just call me crazy. My only defense would be to say that if you had walked a mile in my shoes... These apologists seem to be painting themselves into a corner. They are actually agreeing with the argument that if something can be explained through natural causes then God does not exist. They require God to act in contradiction to nature in order for God to create. If I were you, I would take a look at theistic evolution or go to BioLogos to learn about evolutionary creationism.Chance as a real force is a myth. It has no basis in reality and no place in scientific inquiry. For science and philosophy to continue to advance in knowledge, chance must be demythologized once and for all. ~RC Sproul "A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes." ~Mark Twain " ~"If that's not sufficient for you go soak your head."~Faith You can "get answers" by watching the ducks. That doesn't mean the answers are coming from them.~Ringo
Subjectivism may very well undermine Christianity.In the same way that "allowing people to choose what they want to be when they grow up" undermines communism.~Stile
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Theodoric Member Posts: 9489 From: Northwest, WI, USA Joined: Member Rating: 6.1
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but the belief seemingly spread like a wildfire through the people afterwards.
There is no evidence of this. There is actually evidence that it spread very slowly for a few hundred years.It did not become the major belief until it was co-opted by imperial powers. Facts don't lie or have an agenda. Facts are just facts "God did it" is not an argument. It is an excuse for intellectual laziness. If your viewpoint has merits and facts to back it up why would you have to lie?
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dwise1 Member Posts: 6077 Joined: Member Rating: 7.2 |
Thugpreacha writes:
What the fork are you talking about? I never wrote that! That isn't even in this topic, but rather in an entirely different topic, I Know That God Does Not Exist, where PaulK in Message 856 replied to GDR's Message 855:
??? writes:
If you put me on the spot, I doubt whether I could defend why I supposedly understand it. Its just one of those things that you know it when you see it. I don’t think that preferring rationality to fantasy is subjective. But if that is the way you want to go, I guess you had better stop trying to pretend to be rational.quote: Furthermore, you replied to that very same part of PaulK's message and you agreed with him! So, what the fork? Why are you falsely attributing that quote to me? I'm sorry, but that reeks of the stench of all-too-typical "true Christian" dishonesty! What kind of forking bullshirt are you trying to pull here?
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Phat Member Posts: 18650 From: Denver,Colorado USA Joined: Member Rating: 4.3 |
My apology. I was thinking that I was replying to PaulK in the other topic but somehow pasted in the wrong window, reread the quotes and found they did not make sense and then tried to fix it...in the wrong thread! That was totally my error! Dont stereotype me just yet. I will edit the post.Better yet i will repost it with my corrected reply below:
*************************************************************** dwise1 writes: ...The way I see it, an Actual Creationist would believe in a Creator who did actually create the entire Universe including all the natural forces and processes that operate within that created universe. Therefore, an Actual Creationist would realize that there cannot possibly be a situation of Nature vs God, since God had created Nature. Even though lightning forms entirely through naturalistic processes, that does not in any manner deny God who had created those naturalistic processes. Evolution does not conflict with God, because it is the cumulative results of life (which an Actual Creationist believes was created by God) doing what life does. Even abiogenesis, the origin of life through natural processes, does not conflict with God since, yet again, God had created those natural processes.phats original comment writes: At which point I thought about my assertion of understanding belief in general. I then meant to say: Im glad that you can make that argument, though I wonder if you argue academically without understanding belief in general. If you put me on the spot, I doubt whether I could defend why I supposedly DO understand belief.. Its just one of those things that you know it when you see it. Edited by Thugpreacha, : No reason given.Chance as a real force is a myth. It has no basis in reality and no place in scientific inquiry. For science and philosophy to continue to advance in knowledge, chance must be demythologized once and for all. ~RC Sproul "A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes." ~Mark Twain " ~"If that's not sufficient for you go soak your head."~Faith You can "get answers" by watching the ducks. That doesn't mean the answers are coming from them.~Ringo
Subjectivism may very well undermine Christianity.In the same way that "allowing people to choose what they want to be when they grow up" undermines communism.~Stile
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ringo Member (Idle past 667 days) Posts: 20940 From: frozen wasteland Joined:
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Phat writes:
Of course not. What religion is? I would argue that the "religion" of Christianity was never meant to be discerned and accepted based on objective verifiable evidence.All that are in Hell, choose it. -- CS Lewis That's just egregiously stupid. -- ringo
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dwise1 Member Posts: 6077 Joined: Member Rating: 7.2
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Im glad that you can make that argument, though I wonder if you argue academically without understanding belief in general. Are you trying to argue that "belief in general" requires one to embrace ideas that are clearly and blatantly contrary to fact? That is what "creation science" requires. It's even official doctrine as presented by ICR's John Morris at the 1986 International Conference on Creationism:
quote:That's the same as saying that if the sea is the wrong shade of pink then God does not exist. "Creation science's" contrary-to-fact claims are complete and utter nonsense and creationists base their faith on such nonsense! Among the critics of "creation science" are actual creationists, actual believers in Creation and the Creator who object to "creation science's" faux creationists who have usurped the title of "Creationist" from the actual creationists. We already know of Dr. Kenneth Miller, a Catholic and staunch and highly effective opponent of "creation science", declaring himself a creationist because he does believe in God the Creator. Here are some excerpts from an evangelical creationist with the same complaint:
quote: An actual creationist would believe that God actually created the universe and that the universe is a reflection of its Creator. Faux creationists (eg, YECs) give lip service to the Creation while at the same time believing emphatically that the universe disproves the existence of God. Actual creationists believe that the world is the way it is because that's how God created it; faux creationists believe that if the world is the way it is then God does not exist. Actual creationists want to learn about the Creation, including how it came about; faux creationists don't want to learn and want to dictate to God what He could and could not do. Which makes more sense?
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ringo Member (Idle past 667 days) Posts: 20940 From: frozen wasteland Joined: |
Phat writes:
You're crazy. It's a paranoid delusion, like Faith seeing leftists behind every tree. In addition, I believe that we are in a spiritual war and that there are literally principalities, powers, and assignments against the Christian message. Dont ask me why---just call me crazy.All that are in Hell, choose it. -- CS Lewis That's just egregiously stupid. -- ringo
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