tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68197364109498433342011-04-21T14:38:49.917-04:00~ A forum for each side of the religion and science debate to understand the paradigms of the other ~LucySnoreply@blogger.comBlogger361100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6819736410949843334.post-56557356238193488642009-03-01T20:50:00.009-05:002009-03-01T22:59:49.117-05:00

Christians in many (if not most) denominations believe that the authors of the books of the Bible were inspired by God to write every word that they put down. Thus, it was not men or men's opinions that were recorded in the Bible, but the Word of God Himself. An argument that is sometimes proposed against this belief is that it was men who decided which books would be included in the Bible, and

LucySnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6819736410949843334.post-80026039083215832892009-02-08T14:15:00.007-05:002009-02-08T15:23:03.951-05:00

Sometimes a message at church is so thought provoking that I feel the urge to share it with other people. This morning, I heard one of those messages.* The topic was about how easy it is to get stuck in patterns of looking at things--paradigms, as it were. We get used to how we view life and it is very difficult step out of our patterns (or paradigms) and take a fresh view of a situation. It is

LucySnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6819736410949843334.post-57982000592371053802009-01-21T16:43:00.004-05:002009-01-21T16:59:03.269-05:00

A cornerstone of Christian doctrine it the literal death and resurrection of Jesus Christ--fully human and fully God—as a propitiation for the sin of humanity—past, present, and future—and available simply (and only) by believing God's promise of salvation and eternal life through Christ, the “Holy One” of the Old Testament, and the “Word” of the New Testament. The full doctrine is this:(A) Human

LucySnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6819736410949843334.post-30749844657425380292009-01-19T13:02:00.007-05:002009-01-21T22:50:36.641-05:00

Recently, someone asked me if I didn't think Christianity and science were mutually exclusive because of where one puts one's faith. The reason for this is that the scientific method starts from doubt (although it yields measurable results), whereas complete faith is the absence of doubt. There is also the question of whether God Himself affects the results of scientific inquiry. (See http://

LucySnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6819736410949843334.post-75459094424654458342009-01-18T18:45:00.005-05:002009-01-18T18:59:49.958-05:00

"...In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be, wrong. God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time. In the present ... war it is quite possible that God's purpose is something different from the purpose of either party -- and yet the ...[people involved], working just as they do, are ... best ...[suited] to effect

LucySnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6819736410949843334.post-38520211578647443072009-01-13T21:34:00.003-05:002009-01-13T22:16:37.575-05:00

...Well, maybe it is not a revision--more like an expansion. My goal in setting up this blog was to encourage honest dialog between different faiths and philosophies, so that people of widely different beliefs could understand one another. I have been continually amazed by the power of an individual's life-paradigm. My hope was to encourage us to see how our own paradigms influence the way we

LucySnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6819736410949843334.post-9298994630605353002008-11-01T19:07:00.012-04:002008-11-01T22:20:39.764-04:00

If you are like me, raised in a typical American household in the 1950's and 1960's, Muslims weren't talked about much. I remember hearing a little about the Black Muslims and vaguely wondered what that was all about and why they were called Militants. Most of the political arguments were over the Vietnam war in Southeast Asia, or racial tensions in the U.S. Islam, to me, was just something out

LucySnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6819736410949843334.post-3281646860145375532008-10-14T14:07:00.002-04:002008-10-14T14:10:30.753-04:00

I have noticed an interesting thing, while observing people during this pre-presidential-election period. People who support the democrats think that democrats are more interested than republicans in helping poor and middle class people. Because of this, everything that republicans say about policies who will the help poor and middle class is met with extreme skepticism, if not accusations of

LucySnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6819736410949843334.post-61369597416938525722008-09-28T21:07:00.003-04:002008-09-28T23:21:06.759-04:00

The issue of literal vs. figurative interpretation of the bible has been the subject of heated debate for centuries, but perhaps never more so than in this current age. Science and the Bible appear to contradict each other so often that many scientists believe that it is simply not possible to take the Bible literally and still be taken seriously by the scientific community. There is more than

LucySnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6819736410949843334.post-90155019119015716372008-08-23T20:04:00.004-04:002008-08-23T21:02:49.260-04:00

Some days ago, I started a project that I thought would be interesting: a comparison of the main messages of the Bible and the Qur'an. It is interesting. The only problem was, when I looked up what scholars said about the Qur'an, and hence Islam, it was not at all what I had expected, considering all that we hear on the news about radical Islam. It was clearly going to be no simple task to

LucySnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6819736410949843334.post-3811330534951258472008-07-04T17:33:00.003-04:002008-07-04T17:42:45.047-04:00

Because this topic is such a "hot button" in discussions about religious tolerance, I wanted to share an article that gives another view, albeit a view that is "politically incorrect." ~ ~ ~"How Can You Say Jesus Is the Only Way to God?"People who challenge Christians with "How can you say Jesus is the only way to God?" are good at verbal camouflage, what sounds like concern for tolerance but

LucySnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6819736410949843334.post-6334450608290444912008-06-12T10:40:00.002-04:002008-06-12T11:00:00.391-04:00

For most people, strong religious beliefs are formed in one of two ways--either by growing up with them or by using rational thought to change an existing opinion that has already become unstable. But how can an individual person know what is the real truth? Existential skeptics might say that there is no way to find out the truth, so don't bother. I tend to disagree. I think that each person

LucySnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6819736410949843334.post-55815667077132877722008-06-04T22:14:00.003-04:002008-06-04T22:31:05.079-04:00

Just because they're not Christians doesn't mean Buddhists, Jews, Muslims, and Hindus have nothing to say about Jesus. What do other faiths believe about Jesus? Take a look at Christianity's founder through the eyes of: BuddhistsJesus and Buddha as BrothersUnderstanding compassion in each faith.By Thicht Nhat HahnThe Parallel SayingsComparing gospel passages with Buddhist wisdom.Where Buddha and

LucySnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6819736410949843334.post-38901765015542664502008-05-18T19:23:00.004-04:002008-05-18T22:24:23.275-04:00

Although the Chinese, Christian theologian who is discussed in the following excerpt held many controversial opinions, his distinctions among spirit, soul, and body may resonate with many eastern philosophies, as well as mainstream biblical scholarship.-------------------------------------------WATCHMAN NEE (1903 -1972) A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDYby Huelon MountfortWatchman Nee is considered one of the

LucySnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6819736410949843334.post-65589828346135036832008-05-06T17:53:00.004-04:002008-05-06T18:07:45.835-04:00

One of the cornerstones of the Christian faith is the strong belief that God answers prayer. Although there is abundant evidence in the Bible that God has always answered prayers of the faithful, modern Christians also believe in the efficacy of prayer.Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails

LucySnoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6819736410949843334.post-9128066091444040972008-04-17T21:15:00.019-04:002008-12-12T23:02:20.788-05:00

Daoism Beginnings of Daoism Ancient rootsDaoism can be traced back to Shamanism, which spread into Mongolia and China at least ten thousand years ago. Two mythological figures from those early days are the divine brother and sister Fu Hsi and Nu Kua. Together they created human progeny and created all aspects of civilization, such as writing, agriculture, medicine and astrology. They were the

LucySnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6819736410949843334.post-5649528555544353982008-04-16T18:33:00.015-04:002008-12-12T23:02:21.538-05:00

There is an organization called the "Alliance of Religions and Conservation" (or ARC), which describes itself as "a secular body that helps the major religions of the world to develop their own environmental programmes, based on their own core teachings, beliefs and practices."Their goal is to "help the religions link with key environmental organisations – creating powerful alliances between

LucySnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6819736410949843334.post-57617352380119067162008-04-03T18:01:00.006-04:002008-04-03T19:33:52.367-04:00

http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/prophet/lifeofprophet.html By Prof. K. S. Ramakrishna Rao, Head of the Department of Philosophy,Government College for Women University of Mysore, Mandya-571401 (Karnatika).Re-printed from "Islam and Modern age", Hydrabad, March 1978.[Note: What follows is a condensed version of the article. The complete article can be found at the above web site.]In the

LucySnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6819736410949843334.post-66148446818723589732008-03-29T21:45:00.002-04:002008-03-29T21:57:37.130-04:00

Every religion has certain character traits that they attribute to the deity or deities they worship. Even the gods of Greek mythology had distinct character traits. Recognizing these and being able to communicate them is crucial to our understanding of the beliefs of others and even of ourselves. As part of this section, I will be going to Bloggers of various faiths to ask them to describe what

LucySnoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6819736410949843334.post-54817756825285642792008-03-17T12:57:00.001-04:002008-03-17T12:59:58.933-04:00

If you have ever watched the Beverly Hillbillies, during its original run or recently on TV Land, you know that the main reason it is funny is that the "hillbilly" Clampetts continue to live in a different culture (paradigm) from the modern world of Beverly Hills. Something similar happens when a person of one culture, religion, or political pursuasion tries to discuss strongly held beliefs with

LucySnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6819736410949843334.post-71436295943256130362008-03-14T18:21:00.007-04:002008-03-17T12:44:13.869-04:00

This discussion began on the Post & Comments under "An Open Question to Atheists and Agnostics). Amarendra (http://www.blogger.com/profile/14962516983248107277) had started a discussion about his opinion that all things that appear opposite or contradictory are, in fact, part of a unified whole. He said this, in that section: "God is the fundamental essence of all things! (That makes omnipresence

LucySnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6819736410949843334.post-42923054482166149942008-02-29T13:46:00.002-05:002008-02-29T13:58:38.780-05:00

If it were theoretically possible for you to change your mind and be convinced that there is a God who created the universe, what would it take for that to happen? I know how I personally used to feel--that I couldn't see any physical evidence and it couldn't be proved scientifically. I also know what it took to convince me. I do know, however, that there are lots of people who are definitely not

LucySnoreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6819736410949843334.post-38542966256438935772008-02-23T13:32:00.004-05:002008-02-23T13:52:47.886-05:00

There is a lot of talk about the Bible, but basically there are three primary opinions:(1) Opinion #1 is that the Bible was inspired by God, so that the human authors wrote exactly what God wanted to be written and the humans who decided on the chapters included exactly what God wanted them to include. Because the Bible was inspired by God, it is therefore inerrant (i.e., without errors) and

LucySnoreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6819736410949843334.post-12227404252169004472008-02-15T13:37:00.006-05:002008-02-15T13:56:35.178-05:00

I have been on both sides of this issue, so I understand both sides. Each approach is a paradigm that hold its subscibers in a tight grip. The resolution is troublesome, simply because I do understand both sides. Here they are:I. "God gave us a brain and intended us to use it. How could God expect us to believe certain aspects of fundamentalist "faith" when they make no sense, based on all that

LucySnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6819736410949843334.post-21775418118421293592008-02-13T08:33:00.004-05:002008-02-13T08:38:13.225-05:00

"Caller ID" On a Saturday night several weeks ago, this pastor was working late, and decided to call his wife before he left for home. It was about 10:00 PM, but his wife didn't answer the phone.The pastor let the phone ring many times. He thought it was odd that she didn't answer, but decided to wrap up a few things and try again in a few minutes. When he tried again she answered right

LucySnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6819736410949843334.post-58564272478481522612008-02-11T12:34:00.000-05:002008-02-11T12:43:50.577-05:00

I am purposely staying on neutral ground on this one, but I would like to hear some of the opinions of others. I hear some people who support the death penalty say that they are strongly against abortion, on the grounds that human beings have no right to choose to take another human's life. This might sound contradictory to some. On the flip side, I have heard Pro-Choice proponents say that the

LucySnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6819736410949843334.post-44340948016247293142008-02-07T20:04:00.000-05:002008-12-12T23:02:21.894-05:00

Thursday, 18 July, 2002, 11:09 GMT 12:09 UKBy Dr David Whitehouse BBC News Online science editor One of the most important principles of physics, that disorder, or entropy, always increases, has been shown to be untrue.ANU team Scientists at the Australian National University (ANU) have carried out an experiment involving lasers and microscopic beads that disobeys the so-called Second Law of

LucySnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6819736410949843334.post-70492758917520681972008-02-06T18:18:00.000-05:002008-02-06T19:35:25.172-05:00

Harold, in an earlier post, you mentioned being concerned about children who are indoctrinated with a certain belief system at a young age. It seems that children start out accepting all the social and religious beliefs of "The Family," without question--the family's "paradigm," if you will. That would be part of being a child. However, at some point, all normal children start to question the

LucySnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6819736410949843334.post-85134543602973451372008-01-30T13:18:00.000-05:002008-02-04T10:56:02.815-05:00

OR... Does believing the Bible HAVE to mean embracing a literal Creation?Christians almost come to blows when they discuss these issues. The vast majority of scientists believe that the evidence for evolution of all species, including man's, is so overwhelming that anyone who questions it is either completely ignorant or totally brainwashed. Included in the evidence for evolution is evidence that

LucySnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6819736410949843334.post-53299869764363278002008-01-30T11:30:00.000-05:002008-01-30T14:21:42.110-05:00

When I was young, my family went every Sunday to a big-city Presbyterian church and, I must admit, I don't ever remember hearing the term "born again" there. My family was part of the academic science community and I followed right along, going to college and graduate school and then entering a science profession. As soon as I left home, I stopped going to church completely. To my knowledge, I

LucySnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6819736410949843334.post-42897201055694272632008-01-25T21:35:00.000-05:002008-01-30T14:24:15.752-05:00

The phrase "born again Christian" is frequently either misunderstood or downright despised by people outside evangelical Christian culture. I would like to present both points of view. This post will present one side; the next post will present another.First of all, it is important to realize what this term "born again" means, in a biblical sense. The Bible teaches that new birth in Christ

LucySnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6819736410949843334.post-73566699730298369312008-01-22T13:05:00.000-05:002008-01-22T13:10:31.652-05:00

Before I bring up the God-as-myth concept, I want to give another example of the incredible power of any sort of paradigm. Back in the 1400's, Europeans thought the earth was flat. All of their scientific evidence, in addition to their day-to-day experience, supported this notion. When real, scientific evidence was presented that disproved this notion and explained quite clearly how the earth was

LucySnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6819736410949843334.post-67933411504618017202008-01-21T20:34:00.000-05:002008-01-21T20:44:03.608-05:00

"Given the many urgent scientific and technological challenges facing America and the rest of the world, the increasing need for accurate scientific information in political decision making, and the vital role scientific innovation plays in spurring economic growth and competitiveness, we call for a public debate in which the U.S. presidential candidates share their views on the issues of The

LucySnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6819736410949843334.post-19073093085339341292008-01-20T22:48:00.000-05:002008-01-20T23:22:11.841-05:00

The apparent success of scientific inquiry has led many to assume that all things are ultimately provable. According to this line of reasoning, anything with substance (or mass) should be measurable and, if something is without substance, at least its effects should be measurable and predictable. I know this because I was raised in an academic science household, trained as a scientist, and work

LucySnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6819736410949843334.post-74547831129360560532008-01-17T22:52:00.000-05:002008-01-17T23:14:11.985-05:00

Rather than put labels on groups, I am going to call one Group A and one, B. People in Group A think that it is wrong to bring any mention of religion into government. People in Group B think that, because religion directs their sense of right and wrong, it is impossible to separate religion from the moral directives that form the basis for legislation. A Group B person in government might say

LucySnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6819736410949843334.post-88243579588589152022008-01-09T14:45:00.000-05:002008-01-09T14:49:01.797-05:00

This blog is currently in the preparation phase. If you are here and are curious about what I am planning to do, please leave your screen name and I will keep you informed as it progresses. Thank you for visiting.

LucySnoreply@blogger.com1