'Both Wrong and Dangerous'

[Guest]

Opinion | Fri, Apr. 02 2010 09:19 PM EDT

'Both Wrong and Dangerous' - Scientists Have Worldviews, Too

By R. Albert Mohler, Jr. | Christian Post Guest Columnist

[url=http://www.christianpost.com/article/20100402/-both-wrong-and-dangerous-scientists-have-worldviews-too/pageall.html].... When it comes to evolutionary science, the same issues present themselves - and have since the dawn of the controversy. Once again, there is no non-ideological science, and there is no shortage of political implications. What drives so many policy makers and observers to distraction is the fact that Americans in general - and American parents in particular - just do not accept evolution as an adequate account of the cosmos. And, as time has shown, Americans are highly resistant to being told that they must accept what the scientific establishment insists is the only legitimate worldview.

The modern world does not exist without science and technology, but science does not rule the world. In a democracy - especially a democracy governed by the First Amendment - a healthy debate on all these issues will reach virtually every American institution, including the public schools. School boards and legislatures are answerable to the people - not to a regime of scientists.

Science is a cultural product that inevitably reflects the society it serves. This can be as breathtakingly impressive as the NASA missions to the moon, or as morally reprehensible as the Nazi medical experiments. Modern cultures cannot exist without modern science, but science is not the non-ideological and non-political world of knowledge many presume it to be. That presumption, to borrow Charles Haynes

[MorningGlory]

I agree with this, Joe. I was taught to be a critical thinker; to listen, read, analyze, compare and make my own decision as to what is right. I was taught this at home, of course, and that's how I raised my kids....walk softly and question everything. (This doesn't extend to the Word of God, of course.) Parents should demand that opposing views be taught in our schools, something that isn't happening right now. By being taught critical thinking, a child's intellect is stimulated and grows. And that's good for everybody.

[Joshua-777]

I agree with this, Joe. I was taught to be a critical thinker; to listen, read, analyze, compare and make my own decision as to what is right. I was taught this at home, of course, and that's how I raised my kids....walk softly and question everything. (This doesn't extend to the Word of God, of course.) Parents should demand that opposing views be taught in our schools, something that isn't happening right now. By being taught critical thinking, a child's intellect is stimulated and grows. And that's good for everybody.

I agree!

[MorningGlory]

I was taught to be a critical thinker; to listen, read, analyze, compare and make my own decision as to what is right. I was taught this at home, of course, and that's how I raised my kids....walk softly and question everything. (This doesn't extend to the Word of God, of course.) Parents should demand that opposing views be taught in our schools, something that isn't happening right now. By being taught critical thinking, a child's intellect is stimulated and grows. And that's good for everybody.

Are you saying that the Bible should not be questioned?

No, not at all. I believe we should question the different interpretations of the Bible, since fallible man has interpreted the books into many different languages and forms. But the Word is sacred and inerrant to a true believer, the bedrock of our faith, and is not be questioned OR changed.

[Guest]

.... Are you saying that the Bible should not be questioned?.....

And When A Question Is Asked It Is Needful To Listen

Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. Psalms 46:10

And Then You Will Find Your Answer

And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13

[MorningGlory]

.... Are you saying that the Bible should not be questioned?.....

And When A Question Is Asked It Is Needful To Listen

Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. Psalms 46:10

And Then You Will Find Your Answer

And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13

[MorningGlory]

As everyone can see, put the missing words back in and the meaning changes completely. Lurker was right. This type of deception by Creation websites is a common practice. I have seen it frequently. Many Creationists, with honest intentions to seek the truth, make the mistake of trusting such sites. They deliberately sow misinformation.

And why, pray tell, do they do THAT?

[Guest]

As everyone can see, put the missing words back in and the meaning changes completely. Lurker was right. This type of deception by Creation websites is a common practice. I have seen it frequently. Many Creationists, with honest intentions to seek the truth, make the mistake of trusting such sites. They deliberately sow misinformation.

And why, pray tell, do they do THAT?

Pray tell, MorningGlory, why do you think they do that?

Well Dear One Despite The Many Cartoons You May See, There Really Are No Missing Links To Be Found

He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

Ecclesiastes 3:11

Except In The Theater Of The Mind

Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

Romans 1:21-22

Because God Created

For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

Colossians 1:16-17

Not A Single

And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:25

Link

>>>>>()<<<<<

Believe

Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

2 Corinthians 10:5

And Be Blessed Beloved

And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

Galatians 4:6

Love, Joe

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

[e lansing]

I was taught to be a critical thinker; to listen, read, analyze, compare and make my own decision as to what is right. I was taught this at home, of course, and that's how I raised my kids....walk softly and question everything. (This doesn't extend to the Word of God, of course.) Parents should demand that opposing views be taught in our schools, something that isn't happening right now. By being taught critical thinking, a child's intellect is stimulated and grows. And that's good for everybody.

Are you saying that the Bible should not be questioned?

No, not at all. I believe we should question the different interpretations of the Bible, since fallible man has interpreted the books into many different languages and forms.

So the only completely reliable translation is probably from one of the ancient Hebrew texts that have survived? Knowing the number of divergent translations that exist in English, could we conjecture that the Hebrew translations might have had as many versions as our English ones do? Or do divergent translations exist only in English? How recent is our oldest complete copy of the Old Testament in Hebrew and how true is it to the original form? The question is rhetorical, I am sorry, I know we have no access to the first copy of the Old Testament in Hebrew.

Then there is my concern that there first existed hundreds of years of oral traditions before the text was ever written down. Knowing how the game 'telephone' plays out, how many variants must have existed within the oral tradition? Or is that something that no one enquires about? Of course there is no way to know how many divergent oral traditions there might have been; I don't think it is reasonable to assume there were no divergent oral traditions. We certainly have no access to them now, unless there are divergent traditions within the Bible itself that can be related back to divergent oral traditions present at the time of the original writing. Have you heard that biblical scholars recognize two creation accounts in Genesis? These are generally attributed to two separate oral traditions. I believe I have read there are a number of examples of possible divergent oral traditions existing in the Old Testament.

Most of us have to rely on an English text of the Bible that we deem reliable. Which biblical source in English would be considered inerrant, or is that something there is no agreement on? In knowing the difficulty in translating from a foreign language is it impossible to claim any English Bible is truly inerrant? I have just never heard of a Bible, in English, where there was any kind of consensus that there was one truer translation than any other. I think I have heard it said, however, that some translations are quite creative in the liberties they take.

But the Word is sacred and inerrant to a true believer, the bedrock of our faith, and is not be questioned OR changed.

To make a play on the title of the thread, it is precisely this lack of objectivity that I consider wrong headed and dangerous to the advancement of truth. It turns your earlier claims to be a critical thinker on its head for everything else you examine must then be twisted to fit the contours of your biblical beliefs.

It is obvious that we Christians have our faith and it is based on the Bible and you have your faith in the books that you deem truthful. It is also very clear that you do have a belief system that appears to be no different than a Atheist. At any rate your opinions have zero impact on Biblical truth.

e

[Guest]

Amen!