> -----Original Message----- > From: Mary Jo Sminkey [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2008 12:41 AM > To: CF-Community > Subject: Re: Oh dear God no..... > > >How does science and faith reconcile when one claims with certainty > that the > >Earth is millions of years old and the other says with certainty that > the > >earth is not more than 6,000 years old? > > > > Faith does not say you *must* believe in a literal interpretation of > Genesis...only the fundamentalists say that.
Again, I feel that's a compromise - and not a compromise many are willing to make. As I said, I do feel an individual who is capable of making personal compromise can reconcile the two decently... but a religion that makes claims of the natural will probably never be able to. And just so we're clear "faith" does not say anything - unlike science where there's a clear consensus definition of what is and isn't science there is no such universal for faith. If you define faith as "only what you want it want to be" then sure, you can fit it into any container as I said - but if you define faith as they do in many religions then you lose that luxury. > You know, sometimes science actually does a pretty good job of > reconciling with faith. Case in point...the Shroud of Turin. Before you > pooh-pooh this, do some research on Google...it's really pretty > fascinating stuff what science has been able to learn about it (if you > didn't know, the carbon dating evidence has pretty much been thrown out > as invalid at this point, and far more evidence points to 1st century > Palestine.) While it certainly cannot be *proved* that it was caused by Actually I've seen just the opposite. Joe Nickell, one of the most respected shroud investigators (and a man I greatly admire), makes incredibly convincing arguments that the shroud is a 14th century fabrication. His most recent book, "Relics of the Christ", covers the shroud in detail and addresses much, if not all of the evidence for an ancient shroud that you mention. If you're interested in this stuff it's a truly interesting read. > the resurrection of Christ...the very fact that science has yet to come > up with a viable explanation for how it was made does give one Actually there are several explanations - and the lack of perspective on the shroud's image tends to support the fabrication claim. As do the historically inaccurate details (such as the position of the nails from the supposed crucifixtion which match 14th century popularization but not Roman practice). > pause...as does all the evidence showing that it is the actual burial > cloth of a Roman-style crucifixion victim, with unique traits that > exactly mirror the passion story. Christian faith is not based on > relics and/or science and the Church itself does not makes any claims > to the true nature of the Shroud, so its authenticity (or lack thereof) > should not be the basis of faith...but it's a good example of where > science does support what faith might have us believe. > > Here's a site that covers mainly the science of the Shroud, very > comprehensive: > > http://www.shroudstory.com That's not a site that "covers" the shroud science but a site that (like the Discovery Institute) exists only to challenge it. I'm not saying that's not worthwhile just because of this but a site that begins with the line "No One Can Explain Shroud of Turin Pictures of Jesus" hardly strikes me as unbiased. The site you've linked is, in large part, a reaction to Joe Nickell's work. So, even giving every credit, we have competing science and not a consensus. However we also have one party emotionally invested in an outcome and that's a huge red flag right up front. Jim Davis ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;160198600;22374440;w Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:250134 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
