Register | Sign In


Understanding through Discussion


EvC Forum active members: 65 (9164 total)
6 online now:
Newest Member: ChatGPT
Post Volume: Total: 916,421 Year: 3,678/9,624 Month: 549/974 Week: 162/276 Day: 2/34 Hour: 0/2


Thread  Details

Email This Thread
Newer Topic | Older Topic
  
Author Topic:   The Three Kinds of Creationists
Phat
Member
Posts: 18298
From: Denver,Colorado USA
Joined: 12-30-2003
Member Rating: 1.1


Message 4 of 432 (81048)
01-27-2004 6:52 AM
Reply to: Message 3 by Mammuthus
01-27-2004 4:39 AM


What IS a Creationist, anyway?
Hey Guys...Phatboy, here. I know that I am in the camp of people known as Believers in God,(Christian version) but I don't really know if I am a Creationist, per se. I believe that God was the first cause, but I also think that the guys who try and refute the traditional science theories are a bit whack. Hmm...how would I rate in your terminology? Name: Phatboy
Designation: Rodney King fundie..(why can't we all just get along?)
Traits: Never answers questions that he does not understand. Thinks that he is Gods spokesman, but prays a lot. Level of science education: Has a buddy that works at Ball aerospace and who thinks that Jesus was an alien.
Favorite word: Hmmmmm
First line of first post: "Hey Guys. Wassup?"
Reaction to rebuttal: "Do you feel lucky?"

This message is a reply to:
 Message 3 by Mammuthus, posted 01-27-2004 4:39 AM Mammuthus has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 5 by Mammuthus, posted 01-27-2004 7:45 AM Phat has not replied
 Message 6 by PaulK, posted 01-27-2004 9:00 AM Phat has replied

  
Phat
Member
Posts: 18298
From: Denver,Colorado USA
Joined: 12-30-2003
Member Rating: 1.1


Message 7 of 432 (81089)
01-27-2004 11:26 AM
Reply to: Message 6 by PaulK
01-27-2004 9:00 AM


Re: What IS a Creationist, anyway?
Wow! Great article!
Each of the great Western monotheistic traditions sees God as truth, love, and knowledge. This should mean that each and every increase in our understanding of the natural world is a step toward God and not, as many people assume, a step away. If faith and reason are both gifts from God, then they should play complementary, not conflicting, roles in our struggle to understand the world around us. As a scientist and as a Christian, that is exactly what I believe. True knowledge comes only from a combination of faith and reason.
A nonbeliever, of course, puts his or her trust in science and finds no value in faith. And I certainly agree that science allows believer and nonbeliever alike to investigate the natural world through a common lens of observation, experiment, and theory. The ability of science to transcend cultural, political, and even religious differences is part of its genius, part of its value as a way of knowing. What science cannot do is assign either meaning or purpose to the world it explores. This leads some to conclude that the world as seen by science is devoid of meaning and absent of purpose. It is not. What it does mean, I would suggest, is that our human tendency to assign meaning and value must transcend science and, ultimately, must come from outside it. The science that results can thus be enriched and informed from its contact with the values and principles of faith. The God of Abraham does not tell us which proteins control the cell cycle. But he does give us a reason to care, a reason to cherish that understanding, and above all, a reason to prefer the light of knowledge to the darkness of ignorance.
As more than one scientist has said, the truly remarkable thing about the world is that it actually does make sense. The parts fit, the molecules interact, the darn thing works. To people of faith, what evolution says is that nature is complete. Their God fashioned a material world in which truly free and independent beings could evolve. He got it right the very first time.
To some, the murderous reality of human nature is proof that God is absent or dead. The same reasoning would find God missing from the unpredictable branchings of an evolutionary tree. But the truth is deeper. In each case, a deity determined to establish a world that was truly independent of his whims, a world in which intelligent creatures would face authentic choices between good and evil, would have to fashion a distinct, material reality and then let his creation run. Neither the self-sufficiency of nature nor the reality of evil in the world mean God is absent. To a religious person, both signify something quite different - the strength of God's love and the reality of our freedom as his creatures.
I must say that I DO believe in the supernatural reality of demons/angels only because I have experienced it. I would not rule out another plausible explanation of what I did experience, however.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 6 by PaulK, posted 01-27-2004 9:00 AM PaulK has not replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 8 by Phat, posted 11-01-2010 6:54 AM Phat has not replied

  
Phat
Member
Posts: 18298
From: Denver,Colorado USA
Joined: 12-30-2003
Member Rating: 1.1


Message 8 of 432 (589247)
11-01-2010 6:54 AM
Reply to: Message 7 by Phat
01-27-2004 11:26 AM


Why A Creationist?
I miss Mr. Hambre, he was a good poster. Looking back, I now ask myself the question of what a creationist is.
Wiki writes:
Creationism is the religious belief[1] that humanity, life, the Earth, and the universe are the creation of a supernatural being. However, the term is more commonly used to refer to religiously motivated rejection of certain biological processes, in particular much of evolution, as an explanation accounting for the history, diversity, and complexity of life on earth
Wiki Source I now see no problem with evolution as an explanation. The only thing it appears to do is to make the Bible out to be the best explanation that folks had at that time, rather than an eternal source of wisdom and truth..and I can still believe that God knows what humans are likely to conclude and has made arrangements for it in the script.
Edited by Phat, : expounded thoughts

This message is a reply to:
 Message 7 by Phat, posted 01-27-2004 11:26 AM Phat has not replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 9 by ringo, posted 11-01-2010 11:09 AM Phat has replied

  
Phat
Member
Posts: 18298
From: Denver,Colorado USA
Joined: 12-30-2003
Member Rating: 1.1


Message 10 of 432 (589276)
11-01-2010 11:18 AM
Reply to: Message 9 by ringo
11-01-2010 11:09 AM


Re: Why A Creationist?
Good point, and a clever comeback. For some of us, there is comfort in knowing that Daddy God has all problems fore-knowingly handled.
For others, the challenge of uncertainty and personal responsibility gives a spice to life and purpose.
Perhaps the scary question for a Creationist is whether a Creator is part of reality.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 9 by ringo, posted 11-01-2010 11:09 AM ringo has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 11 by ringo, posted 11-01-2010 12:23 PM Phat has not replied

  
Newer Topic | Older Topic
Jump to:


Copyright 2001-2023 by EvC Forum, All Rights Reserved

™ Version 4.2
Innovative software from Qwixotic © 2024