Today the Cleveland Plain Dealer included an article by Cornelia Dean of the New York Times entitled "On scientific issues, study finds belief gap among Americans." Interesting. The article starts out saying :
When it comes to climate change, the teaching of evolution and the state of the nation's research enterprise, there is a large gap between what scientists think and views of ordinary Americans, a new survey has found.
One of the findings was this:
Almost a third of ordinary Americans say human beings have existed in their current form since the beginning of time, a view held by only 2 percent of the scientists.
I was raised in a Christian church and I believed everything I was taught there. But I also went to public schools and recall believing what I was taught there as well. I might be a shallow thinker, but to me, there was never a big conflict. Science can be proven. Faith is something you believe without proof. I believe in both. I remember sitting in 9th grade biology and learning about evolution. I pondered it for a short time and decided that the notion of Adam and Eve was probably that they represented the first human beings as we know them today. I didn't disbelieve the Bible, but I could see the proof of evolution. Moreover, what's the difference? I trust that God created the world and all that lives in it in His time and within His plan. Learning about evolution did not hurt my faith at all.
I say - Science and Beliefs should COEXIST and we leave the rest up to God, and if you don't believe in God I guess you can prove where the universe came from in the first place, can't you?
To read the article in its entirety click HERE.
8 comments:
". . .if you don't believe in God I guess you can prove where the universe came from in the first place, can't you?"
No good scientist would not attempt to "prove" a negative. They might say there is a very high or very low probability, based on the evidence, but a good scientist NEVER says anything is absolutely certain.
Science can only address the observable phenomena of nature. The existence or non-existence of God is a philosophical or theological debate, not a scientific one.
Only those who insist that the Bible--with all its contradictions, allusions, allegory and metaphor--is literally true in its every detail, have problems with the theory of evolution, stem cell research, etc. Such people are not intellectually simple and need a simple explanation.
My last comment was supposed to be funny, Dan! I agree that the existence of God is not at all a scientific debate - that's where faith comes in. And I agree that those who take it all literally can be troubled over its application to the real world. It's just curious to me that atheists (or maybe agnostics)want proof of God but have no proof of where the complexities of the universe and all living things came from. If it's a big bang - something created the materials to bang. I don't understand your last sentence however.
Oops. I meant to call such people intellectually simple, without the "not." So much for my proofreading skills. Probably shouldn't have written that anyway, as it violates the "if you can't say something nice" rule. And you know me, I'm all about rules.
Interesting article. I believe God created animals that adapt to their changing surroundings, aka evolution.
;)
I think that when some topics come up and people start arguing, the level of ignorance level of all that argue goes through the roof.
I never read anything about Jesus taking on the scholars in regards to evolution. He had more important things to do during His three years of Earthly ministry.
I love the idea of all coexisting. I often wonder why we tend to force our opinions on other?
God did create the world in 7 days, but how was day determined? How do we know that the 24 hours we know was the same 24 hours that God had?
Why is it a big deal anyways? I like to question everything, can you tell?
I agree with 74wixygrad... there are better things to take on than arguing evolution. At the end of the day it is between a person and God.
I like learning about everything, myself. I feel it makes one well rounded. Haven't read the article yet, but the post is quite thought provoking. Thanks Diane for another great read!
t blog.Keep it up.
I appreciate the skills of your blog writing and the time sharing with us.
Hmmmm . . . "I trust that God created the world and all that lives in it. . . . Learning about evolution did not hurt my faith at all."
I wish more people were as thoughtful as you.
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