21 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
Anesthesia Thwarts the Will of God
It is a curious and painful fact that almost all the completely futile treatments that have been believed in during the long history of medical folly have been such as caused acute suffering to the patient. When anesthetics were discovered, pious people considered them an attempt to evade the will of God. It was pointed out, however, that when God extracted Adam's rib He put him into a deep sleep. This proved that anesthetics are all right for men; women, however, ought to suffer, because of ... 1 
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notesBut Biblical precedent is found in the book of Genesis to allow it for men.
13 APR 2012 by ideonexus
St. Augustine on Christian Explanations for Origins
It not infrequently happens that something about the earth, about the sky, about other elements of this world, about the motion and rotation or even the magnitude and distances of the stars, about definite eclipses of the sun and moon, about the passage of years and seasons, about the nature of animals, of fruits, of stones, and of other such things, may be known with the greatest certainty by reasoning or by experience, even by one who is not a Christian. It is too disgraceful and ruinous, t... 1 notes
notesRemarkably insightful statement from 426 AD about how Christians look foolish when they try to apply the literal interpretation of Genesis to the natural world.
02 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Why "Origin of Species" was So Devastating
Yet with the growing public knowledge of geology and astronomy, and the recognition of ‘deep space’ and ‘deep time’, fewer and fewer men or women of education can have believed in a literal, Biblical six days of creation. However, science itself had yet to produce its own theory (or myth) of creation, and there was no alternative Newtonian Book of Genesis — as yet. That is why Darwin’s On the Origin of Species appeared so devastating when it was finally published in 1859. It was n... 1 notes
notesBefore it's publication, science had no story of our origins to compete with the Bible.
02 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Newton's Apple Gave New Meaning to the Garden of Eden Story
Part of the power of the story was that it replaced the sacred Biblical account of the Fall from Innocence in Genesis (Eve and the apple) with a secular parable of the Ascent to Knowledge. See Patricia Fara, Newton: The Making of Genius (2005); and for a broad visionary perspective, Jacob Bronowski’s scientific classic The Ascent of Man (1973).
1 The apple bequeathed knowledge to man in the secular fable of Newton observing the apple drop.
14 SEP 2011 by ideonexus
Molecular Biology is More than Just Morphology
It [molecular biology] is concerned particularly with the forms of biological molecules and with the evolution, exploitation and ramification of these forms in the ascent to higher and higher levels of organization. Molecular biology is predominantly three- dimensional and structural—which does not mean, however, that it is merely a refinement of morphology. It must at the same time inquire into genesis and function.Folksonomies: molecular biology morphology
Folksonomies: molecular biology morphology
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notesQuoting William Thomas Astbury concerning the need for Molecular Biology to be concerned with Genesis and Function.
09 SEP 2011 by ideonexus
Pursuit of Knowledge Comes from Being Free
For it is owing to their wonder that men now both begin and at first began to philosophize; they wondered originally at the obvious difficulties, then advanced little by little and stated difficulties about the greater matters, e.g. about the phenomena of the moon and those of the sun and the stars, and about the genesis of the universe. And a man who is puzzled and wonders thinks himself ignorant (whence even the lover of myth is in a sense a lover of wisdom, for myth is composed of wonders)...Folksonomies: pursuit of knowledge
Folksonomies: pursuit of knowledge
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notesFrom Aristotle's "Metaphysics". We pursue science not for Utilitarian ends, but for itself.
01 SEP 2011 by ideonexus
Do Not Attempt to Reconcile Science and Religion
Since religion intrinsically rejects empirical methods, there should never be any attempt to reconcile scientific theories with religion. [An infinitely old universe, always evolving may not be compatible with the Book of Genesis. However, religions such as Buddhism get along without having any explicit creation mythology and are in no way contradicted by a universe without a beginning or end.] Creatio ex nihilo, even as religious doctrine, only dates to around AD 200. The key is not to confu...Folksonomies: religion spirituality
Folksonomies: religion spirituality
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notesQuote by Hannes Alfvén on religion's rejection of empirical methods.
