Showing posts with label creationism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label creationism. Show all posts
Friday, 30 November 2018
Sunday, 9 September 2018
Creation Calls
I have felt the wind blow
Whispering Your name
I have seen Your tears fall
When I watch the rain
How could I say there is no God
When all around creation calls
A singing bird, a mighty tree
The vast expanse of open sea
Gazing at a bird in flight
Soaring through the air
Lying down beneath the stars
I feel Your presence there
I love to stand at ocean's shore
And feel the thundering breakers roar
To walk through golden fields of grain
'Neath endless blue horizon's frame
Listening to a river run, watering the earth
Fragrance of a rose in bloom, a newborn's cry at birth
I believe, I believe, I believe
Whispering Your name
I have seen Your tears fall
When I watch the rain
How could I say there is no God
When all around creation calls
A singing bird, a mighty tree
The vast expanse of open sea
Gazing at a bird in flight
Soaring through the air
Lying down beneath the stars
I feel Your presence there
I love to stand at ocean's shore
And feel the thundering breakers roar
To walk through golden fields of grain
'Neath endless blue horizon's frame
Listening to a river run, watering the earth
Fragrance of a rose in bloom, a newborn's cry at birth
I believe, I believe, I believe
Creation Calls by Brian Doerksen
Saturday, 11 July 2015
Papa accepta teoria evolutionista si Big Bang-ul | Pope Francisc believes in The Big Bang. The Catholic Church no longer teaches creationism
THE BIG BANG, WHICH SCIENTISTS BELIEVE LED TO THE FORMATION OF THE UNIVERSE SOME 13.8 BILLION YEARS AGO, WAS ALL PART OF GOD’S PLAN, POPE FRANCIS HAS DECLARED.
“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
The Pope said the scientific account of the beginning of the universe and the development of life through evolution are compatible with the Catholic Church’s vision of creation. He told a meeting of the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Sciences: ‘The Big Bang, which today we hold to be the origin of the world, does not contradict the intervention of the divine creator but, rather, requires it.’
But he said Christians should reject the idea that world came into being by chance. Likewise, evolution was all part of God’s plan, he explained. The development of each creature’s characteristics over millennia ‘does not contrast with the notion of creation because evolution presupposes the creation of beings that evolve,’ he said.
“Reading Genesis we imagine that God is ‘a wizard with a magic wand’ capable of doing all things, he said. ‘But it is not so. He created life and let each creature develop according to the natural laws which he had given each one.’
Francis praised his predecessor, Benedict, who initiated attempts to shed the Catholic Church’s image of being anti-science, a label that stuck when it condemned the astronomer Galileo to death for teaching that the earth revolves around the sun.
The Catholic Church no longer teaches creationism – the belief that God created the world in six days – and says that the account in the book of Genesis is an allegory for the way God created the world.
( jewsnews.co.il )
Friday, 2 September 2011
Thursday, 7 July 2011
Portretul fericirii
Portretul fericirii
Creatorul a iubit intotdeauna frumosul...
Ce ar fi fost pamintul fara lumina,
Ce ar fi fost marea fara albastru
Si ce ar fi fost cerul fara luminatori?
Daca iarba si frunzele nu erau verzi
Iar singele n-ar fi fost rosu...
Dacă florile nu aveau petale, sepale, stamine
Iar Adam ar fi fost singur !!??...
Dar Dumnezeu a iubit intotdeauna frumosul...
I-a dat omului ca acoperis, cerul
Si ca pardoseala ierburi marunte
Cu flori de "NU MA UITA";
Si i-a mai dat ceva:
Din lut dar si din suflare divina
I-a făcut un portret de lumina
Ca de urit sa-i tina...
Mai apoi, un pictor gelos,
Pe frumos,
Cu pensula inmuiata in negru,
A trecut pragul Edenului...
Si de-ar fi fost doar atat!
Mai apoi, gelos pe frumusetea primei femei
A trasat peste dragostea ei,
Peste caminul si linistea ei,
O linie neagră...
O, Doamne!...Cine si oare cu ce sa mai stearga?
Peste ascultare,
A pus un semn de intrebare
Iar peste adevar a pus "NU", mare...
O, Doamne!...Se tulbura Universul!
Cine sa mai refaca frumosul?
De peste milenii, de la cruce,
Raspunde Iisus:
"Prieteni, portret pentru cer v-am adus!"
Aici e secretul, aici e raspunsul..
Doar rosul singelui jertfirii
Alunga negrul, plinsul,
Si face portret fericirii.
Daca azi imi port pasii printre lacrimi
Si nu ma tem de intunerec,
Este pentru ca Iisus imi da frumusete...
Pentru ca Dumnezeu a iubit intotdeauna frumosul.
_______________________________________
Din zori mi-ai coborat in suflet
Muzica suava, muzica de sus
Imi place s-o aud e minunata
Si ma cuprinde-n armonia ei, ca intr-o vraja.
Si parca nu mai sunt pe-acest pamant strain
Ci chiar la poarta casei mele
Deschid cu usurinta usa, fara cheie
In patria cea noua, nu-i nimeni ca sa fure.
Odaia mea e plina de-o lumina dulce
Si nu e nici urma de praf sau murdarie
Pai, e normal, pe drum nu trec masini cu zgomot
Si peste tot sunt flori, si-o lume noua.
Dar muzica din ce in ce se stinge
Revin la ale zilei treburi multe
Ce-mi frang cu rautate zborul
Si nu-mi ramane-n suflet decat dorul
O, Doamne mai da-mi o dimineata.
Wednesday, 22 December 2010
Credinta în Creator (mărturisiri de credintă ale unor mari oameni de stiintă)
[...] " Majoritatea oamenilor mari de stiintă si-au declarat credinta, trecând peste orgoliul profesional.
Marele matematician francez Cauchy (1789-1857) spunea: “Eu sunt crestin, ca toti marii astronomi, ca
toti marii fizicieni si toti marii geometri ai veacurilor trecute…Si dacă mi s-ar cere sa arat motivul, l-as arăta cu plăcere. S-ar vedea că convingerile mele sunt rezultatul, nu al unor prejudecăti ci al unei
cercetări adânci”.
Cât de departe suntem de dictonul “Crede si nu cerceta”, folosit tocmai de cei care nici nu credeau,
nici nu cercetau! Binot, fizician si astronom francez, vorbea despre prietenul lui (Cauchy), astfel: “L-am
văzut străduindu-se să facă bine în jurul lui, cu o liniste plină de încredere, pe care numai o credintă
adâncă o poate da. Fericit acela în care Dumnezeu a voit astfel să unească bogătiile geniului cu acelea
ale inimii” .
Si iată si o declaratie a lui Faraday (1791-1867) - fondator al teoriei electromagnetismului - citată
de Pasteur la un discurs de receptie: “Cunoasterea si respectul lui Dumnezeu pătrund în mintea mea prin
căi tot asa de sigure ca acelea care ne conduc la adevărurile de ordin fizic”.
A.M.Ampere (1775-1837) - un alt fondator al electromagnetismului - îsi compusese singur o
rugăciune pe care o repeta zilnic: “Dumnezeule! Îti multumesc că m-ai creat, răscumpărat si iluminat cu
lumina Ta divină…Îti multumesc iarăsi de a mă fi readus la Tine după rătăcirile mele: eu simt că Tu vrei
ca eu să trăiesc pentru Tine si ca toate clipele vietii mele să-ti fie Tie consacrate”.
Iar dr. N.C.Paulescu (1869-1931), profesor si fiziolog român (descoperitorul insulinei), spunea:
“Evanghelia Domnului Iisus Hristos este suprema treaptă a stiintei. Nu numai că eu cred în Dumnezeu,
dar stiu cu certitudine că este Dumnezeu”.
Copernic, Kepler, Galilei, Descartes, Bacon, Pascal, Leibniz, Newton, au fost credinciosi declarati.
La fel au fost unii mari astronomi (Laplace, Herschell, etc), mari matematicieni (Euler, Cauchy, Hermite
etc.), mari chimisti (Lavoisier, Berzelius, Berthelot, Gay-Lussac, Thenard etc.), mari fizicieni (Volta,
Ampere, Faraday, Maxwell, William Thomson adică Lordul Kelvin etc.). Dar să nu-l uităm pe marele
Einstein (1879-1955). Iată chemarea lui, adresată tuturor oamenilor: “Avem o religie capabilă să
ferească lumea de toate relele sociale. Orice om are datoria sfântă să facă tot ce poate pentru triumful
acestei religii”.
Pentru ineditul ei, să inserăm aici si o declaratie a unui om politic, fost presedinte al SUA, W.
Wilson: “Datorită citirii regulate a Bibliei am primit, prin bunătatea lui Dumnezeu, ajutorul necesar,
care mi-a îngăduit să trec printr-o serie lungă de mari încercări, fără a da înapoi. Sunt 14 ani de când
am luat acest obicei si nu-l pot recomanda îndeajuns tuturor. Însă trebuie să citim sub privirea lui
Dumnezeu si să cerem ajutorul ca să pătrundem gândurile Sale. Deplâng pe cei ce nu citesc Biblia zilnic.
Ei se lipsesc astfel de un izvor nesecat de putere spirituală”.
Deci Dumnezeu există. Este si concluzia marilor oameni de stiintă, marilor căutători. Cine nu crede
trebuie să cerceteze pe cont propriu. Asa a făcut si generalul englez Lew Wallace. El a vrut să scrie o
carte în care să arate că Hristos n-a existat iar crestinismul este absurd. După câtiva ani de documentare
anticrestină a început să scrie cartea. Dar când a ajuns la capitolul 4 si-a dat seama că Hristos a existat si că
a fost mai mult decât un personaj istoric. La 50 de ani generalul a îngenunchiat prima dată pentru
rugăciune si a cerut lui Iisus Hristos să fie Mântuitorul său. A revizuit cartea si a terminat-o. Este vorba de
celebrul roman “Ben-Hur” (lucru curios: generalul si Ben-Hur seamănă!).
Mărturisirile de mai sus sunt ale oamenilor mari, întelepti, angajati în cunoasterea lumii materiale.
Dar asta nu-i împiedică pe multi contemporani de-ai nostri să spună “Numai prostii mai cred”. Să le
amintim cuvintele psalmistului: “Nebunul zice în inima lui: Nu este Dumnezeu” (Ps.14, 1)." [...]
Marele matematician francez Cauchy (1789-1857) spunea: “Eu sunt crestin, ca toti marii astronomi, ca
toti marii fizicieni si toti marii geometri ai veacurilor trecute…Si dacă mi s-ar cere sa arat motivul, l-as arăta cu plăcere. S-ar vedea că convingerile mele sunt rezultatul, nu al unor prejudecăti ci al unei
cercetări adânci”.
Cât de departe suntem de dictonul “Crede si nu cerceta”, folosit tocmai de cei care nici nu credeau,
nici nu cercetau! Binot, fizician si astronom francez, vorbea despre prietenul lui (Cauchy), astfel: “L-am
văzut străduindu-se să facă bine în jurul lui, cu o liniste plină de încredere, pe care numai o credintă
adâncă o poate da. Fericit acela în care Dumnezeu a voit astfel să unească bogătiile geniului cu acelea
ale inimii” . Si iată si o declaratie a lui Faraday (1791-1867) - fondator al teoriei electromagnetismului - citată
de Pasteur la un discurs de receptie: “Cunoasterea si respectul lui Dumnezeu pătrund în mintea mea prin
căi tot asa de sigure ca acelea care ne conduc la adevărurile de ordin fizic”.
A.M.Ampere (1775-1837) - un alt fondator al electromagnetismului - îsi compusese singur o
rugăciune pe care o repeta zilnic: “Dumnezeule! Îti multumesc că m-ai creat, răscumpărat si iluminat cu
lumina Ta divină…Îti multumesc iarăsi de a mă fi readus la Tine după rătăcirile mele: eu simt că Tu vrei
ca eu să trăiesc pentru Tine si ca toate clipele vietii mele să-ti fie Tie consacrate”.
Iar dr. N.C.Paulescu (1869-1931), profesor si fiziolog român (descoperitorul insulinei), spunea:
“Evanghelia Domnului Iisus Hristos este suprema treaptă a stiintei. Nu numai că eu cred în Dumnezeu,
dar stiu cu certitudine că este Dumnezeu”.
Copernic, Kepler, Galilei, Descartes, Bacon, Pascal, Leibniz, Newton, au fost credinciosi declarati.
La fel au fost unii mari astronomi (Laplace, Herschell, etc), mari matematicieni (Euler, Cauchy, Hermite
etc.), mari chimisti (Lavoisier, Berzelius, Berthelot, Gay-Lussac, Thenard etc.), mari fizicieni (Volta,
Ampere, Faraday, Maxwell, William Thomson adică Lordul Kelvin etc.). Dar să nu-l uităm pe marele
Einstein (1879-1955). Iată chemarea lui, adresată tuturor oamenilor: “Avem o religie capabilă să
ferească lumea de toate relele sociale. Orice om are datoria sfântă să facă tot ce poate pentru triumful
acestei religii”.
Pentru ineditul ei, să inserăm aici si o declaratie a unui om politic, fost presedinte al SUA, W.
Wilson: “Datorită citirii regulate a Bibliei am primit, prin bunătatea lui Dumnezeu, ajutorul necesar,
care mi-a îngăduit să trec printr-o serie lungă de mari încercări, fără a da înapoi. Sunt 14 ani de când
am luat acest obicei si nu-l pot recomanda îndeajuns tuturor. Însă trebuie să citim sub privirea lui
Dumnezeu si să cerem ajutorul ca să pătrundem gândurile Sale. Deplâng pe cei ce nu citesc Biblia zilnic.
Ei se lipsesc astfel de un izvor nesecat de putere spirituală”.
Deci Dumnezeu există. Este si concluzia marilor oameni de stiintă, marilor căutători. Cine nu crede
trebuie să cerceteze pe cont propriu. Asa a făcut si generalul englez Lew Wallace. El a vrut să scrie o
carte în care să arate că Hristos n-a existat iar crestinismul este absurd. După câtiva ani de documentare
anticrestină a început să scrie cartea. Dar când a ajuns la capitolul 4 si-a dat seama că Hristos a existat si că
a fost mai mult decât un personaj istoric. La 50 de ani generalul a îngenunchiat prima dată pentru
rugăciune si a cerut lui Iisus Hristos să fie Mântuitorul său. A revizuit cartea si a terminat-o. Este vorba de
celebrul roman “Ben-Hur” (lucru curios: generalul si Ben-Hur seamănă!).
Mărturisirile de mai sus sunt ale oamenilor mari, întelepti, angajati în cunoasterea lumii materiale.
Dar asta nu-i împiedică pe multi contemporani de-ai nostri să spună “Numai prostii mai cred”. Să le
amintim cuvintele psalmistului: “Nebunul zice în inima lui: Nu este Dumnezeu” (Ps.14, 1)." [...]
Conflict între stiintă si credintă,
între întelepciunea omenească si cea dumnezeiască*
Ioan Cismileanu
©Wild-Voice 2010
Thursday, 2 December 2010
[ Science ] Life Built With Toxic Chemical
NASA-Funded Research Discovers Life Built With Toxic Chemical
NASA-funded astrobiology research has changed the fundamental knowledge about what comprises all known life on Earth.
Researchers conducting tests in the harsh environment of Mono Lake in California have discovered the first known microorganism on Earth able to thrive and reproduce using the toxic chemical arsenic. The microorganism substitutes arsenic for phosphorus in its cell components.
"The definition of life has just expanded," said Ed Weiler, NASA's associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at the agency's Headquarters in Washington. "As we pursue our efforts to seek signs of life in the solar system, we have to think more broadly, more diversely and consider life as we do not know it."
This finding of an alternative biochemistry makeup will alter biology textbooks and expand the scope of the search for life beyond Earth. The research is published in this week's edition of Science Express.
Carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulfur are the six basic building blocks of all known forms of life on Earth. Phosphorus is part of the chemical backbone of DNA and RNA, the structures that carry genetic instructions for life, and is considered an essential element for all living cells.
Phosphorus is a central component of the energy-carrying molecule in all cells (adenosine triphosphate) and also the phospholipids that form all cell membranes. Arsenic, which is chemically similar to phosphorus, is poisonous for most life on Earth. Arsenic disrupts metabolic pathways because chemically it behaves similarly to phosphate.
"We know that some microbes can breathe arsenic, but what we've found is a microbe doing something new -- building parts of itself out of arsenic," said Felisa Wolfe-Simon, a NASA Astrobiology Research Fellow in residence at the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, Calif., and the research team's lead scientist. "If something here on Earth can do something so unexpected, what else can life do that we haven't seen yet?"
The newly discovered microbe, strain GFAJ-1, is a member of a common group of bacteria, the Gammaproteobacteria. In the laboratory, the researchers successfully grew microbes from the lake on a diet that was very lean on phosphorus, but included generous helpings of arsenic. When researchers removed the phosphorus and replaced it with arsenic the microbes continued to grow. Subsequent analyses indicated that the arsenic was being used to produce the building blocks of new GFAJ-1 cells.
The key issue the researchers investigated was when the microbe was grown on arsenic did the arsenic actually became incorporated into the organisms' vital biochemical machinery, such as DNA, proteins and the cell membranes. A variety of sophisticated laboratory techniques was used to determine where the arsenic was incorporated.
The team chose to explore Mono Lake because of its unusual chemistry, especially its high salinity, high alkalinity, and high levels of arsenic. This chemistry is in part a result of Mono Lake's isolation from its sources of fresh water for 50 years.
The results of this study will inform ongoing research in many areas, including the study of Earth's evolution, organic chemistry, biogeochemical cycles, disease mitigation and Earth system research. These findings also will open up new frontiers in microbiology and other areas of research.
"The idea of alternative biochemistries for life is common in science fiction," said Carl Pilcher, director of the NASA Astrobiology Institute at the agency's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. "Until now a life form using arsenic as a building block was only theoretical, but now we know such life exists in Mono Lake."
The research team included scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey, Arizona State University in Tempe, Ariz., Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, Calif., Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Penn., and the Stanford Synchroton Radiation Lightsource in Menlo Park, Calif.
NASA's Astrobiology Program in Washington contributed funding for the research through its Exobiology and Evolutionary Biology program and the NASA Astrobiology Institute. NASA's Astrobiology Program supports research into the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life on Earth.
© www.nasa.gov
NASA-funded astrobiology research has changed the fundamental knowledge about what comprises all known life on Earth.
Researchers conducting tests in the harsh environment of Mono Lake in California have discovered the first known microorganism on Earth able to thrive and reproduce using the toxic chemical arsenic. The microorganism substitutes arsenic for phosphorus in its cell components.
"The definition of life has just expanded," said Ed Weiler, NASA's associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at the agency's Headquarters in Washington. "As we pursue our efforts to seek signs of life in the solar system, we have to think more broadly, more diversely and consider life as we do not know it."This finding of an alternative biochemistry makeup will alter biology textbooks and expand the scope of the search for life beyond Earth. The research is published in this week's edition of Science Express.
Carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulfur are the six basic building blocks of all known forms of life on Earth. Phosphorus is part of the chemical backbone of DNA and RNA, the structures that carry genetic instructions for life, and is considered an essential element for all living cells.
Phosphorus is a central component of the energy-carrying molecule in all cells (adenosine triphosphate) and also the phospholipids that form all cell membranes. Arsenic, which is chemically similar to phosphorus, is poisonous for most life on Earth. Arsenic disrupts metabolic pathways because chemically it behaves similarly to phosphate.
"We know that some microbes can breathe arsenic, but what we've found is a microbe doing something new -- building parts of itself out of arsenic," said Felisa Wolfe-Simon, a NASA Astrobiology Research Fellow in residence at the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, Calif., and the research team's lead scientist. "If something here on Earth can do something so unexpected, what else can life do that we haven't seen yet?"
The newly discovered microbe, strain GFAJ-1, is a member of a common group of bacteria, the Gammaproteobacteria. In the laboratory, the researchers successfully grew microbes from the lake on a diet that was very lean on phosphorus, but included generous helpings of arsenic. When researchers removed the phosphorus and replaced it with arsenic the microbes continued to grow. Subsequent analyses indicated that the arsenic was being used to produce the building blocks of new GFAJ-1 cells.
The key issue the researchers investigated was when the microbe was grown on arsenic did the arsenic actually became incorporated into the organisms' vital biochemical machinery, such as DNA, proteins and the cell membranes. A variety of sophisticated laboratory techniques was used to determine where the arsenic was incorporated.
The team chose to explore Mono Lake because of its unusual chemistry, especially its high salinity, high alkalinity, and high levels of arsenic. This chemistry is in part a result of Mono Lake's isolation from its sources of fresh water for 50 years.
The results of this study will inform ongoing research in many areas, including the study of Earth's evolution, organic chemistry, biogeochemical cycles, disease mitigation and Earth system research. These findings also will open up new frontiers in microbiology and other areas of research.
"The idea of alternative biochemistries for life is common in science fiction," said Carl Pilcher, director of the NASA Astrobiology Institute at the agency's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. "Until now a life form using arsenic as a building block was only theoretical, but now we know such life exists in Mono Lake."
The research team included scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey, Arizona State University in Tempe, Ariz., Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, Calif., Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Penn., and the Stanford Synchroton Radiation Lightsource in Menlo Park, Calif.
NASA's Astrobiology Program in Washington contributed funding for the research through its Exobiology and Evolutionary Biology program and the NASA Astrobiology Institute. NASA's Astrobiology Program supports research into the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life on Earth.
Friday, 15 October 2010
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth...
// God’s given us more than enough evidence to support his claim that he is who he says he is. Is it any wonder why Isaiah once said, “Have ye not known? Have ye not heard? Hath it not been told you from the beginning? Have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? (Isaiah 40:21) //
Tuesday, 7 September 2010
Stiinta o nebunie? Stephen Hawking: Nu Dumnezeu a creat Universul
Renumitul om de ştiinţă Stephen Hawking dă naştere unor noi controverse, declarând în noua sa carte că legele fizicii sunt cele care au stat în spatele creării Big Bang-ului, care a dat naştere Universului.
Profesorul se opune astfel credinţelor religioase tradiţionale care susţin că Dumnezeu este creatorul Universului, anunţă Daily Mail.
"Pentru că există o lege precum cea a gravitaţiei, Universul poate şi se va crea singur din nimic. Nu este necesar să-l invocăm pe Dumnezeu", notează Hawking, în cartea "The Grand Design".
Noua lucrare a lui Hawking, la care coautor este savantul Leonard Mlodinow, îşi propune să conteste teoria lui Sir Isaac Newton, conform căreia Universul trebuie să fi fost creat de Dumnezeu pentru că nu se putea naşte din haos.
Cei doi autori dau, ca exemplu, descoperirea din 1992 a unei planete care se mişca în jurul unui alt Soare.
"Această descoperire a făcut ca acele coincidenţe ale condiţiilor planetei noastre - singurul Soare, combinaţia norocoasă a distanţei dintre Pământ şi Soare şi masa Soarelui - să nu mai fie atât de remarcabile. Cu atât mai puţin, vor servi ca dovezi ca Pământul ar fi fost creat doar pentru a ne servi pe noi, oamenii", scriu Hawking şi Mlodinow.
Profesorul se opune astfel credinţelor religioase tradiţionale care susţin că Dumnezeu este creatorul Universului, anunţă Daily Mail.
"Pentru că există o lege precum cea a gravitaţiei, Universul poate şi se va crea singur din nimic. Nu este necesar să-l invocăm pe Dumnezeu", notează Hawking, în cartea "The Grand Design".
Noua lucrare a lui Hawking, la care coautor este savantul Leonard Mlodinow, îşi propune să conteste teoria lui Sir Isaac Newton, conform căreia Universul trebuie să fi fost creat de Dumnezeu pentru că nu se putea naşte din haos.
Cei doi autori dau, ca exemplu, descoperirea din 1992 a unei planete care se mişca în jurul unui alt Soare.
"Această descoperire a făcut ca acele coincidenţe ale condiţiilor planetei noastre - singurul Soare, combinaţia norocoasă a distanţei dintre Pământ şi Soare şi masa Soarelui - să nu mai fie atât de remarcabile. Cu atât mai puţin, vor servi ca dovezi ca Pământul ar fi fost creat doar pentru a ne servi pe noi, oamenii", scriu Hawking şi Mlodinow.
libertatea.ro
Stephen Hawking a comis o eroare elementara de logica, excluzand Divinitatea din procesul de nastere a Universului, sustine un respectat rabin britanic.
Stiinta se bazeaza pe explicatii, religia pe interpretari, insa ostilitatea dintre stiinta si religie le afecteaza pe ambele, spune Jonathan Sacks, unul din cei mai respectati rabini britanici, in replica la noua teorie a lui Stephen Hawking care sustine ca Universul nu a fost creat de Dumnezeu, ci a luat nastere datorita legilor fizicii. Hawking comite o eroare elementara de logica prin noua sa teorie, sustine Lord Sacks, sef al Congregatiei Evreiesti Unite a Commonwealth-ului.
Hawking isi detaliaza teoria in cea mai noua carte a sa The Grand Design, volum care va aparea in 9 septembrie, insa din care a fost publicat un extras in The Times. Cartea, scrisa impreuna cu fizicianul american Leonard Mlodinow sustine teoria conform careia pentru crearea universului nu a fost nevoie de interventia unei forte divine, iar Big Bang-ul a fost rezultatul “inevitabil” al legilor fizicii, scrie The Guardian.
Hawking isi detaliaza teoria in cea mai noua carte a sa The Grand Design, volum care va aparea in 9 septembrie, insa din care a fost publicat un extras in The Times. Cartea, scrisa impreuna cu fizicianul american Leonard Mlodinow sustine teoria conform careia pentru crearea universului nu a fost nevoie de interventia unei forte divine, iar Big Bang-ul a fost rezultatul “inevitabil” al legilor fizicii, scrie The Guardian.
Rabinul Sacks spune, intr-un articol in Times, ca aceasta teorie contine o eroare elementara de logica. “Exista o diferenta intre stiinta si religie. Stiinta lucreaza cu explicatii, la religie este vorba despre interpretari. Biblia pur si simplu nu este interesata de modul in care Universul a luat fiinta“, spune rabinul, care adauga ca ostilitatea mutuala dintre stiinta si religie “este un blestem al timpurilor noastre” si le afecteaza pe amandoua. “Dar este mult mai multa intelepciune aici decat este in cazul stiintei. (Stiinta) nu ne poate spune de ce suntem aici sau cum ar trebui sa traim. Stiinta deghizata ca religie este la fel de scandaloasa ca religia deghizata in stiinta“, mai spune rabinul sef.
In cea mai cunoscuta cartea a sa, “O scurta istorie a timpului”, aparuta in 1988, Hawking nu excludea posibilitatea ca Divinitatea sa fi avut un rol in crearea Universului, insa in noua carte el sustine ca nasterea Universului s-a datorat unei actiuni inevitabile a legilor fizicii, astfel ca procesul de creatie a fost unul spontan, fara a fi nevoie de o forta divina .
Teoria lui Hawking a starnit o controversa si multi spun ca, desi faptul ca el este unul din cei mai valorosi oameni de stiinta nu poate fi contestat si desi poate explica prin teorii stiintifice cum a luat fiinta Universul, nu poate, tot prin aceste teorii, sa excluda prezenta Divinitatii.
Teoria lui Hawking a starnit o controversa si multi spun ca, desi faptul ca el este unul din cei mai valorosi oameni de stiinta nu poate fi contestat si desi poate explica prin teorii stiintifice cum a luat fiinta Universul, nu poate, tot prin aceste teorii, sa excluda prezenta Divinitatii.
theologhia.wordpress.com
Hawking: Puteţi numi "Dumnezeu" legile ştiinţei
"Dacă vom avea o teorie completă, ar fi supremul triumf al raţiunii umane - atunci vom cunoaşte mintea lui Dumnezeu", scria Hawking în cartea publicată în 1988. În iunie 2010, într-un mesaj difuzat în timpul emisiunii "Genius of Britain", de la Channel 4, Hawking opină că nu există un Dumnezeu "personal".
"Întrebarea este: modul în care s-a născut Universul a fost ales de Dumnezeu, din motive şi după legi pe care nu le înţelegem sau a fost determinat de legi ştiinţifice? Eu cred că varianta a doua este cea corectă. Dacă vreţi, puteţi să numiţi legile ştiinţei "Dumnezeu", dar nu ar mai fi un Dumnezeu personal, de genul cu care v-aţi putea întâlni şi i-aţi putea adresa întrebări", a menţionat Hawkings.
Noua carte a lui Stephen Hawking va fi publicată la 9 septembrie.
Despre Stephen Hawking
Deşi atins de scleroză laterală amiotrofică, aproape paralizat, Stephen Hawking este unul dintre cei mai populari oameni de ştiinţă ai lumii.
Pentru a comunica, un prieten i-a creat lui Hawking (68 de ani) un aparat special, compus dintr-un computer şi un sintetizator vocal. Computerul poate fi controlat cu mici mişcări ale capului şi globilor oculari. Acest aparat îl ajută pe savant să îşi expună teoriile, dar cu o viteză foarte mică: 15 cuvinte pe minut.
Principalele domenii de cercetare ale lui Stephen Hawking sunt cosmologia teoretică, relativitatea generală şi mecanica cuantică.
Dintre cărţile celebre ale savantului britanic pot fi amintite "Scurtă istorie a timpului", "Visul lui Einstein şi alte eseuri", "Universul într-o coajă de nucă", "O mai scurtă istorie a timpului", "George şi cheia secretă a Universului", "George şi vânătoarea de comori în Cosmos". Ultimele două sunt cărţi SF pentru copii.
"Dacă vom avea o teorie completă, ar fi supremul triumf al raţiunii umane - atunci vom cunoaşte mintea lui Dumnezeu", scria Hawking în cartea publicată în 1988. În iunie 2010, într-un mesaj difuzat în timpul emisiunii "Genius of Britain", de la Channel 4, Hawking opină că nu există un Dumnezeu "personal".
"Întrebarea este: modul în care s-a născut Universul a fost ales de Dumnezeu, din motive şi după legi pe care nu le înţelegem sau a fost determinat de legi ştiinţifice? Eu cred că varianta a doua este cea corectă. Dacă vreţi, puteţi să numiţi legile ştiinţei "Dumnezeu", dar nu ar mai fi un Dumnezeu personal, de genul cu care v-aţi putea întâlni şi i-aţi putea adresa întrebări", a menţionat Hawkings.
Noua carte a lui Stephen Hawking va fi publicată la 9 septembrie.
Despre Stephen Hawking
Deşi atins de scleroză laterală amiotrofică, aproape paralizat, Stephen Hawking este unul dintre cei mai populari oameni de ştiinţă ai lumii.
Pentru a comunica, un prieten i-a creat lui Hawking (68 de ani) un aparat special, compus dintr-un computer şi un sintetizator vocal. Computerul poate fi controlat cu mici mişcări ale capului şi globilor oculari. Acest aparat îl ajută pe savant să îşi expună teoriile, dar cu o viteză foarte mică: 15 cuvinte pe minut.
Principalele domenii de cercetare ale lui Stephen Hawking sunt cosmologia teoretică, relativitatea generală şi mecanica cuantică.
Dintre cărţile celebre ale savantului britanic pot fi amintite "Scurtă istorie a timpului", "Visul lui Einstein şi alte eseuri", "Universul într-o coajă de nucă", "O mai scurtă istorie a timpului", "George şi cheia secretă a Universului", "George şi vânătoarea de comori în Cosmos". Ultimele două sunt cărţi SF pentru copii.
evz.ro
Sunday, 23 May 2010
Vatican: Scientists shouldn’t play God
Vatican: Scientists shouldn’t play God
But church officials say synthetic cell could have benefits
© 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
But church officials say synthetic cell could have benefits
© 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
read also: A new clue to explain existence
Saturday, 22 May 2010
A New Clue to Explain Existence
Physicists at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory are reporting that they have discovered a new clue that could help unravel one of the biggest mysteries of cosmology: why the universe is composed of matter and not its evil-twin opposite, antimatter. If confirmed, the finding portends fundamental discoveries at the new Large Hadron Collider outside Geneva, as well as a possible explanation for our own existence.
In a mathematically perfect universe, we would be less than dead; we would never have existed. According to the basic precepts of Einsteinian relativity and quantum mechanics, equal amounts of matter and antimatter should have been created in the Big Bang and then immediately annihilated each other in a blaze of lethal energy, leaving a big fat goose egg with which to make stars, galaxies and us. And yet we exist, and physicists (among others) would dearly like to know why.
Sifting data from collisions of protons and antiprotons at Fermilab’s Tevatron, which until last winter was the most powerful particle accelerator in the world, the team, known as the DZero collaboration, found that the fireballs produced pairs of the particles known as muons, which are sort of fat electrons, slightly more often than they produced pairs of anti-muons. So the miniature universe inside the accelerator went from being neutral to being about 1 percent more matter than antimatter.
“This result may provide an important input for explaining the matter dominance in our universe,” Guennadi Borissov, a co-leader of the study from Lancaster University, in England, said in a talk Friday at Fermilab, in Batavia, Ill. Over the weekend, word spread quickly among physicists. Maria Spiropulu of CERN and the California Institute of Technology called the results “very impressive and inexplicable.”
The results have now been posted on the Internet and submitted to the Physical Review.
It was Andrei Sakharov, the Russian dissident and physicist, who first provided a recipe for how matter could prevail over antimatter in the early universe. Among his conditions was that there be a slight difference in the properties of particles and antiparticles known technically as CP violation. In effect, when the charges and spins of particles are reversed, they should behave slightly differently. Over the years, physicists have discovered a few examples of CP violation in rare reactions between subatomic particles that tilt slightly in favor of matter over antimatter, but “not enough to explain our existence,” in the words of Gustaaf Brooijmans of Columbia, who is a member of the DZero team.
The new effect hinges on the behavior of particularly strange particles called neutral B-mesons, which are famous for not being able to make up their minds. They oscillate back and forth trillions of times a second between their regular state and their antimatter state. As it happens, the mesons, created in the proton-antiproton collisions, seem to go from their antimatter state to their matter state more rapidly than they go the other way around, leading to an eventual preponderance of matter over antimatter of about 1 percent, when they decay to muons.
Whether this is enough to explain our existence is a question that cannot be answered until the cause of the still-mysterious behavior of the B-mesons is directly observed, said Dr. Brooijmans, who called the situation “fairly encouraging.”
The observed preponderance is about 50 times what is predicted by the Standard Model, the suite of theories that has ruled particle physics for a generation, meaning that whatever is causing the B-meson to act this way is “new physics” that physicists have been yearning for almost as long.
Dr. Brooijmans said that the most likely explanations were some new particle not predicted by the Standard Model or some new kind of interaction between particles. Luckily, he said, “this is something we should be able to poke at with the Large Hadron Collider.”
Neal Weiner of New York University said, “If this holds up, the L.H.C. is going to be producing some fantastic results.”
Nevertheless, physicists will be holding their breath until the results are confirmed by other experiments.
Joe Lykken, a theorist at Fermilab, said, “So I would not say that this announcement is the equivalent of seeing the face of God, but it might turn out to be the toe of God.”
In a mathematically perfect universe, we would be less than dead; we would never have existed. According to the basic precepts of Einsteinian relativity and quantum mechanics, equal amounts of matter and antimatter should have been created in the Big Bang and then immediately annihilated each other in a blaze of lethal energy, leaving a big fat goose egg with which to make stars, galaxies and us. And yet we exist, and physicists (among others) would dearly like to know why.
Sifting data from collisions of protons and antiprotons at Fermilab’s Tevatron, which until last winter was the most powerful particle accelerator in the world, the team, known as the DZero collaboration, found that the fireballs produced pairs of the particles known as muons, which are sort of fat electrons, slightly more often than they produced pairs of anti-muons. So the miniature universe inside the accelerator went from being neutral to being about 1 percent more matter than antimatter.
“This result may provide an important input for explaining the matter dominance in our universe,” Guennadi Borissov, a co-leader of the study from Lancaster University, in England, said in a talk Friday at Fermilab, in Batavia, Ill. Over the weekend, word spread quickly among physicists. Maria Spiropulu of CERN and the California Institute of Technology called the results “very impressive and inexplicable.”
The results have now been posted on the Internet and submitted to the Physical Review.
It was Andrei Sakharov, the Russian dissident and physicist, who first provided a recipe for how matter could prevail over antimatter in the early universe. Among his conditions was that there be a slight difference in the properties of particles and antiparticles known technically as CP violation. In effect, when the charges and spins of particles are reversed, they should behave slightly differently. Over the years, physicists have discovered a few examples of CP violation in rare reactions between subatomic particles that tilt slightly in favor of matter over antimatter, but “not enough to explain our existence,” in the words of Gustaaf Brooijmans of Columbia, who is a member of the DZero team.
The new effect hinges on the behavior of particularly strange particles called neutral B-mesons, which are famous for not being able to make up their minds. They oscillate back and forth trillions of times a second between their regular state and their antimatter state. As it happens, the mesons, created in the proton-antiproton collisions, seem to go from their antimatter state to their matter state more rapidly than they go the other way around, leading to an eventual preponderance of matter over antimatter of about 1 percent, when they decay to muons.
Whether this is enough to explain our existence is a question that cannot be answered until the cause of the still-mysterious behavior of the B-mesons is directly observed, said Dr. Brooijmans, who called the situation “fairly encouraging.”
The observed preponderance is about 50 times what is predicted by the Standard Model, the suite of theories that has ruled particle physics for a generation, meaning that whatever is causing the B-meson to act this way is “new physics” that physicists have been yearning for almost as long.
Dr. Brooijmans said that the most likely explanations were some new particle not predicted by the Standard Model or some new kind of interaction between particles. Luckily, he said, “this is something we should be able to poke at with the Large Hadron Collider.”
Neal Weiner of New York University said, “If this holds up, the L.H.C. is going to be producing some fantastic results.”
Nevertheless, physicists will be holding their breath until the results are confirmed by other experiments.
Joe Lykken, a theorist at Fermilab, said, “So I would not say that this announcement is the equivalent of seeing the face of God, but it might turn out to be the toe of God.”
By DENNIS OVERBYE
www.nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com
Thursday, 10 December 2009
Creaţia
Realizarea planului divin de mântuire a început deja cu creaţia. Sigur fiecare din noi a admirat deja creaţia maiestuoasă. Din păcate, nu toţi Îl pun în mod logic pe Creator înaintea creaţiei, deşi fiecare ştie că înainte de a exista un ceas, a fost un ceasornicar, şi la fel un arhitect, înainte de a exista o clădire, etc. În general se ştie că existenţa lui Dumnezeu este pusă sub semnul întrebării, iar relatarea despre creaţie este descrisă ca fiind de necrezut, de când oamenii au realizat imposibilul aparent prin invenţiile cele mai mari, şi mai ales de când Darwin şi-a publicat tezele lui în anul 1859. Filozofii ateişti au făcut credibile teoriile lor contradictorii în ultimele secole şi în acelaşi timp i-au aruncat pe oameni în necredinţă. Dumnezeu este tăgăduit şi omul este sărbătorit. S-a susţinut chiar şi afirmaţia că totul s-a format de la sine. Cine crede aceasta, ar putea să-şi tăgăduiască tatăl şi mama şi să susţină că el s-a format singur şi că este rezultatul evoluţiei.
Cine îşi poate închipui că universul nemărginit, cu nenumăratele lui stele care sunt într-o deplină armonie, s-a format de la sine, de exemplu printr-o explozie? Până în prezent nu s-a găsit nimeni care să îmbunătăţească lucrul cel mai mărunt din creaţie. Să ne gândim doar la nenumăratele vieţuitoare din mările lumii cărora le-au fost date condiţii de viaţă ideale, sau la milioanele de soiuri de animale şi păsări de pe toate continentele şi la cât de perfect au fost adaptate conform împrejurărilor climaterice.
Aşa cum a creat şi a rânduit Creatorul la început toate lucrurile prin Cuvântul Său atotputernic, aşa sunt până în ziua de astăzi. De la începutul pământului se seamănă şi se recoltează în fiecare an, după cum a hotărât Domnul Dumnezeu: „Cât va fi pământul, nu va înceta semănatul şi seceratul, frigul şi căldura, vara şi iarna, ziua şi noaptea!“ (Geneza 8.22). Numai acolo unde intervine omul în natură, au loc dereglări. Zilnic sunt hrănite miliarde de oameni şi dacă s-ar distribui totul corect, n-ar trebui să mai rabde nimeni de foame. În fiecare an Dumnezeu nu numai că se îngrijeşte de noi şi de nenumăratele vieţuitoare, ci El ne ţine o predică puternică prin natură despre viaţă, moarte şi înviere. În fiecare primăvară apare o nouă viaţă, care aduce roade noi. Urmează vara cu recoltele bogate. După aceea vine toamna, în care cad frunzele pomilor şi natura moare. Urmează apoi somnul de iarnă şi desigur iarăşi trezirea în acelaşi ritm în următoarea primăvară. „Fiindcă ceea ce se poate cunoaşte despre Dumnezeu este descoperit în ei, căci le-a fost arătat de Dumnezeu. Căci însuşirile Lui nevăzute, puterea Lui veşnică şi dumnezeirea Lui, se văd lămurit, de la crearea lumii, fiind înţelese prin lucrurile făcute de El“ (Romani 1.19-20).
Şi faptul că toate vieţuitoarele se reproduc după soiul lor, va rămâne până la sfârşit. Până astăzi se seamănă aceeaşi sămânţă care a răsărit prima dată la crearea pământului. Cresc aceiaşi pomi cu aceleaşi fructe şi trăiesc tot aceleaşi soiuri de animale pe pământ, atâta timp cât nu sunt nimicite de oameni. Şi oamenii, coroana creaţiunii, sunt tot aşa cum au fost Adam şi Eva atunci. Lor le-au fost date calităţi creatoare. Aceasta s-a văzut foarte clar în ultimii o sută de ani şi mai ales în ultimii cincizeci de ani. Noi am văzut evoluţia de la căruţa cu cai la avion şi până la zborul cosmic. Omul înfăptuieşte tot ceea ce îşi planifică, după cum a spus Dumnezeu: „… şi iată de ce s-au apucat; acum nimic nu i-ar împiedica să facă tot ce şi-au pus în gând.“ (Gen. 11, 6). De aceasta mi-am dat seama în 9 decembrie 1995, când astronautul de pe Apollo 16, generalul Charles Duke, a relatat în Berlin despre vizita lui pe lună în aprilie 1972.
Numai un singur lucru nu poate să facă omul, şi anume să creeze viaţă. Cei ce cred în evoluţie şi vorbesc despre o celulă primară, să ne spună în cazul acesta, cine a creat această celulă şi cine a pus viaţa în ea. Aici s-ar putea pune şi întrebarea următoare: cine a pus instinctul de reproducere în toate vieţuitoarele? De ce nu seamănă tăgăduitorii de Dumnezeu grâu artificial? Pentru că ştiu sigur că nu ar încolţi, deoarece nu poartă în sine germenul vieţii. Orice om care gândeşte normal ar trebui să-L pună pe Creatorul suveran, atotputernic înaintea existenţei creaţiunii atotcuprinzătoare, puternice şi maiestoase. Dacă oamenii nu s-ar fi lepădat de El, atunci ar fi putut crede Cuvântul Său şi relatările zilnice despre creaţiune care devin realitate înaintea ochilor noştri. Dumnezeu şi Cuvântul Lui rămâne veşnic adevărat şi credibil, pentru toţi cei vrednici să creadă.
reasezare.wordpress.com
Cine îşi poate închipui că universul nemărginit, cu nenumăratele lui stele care sunt într-o deplină armonie, s-a format de la sine, de exemplu printr-o explozie? Până în prezent nu s-a găsit nimeni care să îmbunătăţească lucrul cel mai mărunt din creaţie. Să ne gândim doar la nenumăratele vieţuitoare din mările lumii cărora le-au fost date condiţii de viaţă ideale, sau la milioanele de soiuri de animale şi păsări de pe toate continentele şi la cât de perfect au fost adaptate conform împrejurărilor climaterice.
Aşa cum a creat şi a rânduit Creatorul la început toate lucrurile prin Cuvântul Său atotputernic, aşa sunt până în ziua de astăzi. De la începutul pământului se seamănă şi se recoltează în fiecare an, după cum a hotărât Domnul Dumnezeu: „Cât va fi pământul, nu va înceta semănatul şi seceratul, frigul şi căldura, vara şi iarna, ziua şi noaptea!“ (Geneza 8.22). Numai acolo unde intervine omul în natură, au loc dereglări. Zilnic sunt hrănite miliarde de oameni şi dacă s-ar distribui totul corect, n-ar trebui să mai rabde nimeni de foame. În fiecare an Dumnezeu nu numai că se îngrijeşte de noi şi de nenumăratele vieţuitoare, ci El ne ţine o predică puternică prin natură despre viaţă, moarte şi înviere. În fiecare primăvară apare o nouă viaţă, care aduce roade noi. Urmează vara cu recoltele bogate. După aceea vine toamna, în care cad frunzele pomilor şi natura moare. Urmează apoi somnul de iarnă şi desigur iarăşi trezirea în acelaşi ritm în următoarea primăvară. „Fiindcă ceea ce se poate cunoaşte despre Dumnezeu este descoperit în ei, căci le-a fost arătat de Dumnezeu. Căci însuşirile Lui nevăzute, puterea Lui veşnică şi dumnezeirea Lui, se văd lămurit, de la crearea lumii, fiind înţelese prin lucrurile făcute de El“ (Romani 1.19-20).
Şi faptul că toate vieţuitoarele se reproduc după soiul lor, va rămâne până la sfârşit. Până astăzi se seamănă aceeaşi sămânţă care a răsărit prima dată la crearea pământului. Cresc aceiaşi pomi cu aceleaşi fructe şi trăiesc tot aceleaşi soiuri de animale pe pământ, atâta timp cât nu sunt nimicite de oameni. Şi oamenii, coroana creaţiunii, sunt tot aşa cum au fost Adam şi Eva atunci. Lor le-au fost date calităţi creatoare. Aceasta s-a văzut foarte clar în ultimii o sută de ani şi mai ales în ultimii cincizeci de ani. Noi am văzut evoluţia de la căruţa cu cai la avion şi până la zborul cosmic. Omul înfăptuieşte tot ceea ce îşi planifică, după cum a spus Dumnezeu: „… şi iată de ce s-au apucat; acum nimic nu i-ar împiedica să facă tot ce şi-au pus în gând.“ (Gen. 11, 6). De aceasta mi-am dat seama în 9 decembrie 1995, când astronautul de pe Apollo 16, generalul Charles Duke, a relatat în Berlin despre vizita lui pe lună în aprilie 1972.
Numai un singur lucru nu poate să facă omul, şi anume să creeze viaţă. Cei ce cred în evoluţie şi vorbesc despre o celulă primară, să ne spună în cazul acesta, cine a creat această celulă şi cine a pus viaţa în ea. Aici s-ar putea pune şi întrebarea următoare: cine a pus instinctul de reproducere în toate vieţuitoarele? De ce nu seamănă tăgăduitorii de Dumnezeu grâu artificial? Pentru că ştiu sigur că nu ar încolţi, deoarece nu poartă în sine germenul vieţii. Orice om care gândeşte normal ar trebui să-L pună pe Creatorul suveran, atotputernic înaintea existenţei creaţiunii atotcuprinzătoare, puternice şi maiestoase. Dacă oamenii nu s-ar fi lepădat de El, atunci ar fi putut crede Cuvântul Său şi relatările zilnice despre creaţiune care devin realitate înaintea ochilor noştri. Dumnezeu şi Cuvântul Lui rămâne veşnic adevărat şi credibil, pentru toţi cei vrednici să creadă.
reasezare.wordpress.com
Tuesday, 8 December 2009
Creation (Genesis 1)
Imagine nothing. It’s almost impossible. But before the creation there was nothing, except God. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1).
In schools, we challenge our children’s creativity by giving them materials to work with: ‘See what you can do with this,’ we say. But there were no materials for God to work with in shaping the universe. He created all that exists out of nothing, and He sustains the universe by His own power.
Take a fresh look at what God has created today. Look at the sky; it proclaims the work of God’s hands. Listen to the birds; they testify to God’s gentle care. Every snowflake bears witness to His majesty. Every sunrise speaks of His faithfulness.
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard, (Psalm 19:1-3).
This majestic Creator made you. He chose to bring you into being. He has never made anyone quite like you before, and He will never make anyone quite like you again. His purpose in giving you life is that you should radiate a unique reflection of Jesus Christ forever.
As you fill your mind with the vastness and beauty of creation, consider this: The One who made it and sustains it lay in a manger. God took our flesh, entered our world and lived our life. The more you think about that, the more breathtaking it gets.
God came into the world to fulfill His own promise. At the creation He said, “Let us make man in our image,” (Genesis 1:26). Christ came so that you should be renewed in the image of your Creator (Colossians 3:10). Think about that: The Savior came so that you would reflect the beauty of God’s holiness and live in the joy of His love as you reflect the full glory of His image forever. That’s your future in Christ. So live today in anticipation of it.
This promise could only be fulfilled in Christ who is the image of God (Colossians 1:15). The world does not see Christ’s glory. But wise men came and knelt before Jesus in adoration. They saw His glory and worshipped, as we do today.
//Colin Smith: Senior Pastor of The Orchard Evangelical Free Church//
In schools, we challenge our children’s creativity by giving them materials to work with: ‘See what you can do with this,’ we say. But there were no materials for God to work with in shaping the universe. He created all that exists out of nothing, and He sustains the universe by His own power.
Take a fresh look at what God has created today. Look at the sky; it proclaims the work of God’s hands. Listen to the birds; they testify to God’s gentle care. Every snowflake bears witness to His majesty. Every sunrise speaks of His faithfulness.
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard, (Psalm 19:1-3).
This majestic Creator made you. He chose to bring you into being. He has never made anyone quite like you before, and He will never make anyone quite like you again. His purpose in giving you life is that you should radiate a unique reflection of Jesus Christ forever.
As you fill your mind with the vastness and beauty of creation, consider this: The One who made it and sustains it lay in a manger. God took our flesh, entered our world and lived our life. The more you think about that, the more breathtaking it gets.
God came into the world to fulfill His own promise. At the creation He said, “Let us make man in our image,” (Genesis 1:26). Christ came so that you should be renewed in the image of your Creator (Colossians 3:10). Think about that: The Savior came so that you would reflect the beauty of God’s holiness and live in the joy of His love as you reflect the full glory of His image forever. That’s your future in Christ. So live today in anticipation of it.
This promise could only be fulfilled in Christ who is the image of God (Colossians 1:15). The world does not see Christ’s glory. But wise men came and knelt before Jesus in adoration. They saw His glory and worshipped, as we do today.
//Colin Smith: Senior Pastor of The Orchard Evangelical Free Church//
Monday, 7 December 2009
Christianity Beliefs: Creationism and intelligent design
Christians who take the Bible literally believe the world was created by God in seven days. In recent years, some Christians have put forward the idea of an 'intelligent designer' as an alternative to the science of evolution.
Introduction
Virtually all religions include an explanation for life on Earth in their scriptures. In the UK, and even more so in the USA, the creationism debate largely involves Christians.
In March 2006, Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, joined the evolution versus creationism debate when he said in an interview with the Guardian newspaper that he did not believe that creationism - the scriptural account of the origins of the world - should be taught in schools.
So what is creationism all about - what does it mean, and why does it matter so much to many religious people? And what is intelligent design and how does it differ from creationism?
Creationism
The main points of creationism are these:
- All life was created by the actions of God
- Some Creationists say God did this in a single creative event
- Some Creationists don't limit creation to one event
- All the forms of life existing today were created by the actions of God
- The organisms created by God can't produce new forms of organism - only God can do this
- The most common theory follows the accounts in the Biblical Book of Genesis, but most religions have their own creation story
- Modern creationism uses scientific evidence to support scripture
- Most scientists say the creationism theory is false and unscientific
Intelligent design (also called neo-Creationism)
- The current state of life on Earth has come about through the actions of an intelligent Designer
- This is because
-Some living things contain certain types of complexity that are best explained as the result of an intelligent cause
- Some aspects of the universe show positive evidence of having been designed by some form of intelligence
- This designer need not be God but most proponents of intelligent design seem to have God in mind
- This theory has been accused of being creationism in disguise
- Although a few scientists have supported intelligent design, the majority of those working in the field regard the theory as false and unscientific
Creationism in depth
Creationism teaches that:
- everything in the universe has God as its ultimate cause
- the nature of life on Earth is the direct result of God's creative actions
An alternative way of putting the same idea is:
- the universe and everything in it could not have come into being without a supreme being causing it to happen
Creationism is largely based on religious belief, but gains much support from what its protagonists see as the failures of other theories to explain the evidence properly.
Different religions and cultures have different creation theories, but this article deals with the Jewish/Christian version.
Forms of creationism
Forms of creationism
Creationism teaches that life on Earth is the result of God's creative action, and not the result of blind scientific processes. Creationism doesn't attempt to explain how God did this:
It comes in a variety of forms, and the most common are listed below. But there are other forms of Creationism which include different combinations of the ideas mentioned:
Young Earth creationism
Young Earth creationism teaches that:
- The Book of Genesis is literally true
- the Earth and all forms of life were created by God in 6 days, around 10,000 years ago.
Scientists are almost unanimous in saying that as the Earth is 4 billion years old, and that the Young Earth theory is false.
Old Earth creationism
Old Earth creationism teaches that:
- The Earth is as old as scientists say (around 4 billion years)
- The universe, Earth, and life were created by processes in which God played an active part
- There have been countless divine acts of creation throughout history
- God acts both by direct creation and by guiding the processes he created
- Humanity was directly created by God
- The difference between this theory and Theistic Evolution is that in Theistic Evolution God doesn't play an active part after the original creation of the universe and the forces that operate in it.
Gap creationism
Gap creationism adds a new idea:
- There were two creations - one before Adam, and a second one, which included Adam and Eve, after a lengthy time gap
- This theory reconciles the age of the Earth with the story in Genesis
Most scientists say that the geological evidence shows that this theory is false.
Day-Age creationism
Day-Age creationism adds an element that reconciles the long period of time shown by the fossil record with the story in Genesis.
- Each 'day' in the Biblical '6 days' of creation wasn't really a day, but a period of millions of years
- The theory is supported by Biblical references that show that one of 'God's days' is a lot longer than 24 hours
Progressive creationism
Progressive creationism accepts the scientific timetable of creation, and gives evolution a small part to play in the story of life.
- God created the various 'kinds' (some people would say 'species' but other categories have been suggested) of plant and animal one after another - according to the timetable shown by the fossil record
- The scientific timetable of creation reflects the timetable that God used to create life on earth
- God created each kind of organism as we find it
- Different forms of organism are separate creations, not the result of evolution from an earlier form
- Some created organisms do become extinct
- Micro-evolution can take place within a kind of organism to produce subtle variations
- Lions, tigers and cats within the cat family
- Different sizes of beak within the Galapagos finches
Islamic Creationism
Creationism is not just a Christian issue. Muslim creationists base their thinking on similar scientific arguments and on passages such as this in the Qur'an:
Intelligent design
Intelligent design
The Intelligent Design theory claims that some sort of supernatural designer was involved in the creation of life on Earth. It differs from Creationism because it divorces Creationist ideas from their roots in Scripture.
The argument in favour of Intelligent Design has two parts:
- Evolutionary theory doesn't fully explain the origin and development of life on Earth
- Life on Earth - and more generally the universe - shows so much order, purpose and design that there must have been a designer
The important part of the Intelligent Design theory is "design", and the idea that the Universe and life must somehow be designed is a very old one, going right back to Aristotle.
Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century used the argument to try and prove the existence of God:
- wherever complex design exists, there must have been a designer
- nature is complex
- therefore nature must have had an intelligent designer
Most intelligent design arguments avoid any reference to scripture and try to eliminate anything that might look as if it was derived from religious belief.
This may be partly to ensure that the theory doesn't fall foul of the separation of Religion and State in the US constitution, since there seems no inherent reason why the designer shouldn't be 'God'.
In this discussion, Harry McDonald, President of Kansas Citizens for Science defends Darwinism, and Doctor William Harris, a medical academic, attacks the theory
In the case of Kitzmiller v. Dover (USA 2005) the key issue was whether intelligent design was or was not science, because if it wasn't science then it would be a religious theory like creationism, and so could not be taught in US publically funded schools under the constitutional provision of the separation of religion and state. Judge John E Jones III ruled that ID was not science.
The modern concept of intelligent design owes much to Phillip Johnson, an American professor of Law. Johnson published the book Darwin on Trial (1991), and in 1996 established the Center for Science and Culture at the Discovery Institute.
Johnson put ID forward not as a creationist theory, but as a theory that acknowledged that there was more to the development of life on Earth than could be explained by a totally naturalistic account.
The theoretical foundations of ID were provided by Michael Behe (author of Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution, 1996), William Dembski and others.
The implications
Why is this subject important for Religion and Ethics?
This subject has a number of implications for religious beliefs and ethics.
In the US and UK, significant groups of Christians believe that evolution is an unproved theory which may devalue religious belief, and want schools to teach pupils that creationism or intelligent design are alternative theories that should be considered.
USA
This argument is very important in the USA because publicly funded schools must be religiously neutral under the Constitution, and so neither creationism nor intelligent design can be taught in such schools if they amount to religious theories.
Proponents of intelligent design and creation science have made several attempts to get these theories taught in school science lessons as alternatives to evolution, but American court decisions have generally concluded that both creationism and intelligent design are religious theories rather than scientific ones, and so are barred from the school system.
Creationism might be losing the battle in the courts, but it's very much alive in other aspects of US life. One example: the $25m Creation Museum in Kentucky.
UK
A poll for the BBC Horizon programme in January 2006 revealed that fewer than 50% of Britons accept the theory of evolution as the best description for the development of life.
Furthermore, more than 40% of those questioned believe that creationism or intelligent design should be taught in school science lessons.
Over 2,000 participants took part in the survey, and were asked what best described their view of the origin and development of life:
- 22% chose creationism
- 17% opted for intelligent design
- 48% selected evolution theory
- and the rest did not know.
Some Christian schools in the UK teach creationism as well as evolution.
In 2006 one UK examination board admitted that a biology course due to be introduced that September would encourage schools to consider alternatives to the theory of evolution.
© bbc.co.uk
Introduction
Virtually all religions include an explanation for life on Earth in their scriptures. In the UK, and even more so in the USA, the creationism debate largely involves Christians.
In March 2006, Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, joined the evolution versus creationism debate when he said in an interview with the Guardian newspaper that he did not believe that creationism - the scriptural account of the origins of the world - should be taught in schools.
I think creationism is, in a sense, a kind of category mistake, as if the Bible were a theory like other theories. Whatever the biblical account of creation is, it's not a theory alongside theories. It's not as if the writer of Genesis or whatever sat down and said well, how am I going to explain all this... 'In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth...' - Rowan Williams in The Guardian, 21 March 2006
So what is creationism all about - what does it mean, and why does it matter so much to many religious people? And what is intelligent design and how does it differ from creationism?
Creationism
The main points of creationism are these:
- All life was created by the actions of God
- Some Creationists say God did this in a single creative event
- Some Creationists don't limit creation to one event
- All the forms of life existing today were created by the actions of God
- The organisms created by God can't produce new forms of organism - only God can do this
- The most common theory follows the accounts in the Biblical Book of Genesis, but most religions have their own creation story
- Modern creationism uses scientific evidence to support scripture
- Most scientists say the creationism theory is false and unscientific
Intelligent design (also called neo-Creationism)
- The current state of life on Earth has come about through the actions of an intelligent Designer
- This is because
-Some living things contain certain types of complexity that are best explained as the result of an intelligent cause
- Some aspects of the universe show positive evidence of having been designed by some form of intelligence
- This designer need not be God but most proponents of intelligent design seem to have God in mind
- This theory has been accused of being creationism in disguise
- Although a few scientists have supported intelligent design, the majority of those working in the field regard the theory as false and unscientific
Creationism in depth
Creationism teaches that:
- everything in the universe has God as its ultimate cause
- the nature of life on Earth is the direct result of God's creative actions
An alternative way of putting the same idea is:
- the universe and everything in it could not have come into being without a supreme being causing it to happen
Creationism is largely based on religious belief, but gains much support from what its protagonists see as the failures of other theories to explain the evidence properly.
Different religions and cultures have different creation theories, but this article deals with the Jewish/Christian version.
Forms of creationism
Forms of creationism
Creationism teaches that life on Earth is the result of God's creative action, and not the result of blind scientific processes. Creationism doesn't attempt to explain how God did this:
We do not know how God created, what processes He used, for God used processes which are not now operating anywhere in the natural universe. This is why we refer to divine creation as Special Creation. We cannot discover by scientific investigation anything about the creative processes used by God. - Gish, Evolution? The Fossils Say No!, 1979
It comes in a variety of forms, and the most common are listed below. But there are other forms of Creationism which include different combinations of the ideas mentioned:
Young Earth creationism
Young Earth creationism teaches that:
- The Book of Genesis is literally true
- the Earth and all forms of life were created by God in 6 days, around 10,000 years ago.
Scientists are almost unanimous in saying that as the Earth is 4 billion years old, and that the Young Earth theory is false.
Old Earth creationism
Old Earth creationism teaches that:
- The Earth is as old as scientists say (around 4 billion years)
- The universe, Earth, and life were created by processes in which God played an active part
- There have been countless divine acts of creation throughout history
- God acts both by direct creation and by guiding the processes he created
- Humanity was directly created by God
- The difference between this theory and Theistic Evolution is that in Theistic Evolution God doesn't play an active part after the original creation of the universe and the forces that operate in it.
Gap creationism
Gap creationism adds a new idea:
- There were two creations - one before Adam, and a second one, which included Adam and Eve, after a lengthy time gap
- This theory reconciles the age of the Earth with the story in Genesis
Most scientists say that the geological evidence shows that this theory is false.
Day-Age creationism
Day-Age creationism adds an element that reconciles the long period of time shown by the fossil record with the story in Genesis.
- Each 'day' in the Biblical '6 days' of creation wasn't really a day, but a period of millions of years
- The theory is supported by Biblical references that show that one of 'God's days' is a lot longer than 24 hours
For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by... - Psalm 90:4
With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. - 2 Peter 3:8
Progressive creationism
Progressive creationism accepts the scientific timetable of creation, and gives evolution a small part to play in the story of life.
- God created the various 'kinds' (some people would say 'species' but other categories have been suggested) of plant and animal one after another - according to the timetable shown by the fossil record
- The scientific timetable of creation reflects the timetable that God used to create life on earth
- God created each kind of organism as we find it
- Different forms of organism are separate creations, not the result of evolution from an earlier form
- Some created organisms do become extinct
- Micro-evolution can take place within a kind of organism to produce subtle variations
- Lions, tigers and cats within the cat family
- Different sizes of beak within the Galapagos finches
Islamic Creationism
Creationism is not just a Christian issue. Muslim creationists base their thinking on similar scientific arguments and on passages such as this in the Qur'an:
And God has created every animal from water. Of them there are some that creep on their bellies, some that walk on two legs and some that walk on four. God creates what he wills for verily God has power over all things. - Qur'an
Intelligent design
Intelligent design
The Intelligent Design theory claims that some sort of supernatural designer was involved in the creation of life on Earth. It differs from Creationism because it divorces Creationist ideas from their roots in Scripture.
The argument in favour of Intelligent Design has two parts:
- Evolutionary theory doesn't fully explain the origin and development of life on Earth
- Life on Earth - and more generally the universe - shows so much order, purpose and design that there must have been a designer
The important part of the Intelligent Design theory is "design", and the idea that the Universe and life must somehow be designed is a very old one, going right back to Aristotle.
Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century used the argument to try and prove the existence of God:
- wherever complex design exists, there must have been a designer
- nature is complex
- therefore nature must have had an intelligent designer
Most intelligent design arguments avoid any reference to scripture and try to eliminate anything that might look as if it was derived from religious belief.
This may be partly to ensure that the theory doesn't fall foul of the separation of Religion and State in the US constitution, since there seems no inherent reason why the designer shouldn't be 'God'.
In this discussion, Harry McDonald, President of Kansas Citizens for Science defends Darwinism, and Doctor William Harris, a medical academic, attacks the theory
In the case of Kitzmiller v. Dover (USA 2005) the key issue was whether intelligent design was or was not science, because if it wasn't science then it would be a religious theory like creationism, and so could not be taught in US publically funded schools under the constitutional provision of the separation of religion and state. Judge John E Jones III ruled that ID was not science.
The modern concept of intelligent design owes much to Phillip Johnson, an American professor of Law. Johnson published the book Darwin on Trial (1991), and in 1996 established the Center for Science and Culture at the Discovery Institute.
Johnson put ID forward not as a creationist theory, but as a theory that acknowledged that there was more to the development of life on Earth than could be explained by a totally naturalistic account.
The theoretical foundations of ID were provided by Michael Behe (author of Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution, 1996), William Dembski and others.
The implications
Why is this subject important for Religion and Ethics?
This subject has a number of implications for religious beliefs and ethics.
In the US and UK, significant groups of Christians believe that evolution is an unproved theory which may devalue religious belief, and want schools to teach pupils that creationism or intelligent design are alternative theories that should be considered.
USA
This argument is very important in the USA because publicly funded schools must be religiously neutral under the Constitution, and so neither creationism nor intelligent design can be taught in such schools if they amount to religious theories.
Proponents of intelligent design and creation science have made several attempts to get these theories taught in school science lessons as alternatives to evolution, but American court decisions have generally concluded that both creationism and intelligent design are religious theories rather than scientific ones, and so are barred from the school system.
Creationism might be losing the battle in the courts, but it's very much alive in other aspects of US life. One example: the $25m Creation Museum in Kentucky.
UK
A poll for the BBC Horizon programme in January 2006 revealed that fewer than 50% of Britons accept the theory of evolution as the best description for the development of life.
Furthermore, more than 40% of those questioned believe that creationism or intelligent design should be taught in school science lessons.
Over 2,000 participants took part in the survey, and were asked what best described their view of the origin and development of life:
- 22% chose creationism
- 17% opted for intelligent design
- 48% selected evolution theory
- and the rest did not know.
Some Christian schools in the UK teach creationism as well as evolution.
In 2006 one UK examination board admitted that a biology course due to be introduced that September would encourage schools to consider alternatives to the theory of evolution.
© bbc.co.uk
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