superstition

"Men think [a disease] divine merely because they do not understand it. But if they called everything divine which they do not understand, why, there would be no end of divine things."

--Hippocrates (460-377 BCE)

reason or fear

"Question with boldness even the existence of a god; because if there be one he must approve of the homage of reason more than that of blindfolded fear."

---Thomas Jefferson

(letter to Peter Carr, Aug. 10, 1787)

the unexamined life

"The unexamined life is not worth living." Socrates

“If most of us remain ignorant of ourselves, it is because self-knowledge is painful and we prefer the pleasure of illusion. ” Aldous Huxley

family feud?

Critical Thinking

I want to become a better thinker...

embracing truth

Belief in creation science seems to be primarily a U.S. phenomenon among countries in the West. There was a British survey conducted in 1999 amongst 103 Roman Catholic priests, Anglican bishops, and Protestant ministers/pastors that showed:

97% did not believe the world was created in six days.
80% did not believe in the existence of Adam and Eve.

(Information taken from a news item in ReligionToday for 1999-DEC-29)

These numbers indicate that the educated British clergy overwhelmingly do not believe in the literal interpretation of the creation story in the Bible. According to a recent 2006 survey by the Gallup Poll, 28 percent of Americans believe the Bible is literally true, compared to 38 percent 30 years prior. Roughly 72% do not take it literally today.

On a Facebook thread a couple of days ago, my husband ran across words that went something like this, "I believe what the Bible says, that's good enough for me, I don't need anything else. No discussion needed." I used to think this way but not anymore. I've found problems with the method of literal interpretation since I decided to search out the Bible's historical origins.

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Just a few examples of textual problems alone... the earth does not move (Psalm 93:1), the moon gives off its own light (Is. 13:10), and the sun revolves around the earth (Josh. 10:12-13) . None of these statements are accurate. What else does the Bible say that is not true? Did God not understand his own creation? If inspiration of God is at work here, why didn't he tell these writers what's what? The Bible was written by men of the Bronze and Iron Ages who wrote according to the understandings of their day. Today a literal interpretation is unwarranted.

Thousands of years have passed since the Bible was written and much has been learned in the natural and social sciences. The scientific revolution didn't start until the 16th century when Copernicus published his heliocentric model of the universe. Cosmology, geology, biology, anthropology, paleontology, chemistry, mathematics, physics, and genetics have brought much understanding to us about ourselves as well as the world in which we live. Embracing truth is the way I am going to live.

credulous creationism

What percentage of life & earth scientists in 1987 believed in evolution?

According to this Newsweek Magazine article: 99.85%

Without any serious study, I credulously believed the ideas of creationism over the proofs of science. I was one of these Christians mentioned by St. Augustine in the following...

In my view this is a primary reason why creationists are not taken seriously, except by their own. There is plenty of evidence today to prove evolution. Remaining true to the literal interpretation of the Bible will keep them forever bound in credulity.