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Re: science differentiated

By: Cactus Flower in ALEA | Recommend this post (0)
Sat, 08 Dec 12 11:15 PM | 68 view(s)
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Msg. 12171 of 54959
(This msg. is a reply to 12165 by Cactus Flower)

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the parallel between this process and, say, christian proof is this.

early christians attempted to prove the validity of their faith by recourse to stories about one-off miracles. jesus turned water into wine. jesus raised lazarus from the dead. jesus turned a few fish into a feast.

so these are untestable instances used to support the notion that jesus was capable of making nature do things it doesn't normally do. if he could do these things, surely his teaching is also above nature. and then, surely he is the son of god.

the gospel writers are making a claim to prove jesus' divine nature using miracle stories to persuade believers it is true.

whereas science seeks to test itself by performing repeatable experiments. it seeks to demonstrate what lies within nature or show it ain't so. this provides a foundation for describing what nature is and how it works.

scientists create a theory and then attempt to disprove it. it is only if it withstands this attempt (and many others) - as a result of its survival - that a theory gradually crystallises into law.

disproof.

jesus corrects thomas. thomas seeks to disprove jesus' resurrection by checking out his wounds. he finds the wounds present. a scientist would say, sensible test. but, jesus tells tom, the blessings belong to those who believe without seeing.

faith points beyond nature - to the realm in which the laws of physics, chemistry and biology make no difference.

very different processes.




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The above is a reply to the following message:
Re: science differentiated
By: Cactus Flower
in ALEA
Sat, 08 Dec 12 8:37 PM
Msg. 12165 of 54959

Hi doma,

i have not said that things people have faith in are necessarily untrue.

i was commenting on the process of science which is distinct from the process of faith. it confirms or dispatches theories based on evidence.

the theories that survive the effort to disprove them and that fit the facts that are known remain outstanding. as more testing accrues, the more one can feel confident that the theory approximates truth.

science doesn't answer faith-based questions for which there is no evidence. those questions are for believers. if i was a believer in a teapot as the source of creation, i would also be unable to test the theory - the limit of what we can examine is restricted to things inside space and time (and by this i include the possibilities of quantum reality but exclude existence before the big bang).


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