Is Christianity alone in this?

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Is Christianity alone in this?

Post #1

Post by Tcg »

This is certainly not true of all Christians, but there is a subset that rejects the findings of science because they perceive that in some cases these findings conflict with a literal reading of scripture. The age of the earth is a good example. Some claim it is around 6,000 years old. Scientific calculations place it at around 4.5 billion. Evolution is another scientific finding that often gets rejected because it seemingly conflicts with the Genesis story of creation.

Are there other religions that have a subset of its followers who reject scientific findings or is Christianity alone in this?


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Re: Is Christianity alone in this?

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Post by TRANSPONDER »

As a general principle, all religions seem to have myths or stories that contradict the findings of science apart from making unverified claims as matters of fact (through Faith). But I think the cult of creationism is the particular Faithfad you have in mind here and Islam is the only one I know of that has jumped on the Creationist bandwaggon. In 2018 I was accosted outside a KL metro station by a gaggle of burka-ed females who proceeded to give me a thorough JW-ing with glossy creationist booklets and the stock apologetics familiar from Creationism, but of course the 'Creator; whom "science" supposedly shows to be the only explanation was Allah, not Jehovah.

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Re: Is Christianity alone in this?

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Post by historia »

TRANSPONDER wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 12:01 am
Islam is the only one I know of that has jumped on the Creationist bandwaggon.
There are also some (Orthodox) Jews who reject evolution.

In the case of these Muslims, I think they've actually been influenced by Christian fundamentalists.

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Re: Is Christianity alone in this?

Post #4

Post by Eloi »

Jehovah's Witnesses believe in the biblical account of creation. We believe that the creative days did not last only 24 hours each, but were 6 stages that may have lasted thousands of years each, because the word "day" in Hebrew can mean "age".

The Bible specifies that when God created each animal, he made it "according to its kind," and that implies that although there may be adaptive changes in species, no species becomes another over time. The facts show that this is the reality.

As for the entire Universe, the Bible does not say when it was created. It only says that when the earth began to be transformed there were already other celestial bodies as well as other types of living spirit beings that rejoiced in this type of creation on the planet. Creative days only talk about the time the planet was transformed and life placed on it, not about the origin of the entire universe.

So we do not have to deny what science discovers about the time of existence of the entire Universe. We cannot be dogmatic about what the Bible does not reveal, nor do we have to believe everything science says either as if everything they say were absolute truth, because they tend to change over time, and there are usually contemporary theories that are completely contradictory. Scientists themselves often do not agree with each other.

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Re: Is Christianity alone in this?

Post #5

Post by POI »

Eloi wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 11:57 am Scientists themselves often do not agree with each other.
You mean to tell me not all evolutionary biologists accept speciation?
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Re: Is Christianity alone in this?

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Post by Eloi »

POI wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 12:05 pm
Eloi wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 11:57 am Scientists themselves often do not agree with each other.
You mean to tell me not all evolutionary biologists accept speciation?
You can call species whatever you want. Changing definitions doesn't change a thing in the reality, just how you want to perceive it.

An ordinary person, such as a peasant/countryman, would know which animals can breed with each other and which cannot. The ones that cannot be crossed are obviously different species. That is not changed by any kind of definition of "speciation". Nature commands, not vocabulary.

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Re: Is Christianity alone in this?

Post #7

Post by TRANSPONDER »

historia wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 11:40 am
TRANSPONDER wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 12:01 am
Islam is the only one I know of that has jumped on the Creationist bandwaggon.
There are also some (Orthodox) Jews who reject evolution.

In the case of these Muslims, I think they've actually been influenced by Christian fundamentalists.
Oh I'm sure of it. They never preached creationism until a decade after Christian Fundamentalism started pushing it. I'm sure you're right that some Jews deny evolution. I thought that generally they accepted it. I'll have to look into that.

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Re: Is Christianity alone in this?

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Post by TRANSPONDER »

Modern-day Conservative Jewish views
Conservative Judaism embraces science as a way to learn about the world,[citation needed] and, like Modern Orthodox and Reform Judaism, has not found the theory of evolution a challenge to traditional Jewish theology. The Conservative Jewish movement has not yet developed one official response to the subject, but a broad array of views has converged. Conservative Jews teach that God created the universe and is responsible for the creation of life within it, but proclaims no mandatory teachings about how this occurs.

Many Conservative rabbis embrace the term theistic evolution, and reject the term intelligent design.[citation needed] Conservative rabbis who use the term intelligent design in their sermons often distinguish their views from the Christian use of the term. Like most in the scientific community, they understand "intelligent design" to be a technique by Christians to insert religion into public schools, as admitted in the Intelligent design movement's "wedge strategy".

The Central Conference of American rabbis is opposed to the teaching of creationism in public schools,[34] as is the Rabbinical Assembly.[35]


(Wiki)

The Vatican has so far rejected Creationism and espoused Evolution, though I suspect they would change their views if they thought they could get away with it without a lot of Flak.

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Re: Is Christianity alone in this?

Post #9

Post by POI »

Eloi wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 12:12 pm
POI wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 12:05 pm
Eloi wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 11:57 am Scientists themselves often do not agree with each other.
You mean to tell me not all evolutionary biologists accept speciation?
You can call species whatever you want. Changing definitions doesn't change a thing in the reality, just how you want to perceive it.

An ordinary person, such as a peasant/countryman, would know which animals can breed with each other and which cannot. The ones that cannot be crossed are obviously different species. That is not changed by any kind of definition of "speciation". Nature commands, not vocabulary.
You did not answer my question. I will post it again at the bottom.

Furthermore, I'm no evolutionary biologist. And by the looks of your response, you aren't either. But I'm willing to wager that evolutionary biologists all accept 'speciation'.

Do you know what he topic of speciation is?

Now to the original post:

(You) Scientists themselves often do not agree with each other.

(Me) You mean to tell me not all evolutionary biologists accept speciation?
In case anyone is wondering... The avatar quote states the following:

"I asked God for a bike, but I know God doesn't work that way. So I stole a bike and asked for forgiveness."

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Re: Is Christianity alone in this?

Post #10

Post by historia »

TRANSPONDER wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 1:20 pm
Conservative Judaism embraces science as a way to learn about the world,[citation needed] and, like Modern Orthodox and Reform Judaism, has not found the theory of evolution a challenge to traditional Jewish theology.
Right, denial of evolution is not a view you'll find expressed among Conservative or Reformed Jews. It appears to be held among some Orthodox Jews, however. The article I linked to in my previous reply provides some info on that.

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