My Mind Hurts...

[cartermia]

I cannot just go to collect a sample and go look under a microscope and see the evidence.

[Nihil Obstat]

I cannot just go to collect a sample and go look under a microscope and see the evidence.

You could if you had the proper equipment. If there is a university nearby with a decently funded science department, maybe you could find a professor willing to show you how it works.

[cartermia]

I don't know if our local college has a decent science department, besides nursing, but I can always ask around. 

[Deus te Amat]

I have the equivalent of a minor in history and philosophy of science.  For my minor, I had to take a class called "Faith and Science", and we explored a lot of these concepts. 

 

Something a lot of people don't realize is that the Church is actually the main reason behind most of modern science. A friar developed the scientific method. Monasteries cultivated the spread of knowledge through their traveling scholars and preservation of books. Gregor Mendel, the man who developed the theory of genetics, was a priest. The Catholic Church, in its attempt to preserve and spread the truth of Christ, realized that to discover the truths of the world was to further understand and know God (because, as its creator, God put some of Himself in His creation, so to learn about that creation is to learn more about God). As a result, the Church has a very healthy respect for the discoveries of science. There is a universally accepted philosophical/theological premise that "Truth cannot contradict Truth" (Aquinas, and the encyclical Providentissimus Deus by Leo XIII), so if science discovers and is able to "Prove" a truth about the world, and it contradicts something in the Bible, than either the science is wrong, or that scripture is not to be taken literally.

 

A major example of this is the controversy surrounding Galileo and his heliocentric (sun centered) theory of the world.  It had been believed by the Church that the universe was "geocentric" (earth centered) because of a line of text in the old testament saying that the sun was suspended in the sky. But, as history shows us, the Church now accepts the heliocentric view because of proof provided by science. The contradicting text from scripture, the Church now believes, was not meant to be taken literally. 

 

The bible was written in a time far before modern science. God did not inspire lies to be written, but rather his truth was interpreted by the writers(instruments) and written in a manner that was understood by the people of that time. Everything in scripture is true, but the way that certain parts were meant to be interpreted differs. The Church does not tell us how to interpret scripture, generally speaking, but I am pretty sure that she usually says that the Creation story was not meant to be taken literally. 

Edited December 8, 2013 by Deus_te_Amat

[cartermia]

This is really making me think of what I want to study when I go to college Deus_Te_Amat. The class sound very interesting. If you don't mind me asking, what was your major? 

[arfink]

Yes I like to see people get upset over things like politics, social ideas, and such. So much fun is ahead of us!

 

Nihil, I am doubting because I do not see how accurate this can be when we cannot see it with our own eyes, we cannot live to see the half live pass. Call me a doubting Thomas, that is what I am feeling like.

 

Actually, yes, we can. Radioactive substances decay at very precise and well-known rates. The half-life merely refers to how long it would take for half of the mass of a radioactive substance to convert into a lower energy state, it's not like a certain number of years pass and suddenly it's half gone. It's remarkably linear. And this is, in fact, so far beyond dispute as to make someone who questions it seem silly.

 

Radio carbon dating is based off this concept, and generally speaking is fairly accurate. Accurate enough that we can know, for example, when artifacts are more than 6000 years old.

[AnneLine]

Now this has to be of the Holy Spirit, Carter, because I was saying almost the same thing in the debate table thread!   I even said that I thought St. Albert and St. Thomas would enjoy this discussion!

 

MY Background was world and comparative literature... .but I got fascinated with the history of science aspects of that and took a LOT of astronomy and cosmology and philosophy and humanities classes in college as well... because they were so enriching to my spiritual life!   And... my bet is that DTA and I ended up with a parallel body of work... with her coming from the other side!.... . NOW I can see someone else just replied, and it is probably DTA... will be curious to see if what she says is what I said!   he he he

 

The Holy Spirit LOOOOOOVES this kind of thing!!!!

Edited December 8, 2013 by AnneLine

[AnneLine]

WELL it was ARFink instead!   And I almost said that what we really need was someone like ARFink in this discussion!    ROTFL

[Deus te Amat]

Mathematics. 

 

I've taken college level biology, chemistry, and physics. I've taken classes on the philosophy of science, faith and science, the scientific revolution, the philosophy of mathematics, and others. I have taken multiple theology classes in addition to my science and math classes. 

 

I really believe that I have a Dominican soul, and by that I mean that the Dominican motto of "Veritas", or truth, really speaks to me. I really questioned what I believed and why i believed it, both regarding the faith, and what we were taught in our science classes.

 

To be clear, I went to public school all the way through high school, and then to a Catholic college. 

 

I believe that the Earth is older than 6000 years, and I believe that God created the world. I believe that God created Man in His image and gave us free will. I believe that man sinned and left that stain on the rest of generations. I believe that Jesus died for that sin, and made it so that I could enter the kingdom of God. All of these beliefs are accepted by the Church.

 

(edit for thinking fast than I type-- thanks Arfink)

Edited December 8, 2013 by Deus_te_Amat

[cartermia]

I thought people weren't suppose to learn things on Saturday! Ugh... I have learned so much tonight but it is a Saturday for crying out loud! My brain is to small for thinking 6 out of 7 days of the week, I cannot think all week that is unheard of! :p

[arfink]

Mathematics. 

 

I've taken college level biology, chemistry, and physics. I've taken classes on the philosophy of science, faith and science, the scientific revolution, the philosophy of mathematics, and others. I have taken multiple theology classes in addition to my science and math classes. 

 

I really believe that I have a Dominican soul, and by that I mean that the Dominican motto of "Veritas", or truth, really speaks to me. I really questioned what I believed and why i believed it, both regarding the faith, and what we were taught in our science classes.

 

To be clear, I went to public school all the way through high school, and then to a Catholic college. 

 

I believe that the Church is older than 6000 years, and I believe that God created the world. I believe that God created Man in His image and gave us free will. I believe that man sinned and left that stain on the rest of generations. I believe that Jesus died for that sin, and made it so that I could enter the kingdom of God. All of these beliefs are accepted by the Church.

 

Typo?

[Deus te Amat]

Typo?

 

Yup. Fixed :hehe:

[cartermia]

So DTA, what did you major in?

[Deus te Amat]

Mathematics. 

 

I've taken college level biology, chemistry, and physics. I've taken classes on the philosophy of science, faith and science, the scientific revolution, the philosophy of mathematics, and others. I have taken multiple theology classes in addition to my science and math classes. 

 

I really believe that I have a Dominican soul, and by that I mean that the Dominican motto of "Veritas", or truth, really speaks to me. I really questioned what I believed and why i believed it, both regarding the faith, and what we were taught in our science classes.

 

To be clear, I went to public school all the way through high school, and then to a Catholic college. 

 

I believe that the Earth is older than 6000 years, and I believe that God created the world. I believe that God created Man in His image and gave us free will. I believe that man sinned and left that stain on the rest of generations. I believe that Jesus died for that sin, and made it so that I could enter the kingdom of God. All of these beliefs are accepted by the Church.

 

(edit for thinking fast than I type-- thanks Arfink)

 

[Deus te Amat]

Cartermia / anyone else, would you be interested in a thread about the basic principles of Biblical hermeneutics?  (i.e. basic ways of interpreting scripture)