Since Paul indicated that he believes in creationism I thought I would start a thread here about the difference between scientific belief and religious belief.
Bill, a very good idea!
Have you checked out THE UNIVERSE WITHIN--From Quantum to Cosmos, by NEIL TUROK (2012)--One of world's Leading Theoretical Physicists @ a Renowned Educational Innovator?
http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/episodes/massey-...niverse-within/==============
TUROK'S philosophy sounds very much like what PROCESS THEOLOGIANS/PHILOSOPHERS & UNITHEISTS CALL GOD--that is, ALL BEING--mysterious and inviting scientist to explore it, not a being.
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Scientific belief is based on the principle that the universe obeys certain universal laws and that we can determine what those laws are.
For anything to become a scientific belief it must be, at least in principle, repeatable and it must be possible to make a clear statement as to what will occur when certain other events occur. Bill Gill
Religious belief is based on the principle that there is an all powerful God (or Gods) who determines how the universe works. This God intervenes in the operation of the universe, rather than allowing it to operate under a set of unalterable rules.
The knowledge of this God is presented to humanity in the form of revelations to certain people (prophets) who then pass the information on to everybody else. The word of these prophets is the final word on any question concerning God or on how the universe works....Bill Gill
Bill, what you write is an accurate description of THEISM. Theistic theologians, without any evidence whosoever speak of and write about God as he is a human like and masculine super being with dimensions. Believers are commanded to have a childlike faith and to even blindly believe what they are told to believe.
... Scientific beliefs are developed by observation and experimentation.
... Scientific facts are open to change over time, as new observations and experiments reveal errors in the current beliefs. These changes are normally adopted because they provide a better description of how the universe works.Bill Gill
Religious belief is based on the principle that there is an all powerful God (or Gods) who determines how the universe works.
This God intervenes in the operation of the universe, rather than allowing it to operate under a set of unalterable rules. The knowledge of this God is presented to humanity in the form of revelations to certain people (prophets) who then pass the information on to everybody else.
The word of these prophets is the final word on any question concerning God or on how the universe works.
Religious beliefs are not subject to change over time, because they are considered to be the direct word of God.
Bill Gill
I now invite you to check out the work of a great mathematician:
Alfred North Whitehead--panentheist and, therefore, a unitheist.
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/whitehead/--a great process philosopher and theologian. He and atheist friend, Bertrand Russell wrote, PRINCIPLES OF MATHEMATICS. More on this.
So there is a fundamental difference between scientific belief and religious belief. This has caused a lot of problems for some people over the years. I don't have a solution to this problem. Bill Gill
The solution lies in our being
WILLing to cultivate an evidence-based philosophy of religion--one that Generates, Organizes & Delivers that which is open to truth, encourages questioning, exploring and experimenting. A blind leap-in-the-dark kind of faith is worthless and dangerous.
