Comment on Debate between Stephen Meyer and Charles Marshall by george.
@ Dr. Pitman
“In contrast, I fail to see where you have presented any argument against any of this or against anything the Bible has to say on origins, or the position of the SDA Church, beyond a simple appeal to the authority of the opinions of others.”
Al righty then, let me present my very, own, personal argument that does not rely on any authority of others beyond my own personal observation on my question: “Where is the evidence that creation was once perfect? ”
I have observed no evidence whatsoever or heard of any evidence that the world was once perfect without death. My personal observation is that all living creatures die, of which death I have witnessed a great deal. Prove it that once upon a time this was not the case by by hard, physical evidence – by science. And if you can’t, please have the humility to admit that such perfection of the world before sin is purely a matter of faith, not science.
There you go, you asked for an argument in personam, not subject to the authority of others, and you have it. Ball’s in your court 🙂
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george Also Commented
Debate between Stephen Meyer and Charles Marshall
“Again, I encourage you to continue your search along these lines and look closely at the evidence for the creative potential and limitations of mindless naturalistic mechanisms – like random mutations and natural selection. If you do your own detailed research along these lines, I’m extremely confident that you will being to realize that only intelligent design on a very high level can explain living things, or even many of the complex subcellular machines within living things. This was in fact the first steppingstone for me when I began to wonder if God really did exist.”
And let me say you have been a an articulate advocate for ID in this regard. I can’ t fathom rationally why evolution would have a cut off point and life seems to adapt to an endless plethora of harsh living conditions. This does not seem to be designed but rather the result of RMNS. However I understand your arguments, if not the molecular biology, behind the limits of the evolutionary mechanism beyond low levels of functional complexity.
But, as we have discussed before, if you are right about ID, then this raised the spectre of an intelligent designer that designed for life and death, and disease in sentient creatures, including humans. In my estimation to think of a life designer who would design for death in children ( cancer) is monsterous! The apologetic of Man’s sin caused by the eating of the forbidden fruit causing all human suffering, is to me the most creative, alllegorical story ever written. Secondly would be the Noachian flood where many innocent children and other sentient creatures would have been destroyed by malice. What monster would do that?
So, on theodicy alone, independent of evolution and cosmology, I think the Biblical story of origins and the flood is creative fiction. I find the leap from the first stepping stone from ID to the biblical God to be a gap I can’t jump :).
When it comes to theology and the idea of a perfect God, such an entity in my estimation cannot perform like a petulant child who on what hand pulls wings off flies, then on the other would sacrifice part of himself by allowing a piece to die. I think rhe idea of a non intervening entity, a cosmic dice thrower makes much more scientific sense and morsl sense given the weight ofnthe evidence and a human rational understanding of morality. And in this my good, deliberative, thoughtful, compaasinate friend, I can assure you I am not veing disingenous but speaking from heart and head.
My thoughts are with you on this Good Friday.
All the best
Debate between Stephen Meyer and Charles Marshall
” From the purely naturalistic perspective, there is no real morality – no real right or wrong. Everything is morally neutral with each individual determining his/her own personal moral “truth”.
Yes, this is what an existentialist would argue (including me). However Kant argued for a categorical imperative for moral precepts based on human reason. The codification of laws, including the Ten Commandments, is society’s attempt to socialize morality.
My observation is human morality sits on a broad spectrum. Some do good naturally and some do bad naturally. However, through reflection and hard work we can improve ethically. For a guy like me it is really hard work as I am constantly fighting self interest and pride!!!!!
Debate between Stephen Meyer and Charles Marshall
Well said and fairly stated.
Recent Comments by george
The Creator of Time
Hello Sean
In fairness to you and your readers I feel like we are being redundant on many points and issues. I need to be respectful that this is an Adventist forum that believes and supports YEC not a platform for my agnosticism.
I do appreciate and thank you for the opportunity to lively debate issues.
Respectfully
The Creator of Time
To Sean
“ A hypothesis about the supernatural world cannot be tested, so it is not scientific. The concept of God, Allah, or other supernatural designer(s), capable of designing the whole Universe, can neither be proved nor disproved. Hence, any claims that any supernatural being or force cause some event is not able to be scientifically validated (however, whether that event really occurred can be scientifically investigated).”
And back to you
The Creator of Time
To Sean
“Remember also that the assumption that future discoveries will one day be able to explain everything via mindless naturalistic mechanisms is not science, but a philosophy of naturalism that is very similar to a blind faith religion.”
How does this compare to the assumption that the Bible will be able to predict the end of the world? Scientific in your estimation or perhaps I really don’t understand how science versus religion works
The Creator of Time
Hello Sean
“I began my investigation with genetic evolution since that is my own personal field of expertise. ”
So have you published papers in scientific peer reviewed journals in this regard? Have you done experiments in this regard? Have you published statistical analysis to demonstrate your theory that macro evolution is mathematically possible?
You are always stating that others have to proof you wrong? Really? If you we’re trying to prove Newton or Einstein wrong would you not have to do so before your scientific peers?
Come on now, as you like to say, do you really scientically think all the biodiversity we witness today cane off a floating Ark some 4000 years ago! Is that really a scientific proposition that is provable or just some just so story?
You see I get the design argument but miracles, prophets, Santa Claus, fairies, ghosts, goblins, arks and the like are not proper subjects for science in my opinion. This is why you are seeing religions, including the progressive side of Adventistism moving more towards acceptance of science as reality, because they understand the modern educated mind will reject them if the stories are too fanciful or don’t make sense.
You see I don’t mind you calling ideas of the meta verse just so stories or not currently scientific as being non falsifiable. You have a point there. I don’t mind you advancing design arguments, especially as it relates to the fine tuned mechanisms of physics and organic life. You have good points there. But please, try to objectively use use that same scientific circumspection to the fantastic claims of the Bible and EGW prophecies or even the age of life on earth. Then perhaps I’ll see a bit of rational sense to your overall position.
Cheers
The Creator of Time
Hi Sean
Your real problem of credibility is your double standard of proof. Put your biblical stories of reality to the same degree of circumspection as you put evolution. To really conclude that all the bio diversity that we see in the world today- apart from that that survived in the water- came off an Ark is probably the most unscientific fantastic claim that even all children see as allegory. There is a reason this is not taught as the source of biodiversity in schools Sean. Yet you as a scientist believe it and think it has an evidentiary basis.
Your arguments on design make much more sense because it is certainly arguable that there is a design to the universe based on the anthropiic principle. It is certainly arguable that a designer like God could have designed a universe like ours but also a designerlike God could have designed a cause and effect evolving universe as well. Like Deism I think ID is worthwhile exploring. But I also think science continues to demonstrate mindless cause and effect mechanisms that don’t require design.
You and Behe are focused on irreducible complexity as an underpinning for design – which for you then becomes the stepping stone to biblical creation. Your methodology is apparent to get ‘educated’ minds to buy into a biblically designer God.
You see I don’t mind admitting that there is still much to do when it comes to understanding how physics and biology work. The best minds in the world continue to work, theorize and experiment in these areas. But you dismiss these efforts with a wave of your hand because they fall outside the biblical narrative so they can’t be true. And it is THAT factor Sean that utterly shatters the rational credibilty of
of creation science as an objective endeavour. The boys at the Discovery Institute understood this and have tried to broaden their approach. Deists understood this as well to get away from cultural myth and move towards a more observational basis for understanding the universe. But sadly Sean l, I think you are so entrenched in your biblical paradigm that you cannot see how your double standard of scientific inquiry harms your credibilty as an objective scientist. If I was to cross examine you in a Court of Law I would have a field day on pointing this discrepancy. And believe me, having cross examined many medical experts in forensic matters I do speak from professional experience.
Yes I know I am stating the obvious as many of your fellow ‘progressive’ Adventist colleagues have stayed before, no doubt to no avail. But, without being smug, just as you have encouraged me to look for God, I encourage you to look very deeply within yourself and look for humbly for rational contradiction. Objective humility is the real start to seeking truth.
Cheers