Re: Cobb County

>>You would certainly be angry at a person posing as a pilot
>>that never even obtained a license to fly.  Just like flying,
>>it's not easy for any of us to acquire even a fraction of
>>what is needed to sort these matters out.  What makes you
>>so special that you don't think you have to do any homework
>>before you jump in the cockpit?\
>>  
>>
>Bad analogy. No one is posing as a scientist, just judging them by their
>fruit. When the plane crashes those who are not pilots can still ask if
>the pilot was properly trained or not.

We're not suffering from a plane crash here. However, young
people who have grown up with YEC often end up in a terrible
train wreck when confronted by the issues posed by science.
Is this the fruit you're talking about?

>I don't have to be a butcher to
>know when the meat I am eating is rotten any more than I have to be a
>scientist to read the history of science and not gloss over the
>shortcomings of science.

Recognizing that there are shortcomings is one thing. Good
scientists should not view science as the one-and-only answer-
to-everything and should not insist that everything be measured
to be believed. This is way the Bible asks us to have faith.

>I have a minor in biology, but was so thrown
>off by the scientific apologists that I never pursued science any
>further.

I'm not so clear here who you are blaming. Is this scientific
apologists like Dawkins or apologists like Hugh Ross, or
Polkinghorne, Davies, or Ken Ham. They are all reconciling
science with a world view. To varying degrees, each says
things that are true and things that are questionable.

>It seems scientists, including those who are Christians, want
>to ignore the past failures and missteps of science and act as though
>the scientific theories of today are infallible, when the ones of the
>past never were.

Producing a coherent world view is very difficult, but
one must try. One should not be quick to grasp for the
latest measurements in science, but we are pretty sure
that the universe is expanding, we are pretty sure that
it is at least 12 billion years old, we are pretty sure
that the laws of physics have not changed during the
entire history of the universe. We are also fairly
sure that we are humbled by evolution. For "God is
testing us, to show us that we are no better than
animals" (Ecl 3:18).

>
>Scientists seem to have no problems reshaping scripture to fit their
>paradigms when very few of them have specialization in biblical
>languages, hermeneutics or theology.

I agree. A scientist should have a very good understanding of
theology before he/she writes books about about reconciling these
complex world views. Maybe you have expertise in theology, but
there is no plane crash as far as science is concerned. The only
plane crash is a 6 24h day interpretation of scripture. Do we
throw away the Bible, or do we put our faith in JC and live in
this world as salt and purpose for this cold, alien and
mechanistic world?

>I am not even saying that evolution
>is wrong, just that for scientists to claim that the religious person
>has no right to criticize science is a bit hypocritical and overblown.

To _question_ is reasonable. However, _critique_ requires
a deep knowledge, not a mere superficial one. Yes, if a plane
crashes, everyone has something to say, but only people who
understand aircrafts and flying are in the position to decide
what really went wrong.

By Grace alone we proceed,
Wayne
Received on Sun Jan 16 18:31:56 2005