Which side are you in?

Post by **Sushan Ekanayake** » 07 Mar 2021, 09:17

Liveforchrist51 wrote: ↑06 Mar 2021, 23:18 I wholeheartedly believe in God. I have seen so many miraculous things happen to say He isn’t real. I do however, also believe in science. I believe God created life and earth, but I believe science allows life to evolve into what it is now.

I don't really see how science allowing anything to evolve. Evolution is a natural process (if God created the world and intervenes in its actions, then evolution should also be a godly thing) and science only give knowledge about it to humans. And that is why scientists have done various observations and research and developed theories regarding how universe, earth, and life came into existence. With all due respect, I don't remember science mentioning anything about creation. Yet, people are free to believe whatever they believe, either in science, or god, or even both

Post by **Sushan Ekanayake** » 07 Mar 2021, 09:23

63tty wrote: ↑07 Mar 2021, 00:41 I don't think that the list is exhaustive, consider for example the people who believe in horoscopes and the crystals (they are neither science nor religion) where do they fall.
Also, I don't see where I fit in, I would say 3 because I'm open-minded but I do believe in God strongly. And if I say 2, I don't dispute science or compare it with my religion, so I'm not sure where I fit in.

I haven't considered any other superstitious beliefs into the classification because we are discussing about a classification which is introduced by the author of this book. And I agree that there can be a bit of mixing of the borders of these groups. So, if you cannot put yourself exclusively in one group, can you please suggest an additional one?

Post by **Sushan Ekanayake** » 07 Mar 2021, 09:27

Kirsi_78 wrote: ↑07 Mar 2021, 04:34 I definitely belong to the group number 3. I believe that science is not completely wrong (probably not completely right either), but the problem is that we are humans and God is God. We don't have all the knowledge, and even if we are improving our knowledge levels all the time, I doubt we will ever have all the knowledge. The truth is, the more I study my Bible, the more I realize how little I actually know. And scientists face the same problem. The more they discover, the more there is to discover. I do not see why science and the Bible could not go hand in hand.

Bible has many things to say and you can know (actually interpret) many things each time you read. On the other hand, scientists find many things daily but they have many more to find. So that is the only similarity that I see between these two subjects, and I see that regarding each and every subject of interest, as we can never know all.

And, yes, God is God (if there is a God) and we cannot fully acknowledge His powers or His knowledge. But that does not give any reason for the religion to go hand in hand with science. So, more or less, I believe that you belong to the second group

Post by **Sushan Ekanayake** » 07 Mar 2021, 09:32

Esther11 wrote: ↑07 Mar 2021, 06:20 I am definitely on the first side. I became an atheist not too long ago. Being my father a Christian and my mother a Buddhist, religion has always been vague and confusing to me. Science offered me a clear yet reasonable explanation of the origin of humanity.

I understand your point. I have (I believe) a fair knowledge in Christianity and fairly a good knowledge in Buddhism. Will you believe me that actually in ancient buddhist scriptures, they have described the early stages of earth? They say that the planet was there, but it was covered with water which contained various things including the earliest bits of life. And that is what scientists say too.

Here I am not backing any religion, because this discussion is not to support or deny any religion. But I mentioned this because you mentioned of your relationship to Buddhism

Post by **Sushan Ekanayake** » 07 Mar 2021, 09:36

Nicholus Schroeder wrote: ↑07 Mar 2021, 07:17 I fall under the first group because science is more accurate as scientists are working with raw data such as the age of a fossil whilst religious texts were compiled by people a very long time ago, there is no form of data to look at other than words on a page which could have been misinterpreted or forged for personal benefit over the years.

I agree. Science work with physical things, which anyone can touch and see for themselves. But religions deal with metaphysical things which no one can either prove or disprove.

And you have pointed out something important. We see that throughout the history, religious teachings have been manipulated to gain various political advantages. So we have to think more than twice about what we see today as religious scriptures, before believing them

Post by **Kirsi Cultrera** » 07 Mar 2021, 11:33

Sushan wrote: ↑07 Mar 2021, 09:27
Kirsi_78 wrote: ↑07 Mar 2021, 04:34 I definitely belong to the group number 3. I believe that science is not completely wrong (probably not completely right either), but the problem is that we are humans and God is God. We don't have all the knowledge, and even if we are improving our knowledge levels all the time, I doubt we will ever have all the knowledge. The truth is, the more I study my Bible, the more I realize how little I actually know. And scientists face the same problem. The more they discover, the more there is to discover. I do not see why science and the Bible could not go hand in hand.
Bible has many things to say and you can know (actually interpret) many things each time you read. On the other hand, scientists find many things daily but they have many more to find. So that is the only similarity that I see between these two subjects, and I see that regarding each and every subject of interest, as we can never know all.

And, yes, God is God (if there is a God) and we cannot fully acknowledge His powers or His knowledge. But that does not give any reason for the religion to go hand in hand with science. So, more or less, I believe that you belong to the second group

If I am not completely mistaken, it was one of the points of this book to explain how the timeline explained in science goes hand in hand with the timeline that can be found from the Bible. I believe this to be correct. If you want to know more about the topic, I suggest you start reading LASB (Life Application Study Bible) which explains much more than a regular Bible. You should also know that the Bible as we know it is not in chronological order, which makes it very challenging to keep track of everything.

What I meant by saying God is God and human is human, presuming that there is a God, is that a human lives approximately 100 years, if he’s lucky, so God has outlived us with some thousands of years. Therefore, He must have more knowledge in one head than the best of us combined could ever have. That is what makes our science incomplete. Who knows how our science would look like if we had equal years of knowledge and experience with God?

Yvonne Monique · Post by **Yvonne Monique** » 07 Mar 2021, 11:42

Personally, I do not fit in any of the 3 groups mentioned. I believe that there are still many things that humans do not understand and that science has not discovered yet. Therefore, surely there are bible stories that have a scientific explanation, but we still need more time to understand the science behind them.

Post by **Sushan Ekanayake** » 07 Mar 2021, 12:01

Yvonne Monique wrote: ↑07 Mar 2021, 11:42 Personally, I do not fit in any of the 3 groups mentioned. I believe that there are still many things that humans do not understand and that science has not discovered yet. Therefore, surely there are bible stories that have a scientific explanation, but we still need more time to understand the science behind them.

Yes, maybe with time those stories may get a scientific background, or maybe they will be totally rejected with scientific evidence. But what we have to see is how flexible people are to accept such changes. Most people tend to accept things that are in favour of their beliefs, but deny what is against their thoughts.

So, yes, we don't know all, but from what we know, I find many things to take the side of science, but not the religions

Heidadela · Post by **Heidadela** » 07 Mar 2021, 13:26

I believe in God and the Bible. Scientific facts are objective but as long as they do not go hand in hand with what is written in the Bible, then I do not find reason to support Science. However, Science has helped humans in understanding many things. Through Science, we can understand how the earth is patterned, how our inner body mechanism works et al. Therefore, I do not dismiss Science entirely. However, I am picky on what to believe or not believe in Science.

PeterRabitt20 · Post by **PeterRabitt20** » 07 Mar 2021, 13:49

I like to keep my options open, and so I go with group three. I think there is more leeway with the idea that both could be correct. Also, I'm not ready to let go of science completely because it is true...but I'm also not letting go of creationism. If there is a group 4 or 5, I'd like to see what they have to say as well.

Post by **Sushan Ekanayake** » 07 Mar 2021, 21:27

Heidadela wrote: ↑07 Mar 2021, 13:26 I believe in God and the Bible. Scientific facts are objective but as long as they do not go hand in hand with what is written in the Bible, then I do not find reason to support Science. However, Science has helped humans in understanding many things. Through Science, we can understand how the earth is patterned, how our inner body mechanism works et al. Therefore, I do not dismiss Science entirely. However, I am picky on what to believe or not believe in Science.

It is your own right to believe in whatever you want, and that depends on education as well as the level of intelligence of various humans. We all are not the same.

Science has helped us to understand many things, and it has done not only that, but also has brought the world to today's status, letting people live better lives compared to ancient times. I see people believe in God and despise science when it goes against the bible, but I see that majority are going to doctors but not towards God or the bible to cure an illness. And when they are treated and got better, they thank the God.

Post by **Sushan Ekanayake** » 07 Mar 2021, 21:31

PeterRabitt20 wrote: ↑07 Mar 2021, 13:49 I like to keep my options open, and so I go with group three. I think there is more leeway with the idea that both could be correct. Also, I'm not ready to let go of science completely because it is true...but I'm also not letting go of creationism. If there is a group 4 or 5, I'd like to see what they have to say as well.

Keeping your options open is a good thing. But it will be better if you keep your minds open as well. People tend to believe things, but do not take side with their beliefs for various reasons. Uncertainty can be a major reason behind that. Anyhow, this group three members should be able to later turn towards any side. If they are showed that the creation has never happened, but they denu to agree, then they are more suitable for the second group. And it is same if it happened other way round (as I believe quite an impossible thing).

Kaitlin Licato · Post by **Kaitlin Licato** » 08 Mar 2021, 00:24

I would be in group 3. Until science can find a reason for all things, religion can still be applicable. Since science is never going to be able to explain every natural occurrence, it follows that religion will always be applicable.

Post by **Sushan Ekanayake** » 08 Mar 2021, 00:52

Noda21k wrote: ↑08 Mar 2021, 00:24 I would be in group 3. Until science can find a reason for all things, religion can still be applicable. Since science is never going to be able to explain every natural occurrence, it follows that religion will always be applicable.

Being 'applicable' and 'applying' are two different things. People have been applying religion to explain various things that science could not explain. When science explained them, many got away from the religious explanations, but some chose to cling to their beliefs.

So in future also the same thing happen. Science will go on explaining things but various people will keep on applying religion to explain various matters. So whether applicable or not, religion will always have a place in the society.

Nicholus Schroeder · Post by **Nicholus Schroeder** » 08 Mar 2021, 12:15

Sam Lauren wrote: ↑02 Mar 2021, 06:42 I think there's a fourth group: people who are on both sides and believe that there is just more to it than we can possibly know as humans.

I agree with you that there's a fourth group, I once met a pastor who believed in God and he was also interested in science's explanations pertaining subjects the bible doesn't cover.