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#221
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‘Intelligent' Design? Relax, God is Stranger Still
John Garvey There has been some debate, even at local school-board levels, about the theory of evolution vs. creationism and the more recently offered idea of “intelligent design.” Now Cardinal Cristoph Schönborn has weighed in with an op-ed piece in the New York Times (July 7), claiming that Christians cannot believe that life’s origins can be found in natural selection’s chancy, random stabs at development. Some kind of intelligent design must lie behind it, and reason can lead to a rational belief in an intelligent designer. This has been seized on as a retreat from John Paul II’s endorsement of the theory of evolution as real science, a sign that the new papacy will retreat from serious science into the intelligent design camp. (It may only show that Cardinal Schönborn is not as sophisticated in his understanding of contemporary philosophy and science as John Paul II was.) Apart from the fact that a cardinal’s somewhat casual comments hardly constitute a major shift in church policy, it isn’t as if Catholics had accepted the theory of evolution only during the last pontificate. I went to Catholic schools from grade school through college, beginning years before Vatican II, and my graduate school was an Orthodox seminary. In this sense my education has been thoroughly nonsecular. Never from kindergarten on did I hear evolution questioned; it was what we were taught. There are extreme believers in Darwinian evolution who are convinced that the apparent randomness of the process is a serious challenge to believers. They remind me of an atheist who tried to convert me to his view with Jacques Monod’s interesting book, Chance and Necessity. The argument that the randomness of the universe seen at the subatomic level, or the randomness of natural selection, is a challenge to a belief in God is curious. As I told my atheist friend, it is a mistake to equate randomness with meaninglessness. Darwin himself was troubled by the apparent cruelty and heartlessness of the process, and this led him, as it has led others, to reject the idea of a beneficent God. The problem with the God rejected by Darwinian atheists and the God of those who believe in intelligent design is that neither is particularly biblical. (By the way, I think it is fair of those who believe in intelligent design to complain that they are not, as some allege, a wedge into the schools that will lead eventually to teaching biblical literalism. This is not, in fact, part of their argument, and the intelligent designer they posit has little to do with the God of the Bible.) The intelligent designer seen by both camps--rejected by one, accepted by the other--is essentially the God of the deists, a generally benign designer compelled to create the best of all possible worlds, a world in which profound flaws and seemingly mad design would be unthinkable. If intelligent design were science, if it could be supported by fact and not what amounts to aesthetic speculation, it might be a good argument for a Gnostic demiurge, a deranged creator-god. Yes, the intricacy of the eye and the elegance of flagella are amazing and the details beautiful. But a designer with his, her, or its hand in at this clockwork level could surely do something to prevent anencephalic babies or Alzheimer’s disease. What about all the apparently useless parts of the DNA strand? Couldn’t praying mantises have been designed with a way to mate that didn’t require the female to devour the head of the male during intercourse? I’ve seen a mother hamster devouring her young with blank eyes, preferable to grief, I guess, under the circumstances. The designer’s eye is upon the sparrow, the mantis, the mother hamster eating her young, the brainless baby. Arguments at this level are more philosophical than scientific. The philosophical argument seems to be based on a kind of aesthetics--an aesthetic sense based in scientific observation, to be sure, but a little like this argument: Could blind chance produce something as beautiful as so many celestial phenomena are, or the Irish coast, or a sunset? I think not, but that’s not a scientific argument. A believing scientist will certainly delight in whatever beautiful thing is found under a microscope or deep in the cosmos, just as a believer thanks God for the music of Bach, and will see something of God’s glory there. But to say “this is so irreducibly complex and intricate that it must have been designed” does nothing to advance science, which still must connect the dots and describe in detail, and will not be helped by a designer-hypothesis that can be neither proved nor falsified. To say “this must have been designed” will always, at most, be a kind of chorus. You’ve heard of voodoo economics? This is karaoke science. The God of the Bible is responsible for the world, but it is a world that has been wounded beyond comprehension by sin and evil. The whole of creation, Paul insists in the eighth chapter of Romans, groans as it waits for its true completion in God. When we study this creation we study something infinitely more mysterious--and torn and unfinished--than a well-designed machine; it is something at once wonderful and perishing and cannot be reduced to what science can see and tell us, either about randomness or design. The God of the Bible is not the prime mover of Greek philosophy or the benign provider of the deists. He appears in the burning bush and will not give his name. He wrestles with Jacob (who is Israel, the one who “contends with God”). This God has no handle--not designer, planner, nor architect, except as a fleeting metaphor. This God is unknowable, silent, suddenly appearing, interfering when unwanted and absent when wanted, always elusive--and this tricky one is responsible for the universe. In Jesus Christ we are invited to call this God our Father, a father whose son was crucified to begin the release of the universe from the bondage Paul tells us about, inviting us to await a goodness that is only dawning, and certainly can’t be seen clearly under a microscope. |
#222
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To suppose that the eye, with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and for the correction of spherical and chromatic aberration, could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest possible degree. Yet reason tells me, that if numerous gradations from a perfect and complex eye to one very imperfect and simple, each grade being useful to its possessor, can be shown to exist; if further, the eye does vary ever so slightly, and the variations be inherited, which is certainly the case; and if any variation or modification in the organ be ever useful to an animal under changing conditions of life, then the difficulty of believing that a perfect and complex eye could be formed by natural selection, though insuperable by our imagination, can hardly be considered real. How a nerve comes to be sensitive to light, hardly concerns us more than how life itself first originated; but I may remark that several facts make me suspect that any sensitive nerve may be rendered sensitive to light, and likewise to those coarser vibrations of the air which produce sound. Bibliografia ta a fost demontata de nenumarate ori de catre stiinta. Eu va propun in schimb sa urmariti documentarul exceptional, Growing Up in the Universe al lui Dawkins, un adevarat curs de evolutionism pentru publicul larg. |
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![]() Ca sa adaug inca ceva aici,si sa-i raspund si lui scrabble cu verigile lui lipsa care sint de fapt abundente....se poate gindi si o speculatie a involutiei,nu numai a evolutiei. ... Exista mamifere care chiar acum se transforma in pasari ( liliacul vampir,are dinti ca archeopteryx si zboara ),mamifere care se transforma in pesti ( balenele care arata aproape identic cu casalotii si rechinii ),...crocodilul este si el o veriga lipsa,jumatate peste-jumatate reptila,sarpele de apa care arata identic cu tiparul,deci juma peste-juma reptila,....sau continuind " evolutia" ,fluturele (insecta) este o pasare in devenire,plantele carnivore-stramosul comun al tuturor carnivorelor( pesti,reptile,mamifere)...etc. draga topcat, Nu era vb despre ochi mai evoluat sau involuat...ci de functionalitate,de o parte a lui,retina,ce sens are sa ai retina dar fara ochi( nu poti vedea ).Sau laba piciorului dar fara femur,gambe si ceva muschi pe ele,ci doar prinsa intr-un tendon ( nu poti merge )...etc Sau pestelui care incep sa-i creasca plaminii incet,incet...fiind complet nefunctionali pe milioane de ani,el tot prin branhii respirind.Pai pina ii cresteau plaminii si deveaneau folositori la ceva,fii sigur, ori il minca cineva pentru ca devenea anacronic ca peste,ori dispareau conditiile de mediu care declansasera "evolutia".
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Singura dragoste adevarata este cea care încredinteaza aproapelui viata vesnica! Sfintul Iustin Popovici |
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Nimeni nu a reactionat la ce am scris despre Intelligent design.. M-ar fi interesat o parere, cat de negativa.
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#225
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Mi se face rau,ai mila de mine si de copiii aceia carora vrei sa le vorbesti.Noi nu sintem nici atei,nici yoghini. Sfintul Grigorie de Nissa,care tie iti place atit de mult si prin care a vorbit Dumnezeu...spune explicit in cartea " Despre facerea omului " ca Adam era nenascut,fiind plasmuit direct de Hristos. Daca era nenascut,inseamna ca nu provenea din 2 maimute in calduri... Atit " evolutionismul" cit si ecumenismul nu vor altceva decit sa-l scoata pe Iisus Hristos Dumnezeu din lumea aceasta,si ca Dumnezeu si ca Mintuitor...si sa-l inscauneze in loc pe Marele Arhitect ( aghiuta in trup ) ... Ideea aceasta hulitoare a fost afirmata de Teilhard de Chardin ( teolog catolic ) cu citeva luni inainte de moartea sa: " Hristos,cu adevarat este cel ce mintuieste - dar oare nu ar trebui sa adaugam imediat ca,in acelasi timp,Hristos este cel mintuit de catre Evolutie ? "...dupa conceptia lui Teilhard,Hristos este de asemenea procesul evolutiei;deci evolutia este mai mare decit Hristos. Daca evolutionismul este adevarat,inseamna ca au existat milioane de ani de moarte inainte ca " hominizii " sa fi aparut ca oameni. Desigur,conform acestei pareri,istorisirea Facerii despre caderea omului si principala ei urmare - moartea - nu se poate citi decit alegoric. Aceasta inlatura orice motivatie a venirii,rastignirii si invierii lui Hristos din morti spre a-l mintui pe om de urmarile caderii. ( Cartea Facerii - pag 384 ) Daca doresti,nu stiu daca mai este timp,am sa incerc sa recitesc "Cartea Facerii,Crearea lumii si omul inceputurilor " si sa-ti prezint punctul meu de vedere,al unui traditionalist ( sper sa ma considere Domnul asa )...dindu-ti fragmente anume si pagina unde poti sa le gasesti...daca vrei si comentarii. Doamne ajuta-ne!
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Singura dragoste adevarata este cea care încredinteaza aproapelui viata vesnica! Sfintul Iustin Popovici |
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draga Fani,
Ca sa ne impacam si sa mai si zimbim...gindindu-ma la svaiterul lui scrabble in care "stiinta" lucreaza si mai astupa sau nu din gauri... .... Cindva,in timpul razboiului rece,americanii s-au gindit sa implanteze un spion in URSS.L-au invatat limba rusa la perfectie,luat prin srprindere,torturat,etc....el tot in rusa iti raspundea.L-au invatat sa cinte la balalaika,sa danseze kazaciok,recita din Puskin ca nimeni altul,baleta pe lacul lebedelor,il stia pe marx,engels si lenin pe dinafara,putea sa asambleze un sputnik de unul singur,putea sa bea 3 sticle de vodca fara sa se afume,nume de rus autentic,ivan,cu arbore genealogic sanatos,nu dusman al poporului...rus 153 %,spionul perfect. L-au pus pe un avion cu destinatia Moscova,avionul a aterizat si cind a intrat in aeroport a fost imediat arestat de KGB, ca spion. Oare ce nu mersese ? Omul nostru,spionul rus ideal....era negru! Cam asa si cu filozofia evolutiei....o multime de detalii coerente care nu duc nicaieri....un_svaiter....chiar daca americanii ar mai astupa din gauri si l-ar mai invata pe spionul nostru sa joace sheptica,sa invadeze afganistanul...tot negru ramine....iar in URSS nu traiau negri. ... In scripturi se vorbeste de piatra din virful unghiului ,pe care inteleptii acestui veac cazut nu o iau in seama.
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Singura dragoste adevarata este cea care încredinteaza aproapelui viata vesnica! Sfintul Iustin Popovici |
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Sa stii ca uneori si sfintii au mai gresit, pentru ca si ei au fost oameni. Dar asta nu i-a impiedicat totusi sa fie sfinti. Si eu, daca nu subscriu totalmente la opinia lor, nu ma vad eretic sau comitand vreun pacat.
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Să nu abați inima mea spre cuvinte de vicleșug, ca să-mi dezvinovățesc păcatele mele; Psalmul 140, 4 Ascultați Noul Testament ortodox online. |
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#229
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Uite, o intrebare pentru creationisti: de ce ochiul caracatitei este "construit" corect, adica cu retina in fata si nu ascunsa dupa nervii optici (si de aici tot felul de probleme de vedere), ca in cazul mamiferelor? ![]() |
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Cum spuneam, eu inca nu m-am hotarat cum gandesc. Insa stiu ca nu cred ca are vreun sens sa incercam sa demontam evolutia care in planul stiinftific, al timpului si spatiului cazut, este probabil adevarata (zic probabil pentru ca nefiind biolog cu am verificat-o in amanunt). In ceea ce priveste intelligent designul, ce vroiam eu sa spun cu articolasul ala este ca acest design, in forma in care a fost el promovat in USA, 1) oricum nu este vizibil cu metode stiintifice, face parte din revelatie 2) erte intunecat si incurcat de cadere deci nu se poate spune pur si simplu ca Dumnezeu a facut lumea ASA CUM ESTE dupa un plan dinainte stabilit. Planul exista, insa trebuie luata si caderea in cauza. In ceea ce priveste sfintii parinti, cred ca sunt de acord cu tine. Ei au avut dreptate cand vorbesc de Creatie in interpretarile teologice - dupa chipoul si asemanarea, natura necazuta a lui Adam, si multe alte lucruri profunde - insa atunci cand au luat ad literam textul si au crezut (daca au crezut) ca este vorba despre o povestire istorica in acelas sens cu povestirea nasterii lui Iisus din NT, apoi ei se inselau pentru ca erau tributari culturii si stiintei din vremea lor. De altfel, se pare ca in vremea lor problema diferentei dintre mit si istorie se punea cu totul altfel decat pentru noi si de multe ori nici nu-si puneau aceasta problema, ci vorbeau pur si simplu amestecand planurile. Si se pare ca unii (pe care i-am citat) si care si-au pus problema au optat pentru o interpretare simbolica, nu istorica. Citesc acum o carte de Bouteneff, un teolog ortodox, care analizeza o buna parte din ce zic Parintii despre Facere. Cand o sa o termin o sa pot sa ii raspund si lui Sherlock Homlmes cand il citeaza pe Serafim Rose. Sherlock, mi-a placut bancul cu negrul spion, il stiam ( in varianta mea se ducea la o baba intr-un bordei si cand aia il demasca imediat el o interab: OK, dar ca sa stiu, spune-mi si mie cum m-ai detectat? La care baba: 'Pai de, maica, pe aici prin Siberia nu prea sunt negri!') dar nu ma convinge teoria asta. Sau daca vrei, pot spune ca o pot adapta la planul 1 de interpretare pe care l-am expus mai sus: evolutia nu este corecta din punct de vedere global pentru ca presupune un spatiu-timp omogen si necazut. Oricat de coerenta ar fi in spatiul-timp pe care il cunoastem, nu este relevanta pentru Creatie pentru ca caderea lui Adam s-a produs in timpul necazut si a putut avea consecinte retroactive asupra spatiului si timpului. O Imagine: Ca in unele romane SF in care cineva se duce in viitor, face o boacana si cand se intoarce in timpul lui el nu mai exista sau are o viata cu totul diferita. Atentie, e numai o imagine. |
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