Obey the scriptures; do science and be skeptical!

You already know that I have called myself a Christian skeptic partially based on Thessalonians 5:21. I am looking for more references to being skeptical in the bible so if some of you could help me that would be great (and yes that includes any creationists on this blog). Also I think that the bible gives us incentive for science for example the creation mandate (Genesis 1:28) orders us to subdue the earth and use our available resources to improve humanity. Job 12:7-8 tells us to follow the evidence. So Christians should be skeptical and do science because the bible says so.

Now of course you know what this means, be rational, like the Bereans, test everything and make sure it is true. Even if it turns out the evidence really points towards a 6,000 year old earth follow the evidence to the conclusion, and you will be most likely to find truth.

Good luck.

for the 4137891st time Answers In Genesis has endangered its credibility

I hate to sound somewhat overly anti-AiG here, I am not against AiG, really I only disagree some parts of what they say; and the areas in which they reside include science, the philosophy of science, the philosophy of religion, theology, biblical interpretation, and history. Ok so I basically disagree on at least one point on everything. Moving on, as you can guess Answers In Genesis has reviewed the movie expelled. At the same time they have supported much of the misinformation in the film. They did not even catch many of the falsehoods, this is quite disturbing, and it is a fatal blow to the credibility of Answers In Genesis (not that AiG supporting a young earth interpretation of the bible was bad enough, the intellectual world is not especially kind to those ideas I am afraid). Either the author of this review didn't do his homework or AiG is just like Expelled; deceitful. I remember Jesus saying something about that, hopefully this is not the case though, I have too much faith in human nature to believe that.

Christianity's fate at the hand of fundamentalists

I recently read a blogpost on the blog Jesus loves Everything; it was posted on October 10, 2005, at the time it was posted I was a space/astronomy creationist geek blissfully unaware of the enormity of the creation/evolution wars. Now even though it is archaic I am going to respond to it. The article claims science is evil and the cause of sexual immorality (now it is probably a parody but I'm board so I am going to refute it). Being a Christian who loves science, lets just see what this guy has to say.

I ask you, when you look around our towns and our cities, when you watch tv and
go to movies, what do you see? Pornography! It's everywhere, infesting our
public squares with scantily clad, whore-like Jezebells that tempt our sons and
daughters into sin.

Yes, its because society is obsessed with sex among other things.

IT didn't used to be this way. Our children weren't robbed of their innocence by
slickly (and slimly)produced television shows, music videos, and advertisements
beating down on them as surely as the sun beats down on sunbathers at the beach.
Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson -- they gyrate and flaunt their breasts,
practically throwing them in our faces so that we can't even look away. And this
dilemma -- this tragedy -- is even manifesting itself in our childrens' physical
appearance, as girls are growing breasts and menstruating at younger and younger
ages.

Alright, subtracting the other parts what does this guy mean by girls growing breasts at younger ages? Does Nathaniel realize that throughout history girls have begun to sexually mature and menstruate in their early teens?

What happened? How did we go from a small town country, where we waived to each
other on the street, worshipped together, and didn't have to worry about our
children being led into sin, into this cesspool? I think I've found the answer,
and it lays in our daughters' breasts. Science. It's science that's been
mutating our children, as we pump hormones and chemicals into our cattle and
poison the nation's food supply. And it's science that brought us television and
movies to warp our children's' minds with pornography, science that has created
a veritable bazaar of abortion to feed the Godless' appetite for stem cells. And
it will be science that creates the first cloned human being. Science,
therefore, is evil.

Science isn't the reason that there is so much immorality in the world. Humans have been given the freedom to use science either for good purposes such as finding ways to end world hunger, care for the environment, and cure cancer. Or to use it for their own selfish ends, it is not science that is the problem it is people that is the problem. And poisoning the food supply? What are you babbling about?

So what do we do? Surely this nation can't live without science, doubters will
undoubtedly say. But we can. Look at the state of America's economy today. We've
been outsourcing so many jobs to India and China, why wouldn't it be possible to
give them all of our science jobs. They are heathens and will always be
heathens, so let them be tempted by the sin that will surely follow.

Greeaat!!!! Lets not even try, lets just give up our position as one of the leading scientific nations in the world to become a third world country; famine, disease, and all! Welcome to Redneckistan!!!!! With people like you around, our nation and my religion is in deep trouble. Once we give up our economy is finished, when the next generation comes to take our place we will fall behind the rest of the world because they will not have adequate education. the United States will become just like Saudi Arabia, the scientific backwaters. Also the military will become less advanced with time because there will be no scientists to develop new technologies or sustain old ones; without science, America is doomed.

Instead of biotechnology and computer science, we can focus on Jesus Loves
Everything Superstores, reforming our economy so it's better prepared for the
end times.

And how are the two mutually exclusive? Haven't you ever read Genesis, if you have I think you need to review the creation mandate. God also tells us not to be like an ox and lack understanding like you clearly do.

Then we will no longer need to teach science in schools, thus depriving
our children of the seeds of doubt in the power of our Lord, that He created the
world in six days, and that we did not descend from apes.

You are pathetic, science is good, and compatible with the bible. You can believe in both, also we only share a common ancestor with apes.

Instead of science, our children can be taught the Bible and how to respect
authority; and when they get a little older, we can add instruction on how to be
a better Jesus Loves Everything Superstore Employee, so that when they are ready
to be sent off to work, they will be the best employees the world has ever seen.

The bible is for sunday school and comparative religion, science is for the science classroom, I believe in both the bible and science and I respect authority. And not every citizen of the United States can work in your stupid superstore (Note: this article may be in fact a parody considering he wants them to work at his store, or he could in fact be describing the church).

If Christians do not embrace science and reason, this is what shall become of us, irrational anti-science, cave-dwelling blockheads. We must not let this happen, God gave us brains for a reason, it is about time we used them and took science back. Nathaniel, the one who wrote the article is causing far more damage to his own religion then he thinks.

Unfortunatley wrong answers with Ken Ham

After hearing about how harsh I am towards my fellow believers who believe in a young earth i decided to be a little nicer to young earth creationists. Now I just have to respond to this message by Ken Ham, where he states "living fossils" are a problem for evolution because a certain type of fish (the coelacanth to be precise) is still around which has been around for the past 400 million years. In answer to that, its not really one species of fish (it would be pretty incredible for a single species to survive 400 million years), it is an order of fish, and currently there are only two species remaining and they are critically endangered. It is not entirely unlikely that an order an animals could survive for so long, crocodillians have been around since dinosaurs.

Now one interesting thing he said is that some kids ask him if he's a living fossil, now what I am about to say is terrible but I am going to say and I apologize to my creationist audience in advance; because when he says he's a living fossil, he does look like our pre-human ancestors, and he sometimes acts as smart as them too so it would appear Ken Ham is a living fossil!

Anyway, that concludes my answer to Ken's answer, And Mr. Ham if you are reading this please take it in good humor (I have attempted to make this criticism as constructive as possible).

Both a skeptic and a Christian

I find myself in a very unique position, I am both religious and skeptical. Well obviously I am not a hardcore skeptic however I do disbelieve many things my family and people doesn't necessarily disbelieve, now I am not saying everyone I know takes the idea seriously, many of them don't but I do know people personally who do take these ideas seriously;

Bermuda Triangle paranormal activity
9/11 conspiracy theory
Ghosts
Apollo moon hoax
New World Order Conspiracy
UFOs are of Satan
Astrology.

Members of my family take the Bermuda Triangle, Apollo moon hoax, and of course creationism (the concept not the geographic location) seriously. Their acceptance of Creationism is fine but the fact is that their creationism is Hovindian makes it out on the far fringe of creationism. It appears that I come from a very different school of thought then they do, the school of skepticism, and yet I am a believer in spirituality and the supernatural, so therefore I am not a hardcore skeptic. But I am skeptical enough to get by rationally. I have found at least one person who has a similar situation.

Now you may decide if what it means to be a skeptic and a Christian, if you are one are you;

(a) reasonable

(b) inconsistent

(c) or completely consistent with biblical teachings?

Well I think that I am consistent with the bible, however you may make your own opinions.

Ray Comfort: Adequate evangelist, lousy logician, scientist, philosopher, theologian, and even theoretician

You all remember Ray Comfort. Well on his blog he has written another not-all the way-thought-through post on his blog. Now before I explain the parts which I thought were dumb I will fist clarify that I think as far as evangelism goes, Ray is rather gifted, and that he's doing a good job.

However there are several problems which I cannot ignore in his ministry, one being his flawed attack on the evolutionary theory, and weak and the fact that his method of evangelism (appeal to fear) only really works on those who have already accepted the faith. Yet his ministry is addressed towards atheists.

Now lets analyze his blogpost, not everything he says is flawed but some of it I must address for the sake of his ministry's credibility. Here is the first question he answers;

Q1: Do you believe in microevolution? OF COURSE. WE SEE EVIDENCE OF IT ALL
AROUND US.

Well, good to know you believe in microevolution Ray, however I am not sure if you know the only distinction between macro and micro evolution is time.

Q2: Do you believe in natural selection? THAT DEPENDS ON YOUR DEFINITION.
GOD HAS CREATED A SYSTEM IN NATURE WHERE THE STRONGEST SURVIVE. THE LION EATS
THE LAMB

Well, I am we agree on at least one point in science I have no problem with this part.

Q3: Do you think that one can be both a Christian and an evolutionist? A
NEW
CHRISTIAN, YES. BUT AS HE OR SHE READS AND BELIEVES THE SCRIPTURES, HE (OR
SHE) WILL SEE THAT THE TWO ARE COMPLETELY INCOMPATIBLE.

Tell that the Francis Collins, many Christian converts believe in theistic evolution and reject his brand of creationism

Q4: Do you believe that the book of Genesis calls for a literal interpretation?
DEFINITELY. JESUS LITERALLY BELIEVED IT, SO DID THE APOSTLE PAUL.

I believe he is referring to the time when Jesus said to the pharisees, "Don't you remember that man was created in the beginning of creation male and female?" This seems compelling but on the other hand it seems to contradict young earth creationism, since even they say that it was at the end of creation that Adam and Eve were created, this probably not what Jesus is referring to. As I remember Paul said he believed in the flood, but I don't remember him saying he believed in a six day creation, in other words; [Scriptural citation needed]

Q5: Do you believe that the earth was created in 6,000 years? IT TOOK SIX DAYS.
HOWEVER, I HAVE NO IDEA HOW OLD THE EARTH IS.

This one is the first of-the-wall statement made, first of all the creation did not necessarily take six days, and he may not know but most creationists believe it is between 6,000 and 10,000 years old and most old earth creationists/theistic evolutionists and secular scientists understand it to be 4.55 billion years old.

Questions 6 through 9 aren't necessarily bad, I can accept them but question 12 I have several comments;

Q12: In one sentence what does it mean to you to "prove" something? I DON'T THINK HUMAN BEINGS CAN PROVE ANYTHING ABSOLUTELY. GOD, HOWEVER, CAN ABSOLUTELY PROVE HIMSELF TO THOSE WHO REPENT AND TRUST HIM.

Now it is true that we can never truly know anything, but we can to an extent know something. Science cannot absolutely prove something but it can provide enough evidence that it is almost beyond a shadow of a doubt true.

Some of the questions were good, however a few were a bit insufficient, hopefully he will be able to do better next time. Way of the Master could become a good organization but first they need to get all that anti-intellectualism out of their system. God created the human mind and he gave us good reasoning powers to understand him, there is no reason that we should oppose science.

ASA answers Expelled

This is an essay from the American Scientific Affiliation on the anti-evolutionist movie Expelled which came out a few months ago (I humbly refer you to my review of Expelled). It is critical of the videos points and written from a Christians perspective.

The point of the essay is whether Expelled is breaking down walls or raising division. It can clearly be seen that how divided the church let alone the American public are about the video it does appear to cause more division then unfettering.