Scientific Pantheism and the God of the Physicists

For the theist the large categories of being are God followed by Creation. God is eternal, while Creation began in time and is ontologically separate from God. Creation includes life in all its wonderful and myriad forms. Humans are a special category of life, bearing the imago Dei (Genesis 1:26-27) and uniquely able to worship God and contemplate the meaning of existence. God is transcendent, existing now, existing before the universe and existing forever. God is the "Alpha and Omega ... which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty" (Revelation 1:8 KJV). At the same time, the God of the Bible is personal and immanent in Creation and human affairs. For the scientific naturalist there is no personal God, so the most significant category of being is the cosmos—or, for some, the multiverse. As humans are part of the cosmos and its history, the cosmos for theists is not "Wholly Other" with respect to humans, to borrow the famous language of the German theologian Rudolf Otto in his book, The Idea of the Holy (1917).

But what about the scientific naturalist, for whom the Cosmos is the supreme entity or being? Sometimes language used by scientific naturalists suggests that the cosmos has a certain numinous quality, at least at the metaphorical level, but perhaps occasionally at a much deeper level. This is the case, for example, when Carl Sagan begins his 1980 book and documentary television series Cosmos with the powerful words, "The cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be" (p. 4). Sagan continues:

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World's Top New Testament Scholar - Christians Need To Read The Gospels Through Ancient Jewish Eyes

I've written here about New Testament scholar N.T. Wright and his most recent book, The Day the Revolution Began. The book was published recently and is now being made available in an online course format. The book (and the course) will bring insights to even the most seasoned student of the Scri...

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What Was Jesus Writing on the Ground?

As a Lawyer, my mind was scrutinizing what the Bible had said about these sins, type of witnesses needed and what really took place here. I was also curious about what Jesus was writing on the ground.

While I was listening to the exposition of John 8 with regard to the sin of adultery, courtroom scenario, the advocate and the conscience etc., as a Lawyer, my mind was scrutinizing what the Bible had said about these sins, type of witnesses needed and what really took place here. I was also curious about what Jesus was writing on the ground (some say sand).

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What is Unit 180 and why is it one of the biggest threats to world peace?

North Korea's main spy agency has a special cell called Unit 180 that is likely to have launched some of its most daring and successful cyber attacks, according to defectors, officials and internet …

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U.S. backs call to save oceans, but notes plan to quit climate deal

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States supported a global call to action at the United Nations on Friday to conserve and sustainably use oceans, seas and marine resources, even as it noted President Donald Trump's plan to withdraw from a pact to fight climate change. The first U.N. Ocean Co...

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32 countries express ‘deep concerns’ over PH drug war, call for Callamard visit

Thirty-two countries attending the 35th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council said they have "deep concerns" over the summary killings linked to President Rodrigo Duterte's war against …

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Reasons We Don’t Read the Bible Like We Should

1. The Bible is optional 2. Many church leaders don't expect us to read the Bible 3. All we hear is mission and vision 4. Google faith 5. Failure 6. Your parents don't read the Bible 7. Bible bullies 8.

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The 4 C Model

Divinity: Original Sin 2 Gets a Release Date

Divinity: Original Sin II will be coming out of early access and receiving a full release on September 14, 2017. In its 37th update video on developer Larian Studios' YouTube page, we now finally have the full release date of the sequel to 2014's Divinity: Original Sin. Original Sin II had a succ...

http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/05/25/divinity-original-sin-2-gets-a-release-date

Selected Sayings

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Spur Your Creativity With This One Daily Activity

With only ten minutes and a little practice, you can develop a habit that can drastically improve your life. Technology and digital media have made it extraordinarily easy for all of us to stay connected and informed. In addition to a regular stream of news, we have podcasts and audio books to oc...

Most will misunderstand the Antichrist’s ‘mark’–will you?

Many wonder what 'mark' or marks may be associated with the final Antichrist. But few understand who the final Antichrist can be, let alone his mark. And relatively few will properly perceive it. The …

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The Holy Sepulcher: Archaeology says the Evangelists were right

​O​n October 20th, 2016, one of the most exciting events in centuries took place: the opening of the marble slab guarding the place tradition claims was the tomb of Jesus, inside the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.

Underneath that slab there was a second slab, also of gray marble, containing a slit along its side and bearing a Lorraine Cross. Most likely, this is from the time of the Crusades, from the beginning of the 12th century.

Once the second slab was removed, the surprises began, according to testimonies gathered from different sources. Right below this slab, a fundamental piece of the site was discovered: an ordinary stone bench excavated in the rock that is directly connected with the vertical wall, also excavated in the rock behind it.

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Vatican astronomer: If you're afraid of science, you don't have faith

"Those of us that are religious, will recognize the presence of God, but you don't have to make a theological leap to search for the truth," Br. Consolmagno said. "There are many things we know we do not understand. We cannot be good religious people or scientists if we think that our work is done."

The summit is also taking place in recognition of Fr. Georges Lemaître, the Belgian physicist and mathematician who is widely credited with developing the "Big Bang" theory to explain the origin of the physical universe.

Addressing common misconceptions surrounding the Big Bang, such as the idea that it did away with the need for a creator, Br. Consolmagno said the solution isn't just to put God at the beginning of things and call that good, either.

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Denisovans, Humans and the Chromosome 2 Fusion

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With that as background, we are now prepared to appreciate a new finding that comes from genomics work done on the Denisovan hominids, an archaic species that is more closely related to Neanderthals than to us, but that nonetheless interbred with some anatomically modern humans as they migrated out of Africa and populated the globe. (For those not familiar with the Denisovans, or the evidence for our interbreeding with them, both Darrel Falk and I have written on this previously, here and here). Recently, a more detailed understanding of the Denisovan genome was published, and nested in the new information is the discovery that the Denisovans share the 46 chromosome set with the same fusion that we have. This strongly supports the hypothesis that the fusion event predates the separation of our species. If we were to represent this on a phylogeny, we can now place this event with more accuracy than before ..

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Has the dark matter mystery been solved?

Unseen dark matter has been invoked several times to solve problems in astrophysics and cosmology. Historically the most significant problem has been the rotation curves of galaxies, particularly spiral galaxies. Using the Doppler Effect the speeds of the stars and gases in the disk regions of spiral galaxies can be measured. See Figure 1.

By now hundreds of thousands of galaxies have been measured this way. What is observed is that the speeds of the stars, and the gases beyond where the stars are observed, are much greater than it would appear Newtonian physics allows for. 

As a result it has been suggested that there is an invisible halo of cold non-interacting matter. This putative invisible halo has the needed gravitational effect on the stars and gases but it cannot be seen, hence it is called dark matter. Dark matter is alleged not to be normal atomic matter, made from protons and neutrons (which are known as baryons), but some sort of slowly moving (cold) exotic non-baryonic matter. Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) were suggested.

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Science of God Conference

The Professor and the Prophet in an exclusive exploration of the marvels of God….Join us in this discovery.

Looking at the vast expanse in the cosmos above or the depths of the blue oceans below, they speak volumes of the splendor of God who was directly involved in His creation. As humans we marvel at the enormous complexity which is breathtaking. God also gave us wisdom and an enormous capacity to explore His creation, which today tell us specific details of the "how" and "what" of His creation.

As he unleashes His love and shower His glory upon us, we obediently study His word, get closer to Him and adore Him day by day for this beauty and marvel of this creation.

Here is your opportunity to take a tour of the specific examples from the field of science , a deeper exposure to His word and a chance to bathe in His love and Glory

While we tackle issues, such as, the Big bang, expanding universe....

quantum theory, Fibonacci sequence, Uniqueness of His blood, DNA, Heart intelligence and more, you will also have adequate time to worship, release your addictions and hear from Him.......

Join us at Hotel Taj on 29 April

How to Fine-Tune Arguments for God’s Existence

One of the main points Bussey develops in his book is based on the following observation:

"At the very least, our own planet must be of a suitable kind, located in a suitable region of the universe, such that human life is possible on it. This is obviously true, and there are many planets for which it is not true, drawing our attention to the fact that not all planets can generate advanced life. Much more significant is the fact that for us to be here, the universe itself must have suitable properties. (...) This statement is normally called the "weak anthropic principle"' (p.94).

The emergence and continued existence of complex life in our universe is fragile. I believe this can trigger a genuine sense of wonder about Creation that can ultimately point to God. However, it appears to me that Bussey's way of presenting the argument is not "fine-tuned" enough to actually do the job.

For starters, we need to focus on the big picture. Together, the laws of nature form an integrated whole that sustains the complexity of conscious life. It's easy to get lost in the details by compiling a long list of properties of the universe that are precisely suitable for complex life on earth. Bussey writes: "With the complex history of the universe kept in mind, we are in a position to write a basic 'shopping list' of conditions that would allow a planet with advanced life to form" (p.96). He goes on to list about ten physical constants that are "right" within ranges that appear to be quite narrow.[1] I am sceptical of reliance on the narrow range of these physical constants. A hypothetical alien race in a hypothetical parallel universe might be wondering about completely different constants that were essential to its development. It is more relevant to emphasize the entire structure and pattern of our universe that sustains the complexity we observe. That beauty is essentially what triggers the "wow factor."

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Challenging the Standard Models of Science and Faith

As someone with a passion for understanding the relationship between science and theology, I've read innumerable books on the subject. In my experience, book-length introductions to the science and theology conversation often resort to surface-level tropes about the general relationship between the fields, rarely presenting the core debates in more than a cursory manner. Jim Stump's Science and Christianity: An Introduction to the Issues, on the other hand, presents the actual academic arguments in the key debates, and in a manner accessible to non-experts while still being scholarly enough to satisfy even the seasoned academic. The book covers topics as wide-ranging as young-earth creationism and Intelligent Design, cosmology, divine action, the soul, and the problem of natural evil. In other words, the book is remarkably comprehensive in the range of debates it covers, without sacrificing clarity and nuance. 

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Why We Need to Address Gender-Based Violence, Now More Than Ever

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the "16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence" (16 Days) campaign, originated by the Centre for Women's Global Leadership (CWGL). The campaign takes on a specific theme each year, which is determined by consulting with the many international human rights groups working to end gender-based violence (GBV). By calling upon individuals and organizations around the world to take action against GBV, the 16 Days campaign has had a significant impact and great success in building support of and activism for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls for more than two decades.  

The 16 Days campaign is exactly that —16 days of global activism, starting with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on November 25th and leading up to Human Rights Day on December 10th. During this time, Amnesty activists and members advocate for and with those who experience gender-based violence around the world. With the launch of Amnesty International's "I Welcome" Campaign this year, AIUSA has dedicated its 16 days of activism to highlighting how GBV affects refugee women and girls and LGBTI refugees.

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