Believing Scripture but Playing by Science’s Rules
KINGSTON, R.I. — There is nothing much unusual about the 197-page dissertation Marcus R. Ross submitted in December to complete his doctoral degree in geosciences here at the University of Rhode Island.
His subject was the abundance and spread of mosasaurs, marine reptiles that, as he wrote, vanished at the end of the Cretaceous era about 65 million years ago. The work is “impeccable,” said David E. Fastovsky, a paleontologist and professor of geosciences at the university who was Dr. Ross’s dissertation adviser. “He was working within a strictly scientific framework, a conventional scientific framework.”
But Dr. Ross is hardly a conventional paleontologist. He is a “young earth creationist” — he believes that the Bible is a literally true account of the creation of the universe, and that the earth is at most 10,000 years old....
"If anyone understands Hegel, they are a better person than I am." I quite agree with your sentiments on this guy and his 'weltgeist' stuff. A past teacher (who was a marxist)also proudly informed me that Karl Marx claimed to have "stood Hegel on his head"...Go figure.... Yet the seeds of destruction bit could be true when you consider the fate of countries (and individuals) who adopted the marxist religion of materialist atheism....
Here is a resource that may prove helpful. It's written by experts in the field of philosophy but, as with any encyclopedia, should only be taken as having cursory overviews on disputed topics and concepts.
dialectic: discussion & reasoning by dialogue as a method of intellectual investigation. This was what Hegel was on about.
dielectric: a nonconductor of direct electric current.
Hegel's generalization about antithesis resolving into synthesis should be applied to his own idealism. In other words, his philosophy contains the seeds of its own destruction.
John says, "Personal beliefs can't help but influence how a person does 'science'." One wonders, do personal beliefs influence how a person does mathematics?
I agree that the search for ET life is a waste of time, money and energy.
But that's not because of anything the Bible says. The Bible is silent on the subject, which is not surprising, since the existence or non-existence of ET life is irrelevant to human salvation.
Nevertheless, having put life on this earth for a particular reason, I doubt that God had any reason to create life anywhere else.
Personal beliefs can't help but influence how a person does "science".
I oftem imagine how challenging it would be to work on a space probe with scientists eager to find ET life, which I don't believe exists.
That which to me is a complete waste of resources is to them among the most vital uses of the very same resources.
I suppose I would have to accommodate their side as much as possible while persuing common goals with them, or risk getting kicked-off the project, especially after they discover my REAL reasons for not believing in ET (Biblical authority), which I would have to tell them about if asked.
What an incredible balancing act, requiring much wisdom and discretion, Christians in authority must perform. Thankfully, God can supply all their need and guidence, and they're not on their own.
I am happy to see that many professors allowed this man continue with his studies, as long as he played by the scientific game by the rules. I have seen all too often where not supporting a religion such as Catholicism would get one into trouble.
However, as I somewhat suggested in my first paragraph, syncretism in Christianity is not acceptable, dielectrics didn't work in Marxism and it does not work in Christianity. Apparently the followers of the Evolutionism, realize that truth doesn't mix with their religion.
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Dr. Terry Mortenson | 1/16/2009
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john yurich usa from usa: "john uk, i accept the westminster confession of faith of..."
