Beliefs in Miraculous Healings, Religiosity and Meaning in Life
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Understanding the Intelligent Design Creationist Movement: Its True Nature and Goals
UNDERSTANDING THE INTELLIGENT DESIGN CREATIONIST MOVEMENT: ITS TRUE NATURE AND GOALS A POSITION PAPER FROM THE CENTER FOR INQUIRY OFFICE OF PUBLIC POLICY AUTHOR: BARBARA FORREST, Ph.D. Reviewing Committee: Paul Kurtz, Ph.D.; Austin Dacey, Ph.D.; Stuart D. Jordan, Ph.D.; Ronald A. Lindsay, J. D., Ph.D.; John Shook, Ph.D.; Toni Van Pelt DATED: MAY 2007 ( AMENDED JULY 2007) Copyright © 2007 Center for Inquiry, Inc. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for noncommercial, educational purposes, provided that this notice appears on the reproduced materials, the full authoritative version is retained, and copies are not altered. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the Center for Inquiry, Inc. Table of Contents Section I. Introduction: What is at stake in the dispute over intelligent design?.................. 1 Section II. What is the intelligent design creationist movement? ........................................ 2 Section III. The historical and legal background of intelligent design creationism ................ 6 Epperson v. Arkansas (1968) ............................................................................ 6 McLean v. Arkansas (1982) .............................................................................. 6 Edwards v. Aguillard (1987) ............................................................................. 7 Section IV. The ID movement’s aims and strategy .............................................................. 9 The “Wedge Strategy” ..................................................................................... -
Intelligent Design, Abiogenesis, and Learning from History: Dennis R
Author Exchange Intelligent Design, Abiogenesis, and Learning from History: Dennis R. Venema A Reply to Meyer Dennis R. Venema Weizsäcker’s book The World View of Physics is still keeping me very busy. It has again brought home to me quite clearly how wrong it is to use God as a stop-gap for the incompleteness of our knowledge. If in fact the frontiers of knowledge are being pushed back (and that is bound to be the case), then God is being pushed back with them, and is therefore continually in retreat. We are to find God in what we know, not in what we don’t know; God wants us to realize his presence, not in unsolved problems but in those that are solved. Dietrich Bonhoeffer1 am thankful for this opportunity to nature, is the result of intelligence. More- reply to Stephen Meyer’s criticisms over, this assertion is proffered as the I 2 of my review of his book Signature logical basis for inferring design for the in the Cell (hereafter Signature). Meyer’s origin of biological information: if infor- critiques of my review fall into two gen- mation only ever arises from intelli- eral categories. First, he claims I mistook gence, then the mere presence of Signature for an argument against bio- information demonstrates design. A few logical evolution, rendering several of examples from Signature make the point my arguments superfluous. Secondly, easily: Meyer asserts that I have failed to refute … historical scientists can show that his thesis by not providing a “causally a presently acting cause must have adequate alternative explanation” for the been present in the past because the origin of life in that the few relevant cri- proposed candidate is the only known tiques I do provide are “deeply flawed.” cause of the effect in question. -
Do Miracles Occur?
Do Miracles Occur? Kenny Pearce Big Questions in Philosophy Trinity College Dublin February 2, 2021 Kenny Pearce (Big Questions) Do Miracles Occur? February 2, 2021 1 / 22 Ibrahim said: \. Fie upon you and upon that which you worship besides Allah! Have you then no sense?" They [the idolaters] said: \Burn him and help your gods, if you will be doing." We (Allah) said: \O fire! Be you coolness and safety for Ibrahim!" And they wanted to harm him, but We made them the worst losers. (Quran 21:66{70) A young labourer [in Templemore] named James Walsh has had visions of the Blessed Virgin. Miraculous cures are also being reported, including that of a young girl named Crowe, who was in the last stage of consumption when she entered Dwan's house, but completely healed when she left it. (Century Ireland, 23 August 1920) Miracles Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove the sea back. and turned the sea into dry land. (Exodus 14:21) Kenny Pearce (Big Questions) Do Miracles Occur? February 2, 2021 2 / 22 A young labourer [in Templemore] named James Walsh has had visions of the Blessed Virgin. Miraculous cures are also being reported, including that of a young girl named Crowe, who was in the last stage of consumption when she entered Dwan's house, but completely healed when she left it. (Century Ireland, 23 August 1920) Miracles Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove the sea back. and turned the sea into dry land. -
The Price of God's Miracle Working Power 1 "The Disciple Is Not Above His Master, Nor the Servant Above His Lord"
THE PRICE OF GOD’S MIRACLE WORKING POWER A. A. ALLEN HopeFaithPrayer Blog www.hopefaithprayer.com Copy Freely THE PRICE OF GOD’S MIRACLE WORKING POWER CONTENTS FOREWORD....................................................................i THE PRICE OF GOD'S MIRACLE WORKING POWER 1 "THE DISCIPLE IS NOT ABOVE HIS MASTER, NOR THE SERVANT ABOVE HIS LORD"............................21 "THE DISCIPLE IS NOT ABOVE HIS MASTER: BUT EVERYONE THAT IS PERFECT SHALL BE AS HIS MASTER"......................................................................29 "BE YE THEREFORE PERFECT, EVEN AS YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN IS PERFECT"............................42 CHRIST OUR EXAMPLE..............................................59 SELF DENIAL ...............................................................67 THE CROSS .................................................................78 “I MUST DECREASE” (John 3:30) ...............................84 "HE MUST INCREASE" (John 3:30).............................93 IDLE WORDS AND FOOLISH TALKING .....................98 PRESENT YOUR BODY ............................................108 A PARTAKER OF HIS DIVINE NATURE ...................113 PERSONAL THINGS..................................................118 DEATH CERTIFICATE ...............................................132 PROPHECY FROM THE 1950’s ................................133 THE PRICE OF GOD’S MIRACLE WORKING POWER i FOREWORD According to his death certificate Evangelist Asa Alonzo Allen died from acute alcoholism. This fact would cause some in the Christian community to forever banish from memory the accomplishments of this man of God. Did he sin in drinking himself to death? Obviously so. But in his death we should not forget the thousands who were saved, healed, and set free during the ministry of A. A. Allen. According to the Bible we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. But, we have not all been so mightily used of God as was Evangelist A. A. Allen. Also, in the light of the 9-11 attack on the United States, an included prophecy from A. -
Approaching Patients and Family Members Who Hope for a Miracle
Approaching Patients and Family Members Who Hope for a Miracle Eric Widera, M.D. Division of Geriatrics, UCSF Blog: geripal.org Twitter: @ewidera The lens of the provider The lens of the family The Case How It Plays Out In Real Life The Lung Mass It’s Bad The Mother: “Do Everything… I am hoping for a miracle” The Physician Fundamental Attribution Error Situational Reaction attribution Behavior Dispositional Reaction attribution Why would a reasonable, So Nowrational, What? and decent person do that? Paterson K et al. Crucial Confrontations. 2005 A Well Designed Question • Should be clear and focused describing: –a patient or clinical problem –the intervention or exposure –Relevant comparisons –and the outcome of interest Take a step back, why isn't a chaplain giving this talk? A Well Designed Question • Should be clear and focused describing: –a patient or clinical problem –the intervention or exposure –Relevant comparisons –and the outcome of interest 5 Questions Question 1 • Among the general public, what Is the prevalence of the belief in miracles or divine Intervention? Not an uncommon hope in general • 79% of US population believe that “miracles still occur as in ancient times” • Little difference based on age • Majority of respondents from every major religion and those unaffiliated with any religion agreed Religion among the millennials. Pew Research Center, -- 2010 A common hope in the context of health care? • Survey of 1006 adult Americans and 774 trauma professionals • A patient in PVS could be saved by a miracle • Divine intervention from God could save a person even if the physician told them “futility had been reached”. -
Intelligent Design Has No Place in the Science Curriculum by Harold Morowitz, Robert Hazen and James Trefil the Chronicle of Higher Eduction
Intelligent Design Has No Place in the Science Curriculum By Harold Morowitz, Robert Hazen and James Trefil The Chronicle of Higher Eduction Posted on Truthout 02 September 2005 Issue Volume 52, Issue 2, Page B6 Scientists who teach evolution sometimes feel as if they are trapped in an old horror film - the kind where the monster is killed repeatedly, only to come to life in a nastier form each time. Since the Scopes trial in 1925, the battle between scientists who want to teach mainstream biology in American public schools, and creationists who want to promulgate a more religious view, has gone through several cycles. In McLean v. Arkansas Board of Education in 1982, a federal court ruled that the introduction of creationism into public- school curricula constituted the establishment of religion, and hence was expressly forbidden by the First Amendment. That decision dealt a serious (though by no means fatal) blow to old-line creationism and its close cousin, so-called creation science. But another variant of creationism, so-called intelligent design, has cropped up. At least 19 states are now debating its use in public education, and President Bush commented in August that he thought both evolution and intelligent design "ought to be properly taught." Many people fail to understand the subtle but important differences between the new and old forms of creationism, and the different debates those approaches engender. Like the French generals who used tactics from World War I to face the Nazis in 1939, some educators seem intent on fighting the last war. A word about the authors of this essay: Although our areas of expertise differ, all of us have investigated aspects of life's origin and evolution. -
On Faith and Miracle: a Cosmological Perspective on Faith and Miracle As ‘Social Categories of Understanding’ in Brazilian Catholicism
Article On Faith and Miracle: A Cosmological Perspective on Faith and Miracle as ‘Social Categories of Understanding’ in Brazilian Catholicism Mísia Lins Reesink 1 1 Departamento de Antropologia e Museologia, Pós-Graduação em Antropologia, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife/PE, Brasil Abstract The concepts of faith and miracle frequently appear in the anthropological literature on Christianity. Yet these phenomena are rarely employed as social categories of understanding, and this is particularly true for research related to Catholicism. By way of my own ethnographic experience in three different fieldwork sites of Brazil’s Northeast (Agüera – where apparitions of the Virgin Mary occur; Monte Santo – a Catholic pilgrimage sanctuary; and Casa Amarela, a neighbourhood in Recife, the capital of Pernambuco state), I argue that a cosmological perspective is central to understanding Brazilian Catholicism. Furthermore, and perhaps more importantly, such a perspective reveals faith and miracle as key elements to an understanding of Catholicism as it is lived in this context. As such, I suggest rethinking faith and miracle as “social categories of understanding,” which dialectically organize Catholic logic and cosmology: the interconnectivity of humans, nature, and the supernatural. Key words: faith, miracle, Brazilian Catholicism, categories of undestanding. e17358 Vibrant v.17 1 http://doi.org/10.1590/1809-43412020v17a358 Sobre Fé e Milagre: uma perspectiva cosmológica da fé e do milagre como “categorias de entendimento” no catolicismo -
The Epistemology of Testimony
Pergamon Stud. His. Phil. Sci., Vol. 29, No. 1, pp. 1-31, 1998 0 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved Printed in Great Britain 0039-3681/98 $19.004-0.00 The Epistemology of Testimony Peter Lipton * 1. Introduction Is there anything you know entirely off your own bat? Your knowledge depends pervasively on the word of others. Knowledge of events before you were born or outside your immediate neighborhood are the obvious cases, but your epistemic dependence on testimony goes far deeper that this. Mundane beliefs-such as that the earth is round or that you think with your brain-almost invariably depend on testimony, and even quite personal facts-such as your birthday or the identity of your biological parents--can only be known with the help of others. Science is no refuge from the ubiquity of testimony. At least most of the theories that a scientist accepts, she accepts because of what others say. The same goes for almost all the data, since she didn’t perform those experiments herself. Even in those experiments she did perform, she relied on testimony hand over fist: just think of all those labels on the chemicals. Even her personal observations may have depended on testimony, if observation is theory-laden, since those theories with which it is laden were themselves accepted on testimony. Even if observation were not theory-laden, the testimony-ladenness of knowledge should be beyond dispute. We live in a sea of assertions and little if any of our knowledge would exist without it. If the role of testimony in knowledge is so vast, why is its role in the history of epistemology so slight? Why doesn’t the philosophical canon sparkle with titles such as Meditations on Testimony, A Treatise Concerning Human Testimony, and Language, Truth and Testimony? The answer is unclear. -
For Cosmic Consciousness
SELF HYPNOSIS for Cosmic Consciousness In this groundbreaking book, Ron Havens explores the hypnotic pathways that can lead to an alternate experiential world. This world of inner peace and happiness can be created by even a Cosmic Consciousness for momentary immersion in the unknown potentials that lie just beneath the surface of everyone’s conscious awareness. It is a world removed from the cares and concerns of contemporary life, and every perception is charmed by a sense of beautiful magic. It is a world that soothes the soul, brings SELF HYPNOSIS SELF HYPNOSIS contentment, and heals wounded spirits. The commitment that the author shows to this topic is not to be mistaken for a naïve acceptance of supernatural spiritualism. The alterations of consciousness dealt with throughout this book merely for Cosmic Consciousness involve a different way of perceiving the world, not a way of tapping into some mythical external “Universal Mind” and are most certainly not a source of superhuman powers or energies. However, it has been shown that even a brief taste of such a mystical or transcendental experience seems to change people in dramatically positive ways. The experiences generated by the hypnotic approaches described in this book can range from relatively mild or temporary states of relaxation to intense bursts of overwhelming sensation, or even to profound alterations in thought or understanding. Join in this exploration of these “altered states” of consciousness and sit back, relax and enjoy whatever happens. Ronald Havens is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Illinois at Springfield where he has taught for the past 30 years. -
Cosmic Consciousness We Are All One St Mary’S Matters
Cosmic Consciousness we are all one St Mary’s Matters St Mary’s Matters Issue 43 I 2016 I $31 Contents The Ferment of Becoming Trevor Parton Myth of Separateness David Cantwell Cosmic Unconsciousness Tony Carroll The Necessary Miracle of Touch Ann Ooms Cosmic Consciousness David Pincus From the Stillness Michael Tansky A Reflection on Cosmic Consciousness Barbara Fingleton Cosmic Consciousness Peeling Onions Bob Aldred owever we interpret this topic, one thing is clear. HWe need to take responsibility for the bit of the Creating Room to Read cosmos that lies at our door. Kathy Hedeman We take care of each other, we rail against the injustices Cosmic Consciousness we see being perpetrated in our name, and we have Carolyn Vincent respect for the planet on which we live. A Cosmic Experiment As a community and as individuals we can move Shar Ryan towards a sense of interdependence and connection Creator of the Cosmos with all about us. Anne Maguire Re-Imagining Luke We are lucky to have such a long standing relationship Greg Jenks with Micah. This helps us to pursue our goals of justice and peace. And the work we share with this body of Awareness people reminds us to keep living by the words of its Brian O’Hanlon eponymous prophet: Sonnet Live justly Robert Perrier Love tenderly Learning from a Place of Conflict Walk justly. Anne Brown Clearly this topic resonated with the creative minds At the Beautiful Brookfield Spirituality Centre in the community as a number of excellent poems Photostory were submitted. These included one titled ‘Creative Presence’, the author of which I cannot remember. -
PHILOSOPHY of RELIGION Selected Readings Second Edition IQ:Pl
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION Selected Readings Second Edition IQ:Pl Edited by MICHAEL PETERSON Asbury College WILLIAM HASKER Huntington College BRUCE REICHENBACH Augsburg College DAVID BASINGER Roberts Wesleyan College New York Oxford OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 2001 416 Miracles the event but whether nature was in fact the sole c I . question. ausa agent m the case in DAVID HUME The Evidence for Finally, many philosophical discussions revolve around th Miracles Is Weak whetherh hthe undisputed. occurrence of certa·1n un usua I events coulde question . of onest, t .oughtful individuals to acknowledge that G d h require all This selection contains a classic and influential argument against belief in mir- m ea:thly affairs. Some maintain that in- acles crafted by David Hume (1711-1776). The wise person, Hume informs us, healmgs or resurrections) would force all to '.e:g., as- Other philosophers argue that althou h belief . g.e d1vin.e .in- will always proportion his or her belief to the evidence. He goes on to say that may at times be acceptable for those al read .direct d1v1ne our belief in the relevant laws of nature are based on uniform, public, past ex- exists, no single event or series of events could ever com I y el1:ve that God perience, which provides a great amount of objective evidence, while the evi- to assent to the existence of a perfectly good people dence supporting alleged violations of these laws consists solely of personal tes- ample, the tremendous amount of horrific evil in th Id . agent. For ex- timonies that cannot be substantiated by independent testing. -
The Varieties of Mystical Experience: Paul Tillich and William James
The Varieties of Mystical Experience: Paul Tillich and William James By David H. Nikkel This article was originally published in the January 19, 2006 issue of The Global Spiral William James and Paul Tillich both offer rich resources for thinking about the interrelated topics of mysticism, religious faith, the object of religious faith, and the ultimate meaningfulness of life. We have seen that both can be classified as twice-born souls who sought and found comfort in mystical experience. Yet different personal and intellectual journeys led them to differing epistemologies of religious experience, which in turn led them to contrasting conclusions. These conclusions may, however, complement each other at key points. It is no coincidence that indices for Tillich's major works include multiple entries for "mysticism." For Tillich bases religion on a mystical a priori , an immediate connection or identity of each person with the ultimate, the holy, the divine. We can discern the centrality of this mystical a priori in relation to key concepts in Tillich's theology. His most famous concept of "ultimate concern" involves not only our subjective concern but a grasping of – or rather a being grasped by – the object of that concern, however distorted, idolatrous, or even demonic our understanding of the ultimate may be. Indeed, the immediacy of the connection entails for Tillich a transcendence of the normal subject-object structure, which always involves separation or "cleavage" (e.g., S3:242). Thus the ultimate or God is not external to us in the way other finite beings are. As Tillich puts it in Dynamics of Faith : "In terms like ultimate, unconditional, infinite, absolute, the difference between subjectivity and objectivity is overcome.