EVOLVING CONTINENTS

Slide 1:EVOLVING CONTINENTS

SU SPRING 2008 Welcome again to the Rock and Cloud Show�Don and I are both working hard to make this a JOURNEY and not just a TRIP. Next slide�Welcome again to the Rock and Cloud Show�Don and I are both working hard to make this a JOURNEY and not just a TRIP. Next slide�

Slide 2:A Special or Pointless Place?

Ending of MIND OF GOD book by Paul Davies� It is equally difficult to dismiss as pointless the importance, not of the Homo species, of the mind or consciousness that is able to ask about the meaning of this planet in the cosmos. Not just man or hominid TOOLMAKER but the one who �MINES� for the flint, the spark, the fire of the universe (to pick up with an analogue from last week�s lecture by Don). Next slide�Ending of MIND OF GOD book by Paul Davies� It is equally difficult to dismiss as pointless the importance, not of the Homo species, of the mind or consciousness that is able to ask about the meaning of this planet in the cosmos. Not just man or hominid TOOLMAKER but the one who �MINES� for the flint, the spark, the fire of the universe (to pick up with an analogue from last week�s lecture by Don). Next slide�

Slide 3:

For a very brief stint of our hiding from the �hot pursuit� of law enforcement (before settling down here in Sun City) Don and I went on the road disguised as the Smother�s Brothers. Here we are practicing our �be quiet� or �gag rule� behavior. In due course you will know more about us than you ever cared to. Next slide�For a very brief stint of our hiding from the �hot pursuit� of law enforcement (before settling down here in Sun City) Don and I went on the road disguised as the Smother�s Brothers. Here we are practicing our �be quiet� or �gag rule� behavior. In due course you will know more about us than you ever cared to.

Slide 4:Coming weeks� proposals:

We have before us four increasingly capacious metaphors� 3. Chronicle 4. Account 5. Sketch 6. Epic �I offer these in order to provide a �re-frame� and alternate �pictures.� This observes the notion of �critical pluralism� from Karl Popper (and Isaiah Berlin)--that it is not absolutizing or relativizing to choose or exercise preference. It has its own �objectivity� in terms of higher order (Thomistic) universals (neither �just taste� nor �bigotry�) because it is what sustains human community, and lower order (relative) in that it does bear on historical circumstances (ie the choice of democracy over Nazism). Take away lesson for today: NEVER SAY MERE METAPHOR. Next slide�This observes the notion of �critical pluralism� from Karl Popper (and Isaiah Berlin)--that it is not absolutizing or relativizing to choose or exercise preference. It has its own �objectivity� in terms of higher order (Thomistic) universals (neither �just taste� nor �bigotry�) because it is what sustains human community, and lower order (relative) in that it does bear on historical circumstances (ie the choice of democracy over Nazism). Take away lesson for today: NEVER SAY MERE METAPHOR. Next slide�

Slide 5:Properties of Models/Language

Based on current data Coherent in content Comprehensive in scope Sparking the imagination (fertile) Ian Barbour Again, Ian Barbour, encyclopedic author, named the aspects or characteristics of good modeling�mindscaping. I have used the word �coherent� because several words do not fit my view�one is consistent which is too tight and the other �resonant� which is too loose (as definitions). Next slide�Again, Ian Barbour, encyclopedic author, named the aspects or characteristics of good modeling�mindscaping. I have used the word �coherent� because several words do not fit my view�one is consistent which is too tight and the other �resonant� which is too loose (as definitions). Next slide�

Slide 6:

Let�s review for a minute: last week I proposed RECORD is a weak and broken notion of STORY�the Biblical Theory of Everything. �In the beginning God created� � becomes the springboard for intellectual conspiracy, for example, God planted older looking bones to tempt faith. That is faith NOT. Controversial but admired by some (not me). Best theologians are humble if not agnostic. Literalism fails on the arguments from circularity�to wit, that the Bible says it is true so it must be true (circulus in probando or �begging the question�). It defies logic and deductive reasoning. Next slide�Let�s review for a minute: last week I proposed RECORD is a weak and broken notion of STORY�the Biblical Theory of Everything. �In the beginning God created� � becomes the springboard for intellectual conspiracy, for example, God planted older looking bones to tempt faith. That is faith NOT. Controversial but admired by some (not me). Best theologians are humble if not agnostic. Literalism fails on the arguments from circularity�to wit, that the Bible says it is true so it must be true (circulus in probando or �begging the question�). It defies logic and deductive reasoning.

Slide 7:What IS truth? Godel�s Theorem

G�del's Theorem, regarding the limitative theorems of mathematics and the theory of computation, suggests that once the ability to represent your own structure has reached a certain critical point, that is the kiss of death: it guarantees that you can never represent yourself totally. Godel suggested that ultimately, we cannot understand our own mind/brains ... just as we cannot see our faces with our own eyes, is it not inconceivable to expect that we cannot mirror our complete mental structures in the symbols which carry them out. It was mathematical proof of incompleteness and hence all laws and principles must admit the end of absolute certitude. As soon as infinity is declared it is the end of certitude. Thus, also, with faith, or faith based knowledge, there are limits to its knowing. Kant who awoke from his dogmatic slumber during the reading of David Hume was to speak of the limits of all three�reason, faith and moral certitude (even the categorical imperative). Next slide�Godel suggested that ultimately, we cannot understand our own mind/brains ... just as we cannot see our faces with our own eyes, is it not inconceivable to expect that we cannot mirror our complete mental structures in the symbols which carry them out. It was mathematical proof of incompleteness and hence all laws and principles must admit the end of absolute certitude. As soon as infinity is declared it is the end of certitude. Thus, also, with faith, or faith based knowledge, there are limits to its knowing. Kant who awoke from his dogmatic slumber during the reading of David Hume was to speak of the limits of all three�reason, faith and moral certitude (even the categorical imperative). Next slide�

Slide 8:Kurt Godel

Math genius that upset classical mathematics with �incompleteness� proposition but led way to further implications for philosophy and especially information systems. Next slide�Math genius that upset classical mathematics with �incompleteness� proposition but led way to further implications for philosophy and especially information systems. Next slide�

Slide 9:And then there is Carbon Dating?

Radiocarbon dating relies on a simple natural phenomenon. As the Earth's upper atmosphere is bombarded by cosmic radiation, atmospheric nitrogen is broken down into an unstable isotope of carbon - carbon 14 (C-14). See websites on Carbon Dating Radiocarbon, or Carbon-14, dating is probably one of the most widely used and best known dating methods. It was developed by J. R. Arnold and W. F. Libby in 1949, and has become an indispensable part of the archaeologist's tool kit since. Its development revolutionized archaeology by providing a means of dating deposits independent of artifacts and local stratigraphic sequences. This allowed for the establishment of world-wide chronologies. Ask Don Beaumont more about this tool but it has a lot to say to the Literalists/Record Metaphorists of the Bible. Next slide�Radiocarbon, or Carbon-14, dating is probably one of the most widely used and best known dating methods. It was developed by J. R. Arnold and W. F. Libby in 1949, and has become an indispensable part of the archaeologist's tool kit since. Its development revolutionized archaeology by providing a means of dating deposits independent of artifacts and local stratigraphic sequences. This allowed for the establishment of world-wide chronologies. Ask Don Beaumont more about this tool but it has a lot to say to the Literalists/Record Metaphorists of the Bible. Next slide�

Slide 10:CHRONICLE image

Religious language can be elastic/stretchable: My doctors told me in 1998 (ten years ago) I had two years to live. I moved to Sun City to die in 2000. After the first two-and-a-half years I decided I was going to live longer so I found something to do�Senior University has been a great venue for my growth and giving. I have loved every minute of my bonus life and I for one am deeply humbled by your taking this �journey� with me. Here is the deal: science is typically read literally�especially doctor�s words. So were the doctor�s speaking allegorically? I grew up (in seminary) on this CHRONICLE mindscape�an elegant poetic view of the Creation Story. I still like it and want to retain the �special place� cosmologically for humankind (Adam and Eve as potentiality for growth/promise) and the planet (Garden) and generally of the genius of the Genesis stories. But there is an elasticity to the stories (you can play with them in a limited sense) because of the �language game� of �God-talk� and not �Doctor-talk.� But how far can one stretch before the compromise or concession is fatal to the basic premise? Death by a thousand qualifications? God the the gaps problem. Next slide�My doctors told me in 1998 (ten years ago) I had two years to live. I moved to Sun City to die in 2000. After the first two-and-a-half years I decided I was going to live longer so I found something to do�Senior University has been a great venue for my growth and giving. I have loved every minute of my bonus life and I for one am deeply humbled by your taking this �journey� with me. Here is the deal: science is typically read literally�especially doctor�s words. So were the doctor�s speaking allegorically? I grew up (in seminary) on this CHRONICLE mindscape�an elegant poetic view of the Creation Story. I still like it and want to retain the �special place� cosmologically for humankind (Adam and Eve as potentiality for growth/promise) and the planet (Garden) and generally of the genius of the Genesis stories. But there is an elasticity to the stories (you can play with them in a limited sense) because of the �language game� of �God-talk� and not �Doctor-talk.� But how far can one stretch before the compromise or concession is fatal to the basic premise? Death by a thousand qualifications? God the the gaps problem. Next slide�

Slide 11:Creation as CHRONICLE

CHRONICLE, today�s word, refers to the �Old Earth� model/language in poetic or figurative genre II Peter 3:8 ��a thousand years is but a day�� suggests variability if not non-literal language Today�s session Narrative Meta-phor or Meta (after) Physics to use Aristotle�s word. Next slide�Today�s session Narrative Meta-phor or Meta (after) Physics to use Aristotle�s word. Next slide�

Slide 12:Assets of CHRONICLE Model

1. Language flexibility 2. Added literary forms 3. Partial discrimination of faith-based language from experimental-based Wiggle room, semantics and beginning of therapeutic demarcation between science and religion. Next slide�Wiggle room, semantics and beginning of therapeutic demarcation between science and religion. Next slide�

Slide 13:Deficits of CHRONICLE Model

1. Wide variance of �day� and �old� 2. Sequence detail issues 3. New questions about the contact between scientific and religious spheres �Yom� or Hebrew for day or year, millennia, geologic time perhaps �time itself?� Both St. Augustine and Albert Einstein contended that �time itself� arose in the origins of the universe. Key word is �contact� instead of �conflict� (Barbour and Haught). But what are the limits of this model and language game? Next slide��Yom� or Hebrew for day or year, millennia, geologic time perhaps �time itself?� Both St. Augustine and Albert Einstein contended that �time itself� arose in the origins of the universe. Key word is �contact� instead of �conflict� (Barbour and Haught). But what are the limits of this model and language game? Next slide�

Slide 14:Sacred Text

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light;" and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. Gen. 1:1ff First Genesis creation story�the younger of the two�less anthropomorphic and more philosophical theology. Multiple uses of single word DAY (four different uses in this Creation story). Hebrew only has a vocabulary of 8700 words. English has a half million. French 40K. In terms of the JEPD (Four Documentary Hypothesis) the redactor here is Priestly�stressing cultic order. Next slide�First Genesis creation story�the younger of the two�less anthropomorphic and more philosophical theology. Multiple uses of single word DAY (four different uses in this Creation story). Hebrew only has a vocabulary of 8700 words. English has a half million. French 40K. In terms of the JEPD (Four Documentary Hypothesis) the redactor here is Priestly�stressing cultic order. Next slide�

Slide 15:Event Sequence

The order of creation in Genesis 1 is: heaven and earth, light, vault of heaven (i.e., separation of earthly and heavenly waters), seas and dry land, plants, sun and stars, fish and birds, land animals, and last humans. The actual order of appearance of life forms -- sea-dwelling life, land plants, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals -- is different from the order in either Genesis account. Seed-bearing plants were not the first plants on land, but both Genesis accounts refer to trees and fruits in the initial creation of plants. Some �facts� on the ground variant with this sequence but there are loosely favorable comparisons. No mention of Black Energy since that was unknown until 1998�and even now know practically nothing about it. Next slide�Some �facts� on the ground variant with this sequence but there are loosely favorable comparisons. No mention of Black Energy since that was unknown until 1998�and even now know practically nothing about it. Next slide�

Slide 16:St. Augustine of Hippo

In the Kingdom of God and Geekdom of God (Scholars) he is a Franchise Player. Next slide�In the Kingdom of God and Geekdom of God (Scholars) he is a Franchise Player. Next slide�

Slide 17:Augustine�s allegorical approach

From: The Literal Interpretation of Genesis 1:19�20 [A.D. 408] "[A]t least we know that it [the Genesis creation day] is different from the ordinary day with which we are familiar" (ibid., 5:2). He not only anticipates Einstein�s logic of �time itself� beginning with Genesis, but also took a non-literal approach to the concept of �day� in the Genesis stories. So what is a �day�? Next slide�He not only anticipates Einstein�s logic of �time itself� beginning with Genesis, but also took a non-literal approach to the concept of �day� in the Genesis stories. So what is a �day�? Next slide�

Slide 18:Stephen Hawking

Rock Star of Astrophysics Science. Next slide�Rock Star of Astrophysics Science. Next slide�

Slide 19:Two famous quotes from Hawking

A Brief History famously ended with the words: �Then we shall know the mind of God.� This was a metaphor? Hawking�s God would be, as he puts it, �an embodiment of the laws of science�. Quotes�part of his �fire in the equations� search that ended in failure but a kind of scientific agnosticism, or was it? It sounds Panentheistic? Something more than the Spinosian view of God (Liebnitz contented) he appeared to have earlier yet without transcendence. What is this embodiment or embeddedness? Since Hawking chooses his words carefully, the �embody� is a key word. Does the God he aches for now have a continuing interest in the universe? Next slide�Quotes�part of his �fire in the equations� search that ended in failure but a kind of scientific agnosticism, or was it? It sounds Panentheistic? Something more than the Spinosian view of God (Liebnitz contented) he appeared to have earlier yet without transcendence. What is this embodiment or embeddedness? Since Hawking chooses his words carefully, the �embody� is a key word. Does the God he aches for now have a continuing interest in the universe? Next slide�

Slide 20:Second Creation Story (Earliest)

Genesis 2: 7-8: "Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. Thus the man became a living creature." Gen. 2: 15-18: "The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to till it and take care of it. He told the man 'You may eat from every tree in the garden, but not from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.'" Gen. 2: 21-22: "And so the Lord God put the man into a trance, and while he slept, he took one of his ribs and, which he had taken out of the man, into a woman," closed the flesh over the place. Second Genesis Creation story�and the oldest by a couple of hundred years. Now (not having read Loren Eisley or Teilhard de Jardin) what stuns me is the word �dust��molecular rock debris, leftovers of the Big Bang�emergent life from the �geological platform� of the cosmos. Paul writes with equal stunning prescience in Romans 8: ��all creations groans in travail awaiting the revealing of the children of God�!� That gives new meaning to the �Lithosphere� (��God can raise children of Abraham from these stones!� or the ��stones will shout out�� from the Palm Sunday text�human sentience and consciousness arising from rocks?!! This text also raises the problem called �human nature��Stephen Pinker called the new evolutionary view of human nature �not your grandfathers� but goes on to favorable apprise the view that is neither too pessimistic (Augustine and Church Fathers) or too optimistic (Age of Reason and Age of Progress) Next slide�Second Genesis Creation story�and the oldest by a couple of hundred years. Now (not having read Loren Eisley or Teilhard de Jardin) what stuns me is the word �dust��molecular rock debris, leftovers of the Big Bang�emergent life from the �geological platform� of the cosmos. Paul writes with equal stunning prescience in Romans 8: ��all creations groans in travail awaiting the revealing of the children of God�!� That gives new meaning to the �Lithosphere� (��God can raise children of Abraham from these stones!� or the ��stones will shout out�� from the Palm Sunday text�human sentience and consciousness arising from rocks?!! This text also raises the problem called �human nature��Stephen Pinker called the new evolutionary view of human nature �not your grandfathers� but goes on to favorable apprise the view that is neither too pessimistic (Augustine and Church Fathers) or too optimistic (Age of Reason and Age of Progress) Next slide�

Slide 21:Steven Pinker�Human Nature

Not only are causation and language at stake here in this CHRONICLE discussion but also we add human nature. Let me introduce this now even though we will have to address it further later in other sessions. Dr. Don is playing the usual role of reductivity when he says I go ballistic when he says that �STORY� is just about control and comfort (C&C). He is right because there are other things going on�an interplay not only between environment and genes but also between Mind and Mindscape. �This is NOT your grandfather�s human nature� declares Pinker and then the Harvard psychology teacher and author goes on to argue that we better �re-invent� human nature because evolutionary science has brought it back�why do we have aggression in our behavior (violent control issue/road rage?), do we have free will (alcoholism�where do pre-dispositional determinism and free agency (choice to be dry and change attitude?), or what things are �hardwired� into our genes (faith, depression, hope, altruism?)? The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature (Viking), is likely to continue his string of publishing successes -- and to keep him at the red-hot center of discussions over the meaning and implications of the increasingly important field of evolutionary psychology. Evolutionary psychologists such as Pinker argue that the human mind, like the human body, has been designed by natural selection through the process of biological evolution. Insights from evolutionary psychology are dramatically transforming the ways in which political scientists, economists, anthropologists, social psychologists, linguists, and cultural studies critics think about social and political institutions. If Pinker and his colleagues are right, it turns out that there really is an innate human nature common to all people. To be sure, this is not your grandfather's human nature. Evolutionary psychologists argue that the brain is a physical system with built-in neural circuits designed to generate environmentally appropriate behavior. These neural circuits are specialized for handling different adaptive problems, and most brain functioning is unconscious. Because our brains evolved to handle problems faced by our Stone Age ancestors, some innate behaviors are maladaptive in the modern world. These range from our tendency to divide people into in-groups and out-groups to our sweet tooth, which helped our ancestors select ripe fruit in a world where food was scarce, but leads to obesity for many in societies where food is abundant. Innate brain modules exist for activities such as social learning, language, feeding, mating, and many other unconscious behaviors. Many of these neural circuits have been mapped by brain scans and by clinical studies of brain-damaged people. Evolutionary psychology is addressing age-old questions about human nature. Are people inherently good? Are they social animals? Are they rational, utility-maximizing individuals? If both nature and nurture shape our characters and determine our destinies, what is the precise contribution of each? Do we have free will? These questions lie at the heart of centuries-long political, philosophical, and religious conflicts. And the answers inform how we think social, political, and economic life should be organized. Evolutionary psychology discomfits many intellectuals and scientists and Pinker has been savagely attacked by both the left and the right. Marxists such as Harvard's Richard Lewontin and the late Stephen Jay Gould assert that evolutionary psychology is little more than fatuous cocktail party speculation, while conservative commentators in The Weekly Standard and First Things (Roman Catholic) charge Pinker with trying to undermine the religious basis of morality. His The Blank Slate, which combines scientific insights from genetics, neuroscience, computer science, and evolutionary biology, and is Pinker's rejoinder to such critics. In it, he masterfully deconstructs what he calls the main "myths" about human psychology that have dominated and distorted intellectual discourse about human nature for the last century. Pinker gets blasted about equally from left and right�a possible sign he is on target? What about University of Minnesota �Twin Studies?� Not all things are explained by genetics�unusual similarities but also some startling differences at unexpected points of lifestyle, attitude and choices�Pinker argues against �spotless mind�tabula rasa� but also for the interplay of nature and nurture. Next slide�Not only are causation and language at stake here in this CHRONICLE discussion but also we add human nature. Let me introduce this now even though we will have to address it further later in other sessions. Dr. Don is playing the usual role of reductivity when he says I go ballistic when he says that �STORY� is just about control and comfort (C&C). He is right because there are other things going on�an interplay not only between environment and genes but also between Mind and Mindscape. �This is NOT your grandfather�s human nature� declares Pinker and then the Harvard psychology teacher and author goes on to argue that we better �re-invent� human nature because evolutionary science has brought it back�why do we have aggression in our behavior (violent control issue/road rage?), do we have free will (alcoholism�where do pre-dispositional determinism and free agency (choice to be dry and change attitude?), or what things are �hardwired� into our genes (faith, depression, hope, altruism?)? The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature (Viking), is likely to continue his string of publishing successes -- and to keep him at the red-hot center of discussions over the meaning and implications of the increasingly important field of evolutionary psychology. Evolutionary psychologists such as Pinker argue that the human mind, like the human body, has been designed by natural selection through the process of biological evolution. Insights from evolutionary psychology are dramatically transforming the ways in which political scientists, economists, anthropologists, social psychologists, linguists, and cultural studies critics think about social and political institutions. If Pinker and his colleagues are right, it turns out that there really is an innate human nature common to all people. To be sure, this is not your grandfather's human nature. Evolutionary psychologists argue that the brain is a physical system with built-in neural circuits designed to generate environmentally appropriate behavior. These neural circuits are specialized for handling different adaptive problems, and most brain functioning is unconscious. Because our brains evolved to handle problems faced by our Stone Age ancestors, some innate behaviors are maladaptive in the modern world. These range from our tendency to divide people into in-groups and out-groups to our sweet tooth, which helped our ancestors select ripe fruit in a world where food was scarce, but leads to obesity for many in societies where food is abundant. Innate brain modules exist for activities such as social learning, language, feeding, mating, and many other unconscious behaviors. Many of these neural circuits have been mapped by brain scans and by clinical studies of brain-damaged people. Evolutionary psychology is addressing age-old questions about human nature. Are people inherently good? Are they social animals? Are they rational, utility-maximizing individuals? If both nature and nurture shape our characters and determine our destinies, what is the precise contribution of each? Do we have free will? These questions lie at the heart of centuries-long political, philosophical, and religious conflicts. And the answers inform how we think social, political, and economic life should be organized. Evolutionary psychology discomfits many intellectuals and scientists and Pinker has been savagely attacked by both the left and the right. Marxists such as Harvard's Richard Lewontin and the late Stephen Jay Gould assert that evolutionary psychology is little more than fatuous cocktail party speculation, while conservative commentators in The Weekly Standard and First Things (Roman Catholic) charge Pinker with trying to undermine the religious basis of morality. His The Blank Slate, which combines scientific insights from genetics, neuroscience, computer science, and evolutionary biology, and is Pinker's rejoinder to such critics. In it, he masterfully deconstructs what he calls the main "myths" about human psychology that have dominated and distorted intellectual discourse about human nature for the last century. Pinker gets blasted about equally from left and right�a possible sign he is on target? What about University of Minnesota �Twin Studies?� Not all things are explained by genetics�unusual similarities but also some startling differences at unexpected points of lifestyle, attitude and choices�Pinker argues against �spotless mind�tabula rasa� but also for the interplay of nature and nurture. Next slide�

Slide 22:Many literary forms (Genres)

Poetry�non-prose or lyrical History�patriarchal, royal, prophetic, etc Genealogy�lines of tribal descent Doctrine�faith statements/propositions Civil�regulations along with ritual rules Hymnody�songs of faith Letters�personal and communal Code (Apocalyptic)�hidden messages Richness of Bible�and complexity�emergent complexity in cultural tools as well as physical or genetic adaptations. Next slide�Richness of Bible�and complexity�emergent complexity in cultural tools as well as physical or genetic adaptations. Next slide�

Slide 23:More Daffy-nitions/Descriptions:

Lower Criticism�root meaning of text Higher Criticism�contextual meaning Documentary Theory�inter-textual nexus Form Criticism�various genre/forms Redaction�editing or revisions Textual criticism�examination of accuracy Manuscript dating�age of manuscripts My own short hand definitions/descriptions. Next slide�My own short hand definitions/descriptions. Next slide�

Slide 24:Emergent

Here are the properties of my key word: Expands �evolution� to include aspects of direction and purpose Includes both cyclic and linear dimensions on the space-time continuum Highlights the robust interplay of all things scientific and religious�complementarity Perhaps I am overloading this word but it seems to me that is both sufficiently expansive while yet conserving core elements of major domains�a complementarity or a robust interplay that offers potentiality. Next slide�Perhaps I am overloading this word but it seems to me that is both sufficiently expansive while yet conserving core elements of major domains�a complementarity or a robust interplay that offers potentiality. Next slide�

Slide 25:Darwin�example of literalism?

"I gradually came to disbelieve in Christianity as a divine revelation." Autobiography Comment for me is on next two slides�Darwin felt he had murdered God. In his latter years fell into a major melancholy. Next slide�Comment for me is on next two slides�Darwin felt he had murdered God. In his latter years fell into a major melancholy. Next slide�

Slide 26:Thoughts of Newton and Darwin

A fruitful way of thinking about �getting stuck� is Handy�s Intersecting Sigmoid Curves: let�s just call them the Twin Arcs. Charles Handy and the �arrested� Life 1? This is offered as an opinion on low level stereotyping and militant statements of both religious and secular voices. Anti-dialogical�until second line or life skill set developed. CONSIDER: Kitty Ferguson�s comments in GOD FOR THE 21st CENTURY re: Aquinas late in life admitting that the �propositional truth� route was only first stage of his faith in God�a second stage of experiential was deeper. Also Immanuel Kant�s reading of David Hume and �awakening from his dogmatic slumbers!� Would not this qualify as a Sigmoid Curve illustration�along with the �crossover scientists�? Next slide�A fruitful way of thinking about �getting stuck� is Handy�s Intersecting Sigmoid Curves: let�s just call them the Twin Arcs. Charles Handy and the �arrested� Life 1? This is offered as an opinion on low level stereotyping and militant statements of both religious and secular voices. Anti-dialogical�until second line or life skill set developed. CONSIDER: Kitty Ferguson�s comments in GOD FOR THE 21st CENTURY re: Aquinas late in life admitting that the �propositional truth� route was only first stage of his faith in God�a second stage of experiential was deeper. Also Immanuel Kant�s reading of David Hume and �awakening from his dogmatic slumbers!� Would not this qualify as a Sigmoid Curve illustration�along with the �crossover scientists�? Next slide�

Slide 27:Two Domains/NOMA thesis

Argument # 1�Science and Religion are distinct equal magisteria Argument # 2�Science and Religion are inseparable polar magisteria Mixing of the two leads to unnecessary conflict Source: Rocks of Ages Jay Stephen Gould Paleoanthropologist�famous for his defense of NOMA (Non-overlapping Magisteria). Re-working of an older separatistic hypothesis from William Paley�s Natural Theology of 18th century? Immanuel Kant before Gould spoke of the limitation of reason and faith�may have been first to speak of different domains. Also a Humean thesis. Next slide�Paleoanthropologist�famous for his defense of NOMA (Non-overlapping Magisteria). Re-working of an older separatistic hypothesis from William Paley�s Natural Theology of 18th century? Immanuel Kant before Gould spoke of the limitation of reason and faith�may have been first to speak of different domains. Also a Humean thesis. Next slide�

Slide 28:Fuzzy Thinking

Civil courts are charged to sort out bogus and fuzzy messes. A 2005 court case Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District in Pennsylvania declared: Intelligent Design is creationism re- packaged�not science. The judgment had �nothing to do with politics, but evidence and precedents�� Ruling by a Judge John E. Jones Comments: ELCA Lutheran�see magazine of the church, LUTHERAN. Also John F. Haught interview on his participation as a witness in the case: You have carved out an interesting position in the debate over science and religion. You are critical of atheists like Dawkins and Dennett, who believe evolutionary theory leads to atheism. Yet you testified at the 2005 Dover trial against intelligent design. What's wrong with intelligent design? I testified against it because, first of all, teaching it in public schools is a violation of the establishment clause of the First Amendment. There is something irremediably religious about the idea. Try to deny it though they might, advocates of intelligent design are really proposing a kind of watered-down version of natural theology. That's the attempt to explain what's going on in nature's order and design by appealing to a nonnatural source. So it's not science. I agree with all the scientists who say intelligent design should not be made part of science. It's not a valid scientific alternative to Darwinian ideas. It should not be taught in classrooms and public schools. It's also extremely poor theology. What intelligent design tries to do -- and the great theologians have always resisted this idea -- is to place the divine, the Creator, within the continuum of natural causes. And this amounts to an extreme demotion of the transcendence of God, by making God just one cause in a series of natural causes. This becomes the "God of the gaps." When you can't explain something by science, you say God did it. Paul Tillich, the great Protestant theologian, said that kind of thinking was the foundation of modern atheism. Careless Christian thinkers wanted to make a place for God within the physical system that Newton and others had elaborated. That, in effect, demoted the deity as being just one link in a chain of causes that brought the transcendent into the realm of complete secular immanence. The atheists quite rightly said this God is unnecessary. Next slide� Next slideComments: ELCA Lutheran�see magazine of the church, LUTHERAN. Also John F. Haught interview on his participation as a witness in the case: You have carved out an interesting position in the debate over science and religion. You are critical of atheists like Dawkins and Dennett, who believe evolutionary theory leads to atheism. Yet you testified at the 2005 Dover trial against intelligent design. What's wrong with intelligent design? I testified against it because, first of all, teaching it in public schools is a violation of the establishment clause of the First Amendment. There is something irremediably religious about the idea. Try to deny it though they might, advocates of intelligent design are really proposing a kind of watered-down version of natural theology. That's the attempt to explain what's going on in nature's order and design by appealing to a nonnatural source. So it's not science. I agree with all the scientists who say intelligent design should not be made part of science. It's not a valid scientific alternative to Darwinian ideas. It should not be taught in classrooms and public schools. It's also extremely poor theology. What intelligent design tries to do -- and the great theologians have always resisted this idea -- is to place the divine, the Creator, within the continuum of natural causes. And this amounts to an extreme demotion of the transcendence of God, by making God just one cause in a series of natural causes. This becomes the "God of the gaps." When you can't explain something by science, you say God did it. Paul Tillich, the great Protestant theologian, said that kind of thinking was the foundation of modern atheism. Careless Christian thinkers wanted to make a place for God within the physical system that Newton and others had elaborated. That, in effect, demoted the deity as being just one link in a chain of causes that brought the transcendent into the realm of complete secular immanence. The atheists quite rightly said this God is unnecessary. Next slide� Next slide

Slide 29:ID defense as Science

�Unlike creationism, the scientific theory of intelligent design is agnostic regarding the source of design and has no commitment to defending Genesis, the Bible or any other sacred text. Instead, intelligent design theory is an effort to empirically detect whether the �apparent design� in nature observed by biologists is genuine design (the product of an organizing intelligence) or is simply the product of chance and mechanical natural laws.� John G. West of Center for Science and Culture Were Darwin or Einstein to read such language or comment�what might they think? This gets to the heart of the issue: since there is a science of both understanding and a science of manipulation, just as there is a religion of understanding (theology) and a religion of manipulation, who decides what is what? Who decides the motives? Does the person or organization have an agenda to help us know or to bully us? That is a critical distinction� Next slide�Were Darwin or Einstein to read such language or comment�what might they think? This gets to the heart of the issue: since there is a science of both understanding and a science of manipulation, just as there is a religion of understanding (theology) and a religion of manipulation, who decides what is what? Who decides the motives? Does the person or organization have an agenda to help us know or to bully us? That is a critical distinction�

Slide 30:What Luther would do to me

Luther, after whom the Lutheran Church is named, would be saddened by the many theologians, educators and educational institutions bearing the name Lutheran which today propagate that which he despised�evolution. The world should know that those �vulgar persons� who currently call themselves Lutheran, but accept theistic evolution, would get a good thrashing from Luther were he to catch up with them! From a Ultra-conservative blog This person obviously considers me a heretic for not taking the STORY literally. And according to him I am in deep trouble. Next slide�This person obviously considers me a heretic for not taking the STORY literally. And according to him I am in deep trouble. Next slide�

Slide 31:Literal and Poetic

�Dust thou art and to dust thou shalt return.� Genesis 3:19 From the historic and biblical Ash Wednesday church rites We are both geological and theological. Go figure! Next slide�We are both geological and theological.

Slide 32:Buyer Beware!

Apophatic tradition (deep humility that is agnostic before mystery) is not to be confused with Sgt. Schultz�s: �I know nuz-zing; nuz-zing at all!� More on the apophatic and kataphatic traditions or theologies in a later slide. What is important here is the beginning of wisdom. I will always be Kataphatic or one who thinks there are �analogies� to God-talk (models and language) that will all eventually fail but which in the meantime, used properly, are helpful. Next slide�More on the apophatic and kataphatic traditions or theologies in a later slide. What is important here is the beginning of wisdom. I will always be Kataphatic or one who thinks there are �analogies� to God-talk (models and language) that will all eventually fail but which in the meantime, used properly, are helpful. Next slide�

Slide 33:Which �Meta�phor/Mindscape?

Last session and today�s session give us two choices on Mindscapes�control or semi-control (literal or allegory) for �framing up� the issue of Science and Religion. Last slide�Last session and today�s session give us two choices on Mindscapes�control or semi-control (literal or allegory) for �framing up� the issue of Science and Religion. Last slide�

Slide 34:Comments; Discussion; Q&A

Summary: �Old Earth� expands and nuances the biblical model/language and avoids the worst of the �conflict� choices. Contrast characterizes this position. We have addressed new choices in part by literary tools�interpretative and symbolic�and by suggesting inter-theretical frames of reference. Obviously I have a �soft spot� in my Mindscape for this Metanarrative�CHRONICLE. But it falls short of dealing with wider inter-disciplinary issues such as Classical theisms and questions, neo-Darwinian inputs, and Post-liberal critiques. Leave up�Obviously I have a �soft spot� in my Mindscape for this Metanarrative�CHRONICLE. But it falls short of dealing with wider inter-disciplinary issues such as Classical theisms and questions, neo-Darwinian inputs, and Post-liberal critiques. Leave up�