Saturday, April 24, 2004
placeholder for a rant on intelligent design:
Once upon a time, people believed the bible was literal and infallible, if by people we mean many gullible americans.
that meant belief in a set of old and new testament stories and ideas.
a creation myth, and a life of the messiah myth.
the literalness of the creation myth has been challenged by scientists, who
point to 15 billion years of stellar evolution from hydrogen to a planet on which life is evolving daily. This is not a problem for those who see Genesis as story telling and allegory, but for the literalists it has been somewhat controversial.
That this is being played out in debates about evoltion in southern or rural states, is well known. Point of this rant is to discuss a similar problem with the new testament mythos.
Science tells us life evolved. Anthropologists can now tell us how religion evolved.
The Golden Bough may not be the latest word on the topic, but it makes a powerful case that the new testament mythos of a dying god is not unique, but follows a common pattern.
Religion can overcome and incorporate evolution and the scientific worldview.
The two are compatable. Now, is anybody doing anything comparable re the new testament mythos - that is, are there people who are both saved, and anthopologists, and if so, what do they have to tell us?
There's probably already tons of literature on this, I just don't know it.
Once upon a time, people believed the bible was literal and infallible, if by people we mean many gullible americans.
that meant belief in a set of old and new testament stories and ideas.
a creation myth, and a life of the messiah myth.
the literalness of the creation myth has been challenged by scientists, who
point to 15 billion years of stellar evolution from hydrogen to a planet on which life is evolving daily. This is not a problem for those who see Genesis as story telling and allegory, but for the literalists it has been somewhat controversial.
That this is being played out in debates about evoltion in southern or rural states, is well known. Point of this rant is to discuss a similar problem with the new testament mythos.
Science tells us life evolved. Anthropologists can now tell us how religion evolved.
The Golden Bough may not be the latest word on the topic, but it makes a powerful case that the new testament mythos of a dying god is not unique, but follows a common pattern.
Religion can overcome and incorporate evolution and the scientific worldview.
The two are compatable. Now, is anybody doing anything comparable re the new testament mythos - that is, are there people who are both saved, and anthopologists, and if so, what do they have to tell us?
There's probably already tons of literature on this, I just don't know it.
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