Nevlach Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Biology, theology, astronomy, neurology, cardiology. One of those is not like the others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super19 Posted August 28, 2012 Author Share Posted August 28, 2012 Yet more often than not the most accurate information probably comes from "experts" in those fields no? And hey thats not nice...maybe she has a thyroid problem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satan's Evil Twin Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Yet more often than not the most accurate information probably comes from "experts" in those fields no? And hey thats not nice...maybe she has a thyroid problem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharpshooter Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Which is a good point and one that I think people should at least think about when reading a biologist, neuroscientist, and journalist's thoughts on theology.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharpshooter Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 From both sides. I am saying it is not compatable from what I know from both sides. Besides that, ToE and Islam can stick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satan's Evil Twin Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 What special skills do theologians have in reading their texts that highly intelligent and learned scientists don't possess while reading them. aside for lack of skepticism? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nevlach Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 "Accurate information" can come from anyone who has wasted enough time to get through a bible or a Koran. I know I know, there are plenty of "hidden meanings" that one must spend decades trying to figure out, sadly nothing in the bible has ever cured a cancer or landed on Mars. Theology isn't a "real" field like biology or astronomy. Everything you can base Christian theology on can be derived from a single book. Sure, one can study Christian history and make a career out of it, but being a theologian is like being an expert in a particular color of bull. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nevlach Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 What special skills do theologians have in reading their texts that highly intelligent and learned scientists don't possess while reading them. aside for lack of skepticism? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharpshooter Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Sure it can, but that doesn't mean that it will. Some (not all, but some) of the basic arguments people like Dawkins and Harris have put forth are based on poor theology (which some quick google searches would show). Of course theology hasn't cured cancer or put a man on the moon, that not theology's job, that's a job for medicine and astronomy. That all said there are at least some atheists who are experts on theology (like Ehrman or Carrier) and I've found their arguments at least a little better than say the four horsemen's. Just because theology isn't a science doesn't mean it isn't a "real" field. I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satan's Evil Twin Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Sure it can, but that doesn't mean that it will. Some (not all, but some) of the basic arguments people like Dawkins and Harris have put forth are based on poor theology (which some quick google searches would show). Of course theology hasn't cured cancer or put a man on the moon, that not theology's job, that's a job for medicine and astronomy. That all said there are at least some atheists who are experts on theology (like Ehrman or Carrier) and I've found their arguments at least a little better than say the four horsemen's. Just because theology isn't a science doesn't mean it isn't a "real" field. I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nevlach Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 A field full of bull-$h!t is still a field too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nevlach Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 It's easy to agree to disagree, but what inherent value is there to theology? I don't mean the value it has in helping intellectual weaklings maintain their faith in face of reality (refer to last few pages thread for examples), I mean value to humanity akin to biology or astronomy. Sure, it's a real field, but so would be the study of colors of crap. I've never read any of the four horsemen so I'm not familiar with their faulty theology. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super19 Posted August 28, 2012 Author Share Posted August 28, 2012 What special skills do theologians have in reading their texts that highly intelligent and learned scientists don't possess while reading them. aside for lack of skepticism? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharpshooter Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Just a better understanding of the context, the history, the beliefs themselves perhaps. I just think if you want brain surgery you shouldn't consult a veterinarian (even though he may be a really smart scientist). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharpshooter Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Haha truth... at least in our difference I still laugh at some of your snide comments Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nevlach Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Historicity isn't terribly difficult of a thing to learn. Context, depends on which man-made interpretation one filters the knowledge through. The beliefs are irrelevant, since you don't have to subscribe to something to acquire knowledge of it, for example, I don't have to be a Marxist to understand the history, ideals, and what not of Marxism or of Karl Marx. A heart surgeon, an orthopedic surgeon, and plastic surgeon can't do brain surgery either, but i'd still go to them to help me in a medical emergency rather than someone who spent their 4-8 years of academics spent on learning the historicity of fairy-tales. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharpshooter Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Not a skill, but one concrete advantage theologians have over scientists in the field of theology is time and therefore should yield better understandings+perspective unless you are exceptional. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharpshooter Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 All I'm saying is making arguments for atheism would be more effective on people who are currently believers if the arguments were made using a better understanding of theology than what guys like Dawkins tend to show and yet people read them and think they are just the greatest arguments disproving a god in the history of ever. Anyway you've distracted me for long enough! I would like to get some sleep tonight...way too much to study *sigh* Going to swear off CDC till tomorrow...way to distracting haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satan's Evil Twin Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Well it does have value in a variety of areas as generally it promotes good qualities (similar to secular humanism actually). The problem is it also has bas potentials but so does biology and other sciences. Theological beliefs can be used for good and bad, science can as well. Maybe one day people will learn to just focus on the good. If that comes from doing away with religion, then I'm all for it. You've never read Dawkins, Hitchens, Harris or Dennett? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super19 Posted August 28, 2012 Author Share Posted August 28, 2012 Exactly the advantage scientists have over theologians in the field of science and when it comes to answering questions about nature, no? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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