Science and God

Quote: FrGamble

Bob this is your subjective (and incorrect) opinion.

And you think yours isn't a subjective opinion
also? Of course it is, all of religion is subjective.
If it wasn't it would be science. Religion is
whatever you can dream up and convince others
is true.

The incorrect part is my subjective opinion. Religion claims knowledge about God and is objective in that sense. It must support this knowledge with its theology and religious practices. It must also have evidence to support it when it connects to human history and human anthropology. It has to help us better understand ourselves and how we are to live and demonstrate how it benefits our lives and society. The only person dreaming and trying to convince others of the truth of their nightmares is the atheist.

Quote: FrGamble

The incorrect part is my subjective opinion. Religion claims knowledge about God

But they're just claims, there is no evidence
to back the claims up. Of course it's your
subjective opinion, that's all it can be. If
god were real, and could be proven to be
real, he would be taught using the scientific
method and everybody would be a believer.
Just like we believe in air and water and
osmosis and how an internal combustion
engine works. There is no science of god,
there's only subjective opinion.

Quote: FrGamble

Religion claims knowledge about God and is objective in that sense.

If it were objective, you'd have iron-clad, diamond-hard evidence to show.

This attitude of "it's so because we believe it's so, if it weren't so we wouldn't believe it," would be funny, were it not for the fact you keep bludgeoning others into line at every turn.

That and the claim that since it describes something about the human condition and why things are the way they are that it must be right.

the geocentric model of the universe was a perfectly fine description of things. the planets moved along like little spirograph lines, the stars moved around in a big circle, and it could all be described mathematically and the future positions of the objects could be predicted accurately.

of course, it turned out to be wrong. that model required most things beyond the orbit of Neptune or so to be moving faster than the speed of light.

Quote: Dalex64

That and the claim that since it describes something about the human condition and why things are the way they are that it must be right.

The problem is when they're wrong, they still insist they're right. One has to wonder how many lives the various splinters of Christianity have destroyed through their blind, irrational stubbornness.

Do you think that the only things that can be known need to be discovered by the scientific method?

Quote: FrGamble

Do you think that the only things that can be known need to be discovered by the scientific method?

I think Pascal made the ultimate bad bet.

Quote: FrGamble

Do you think that the only things that can be known need to be discovered by the scientific method?

Of course. But there will always be things,
new things, yet to be discovered. God is
always the last answer to every question,
and so far we've had no reason to use it
anywhere.

You are self-contradictory. How can you demonstrate or prove using the scientific method is the only way to know anything? That is a statement that can only be proved by philosophy. The scientific method can be used to know things that can be observed and tested. It can't be used to know if there is a God, who I should marry, what I should do with my life, or why am I here? The scientific method was created by logic and philosophy and is a very useful but limited way to discover knowledge.