Category: Religion and Philosophy

Job – A Peculiar Lesson

Grant HastingsSeptember 04, 2016

Gonzalo_Carrasco_-_Job_on_the_Dunghill_-_Google_Art_Project

I have argued that we should not look at Old Testament stories as either true or fiction. Ancient writers did not look at their environment with the scientifically literate perspective we enjoy. They focused on function. We do this to a degree in our modern language. The term ‘dozen’ does not always mean 12; it is often a function that represents a fairly large group – not so large that you need crowd control, and not so small that they could fit into a smart car. At least not comfortably. Likewise the expression ‘I have told you a thousand times’ – well, you have not told me anywhere close to a thousand times, but the amount ‘1,000’ is used as a function to express the idea that you have told me something more times than any reasonable person should expect to be told. (more…)

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What is Genesis 1 Talking About? Part Two

Grant HastingsAugust 28, 20164 Comments on What is Genesis 1 Talking About? Part Two

Genesis 1

Last week I proposed that Genesis 1 is telling a literal story using figurative language, and that this story is expressing the formation of the cosmic temple and not about the formation of the universe and the emergence of life on earth. It is not talking about the material origin of the earth, but the functional origins. How Gods creations bless our lives. Consider how the different days relate to each other: (more…)

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What is Genesis 1 Talking About?

Grant HastingsAugust 21, 201610 Comments on What is Genesis 1 Talking About?

In 1995, the majestic spiral galaxy NGC 4414 was imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope as part of the HST Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale. An international team of astronomers, led by Dr. Wendy Freedman of the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, observed this galaxy on 13 different occasions over the course of two months. Images were obtained with Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) through three different color filters. Based on their discovery and careful brightness measurements of variable stars in NGC 4414, the Key Project astronomers were able to make an accurate determination of the distance to the galaxy. The resulting distance to NGC 4414, 19.1 megaparsecs or about 60 million light-years, along with similarly determined distances to other nearby galaxies, contributes to astronomers' overall knowledge of the rate of expansion of the universe. In 1999, the Hubble Heritage Team revisited NGC 4414 and completed its portrait by observing the other half with the same filters as were used in 1995. The end result is a stunning full-color look at the entire dusty spiral galaxy. The new Hubble picture shows that the central regions of this galaxy, as is typical of most spirals, contain primarily older, yellow and red stars. The outer spiral arms are considerably bluer due to ongoing formation of young, blue stars, the brightest of which can be seen individually at the high resolution provided by the Hubble camera. The arms are also very rich in clouds of interstellar dust, seen as dark patches and streaks silhouetted against the starlight.

When reading Genesis 1, the Creation story, interpretations of the story can generally be classified into three groups:

  • Those who dogmatically cling to the story as literal gospel truth despite the science;
  • Those who reject the story as a fable or patently false because of the science;
  • Those who experience a crisis of faith when they find the word of God is in conflict with known history and become suspect of both.

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The Genetic 1%

Grant HastingsAugust 14, 20162 Comments on The Genetic 12

smiling-ape

There is, I have been told, a 1% difference in DNA between humans and Apes. Apes are, arguably, the most intelligent animals on the planet next to humans. I say arguably because hamsters are freaking brilliant Houdinis.  Apes have been studied for their ability to use simple tools and can be taught to communicate through basic sign language. Their limitation is that they cannot see beyond themselves. They are not able to ask questions about the world around them because, as far as they are concerned, everything they observe is exactly what everybody else observes.  Humans, up until the age of about 4, have the same limitation. It does not occur to them that someone else has a different perspective. (more…)

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