4 ms·

It doesn't contradict all gods, but it does explicitly contradict most gods, or at least what most in the western world mean when they say "God."

f6v 6y ago
To play the devil's advocate, suppose we show that organic life can spontaneously emerge from basic building blocks under certain conditions. Even then, there's a chance that those conditions were not present on Earth when life appeared here. It might be the case that a God had to artificially create them. And the first life was here billions of years ago, chances are we can't ever be sure.
brink 6y ago
I'm Christian, and I believe in evolution, the big bang, old earth.. They're not contradictory. There are actually a lot of Christians who believe in those things. CS Lewis believed in an old earth while also believing in God. I usually try avoid religious debates on HN though.
- spacemark 6y ago
  Belief has nothing to do with forming and testing hypotheses. You don't "believe" in evolution or the big bang or an old earth. Scientific inquiry 101. And sure, I get your overall point. I was Christian until age 26. I worked two years as a missionary in a foreign country, 90hr weeks, no pay, for my Christian beliefs. What "God" meant to everyone I encountered throughout that time, before, and after, is/was always a bit different. Ultimately we create our own personal God, and what that means can be compatible with honest and rigorous scientific inquiry. But you have to throw out large portions of the bible and accept that it's largely a work of art and useful fiction, and I will place $1000 down on a bet that the vast majority of "Christians" would bristle at such ideas. But yeah, best to stay away from discussions of religion with anyone except your closest friends. Even then it's usually ill advised unless you have hours to sift through the nuance and are very good communicators.
  - tim333 6y ago
    Depends how you define your "Christians." Wikipedia mentions 53.6% of Brits as Christian but as Brit I think I can safely say most of those don't take the bible seriously. Or Christ for that matter.
    - tluyben2 6y ago
      Yes, I would say that is the case in the eu too. Where I am now, the majority of people are supposed to be catholic, but besides a handful of people, no one cares. And of that handful, the ones I have spoken to, do not believe either, they just consider it tradition; on Sunday they like the social interaction during and after church which involves drinking spirits with coffee.
  - deadlocked 6y ago
    > You don't "believe" in evolution or the big bang or an old earth. Scientific inquiry 101. "Believe" is absolutely the right word; most of us don't have the time, inclination, or ability to perform the scientific method required to demonstrate evolution, big bang, or old earth. Outside of a very small number of people, the overwhelming majority of us are taking it on faith that these theories are correct.

f6v 6y ago

To play the devil's advocate, suppose we show that organic life can spontaneously emerge from basic building blocks under certain conditions. Even then, there's a chance that those conditions were not present on Earth when life appeared here. It might be the case that a God had to artificially create them. And the first life was here billions of years ago, chances are we can't ever be sure.

brink 6y ago

I'm Christian, and I believe in evolution, the big bang, old earth.. They're not contradictory. There are actually a lot of Christians who believe in those things. CS Lewis believed in an old earth while also believing in God. I usually try avoid religious debates on HN though.

spacemark 6y ago
Belief has nothing to do with forming and testing hypotheses. You don't "believe" in evolution or the big bang or an old earth. Scientific inquiry 101. And sure, I get your overall point. I was Christian until age 26. I worked two years as a missionary in a foreign country, 90hr weeks, no pay, for my Christian beliefs. What "God" meant to everyone I encountered throughout that time, before, and after, is/was always a bit different. Ultimately we create our own personal God, and what that means can be compatible with honest and rigorous scientific inquiry. But you have to throw out large portions of the bible and accept that it's largely a work of art and useful fiction, and I will place $1000 down on a bet that the vast majority of "Christians" would bristle at such ideas. But yeah, best to stay away from discussions of religion with anyone except your closest friends. Even then it's usually ill advised unless you have hours to sift through the nuance and are very good communicators.
- tim333 6y ago
  Depends how you define your "Christians." Wikipedia mentions 53.6% of Brits as Christian but as Brit I think I can safely say most of those don't take the bible seriously. Or Christ for that matter.
  - tluyben2 6y ago
    Yes, I would say that is the case in the eu too. Where I am now, the majority of people are supposed to be catholic, but besides a handful of people, no one cares. And of that handful, the ones I have spoken to, do not believe either, they just consider it tradition; on Sunday they like the social interaction during and after church which involves drinking spirits with coffee.
- deadlocked 6y ago
  > You don't "believe" in evolution or the big bang or an old earth. Scientific inquiry 101. "Believe" is absolutely the right word; most of us don't have the time, inclination, or ability to perform the scientific method required to demonstrate evolution, big bang, or old earth. Outside of a very small number of people, the overwhelming majority of us are taking it on faith that these theories are correct.