Help Me Understand, part duex

[Dystopia]

Simon Moon, I will answer this as if I were a Christian (the denomination is not very important) and try to make the most compelling (least bad) case to counter your OP - I need to improve my debate skills as it will help me later in life so I'll use this as an opportunity - I state that I don't believe in any of what I'm about to say, I'm just going to reply as if I was the most rational Christian possible.

First, let's start with two basic premises that define my as a person:

1 - I am a supporter of science. Regardless of how Christian I am, let's imagine for a moment that I recognize the value of science and scientific research, the improvements it had on our lives, the wonders of technological and medical advancements, the comfort and pragmatism it brings to all of us and our daily lives. So that's it, I'm a science supporter, and I think with proper research science greatly benefits Mankind, regardless of what every individual scientist believes.

2 - I am a Christian. Since this is not a topic to debate whether or not Christianity is the one true religion, let's just say that I'm a Christian, averagely intelligent, middle class, with a normal job, family and kids, go to church every now and then and believe the core principles of the faith. So, let's take as premise number two that Christianity is true, for a brief moment of time.

Now let's look at the case - Science works trough evidence and some facts are easily verifiable by our senses and daily experiences, such as gravity or the fact that wearing less clothes makes us feel colder and less warm. Many of these facts are undeniable and not very likely to be false. If we simultaneously look at the bible, we'll see that it's a book, a piece of paper with words and nothing more - It can mean almost anything as god is allegedly all powerful and capable of doing anything he wants. Science can't be interpreted any other way, but Christianity can because there isn't a universal consensus and lots of denominations. It's impossible to know for certain which parts are meant to be taken literally or not, or even if the bible is the most important part of being a Christian, compared to things like being god and loving other people, helping the poor, etc.

Conclusion - I believe in Christianity and trust science, but since the like-hood of science being wrong is low (in this case scenario) then that means every interpretation of the bible that does not create compatibility with science is irrational and should be rejected altogether. Basically, I trust both science and Christianity, but it's more unreasonable to believe in Creationism than Evolution, and according to some Clerics it is perfectly acceptable to support evolution, so it makes sense to think the interpretation is metaphorical. Following this line of thought, all of the rest you mentioned would be metaphorical as well but with verifiable occurrences in the world - For example, the original sin would be our capacity to be evil, hurt each other, commit violence, etc.



Sidenote - As a professor of mine who is a graduate in religious studies (she also teaches legal philosophy) said, when someone says they are a Christian or something else sometimes it's just a part of someone's cultural identity that intersects with aspects like ethnicity, nationality, social class, etc - I understand that in America and some other countries being a Christian really means being a true Christian ™, but in Europe it just works as a cultural identity and it doesn't even mean you read the bible.