RE: What beliefs would we consider reasonable for a self proclaimed Christian to hold?
March 29, 2018 at 1:41 am
(March 28, 2018 at 5:10 pm)drfuzzy Wrote: How are we missing such an easy point here? Big Bang, Evolution, Black Holes, etc., -- a lot of measurable data exists for all of it.
Theory - basic scientific definition: A scientific theory is a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world, based on a body of facts that have been repeatedly confirmed through observation and experiment. Such fact-supported theories are not "guesses" but reliable accounts of the real world.
Theories are respectable science that is ongoing. There is no "belief" required, just study.
I don't need to "believe" that the Big Bang happened, and if our knowledge of it was updated tomorrow, great, but it doesn't affect my daily life. I don't need to "believe" evolution happened, I accept the large volume of archaeological, biological, geological, migration, development, DNA, and other types of data that have been collected supporting it.
"Belief" is not necessary, we have data. The concepts of "belief" and "faith" are not welcome in my world.
I agree completely with this. That said, the scientific process by which we develop theories is founded on some key assumptions. For one, we are assuming that our means of observing the world (i.e. the natural senses, measuring instruments, etc.) are accurate and reliable in the information they convey. Also, the realm of phenomena that can actually be studied empirically could very well be infinitesimally small compared to all of reality. We are limited by our senses and the sensitivity of our own scientific instruments. On some level, then, we must have faith in our own senses and methodological approaches or it wouldn't be possible to draw any scientific conclusions.
