Looking at a dictionary, the word "theory" has several meanings. It can be about "well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world." or “ a tentative insight into the natural world." or “ a belief that can guide behavior." Since Junjun mentioned evolution and the Big bang, I assume he's talking about "scientific theories."
According to Douglas Futuyma, a biology professor from State University of New York, a scientific theory is a mature, coherent body of interconnected statements, based on reasoning and evidence that explain a variety of observations. The New Oxford American Dictionary defined it as "a system of ideas intended to explain something, esp. one based on general principles independent of the thing to be explained." Scientific theories are coherent body of interconnected statements, based on reasoning and evidence that explain a variety of observations. So when we are talking about scientific theories, we are not just doing speculative guesses. I guess Junjun got a little bit confused about the difference between a theory and a scientific theory.
Junjun also said that "the word of God" is truth. Well, is he talking about Aristotle's God of the Philosophers or Paul Tillich's Being of Beings? Is he talking about the Deist god or the pantheist "god?" Since he's obviously a Christian, is he a fundamentalist, a conservative or a liberal believer? Is it the Mormon god, the Catholic or the Adventist god? I guess I really don't know which god he is talking about. That's the same with his "truth." You see the trouble when we talk about gods, and religion in general the word "truth" becomes too relative. It will become dependent on the idea or the doctrine of a particular god-belief or religion. Since "god" cannot utter any word. The "word" will come from human interpreters.
On another subject, Junjun claimed that before ancient scientists knew that the Earth was a sphere, the bible authors already knew it.
Weh?
He said the bible "tells in full detail" that the Earth is spherical. [Citation needed]
Sadly, Junjun didn't give us any details of his claim. Let's take a look.
Most Christians use Isaiah 40:22 which say "It is he who sits above the circle of the earth." Since the verse mentions "the circle of the earth," Junjun interpret it as a description of a spherical earth. But is it?
The word circle here used the Hebrew word "chug" which means a circle. But, can it also mean a sphere?
A sphere is a three-dimensional closed surface such that every point on the surface is equidistant from the center. It is more of a ball than a flat coin or the base of a tent. The Hebrew word for "ball" like is "kadur" and it can be found in Isaiah 22:18. Just think, if the author of Isaiah wanted to depict a spherical Earth, why use the word kadur to be more precise?
Also, it seems Junjun forgot to read the whole verse. According to Isaiah 40:22, "and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in." I don't think a tent is a sphere. Maybe Junjun would like to explain that to us in "full details?"
The bible has given us a lot of verses that says it's not speaking of any spherical Earth. Verses like Daniel 4:11 speaks of a tree so tall that “the height thereof reached unto heaven and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth.” Note that it’s impossible to see a tree from all points on the earth, regardless of how far it ascends, because the earth is spherical. In the New Testament, Matthew and Luke record a story in which the Devil took Jesus to an exceedingly tall mountain in order to show him all the kingdoms of the world (4:8 and 4:5, respectively). Again, you cannot see the entire world from a spherical Earth.
For your information.
Anaximander (611-547 BCE) used observation (He observed the night sky looking for the movement of the North Star) and geometry to figure it out.
Philolaus (450 BCE) by observing change in the stars, the way in which ships disappeared as they moved away, and the shadow of the Earth during an eclipse of the moon conclude the Earth is a sphere. In fact, Philolaus was the first man ever to say that the Earth was a sphere.
Aristotle (384–322 BCE), view that since everything was attracted toward the center of the earth, that meant that the Earth had to be a sphere.
The Greek astronomer, Eratosthenes (276-194 BCE) discovered Earth was a sphere by only using sticks and shadows in the 3rd Century BCE.
These old Greek scholars REALLY FIGURED IT OUT that Earth is a sphere using observation and experiments unlike those old Hebrew religious writers who still clings on the old idea that the world was a static flat circle floating on nothing yet supported by pillars which was loosely based on ancient religious concepts from neighboring ancient nations.
Until next time.
No comments:
Post a Comment