Re: Challenges to teaching biology

No, I fail to see how any finite creature can have absolute assurance
(probality = 1) the they are not deluded to a lesser or greater degree.
Especially given Christian beliefs wrt sin. Paul says that "Now we see
through a glass darkly" which I understand to mean (among a lot of other
things) that even our understanding of what God has told us is not as
sure as our knowledge of the physical world. After all we live by
faith. Even Francis Schaeffer admitted that he could be wrong about all
he had written and described evidence that would make him no longer
believe. I did not say that Gish thought he was God but making an
absolute (no possible way for any error at all) statement that he knows
what God is saying is (IMO) an implicit claim to some kind of divinity.
I admit that I may not be a Christian in God's site but I have a high
degree of assurance that I am.

Dave Wallace

D. F. Siemens, Jr. wrote:
> Small correction. I don't think Gish thinks he's God. Rather, he has
> God's word on it and perfect understanding thereof. He is humble enough
> to believe without qualification. You're the one who is not humble enough
> to accept without thought. As you note, he is not alone, and not alone in
> knowing that he is RIGHT.
> Dave
>
> On Sun, 02 Apr 2006 08:56:14 -0400 Dave Wallace <dwallace@magma.ca>
> writes:
>
>> Sigh... I know! Since Gish claims to have absolute knowledge then he
>>
>> must be god. Either he is god or else there is a problem with his
>> humility (IMO). As finite human beings I fail to see how we can
>> have
>> absolute knowledge of anything, except that thinking is. On any
>> given
>> day the probability that the sun won't rise is less than about
>> 1/(4.5 *
>> 365 *10**9) which is so low that no one worries about it. Hume was
>>
>> right induction does not work absolutely wrt nature and human
>> knowledge. Even YEC does not have probability zero. Since I have no
>>
>> idea of how to figure its 's probability I think of it as something
>> on
>> the order of 1/goggle-plex and certainly not worth worrying about.
>> The
>> only tactic I know is to try to force them to accept the logic of
>> their
>> beliefs. But even that, often does not work. My mother inlaw
>> claims to
>> know absolutely the will of God to the point of contradicting
>> scripture
>> and that my wife is only chronically sick due to lack of faith or
>> because of sin in my wife's life. My question to my mother in law
>> has
>> been then why is she herself sick and does she expect to die one
>> day?
>> In fact as I write my mother in law is in a hospital bed and if we
>>
>> visited and she started down that path, I would ask the question yet
>>
>> again and then taking my wife I would leave. Somehow the fruit of
>> the
>> spirit seems to be lacking, love, joy, peace... But as you say, if
>> I am
>> saved, it is as by fire. Undermine their belief in all in the
>> consistency of all of God's laws and especially in technology, push
>> them
>> to open theology... Maybe some will change.
>>
>> Dave Wallace
>>
>> D. F. Siemens, Jr. wrote:
>>
>>> I heard Gish reply, when he was asked what evidence could change
>>>
>> his
>>
>>> mind, "There is none." When one is RIGHT, nothing can change the
>>> position, for it would be WRONG. The fact is that human beings can
>>>
>> hold
>>
>>> contradictory views, sometimes by twisting them somewhat. For
>>>
>> example, I
>>
>>> have encountered the claim that God is not lying in the
>>>
>> difference
>>
>>> between YEC Bible interpretation and what is evident in the world:
>>>
>> he is
>>
>>> merely testing our faith. On this basis, you failed the test. But
>>>
>> it's
>>
>>> impossible to tell definitively whether you are damned or will be
>>>
>> saved
>>
>>> "so as by fire." I trust you'll fit Zechariah 3:2.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
Received on Mon Apr 3 08:53:39 2006