Posted on 09/13/2016 2:46:45 PM PDT by Kaslin
When university studies of mythology began in the 19th century, scholars often saw myth as primitive science. Why do seas surge and winds blow? Edward Burnett Tylor, Oxford Universitys first professor of anthropology, argued that cultures evolve from seeing events as random to a higher belief in causation. The tidal wave was not accidental. It came because Poseidon was angry. Next time well make a sacrifice and avert his anger.
Noah, of course, knew that the greatest physical disaster was not accidental. He communicated that understanding on to his descendants, but in a few generations some became fuzzy on the details and tried to stop minor floods by propitiating gods of their own creation. Refugees from the Tower of Babel created Hindu and Greek mythology. They did not want chance to rule their lives. They thought they could bring order by offering sacrifices, and some even killed their children in an attempt to gain control -- but they learned that mythology science didnt work.
Christianity broke with the idea of exchange, the faith that if I do something for God, Hell do something for me. The New Testament taught that we could not ascend to God: He had come down to us. But that did not satisfy those who wanted more control. The medieval church hierarchy worked out a system of indulgences: Specific actions or payments would decrease the number of years we or loved ones would spend in purgatory. With indulgence science, man could control what had seemed to be uncontrollable -- and there seemed no way to disprove it.>When university studies of mythology began in the 19th century, scholars often saw myth as primitive science. Why do seas surge and winds blow? Edward Burnett Tylor, Oxford Universitys first professor of anthropology, argued that cultures evolve from seeing events as random to a higher belief in causation. The tidal wave was not accidental. It came because Poseidon was angry. Next time well make a sacrifice and avert his anger.
Noah, of course, knew that the greatest physical disaster was not accidental. He communicated that understanding on to his descendants, but in a few generations some became fuzzy on the details and tried to stop minor floods by propitiating gods of their own creation. Refugees from the Tower of Babel created Hindu and Greek mythology. They did not want chance to rule their lives. They thought they could bring order by offering sacrifices, and some even killed their children in an attempt to gain control -- but they learned that mythology science didnt work.
Christianity broke with the idea of exchange, the faith that if I do something for God, Hell do something for me. The New Testament taught that we could not ascend to God: He had come down to us. But that did not satisfy those who wanted more control. The medieval church hierarchy worked out a system of indulgences: Specific actions or payments would decrease the number of years we or loved ones would spend in purgatory. With indulgence science, man could control what had seemed to be uncontrollable -- and there seemed no way to disprove it.
True. but then again, evolution isn't science, it's an ideological interpretation of science designed to accord with a preconceived worldview.
Sorry, FRiend, but regardless of how often, or how loudly, you people chant your mantra, "evolution is not science, evolution is not science...", it still is and on occasion even US courts have told you legally you can't claim to redefine "science" to suit your own purposes.
Science itself defines basic evolution theory as a confirmed hypothesis, which is as good as it gets, short of actual observations.
Indeed, there are more confirmed observations supporting evolution theory than someone like Darwin could even have imagined.
As for "preconceived worldview" the one thing "preconceived" which helps define natural-science is its foundational rule: only natural explanations for natural processes.
So any super-natural understandings (i.e., intelligent or purposeful designs) must come from outside the realm of natural science.
In short, you have to provide your own religious understandings, science will not do that for you.
Which demonstrates that those yelling loudest about "missing links" are not really asking for more evidence, but rather are denying the possibility that any evidence could ever satisfy them.
But in some cases we are 100% certain of evolution even without any "missing links".
A good example is evolution of wolves to dogs which we know was caused by human animal husbandry creating a new sub-species starting over 25,000 years ago.
So the theory part of evolution theory simply says that if we could see those "missing links" they would show us that both natural and man-made evolution happens generation by generation in response to the forces of natural or human selection.
Uh hunh. Mine includes science. Like actual science. Enough to distinguish between what is actual empirical science discovered through the scientific method, and what is worldview-driven interpretation designed to substantiate a particular viewpoint. Evolution is not a confirmed hypothesis. Evolution is an *assumed* hypothesis, supported by interpretations of data for which it does not logically follow that they are the only, or even the most reasonable, interpretations.
Go sell your cookies to someone else, Girl Scout.
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