Gabriel, by way of a comment to David Rolfe interview with Andrew Silverman, writes:
I find his interpretation of the 2nd principle of Thermodynamics, the Big Bang and conciousnees too "creative" (to say the least) and not scientifc at all. I mean, scientific by widely accepted standards, since when we come to the Shroud, anything can be "scientific"……In fact, it is one of the most widely used words in the context of the Shroud…. How long will it take before he or someone else connects the Shroud with the Higgin’s bosson?. I bet it won´t take a month…..
I agree.
Now, I don’t think this is what Gabriel was thinking about, but Christopher Maloney writes in his humorous blog:
In an ongoing battle, the search for the god particle has been pitted directly against the existance of God.
“If we can find this darned particle, then we don’t have to fudge our numbers and can pretty much write God out of particle physics,” said Groucho Quarks, Phd.
But despite 7 trillion electron volts (enough to poach an egg), the giant circular money pit the physicists have built can only vaguely discern a Higgs Boson.
“It’s hazy. We can’t quite be sure. It could be Higgs, but the images we get all look like the shroud of Turin.”
Maybe he’s on to something here? I can’t say because I’m still trying to digest it all and I think I have a headache. Anyways I always wondered exactly what Jesus meant alot of the times when basically he’d make reference to us having the power within to make all things possible. The one I remember the best is “with faith one can move mountains”…now that would be something.
R
It’s just my catholic interpretation here : When Jesus talk about the fact that the power is inside of us, he ment that it is the power of God that lives inside of us, even if many times, we’re not aware of it. When he said : you are the temple of God, that’s exactly what he ment. He was not talking of a power like SuperMan in Hollywood. He was talking about the power of love that can move mountain. The power of faith and hope also…
Last comment : the power Jesus was talking about is a spiritual power but, of course, because we live in a material world and we’re not fully spiritualized yet (that will come after death), we always tend to materialized what Jesus was saying… That’s normal but, at the same time, I think we have to try hard to pass by those kind of materializations if we want to be christians. I think we should try to see the second level of speaking in the gospel which is a spiritual level that cannot be examine under a microscope in a laboratory or with a telescope in an observatory !
Here’s a good question about what I’m saying : Do you need to obtain a scientific proof from a scientist when you fall in love ? Love is something so irrational that it goes beyond the spectrum of science. It’s the same thing with Jesus and his teaching. That’s what I believe.
this is wild speculation from a collective set of category errors
I understand that you’re talking about Silverman’s opinion. He’s also free to believe what he want but I think he’s off-track. Again, it’s just my opinion.
This is personal belief and you’re free to believe something else ! ;-)
Andrew Silverman does not understand the mind-body problem. As I tried to explain in my slideshow, this lack of understanding is at the root of the conflict about the Shroud’s authenticity. In my class in metaphysics at the Catholic college I went to, four solutions to the mind-body or mind-brain problem were explained. I was intelligent enough to grasp all four theories or hypotheses. These are the four theories: 1) Materialism (mind is an illusion and the brain is real). 2) Idealism (brain is an illusion and the mind is real) 3) Dualism (there exists spiritual or immaterial substances) 4) Metaphysics (it is a mystery).
The solution backed by the evidence and judged to be true by rational people is No. 4. It is paradoxical because you know something because you don’t know it. To grasp this solution it is necessary to grasp the difference between the following sets of questions: 1) What is the relationship between the sun and earth? versus What is the relationship between myself and my body? 2) What is thunder? versus What is a dream?
Intelligence test: What is the difference between the two types of questions illustrated above?
My guess is that Andrew Silverman thinks people who believe that Jesus is alive and entered into a new life with God are irrational. He is coming up with these ideas, with no evidence, to help real Christians become “enlightened.” He is like John Dewey who said repeatedly that God exists, but only meant that it is as if God exists because the concept of God causes people to behave differently.
Liberal Christians and other types of atheists are filled with compassion towards their fellow man, and they feel a need to express it. They feel saying God doesn’t exist and that life ends in the grave is negative. They belief in “peace on Earth” and “goodwill,” but not in “storing up treasures in Heaven.”
The fact that human beings are so compassionate is a mystery. It is not a principle.