5 implications

7/30/2019 5 Implications

1/14

Secu lar Scient i f ic Wo rldv iew of the

New Atheists

Self-interest rules We are a product of our evolutionary past and our

environmental present. The existence of free will is questionable. Life is disposable. We are responsible to no one but ourselves. Ourselves personally Ourselves as a society

Reality is precisely what we can observe In principle humans are capable of knowing

everything.


2/14

Christ ian Worldv iew

God, others, self We are created in the image of God. We have free will.

Life is valuable. We are responsible ultimately to our Creator. We are responsible to others as individuals. What we can observe is the minority of what is real.

There is a spiritual realm that is larger and moreimportant than the observable physical realm.

We are different in kind from the animal kingdom.


3/14

Steven Pinker

New York Times

November 2, 1997, Sunday

Sectio n: Magazine Desk

Why They Ki l l Their Newbo rns

No, the right to life must come, the moral philosophers say,

from morally significant traits that we humans happen to

possess. One such trait is having a unique sequence ofexperiences that defines us as individuals and connects us to

other people. Other traits include an ability to reflect upon

ourselves as a continuous locus of consciousness, to form

and savor plans for the future, to dread death and to express

the choice not to die. And there's the rub: our immature

neonates don't possess these traits any more than mice do.


4/14

Contradict ions

Medical science is saving many who are farless than the fittest.

Abortion may be destroying the fittest. Abortion

sidesteps the system by destroying the youngof our specie before they are strong enough todemonstrate their survival fitness or lackthereof.

We are not practicing eugenics.


5/14

Roosevelt, Twisted Eugenics, in The Works ofTheodore Roosevelt, op . ci t., National Ed it ion , XII, p .

201.

"I wish very much that the wrong people could beprevented entirely from breeding; and when the

evil nature of these people is sufficiently flagrant,this should be done. Criminals should be sterilizedand feebleminded persons forbidden to leaveoffspring behind them... The emphasis should belaid on getting desirable people to breed..."


6/14

Richard Dawkins

"IN THE 1920s and 1930s, scientists from both the political left andright would not have found the idea of designer babies particularlydangerous - though of course they would not have used thatphrase. Today, I suspect that the idea is too dangerous forcomfortable discussion, and my conjecture is that Adolf Hitler isresponsible for the change.

Nobody wants to be caught agreeing with that monster, even in asingle particular. The spectre of Hitler has led some scientists tostray from "ought" to "is" and deny that breeding for humanqualities is even possible. But if you can breed cattle for milk yield,

horses for running speed, and dogs for herding skill, why on Earthshould it be impossible to breed humans for mathematical, musicalor athletic ability? Objections such as "these are not one-dimensional abilities" apply equally to cows, horses and dogs andnever stopped anybody in practice.


7/14

Dawkins (cont inued)

I wonder whether, some 60 years after Hitler's death,we might at least venture to ask what the moraldifference is between breeding for musical ability and

forcing a child to take music lessons. Or why it isacceptable to train fast runners and high jumpers butnot to breed them. I can think of some answers, andthey are good ones, which would probably end up

persuading me. But hasn't the time come when weshould stop being frightened even to put thequestion?"


8/14

The Essence o f the Dif ference

Christian

Only workable system: Unselfish love

Love even in a dog eat dog world

There is a bigger better world to comeWe are created in the image of God

Free choice is real

We are responsible to God

Guilt and shame are real

We own our wrong choices

We started good, we're going downhill

Secular

Only workable system: Survival of thefittest

Look out for number one

Get it now there's nothing to comeWe are the product of an undirectedprocess

Free choice is an illusion

We are responsible to ourselves

Guilt and shame are evolutionaryconstructs

Our bad choices are not really ours

We started simple and we're gettingbetter


9/14

Three Modes o f Explanat ion

Determinism

Randomness

A mixture of the two


10/14

God Did No t Create Sin

Ezekiel 28:1117 (ESV)11 Moreover, the word of the LORD came to me: 12 Son of man, raise alamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord GOD:

You were the signet ofperfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was yourcovering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire,

emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and yourengravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared. 14 Youwere an anointed guardian cherub. I placed you; you were on the holymountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked. 15 You wereblameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousnesswas found in you. 16 In the abundance of your trade you were filled withviolence in your midst, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thingfrom the mountain of God, and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub, fromthe midst of the stones of fire. 17 Your heart was proud because of yourbeauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast youto the ground; I exposed you before kings, to feast their eyes on you.


11/14

Choice Is Real

Joshua 24:15 (ESV)

And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD,

choose this day whom you will serve, whetherthe gods your fathers served in the regionbeyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites inwhose land you dwell. But as for me and my

house, we will serve the LORD.


12/14

Free Cho ice

The Bible teaches that God madeeverything.

The Bible teaches that sin is not God's fault. The Bible teaches that sin is a choice. Therefore, free choice is not deterministic. The Bible teaches that the sinner is

responsible for his/her sin.

Therefore, free choice cannot be random. Ifhumans are just fancy dice they cannot beheld responsible.


13/14

Darw inis t Perspect ive

Brain = Mind We are the product of our genetics and our

environment. We are not entirely responsible for ourmistakes.

Science fiction Robots become human.

Science of origins Humans becomerobots.


14/14

Hebrews 11:131Now faith is the

assurance of things hoped for, theconviction of things not seen. 2For by it

the people of old received their

commendation. 3By faith we understand

that the universe was created by the

word of God, so that what is seen wasnot made out of things that are visible.

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