Why can't Science and Spirituality(God) walk side by side?

Question

Why do they have to be deffended as they were apart from each other anyway?

Sometimes I think it is all about who came first (God or Evolution) as the creator that we discuss about, but what if the Evolution theory is really right, the Universe was made from an explosion, human beings came from apes, dynossaurs inhabited the Earth, Adam and Eve really existed, although they were not the first, and everything else with God's permission...

Why not?

I loved the answers. Thank you all.

Answer 1

They do. Certain people just don't want them to, mostly Christians and Atheists. In fact science has it roots in ancient religion and mystery traditions.

In my religion we accept that we are created beings and it is our mission to come to know our creator. The best way to come to know It is by reading Its "book." I'm not talking about an old dusty tome, though they can be useful. I'm talking about the "book" written by G-d Itself.

A few years back I remember an argument about religion on the Bill Maher show. Maher said; "G-d does not write books. He makes trees." Maher was right on. The "book" I'm referring to is a metaphor for the Earth and the Universe. It is our way to come to understand our creator more thoroughly by reading this "book," by studying Its creation. This type of study involves scientific means of investigation, analysis and exploration. I have yet to come across a scientific FACT or a viable theory that completely rules out a creator, though they do put a lot of burden on Christianity.

It has been a part of our religion from the beginning of time to recognize that we are all related to each other, that the Earth is our Mother and the other animals our 'cousins.' We knew this, even before western science figured it out, so the theory of evolution is acceptable. One of our old teaching stories tells how humans were originally tiny creatures who lived in the mud and eventually emerged to fulfill our destiny as upright beings. Evolutionary theory only supports this metaphorical story and we now have a better scientific understanding of how this actually worked.

I pose a question here. If G-d, prophecy and divine insight is a fantasy then how did a ‘primitive’ tribal people with no scientific sophistication have a basic understanding of evolution even before western Science? We certainly were not out digging up ancient bones and categorizing them.

Scientific analysis should be a strong component in a healthy spiritual life. G-d may be a distant figure, but we can come to more thoroughly understand Its nature by … reading Nature. I’ve seen relatively well educated Atheists postulate about the origins or life, the universe and everything. While their theories may be an affront to Christian Creationism, for me it just represents another theory on the functioning of G-d. Since the creator “deity” aspect of my G-d does in fact have a beginning and we believe that the Creator is basically inseparable from the creation it is plausible to believe that the universe itself, or at least the energies and laws that govern it is/are in fact “G-d.” That is after all what sacred Geometry is all about. This is what the Pythagoreans were doing and they are the people who introduced it from Egypt and Mesopotamia to the western nations.
I can say that I ‘know’ G-d exists because I know the world and the Universe exists and they are essentially inseparable, not apart in some kind or dualist segregation.

I know this contradicts the standard Judeao-Christo-Muslim idea of G-d and creation, but I am not a Christian. Since most Atheists in the U.S. are cultural Christians even if they don’t believe in the religion itself, they categorically reject any other definition of G-d that does not fit into their concept of an Abrahamic deity. They tend to project this Christo-Muslim idea of G-d onto every other religion they encounter, because they are not really interested in understanding any religion other than Christo-Islam because they themselves are essentially Christians without the faith.

I’ve even seen it happen on this board. I’ve seen Atheists offer an “unorthodox” description of G-d similar to what I have just posed here and then reject it themselves saying; “but we know that this is not really what a god is.” It would lead one to wonder; if they don’t believe in Christianity, then why allow Christians to define G-d for them? There are a lot of reasons for this. One reason is that a lot of them are just plain ignorant of any other religion, because we’re not on the street corners shoving it in their faces and they don’t care to educate themselves about any others. Another reason is that their identities are very invested in being an Atheist, a non-believer, just as Christian identities are invested in being a follower of Christ. I suppose my identity is invested in being a seeker of knowledge and a person well acquainted with my land.

The short answer is; if you are an honest, sincere and open individual there will be no rivalry between science and religion in your personal life. The two should be kept at a distance from one another in the academic world. My religion as it functions in my daily life is basically a Liberal Arts program combined with family, ceremony and prayer. We can tell the difference between a story or a metaphor verses an empirical fact. The story with the talking bunnies is a metaphorical tale with a moral lesson. When you fall out of a tree and hit the ground we know that gravity is a scientific fact. Together they make for a healthy and well adjusted lifestyle.

Peace,

Answer 2

In the book of Genesis, God tells us that He created the universe. If science is used to find answers about God's creation, it is very helpful. But if people try to use scientific theories to try to disprove God and His creation, they are wrong.

God may have used an explosion to create the earth and planets, He doesn't find it important to tells us, probably because He wants us to believe Him. Human beings were created by God, Adam was the first. Dinosaurs did inhabit the Earth, they were created on the 6th day along with man. Adam and Eve had to exist. They brought sin and death into the world and even Jesus says that they did exist in the New Testament . We are told that the first man Adam brought sin and the Last man Adam (Jesus) takes it away and gives eternal life.

1 Corinthians 15:45
New American Standard Bible

45. So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.

Why not incorporate both? We can't if it contradicts what God has said. We either believe all of God's word or none of it.

Answer 3

Evolutionary theory has nothing to do with the origin of the universe. Evolution occurs only with living populations.


Edit: Investor: Evolution is an observed fact. Evolutionary theory is a theory. Theories in science are not the same as in the rest of English. It doesn't mean guess. It means an intellectual framework based on OBSERVED evidence to explain a natural phenomenon. Theories are held TENTATIVELY, pending better or more complete evidence. They will never roll over to religious beliefs which contain NO verifiable evidence.

Even if evolutionary theory were shown to be incorrect (by different evidence), that would still leave evolution itself which is still observed to be factual. The new explanation for evolution, would THEN STILL be called Evolutionary theory.

Answer 4

I think science and God DO walk side by side... and hand in hand.

I believe that alot of people can get fanatical about their religious beliefs and, for example, some Christians believe that the bible is the spoken word of God and it is all quite literal, when it was reported and passed on and journaled by people over the course of thousands of years. Did you ever play that circle game where you whisper something to someone and they whisper to the next in the circle, and by the end it is not the same as it started. Think about that regarding the "literal-ness" of the bible. Not that it's not all true, but it may have been retold and retold with an agenda of the tellers believes, etc. Spirituality is something personal to each individual. Believe what your heart tells you is the truth.

Answer 5

Human know little, eventhough many people feel they know it all. You said it "what IF evolution theory is really right". Evolution is still a theory not a fact. There's a lot to discover in science, and lot to realize about spirituality. The more accurate facts we know the closer we get from truth.

I believe once we reach the great truth we wiil realize that both science and spirituality had alway walked side by side

Answer 6

properly you in basic terms hit a nerve with me ... the place i stay the city spent over 3 million money to construct a bike lane and because that bike lane has been outfitted (actual around the line from my apartment), there are greater cyclists on the SIDEWALK ... so i will could provide an excellent fat NO, i are not getting out of ways and that i even tell the snarky ones i visit jam my chuck-it ball launcher into their spokes ... this is stated as a sideWALK, no longer a area bike-there-cuz-it-is-hassle-free ... i pay the city sixty-8 money a twelve months to have my 5 pound canines and there is not any the place for me to hold a canines my length to run off leash and play and be risk-free ... the cyclists pay no longer something to the city and get a three million greenback bike lane that they do no longer even use ... so, sorry, cyclists on the sidewalk better yield to me cuz i carry that chuck-it ball launcher exceptionally much everywhere :O) I even have never owned a canines that would chase bicycles ...

Answer 7

What does the Baha'i Faith teach about science?
The Baha'i Faith teaches that science and religion as complementary systems of knowledge, which throughout history have been the most powerful instruments for the investigation of reality and the advancement of civilization. Baha'is see the harmonious interaction of science and religion, each operating within its proper sphere, as one of the prerequisites for the establishment of a peaceful and just society.

http://info.bahai.org/article-1-3-2-18.html

Here is a link

But the Bahai Faith believe that you can't have one without the other.

the harmony of science and religion as two complementary systems of knowledge that must work together to advance the well being and progress of humanity

http://www.bahai.us/bahai-beliefs

Answer 8

I completely agree. That is exactly what I believe in. Science would not exist without a higher power. Where did the universe even come from? Whatever scientific answer there is to that, I think "well where did that come from?"

Answer 9

One doesn't need to mix evolution with God. Creationists and evolutionists use the same scientific facts, they just have different interpretations of those facts. The existence of fossils, layering of the Earth's crust and dinosaurs fit just fine with the Creation model of a young Earth and a worldwide flood. There is no need to corrupt it with a dumb theory like evolution that has no evidence to support it anyway.

Answer 10

The problem is that the spiritual types refuse to think. All they can say is that god created it and that is it. Regardless of what evidence there might be. They could be completely compatible, but when you have some one taking a description of a Sumerian party, stolen by a biblical fantic and present day fantics absolutely insistant that it is the word of god on creation, intelligence goes out the window.