vol 7: Notes
2005
Sunday 17 April
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... to restore theology to the mainstream of science
Notes
[Notebook: DB 57 Language]
[Sunday 17 April 2005 - Saturday 23 April 2005]
Sunday 17 April 2005
Monday 18 April 2005
[page 116]
Tuesday 19 April 2005
Nazi Science: Max Planck Institute for the History of Science. Nature Editorial
Can theology be a science? N, Commentary
At present western theology as an academic discipline is very strongly evangelical. Let us define 'pure evangelical' as theology whose sole primary source of data is the Bible. At the other end of the spectrum, we have 'pure scientific' a theology whose primary source of data is human experience, including experience in carefully controlled laboratory environments. On these definitions, pure scientific theology contains evangelical theology, since the Bible and its consequences are part of human experience.
The term 'evangelical' used above is a transliteration of the greek euanggelion, the glad tidings, the gospel, often translated as the good news. The Christian good news at its most succinct is the Apostles Creed.
Christianity is not, of course, the only religion on earth, although it is associated with the lions share of political power on earth. Other religions also have a theological community.
The Roman Catholic Church s the most powerful and tightly organized branch of Christianity. It has gone so far as to declare itself, in the person of the Pope, infallible in the development of answers
[page 117]
to questions of faith and morals. It has thus entrenched itself and its followers in the rather unscientific position of not being able to revise its position on declared dogma. The declaration of infallibility was made by the first Vatican Council in 1870. Infallibility
The first such formally infallible declaration was made by Pope Pius XII in his Definition of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Apostolic Constitution 'Munificenctissimus Deus', 1 November 1950. Denzinger 3900-3904.
They let me go. Rightfully, I think, from their point of view. I had seen that there could be alternatives to Catholic dogma. Lonergan showed me this with his (to me) flawed proof that god exists, ie there is a god other than this universe who has created and guides the universe. The alternative hypothesis, that God and the universe are one is much richer.
The proof for the existence of god is model dependent. We need a model of god, and a model of the world and a theorem that that says these models are not the same. So Aquinas. Aquinas 13
Kiss = I love you (ranging from dynastic to passionate)
Look out: look back.
Science, on the other hand, is open to revision. [its creed: avoid inconsistency = unintelligibility]
Wednesday 20 April 2005
Text is quantized : Shannon. Shannon
Killing kings for the good of the people is common enough (Frazer) Frazer In fact we may see democracy as first and foremost an occupational health and safety measure for heads of state, allowing them to leave their position alive. So the alleged death of Jesus at his Father;s request has deep mythological resonance even though we may not have a very good opinion of a father who connives at his son being tortured to death to appease himself for a slight delivered by creatures of his own creation.
The fundamental argument against the pro-life position is the phenomenon of emergence. Although a fertilized egg may be human, it is not a human being. This state begins at birth (by convention) a significant step in the emergence of a new human being from an existing couple. But the argument that because the cell becomes a human it is a human is weak in the same way that because a carbon dioxide molecules may become are plant they are a plant.
We need to see a new direction in theology. At present many brilliant people working in theological institutions are constrained by ancient institutional positions into exploring a very restricted area of theological space, that has its basis in some ancient text or another. Cantor has shown us how large a symbolic space may be. Quantum mechanics has shown that Cantor's space is relevant to modelling the simplest structures in the universe.
[page 118A]
Cantor's notion of symmetry with respect to complexity gives a pathway to making the insights of quantum mechanics to more and more complex systems which we may consider asymptotic to god. By using network theory to model this symmetry, we add flesh to his idea and have strong clue as to where to look for many other symmetries in the universe. Theology, as the study of the whole, can follow the path from physics to unbounded complexity, thus delineating the first terms of an infinite series that 'sums' to god.
'Your children are not your children (Ghibran?) Gibran These hands are not my hands. They are (among others) given to me by x billion years of evolution and the event of my birth. We may see ourselves as emergent parts of god, as an event in the divine live.
One can gauge the practical importance of the role of Pope by the amount of publicity given to the death of John Paul II and the accession of Benedict XVI.
Thursday 21 April 2005
Friday 22 April 2005
Saturday 23 April 2005
Books
| Frazer, James, The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion, Penguin Books 1996 Preface: "The primary aim of this book is to explain the remarkable rule which regulated the succession of the priesthood of Diana at Aricia. ...' 'Such was the rule of the sanctuary. A candidate for the priesthood could only succeed to office by slaying the priest, and having slain him, he retained office till he himself was slain by a stronger or a craftier.' [p 1] http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0140189319/tnrp">Amazon back |
| Gibran, Kahlil, The Prophet, Knopf 1995 Amazon: ' In a distant, timeless place, a mysterious prophet walks the sands. At the moment of his departure, he wishes to offer the people gifts but possesses nothing. The people gather round, each asks a question of the heart, and the man's wisdom is his gift. It is Gibran's gift to us, as well, for Gibran's prophet is rivaled in his wisdom only by the founders of the world's great religions. On the most basic topics--marriage, children, friendship, work, pleasure--his words have a power and lucidity that in another era would surely have provoked the description "divinely inspired." Free of dogma, free of power structures and metaphysics, consider these poetic, moving aphorisms a 20th-century supplement to all sacred traditions--as millions of other readers already have.' --Brian Bruya Amazon back |
Papers
| Nature Editorial, , "Uncomfortable truths", Nature, 434, 7034, 7 April 2005, page 681. 'In 1999, Hubert Markl, then Max Planck Society president, launched a six year Euro 5-million ($US 5-million) programme, conducted by independent science historiand, to systematically analyse the role of the society -- then known as the Kaiser Wilhelm Society -- and its scientists in supporting the Nazi regimes's policies. The programme ended last month, and the results of its many projects confirm the superficiality of the accepted view ... The programme's final conference, held last month in Berlin, made clear the productivity of the endeavour. A thick dossier of publications is freely available on the website of the back |
| Schiermeier , Quintin, "Pope praised for partial conciliation of science and religion", Nature, 434, 7034, 7 April 2005, page 694. 'Catholic researchers and bioethicists have responded to the death of Pope John Paul II with tributes to his efforts to achieve reconciliation between faith and science. And some are optimistic that his successor will keep on the same path.' . back |
| Shannon, Claude E, "The mathematical theory of communication", Bell System Technical Journal, 27, , July and October, 1948, page 379-423, 623-656 . back |
Click on an "Amazon" link in the booklist at the foot of the page to buy the book, see more details or search for similar items
Related sites:
Concordat Watch
Revealing Vatican attempts to propagate its religion by international treaty
