With yesterday’s editorial, Science vs Religion is back in the news: If you based your life around a belief system that includes an account of the world’s creation in one of its founding stories, does that mean you are confusing your beliefs with science? It is a timely question. Contrary to what radical celebrity atheists
Science Versus Religion? Read More »
There is plenty of debate whether Stephen Hawking believed in God or not. He used the word ‘God’ and spoke about explaining the universe as glimpsing ‘the mind of God’. But he didn’t use the word ‘God’ in the sense of a ‘guy in the sky’ – which is the way a lot of religious
Stephen Hawking Meets God Read More »
I recently spotted a letter to the editor (above) in our local newspaper, The Press. What struck me was that pretty much every suggestion for improvement of the Anglican Church is already a reality. The letter suggested that scriptures be read with an eye on the ancient context in which they were written – tick
Standing Order 62 of New Zealand’s House of Representatives reads: On taking the Chair at the commencement of each sitting the Speaker reads a prayer to the House and the Mace is placed upon the Table. Prayer has begun each day in parliament since 1854. Concern was expressed, even in those days, that no religious
Prayer in Parliament Read More »
Recently, in a discussion, someone accused me of “believing in ghosts.” I asked what they meant by “ghosts,” and the response was: “invisible white floating things.” I must say, as someone with a science degree, I do struggle how something that is an “invisible” thing can be said to be “white” thing. At heart, though,
Let’s Stop Using This Word (2): God Read More »
Friend and fellow Kiwi blogger, Peter Carrell, blogged recently about the historicity of the Gospel birth narratives (in response to a comment of mine). I hope I am fair in my summary of his post: “The invention hypothesis” would have Matthew expanding Mark’s gospel from the perspective of Joseph, while Luke does so from the
Are The Gospels True? Read More »
We tend to speak about “secular” as if it is the human foundational operating system, and that, somehow, religion is superimposed as an application, a program, on top of that (choose from some popular programs, all doing similar things); as if atheists declutter the unnecessary program, getting back to the foundational operating system – secularism.
The Incarnation Changes Everything Read More »
Children from religious families are less kind and more punitive than those from non-religious households, according to a new study. All over the internet and printed in newspapers (the above quote is from the Guardian) is the conclusion of the study that found that religious belief is a negative influence on children’s altruism: ” Our
Religious Children are Meaner than Secular Ones Read More »
