Hey, folks! In Part 1 of “Calculating God” earlier this month, I began by talking a little about my reading habits, including science-fiction, and introduced the reader (assuming you/they weren’t already familiar with him) to the Canadian author Robert J. Sawyer. His novel Calculating God (2000) is the source for the title of these two […]
If you have followed this blog for very long, you know that it’s not uncommon for me to cite from, or at least refer to, various books on the topics of science, politics, and religion. Non-fiction stuff. But, I also read, watch, and listen to a lot of fiction, as well. As it turns out, […]
“[S]cience and religion are two essential components in the search for truth. Denying either is a barren approach.” — Dr. Martin Andreas Nowak, mathematical biologist Once upon a time (actually, it was about a year ago) in a land far, far away (OK, it was here in NE Florida), I had a brief but interesting […]
People make excuses. Nobody likes to be blamed or accused of doing something bad or wrong. We don’t like to be punished or embarrassed. We don’t like to be made to feel guilty — even if we are guilty of wrongdoing. We usually realize that what we were caught doing (or habitually do) is illegal […]
“Men seek an explanation of suffering in cause and effect. They look backwards for a connection between prior sin and present suffering. The Bible looks forwards (sic) in hope and seeks explanations, not so much in origins as in goals. The purpose of suffering is seen, not in its cause, but in its result. The […]
If you are at all familiar with Christian apologetics, whether engaging challenges from non-theists or from Christians with different views, you know that the topic of pain, suffering, and death is a major issue. (In fact, Darwin’s struggle with this was the impetus for developing his theory.) These things are considered “evil”, so the question […]
Welcome back! If you’ve been following along, you know that I recently had a civil-but-slightly-frustrating exchange on Facebook with a young-earth creationist (YEC). (Well, there were more involved in the larger “discussion”, but I’m focusing on the interchange between the two of us.) He was making rather confident — even dogmatic — assertions about what […]
As you may know, I sometimes post parts of exchanges I’ve had with skeptics and young-earth creationists (YEC) on Facebook or some other forum. They can be informative and instructional — at least, to me, and hopefully for others “listening in”. They can also be as frustrating as all get out, whether because a) the […]
In my last post (Part 1), I mentioned the genetic evidence pointing to a “mitochondrial Eve” and “Y-chromosomal Adam” in humanity’s origin. I then discussed the idea that the RTB Creation Model may be a little too restrictive in its dependence on three distinct maternal lineages via Noah’s daughters-in-law. Today, though, I’d like to make […]
Once upon a time, I was listening to two of my heroes, Drs. Hugh Ross and Fuz Rana of Reasons to Believe, discuss how current genetic research points to the origins of humanity (i.e., modern Homo sapiens) from a small population in or near Northeastern Africa dating back a few tens of thousands of years […]
