Theists lumped into the same category

by Christ Alone 67 Replies latest jw friends

  • Christ Alone
    Christ Alone

    Some members have been using the term Creationism to refer to everyone that is not an atheist, and believes in God. I just wanted to bring out the fact that there are a wide variety of beliefs. Not all that believe in God reject evolution, propose a young earth, and reject scientific methods.

    Some newer atheists have been saying that unless you are an atheist you do not believe in facts, reason, and logic. That's absolutely not true. Yes, atheists and theists disagree. But among the various branches of theism, there are many that have come to their conclusions based on facts as they see them. These conclusions are different from atheists, but logic is still there. I cannot hold to the idea that unless you are an atheist, you do not appreciate facts, logic, and the scientific method.

    Here are some branches of theism. Some are NOT supported by science, but many branches accept the findings of science and treat it with the utmost respect and consideration.

    1. Young Earth Creationism: Young Earth creationism (YEC) is the religious belief that the Universe, Earth, and all life on Earth were created by direct acts of the Abrahamic God during a relatively short period, sometime between 5,700 and 10,000 years ago. Its primary adherents are those Christians and Jews who believe that God created the Earth in six 24-hour days, using a literal interpretation of the Genesis creation narrative as a basis.

    2. Gap Creationism: Gap creationism (also known as ruin-restoration creationism, restoration creationism, or "The Gap Theory") is a form of old Earth creationism that posits that the six-day creation, as described in the Book of Genesis, involved literal 24-hour days, but that there was a gap of time between two distinct creations in the first and the second verses of Genesis, explaining many scientific observations, including the age of the Earth.It differs from day-age creationism, which posits that the 'days' of creation were much longer periods (of thousands or millions of years), and from young Earth creationism, which although it agrees concerning the six literal 24-hour days of creation, does not posit any gap of time.

    3. Progressive Creationism: Progressive creationism is the religious belief that God created new forms of life gradually, over a period of hundreds of millions of years. As a form of old Earth creationism, it accepts mainstream geological and cosmological estimates for the age of the Earth, but posits that the new "kinds" of plants and animals that have appeared successively over the planet's history represent instances of God creating new types of organisms by divine intervention. Progressive creationists generally reject macroevolution because they believe it to be biologically untenable and not supported by the fossil record,[not verified in body] and they generally reject the concept of universal descent from a last universal common ancestor. Thus they reject the scientific consensus regarding the evidence for evolution.

    4. Intelligent Design (ID): Intelligent design (ID) is a form of creationism promulgated by the Discovery Institute. The Institute defines it as the proposition that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection." It is a contemporary adaptation of the traditional teleological argument for the existence of God, presented by its advocates as "an evidence-based scientific theory about life's origins" rather than "a religious-based idea". The leading proponents of intelligent design are associated with the Discovery Institute, a politically conservative think tank, and believe the designer to be the Christian deity. It puts forward a number of arguments, the most prominent of which are irreducible complexity and specified complexity, in support of the existence of a designer.

    5. Theistic Evolution: Theistic evolution or evolutionary creation is a concept that asserts that classical religious teachings about God are compatible with the modern scientific understanding about biological evolution. In short, theistic evolutionists believe that there is a God, that God is the creator of the material universe and (by consequence) all life within, and that biological evolution is simply a natural process within that creation. Evolution, according to this view, is simply a tool that God employed to develop human life. Theistic evolution is not a scientific theory, but a particular view about how the science of evolution relates to religious belief and interpretation. Theistic evolution supporters can be seen as one of the groups who reject the conflict thesis regarding the relationship between religion and science – that is, they hold that religious teachings about creation and scientific theories of evolution need not contradict. Proponents of this view are sometimes described as Christian Darwinists.

    6. Day-Age Creationism: The Watchtower are Day-Age creationists. Day-Age creationism states that the "six days" of Book of Genesis are not ordinary 24-hour days, but rather much longer periods (for instance, each "day" could be the equivalent of millions, or billions of years of human time). This theory often states that the Hebrew word "yôm", in the context of Genesis 1, can be properly interpreted as "age." Some adherents claim we are still living in the seventh age ("seventh day").

    If anyone has any others to add, please do.

  • NoStonecutters
    NoStonecutters

    Interesting that you bring up rejecting scientific methods. I think theists need to do a better job of ascertaining the "scientific" methods atheists use to reach their conclusions, because, quite frankly, enlightenment "science" is riddled with occult influence. The Enlightenment itself was fostered by the explosion in Freemasonry and Kabbalah. That creates a huge bias factor that most overlook. For atheists to think that the Enlightenment was based in puritan science is simply naivety or ignorance.

  • elderelite
    elderelite

    I think thats a good list and above all i appreciate the concept that not everyone falls into a neat little catagory :-) there tons of room for variation of belief...

  • Christ Alone
    Christ Alone

    enlightenment "science" is riddled with occult influence.

    Examples? I haven't seen this. If you are referring to the enlightenment period, that was a pure rejection of superstitious thought in favor of logical human reasoning. It stressed reason, logic, criticism and freedom of thought over dogma, blind faith and superstition. Logic wasn’t a new invention, having been used by the ancient Greeks, but it was now included in a worldview which argued that empirical observation and the examination of human life could reveal the truth behind human society and self, as well as the universe. All were deemed to be rational and understandable. The Enlightenment held that there could be a science of man, and that the history of mankind was one of progress, which could be continued with the right thinking.

  • Healthworker
    Healthworker

    CA, have you read in search of christian freedom by franz? Love H

  • botchtowersociety
    botchtowersociety

    Great thread, Christ Alone. The atheists on this board often fall into category errors, thinking that anyone who has a belief in God must by needs be a Creationist. Its only natural for this error to be made by a group of people who once belonged to a cult that taught literal Creationism.

  • botchtowersociety
    botchtowersociety
    I cannot hold to the idea that unless you are an atheist, you do not appreciate facts, logic, and the scientific method.

    Yes, it's the "you're stupid and we're not" argument. Too many believers have made large contributions to science for this to be the case.

  • elderelite
    elderelite

    Seriously dude.... Get a grip. To suggest that current scientific method is based on jewish black magic is ludicrous. Lets stay focused on the OP. there is more than one type of athiest and more than one type of belief in god

  • Christ Alone
    Christ Alone

    CA, have you read in search of christian freedom by franz?

    I certainly have. It's a masterpiece that will always be in my library.

  • Christ Alone
    Christ Alone

    Very true, EE. I myself have fallen for the "all atheists are the same" idea too. Fortunately many of the helpful atheists here have jumped in to tell me how wrong I was.

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