greatest show on earth

by unstopableravens 273 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • jgnat
    jgnat

    The book? Unstopableravens? Anyone?

  • Pterist
    Pterist

    I must concede the unity amonst atheists on this forum puts believers to shame. Or maybe, it's just that I have not yet relealized that it's pointless to participate. TGIF......oh sorry, TNGIF. ;)

  • Christ Alone
    Christ Alone

    Hey guys, I have been absent here for quite a while, and I have a lot of opinions (some the contradict even myself!) of this book. I really enjoyed reading it.

    It lead me to read another book about the subject, and I was even more impressed with it that the "Greatest Show". I disagree with many of Dowds points, but they are compelling and fascinating.

    Here it is:

    http://thankgodforevolution.com/book

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyPw0N8DDiE&list=PL2CC315D735686A51

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2ATHA8Cyp0

  • Deputy Dog
    Deputy Dog

    Pterist

    I'm trying to take Pauls advice in 1 Cor 9:22.

  • cofty
    cofty

    Pterist - your participation in this thread would be very welcome - it would make a pleasant change from the whinging you have done so far.

    Have you read The Greatest Show on Earth? What are your thoughts on it?

    Christ Alone - Hi. I doubt very much if I will commit a couple of hours to watch the videos. Could you describe what it was about them you thought was interesting.

    Unstop - This is your thread, where are you?

  • Christ Alone
    Christ Alone

    Here's a shorter inverview with him, cofty. The above first video is a 20 min overview, not hours long. I still disagree with much of Dowds conclusions, but it is a fascinating perspective:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJD4he4Bnms

    His view is that an understanding of evolution strengthens belief in God. It answers the big question of beginnings, which atheism cannot answer. There was no cause to the effect of the singularity. The only event to not have a cause... But theism answers this difficulty.

  • jgnat
    jgnat

    I read the first blog at Dowd's site. http://thankgodforevolution.com/category/blog. In a nutshell, evidential discovery is God, and those who rely on the written word are the new heretics. The future? Aligning Self-Interest with Species-Wide & Global Interests. A new religion.

    Cofty, stop coughing.

  • cofty
    cofty
    But theism answers this difficulty

    How so?

    What do you disagree with Dowd about?

  • cofty
    cofty
    Cofty, stop coughing.

    Eh?

  • Christ Alone
    Christ Alone

    Theism answers the cause for the effect. Atheism does not. For atheism, there was either no cause, or this universe is one of an infinite number, and thus is able to avoid confronting any beginning cause, or what happened before the beginning.

    Most of my disagreements are how he applies certain scriptures. He thinks that Christianity is the best answer, but just one answer of many that are true. A lot of post modernism that I don't subscribe to. Everything cannot be true, especially when they are diametrically opposed to each other. But the evidence he presents is good and his showing that there has always been a bridge between science and religion is fascinating. One has to understand the context in which the Bible was written and stop taking it literally. It was written by a non scientific community explaining how to understand the universe. It was never meant to explain things scientifically. But to help them understand who they were, why they were, and what they would become. It was written to illustrate these things, and not to give a purely historic account all the time. The Jews would have read much of Genesis very differently than the Biblical literalist today.

    Along the same lines, biologos has done some great work in this area as well. My understandings actually follow much closer to biologos than to Dowd.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGtVjQfqddY&playnext=1&list=PLD793F2EA9AE2FDA4&feature=results_video

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3uUAgyJfNo

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkrS_YsJQoM

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbG46dO6P28

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