Category: Religion | Page 4

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News
Date
May 15, 2022

Categorized
Philosophy of Mind, Religion

Tagged
Featured, Michael Egnor, Theology Unleashed}

What Do Christianity and Hinduism Have in Common?

_{And where do they differ?} _{News
May 15, 2022

2

Philosophy of Mind, Religion}

At Theology Unleashed, neurosurgeon Michael Egnor and Hindu philosopher and broadcaster Akhandadhi Das discuss the similarities and differences between Thomistic philosophy and Vedanta Philosophy. Thomistic philosophy is the philosophy originally developed by Thomas Aquinas (1225– 1274), adapting the approach taken by early philosopher of science Aristotle (384– 322 BC) to the Christian worldview of the High Middle Ages. His work is of enduring significance in philosophy. Vedanta is “one of the world’s most ancient spiritual philosophies and one of its broadest, based on the Vedas, the sacred scriptures of India. It is the philosophical foundation of Hinduism… Vedanta affirms: The oneness of existence, The divinity of the soul, and The harmony of all religions.” – Vedanta Society of Southern California Read More ›

Woman fist with woke written. Woke concept refers to awareness of social and racial justice, concern, vigilance, activism.

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News
Date
April 10, 2022

Categorized
Ethics, Philosophy, Relationships, Religion

Tagged
Arjuna Gallagher, Cancel culture, Featured, Jonathan Haidt, Michael Egnor, Microaggressions, Woke culture}

A Catholic and a Hindu Tackle Woke culture

_{In a wide-ranging discussion, Michael Egnor and Arjuna Gallagher look at Woke culture, abortion, euthanasia, and microaggressions} _{News
April 10, 2022

22

Ethics, Philosophy, Relationships, Religion}

In a recent series of Mind Matters News, podcasts, neurosurgeon Michael Egnor interviewed Arjuna Gallagher, a Hindu who lives in New Zealand. The first podcast looked at what the world’s 1.2 billion Hindus generally think about the mind and the second explored the Hindu view of free will and evil. The third podcast addressed the question, “What do Hindus think about the Big Bang?” Now, the fourth and final podcast asks, what do Hindus think of current science and culture issues, especially the flowering of Woke Cancel Culture, abortion, and euthanasia? Gallagher hosts a YouTube channel called Theology Unleashed, which has featured many guests discussing the spiritual dimension of our lives — for example, philosopher David Bentley Hart and neuroscientist Read More ›

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News
Date
March 28, 2022

Categorized
Biology, Physics, Religion

Tagged
Arjuna Gallagher, Creation (in Hindu thought), Cyclic universes (in Hindu thought), Featured, Michael Egnor}

What Do Hindus Think About the Big Bang? The Cyclic Universe?

_{Hinduism posits a creator God but assumes the creation of cyclic universes} _{News
March 28, 2022

12

Biology, Physics, Religion}

In last week’s Mind Matters News podcast, “Hinduism and the beginning of the universe,” neurosurgeon Michael Egnor interviewed Arjuna Gallagher, a Hindu in New Zealand. The first podcast looked at what the world’s 1.2 billion Hindus generally think about the mind and the second explored the Hindu view of free will and evil. Gallagher hosts a YouTube channel called Theology Unleashed, which has featured many guests discussing the spiritual dimension of our lives — for example, philosopher David Bentley Hart and neuroscientist Mark Solms (along with Egnor). https://mindmatters.ai/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/03/Mind-Matters-News-Episode-179-Arjuna-Gallagher-Episode-3-rev1.mp3 A partial transcript, notes, Show Notes, and Additional Resources follow: The Big Bang and cyclical universes Michael Egnor: How do Hindus understand creation? Is the universe eternal? Was it created at a Read More ›

Hinduism religious ceremony puja flowers and candle on river Ganges water, India

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News
Date
March 22, 2022

Categorized
Ethics, Philosophy of Mind, Religion

Tagged
Arjuna Gallagher, Case Against Reality (book), David Bentley Hart, Donald Hoffman, Featured, Michael Egnor}

Understanding the Hindu View of Free Will and Evil

_{Arjuna Gallagher points out that concepts of reincarnation and karma make both problems look very different in the Hindu tradition} _{News
March 22, 2022

16

Ethics, Philosophy of Mind, Religion}

In last week’s Mind Matters News podcast, “Hinduism, Metaphysics, and Free Will,” neurosurgeon Michael Egnor again interviews Arjuna Gallagher, a Hindu in New Zealand. (The earlier podcast was Hinduism, Reincarnation, and the Mind–Body Problem.) Gallagher hosts a YouTube channel called Theology Unleashed, which has featured many guests discussing the spiritual dimension of our lives — philosopher David Bentley Hart, neuroscientist Mark Solms, atheist Matt Dillahunty… a variety of voices on the spiritual life. Gallagher has also produced a documentary, The Persecuted Saints You’ve Never Heard Of about the persecution of Orthodox Christian monks. https://mindmatters.ai/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/03/Mind-Matters-News-Episode-178-Arjuna-Gallagher-Episode-2-rev1.mp3 A partial transcript, notes, Show Notes, and Additional Resources follow: Michael Egnor: In our last session, we talked a little bit about the evolutionary argument against Read More ›

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News
Date
March 14, 2022

Categorized
Ethics, Philosophy of Mind, Religion

Tagged
Arjuna Gallagher, Featured, Hinduism, Karma, Michael Egnor, Problem of evil (in Hinduism), Reincarnation}

What Do the World’s 1.2 Billion Hindus Think About the Mind?

_{Neurosurgeon Michael Egnor interviews Hindu Arjuna Gallagher on the similarities and differences between that tradition and Western theism} _{News
March 14, 2022

22

Ethics, Philosophy of Mind, Religion}

In our most recent Mind Matters News podcast, “Hinduism, Reincarnation, and the Mind–Body Problem,” neurosurgeon Michael Egnor interviews Arjuna Gallagher, a Hindu in New Zealand. Gallagher hosts a YouTube channel called Theology Unleashed, which features an array of guests who have something to say about the spiritual dimension of our lives — philosopher David Bentley Hart, neuroscientist Mark Solms, atheist Matt Dillahunty… a variety of voices that can help us understand the intellectual climate in which we live. Gallagher has also produced a documentary, The Persecuted Saints You’ve Never Heard Of.about the persecution of Orthodox Christian monks. https://mindmatters.ai/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/03/Mind-Matters-News-Episode-177-Arjuna-Gallagher-Episode-1-rev1.mp3 A partial transcript and notes, Show Notes, and Additional Resources follow. Michael Egnor: I don’t know a lot about Hinduism, and I Read More ›

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News
Date
March 6, 2022

Categorized
Relationships, Religion}

Study: Accountability to God Means a Greater Sense of Well-being

_{Researchers found that the association between accountability to the divine and sense of psychological well-being was stronger in those who prayed more} _{News
March 6, 2022

4

Relationships, Religion}

A recently published study sought to measure the difference that a sense of accountability to God made in terms of psychological well-being, as distinct from church attendance, prayer and meditation: Religious believers who embrace accountability to God (or another transcendent guide for life) experience higher levels of three of the four variables of psychological well-being – mattering to others, dignity and meaning in their lives, though not happiness – according to a study from researchers with Baylor University, Westmont College and Hope College. The study also found that this relationship is stronger among those who pray more often, suggesting that accountability coupled with communication may be a powerful combination for well-being. Lorie Fogleman, Baylor University, “Study Examines Link Between Accountability Read More ›

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Denyse O'Leary
Date
February 28, 2022

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Philosophy, Religion

Tagged
Apophatic theology, E. O. Wilson, Ed Simon, Thomas Henry Huxley}

Religion Journalism After God Is Declared Dead

_{Writer and editor Ed Simon examines and makes a case for the New Religion Journalism, offering us help with praying to a dead god} _{Denyse O'Leary
February 28, 2022

10

Arts & Culture, Philosophy, Religion}

Ed Simon is one of the editors of a recent anthology, The God Beat: What Journalism Says about Faith and Why It Matters (2021). According to the publisher, Broadleaf Books (an imprint of 1517 Media, formerly Augsburg Fortress), the book highlights “personal, subjective, voice-driven New Religion Journalism” by young writers “characterized by their brash, innovative, daring, and stylistically sophisticated writing and an unprecedented willingness to detail their own interaction with faith (or their lack thereof).” Simon offers his own thoughts on religion, sympathetic to that perspective, in a recent article at Aeon: He starts with reflections on the view that mid-nineteenth-century British poet Matthew Arnold (1822–1888) expressed in his poem “Dover Beach,” that religious faith was receding in his world: Read More ›

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J.R. Miller
Date
February 27, 2022

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Religion

Tagged
Featured, Transhumanism (and Christianity)}

Can Christian Ethics Save Transhumanism?

_{J. R. Miller looks at the idea that the mission to self-evolve through technology is “the definitive Christian commitment.”} _{J.R. Miller
February 27, 2022

7

Artificial Intelligence, Religion}

In my recent article detailing the deadly dream of transhumanism (H+), I showed that when human personhood is treated as a contingent property tied to the process of unguided natural selection, there remains no definitive answer to the question, “What does it mean to be human?” With nature as the starting point, morality itself becomes a fluid concept which must evolve as humans use technology to achieve post-humanity. The moral implications are severe. The risk that some people may be harmed, suffer, or die during medical experiments is outweighed by the transhumanist perception of a greater social good that advances the species. But what about Christians who embrace H+? Can the Christian ethic save H+? Some Christians today leverage their Read More ›

Atheism. Torn sheet of paper with the inscription.

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post

Michael Egnor
Date
February 20, 2022

Categorized
Philosophy, Religion

Tagged
Featured, Jerry Coyne}

Faith in God Is the Only Coherent Basis for Reason

_{Access to truth is always a matter of faith — the validity of reason cannot be validated by reason itself} _{Michael Egnor
February 20, 2022

4

Philosophy, Religion}

Atheists commonly assert that there is a profound dichotomy between faith and reason. This is exemplified by atheist evolutionary biologist Jerry Coyne ’s book Faith vs. Fact. He implies that we can have faith in the truth of something or we can have factual knowledge of the truth but we cannot have both. Faith and fact are, in his view, mutually exclusive. But that is not true. Faith in God provides an indispensable foundation for the power of human reason. In the perspective proposed by medieval philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), we must accept radical skepticism about the veracity of our perceptions and our concepts. One may ask: how do we know that what we perceive or what we Read More ›

Asian woman doctor in personal protective suit or PPE wearing mask and goggles pray for covid-19 outbreak to improve. Medical, coronavirus, covid-19 and healthcare concept.

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post

News
Date
February 20, 2022

Categorized
Philosophy, Religion, Science

Tagged
___longform, Featured, Jerry Coyne (on free will), Minority Report (film), ontological proof, Prime Mover, Singularities, Thomistic philosophy (and science)}

Excluding All Reference to God From Science Is A Form of Theology

_{It’s negative theology, to be sure, Michael Egnor and his guest Joshua Farris agree, but still a theology — and one with implications} _{News
February 20, 2022

21

Philosophy, Religion, Science}

In this third podcast discussion, “Don’t Blame Me, I’m a Meat Robot,” neurosurgeon Michael Egnor and theology professor Joshua Farris discuss how a belief in God is compatible with science. Egnor argues that belief in God is a necessity, to prevent science going off the rails: https://mindmatters.ai/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/02/MInd-Matters-Episode-174-Joshua-Farris-Episode-3-rev1.mp3 A partial transcript, notes, and links follow: Michael Egnor: I wanted to talk just a little bit about philosophy of science and its relation to theology. First question is, is a belief in God compatible with the practice of science? It seems like a silly question, but it’s actually a pretty hot question nowadays… Joshua Farris: There’s this common idea that when we proceed utilizing the method of methodological naturalism — as methodological Read More ›

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Denyse O'Leary
Date
February 14, 2022

Categorized
Religion, Science}

We Trust Nonsense From Lab Coats More Than From Gurus

_{This shocking study is relevant to how we decide what to believe from science sources about COVID-19} _{Denyse O'Leary
February 14, 2022

6

Religion, Science}

An international team of researchers staged a revealing experiment on who we believe when they are talking nonsense. The test of 10,195 participants from 24 countries asked questions about the credibility of the statements and about their personal degree of religiosity. How could the researchers be sure that the statements were nonsense? They were produced by the New Age Bullshit Generator, an algorithm that generates impressive sounding elements of sentences that make rough grammatical sense even if they make no other sense. Two statements were selected: The 10,195 participants in the experiment were presented with two meaningless but profound-sounding statements: “We are called to explore the cosmos itself as an interface between faith and empathy. We must learn how to Read More ›

Laser Cannon Incapacitates Enemy Satellite In Space

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Gary Varner
Date
February 12, 2022

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Ethics, Medicine and Health, Religion

Tagged
Malcolm Reynolds, River Tam (character in Firefly), Science fiction, Shepherd (character in Firefly), Simon Tam (character in Firefly)}

Firefly Episode 3: Should Some People Be Left To Die?

_{After the space crew rescues the survivor of a pirate attack, Captain Mal faces off against The Shepherd on whether God can save even that man.} _{Gary Varner
February 12, 2022

10

Arts & Culture, Ethics, Medicine and Health, Religion}

Episode 3 begins with a friendly game of basketball… or something like it. Simon, a doctor who has joined the Firefly crew, notes that there appear to be no rules to the game as he watches from the balcony. The game is interrupted by a “proximity alert” and the crew discovers a wrecked ship floating in space. The captain decides to check it out and they quickly discover that the ship has been attacked by the infamous Reavers. We’d seen their ship once in episode one, and we’d heard some ominous descriptions of what they do to their prisoners: “If they take the ship, they’ll rape us to death, eat our flesh, and sew our skins into their clothing. And, Read More ›

Científicos examinando un extraterrestre

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News
Date
January 30, 2022

Categorized
Religion}

Will Religions Crumble If We Find Extraterrestrial Life?

_{NASA funded a group of theologians to try to assess the probable reaction of religious people to extraterrestrial life or intelligent aliens} _{News
January 30, 2022

6

Religion}

In 2016–2017, NASA partially funded 24 religious scholars to brainstorm how adherent of various faiths would react to the discovery of extraterrestrial life. As Erin Snodgrass put it at Insider, A rabbi, a priest, and an imam walk into a research program funded by NASA to talk about the intersection of God and aliens. It’s not the start of a religious joke. It’s precisely what happened at the Center for Theological Inquiry in Princeton, New Jersey in 2016 when two dozen theologians gathered to participate in a program partially funded by NASA to research how humans might respond to the discovery of extraterrestrial life. Erin Snodgrass, “How would humans respond to the discovery of aliens? NASA enlisted dozens of religious Read More ›

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News
Date
January 15, 2022

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Religion, Robotics}

Sci-Fi Saturday Special: The Journey of the Nauts

_{The astronaut discovers a planet run by robots that think humans are lying if we say there is no Creator because, after all, we created them} _{News
January 15, 2022

3

Arts & Culture, Religion, Robotics}

(A short story by Jonathan Witt) Let’s see. How to start? As I surfaced from cryo, I was reminded of the old Christmas poem. “A cold coming we had of it,” one of the Magi begins, and I was thinking, the fellow doesn’t know the meaning of cold. Try halfway to absolute zero across seventeen light years of interstellar space. Granted, the cryo made the journey feel like an overnighter, but don’t imagine some trillionaire spa sleepover. Imagine yourself liquored up on bad moonshine, stuffed in a sack full of dry ice, knocked unconscious, tumbled about for an hour, quick-thawed, flushed of blue antifreeze, pumped full of dehydrated/rehydrated blood, and then shocked awake. That’s the cold coming we had of Read More ›

Blue glowing 4 dimensional object in space abstract fractal background

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post

Robert J. Marks
Date
December 19, 2021

Categorized
Philosophy, Religion

Tagged
Featured, Flatland (short novel)}

Can Higher Dimensions Help Us Understand Biblical Miracles?

_{We assume there are only three spatial dimensions because those are the ones we sense. What if there are four?} _{Robert J. Marks
December 19, 2021

8

Philosophy, Religion}

String theory in physics postulates the existence of ten, eleven, or even twenty-six seven spatial dimensions. (Some call time a dimension, but that’s not what we’re talking about here.) What’s going on? You and I experience only three spatial dimensions. Physicists say these other dimensions are compactified in strings – like a two dimensional plane rolled up into what looks like a one dimensional appearing skinny straw. What if higher dimensions weren’t compactified? What if, say, there were a fourth spatial dimension? Access to a fourth dimension explains some of the miracles described in the Bible. A classic book about higher dimensions is Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin Abbott, first published in 1886. In the novel, life was constrained to Read More ›

The red human figure extends its influence to the neighboring figures. Spreading ideas and thoughts, recruiting new members. Infection of other people, zero patient. Leader and leadership, new team.

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William A. Dembski
Date
December 19, 2021

Categorized
Education, Religion

Tagged
Apologetics, Featured, Rhetoric}

Why Influence Matters More Than People Realize

_{How do we go from defending ourselves to persuading others?} _{William A. Dembski
December 19, 2021

16

Education, Religion}

7 From Apologetics to Rhetoric During my years as a seminary professor, every course I taught had some connection with apologetics. One of the courses I taught that I liked best was rhetoric. Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. Unfortunately, it is an art that Christian apologetics has failed to fully appropriate. Aristotle rightly distinguished three appeals of persuasion. These were logos, ethos, and pathos. You can try to persuade by logical argument. That’s logos, and Christian apologetics is hypertrophied in that department. But you can also try to persuade by the force of your personality, or by your reputation for moral probity, or by your demonstrated expertise and qualifications. That’s ethos, and it speaks to your standing and credibility in the act of persuasion. Read More ›

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post

William A. Dembski
Date
December 12, 2021

Categorized
Religion

Tagged
Culture, truth, Worldview}

How Does Worldview Differ From Cultural Environment?

_{Confusion about the difference between worldview and cultural environment has been a stumbling block for Christian apologetics} _{William A. Dembski
December 12, 2021

7

Religion}

5 Worldview vs. Cultural Environment By now it will be apparent that a cultural environment differs from a worldview. Let’s say a bit more about that difference, because it is important. A cultural environment applies corporately to the group or community in which one resides. On the other hand, a worldview is, in the first instance, held individually, though it can be shared and therefore held corporately. Thus we may speak of “the Christian worldview.” One’s worldview is the set of beliefs that one holds about what the world is like. As such, it doesn’t distinguish between beliefs that are held intensely and those that are held more lightly. It doesn’t distinguish between beliefs that are non-negotiable and those to Read More ›

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News
Date
December 5, 2021

Categorized
Philosophy, Religion, Science

Tagged
Featured, Mark Solms, Michael Egnor, Theology Unleashed}

Egnor and Solms: What Does It Mean To Say God Is a Person?

_{Mark Solms and Michael Egnor discuss and largely agree on what we can rationally know about God, using the tools of reason} _{News
December 5, 2021

11

Philosophy, Religion, Science}

Last time out, as South African neuropsychologist Mark Solms and Stonybrook neurosurgeon Michael Egnor continued to discuss the mind vs. the brain at Theology Unleashed (October 22, 2021). Solms said that he believed in Spinoza’s God — so did Albert Einstein, actually. Now he asks Egnor about the idea that God is a Person. Summary to date: In the first portion, Solms, author of The Hidden Spring (2021), began by asserting in his opening statement that “the source of consciousness in the brain is in fact in the brain stem,” not the cerebral cortex, as is almost universally assumed. Dr. Egnor then responded that his clinical experience supports the view that brain is not mind. Then Solms pointed to the Read More ›

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William A. Dembski
Date
December 5, 2021

Categorized
Education, Philosophy, Religion

Tagged
Featured}

Is Truth Just What Your Peers Will Let You Get Away With Saying?

_{Sound, logical thinking is NOT the norm. Many people, anxious to remain in good standing with leaders and influencers, live quite happily with incoherence and inconsistencies} _{William A. Dembski
December 5, 2021

11

Education, Philosophy, Religion}

Mathematician and philosopher William Dembski offered an analysis of Christian apologetics (defense of Christian beliefs), “Making Apologetics an Effective Instrument for Cultural Engagement” at the Evangelical Philosophical Society meeting “Reasonable Faith in an Uncertain World” (November 19, 2021). His discussion raises broad issues around how a culture assesses and understands truth. Republished with permission here in four parts. Below is the second portion, “3 Giving Culture Its Due” and “4 The Worldview Audit and Its Limitations” (The first portion is “1 The Unfulfilled Promise of Christian Apologetics” and “2 Truth Is Never Enough”) 3 Giving Culture Its Due We inhabit not merely a physical environment but also a cultural environment. Our cultural environment sets boundaries for what we may think, Read More ›

Abstract Unique Young Woman Standing In the Middle Of A Galaxy Crack

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post

News
Date
December 5, 2021

Categorized
Philosophy, Religion, Science

Tagged
Featured, Mark Solms, Michael Egnor, Theology Unleashed}

Einstein Believed in Spinoza’s God. Who Is That God?

_{Neuropsychologist Mark Solms admits that life is “miraculous” and sees Spinoza’s God, embedded in nature, as the ultimate explanation} _{News
December 5, 2021

11

Philosophy, Religion, Science}

In the most recent portion of the discussion between South African neuropsychologist Mark Solms and Stony Brook neurosurgeon Michael Egnor at Theology Unleashed (October 22, 2021), talk turned to defining consciousness. Which led in turn to the remarkable (in Solms’s view, “miraculous”) difference between life and non-life — which is not merely a matter of religious opinion. If an accounting is required, it turns out that even Einstein believed in some sort of God and Solms follows his thinking, as we see below. Egnor offers a different view. Summary to date: In the first portion, Solms, author of The Hidden Spring (2021), began by asserting in his opening statement that “the source of consciousness in the brain is in fact Read More ›