Replies to post #100081 on Tornado Alley (PROG)

[fuagf]

In science, the delightful trait of humility will ever dwell. It is illustrated, yet again, here ..

"The idea of ammonia in the atmosphere to help solve the faint young sun paradox goes back almost 40 years now, and this research suggests it is still a viable idea," said planetary scientist Christopher Chyba at Princeton University, who did not take part in this study. "The fact that it took us until 2010 to model the nature of the organic haze carefully is a little sobering, and it's a reminder that a little humility is in order here if we think we've got the theory down now. There are probably some other theoretical surprises in store for us."

In much of 'religious' belief, however, is seen a somewhat debilitating arrogance. We have the answer. We
cannot be wrong. The book says it, so it is so. We don't have to consider we may not have the theory down. We know.

Of course, there is disagreement and desires to go a different way, as Christians did way back and
others later, then some books or at least parts of them become questioned. It is illustrated here ..


Do Muslims Believe in Creation?
by John D. Morris, Ph.D.

In general, Muslims accept both the Old Testament and the Gospels, but feel that in the translation of the Bible over the centuries many errors crept in. Thus a new revelation from God to Mohammed, in about 600 A.D. was required to set the record straight. Doctrines such as the deity of Christ and salvation by His atoning death on the cross were rejected. The views on creation and the flood are substantially the same, although interpretations of the Koranic teachings are as widely varied, even among committed Muslims, as they are among evangelical Christians.

The Koran, if one interprets it literally, teaches a six-day creation. Adam and Eve were created in innocent perfection and placed in a beautiful garden. Here Satan tempted them to rebel against God by eating the forbidden fruit, thus incurring God's wrath and judgment, and expulsion from the Garden.

The wicked pre-flood civilization is described at length. Eventually, Noah is told to build the Ark; and from its passengers the entire world has been repopulated. The description of the flood closely resembles the Biblical description, with vast rainfall, eruptions, and earthquakes. As to the age of the earth, again a straightforward reading implies a creation of all things a few thousand years ago—no room for billions of years of evolution.

If creation is the foundation, the foundation.is in place for a truly theistic world view, and Muslims do have such a view. Unfortunately, the Islamic view of salvation is quite different. The penalty for sin in Islam is death, and it is recognized that everyone sins. The individual must pray for forgiveness, but has no assurance of heaven in the afterlife, and must work hard to earn God's favor. Obviously, Islam has not built truly on the foundation of creation.

But there is also a serious flaw in the foundation—that of the nature of the fall into sin. While Adam and Eve received judgment for their sin, there is no hint in the Koran of the curse on all creation, as described in Genesis 3. To a Muslim, creation fell "Out of balance" at the fall, but didn't come under the "bondage of cornuption" spoken of in Romans 8:21. Infants carry no inherited sin nature, although they each do eventually choose to sin. Thus, since an individual's choice of sin brings judgment, so an individual's choice of repentance and good works can bring restoration. There is no other payment for sin as in Christianity, where "Christ died for our sins" (I Corinthians 15:3).

At a recent conference in Istanbul, I mentioned that Darwin's stated reason for accepting evolution by natural processes was the existence of pain and suffering, extinction and death in the world. He concluded there must not be a supernatural Creator, and thus only natural processes were at work.

A conversation with several of the Muslim scientists—all of them firm Muslim believers—revealed that they each had problems with this issue. Perhaps this is the main key to Muslim evangelism, focusing their attention on God's just response to sin (as applied both to creation and to individuals), away from a works-oriented salvation, and, instead, on the finished work of the Creator on the cross.

*Dr. John Morris is the President of ICR.

http://www.icr.org/article/do-muslims-believe-creation/

However, the arrogance in the stance of knowing the unknowable remains.

The quote is from here .. http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=51175952

The authors of our books had the theory down centuries ago, so we have the theory down now.

Give me the scientific method any day.

[F6]

Google Earth fractals

Written by Paul Bourke
Started: October 2010

The following is a "photographic" gallery of fractals patterns found while exploring the planet with Google Earth. Each is provided with a KMZ file so the reader can explore the region for themselves. Readers are encouraged to submit their own KMZ files for inclusion, credits will be included.









[more at] http://paulbourke.net/fractals/googleearth/ [via/more (linked) at "The Mesmerizing Beauty of Nature's Fractals", http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/09/the-mesmerizing-beauty-of-natures-fractals/262077/ [with comments]