I assumed it was Christian in origin, but that doesn't mean I'm going to throw it out. It still makes sense from a sociological view.
So does religion.
FWIW, I am an agnostic, as I've mentioned a few times.
For all the talk of paradoxes, there are many in science.
The big bang. It wasn't big and it didn't bang. You can't hear a "bang" in space (or lack of it) since there's no air to carry the sound waves.
Science talks about 100ms after the big bang, but can't conceive of anything of any substance about 100ms
before the event.
Then there's a really huge assumption that you can look at an expanding universe and rewind it back in time to some singularity.
Speaking of the big bang, isn't it a creation story in its own right?
65M years ago, there was something akin to a biblical flood or soddom and gomorrah. Science has actual flood stories, too - including a
massive ice dam that broke in the Pacific Northwest eons ago.
There's apocalypse stories, too. Global warming (which leads to floods of biblical proportions, ask Al Gore or the UN IPCC). The sun is going to explode. We're going to be hit by a meteor. And so on.
How about the scientific principle known as the
observer effect? Could it possibly be that light goes 186,000 miles/sec only when we measure it, but goes faster or slower the rest of the time? Or C14 decays at a rate we measure today but at a different rate 1M years ago? We simply take a lot for granted.
So I come back to my original point. I am not a man of faith, nor do I have much respect for televangelists or most religious leaders (MLK Jr. being the kind of exception). THe earth is 4.5B years old. The universe is at least 13.5B years old - maybe older if science is wrong (and its been wrong plenty).
What my take on religion is that it has two basic purposes. First is to provide a set of morals for society (though they are not really attainable). Second is to explain the unexplainable.
The latter is pretty obvious if you study history. Even very ancient history where tribal and primitive man prayed to the sun and moon and stars for good harvests or for fertility for the women.
The greeks and egyptians believed in multiple gods. The greek (and roman) gods were rather odd - they behaved more like humans than all powerful beings (Zeus was a rapist, eh?).
Judaism was a political and societal movement (among other things) to unite disparate religions under the banner of ONE GOD. The bible is a fine collection of stories with both moral and historical significance. The morality is obvious. The historical significance isn't as much.
Was there a man named Noah? Perhaps, not all that relevant. Was there a flood? Almost certainly,
and science agrees. Was there an ark? I don't think so, at least not in the literal sense; perhaps some lunatic had the foresight to build a boat when he saw the threat of a flood, or perhaps it's symbolism for how life forms survived it. Or perhaps it's the boy scout motto - always be prepared!
A key thing to remember is how small the world was to people of ancient times. The edge of the world was maybe the horizon, or as far as they could sail in flimsy boats. As travel became easier, the size of their world grew.
Another source of biblical stories, I find, is consietent with the theme of persecuted race, god's chosen people, god steps up and helps the underdog win. At least in the old testament. Quite often, the stories were for the effect of cheering up a people losing military conflicts or to provide reason for hope in dire times.
Christianity is Judaism-plus. One god plus jesus. One bible plus the new testament. Jesus fulfills a biblical prophesy (messiah) of Judaism and becomes the focal point to rally oppressed people (Roman occupation, crucafixions, etc.). The first world-wide PR campaign. Well, most of the world-wide (not africa, not the americas, etc., until MUCH later on).
Was there a man named Jesus? I certainly think it was likely, but he was likely someone akin to a rabbi. Made greater through tall tales and song.
Religion is the foundation for law and morality. It's hard for me to deny it because I see it in history. We didn't adopt everything in the bible, but "thou shall not kill" and "thou shall not steal" and a few of the other commandments are (somehow) "secular" rules we take for granted.
To me, religion has lost most of its ability to explain the unexplainable - science has more Reasoned explanations that evolve as facts dictate (at least this was true up to a few decades ago).
Realize the bible was cannonized - a collection of writings arbitrarily cobbled together by a political body. The proof of this is in the very first book, Genesis, which has TWO creation stories (garden of eden/adam's rib, and 6 days/7th he rested). The works not approved are (to me) equally interesting.
It is a political and philisophical organization and always has been. It has evolved in that sense over the centuries. At one point it was the State, and the benefactor of Science itself (see
Gregor Mendel and many like him going back much further). Today it has significantly less of an overal presence in society, but does some amazing things (as a whole, though there are some bad apples in every endeavor).
I'll conclude by repeating that I'm an agnostic. I don't believe in much I can't verify with fact and Reason. I don't deny that God exists, and the "god of gaps" theory is not unReasonable. I could believe if "He" appeared before me in a burning bush or something.
I do respect that while I measure things with scientific type instruments that others may measure things in other ways (the beauty of a snowflake is evidence "He" exists).
